Stay: Changing Tides, Book 1 (6 page)

Brack pulled his attention from Abby and faced Rand. “I told you earlier to leave it alone. I know what I’m doing.”

“And what’s that?” Anger lined Rand’s face. “Are you trying to get rid of her?”

“She’s got a worse problem with authority than you do. That could endanger everyone on this team.”

“And you think putting her in a dangerous situation is going to change that? What if she’d gotten hurt with your little lesson?”

“Rand, I don’t have to explain myself or my actions to you.” He pushed past his brother to join the others. “Now either get back to work or go home.”

He didn’t wait to see what Rand did. Honestly, he didn’t care at the moment. He needed something to take his mind off Abby—and his own stupidity—and he needed it quick. “Get the Beast down. Let’s give her a run. Burn some carbon off the old girl.”

Whoops and hollers followed his statement, and he walked over to help unload the huge four-wheeler from the trailer. A good spin should clear his head.

The four-wheeler slung mud across Abby’s sweatshirt, but she jumped to the side, landing in a soft pillow of snow. She laughed as Linda plowed into the snow next to her, the woman’s braid tucked firmly under her winter cap. Shivering and near exhaustion, Abby took a couple of breaths. “Where are the others?”

Linda gasped, rolling to her back and placing a hand over her heart. “He got everyone but Brack. We’re the only ones left.”

Shit. Three left, and Rand’s abilities on wheels couldn’t be faulted. She peeked over the snow as he spun the Beast around in circles. From the corner of her eye she caught Brack’s gloved hand waving from behind another snow bank. She ducked low again when Rand called for them to come out and play. “Okay. I saw Brack. He’s across the clearing, to the right. On the count of three?”

Linda nodded and rolled to her knees. “I’ll go left, you go right. Let me go first. If he sees me, you two will have a better chance of getting to his flag.”

Taking a deep, exhilarating breath, Abby counted. “One, two, three!”

They struggled up over the snow bank and broke apart. Abby waited at the top for a fraction of a second as Rand made a bead on Linda. As soon as he spun the Beast toward the other woman, Abby shot across the clearing. Rand’s victorious yell mingled with Linda’s capitulation laughter.
Shit.
Abby dove over another snow bank. She rolled to a stop, mud and snow flying over her head from her boots.

“He got Linda.” Brack grabbed her hand and hauled her up beside him. “We’re it. What’s your thought?”

Struggling to breathe, she glanced over his shoulder. “We’ll have to split up.”

He nodded, his feral smile evidence of how much he enjoyed the game. “If he focuses on one of us, the other can grab his flag.”

She eyed him. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

He snuck a glance over the embankment. A shower of mud spun off the Beast’s tires to pelt them. “You grab the flag, I’ll distract him.”

“What’s this? Making up for earlier?”

“Yeah, maybe.” He ducked low, jerking her beneath him as the edge of the Beast’s frame rounded the snow bank before disappearing again. “Damn idiot’s going to kill someone.”

Maybe, maybe not. But at the moment, with his hard body pressed over hers and his heat soaking into her clothing, she really didn’t care. “Why’d you do that?”

He met her gaze in the meager light, his eyes lingering over her lips. “I didn’t want you to get crushed.”

“No. Why’d you send me out in the water like that?”

For a moment his eyes closed. In a rush, he whispered, “Your lack of fear scares me. I wanted to show you what it can be like. How we have to improvise sometimes. The elements aren’t always kind, and I guess I hoped to shock you into being careful. It’s something your jacket proves you don’t do often.”

“Do you think I’m trained enough to be part of this team?”

“Yes.” More so than several others.

“Then why not just talk to me?” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation, trapped beneath him, hiding behind a snow bank, with Evel Knievel trying to capture them.

A quirk of a smile surfaced on his handsome face. “When we talk, it always seems to turn into a fight.”

“True.”

“Start over?”

