Summer's Desire (16 page)

Chapter Nine

A
few days later, a
ll
she wanted was to be able to walk out of the house alone. The
tension in her body begged for release and she didn’t know what to do. Men were
in and out of the house at all hours wanting to be fed. They were all nice
enough but good Lord; whenever she went toward the door she got the look of the
devil from them.

Holden hadn’t
been around the last few days. While compiling their database of horse owners,
he’d come across a few that were not supposed to have horses due to past abuse.
He did take time for his brothers though. They were lucky to have him. It made
her warm inside, yet it made her so lonely she wanted to cry. He nodded to her a
couple times but that was all.

A wide berth,
that’s what she was getting from him. It’s what she wanted
,
wasn’t it? He’d
often
come home in the
wee hours of the morning. She heard him in the room across the hall
and s
he had to fight
the temptation to go and jump in bed with him. It wouldn’t solve anything.

All this
waiting for Brent was crazy. There hadn’t been a sighting of him since they’d
seen him from the truck. She’d gone over every date, every conversation she’d
had with Brent trying to find some clue. Did he leave her something he wanted
back? He really didn’t talk about his past. He regaled her with stories of what
was happening at the Winders’ ranch where he had worked.

She knew that
Jonas had talked with Dave Winders at length but nothing turned up. Everyone
had thought Brent to be a standup guy. In one way that made her feel better.
Maybe she wasn’t such a bad judge of character after all. Summer shook her head
, t
he jury was still
out on that. Look at the mess she’d made with Holden.

She glanced
at Ben and Denver, eating breakfast in the kitchen. They were nice enough but
she was beginning to feel like a short order cook. She needed to get groceries.
The thought of that didn’t make her happy. The people in town probably thought
the worst
with all this mess
.

“Good
morning, Summer.” Holden’s deep voice startled her and she quickly turned.

“I’ll have
your breakfast for you in a minute.” She walked toward to kitchen but she
didn’t get far. Holden snaked his arms around her waist from behind and drew
her back against him.

“We need to
go into town today
,
”
he said and s
he turned her head to see him. “It was Jonas’ idea but it’s a good
one. We are going to spend the day in town and see if anything shakes loose.”

What
was he doing?
Her stomach clenched at the thought of a
whole day in town. “I, we need groceries but other than that—
I thought you didn’t particularly like me.
”

Holden kissed
the side of her neck. His breath was so warm. “Trust me.”

She couldn’t think
as
he
nipped at her earlobe. “Are you sure?”

He turned her in
his arms and gazed down at her. His dark eyes seemed sincere. “Someone must
know something. One theory is that someone hired Brent to kill Paul.”

Her eyes widened.
“But he was the sweetest man.”

He gave her a
reassuring smile. “I’m sure he was. Let’s go to town and see what happens.
If we act the happy couple, we’re bound to be
noticed by Beverly at least.
”

Summer
stiffened and gave him a curt nod
. “Let me go brush my hair and I’ll be ready.” She turned to go,
and turned back. “You haven’t had breakfast.”

“I know, just
hurry.”

The stairs appeared insurmountable but she took one step at a time. The
squeezing of her heart turned into agony. Pretend. How was she supposed to
pretend to be a happy couple when her whole heart wanted it to be the truth? In
the bathroom, she grabbed her hairbrush and quickly ran it through her hair.
Taking a deep breath, she studied herself in the mirror and the pain in her
eyes obvious. It wouldn’t do to let anyone know how she really felt. She closed
her eyes and slowly let out her breath, trying to calm herself. When they
opened, it was a relief that some of the distress had disappeared.

*
*
*
*

They rode in companionable
silence. Holden glanced at Summer many times trying to decipher her feelings
but she didn’t glance back. She was bound to be nervous.

“You know I
haven’t seen much of the town except for my clinic.” There was no answer. “I’ve
seen the community center where that librarian, Beverly, seems to be at all
hours. Carlston is a nice little town.
It was luck a veterinarian was needed here.
Have you eaten at Lucy’s Deli?”

“I grew up
here, Holden.”

“Right.”
Talking seemed to be out of the question. Holden parked the truck in front of
Lucy’s Deli and got out. He rounded the truck to grab Summer’s door but she was
already out and on the sidewalk. She gave him a questioning glare.

He shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m hungry. I
didn’t eat breakfast.”

Summer rolled
her eyes and walked ahead of him. She hesitated at the door. Holden reached around
her and opened it, ushering her in. He hoped for a welcoming reception. He
wanted to get something to eat, and he needed people to see Summer. He tipped
his hat and nodded when Lucy came from behind the counter and smiled at them.
She had blond
e
hair pulled back into a braid. She appeared to be about thirty and
she had kind hazel eyes.

“Well, it’s
good to see you, Summer.” Lucy hugged Summer
,
and Holden wanted to laugh at the total
surprise on Summer’s face.

“Thank you,”
Summer murmured as she took a step back out of the embrace.

“You two take
a seat and I’ll bring some coffee over.”

Holden smiled
and led Summer to a booth at the front window. He smiled when she scowled at
him. “We want to see the town.”

“I guess
you’re right.” She slid into the booth and grabbed the menu.

“Hold your
head up, Summer. You did nothing wrong.”

She stared at
him, studying him as if she were searching for the truth of his statement. She
sat back against the booth straight and tall. She tilted her chin up a bit.
“That’s the first good idea I’ve heard all day.”

