Kitabı oku: «The Men of Thunder Ridge»

Chapter One

For the folks who cared to rise early enough, 6:30 a.m. was as fine a time as any on Warm Springs Road in Thunder Ridge, Oregon. The twinkle lights that glowed steadily through the night were still on. The Valentine’s Day Decorating Committee met companionably at The Pickle Jar Deli for an early breakfast and a lively debate about whether to hang cupids or giant red hearts from the corner street lamps. And, next door to the deli, Willa Holmes opened the doors to Something Sweet, the bakery she’d been managing for the past two months. Her morning regulars typically arrived shortly after she flipped the “Done for the Day” sign to the side that announced, “Yep, Open.”

Now, at precisely 6:32 a.m., Willa was at work behind the counter.

“Can I tempt you with a fresh Danish this morning, Mrs. Wittenberg?” She smiled at the tiny woman whose white curls bobbed just above the top of the glass pastry case. “They’re still warm from the oven.”

Baking since 3:00 a.m., Willa appreciated the early start time of her new job. The wee hours of the morning used to be for sleep or, back when she was first married, for lovemaking, but now she found late night and early morning to be the most difficult parts of her day. There was too much quiet time to think. And to remember.

Having breads to proof, cookies to shape and food costs to calculate provided relief from the thoughts that kept her awake at night. Her only coworker in the morning was Norman Bluehorse, who was either fortyish or sixtyish—it was seriously hard to tell—and who worked with earbuds in place and spoke only when he needed to ask or to answer a direct question. A few years ago that might not have suited Willa, but these days she appreciated Norman’s unspoken you-mind-your-business-and-I’ll-mind-mine policy.

Short on sleep due to the early morning and a restless night, she tried not to yawn. Mrs. Wittenberg peered closely at her.

“Sweetheart,” the older woman said, “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but is your red hair natural? I’m thinking about having a makeover. I used to have beautiful long hair, too. It fell out during The Change. Did you bake anything new this morning?”

Actually I think of my hair as light auburn...yes, it’s natural... Your hair is lovely as it is...the pomegranate-orange bread is new. Willa only had time to think her responses before Mrs. W moved on to a new question or comment. This was their ritual six mornings a week. Mrs. W chattered brightly, examined every potential selection in the pastry case, then chose the very same thing she’d chosen the day before and the day before that—two lemon cloud Danishes and one large molasses snap to go.

“I added a touch of ginger to the lemon clouds today,” Willa told the older woman, whose pursed lips were carefully lined and filled with a creamy rose shade even at this hour of the morning. “I think you’ll like them.”

Mrs. Wittenberg wagged her prettily coiffed head. “I don’t know, dear. I think possibly I should choose something different this morning. It’s a very special day.”

“Oh?” Before Willa could ask why, the door opened to admit her second customer of the morning. A zing of pure adrenaline shot through her veins with such force, she actually felt weak. While Mrs. W tapped her upper lip, trying to make a selection, Willa’s attention turned to the six-foot-two-inch sheriff of Thunder Ridge.

She hadn’t interacted in any meaningful way with Derek Neel for the past couple of months, except to greet him and fill his order in the morning. She’d seen him around town, too, of course—he was fairly hard to miss, patrolling Thunder Ridge’s wood-planked sidewalks on foot, or making the rounds of the broad streets in his squad car. He didn’t just work in town, he lived here. Two weeks ago, she’d bumped into him in the cereal aisle of Hank’s Thunderbird Market on a Monday night at 9:00 p.m. Impossible to ignore each other when you were shoulder to shoulder, contemplating breakfast. He’d smiled easily, asked if she thought “instant triple berry oatmeal” sounded good and then tossed the box into his cart after she’d replied that, sure, it was worth a try (which had been a total lie, because instant oatmeal was an abomination of the real thing and never a good idea). While he’d strolled off, she had remained rooted to her spot in the aisle like the proverbial deer in headlights, her thoughts rushed and confused, her emotions in turmoil.

Fact: she and the handsome sheriff had almost...almost...gotten to know each other in the biblical sense on one crazy, ill-advised night two-and-a-half months ago. It had been one of those evenings when sitting with her own thoughts had seemed painful, practically impossible. She’d been filling in for a sick waitress at The Pickle Jar, next door, and when a couple of the other servers mentioned they were heading to the White Lightning Tavern for a beer and a burger, she’d invited herself along.

