Cattail Ridge (10 page)

Chapter Twelve

W
hen Archer woke up the bedroom was dark. He was sore and stiff, and in the same position he’d been in when he laid down. A sliver of light was visible under the door. A blanket was over him and a warm, soft weight was resting against his back. For a full minute he held perfectly still and evaluated the situation. He knew he was at the Campbells’ farmhouse. That much he remembered. What he couldn’t figure out was who was in bed with him.

A tiny sigh, followed by a not-so-tiny kick to the back of his legs gave him the answer. Sydney. He heard someone coming down the hall and then a soft tap sounded on the door. It opened a crack and Emma’s head appeared.

“Are you awake?” she whispered.

“Yes.”

She came inside and eased the door halfway closed. “It’s six o’clock. I know you start work at seven, and we didn’t know if you were planning to go in today or not.” She came over and sat on the chair next to the bed.

Moving so as to not wake Sydney, Archer sat up. His right side was numb, and he flexed his fingers and toes. “What are the two of you still doing here?”

“My daughter refused to leave your side last night. She got up, had dinner, and came right back up here. So I indulged her and we stayed.”

“And I slept the whole time?” He leaned forward and ran his hands over his face, scrubbing hard.

“Yes, the whole time. In any event, if you still have your bag in the truck with you Mom said to grab it and just get cleaned up here if you want. If you’re going in to work, that is.”

“I probably should. They weren’t very happy I had to leave again.” He stood, then turned and covered Sydney back up.

Emma followed him out of the room. She kept her voice low. “Seriously? Your brother was injured defending this country and they gave you a hard time over going to him?”

Archer winced as he tried to get the kinks worked out of his upper back. “The new GM is a horse’s ass and he doesn’t like me. I don’t much care for him, either. It’s not the same place it used to be. He’s put a lot of policies in place that are going to hurt the dealership. Jack and I were talking about it a few weeks ago. We’re both surprised that I even got promoted to assistant manager.”

She crossed her arms over her chest as they stood close together in the hall, and shook her head. “You don’t think they’ll fire you over this do you?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past the guy.” He reached a hand out and touched a lock of her hair that was resting on her shoulder, then let his hand trail down her arm and twined their fingers together. “If they do I’ll find something else. I just hate to have to go through the hiring process again.”

She clasped his hand for a minute, then let go. “Mom has food going. Come on down when you get freshened up.”

He stood in the hall and watched her go. He didn’t head for the bathroom until she’d disappeared down the stairs.

Much as he’d feared, the day was shot from the get-go. Jack greeted him when he clocked in with a shake of the head, and Archer knew it was on. At lunchtime the new GM called him in to his office.

“Sit down, sit down. How’s your brother?” he asked as he took his own chair. Archer answered, even though he knew the man’s question was just a polite veneer over his seething dislike.

“He’s much improved. He had a close call, though.”

The GM nodded. “Good, good. Well, here’s the problem. I know you had an emergency you had to attend to, but now that you’re the assistant manager you can’t just take off like you would if you were a regular mechanic. We have an orderliness we have to maintain in the department, you know.”

“Do tell.”

He flashed a too-bright smile at Archer. “Yes. And the situation is…, well, I’ve written up a warning and put it in your file. Between your absence in July and this last little trip, it doesn’t look good. If you have another unexpected ‘emergency’ you might be facing termination.”

Archer was opening his mouth to tell the officious little prick what he could do with his warning when the dealership’s receptionist tapped on the door.

“Sir, your one o’clock is here.”

“I’ll be right out, Brenda.” He stood, and Archer followed suit. He had to clench his hands to keep from sucker-punching the man. Not only would that get him fired, he’d probably be arrested.

“You understand what I’m saying. Right, Archer?” he asked.

“Oh, perfectly.” He preceded the man from his office and turned toward the service department, surprised steam wasn’t coming out of his ears. From the way one of the service techs got out of his way when he came through the door he guessed he looked more than a little upset.

