Breaking Away (21 page)

His look of surprise was followed by a laugh that held no humor. “I’ve been expecting this for months. Waiting for it to happen.” He shook his head. “This is what I’ve been afraid of.”

“Why would you be afraid of something you’ve worked so hard to make happen for the last five months?” She hated the strident, high-pitched tone of her own voice, but there was no way she could control the wave of resentment and pain that rolled through her.

“What do you mean
I’ve
worked for it?”

“It’s what you’ve wanted ever since Alex was born. Your life would be simple, wouldn’t it? Walk away from your imperfect son, your imperfect wife and go back to the perfect world of your men, your career, your dangerous toys and forget about us.”

“I’m not walking away from anything, Marsha. You’re pushing me away. You’ve been doing it since before the baby was born. I came home eager to be a part of Alex’s birth, and everything that went with that, and you shut me down. You could have told me about your suspicions. Instead you watched it blindside me in the hospital after the birth and again in the pediatrician’s office.”

He was right. She’d closed down after three months of fear and dread. Guilt gave her voice an edge. “It’s my fault. I’ve told you it is.”

“Well, I thought it was mine. All the crap that we’re exposed to when we’re downrange—” he shook his head and looked away.

“So now you can relax and know Alex’s problems are on me.”

“I’m not blaming you!” His voice rose. “Not for this. How were you to know, if your mother never mentioned it?” He gripped the steering wheel hard. “But I do blame you for shutting me out. For not saying anything before that scene in your hospital room after Alex was born. After ten years of marriage and all the stuff we went through to get pregnant, you could have at least given me that.”

He was right. She could have told him. But she’d been so devastated herself. So ashamed she’d brought this on them. So hurt she’d brought it on her child.

James twisted the key in the ignition and put the car in gear. “And back to your original complaint about me not being human… Hearing a man talk about cutting into my son’s chest and heart scares the shit out of me.”

CHAPTER 17

F
lash thrust a cordless drill into the leather utility belt around his hips and climbed the ladder to the garage eave. Two more lights and he’d have all the motion-sensor lights in place. The cameras were already installed. Despite the early morning breeze whipping between the garage and the house, sweat ran down between his shoulder blades and dampened the hair around his face.

The sound of wheels spinning on the patio behind the house next door stopped. He glanced over his shoulder to find the little girl, Joy, holding one of the hard plastic tires of the toy Big Wheel she’d been riding. She lifted the rear axil of the toy, and, after several attempts, succeeded in fitting the tire back on. She jumped back on the toy, and pedaled around the patio again. Just as she made another turn the tire came off again. She climbed off the low-riding toy, stood over it for a moment, then put her hands on her hips and glared at it. Her bottom lip thrust out and Flash smiled.

Strong-willed he decided. If she weren’t, she’d already be crying and yelling for her mother.

The parallels in her situation and his as a child weren’t lost on him. The major difference was her mother wasn’t a drug-addicted prostitute and she had stood up for herself and her daughter and broken away from the son of a bitch who had abused them. Or was trying to.

Since moving in he’d kept a close watch on what went on next door. Not out of idle curiosity, but just to get the lay of the land. From his observations, Samantha Cross was caring, loving and afraid. Not sleeping much himself, he’d noticed how many times a night she checked the doors and windows.

Flash climbed down the ladder and moseyed over to the gate leading into Sam’s back yard. He thought of her as Sam now, though there wasn’t a thing masculine about her. She had a distinctive, feminine sway to her walk and was built like a dancer, her body sleek and streamlined. She made five foot four look like five nine because of her body structure and long, slender legs.

And her daughter, Joy, looked just like her, only in miniature.

“Hey, sweetheart. You having a problem with your Big Wheel?” he asked.

“Uh-huh.” She folded her arms and nudged the plastic tire with her toe. “The wheel falled off.”

His lips twitched with amusement. “I see that. How ‘bout I check it out?”

Her blue eyes lit with a smile. “Can you fix it?”

“I don’t know. I’ll look and see.” He opened the gate, and squatted down to check both back wheels and axles. She’d lost the washers and the lock ring that held the wheel on. He could deal with that. “I’ll be right back. You stay in the yard.” He picked up the toy and wheel, carried it out of the yard and shut the gate. Inside the garage, he fished through some of the baskets inside his van for the necessary parts. Within five minutes he had the wheel back on and the toy in good working order. He crossed the drive and lifted it over the fence and set it down.

“You fixed it!” Joy bounced up and down in excitement. “Thank you, Mr. Tim.”

He smiled at the name she’d called him. “Don’t drive too fast, sweetheart.”

Joy laughed. “Mommy’s wheels were flat, like that.” Joy trust her hand palm out and slammed the other one down on top of it. “They’ll be all better today.”

“They will?”