Derek had been there, dining with Izzy Lambert Thayer, who co-owned both The Pickle Jar, where Willa had worked as a server when she’d first arrived in town, and the bakery Something Sweet. Izzy’s new husband, Nate, had arrived at one point, and when he and Izzy got up to dance to The Louisiana Lovers, a visiting country western band, Derek had approached Willa’s table and asked her if she would mind dancing with someone likely to two-step all over her toes. His eyes had sparkled, his lips had curved in good-humored self-deprecation, his open palm had hovered, steady as a rock, in front of her. He had made it so easy for her to say yes. So easy to laugh as they’d danced (and he hadn’t stepped on her toes once). Easy to walk out the door with him later that evening, and easy—shockingly easy—to forget everything but the feeling of strong arms wrapped around her back as he’d kissed her.

Now, as Derek stepped into line behind Mrs. Wittenberg, he filled the small bakery with his bigger-than-life presence, neat and handsome in a crisply ironed beige uniform, his thick black hair still damp from a shower. Charcoal eyes met hers.

Just to prove she didn’t have a cool or sophisticated bone in her entire body, heat instantly filled Willa’s face.

Ducking her head, she refocused on the woman in front of her. “So what’s the special occasion, Mrs. Wittenberg?”

Blue eyes, pink cheeks, and the tiniest, straightest teeth Willa had ever seen, beamed with pleasure. “Mr. Wittenberg and I are celebrating our fiftieth anniversary today.”

“Oh. Oh...” Wow. A stab of pure, unadulterated envy caught Willa off-guard. “That’s—”

Amazing. A gift. A reminder that life does not deal equally with everyone.

“Wonderful. That’s really, really wonderful. Are you celebrating with a party?”

“No, dear. Our children wanted to, but Mr. Wittenberg and I have decided on a quiet time at home. Just the two of us. We’re going to take an early walk along the river. We got engaged there. This morning, we’re going to visit the very same spot. There’s a little rock shaped like a chair. I sat on it while Mr. Wittenberg got down on one knee and proposed.”

It was impossible not to be swept along on the tide of Mrs. W’s pleasure and anticipation.

“Are you going to reenact the proposal?” Willa grinned as Mrs. W nodded vigorously.

“That’s the plan.” She giggled like a little girl. “Afterward, we’ll walk back home, have a leisurely breakfast... And then I’m going to take that man into the bedroom and seduce him.”

Willa’s smile froze on her face. Her gaze shot to the sheriff. He was watching her. One eyebrow, as midnight black as his hair, arched in devilish humor.

“Do you have something sexy I could serve?” Mrs. Wittenberg continued. “The Food Network says breakfast can be a potent aphrodisiac.”

The mischief in the sheriff’s expression flared to a broad grin. A very sexy broad grin.

Alrighty. Willa looked at the pastries she’d baked with fresh appreciation. Up until now, the most interesting question she’d fielded was, Do you make gluten-free strudel?

“A sexy breakfast, hmm?” she said. “I have a chocolate chip babka Mr. Wittenberg might enjoy.” She pointed to a tall, dome-shaped breakfast bread filled to bursting with chopped chocolate and cinnamon sugar.

Mrs. Wittenberg eyed the coffee cake. “It looks good.” Her penciled brows knit together. “I don’t know if it’s sexy enough, though.” Turning, she enlisted the aid of Thunder Ridge’s finest. “Sheriff Neel, do you think a chocolate chip babka is sexy?”

Appearing to give the elderly woman’s question his serious consideration, he drawled, “I don’t watch too many cooking shows, Mrs. W, but I like to think I’m a fair judge of desirable. If the Food Network thinks you need an aphrodisiac, they’re underestimating your charms.” Because he towered above her by more than a foot, he had to bend down quite a bit to whisper loudly in her ear, “You’re already irresistible. Just think of the coffee cake as an appetizer.”

Turning back to Willa with a smile that seemed bigger than her face, Mrs. Wittenberg crowed, “I’ll take the babka! Can you put a bow on the box?”

“Of course.” Willa’s glance lighted on Sheriff Neel. He winked. Once again, heat filled her face. Like I’m a teenager, she thought disgustedly, giving herself a mental shake as she went about the business of wrapping the coffee cake.

Apparently Sheriff Neel was perfectly relaxed and comfortable continuing to have casual encounters with her after their episode of very heavy petting. It was, after all, the twenty-first century. Plus, there was no shortage of women in town who spoke frankly about their interest in bringing Thunder Ridge’s sheriff home for a night—or forever. What happened between him and Willa at the end of summer had probably happened to him a bunch of times.

Well, all except the part where Willa had pushed him away, exclaiming, “I can’t do this!” and then ran away as if the devil were on her heels. That had probably been a new experience for him.

