Hard Irish (17 page)

They went back to Jesse’s office and he gave her a pad and pen and set a paper in front of her.  “The contents are listed here.  Write down the bedtime story then anything that comes to mind about the other items.  Meanwhile, I’m going to show Jared a few things on the computer in the office next door.  Just call, if you need us, okay?”

“I will.”  Rocky picked up the paper, finding it hard that everything in her mind and heart—the hurt and the fear she felt—was reduced to a list.

Jared set his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.  He seemed as upset as she did.  “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “I’m doing as you advised, waiting until we have all the facts before jumping to conclusions again, but I also have to accept the fact that my folks, for whatever reason, deceived me in some very big things.”

Jesse took hold of Jared’s elbow.  “Come on, bro.  Let her work and let’s go talk.”

Jared looked strangely pale as he released her shoulder and went with Jesse.  Shrugging it off, Rocky set to work, and the bedtime story took shape.

In a faraway land lived a princess, big and strong.  She had a wonderful life being beloved by her father the king and her mother the queen.  But all had not always been well in the Kingdom of Ire.

The Kingdom was poor and there’d been trouble and unrest among its people.  They wanted to have all of the riches that the Dragon-lords from the neighboring kingdom had.  Then one day, a great knight had come to them and promised to do wonderful things for the people of the land.  He promised that the Kingdom of Ire would be richer and greater than the Dragon-lord’s if the people would follow his lead.

The riches came in and the kingdom thrived, but the knight was not who he pretended to be.  In truth, this great knight was really an evil lord, and without the people or the king and queen knowing it, he did bad things to the Dragon-lord people.  He stole and killed to gain the riches from them.  That brought the darkness of the Dragon-lord’s army over the land.

When the King and Queen discovered what the false knight had done, they banished him from the kingdom.  The riches that had been ill gotten were sealed away and the King and Queen tried to build anew.   They had a precious child, a warrior princess, and thought that all would be well, but the shadow of the Dragon-lords still lingered.

As the princess grew big and strong, the King and Queen knew that she would one day be the salvation of them all and remove the darkness blighting the kingdom.  The day came that the Dragon-lords wanted justice for all that the evil knight had taken.  They stole the heart and soul of the Queen and left her burning in a fire.  The King, destroyed by grief, was frozen in place as he watched his worst nightmare come to life.  He was unable to save his beloved Queen.

The warrior princess was at first lost and afraid.  How could she save her mother?  How could she save her father?  How could she pay the Dragon-lords their due?  She took up her sword and began searching high and low throughout the land for an answer.

She encountered many on her journey.  One little man, a leprechaun, told her that a pot of gold could be found at the end of the rainbow, but the journey would not be easy.  She had to travel through the valley of darkness and fight monsters that would try and steal all the love she held in her heart.  But the warrior princess remained brave.  She made it to the end of the rainbow, found the gold, and saved the kingdom by returning to the Dragon-lords what was theirs.  Only then was her mother’s heart and soul restored.  Her father took his beloved Queen home and they lived happily ever after.

Rocky set the tale aside in a miff, annoyed to realize the story was obviously more than just a story.  It was a message her mother had embedded in her mind as a child.  Rocky wasn’t sure what sort of parent would do that and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be a warrior princess.  She was thinking that the princess needed to move to a new kingdom and not worry about being the salvation of everyone or paying any Dragon-lord their due.

Jared followed Jesse into another office.  It had the same layout, but was smaller and had minimal furnishings.  Pure business straight up and down.  Mulligan was engraved in brass on the desktop.  Jared wasn’t surprised.  He’d met the enigmatic employee once or twice.  Both he and the investigator Paul Hanson had been with the company for years.

 “Two things.  You have to go back into my office and tell Rocky who you are and where are your crutches?  Jackson left a message on my cell that said you should to stay on crutches for the next few weeks to be on the safe side.  You’ve a hairline fracture and should give it time to heal.”  Jesse’s gaze as hard-assed as hell.

“Forget the crutches.  We both know I’ll heal just fine and there is no way I’m telling Rocky anything right now.  She’s dealing with enough shit as it is.”

