My Deadly Valentine (12 page)

“Well, come along. My granddaughter came to visit last month and she helped me do some serious cleaning. I can’t believe all the stuff I had tucked away. My goodness, the things a body doesn’t need and can live without, why…”

She went on and Holly couldn’t help the amusement she knew she had stamped on her face. Eli shot her a grin, her heart did that flip-flop thing, and together they went about loading Holly’s truck. The hard work kept them warm in the frigid air.

An hour later, armed with antiques and to-go cups of sweet tea, she and Eli climbed back into the truck.

“Go to the waterfall,” he said suddenly.

“What?” She just looked at him.

“I want to go see the waterfall.”

“Why?”

Frustration flashed briefly. “Just humor me, will you?”

After a moment, she nodded. “Sure, okay.” She put the truck in gear and took the long way, wondering why he wanted to go to the waterfall.

Their waterfall.

The place where they’d shared their first kiss. Her heart thudded, and her lips actually tingled at the memory.

“Do you remember bringing me up here?” he murmured.

Cheeks flushed, embarrassment rolled over her. How immature she must have seemed to him. “I remember.”

She wanted to roll down the window of the truck and let the cold mountain air blow in. But then she’d have to explain why she was so warm.

“I’ve thought a lot about those days with you, Holly.”

“Hmm.” Then why did you leave me? she wanted to shout at him. Instead, she bit her tongue and refused to let the words cross her lips.

Picking up on her signals, he didn’t say another word until they’d reached the small clearing beside the waterfall where she parked.

Climbing out of the truck, she let the sound of the falls rush over her. So peaceful up here.

And cold. She shivered. A faint sound reached her ears. “Do you hear that?”

Cocking his head, he listened. “No, just the sound of the waterfall. Why?”

“I thought I heard a motor or something.”

Another minute passed as he listened. “No, I don’t hear anything.”

“All that shooting up in the big city damaged your hearing, huh?” She couldn’t help the dig even as uneasiness quivered through her. She wondered why.

Looking around, she couldn’t have asked for a more peaceful scene.

Eli slanted her a look. “Cute.” He looked at his phone. “I was going to check on Dad, but I’ve got no signal up here. Battery’s getting low, too.”

She grunted. “No, no cell towers out here. It’s funny because my house isn’t too far from here. About a mile and a half that way and I get cell service. Up here, we’re back in the dark ages.” She squinted through the bare trees. “See that little dot through there?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a small log cabin. It belongs to Alex. This time of year, you can stand in his yard and look down on mine. He said he wanted to build the cabin up and add on to it for the big family he plans to have.” She shook her head in disgust. “If he ever moves up here, I’m going to have to sell my land just to get away from him.”

“We’ll figure something out before it comes to that, I promise.” He took her hand and her first instinct was to pull away.
Don’t get too close,
her head warned her. But the feel of his fingers wrapped around hers broke down a barrier and she let him pull her along. “Come on, let’s go down.”

She followed, trying not to tremble at the feel of her hand in his. “Thank you for helping me today.”

“You’re welcome.”

She shot him a tender look. “How is your dad doing?”

“A little sore after his appointment this morning, but Buckeye gave him a pain pill so he should be relatively comfortable in a little while.”

“It’s good of you to come home and take care of him. How long are you staying?”

They climbed down in silence for a few minutes. Then he said over the roar of the falls, “I’m home for good, Holly.”

He looked like he was serious. But he’d been serious the last time he’d said that, too. He’d come home from the academy, accepted a position with the local sheriff’s department, then six months later resigned and moved to New York.

She kept her mouth shut.

He jumped to the bottom next to the water. Spray misted them and she decided they were crazy for doing this in the middle of February. He shouted over the rushing water. “I don’t blame you for your skepticism, but I’m serious. I’ve missed this place no matter how hard I’ve tried to deny it. And Dad needs me on the farm right now.”

“What are you going to do when he doesn’t need you anymore?” she shouted back.

He flinched. “That’s the question that keeps me awake at night. I guess God’s going to have to let me know what He wants me to do in that regard.”

God. She blinked at his easy reference—and the reverence in his tone. Six years and already his faith was strong, maturing at a speed she never would have believed if she hadn’t seen it for herself.

“And if He wants you to return to New York?”

He just looked at her. “Then I’d have to go.”