“Here you are.” Handing Mrs. Wittenberg a white box with red lettering and a glittery gold bow, she said, “I added a couple of molasses snaps. For later.”

“Oh, thank you so much, dear. I’ll let you know how it goes!” Showing her deep dimples, Mrs. Wittenberg hugged the box to her as she exited the store.

Which left Willa alone with her next customer.

It was too quiet, too still in the bakery. Willa made a mental note to ask her boss if she could play some music during the day. Even the large fan that pulled heat out of the kitchen sounded like nothing more than a faint hum.

Derek didn’t seem bothered by the stillness. He was pretty still himself, watching her, waiting patiently. He had sought her out the day after their near miss, looking concerned rather than angry. He’d asked her why she’d run away, of course, and hadn’t been satisfied with her insistence that she’d simply been having a bad night, had thought a little socializing might do her some good, but hadn’t meant to let things go that far.

He’d frowned, staring at her, waiting for a fuller explanation, and she’d felt so guilty, because he was a good guy. When she’d waitressed at The Pickle Jar, she’d seen him nearly every day. Her employer, Izzy Thayer, was his best friend, and he’d come in regularly to have a cup of coffee, do some minor repairs or keep a very wary eye on the progress of Izzy’s relationship with Nate Thayer before Nate and Izzy married. Derek just seemed like a natural protector, and that was nice. Very nice. But Willa had learned there were some things from which no human power could protect you.

So she’d stuck to her guns, claiming that what had happened between them was a mistake and wouldn’t happen again. “I’m very, very sorry for the...” She’d stumbled, not knowing what to say. “For leading you to believe I was...” Ugh. “I mean, if I led you on in any way.” She was so not cut out for dating.

With the sexy, easy smile that was his trademark, he’d stood on the front porch of her rented cottage and shrugged away her apology. “No harm done. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“Me? I am.” She’d nodded vigorously, as if being emphatic would turn her lie into the truth. She hadn’t been “okay” in two years. But that had nothing to do with him.

Now, this morning, he transferred his gaze from her to the pastry case. “Got anything to tempt me?”

The words didn’t sound utterly innocent, but his tone did, so she took them at face value. Reaching into the case, she withdrew a large flaky golden rectangle.

“Our signature cheese Danish,” she said.

He squinted at the glazed pastry. “Where’s the cheese?”

“Inside. It’s filled with a blend of ricotta, cream cheese and honey. And a touch of orange zest and cinnamon.”

“A Danish with hidden charms.” He nodded. “Okay, I’ll try it. And a large black coffee.” Withdrawing his wallet, he pulled out a few bills. “I’m going to need the caffeine to stay extra alert now that I know Mrs. W’s plans.” He looked at Willa with a straight face, but roguish eyes so darkly brown they appeared black. “Mr. Wittenberg is ten years older than his wife, you know. If that babka really is an aphrodisiac, he may not survive the morning. I hope I don’t have to bring you in for aiding and abetting an aggravated manslaughter.”

The comment made Willa smile, and she remembered that he’d made her smile quite a lot, actually, that night in the tavern. “It isn’t my recipe,” she countered, “so I don’t think I should be held responsible.” She shrugged. “On the other hand, forewarned is forearmed, so thanks. I’ll go home at lunch and pack a duffle bag in case I have to run from the law.” She turned, the curve of his lips an enjoyable image to hold on to as she got him a large coffee to go and slid the Danish into a bag.

Derek paid her, the expression in his eyes that mesmerizing combo of sincere and humorous. “I hope you won’t run from the law. I’m here to help.” He gave her a quick nod. “Morning.”

She watched him go, sharing a few words with an older gentleman who walked in as he walked out.

“Good morning, Mr. Stroud,” Willa greeted the new arrival as he approached the counter. “Toasted bialy and cream cheese?” She named the savory round roll he had every morning. Soon, Jerry Ellison, who owned First Strike Realty up the block, arrived and sat with Charlie Stroud at one of the six small tables in the bakery. Business picked up the closer they got to 7:00 a.m., and Willa stayed busy throughout the morning.

“I’m here to help.”

A couple of hours after Derek left, his parting words continued to play through her mind. She’d heard those words, or a variation of them, before.

“Don’t try to do this on your own.”

“You’ve been through so much. Let us help.”

Didn’t people know that their help was sometimes the cruelest of gifts? What they really wanted was to help her “move on,” to “let go,” to be happy again the way she used to be. To forget. And she couldn’t let that happen.