Instead of going to Jack’s office he clocked out and headed to his truck. If he stayed inside the building another minute his temper might get the best of him.

Most of the time Archer was easygoing, and it took a lot to get him truly angry. Logan had always teased that he had their mother’s temperament. Since she’d died when Archer was six, he mostly had to take his brother’s word for that as his own memories of her were fuzzy. But there were a few things that pushed his buttons and his family was it. The jerkwad’s attitude, making it sound like Archer had just jetted off to a vacation spot, and the fact that he’d been written up for the first time in his adult life, pushed his temper into nuclear-overload territory.

He walked the back perimeter of the parking lot until he felt calm enough to go back inside. Once there, he went to Jack’s office.

“Have a minute?”

Jack waved him inside. “Come in. Close the door. What’s up?”

“Two guesses.” Archer slumped in the guest chair. “I’m not coming to you to get you involved in this. I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

Jack took off his reading glasses and set them on the stack of papers he’d been perusing. “I’m afraid things will come to an ugly head between the two of you, and it won’t be good when it happens. I wish there was something I could do.”

Archer waved the words away. “No. You’re not the one causing the problem. I just didn’t want it all to come as a total surprise to you. I’d better get back out there.”

By the time six o’clock came around he was more than ready to go home. He swung by the post office on his way and picked up his mail. He didn’t go through it until he was home and showered. When he did, the letter he found put “Paid” to an already miserable day.

His ex-wife was going in front of the parole board Tuesday afternoon.

After he was shot, Candace had been arrested and charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, as well as a sundry of other charges. Given that she was pregnant with another man’s child and that she had been vocal about planning what to spend Archer’s life insurance money on, her lawyer convinced her to plead guilty. She’d been sentenced to a minimum of ten years, with up to twenty-five possible. She wasn’t even supposed to be eligible for parole for another two years.

The letter gave instructions on how Archer could go about protesting her release. The only option left to him now, since the hearing was tomorrow, was to drive to the prison where she was housed and testify in person.

If he missed another day of work the day after the jerkwad’s warning he might as well kiss his job good-bye.

Given the fact that his father was an alcoholic, Archer didn’t drink very often. And he didn’t keep alcohol in the house, but tonight he’d pay a hundred dollars for a bottle of something more powerful than the cola that was in his fridge.

He literally didn’t know what to do with himself for a few minutes. When the phone rang and the caller ID showed Logan’s number, he cursed under his breath. His brother would easily pick up on his emotional turmoil and right now the last thing Archer wanted was to cause more stress for Logan. At the same time, he couldn’t not answer. He picked up the phone.

“Hey. How are you?”

“Ready to lead a jail break. How was the trip home?” Logan’s voice sounded so much stronger than it had, Archer felt some of his tension melt away.

“Smooth enough. How was your first day of rehab?”

“Not the smoothest. Let’s just say I have a love-hate relationship with my therapist. Did you see your ladies?”

Archer sank back onto the couch with a little laugh. “Yeah, I saw them. I went straight to the farm. Actually fell asleep there yesterday afternoon and didn’t wake up until this morning. Sydney stayed right with me. Emma said she wouldn’t leave.”

Logan didn’t speak for a minute. “I’m going to have to come down there and meet them, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, I think so. I think you’d like the whole family.” One female Campbell in particular sprung to Archer’s mind. He wondered just what kind of sparks would fly between Rachel and Logan when they met. Amelia wasn’t the only one who liked a love story.

They chatted for a few more minutes, and Archer thought he’d gotten away with not having to tell Logan about the parole hearing. But at the very last minute his brother asked him what was wrong.

“I just had a really long day,” he hedged. “Nothing to write home about.”

Normally Logan would have pressed, but he must have heard something in Archer’s voice, and he let the answer ride.

Archer promised to call him the next day to check in and they hung up. He tossed the cordless phone onto the couch beside him and closed his eyes.