“You really have changed, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

Could it be that easy? She so wanted to believe he’d changed, but wasn’t ready to put her heart on the line only to find out different.

“Hmm.”

Pebbles and dirt rained down on them, rolling from the top from where they’d climbed down. Shrieking, Holly jumped to the side to get out of the way.

Eli looked up. “Wonder where that came from?”

Uneasiness shivered through her. “I don’t know. That’s weird. You think someone else is up there?” Still getting misted from the spray, the cold seeped in through her heavy down coat. “I’m freezing, Eli, let’s go.”

But he simply grinned at her. “I have very fond memories of this place.”

This time the shiver had nothing at all to do with the cold. It was pure Eli. And the memory of their first kiss.

More dirt and rocks rolled down, this time pinging off her face. She brushed the stinging particles away and moved closer to the water. Eli frowned and grabbed her hand and looked up as though he expected to see something. “Come on, I don’t like this. We’re taking the long way back up.”

Her hand snug in his, she followed him as he took a zigzag path up through the trees. Heart pounding, she wondered what might meet them at the top of the falls. By the time Eli pulled her the rest of the way up, her breath came in pants and her leg muscles ached.

Eyes darting, expecting something to jump out at them from behind every tree, she scurried behind Eli. “Do you see anything?”

“No.”

“Hear anything?”

“Just the waterfa—Wait a minute. What’s that?” A low hum, then a roar met her ears.

“I don’t like this, Eli, let’s get out of here.”

Approaching the truck, she saw the flash of Eli’s weapon tucked under his arm in a shoulder holster. It made her feel a little safer.

She reached the truck and stopped. “Eli?”

“Yeah?” His gaze was still focused on the woods in the direction the noise had come from. Now all was silent except for the rush of the water.

“Eli. Come here.”

Turning, he made his way over to the truck. “What is—” He broke off as he saw what had her attention. “Well, well, looks like Alex has struck again.”

A dozen red roses lay scattered across the hood of Holly’s truck.

FIVE

A
rriving at the church, Holly breathed a sigh of relief. The roses had bothered her. Not the flowers themselves, but the fact that Alex had followed her up to the falls and left them for her, especially since he knew she was traveling with Eli. Why did he continue to try so hard? Why would he continue to want to be with someone who didn’t return his affection?

Doing her best to push Alex to the back of her mind, she found four other workers already there sorting through the collected items. Hiram Fellows and Pete Owens met them at the entrance to the gym. While the guys unloaded, Holly made her way inside to greet the other two ladies on the committee with her. Hiram’s and Pete’s wives.

“Holly, welcome to the madhouse,” Mary Fellows offered with a chuckle. She had her long gray hair pulled up into a smooth ponytail. Janine Owens, forty years younger and a newlywed, flashed her bright smile and said, “We wondered when you were going to show up. Alex is inside.” She winked and nudged Holly with an elbow.

Dread evaporated the happy face she’d pasted on. Giving a weak smile, she said, “It took me a little longer than I thought it would.”

Alex came out of the building dressed in jeans and a heavy down overcoat. “Hey there, darlin’.”

“I’m not your darlin’,” she muttered under her breath. Obviously returning his gifts had accomplished nothing. Anger stirred. “Did you leave roses on my truck a little while ago?”

Innocence radiated from him.
“Moi?”

Fake innocence. Holly snapped her mouth shut. He simply looked pleased with himself. Then he took her hand and pulled her to the side. “Come on, Holly, give me another chance. I promise if you just spend some more time with me, you’ll see I’m a good guy.”

Hating the hurt she saw on his face, remembering her own shattered heart when Eli had left her, she tried to soften the blow once again. “Don’t do this, Alex.”

Pleading puppy-dog eyes stared back at her. She refused to let that affect her. “Now leave me alone…
please.
”

Dropping his hand, she brushed past him. Feeling eyes on her, she saw Eli watching with narrowed eyes. However, if he had anything to say, he kept it to himself.

“Hey, Holly!”

She turned. Mary waved her over to the table where she was working, putting prices on various items. “Do you mind seeing if you can find some more price tags for me? I think there’s some in the workroom, in the file cabinet next to the closet.”

“Sure, I’ll be happy to.”

Holly watched from the door for a moment as Eli and Alex worked to unload the recliner from her truck which Mrs. Sharp donated. Eli’s long-sleeved T-shirt clung tightly to him. His heavy coat lay tossed to the side and hung over the edge of the truck bed.