“You’re offering a truce?” Would that the offered truce could extend to her body. At the moment, every inch of her battled with suppressed sexual tension, reacting to every hard inch of him. “I asked for that earlier, if you remember right, and it landed me in the water.”

His smile grew a fraction. “If you just listen to me, we should get along great.”

“Brack’s way or the highway isn’t exactly truce-worthy material.”

“It’s a good start.” He was teasing, his tone light. She’d seen so little of his softer side, the shift took her off guard.

“We’ll see about that.” The heat of his gaze did funny things to her stomach, and she pushed against his chest. “Now get off me. We have a flag to capture.”

With lithe movements, he jumped to his feet and hauled her up next to him. “I’ll go first, but you’d better be on my heels. We won’t have long. Rand’s a master at this.”

“Whatever you want, Captain.”

“Whatever I want?” He hesitated, a devilish gleam sparking in his eyes. Then it was gone and he shook away whatever thought had burned there. “Ready? Go.”

His long legs took him over the embankment in three strides. She rolled over the top behind him as he ran across the clearing to the right. Rand turned with a loud yell and revved his engine. This was her chance. Bolting around in a semicircle, she straightened her track to come up behind Rand. Her fingers brushed the small flag attached to the back of the Beast as he pulled the monstrous four-wheeler up in a wheelie. Blinded by a curtain of mud splattering across her body and face, she gripped the cloth tight when he pulled away.

Yells and laughter erupted. Wiping the mud from her eyes, she held the flag up. When her vision finally cleared, the others already mingled in the clearing. Rand had Brack pinned to a snow bank but he’d spun around on his seat to stare at the flag in her hand.

She waggled it and stuck her tongue out only to sputter as the taste of dirt filled her mouth. Rand’s laughter was squashed when Brack tackled him, and in moments an all-out melee erupted. The scene would have startled anyone who came upon them, but she’d seen similar antics before. Relief needed for people who faced death and danger on a regular basis. Only people who’d experienced the death of a child in their arms, or witnessed a drowning victim, or held the hand of a wife as she cried hysterically for a lost child, would understand. They needed this foolish happiness.

Some of the others joined in the muddy wrestling match, and before long, most of the unit was covered in the sludge. Brack’s deep laughter filled her ears. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh, and the sound would be burned in her mind for a long time.

A sound she’d love to hear again and again.

It took close to an hour to pack the gear and get everyone cleaned up. By the time the trucks and equipment were loaded, everyone’s steps had slowed. The happiness from earlier ebbed and an easy silence filled the group as they worked. Brack was proud of them all. They were a good crew, every one of them. Even Jensen’s performance had been outstanding.

They all deserved a break, and for the first time in a long time, he hoped there weren’t any calls. Usually, he welcomed the distraction from his own thoughts. Calls kept him sane. But with Jonathon at home, maybe things wouldn’t be so lonely, so quiet with only the soft sighs of his memories to keep him company.

Abby’s laughter drew his attention. She sat on the tailgate of Joe’s truck as the older man bandaged a small cut on the back of her calf. A thin scar ran from her ankle halfway up her shin where it met a deeper, puckered scar with dotted marks left by staples. When she pulled her pant leg higher, the scar thickened before disappearing under her jeans.

The reminder of her accident didn’t seem to bother her. He’d read the statement she’d made after she’d been rescued and revived by her captain in Alaska. She hadn’t cared that she’d almost died or that her leg was mangled, with the possibility of permanent damage. All she’d wanted to know was if the fisherman she’d tried to save had lived. He had, much to her credit, and to her sacrifice.

Brack hoped she’d learned. Hoped the experience would keep her from doing anything too foolish. The need to protect his team from harm ran deep. Sometimes it made him lash out. His team understood. They knew what had happened to Ellen and Jeremy. Knew it was his fault. Abby had no idea, and it wasn’t something he wanted to share with her. Not yet. Maybe never. It was his pain to deal with. She’d adjust to his ways because she adjusted, or she’d leave.

