Return of the Bad Girl (30 page)

Did you really expect him to call you? He’s not going to chase you if you don’t give him a reason to.

The three calls haunted her, especially Zoe’s. Not ready to face that one, she started off with what would probably be the angriest and dialed her sister.

“Is there a reason why you left for New York and didn’t even ask me to drive you to the airport?”

“I just parked my car in the extended-stay lot. It’s only for a couple of days.”

“Still, it would have been a fun road trip,” Val said. “Besides, I’ve been dying for an excuse to go to Boise and shop. I miss real shopping.”

“Sorry,” Caroline said, laughing. “The guy I’m consulting for just offered to sell me his bar on the cheap, so if you wanted to go into business together, we could move to New York. Then we could do some real shopping.”

Silence took over Val’s end of the line for half a second before she asked, “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“No, I was just kidding.”

“Did he really offer you the bar?” Val asked.

“Yes, but—”

“Then at least some of that was the truth,” Val said.

“Okay, you got me. There
is
nothing better than shopping in New York.”

“Except for living close to your family and friends,” Val said coldly.

“Yes, and so far, that’s been
delightful
,” Caroline sneered. “People talking shit behind my back. And Ellie . . . well, she won’t even return my phone calls.”

“That’s because she’s going through one of her phases. But you still have me, and didn’t you just tell me you were making friends last week?” Val asked.

“Yeah. Look, Val, I’m not being serious.”

“And what about Gabe? I thought things were going great between you two,” Val said.

“They were . . . I mean, are . . . I don’t know. I think I may be in over my head. He wants me to meet his sister, and I said okay, but then I just took off for this trip without saying anything to him.”

“Okay, so, you snuck out on him, after he asked you to meet his sister? Why, for God’s sake?” Val asked.

“Because . . . you don’t know Gabe, okay? Meeting his sister is a big deal, and I’m just scared that—I don’t know; maybe I’m just not ready.”

“So, what’s your plan, Caroline? To never come back, and then you won’t have to deal with your feelings?” Val laughed into the phone, the sound coarse and angry. “God, and I thought you were finally maturing. Getting shit off your chest and moving on, but I was just seeing what—and who—I wanted to see.”

“I didn’t say I was moving here! I just got offered a bar ten minutes ago, and I haven’t accepted it yet.”

“ ‘Yet’ being the operative term,” Val said. “You know what? If you want it, take it. Just go. We got along without you before, so it won’t be any different the second time around.”

“You’re acting like a brat.”

“And you’re a fucking hypocrite! All that bullshit about changing and putting old feuds to rest was a crock. You act like you’ve put in so much effort, but you were gone twelve years, Caroline. That is a lot of time to make up for in a month.”

“Who says I want to make anything up to anyone? I was happy being on my own.”

“If that’s what you call happy, then I feel sorry for you, because only a person who’s completely broken would think that’s a life.”

Val hung up before Caroline could respond, but the words rushed through her, shaking her to her core. She took several breaths, trying to calm the flood of emotions.

But isn’t that what you always thought happiness was? Freedom? That all the men, all the nights drinking away the past were just a part of life?

The cabbie pulled over, breaking through her confusion. “Central Park.”

“Keep the change,” she said, handing him the cash.

In the park, Caroline took the path along a little pond, smiling at the ducks as they cruised by.

If that was happiness, then what have the last few weeks with Gabe been? Did all the laughter and feelings of acceptance mean nothing to you?

Sitting down on a bench, she put her head between her legs. Lightheadedness and tears overwhelmed her, and she brushed at her eyes as she choked on the lump in her throat.

“Excuse me, ma’am, I don’t mean to intrude, but you look like you could use this.”

Caroline looked up at a man standing above her, holding out a worn paisley hankie in his hand, just like the kind her grandpa used to have. The man was dirty from head to toe, wearing overalls and a worn ball cap, with a scraggly beard covering his weathered face. His eyes were crinkled but besides that, they were kind.

And then she noticed his other arm was missing.

Pity overwhelmed her as she took the hankie and gave him a watery smile. “Thank you so much.”

He sat down next to her. “So is it your family or your fella?”

The question was so forthright, it caught her off guard. “Both.”