Part of him didn’t even want to bother with testifying. He’d given Candace enough of his life. He wasn’t willing to give her any more. But another part of him was afraid that if he didn’t testify, she’d be released. And he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.

With virulent curses, he picked the phone back up and called Jack. Gilly, Jack’s wife, answered.

“Hey, Archer. How are you?”

“I’m okay. I’m sorry to bother you. Is he busy?”

“Nope, just watching some TV. Hang on a second.” She handed the phone over.

“Hello?”

“Jack. You’re probably going to curse me when you hear this, but I’ve got to take tomorrow off.” He explained the situation and waited for the fallout.

“Well, shit. How do you want me to handle this? Obviously, you have to go.”

“I know. And this puts you in a bad spot. I’m sorry.”

The older man grunted. “No. You’ve just had a run of bad luck lately. You go do what you need to do, and leave the little twit to me. I’ll handle things on this end. I have a couple of cards I can play.”

“Thank you, Jack. I’ll pay you back for this. I swear I will.”

“I don’t want to hear any of that. You’d do the same for me. Call me when you get back in town. And Archer? Good luck.”

As he prepared for bed that night Archer couldn’t keep his mind from going back over his marriage to Candace. The trip down memory lane wasn’t pleasant and he tossed and turned all night. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he got up the next morning, and all during the four-plus hour drive to the women’s prison where Candace was housed.

He just hoped that this time his instincts were wrong. Because he had no idea what would happen if she was paroled. Having just decided to pursue Emma, if Candace somehow interfered in that, he didn’t know how he would handle it. On top of Logan’s injury and the threat to his job, her parole might just be the straw that broke this camel’s back.

Chapter Thirteen

T
hursday morning, Emma was getting set up for the first appointment of the day when the bell over the door jingled. Zanny’s happy greeting alerted her to the identity of the visitor.

“Archer! What kind of trouble are you getting into today?”

“As much as I can. How are you?”

Emma stepped out into the reception area. Sure enough, Archer was leaning against Zanny’s desk, clad in a casual shirt and blue jeans. He had a to-go cup from the bakery next door in his hand. She smiled.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey. Thought I’d swing by, say hello.”

Emma cocked her head to the side and studied him. “What’s going on?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I wanted to see if it was okay if I pick up Sydney after she gets out of preschool this afternoon, spend some time with her.”

She put the camera lens she still carried in its case and set it on the desk. “Yes, it’s fine. But why aren’t you at work?” She had a sneaking suspicion she knew, and her temper started to heat up on Archer’s behalf.

“Well, about that. Uh, as it turns out I’m taking a little vacation from work.” He took a sip of his drink. “I may have been let go.”

Zanny looked as dismayed as Emma felt, and also surprised. She was the first to speak. “You were what?”

He shrugged. “It was more of a mutual decision than a one-way street. And Jack made some calls, pulled some strings. We start our new jobs next week.”

Emma waved a hand. “Hang on. Jack got fired, too? Stop being so mysterious, please. What happened?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Monday was rough. I got written up for taking off this last time to be with Logan. I had to go to Peewee Valley Tuesday, which I found out about late Monday evening.”

“Wait,” Emma interrupted. “Isn’t Peewee Valley where the women’s prison is?”

“It is. Candace had a parole hearing.” He paused and let that sink in. “Anyhow, when I got back late Tuesday, there was a message waiting for me from jerkwad. He was going to have Jack clean out my locker, and they’re mailing my last check to me. Well, what he wasn’t counting on was that Jack got mad as hell about that. Jack went in Wednesday morning and told the little pissant in no uncertain terms what he could do with his job. And then he went down to the competition and got both of us jobs there. With raises. I’ll be a straight mechanic again, but that’s fine.”

Emma’s grin felt feral. “Way to go, Uncle Jack. I’ll bet the pissant about peed his pants.”

