Betrayal (Southern Belles) (2 page)

Reluctantly, Annie nodded, and stepped into the front door, her heart pounding as her rescuer disappeared around the corner of the house.

Chapter 3

Annie was pacing the floor, nervous and scared. For a second, she thought about ducking back into the coat closet, but decided that it might be worse for her if she did. She had no idea if someone had actually managed to get in, and she had no intention of going back into the kitchen to find out.

Where is he? What’s going on?

She squished herself down into a small gap between the old sofa and the corner of the wall. With the heavy couch next to her, and the wall surrounding her, she felt as safe as she thought she could. Her breath came in ragged little panicked bursts as she sat alone in the dark room. She was positive that any intruder would be able to find her just by the sound of her thumping heart.

After a long silence, she heard a rattling at the back door again, and she gripped her legs tighter to her, wishing that she could shrink into the wall.
Where was the cop?
She wished that he would say something, or give a shout, because she was suddenly afraid that he might be hurt. What would she do then?
Where’s my phone? Crap!  It’s still in the closet!

Just as she was trying to get up the courage to crawl over to the closet and get her phone, she heard loud footsteps on the porch outside. She held her breath, absolutely terrified, until she heard three loud knocks on the door. “Ma’am, are you in there? Can you please open up?””

She rushed to the door, unbolting it with nervous fingers. The cop stood calmly in her doorway, his gun drawn.

She nearly yelped at the sight of the gun, but he smiled at her.

“Ma’am, your back pasture fence has been knocked down, and there are definitely marks on your door. Looks like an animal was here. Probably coyotes. ” He said, his eyes scanning the room behind her. “But your bolt held and I don’t think they got inside.” He turned to smile at her. “Are you here all alone? Do you want me to check the house, just in case?”

Annie nodded, her eyes wide as she backed up to let him inside. He barely glanced at her as he moved through the house, scanning each room with his gun still drawn. After what seemed like forever, he finished checking all the rooms in the big house. Annie finally started to calm down. “Ma’am, I checked all the rooms in the house, and there is no one else here.”

She remembered Marti’s laughter over the coyotes. What if it really was some sort of animal?  Annie felt a blush streaking over her cheeks.

For the first time, she noticed the policeman. He was a lot younger than she had expected, probably closer to her age, and was absolutely beautiful. She figured he was about 6’2” A lot taller than her 5’7” frame. Broad shoulders and a perfectly suntanned body that made her think all sorts of things. She could see his strong arms through his uniform.
He must work out,
she thought. With his strong jaw and big brown eyes, he could have been a model. She giggled.
Do they have ‘policeman of the month’ calendars?

Annie was confused. She was sure that Marti would have told her about a guy that gorgeous in town, but Marti hadn’t said anything. Annie had grown up here, she knew everyone in town, but this cop certainly didn’t seem like anyone she knew. She watched him, trying to think of who he could possibly be. He was probably married, and that’s why Marti hadn’t mentioned him.

He double checked the house, and they found themselves back in the entryway. He smiled softly at her, slipping his gun back into the holster. As he moved, his back and shoulders shifted gracefully, and Annie had to shake herself, focusing. Marti would have mentioned this guy even if he were a monk.
Who was he?

“Well, everything looks secure, but it’s a big old house, with lots of empty space. You might want to stay in town until I can get back here in the daylight, just to be safe.”

Annie thought about it, but all she could think of was Marti waving away the coyotes with a laugh. “No, I’m alright. But like you said, no one is here and no one got in.” She smiled, looking around the big house. “I’m just not used to this country living like I used to be.”

He grinned lopsidedly, and suddenly Annie felt a wave of recognition run through her. He looked so familiar. If only she could figure out how she knew him. “Well, Ma’am, It certainly isn’t like L.A.” he said.

She started a little, but caught herself. Of course he would know who she was. It was a small town. She was headline news. She had to expect him to know her.
Was he at Grandpa's funeral? Did she meet him there?

She wished she knew who he was so she could ask about his family. “Can you stay and sit with me for a little bit, though?” She asked, feeling a bit more nervous about it than she should have. If only he wasn’t so hot. “Just until my friend Marti gets here.”

A shadow seemed to pass over his face, but he nodded. “Marti? Marti Odell? Sure. She’s just up the road, she won’t be long.”