“Holly? The tags?”

Jerked from her admiring stupor, she blushed and hurried toward the workroom. Berating herself for acting like she was back in high school mooning over some guy, she made her way down the darkened corridor then turned left.

In the workroom, she flipped on the light and went to the file cabinet.

Just as she opened the drawer, the lights went off. For a moment, she didn’t move, just froze. Thoughts of the break-in at the store, the scare at her house, the waterfall, Alex’s gifts, the roses, the…noise in the hallway.

Darting to the door, she looked out. Just a dark hall, no light coming from anywhere. “Eli? Alex? Mary?”

No answer. Shaking her head at her paranoia, she turned back to see if she could feel her way around the desk. Surely there would be a flashlight somewhere.

A scrape.

She darted back to the door and peered out again.

Heavy breathing. More footsteps. A door closing?

A flashlight beam rounded the corner.

She opened her mouth to call out again then snapped it shut. What if it wasn’t someone she wanted to meet in a dark hallway? What if it was the person who was outside her home last night? What if…

She stepped back and shut the door with a quiet click and twisted the lock.

Heart hammering in her throat, she reached for her cell phone.

The doorknob rattled….

“Hey, Holly? You in here?”

Relief washed through her. Eli.

Opening the door, she rushed out. The flashlight beamed across her face. Eli gripped her upper arms. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. A little scared, but fine. What happened to the lights?”

“I think we blew a fuse or something. I was looking for the breaker box. Mary said it was back here. She said you were, too, and for me to keep an eye out for you.”

“Why didn’t you answer when I called out?”

His forehead crinkled. “I didn’t hear you call out.”

It was her turn to frown. She’d heard footsteps and heavy breathing. He should have been close enough to hear her. “Oh. Okay.”

So, it hadn’t been him in the hall?

“Come on,” he encouraged. “I’ll help you find the tags. And by the way, Alex left. Said he got a call he had to take care of.”

Gladness filled her. Good, she could finish what she needed to do without stumbling over Alex every few steps.

Two minutes later, Eli had the breaker switch thrown and the lights came back on.

She looked at him. “Thanks.”

He grinned that grin that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and the butterflies in her stomach start to dance.

Before she could do something stupid like throw herself into his arms and make him promise he was really back to stay, she turned and headed back to the gym.

Eli brought up the rear.

Soon, everything was in order. Items separated, classified and tagged. The work completed for now, Holly said she’d lock up. The two couples said their goodbyes and left, leaving Holly and Eli alone in the church.

“Whew.” Holly sat on the bottom bleacher and wiped a hand across her forehead. “That’s hard work.”

Eli nodded and joined her as he drained the last of Mrs. Sharp’s to-go cup of tea. “I admire what you all are doing here.”

“Thanks.” Holly had finished her tea an hour ago. She licked her lips and vowed to bring a stash of water with her next time. “It’s worth it to keep the orphanage up and running. I’ve only made one visit, but I plan to go again in the summer.”

“How do you go and not come home with a couple of children?”

Bowing her head, she stared at the floor then said quietly, “It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Maybe if I was married…” She shrugged, not needing to go there. Not with Eli.

“Eli? You in here?”

“Buckeye?” Eli jumped up, worry paling his face. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It’s your daddy, he’s taken a fall. I called the ambulance to come get him. They’re taking him into Bryson City to the hospital. I sure hope he didn’t reinjure that leg of his.”

“What? Why didn’t you call?”

“I did. It went straight to voice mail. I knew you were going over to Elva’s so called her and she said you’d probably be here.”

Eli pulled out his cell phone and groaned. “Dead battery.”

Holly rose and joined them. “Go be with your dad, Eli. I’ll just lock up here and be on my way.”

He hesitated. “Lock up and let me see you get safely in your truck.”

“All right, I’ll hurry.”

Three minutes later, she was in her truck watching Buckeye’s taillights disappear down the road.

Lord, please let Eli’s father be all right. I know how worried he is right now. Fill him with Your peace and love.

She placed the key in the ignition and turned it.

Nothing happened.

What?

She tried again.

Not even a sputter.

A flame of fear ignited in the pit of her belly.

Just ahead of her two headlights suddenly pierced the darkness and a motor gunned.

The flame of fear became an inferno.