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“How are you feeling?”
“A lot better than I sound. Thanks for asking. I’m supposed to follow up with my family doctor in a few days.”
“Will you be leaving, then?”
“No. If I don’t stop wheezing soon I’ll find a local practitioner.” She sighed audibly, triggering another bout of coughing.
“We’re not short on doctors around here,” Shane told her. “Pharmacies, either. Didn’t they prescribe anything for you?”
“Just over-the-counter syrups. I’ll be fine once I get Ulysses back and you’ve repaired my tires.”
“They’ll all need to be replaced,” Shane stated flatly. “Did you look at what was done to them?”
“I saw a man stabbing them with a knife. I was too far away to tell how badly they were damaged.”
“Let’s just say they wouldn’t even make a good planter in a hillbilly’s front yard.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Actually, worse.” Shane could tell she was worried. “I’ve got a buddy in the tire business. Want me to ask him if he has a new or used set that will fit your truck?”
“As long as you two don’t try to sell me oceanfront property in Arizona or something like that.”
Shane held up a hand as if taking an oath. “No tricks. I promise. This is a small town. Our reputations are very important.” He began to grin. “Besides, we all trust each other around here.”
“Is that why you left this pickup running in front of the hospital? If you tried that most places it wouldn’t be there when you came out.”
“Serenity isn’t most places.”
To his surprise, his passenger averted her face and muttered, “You can say that again.”
* * *
Jamie Lynn’s reunion with her dog was tearful yet joyful. When neither the veterinarian nor the groomer who had washed him would accept payment she was astonished.
“Told you so,” Shane said on their way out.
She buried her face in Ulysses’s soft, clean fur. “I don’t get it. Those people don’t know me. Why should they waive their normal fees?”
“Maybe because I explained the situation when I left Useless with them.”
“You’re determined to call him that, aren’t you?”
Looking at his profile, she could see half of a wide grin. “Yup. I like to see steam shoot out of your ears.”
“Fine. Suit yourself. I don’t imagine you and I will have much reason to talk again after you’ve fixed my truck, anyway.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “It’s a pretty small town. If you hang around, we’re bound to run into each other.”
What Jamie wanted to say was, Not if I can help it, but she kept that thought to herself. It seemed impossible that a man as astute as Shane Colton had not yet put together enough clues to guess her former identity. Or had he? she wondered. It was remotely possible that he’d figured out her lineage and was toying with her. Was he the kind of man who would be purposely devious?
She honestly didn’t think so, not that she considered herself the best judge of truthfulness. After all, Aunt Tessie had lied to her for years about what had become of her parents and she’d believed every word.
Clutching Ulysses, she murmured endearments and let him lick her under the chin. He was clearly so glad they were reunited he could hardly sit still. Jamie Lynn sympathized. She was feeling such a strong sense of unrest she wanted to fling open the door and escape from the moving vehicle. The mere thought of such drastic action was unnerving. What was wrong with her? Shane, the hospital staff, the sheriff, the vet—everybody in Serenity had been so nice.
Yeah, if you didn’t count the men who had said they were going to get rid of her, one way or another.
“Speaking of small towns, what’s the latest on the two guys who set the fire?” she asked.
“Their truck was a dead end. It had been stolen that morning.” He glanced across at her. “What were you doing wandering around out there in the first place?”
“Like I told the sheriff, I was exploring and thought the abandoned house looked interesting.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You don’t sound convinced.” And neither had Harlan Allgood when he’d questioned her, but at least he hadn’t pressed for details that might have revealed her past before she was ready to do so.
“I might buy that if nothing bad had happened to you while you were poking around.”
“Guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The whole truth would become obvious to everyone soon enough and she didn’t want to distract him while he was driving. Besides, she felt safer in Shane’s company and wanted to stay on his good side, not that that made much sense.
“That would do it,” Jamie muttered, realizing belatedly that she had actually voiced her conclusion.
One quick peek told her he had heard. Before he could start asking more questions, she said, “In case I didn’t tell you yesterday, thanks for saving my neck.”
“I got the idea you were grateful,” he replied.
A flush of color on his cheeks reminded her of the way she’d thrown herself into his arms after hearing that her little dog was safe and well.
“That hug was for saving Ulysses,” Jamie insisted, once again burying her face in the small dog’s silky fur.
“If you say so.”
“I do. He’s family.” The moment those words were out, she realized she’d opened another can of worms.
“What about the people in your life?” Shane asked.
“I—uh—I was raised by my great-aunt.”
“Your parents...?”
“Are gone,” she said, using the familiar expression to tell the truth while giving the impression both were deceased. For all she knew they might be.
“I’m sorry.”
Jamie Lynn nodded. “Me, too. So, how far is it to my truck? And how long will it take you to fix it?”
“I thought you’d want to go back to the motel. You know, kick back and rest. Maybe grab some lunch.”
“I ate at the hospital and I’ve done nothing but rest since yesterday. What I need is wheels.”
“Fine. We’ll swing by the garage I own so you can see the tire damage for yourself. Believe me, I’m not exaggerating. Nobody could repair those cuts.”
“Do you accept credit cards?”
“Sure. We may be rural but we aren’t primitive.”