He threw his
head back and laughed. God
,
she was amazingly beautiful. He wanted nothing more than to get
all of the ugliness done with so they could start their lives. He almost added together
to his last thought but decided he didn’t know if she’d even have him
anymore
.

“What’s
wrong? First you laugh and now you look as though you’ve lost your best
friend.”

“Nothing
really, I just want this to be over.”

“Me too.”

Lucy was kind
and served them a great breakfast. Holden kept alert at all times
, s
canning each
customer. He saw some dirty looks thrown their way but there were also smiles
of encouragement. No one bothered them until Lizzie Hoff entered. Holden wanted
to groan aloud. Lizzie thought she was the local society matron. He was pretty
sure the society consisted of two members, Lizzie and Beverly. He willed her to
move by them but they were not so lucky.

“Hello,
Holden. I thought you got rid of her.” Lizzie nodded her black haired head
toward Summer.

“Why would
you think that?” He smiled at the old bitty.

“I believe
that Beverly gave you enough reasons. You can’t have her kind around your
brothers. What if the Department of Social Services were to find out
?
She’s living there
with you isn’t she?” She folded her arms in front of her and tapped her foot.

Holden saw
that Summer was about to say something so he kicked her lightly in the shin. If
he read her expression right, he could expect payback.

“Lizzie, you
don’t need to worry your pretty little head about my family. I appreciate your
concern but you see, you have it all wrong. Summer here is a wonderful, honest
woman.”

“Humph. Well,
all I can say is I tried. I’ll be the first to say I told you so.”

Holden
smiled. “I’m sure you will. If you’ll excuse us we were having a nice
conversation.”

Lizzie glared
at Summer, then at Holden. Finally, she sat at a table far away from them.

He reached
across the table
,
took Summer’s small, dainty hand in his
and was relieved she didn’t pull away,
“She’s just a meddlesome
,
old bitty.”

Summer
suddenly began to laugh. “Thank you for defending me.”

“Anytime.
Let’s get out of here. We have a whole town to explore.”

Summer downed
the rest of her coffee and stood. “Fine, if we have to.”

Thanking Lucy
on their way out, Holden quickly took Summer’s hand in his and led her down the
street. They passed Rex’s Barber Shop. It still had the old barber’s pole
outside of it. Next they walked by the community center. Beverly walked out the
door and stared at them the whole time
while
Holden smiled.
Then t
hey walked to the
general store and he stopped. “Let’s go in.”

Summer
shrugged and followed him inside. It was a huge store owned by Paul’s brother
Andy Gallagher. You could find everything ranging from hunting supplies to
cocktail dresses. The bell over the door rang as they entered. Andy glanced up
from the papers he was reading at the checkout counter. His red hair was
graying, his blue eyes looked dull and when he came out from behind the counter
you could tell he was a man who enjoyed his food.

“Oh, Summer,
it is so good to see you. You look much better than the last time…”

“Thanks, Andy
. Y
ou
know Holden O’Leary don’t you?”

Andy reached
out and shook Holden’s hand. “Anyone with animals knows this young man. I have
to warn you, I don’t take chickens as payment.” He chuckled.

He turned
toward Summer. “Is Holden here taking good care of you? I’ve been worried about
you. Paul would have wanted to be sure you were faring well. He thought of you
as a daughter.”

A tear
threatened to
roll
down her face. “I’m fine. Holden and his brothers have made me feel like part
of their family.”

“Good. I’ll
let you shop.”

There was
something about Andy that seemed off to Holden. He didn’t seem to be genuine in
his concern for Summer. He wanted to question her about it but decided to wait
until they got home. Instead he walked right over to the dresses and started
looking. Summer followed him, frowning. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve been
invited to the Carlston Summer Social. I wanted to ask a certain young woman to
the dance but I don’t think she has a dress. Maybe you could help me pick one
out for her.”

Summer glared
at him. Next thing he knew she kicked him in his shin, hard.

“Hey what was
that for?”

“You expect
me to pick out a dress for your date?”

“I’m no good
at this, I thought you got the hint. It’s you I want to take to the dance.” He
lifted her chin with his finger and peered into her eyes. “Summer Fitzgerald,
would you do me the honor of being my date for the Summer Social?”

Her glare
softened until she smiled at him. “I’d be delighted. I can buy my own dress.”

“I know you
can, but oh hell I don’t want to hash it out here. Let’s get what you need and
worry about it later.”

Summer
nodded. “No need to spoil the day.” She picked a green dress from the rack. “Do
you like this one?”

“No.”

Summer
frowned. “Why not?”

“It’ll look
too good on you.” He kept a straight face and grabbed a sack like blue dress
and held it in front of him. “This matches your eyes.”

She appeared
dumbfounded. Then her eyes narrowed. “I’ll take the green one.” She walked away
toward the shoes.

She was going
to look damn sexy in that green dress. He was going to have to keep the other
men away. He looked at the blue dress agai
n.
Sighing, he put it back on the rack and
followed her to the shoe department. Her brow furrowed as she examined the sparse
selection. “I don’t know. I usually wear my boots or sneakers.” She picked up a
pair of high heeled shoes. “What about these?”

“Try them
on.”

Summer sat on
one of the chairs near the shoes and took off her boots. She slipped the shoes
on and stood. She took a step and wobbled. Frowning
,
she took another
step. “You’d think at my age I’d have worn high heels before. I’d ask you what
you think but you don’t seem to have any taste in women’s clothes.”