“I don’t want help. I don’t need help,” she muttered to herself as she slid a fresh tray of oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies into the oven. Kim Appel, a mother of young children who worked from nine to three or seven at the bakery, depending on whether her husband was available to pick the kids up from school, was now behind the counter while Willa toiled in the kitchen. That gave Willa plenty of time alone to obsess.

Her mind raced, her heart pumped too hard, her stomach churned. What was the matter with her?

“You’re tired and you need some sleep, that’s what.” Wiping her perspiring palms on her apron, she gathered up bowls and utensils to stack them in the dishwasher. Maybe she should go home for a couple of hours. Kim could handle it; she was a capable worker. Willa could come back after a nap and close up shop.

Yeah, except whom was she kidding? She wasn’t going to sleep. She was going to hear Derek’s words over and over, see his sincere face, imagine his strong arms.

“I’m here to help.”

For nearly a year now she’d caught him watching her and had sensed all along that he was interested. Interested in a way that, in a vulnerable moment, could make her skin tingle and her veins flood with heat.

He’d been unfailingly polite, courteous, gentle—never pushy—almost as if he sensed he would have to move softly if he hoped to get anywhere with her at all. And that agonizing yearning to lose herself in his arms, to forget for a night, for an hour...that yearning would sometimes overtake her like it had in the tavern. Her heart would race, and she would imagine surrendering to his arms and to his smile, to the unbridled laughter of lovers.

She would sometimes dream of really moving on.

Willa set the timer on the oven so she wouldn’t burn the cookies while she cleaned the marble countertop. She hadn’t moved to Thunder Ridge, eight hundred miles from family, friends and a brilliant career as a chef and culinary arts instructor so that she could forget everything. No. She’d moved so that she could live the way she wanted to—quietly, privately. She’d moved so she could hang on to the one thing that still held her broken heart together: her memories.

So far, she saw no reason to change.

* * *

When Derek walked through the door to the sheriff’s office at seven-twenty, the sun was still trying to make its first appearance of the morning. The lights inside the large boxy room, however, were burning and emitted a warm, welcoming glow completely at odds with the rubber band that whizzed past his head with such force it could surely be classified a lethal weapon. Rearing back, Derek tightened his hold on the coffee cup, popping open the plastic lid and sloshing hot coffee over his hand and onto the linoleum floor.

“Russell,” he growled.

“Sorry!”

Derek’s deputy, Russell Annen, whipped his feet off the wide desk in front of him and stood. “I was aiming for Bat Masterson.” He jerked his thumb at a poster of Old West sheriffs on the wall opposite him as he ran to fetch paper towels and sop up the spill.

“I hope you aim a gun better than you shoot rubber bands.” Derek had almost had his eye put out on several occasions by Russell’s wayward shots. “Slow night?”

“Yup.” Russell bent to clean the mess. “Slow morning, too.”

“You might as well take off then.”

“I have another forty-five minutes.”

“That’s okay. You can get an early start.” Heading for his desk, Derek noted the remains of Russell’s breakfast littering the blotter: a liter bottle of soda and an open, half-eaten box of chocolate-covered donut holes. “Get a blood panel, would ya, Russell?” he suggested. “Check your sugar and cholesterol levels.”

His deputy grinned. “Hey, I have to get my fix somewhere. LeeAnn watched some video about diet and heart disease, and now all she makes when I come over is vegetables and beans.”

“Smart woman. You should marry her.”

“I hate beans. Before that video, we used to look for the best burger-and-brew pubs. Now when we go to Portland, she wants to find vegan restaurants. Do I look like I’m meant to be vegan?”

Derek eyed his six-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound deputy. “You do not.”

Russell began to wander toward their work area instead of toward the door, and Derek felt his shoulders tense. Seating himself behind the big oak desk, he pretended to become engrossed in his computer screen. Every morning after seeing Willa at the bakery, he required a few minutes alone to debrief himself. Willa took up residence in his thoughts more than anyone or, lately, anything else. It took some effort to refocus, and he liked to do that in private. His love life—or current lack of one—was his business, no one else’s.

On that note, he said pointedly before Russell could sit down, “Enjoy your time off.”

“I was planning to.” Russell sighed heavily. “Before.”

Do not, I repeat, do not take the bait. But Russell looked like a giant puppy whose favorite chew toy was stolen. Give me patience. “Okay.” Derek crossed his forearms on the desk. “Before what?”

Closing the distance between himself and the desk, Russell dropped into the chair opposite Derek’s. “See, it’s this way. I made reservations for dinner up at Summit Lodge. Tonight. Their special is prime rib.” He practically moaned the end of the sentence. “Eleven o’clock last night, LeeAnn tells me her cousin is in town today through the end of the week.”