“Do you think it’s going to be any better when we get to the bottom of this and she learns you aren’t a bodyguard, but a construction competitor?”

“No.  But at least when and if she kicks my ass to the curb, I’ll know a freaking truck isn’t waiting around the corner, ready to run her over.  Don’t push this, Jesse.  I may not know her well, but given what her parents have dumped on her, the last thing she needs at this point is to find out I led her to believe a few things that aren’t true.”

“You’re making a big mistake, bro.”

“It’s my deal.  And as far as I see it, the only mistake is doing something that will alienate her right now.”

Jesse shook his head.

Jared prayed that he was making the right choice, right now.  Unfortunately, doubt left an uneasy feeling in his gut.  Getting to the bottom of this mystery then telling Rocky what he never should have tried to hide in the first place, was going to be hell.

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

Rocky left the R&D facility with her head spinning and her emotions careening.  She wasn’t sure what was real about her life and what wasn’t.  Who’d been honest with her and who hadn’t.  Jared had been a rock of support, but it didn’t stop her from feeling that everything around her was falling apart.  She had missed calls on her cell from Maggie and Alice.  Both left a message about Pat’s death. Maggie was saddened by the older man’s passing. Alice was shocked and wanting to know what had happened.  Rocky couldn’t call them back.  She couldn’t talk about it yet, couldn’t fathom that he’d take his life.  She just saw Pat two days ago in her father’s room at the nursing home.  Talked to him.  He’d been his usual self.  She felt as if she were drowning.  She couldn’t breathe.

“I need to go see my father,” she said, grasping for something, anything to set her world back right.  Then she remembered the jobsite.  How could she have almost forgotten it completely?  “I need to check the Drake jobsite, too.  Mack said he and Maggie would take care of it, but it’s my responsibility.”  Everything was crashing down on her. 

Jared stopped before pulling onto the highway and heading back into town.  He put the truck in park and set his hand over her fist.  “Look at me, Rocky.”

She lifted her gaze from her lap.  The care in his eyes wrapped around her, solid and steadying. 

“You sound panicked.  You need to take a moment to eat and to regroup.”  

She shook her head.  “I don’t—”

“You must. All you managed was fruit this morning.  I don’t care if we do drive-thru again or go to a restaurant, but you have to eat.  You’re under a lot of stress.  Not eating will only make thinking clearly that much harder.  You have to remember that you are not alone.  I am with you and we’ll figure this out together.  We’ll go anywhere you need to go and see anyone you need to see, but first we are going to take care of you.”  He brushed a kiss to her temple and squeezed her hand. 

She unfisted her hand and clasped his.  She was panicking.  Sucking in a deep breath, she let it go slowly, much as she did in yoga.  “You’re right.  I would have fainted in the lab if you hadn’t made me eat earlier.  We both need to eat and take a moment to breathe.  With you and your company’s resources, I need to realize that everything possible is being done.”

Jared exhaled as if she’d punched him or as if he’d just cleared an Olympic high jump.

“Are you all right?”  She studied his expression, seeing that he was as worn and worried by the events of the morning as she was.

He gave a half smile and looked out window as if searching for something. “Yeah, Sheridan-Weldon Solutions is a Godsend right now no matter what the circumstances.” 

She frowned, but before she could ask him what he meant, he changed the subject.  “What do you want to eat?”  He put the truck in gear and pulled onto the highway.

“Drive-thru sounds like cardboard at the moment, but the thought of people and crowds is worse.  I’m too raw inside.”

“I’m with you.  I know just where to go.  It’s close, quiet, and not far from the Drake Hotel.”  “That was easy.  I’d thought I’d have to argue more.”

“I can be reasonable,” she said, already feeling herself relax inside.  Just talking to him for a few minutes and reaffirming his solid presence helped.

He arched a skeptical brow at her response.

“On occasion,” she added, almost smiling.

“That makes two of us.”