“I’ve been there, darlin’, yes I have. Had me a girl years ago, sweetest blue eyes you’d ever seen. She wanted me to stay in our little town and get married, but I wanted to make something of myself. Prove her daddy wrong about the type of man I was.” His chuckle was raspy, turning into a harsh, wracking cough. Caroline moved to pat his back, but he waved her off, taking in deep, rattled breaths. “I didn’t get to do those things, though. I went into the military and lost my arm. Came home bitter and angry, and when she said it didn’t matter, I spat on her love. My own brother stopped talking to me years ago, and though I get work from time to time, my demons seem to find me, no matter where I end up.”

Caroline smiled sadly. “Mine do the same damn thing.”

“My advice—not that you’re askin’—is to forget what you’ve done, what they’ve done to you, and face down your demons.” He patted her knee kindly. “You don’t want to end up old and alone, believe me.”

Biting her lip, Caroline thought of what her future might look like if she took over Mr. Kline’s bar. She couldn’t picture making a home here or anywhere else. When she thought of home, it was a two-bedroom apartment above a quiet little bookstore. And in
that
future, when she came home, she pictured a man with deep obsidian eyes and a wicked grin, greeting her with a kiss that would melt her socks off.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“You’re welcome, darlin’ ” the man said, getting up from the bench and moving along down the sidewalk.

Pulling out her phone, she went to dial Mr. Kline to refuse his offer but saw she had a new text message from the strange number that had called before.

Hey, Caroline, this is Chase, Gabe’s friend. I don’t know if he’s ever mentioned me, but look, he’s in trouble. They arrested him this morning for assault, and I don’t even know if you care, but he needs you. He won’t say that, because he’s a stubborn son of a bitch, but he does.

Caroline’s stomach dropped out, and a thousand different situations flashed through her mind—none of them good. Jumping up from the bench, she kicked off her four-inch heels and ran to flag down a taxi.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Revenge is a dish best served cold . . . and with plenty of gloating.”

—Miss Know It All

A
FTER EXPLAINING TO
Mr. Kline why she had to leave so suddenly and that she couldn’t possibly take his offer, Caroline packed up her suitcase and checked out of her hotel. When she arrived at the airport, she spent the night trying to get on a flight to Boise. Finally, she got a 6:00
A.M.
flight and arrived in Idaho a little after noon. Surpassing the 80 mph speed limit, Caroline arrived back in town on a mission: she was going to rescue Gabe and try to make up for bailing on him. She was a strong, independent woman who had made mistakes and turned her life around. She wasn’t a princess, though Gabe often called her one, and she didn’t need a knight to slay her dragons.

She could do that all on her own.

Her first stop was the police station. When she’d called Chase back, he said they were holding Gabe there until Monday. Chase didn’t know who the alleged victim was, but Caroline could only think of one man in Rock Canyon who Gabe would want to beat the snot out of. And if Kyle had provoked Gabe, intending to get revenge, she was going to use every piece of leverage her father had to destroy him.

Though really, if Kyle was involved in any way, shape, or form, she would make him pay. At this point, he’d threatened everyone she loved at one time or another, and there was no way in hell she was about to let him ruin Gabe’s life.

Caroline loved Gabe. She’d known it the moment she’d read Chase’s text message, but even before that too. Only she’d been too freaked out to face it. He was hers, and she was his. She needed him. And now, he needed her.

She didn’t care that she was speeding, and when a cruiser pulled out behind her and flipped on his sirens, she ignored him long enough to pull up in front of the Rock Canyon Police Department.

As she climbed out of her car, she heard a shout behind her. “Put your hands up!”

She turned toward the police officer, who had his gun trained on her, and squinted. “Grady Jenkins, put that fucking thing away.”

“Put your hands up first, Caroline,” Grady said. When Caroline was in high school, Grady had been a pervy freshman who’d liked to crawl under lunchroom tables to stare up girls’ skirts.

“I don’t have time for this, Grady,” Caroline said, holding up her hands. “Just get your ass over here, and get my shit.”

Grady kept his gun out until he was a few feet away and then put it back in his holster. “I really ought to arrest you, you know.”