A glimmer of a smile made its way onto Archer’s face. “I guess the owner just about reamed him a new one when he found out. But we’re not going back. No matter what they offer us. It’s changed too much.”

“So you’re out running around, taking advantage of having a few days off?” Zanny asked.

“Absolutely. Since I missed her birthday, I thought spending some one-on-one time with Sydney might go a long way toward healing any hurt feelings.”

Emma shook her head. “She’s not hurt. She’s just happy you’re home. Damn, Archer, sounds like you’ve had an awful week. At least tell us that the parole hearing went well.” She didn’t want to have to say his ex-wife’s name. She didn’t like the idea of him having been married to someone, as jealous as that made her sound.

He blew out a breath. “She’ll be out by the end of the year. Apparently, she’s been an ideal prisoner, found Jesus, all that shit. Excuse my language.”

“They should have fried her harpy ass, if you ask me,” Emma countered. “What does that mean for you?”

“Hell if I know. I thought I had at least two more years before I had to worry about her being out. I’ve not told Logan yet. He’ll lose his mind when he hears.”

From the edgy tenseness that surrounded him, Emma surmised Logan wasn’t the only Gibson the information was giving trouble. The door behind him opened, and her ten o’clock appointment walked in.

“Janie, I’ll be with you in just a minute,” she told the realtor, who was there to have her portrait redone. “I’ll call her sitter, let her know you’ll be by to pick Sydney up. She gets off the bus at around eleven thirty,” she told Archer. “Do you know where Mrs. Hendricks lives?”

“Yes. What time should I have her home?”

“A little after six, or you can drop her off here earlier if you want.” She made the call. Mrs. Hendricks had watched both of Zanny’s boys from the time they were toddlers, and had started watching Sydney this summer when Eliza became engaged. When she hung up, she dug into the cup on Zanny’s desk where she stashed her spare car keys.

“You’ll need her booster seat to go in the truck. Do you know how to get it out of my car?”

He grinned at her. “I think I can figure it out. Will it be safe to put in the front seat?”

Emma thought about his truck, which was an extended cab. “I think so. She’ll get a kick out of that, being able to ride in the front like a big girl. Just lock my car up when you get it out.”

“I will.”

“Archer? Have fun, but be safe. Keep an eagle eye on her. She’ll get away from you faster than you think.” She fought against biting her lip with worry, not wanting him to think she didn’t trust him with Sydney. She did, but she knew her daughter.

“I promise I’ll take good care of her. Thanks for letting me do this.” He picked up his cup and saluted her with it. “I’ll bring the keys right back.”

Zanny sighed as he walked out the door. “I love John to pieces, but that man… Emma, if you don’t snatch him up, there’s something wrong with you.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to be snatched up.”

Zanny and the realtor both laughed.

“Honey, that man is ripe for the picking as long as you’re the one doing it,” Janie teased. “Are you dating?”

“Not quite. We’re… I don’t know what we are. But today should be a good endurance test for him. He’s had Sydney by himself a few times, but only for an hour or so. He’ll have her, what? Six, seven hours today? That’s if he makes it that long.”

Zanny grinned up at her. “Oh, I think he’ll do very well. And then you won’t have any excuses when he finally asks you out.”

“Hush. Janie, let’s get this new portrait done.”

Emma had to backtrack to get the lens she’d intended to use as she was so distracted by the thought of Archer, and especially of Archer with Sydney, she left it on Zanny’s desk. Zanny was holding it out with a knowing smile.

“Not a word, Zan, not a word.”

“I didn’t say a thing, thank you very much.”

“You didn’t have to. I’ve known you more than two decades. I can practically read your mind,” Emma retorted.

“Then you should know how happy it makes me to see you finally having a romance. Go do your job. We’ll talk later.”

Emma knew her cheeks were hot when she went back in to the studio section of the building. It was becoming a common occurrence. She’d blushed more the last few weeks than she had in her entire adult life. Something told her she’d better get used to the idea, at least for the next little while.