“So?”

“So, LeeAnn is refusing to go anywhere unless Penelope has something to do, too. And, someone to do it with.”

“Can’t she find something to do on her own?”

Russell slapped his palm on the desktop. “Dude, right? That’s what I said. But Penelope and LeeAnn are females, see? They don’t think like us.”

Derek waited for more. “Okay. And?”

“So the only way I can go out with LeeAnn this week is if we double date.”

It took a couple of seconds—only a couple—to understand. “No.” Laughing humorlessly, Derek shook his head. “No way.”

“It would just be for a couple of dates.”

Picking up what was left of the coffee he’d brought over from the bakery, Derek leaned back so that his chair tilted on two legs. “No.”

“Three dates, tops.”

The front chair legs landed on the floor again with a thud. “Maybe you don’t know this about me, Russell. I don’t go on blind dates. Ever.” He took a sip of coffee. “Good luck. I’m sure you’ll find someone.”

“LeeAnn thinks you and Penelope—”

“Someone else.”

Blowing his breath out in frustration, Russell stood. “Fine.” He turned and took several steps toward the door. Derek began to relax, but obviously everything was not fine, because Russell turned back. “It’s not that you turn down blind dates. You don’t date at all.”

Narrowing his eyes, Derek warned, “Russell—”

“Not since that night at The White Lightning when you left with the woman who works at the bakery—”

“—you should go now.”

“I saw how you looked when you left with her. Everyone saw it. LeeAnn gave me holy hell for a week after that, wanting to know why I didn’t look at her that way.”

Derek was on his feet before he realized it. He didn’t even remember putting down his coffee. Laugh it off, he advised himself, but he didn’t feel very humorous. Covering his eyes, he took a deep breath and dragged his hand over his face. “What is your point?”

“I expected you to tell me you went to Vegas that night and got married by Elvis. But ever since then, you act like a monk. You wouldn’t talk about what happened with her, but it obviously didn’t work out, so why not go out with someone else? Why not Penelope? LeeAnn says she’s fun, and she’s not even vegan. I asked.”

Derek looked down at the desk. His feelings for Willa baffled even him; the last thing he wanted to do this morning was attempt to explain them to somebody else. “I’m going to make a pot of coffee now, while you get going.” He glanced up again. “If you don’t, I may decide to take a few days off and put you on extra shifts.”

The phone rang before either of them could say anything more, and Derek snatched it up. He listened for a bit, said, “Don’t do anything. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” and hung up. “Jerry Ellison’s potbellied pig knocked down Ron Raybold’s fence again,” he told Russell, “and Ron is threatening to shoot it and have a luau. I’m heading out.”

Resignedly following his boss to the door, Russell asked, “Jerry is single, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.”

“When you talk to him, ask if he wants to go out with Penelope.”

While Russell headed to his car, Derek put the “On a call... Back later” sign on the front door and went to forestall a neighborhood feud. Being the sheriff of Thunder Ridge was nine parts relationship mediation and one part active police duties. Truth was, most of the time he wouldn’t have it any other way. He might not have been born here, but he’d found a home for the first time in this place where, rogue pot-bellied pigs aside, people cared about each other’s business mostly because they cared about each other.

His life was good, and he hadn’t thought much was missing until Willa Holmes had moved to town.

While Derek drove to Ron’s place, he thought about the woman who had made him break one of his cardinal rules: no high-speed chases where women were concerned. If a woman didn’t want to be caught, MOVE ON.

Like any lesson that made a lasting impression, he’d learned that one the hard way. Maybe it was the curse of having raised himself until he was nineteen, but for a while he’d pursued unavailable women. An attempt, he supposed, to prove to himself that he could make someone stay. He’d sworn off that kind of bull a long time ago.

Until Willa.

When he was near her, his heart revved like a car with the accelerator pressed to the floor. She’d turned away after what had to be some of the best kissing he’d ever experienced. No, the best. And he knew she’d felt it, too, because when he let himself think about it, he could still feel her fingers clinging tightly to his shoulders...then moving like smoke up the back of his neck...threading through his hair... The longer they’d kissed, the more her body had melted into his, and the more his had felt as if it were about to burst into flame.

Just when he’d been certain he was experiencing the best moment of his life, Willa had cut and run. No real explanation given. Ever since then, he’d been on a high-speed chase all right, one with no end in sight.

But something in those mesmerizing eyes of hers, eyes with all the storminess and all the sunshine of a spring day in Oregon, told him to keep chasing. That she needed him to catch up even if she didn’t know it yet.