Jamie couldn’t help smiling. “Oh? You could have fooled me.” They were passing the antebellum courthouse and modest businesses around the old square. “This place looks like it belongs in history books.”
“It does. One of the battles of the Civil War was fought on Pilot Hill.” He leaned over the steering wheel and pointed. “Right up there where the radio towers are now. See the flashing beacons?”
“Yes.” Leaning back against the seat, she closed her eyes and sighed. There was another page of Serenity’s history that interested her far more—the one that involved her brother and both parents.
As soon as news got out that she was in town to investigate the crime that had destroyed her family, chances were that most folks wouldn’t want to talk to her, let alone offer their help. The current sheriff had studied her as if he were close to figuring out who she really was when he’d interviewed her in the hospital. It was only a matter of time until somebody remembered Jamie Lynn Henderson, put two and two together and got four.
Correction, Jamie Lynn thought. Someone had already added it up. Whether her attackers had found her at the old farm or followed her there, their orders had been clear. They’d said it themselves. It was their job to eliminate her before she made any progress on her brother R.J.’s behalf.
Progress that might not only prove her big brother was innocent of vehicular homicide but also point the finger of guilt at someone else.
She knew she was on the right track precisely because they had sent thugs after her. Although her enemies might be ruthless, they were functioning on an emotional level rather than a rational one. As long as she kept her wits about her and stayed out of abandoned buildings, chances were she’d eventually dredge up enough truth to help her brother get a new trial. In a new venue.
She glanced at her handsome companion, chagrined that her goal was to disprove the accepted story of his father’s death. But could she trust him?
Who she could and couldn’t trust in that town was one of the first things she needed to know. Confiding in the wrong person could be worse than doing nothing.
* * *
As the hours passed, Shane was beginning to think the young woman was never going to ask to be taken to her motel. Considering the way she’d made herself and Useless comfortable in his tiny waiting room, he wondered if she intended to spend the entire afternoon. That would have been troubling by itself. Added to the concentrated attention she was giving him and his workers, it was getting downright creepy.
He pulled out his cell phone and punched in the number of his buddy Charlie.
“Tire shop.”
“It’s Shane again. Any word on those tires I called about?”
“You asked me the same thing an hour ago,” Charlie said. “Keep your shirt on. I’ve checked my own inventory and don’t have four alike but I think I’ve located a good used set in Batesville.”
“Think, or know?” Shane eyed his office through the grimy window between it and the garage. Being the only auto repair shop in town sometimes had its drawbacks. “It looks like she is planning to sit right here until I get her truck back on the road.”
“So?”
“So, I don’t like it.”
“What’s the matter, is she ugly?”
Shane shook his head and turned his back on the window. “No. She’s actually a knockout.”
“So, she’s raising a ruckus?”
“Not that, either. There’s just something strange about her. Maybe it’s the way she’s been staring at me. I don’t know.”
“You saved her life, right?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah.”
“Then I wouldn’t worry. She’s probably got a bad case of hero worship.”
“I suppose that could be it.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Give me a call as soon as you know anything definite, will you?”
“If she’s as pretty as you say, why not just enjoy her company?” He chuckled. “If I wasn’t so busy here I’d drop by and take her off your hands.”
Shane was shaking his head as he said, “No way. She’s not that kind of woman. She’s... I don’t know, sort of fragile.”
“Skinny?”
“Not at all. I can’t explain it. All I know is she seems lost. Even lonely. The first time she opened her eyes and looked up at me after the fire she reminded me of an injured deer surrounded by a pack of hungry coyotes.”
“Sounds to me like you’re as scrambled as she is. I’ll get back to you ASAP.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Shane pivoted when he heard the back door slam.
A bundle of energy raced toward him, arms raised, and Shane swung his five-year-old son off the ground. “Hey, buddy. Why are you here so early?”
“Memaw’s gonna go get beautiful.”
“Did you tell her she already is?”
Kyle’s head bobbed, making his honey-blond curls bounce. “Uh-huh. But she didn’t believe me.”
Holding the boy close, Shane looked past him to smile at Marsha. “Hey, Mom, we both think you’re pretty enough.”
“Well, I don’t. Look at all the gray in my hair. I don’t want Otis to start thinking he married an old lady.” She began to fan her overly rosy cheeks and giggle like a love-struck teenager.
It had pleased Shane when his widowed mother had finally fallen in love again and remarried, but it was still hard to picture Otis Bryce as a father figure, let alone see his own mother as a blushing bride. Just short of turning thirty, he’d pictured people his mother’s age as too old to care about romance.
About to reassure her about her good looks, Shane was stopped by a shrill squeal next to his ear.
“A puppy!” Kyle was squirming in his arms and pointing at the waiting room. “Let me go see!”
It took Shane a second to realize why the boy was so excited. “That dog belongs to the lady who’s holding him.”
“Okay.” He continued to struggle against Shane’s restraint. “I wanna pet him. Can I, Daddy? Can I? Please...?”
Taking the child’s hand, he cautioned him, “All right. Just go slowly and don’t yell or you might scare him.”
“Puppies love kids. Everybody says.”
“Well, that dog isn’t a pup. He’s all grown up. And sometimes little dogs bite because they get scared. We need to ask the lady if you can pet him and do whatever she says. Understand?”