Annie nodded, confusion still sweeping through her as she tried to figure out who he was. “The kitchen is probably the brightest,” she said, and he nodded “After you, Ma’am,” heading off toward the light of the kitchen. Annie rushed to pick up her phone and beg Marti to come over. Marti laughed and Annie knew that she had a long “told you so” conversation coming. She didn’t care. She certainly wasn’t going to try to stay the night alone again.

She turned into the kitchen to face the policeman. He grinned that same crooked smile, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. “Can I get you some tea?” She asked.

“Sure. I would appreciate that, ma’am. And I’m sorry about your grandfather. Ol’ Graham was a great guy. I’m really sorry.” He replied.

Annie turned. “You knew my grandfather?”

“Sure did, ma’am. He did a lot for this little town and the church. Everyone knew him. Never asked for any help, though. Proud old man. If I had known Gibbon’s Ranch was in this much trouble, I would have fixed it myself. No one even knew he was sick.”

Annie nodded, and busied herself at the refrigerator, pouring two tall glasses of tea from a large pitcher. “Thank you so much for coming out“, glancing behind her to find his eyes dancing in laughter as he watched her. “I was freakin' terrified.”

He nodded, still smiling to himself. “That’s what we’re here for. I’ll come back tomorrow when it’s light outside, and see if I can’t figure out what it was that frightened you so much.”

She smiled at him, finally passing him a glass of tea, the ice cubes bobbing cheerfully. “Thank you, I would sure appreciate that.”

He grinned, his fingers lingering just a little while over hers on the glass, and she felt a shiver run up her arm. She forced herself to look away, and pulled up a chair across from him, her body still shaking a little. She needed to distract herself. She waved vaguely out toward the town, her voice light. “I guess I didn’t expect it to be so hard to come back.” She said, turning to smile at him. “But I do remember a lot of things about this town.”

He took a long sip of tea. “Well, eight years is a long time, and a lot of things have happened. People move away, new people move in, folks grow up, have families. Lots of things change.”

She smiled at him, glad that he understood. She waved at his uniform. “Like you.” She smiled, hoping that her guess was right. “You’re a policeman now.”

He laughed, shaking his head a little. “More than just a policeman, ma’am” He pulled at the uniform at his chest, showing off a shiny badge over his heart. “I’m actually the sheriff here in Mountain View.”

“Oops!”  She giggled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

He shrugged, looking away as though embarrassed. “No big deal, ma’am. In a small town like this, well, it’s not like there are a lot of criminals running around.”

Annie was blushing, shaking her head. “That’s still pretty cool. I mean the town Sheriff and all.”

He smiled, and she had to look away to take a sip of her tea as well. She felt embarrassed, not knowing who he was. If only she knew. She steeled herself, and finally decided to just ask. Looking back at him, she smiled. Before the words could leave her mouth, there was a loud knock on the front door.

They both jumped, and then laughed as Annie hurried to the door to let Marti in. Marti scowled at her, shaking her finger. “I asked you how many freakin’ times, “Are you sure? Are you okay?” and all you did was say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ then you call me at this ungodly hour and need me to come rescue you from the dang coyotes.” She pulled Annie in close for a hug, “It’s alright, honey bun, I’m here for ya. Just glad you’re okay”.

Annie pulled away, feeling sheepish, and shrugging. There was a soft cough behind her, and she suddenly remembered her manners. Turning, she smiled at the cop, but Marti noticed him first. Marti sneered.

“Well, I'll be damned, it’s Tommy! Tommy Donovan, town sheriff. You’re the cop on duty tonight? Well, thanks for taking care of my girl here. You can go now.” She waved her hand. “The cavalry has arrived.” She squeezed Annie tight, but Annie was too busy gazing at the cop to squeeze back.

Tommy? Tommy Donovan? The geeky kid from school?
Surely this incredibly delicious man couldn’t be him. But Marti was sure, chatting him up, shooing him off, letting him know he could leave. Tommy answered with a laugh, his eyes catching on Annie’s. He knew she couldn’t figure out who he was and he loved it.

He bowed out; he had to get back to patrol. Annie watched him go, her mouth agape. She turned to Marti, hands on her hips. “Who the hell was that and why didn’t you tell me?”