“Some more than others,” she quipped and surprisingly laughed when he frowned.  Teasing him eased some of the heaviness inside her and gave her that close to “normal” feeling she desperately needed at the moment. 

Well, what she could call normal.  Nothing had been normal since Jared kissed her in the bar.  How would their relationship have progressed under “normal” circumstances?  Would they have dated a while before making love?

The speed in which their relationship had progressed was as unsettling as it was comforting.  In some ways she knew him and was closer to him than anyone else in her life.  In other ways, they were still strangers.

When it came to sex there hadn’t been a hesitant bone in Jared’s body.  He’d thrust her into a full sexual arena and made every moment sizzle.  Collin had been her first and only.  Their first forays into sex had been tentative and after marriage it had become a weekly routine.  Somehow she couldn’t imagine sex with Jared ever being routine.

Given the force of their attraction, she wouldn’t have been able to keep him at arm’s length for long even under “normal” circumstances.  They would have kissed the first date, gone farther on the second date, and would have likely hit a home run on the third.  Still, there were some normal things that it would be nice to have.  “Guess this lunch will be our first date.”

He sat up straight, blinking with surprise.  His foot even fell off the gas pedal, causing the truck to list and jerk as he recovered.  “Hell...I...but, just damn, Rocky.  It never even occurred to me that we hadn’t dated.  We just sort of hit it off in the bedroom and I just assumed—but damn.  You’re right.  No, this will not be our first date.  Our first date will commence when this situation you are in is resolved.  There’s more to me than a good f—uh, than being good in the bedroom.  I’m a great guy.  I can be romantic and fun and adventurous.”

“Deal,” she said, holding back a laugh.  She had no doubt that he was a great guy, but someday she’d make sure he amended his assessment of himself in the bedroom.  He wasn’t just good.  He was great.  Amazing.  Addictive.  And she didn’t need to sleep around to figure that out.

There was difference between Jared and Collin when it came to sex.  Collin enjoyed sex.  He wasn’t bad at it, but his focus in the bedroom had been getting off.  Where Jared’s focus and sexual energy were in getting
her
off.  Being the center of that charismatic attention was the most seductive thing in the world.  A real turn on.

He took her to a seafood restaurant on the Savannah River and she ordered creamy clam chowder along with a shrimp salad.  Exactly what her stomach could handle at the moment.  They sat in the outside dining area where the breeze flowed in tandem with the river.  Spanish moss swayed in the live oaks lining the water and pelicans provided a show as they fought over a fish and pier-sitting rights on the dock.  He didn’t talk about any of the day’s harrowing events.  He told her stories about the exploits he and his brother’s had while growing up and made her laugh.

“Being older, Jesse and Jackson were naturally doing forbidden things that only older boys should do, like jumping and racing dirt bikes and rafting down the river.  James and I were fit to be tied that they wouldn’t let us join them.  So we’d threaten to tattle on them and pestered them until they let us.  Invariably, something would go wrong, James or I would get hurt and then Jackson and Jesse would get their hides tanned, not only for doing what they weren’t supposed to be doing but for letting us do it too.  They couldn’t win for losing.  Guess they decided that they’d rather have the fun and get a whooping than not have the fun at all.”

Touched by his sharing, she smiled.  There was an appealing, heart-warm honesty about Jared.  Whether he’d admit it or not, family meant a lot to him.  “I’m sure having brothers had its downside, but to me it sounds like heaven.”

The meal was over too soon, but the time had been quiet, peaceful, and relaxing—just what she needed after everything that had happened this morning.  They left the restaurant and ten minutes later, pulled into the parking area for the Drake Hotel.  Besides the construction equipment and office trailers, there were two trucks in the parking lot—one newer and black the other worn and blue.

“I wonder who’s here.”

“The blue truck is...mine,” Jared said, and shrugged, almost hesitantly as if embarrassed.  “A lot of memories are wrapped up in her tail-gate.  James and I shared it during high school and college.

Rocky rolled her eyes.  She could just imagine what all went on in the back of
that
pick up.  She exited her truck.  “Maybe one of the other men left their truck here, too,” she said as Jared joined her.