“My purse is on the front seat; insurance is in the glove compartment,” she said, ignoring his shout as she turned and ran for the police station entrance. Barging into the front reception area, she walked up and started banging on the bell. “Hello!”

Officer Sam Weathers came running to the front and yanked the bell away from her. “Geez, Caroline, what in hell’s bells has gotten into you?”

“Do you have Gabe Moriarty in lock-up, Sam?” She craned her neck to see down the hallway.

“As a matter of fact,” he said, flicking the toothpick in his mouth.

“When do you plan to release him?”

“I don’t,” he said, and when she opened her mouth to argue, he cut her off. “I got a victim that said, and I quote, ‘Gabe Moriarty did this to me.’ ”

“Whatever he said, it’s a lie. Gabe wouldn’t—”

“Wasn’t a guy. It was your sister Eleanor who filed the complaint.”

“What?”
Caroline hollered, sure she’d heard him wrong.

“Yeah, she was here pitching a fit yesterday morning that she’d turned him down at Buck’s, and he’d followed her outside to her car. Beat her so bad, poor thing’s eye is nearly shut.”

Why would Ellie lie? She had to be lying. Gabe would never hurt a woman. He’d sworn he’d never hurt a woman. “You don’t understand. I know him. He did not do this,” she insisted, panic edging into her voice.

“Well, your ‘knowing’ isn’t enough to trump an eyewitness,” Sam said, obviously irritated.

Caroline obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere with Sam; she needed to talk to Gabe.

And then Ellie. Her blood was boiling, trying to figure out why her sister would lie. Was this to get back at Caroline for butting into her business?

No, Ellie wouldn’t be that cruel. Couldn’t be.

“Can I see him? Please?”

Sam hesitated, and she repeated, “Please, Sam, I’m begging you.”

After a moment or two, he grumbled. “Fine. Come on back.”

She almost passed Sam in her eagerness to get to Gabe, and when she saw him sitting on one of the cots, even though his eyes were closed and a dark shadow marred his jawline, he was the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

“Gabe!” she cried, racing to the bars.

His eyes flew open, and he looked furious. “What the hell are you doing here, Caroline?”

“I’m going to get you out of here. I know you didn’t do this.”

“Yeah, well, you and Chase are about the only ones,” he said, bitterness clouding his tone. “I have it covered. Got my court-appointed attorney and everything.”

“But you don’t have to do this alone. I want to help,” she said, reaching out for him. “I don’t know why she’s doing this, but I’ll talk to Ellie. We can figure this out.”

Then she realized he hadn’t moved toward her or even tried to hold her hand. All she wanted to do was touch him, to make sure he was really okay, but he was holding back from her. “Gabe . . . please . . . I’m sorry for the way I left. I just got scared and needed a minute to put everything in perspective. Then, when Chase texted—”

“You what? Thought you’d run back to town and save the day? Maybe pull some strings with your dad or, like you said, convince your sister to drop the charges?” Gabe snarled. “The damage is done, princess. Word’s out that I’m an ex-con who likes to beat up on women. It didn’t take long for people to start digging once the cuffs came out, so my fresh start? The thing I wanted more than anything? It’s over with.”

“We’ll explain,” Caroline said, gripping the bars hard. “We can work this out—”

“No, there’s no
we
,” Gabe said harshly. “You wanna help? Then go home. Whatever you thought, just get it out of your head, because I don’t need you.”

“Gabe . . .” she said, shaking with the pain of his words. He couldn’t mean it.

He ignored her as he leaned his head back again and closed his eyes.

“Gabe, please look at me,” she said, hanging on to the bars as her knees weakened.

“At least you finally got what you always wanted,” he said without looking at her. “The apartment is yours.”

“I don’t want that! I haven’t asked for my own space, and I don’t want to lose you, so will you stop acting so defeated? You. Did. Not. Do. This. And I’ll prove it,” she said vehemently.

“Hey, no worries, princess. We both knew that living arrangement was only temporary. At least we got to have some fun along the way.”

Part of her knew he was just saying that because he was hurt and angry, but the other, insecure part asked, “Fun? Is that all it was to you?”

“Well, hell, what else was it supposed to be?”