Joy nodded, her expression solemn “She promised. I don’t like that ol’ truck.”

“You don’t?” He eyed the rattle-trap vehicle parked in the driveway.

“It stinks.” Joy pinched her nose. “And goes squeak, squeak squeak.”

Flash grinned. It did burn some oil. And sounded like things might start flying off at any moment. But it ran and it was only temporary.

“Well maybe today will be the last time you have to ride in it.” He waved good-bye and went back to finish the alarm system installation.

A few minutes later, when Sam and Joy came out of the house and got into the truck, he was on the ladder again with both hands occupied. Joy waved good-bye and he smiled at her. Sam had her head turned looking for traffic. Or was she avoiding having to acknowledge him? He’d been doing the same with her. They were both doing the wise thing.

He couldn’t get involved. It would be dangerous to get too close—for them both.

Samantha sat at the dining room table and attempted to focus on the assignment for her online class. She was not going to look out the window. She was not going to spy on Tim Carnes. He was just her tenant.

But her head kept turning of its own volition. She glanced out the window toward the garage. Tim’s forearm muscles bunched as he carried two large stacked boxes up the steps to the apartment. His legs looked tanned and firm in black shorts that hugged his thighs. Try as she might, she couldn’t drag her attention away from him. With one part of her mind she dispassionately recognized he was gorgeous. Thick brown hair with a hint of wave, straight, even teeth, strong, masculine features, just enough beard to be fashionable, and despite how the geeky dark-rimmed glasses he wore partially hid them, eyes so pale a blue… She slammed the breaks on her thoughts, bringing them to a screeching halt. Being attracted to a man was way, way down the road. If it ever happened again.

The nightmare she’d woken from at four this morning emphasized how remote the possibility was. She ran her hands over her face, trying to scrub away the tired ache behind her eyes. It had taken her nearly an hour to calm down. She’d rushed from window to window, checking to make sure the house was secure.

And now Tim had moved in. She wasn’t sure how she felt about having him just across the drive. He’d given her his cell phone number and told her to call if she had any problems. When he’d said it, the serious frown he’d given her had been clear enough.

But Tim didn’t know Will, or how violent he could be. She couldn’t put him in the middle. She had to solve her own problems.

She glanced at the clock. Almost time to pick up Joy. She forced her attention back to the screen, reread the question, deleted the answer she’d been in the process of writing and tried to formulate a better one. She’d have to spend some time studying when she got back.

And tomorrow was her first day as a receptionist-secretary at a lawyer’s office. Nerves danced the rumba in her stomach. She’d learn everything she needed to. She had the basic skills, and they’d seemed to like her at the interview.

The check Tim Carnes had given her for his first and last month’s rent had covered the cost of new tires and given her a couple of month’s breathing room on her utilities. The money couldn’t have come at a better time. But his presence here…

A knock sounded at the door. She rose from the computer and paused to look through the peephole. If thinking about Tim Carnes had drawn him to the house, she was going to have to control her wayward thoughts.

His shoulders stretched the fabric of his shirt and defined the musculature of his chest.

Will was strong but not as fit. The thirty extra pounds he carried had settled in his chest and stomach. There was no extra fat on Tim’s frame. Her mouth grew dry just looking at him. He could probably hit just as hard as Will. She flinched from the thought.

He tapped again. Her hands shook as she turned the dead bolt and opened the door.

“I have to make one last run to the office to load my bike. I thought if you needed me to, I could drop you at the garage to pick up your car.”

She stared at him, suspicious. “How did you know about the car?”

He grinned. “Joy.”

When had he spoken to Joy? More than likely it was the other way around. Sam shook her head in exasperation. “She has a tendency to tell everything she knows.”

“There’s an upside to that. You won’t ever have to worry about her becoming a super spy,” he quipped.

Sam’s laugh slipped free. “But she may dress like one.” She’d wondered how she was going to manage Gran’s old truck and her car. His giving her a ride would solve that issue. Could she trust him? She studied his even features and bit her lip. “I have to go by to get Joy first and speak to her teacher for a few minutes before I pick up the car. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“It won’t be an inconvenience. And you’ll have to have a ride to retrieve that old truck if you drive it to the shop to pick up the car.” He nodded toward the rust-scarred pickup.

She’d been surprised it still ran, but at least it got them to and from Joy’s preschool. She studied Tim’s expression.

“It’s really not as bad as it looks.”

“Uh-huh.” His deadpan expression tempted another smile.

Were men really this protective? She’d never known them to be. But then, Will was the only man she’d been around for an extended time. She’d mistaken his possessiveness for protectiveness. Something she wouldn’t do again.

She searched Tim’s expression. The police had checked him out. They knew he was living here. If something happened it would come right back on him. He’d be stupid to hurt her. And he didn’t strike her as unintelligent.

She did need the ride. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”