Playing with Fire

Playing with Fire

California Dreamin’ Series – Book
2

By: Amy O’Neill

Other novels by
Amy:

California Dream’
Series:

Finding Home – Book
1

Small Town
Series:

Taking
Chances

Edited by Amy
Campbell

Cover Art courtesy of
iStock.com

Copyright 2012 Amy
O’Neill

Smashwords
Edition

Smashwords Edition,
License Notes

This ebook is
licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share
this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy
for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not
purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please
return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.

The characters in
this novel are purely fictional and any similarities to actual
people are not intended.

Dedicated to:

The spirited women of the world who never
let anyone keep them away from their dreams!

I would also like to dedicate this book to
those women whose voices were silenced and taken too soon. You live
on in the hearts of your friends, family, and community.

CHAPTER ONE

Rhythmic beeping broke through the fog
that clouded Noelle Dupre’s mind. Slowly she opened her eyes, but
the pain was too great. She reached up and touched her face. Sure
enough, the skin around her eye was tender and swollen.

She’d spent enough time at her momma’s
bedside to know she was lying in Batesville Hospital. The beeping
was the warning signal that the IV bag needed to be changed. She
listened for other noises around her, but all she heard was the
incessant beep and the occasional scuffling of shoes outside her
door.

A moment later, she heard footsteps
approaching from the left. Noelle dared to open one eye and saw
LuAnn Michaels walking toward her bedside. LuAnn had been a good
friend of her momma’s, and she was also a registered nurse. The
weight of her sixty years put a little waddle in her
walk.

“Shut them eyes, child. You need to
get you some rest. Everybody done left ya alone.”

“What happened?”

The older woman tsked at her. “What do
you think happened?”

Noelle didn’t think – she knew. The
answer wasn’t a ‘what’ but rather a ‘whom’. “Lenny.”

“I figured as much. You wanna talk
about it?”

Noelle shook her head, but the
movement, combined with a throbbing headache, made her nauseous.
“No ma’am.”

LuAnn stopped the beeping and took a
minute to tuck the covers around Noelle. “Your momma would be fit
to be tied if she saw you like this.”

Though the statement was given in a
hushed tone, the impact was great. “Yes ma’am, she
would.”

Noelle felt the bed sag as LuAnn took
a seat. “So what ya gonna do ‘bout it?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “What can
I do?”

LuAnn patted her hand reassuringly.
“Get the hell outta here.”

Noelle opened her eyes wide in
disbelief to look at the other woman. LuAnn nodded emphatically,
making her short white curls bounce around her plump face. “You
heard me. He may have given ya a concussion this time, but I know
damn well your hearing works.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that.
LuAnn was a lot of things, but subtle wasn’t one of them. “And
where exactly am I supposed to go? You know I don’t got no other
family. And Lenny made sure I ain’t got no friends now
either.”

LuAnn shook her head. “That’s not what
I hear. Patty Mae told me you been helping watch her little ones a
few hours a week and that she’s paying you for it.”

Noelle closed her mouth. If Patty Mae
was willing to divulge that to LuAnn, who else had she
told?

LuAnn must have read the fear on her
face. “Calm down, your secret is safe with me. I’m happy you’re
finally gonna take your momma’s advice and leave that boy. He ain’t
no good, just like his daddy.”

Noelle snorted. “Don’t get me started.
When did Lenny leave?”

LuAnn checked her watch, “’Bout five
hours ago. He really didn’t stay all that long once they admitted
ya. Just long enough to convince ol’ Doc Monroe that you tripped
and smacked your head on the counter.”

Noelle felt the back of her head and
found it was swollen like a big goose egg. “Last thing I remember
was him shoving me backward and I lost my balance when I stumbled
over his work boots in the middle of the floor.”

“Well that may account for one bruise,
but what about that eye? Did you roll around and smack that on the
counter too?”

Noelle batted LuAnn’s hand away as she
tried to inspect it. “No. That’s from him getting ticked off
because I didn’t have his beer mug cold enough when he got
home.”

LuAnn said a few unladylike curses
under her breath before asking, “How long before you got enough
money to leave?”

“Between what I have saved and the
little bit I got from momma when she died, I can go anytime as long
as I find work once I get wherever. I have all her furniture too,
Lenny don’t know I got a storage unit with all of it in
there.”

“How can I help? Your momma was like a
sister to me and you’re like family. I want you to be safe. What
can I do?”

Noelle shrugged. “I don’t know. My
biggest worry is that Lenny or his daddy tracks me down. I mean you
know how much Frank uses being the Sheriff to his
advantage.”

LuAnn patted her hand again. “Sugar,
his clout only reaches so far. He may wear a badge, but he ain’t
that bright. Someday someone is gonna bring him down. But until
then, you need to be safe.”

LuAnn was right and Noelle knew it.
She needed to get out of town, out of the state of Arkansas, and
run as fast and as far as possible.

Noelle shook her head with conviction.
“You’re right. I’m done being a punching bag for Lenny or his
daddy.”