Either way, he’d have his team in working order. Safe. Just as he needed it to be.

He slipped his jacket on and buttoned it before closing the truck door. “Good job tonight, crew. Go home and get some rest.”

They didn’t need encouragement, and within minutes, the parking lot was nearly empty. Only Abby and Rand remained. They stood off to one side, deep in conversation. A fist of jealousy punched him firmly in the gut, and he took a deep breath to ease the sensation. The way she smiled at Rand knotted his gut in a tight coil. He’d only seen that smile a couple of times, but he would have given anything in that moment for her to turn his way.

A loud beep from his pager made him jump. Rand’s pager toned along with his, slicing through the quiet night. Brack opened the door to the truck as Rand ran for his car. Abby met his gaze across the lot and she grabbed her gear with a question in her eyes.

She wanted to come.

He shook his head. “Not this time. You’re not official yet, but we’ll take care of it soon.”

“Just go,” she called out.

He grabbed his boots. “Start your car before I leave.”

The engine revved to life, and she flashed him a quick thumbs-up. Then she smiled.

Damn, he’d asked for it. And his mind filled with one thought.

She made him feel alive.

Chapter Six

“Wait a minute!” Abby glanced at Jonathon’s interpreter. “Meagan, wasn’t that the sign for shit?”

Jonathon launched a rapid fire of signs, but Meagan just smiled. “Yes, Abby, it certainly was.”

With a withering glance at the woman, Jonathon dropped a quarter in the small canister at the end of the table labeled,
Abby’s Rainy Day Movie Fund—Courtesy of Cursing
.

A moment later, his fingers and hands were in a blur of motion.

Abby could only catch a word or two, but when he wasn’t agitated—like now—and he took pity on her, she could almost communicate with him without Meagan’s help.

“He says that the math problem doesn’t make sense.”

“Of course it does.” Abby scooted closer and circled the formula at the bottom of the page. “Put the values from the problem in this form and remember the order you have to solve. Anything in parentheses first. Try it.”

He bent his head to the paper, chewing on the eraser as he worked. He’d left off wearing his hat again, which pleased her. They’d formed a great working relationship, and every day she saw more and more socialization. Just yesterday, he’d stopped by her practice and several of the girls had commented on how sweet and cute he was. None of the girls knew he could read lips, and she hadn’t had the heart to give away his secret. She liked the confidence the girls’ attention created in him.

So different from his father, Jonathon lacked the self-assuredness that radiated from Brack with overpowering presence. Every little boost helped the young man, and he’d mentioned softball practice again just that morning.

A thought suddenly occurred, and she turned to Meagan. “Ask him if he’d like to manage my softball team.”

Meagan signed the request, and Jonathon’s face lit up, his grin so wide every tooth in his mouth showed. Abby nodded. “I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll ask your dad, and if he says it’s okay, you can stay after with me each day for practice, and I’ll give you a ride home.”

Excitement intensified the speed of his signs. She caught four words and glanced to Meagan for help.

The interpreter chuckled. “He wants to know if he’ll be managing both teams.” She paused as he signed again. “Says, that’s double the amount of girls.”

“Both, it is.” Abby pointed to the paper. “But work comes first. If your grades slip, you’re done.”

He crossed his heart and went to work. Moments later, he slid the paper back to her with a sheepish grin.

He’d done it. “See, that wasn’t hard when you followed the steps. Think you can do the rest tonight for homework? I bet you could stump your dad with a couple of these. Just don’t give him the formula and he’ll flounder like a fish.”

He grinned, eyes gleaming. Meagan’s voice rattled along with his sudden flurry of signs. “He wants to know if you like fishing.”

She shrugged. “I’ve only been a couple of times.”

He slapped a hand against his forehead before resuming his hand-speak. “Early morning is the best. Dad and I go down to the river, near the docks in town. When the stripers are running, you can see them dart through the water like huge silver missiles. I caught one a couple of years ago that was forty inches long.”