Marti laughed, heading into the kitchen to pour a glass of iced tea. “It’s no big deal, Annie. It’s Tommy. He’s an asshole. Finest asshole I ever saw in these parts, but nonetheless, an asshole. You don’t want him.”

Annie scowled and followed her into the kitchen. This night had been a whole lot more than she had bargained for.

Chapter 4

As Annie lay in bed thinking, she thought about Tommy. They were back in sixth grade, with the big baseball field out around her. She remembered the kids from her childhood were all there, Marti and her on the same team, Big Ernie, not so big yet, standing on the pitcher’s mound. Annie was already on third base, ready to go running for home, waiting for the next kid on her team to get up to bat.

Suddenly she heard Marti, sitting in the pit wail. “Not Tommy!”

To her dismay, she watched as the skinny kid scurried his way up to the plate. He held the bat awkwardly in his grip, his eyes darting nervously throughout the crowd of kids as boos and shouts rained down on him. Annie had to groan. They were so close to winning, but Tommy could ruin everything.

Big Ernie was thrilled. He knew exactly what was coming. He winked at his teammates quickly before launching a fastball that even Annie would have had a hard time hitting. It flew right past Tommy, and by the time he’d swung, the ball was already in the catcher’s grip.

More boos from her team rained down on him, and cheers from the other team. Annie groaned, gritting her teeth. “Come on, idiot! Just hit the stupid ball!”

Tommy glanced her way, his face flashing even more scared, before he turned back to face down the pitcher. She could see him grit his teeth, his whole face a mask of concentration. Once again, the ball sped right past him, and he missed it by a mile. Jeers sounded around him, and Annie and Marti joined in as they all yelled the familiar chant from elementary school. “Loser! Loser! Loser!”

Tommy already had tears in his eyes, and the bat wavered in his hands. This time, Tommy didn’t even swing at the ball, which sailed perfectly right past his bat. Tommy was out, and marched quietly back to the bench, where he tried to ignore the jeers and boos from his teammates.

Annie groaned. They only had one shot left before the game was over, and they needed a solid home run. Then, there were cheers. She looked up to see Marti striding cheerfully toward the plate, swinging her bat like a pro. Annie joined in the cheers, as Marti stepped up to bat. Big Ernie scowled, and threw his fastest, but Marti was too good. She slammed that ball right out of the field, and Annie and the others flew over home plate.

Everyone surrounded Marti, cheering and chanting “Marti! Marti! Marti!”

Tommy slowly trudged away. He was casting sad glances back to the field, shaking his head in dismay. All he could think about was her, Annie. He was thinking how beautiful she was, and how much he wanted to just talk to her. He knew he was never going to get that chance. Didn’t she know that baseball isn’t everything?

Annie sighed, her heart aching for Little Tommy. She glanced around her dark room, feeling horrible. She had always been so mean to Tommy just because the other kids were. What was she thinking? Poor guy. How awful.

She turned over to go to sleep, Marti already snoring softly in the bed beside her. She would show Tommy that she wasn’t the same person she used to be. She’d show him that she could care about him, too.

Chapter 5

Annie woke with a start. Marti was already long gone, off to get ready for her job almost before the sun had risen. Annie lay in her pajamas, wondering what had woken her, when she heard the knock again.

She ran down the stairs to the front door, flinging it open. To her surprise, Tommy stood there, still in his uniform, looking surprised when the door flew open so fast. He flashed that lopsided grin and Annie smiled back. Of course it was Tommy. She couldn’t imagine how she hadn’t instantly recognized that silly smile.

The cool morning air had chilled her and she shivered. Her nipples hardened under her pajama top. He blushed and cleared his throat, his eyes taking in her pajamas nervously. “I’m sorry if it’s too early, ma’am. I just thought I’d check things out before I started my shift this morning.”

“Oh! And call me Annie” Annie blushed, crossing her arms nervously across her top. “Sure, let me get my shoes, and I’ll go out with you.”

“Yes, Ma- ‘er uh… Annie” He nodded, smiling. His hands resting calmly on his heavy belt. Annie turned quickly to slip on a pair of heavy mud boots that rested just inside the door. She followed Tommy across the porch and around the back of the house. He moved with confident grace, and Annie wondered what had happened to the clumsy kid she had once known.