“That a girl!” LuAnn hugged her
tightly and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Oh your momma is looking
down so proud at you right now!”

Tears stung the corners of Noelle’s
eyes. “I know it. I should have done this a long time
ago.”

“Sugar, now is as good a time to start
as any. So you got any ideas?”

They put their heads together and
within an hour Noelle’s exit strategy was in motion.

Lenny Dunlap walked into the room with
a bouquet of pink roses. It took everything in Noelle not to roll
her eyes at his failed attempt to show he cared. These weren’t the
first roses he’d bought to apologize for his tempter, but they damn
sure were the last she’d ever get.

That thought brought out the smile she
needed. He bent down, kissed her cheek, and whispered, “I’m
sorry.”

The chill that ran down her spine made
it difficult not to shutter. She nodded in answer and laid the
roses on the bedside table.

Doc Monroe walked in a moment later
with LuAnn following close behind. “And how is our patient doing
today?”

Noelle dared a glance at LuAnn, who
nodded in their prearranged signal that everything was in order.
“I’m feeling much better, Doc. Can I go home now?”

Doc Monroe looked over her chart for a
moment then checked her pupils. “Well it seems you’re doing better.
I want you to take it easy for a few days though. Lenny, you make
sure this young lady gets some pampering. That was a pretty good
wallop she took on the back of her head.”

Lenny nodded and smiled down at her.
“Yes sir, Doc. She’s in good hands with me.”

The saccharin sweet tone in his voice was hard to swallow,
making Noelle feel like she would be sick with disgust. Lenny
really should have been an actor with the performances he’d pulled
off over the last few years.

Noelle swore she heard LuAnn snort,
but she quickly masked it with a fake sneeze. “Oh, excuse me. These
damn allergies irritate the hell out of me.”

Noelle puckered her lips to stifle her
own laughter and looked back at the doctor. “Thanks so much for
letting me go home, Doc.”

Doc Monroe patted her hand and then
moved on to the next room. Lenny grabbed the flowers off the tray
and dropped them in the trash. “I’m gonna go get the car, get your
stuff together.”

And just like that the charmer was
gone. Noelle found it hard to bite her tongue, but one look from
LuAnn and she resisted the temptation to tell him where he could
go.

LuAnn blocked his path. “Lenny, you
know I bet you’re real busy with work and all. I can drop Noelle
off at the house if you like.”

Noelle knew Lenny didn’t like LuAnn,
hell, he didn’t like most people. But he was just lazy enough to
let other people do everything for him. She knew he’d accept the
offer.

“Yeah, whatever.”

He turned menacingly to Noelle and
pointed a finger at her, “I’ll be home by six. That should give you
plenty of time to frost my mug this time.”

Noelle lowered her eyes and nodded
obediently. Once the sound of his retreating footsteps faded she
looked up at a beaming LuAnn.

“
Sugar, you did good.”
LuAnn said. “Had that been me I woulda told him where to stick that
mug. Come on, grab your stuff and let’s go.”

A little while later, Noelle gave
LuAnn a hug goodbye at the storage unit. “Thank you for all you’ve
done.”

LuAnn waved off her comment and wiped
at her eyes. “Your momma is doing a happy dance right now. I know
she is so proud of you. I am so proud of you too.”

Noelle felt raw emotion clog her
throat. “I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again. I’m gonna miss
you.”

“I’m gonna miss you too, Sugar. But
you go on and have a good life now. Find you a good man that loves
you like you deserve. That is what I want for ya and what your
momma wanted.”

Noelle scoffed. “The last thing on my
mind is another man. All I care about right now is
freedom.”

LuAnn hugged her once more and took a
wad of cash out of her pocket. “Here, I want you to have
this.”

“
I can’t take this. You’ve
already done so much with getting me this U-Haul and helping me
clean out the storage unit.”

Noelle tried to refuse it, pushing it
away. But LuAnn put it in her hands and held it there.

She arched her white brow at Noelle.
“You can and you will take it. I don’t want it back anyway. It’s a
few hundred bucks, it should help you get a little farther down the
road. Now you best be going to get a good head start before Lenny
realizes you’re gone.”

Noelle jumped into the driver’s seat
and couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks again.”

She watched LuAnn wave as she drove
off toward the expressway. For some reason, she found herself
driving to Interstate 40 and heading west. California was the
opposite end of the spectrum from Batesville, which sounded like a
perfect place for a new start.

After two days of driving west, Noelle
parked the U-Haul behind an abandoned hotel in a tiny town a
hundred miles east of Yuma. She locked the door and reclined in
driver’s seat to try and get a few hours of shut eye. Sleep
wouldn’t be easy, but she still had to try and rest.

The October air howled through the
canyon around her and she snuggled further into the old, worn
blanket from her momma. Even though she was alone and in the middle
of nowhere it was better than what she left behind.

She wondered, not for the first time,
how Lenny must have reacted to finding her gone. Hopefully he
didn’t give LuAnn trouble with a barrage of questions. Then again,
she knew LuAnn wouldn’t spill the beans on her.