Hers to Choose (Cannon Cousins) (34 page)

He drove as fast as he
dared on the winding road. Surely people out in these remote areas had some
reasonably close access to medical care. His phone buzzed.

“Sorry,” Randall said,
“but it’s a long distance to a real emergency room. There are local doctors,
family practice. What do you want?”

“Jesus Christ.” Alex
glanced over at Bryn where she slumped against the car door.
“The
nearest doctor.”

He listened to Randall’s
directions, gearing down through curves and trying not to panic. Another twenty
minutes passed before he got into the edge of the village, and then another
five as he drove around trying to find the location of the clinic.

At the receptionist’s desk, he
managed to stammer out enough information that she went to find the doctor. He
carried Bryn in through a side door and eased her onto the exam table before
pacing outside the door while the doctor examined her.

“Vital signs are good.
She’ll come out of it within the next half hour or so, if he told the truth
about the dosage. And based on what’s still in the bottle, I’d say he did. Good
thinking, to bring the bottle with you.”

Alex released a shaky
breath. “Thank god. What’s it
doing
to her?”

“Maybe
nausea and vomiting.
Maybe some hallucinations.
She might feel tired
for a day or so, but generally ketamine isn’t terribly dangerous, especially in
a low dose like this. But, there are some concerns here.” The doctor took him
aside and lowered his voice. “There are bruises that lead me to believe she’s
been assaulted, and dosing someone with this is illegal. I should report this.”

“Yes, file your report.
This guy needs to be prosecuted.”

Thoughts kept chasing around
in Alex’s head. Was this something she wanted, or did the guy assault her? The
rope didn’t differ that greatly from what Dan had done. He couldn’t believe she
would put herself at risk this way, but he didn’t know as much about her life
as he wanted.

Alex sat in the room,
listening to her mutter and groan. After another fifteen minutes, she came to
with little jerks and mumbling gibberish. He stood beside her.

“Bryn, I’m here,” he said
quietly. “Wake up, everything is okay.”

“Alex?” Her eyelids fluttered
and she gripped his hands.

“Yes, it’s me. Can you
sit up?”

“Oh, god, I feel sick.”

It took another half hour
before she had fully come back to her senses and stopped vomiting. She insisted
on going home. He held back the questions burning holes in his brain, but he
drove slowly, hoping she would explain.

“That guy—Bryn—I’ve got
Randall holding him. Are you up to talking about what happened?”

“Alex.” She turned her
head to look at him with half-closed eyes. “I saw us,” she murmured. “We were
in the sky together. I love you so much.”

“Bryn,” he began. She
wasn’t making any sense. The doctor said hallucinations.

“I wanted you so long,
loved you the first time I heard your voice on the phone.”

He tried to focus on the
road. Her words swam in his stomach flipping around. Did she mean that?

“Do you remember what
happened?”

“You wanted me to help
Dan. Everything got messed up.”

“No, Bryn, today.
The man at your house.
He tied you up.”

She sat up abruptly, her
eyes fully open. “Brent Thompson,” she gasped.
“That son of a
bitch.”

“So you didn’t invite
him?”

“What? No. He hurt me.
Damn it, Alex, what’s going on?” She rubbed her cheek. “
Ow
.”

“I heard you yelling for
help and kicked in your door. You were unconscious.”

“I remember yelling. I
heard you on the porch.”

“Bryn—this guy told me
you wanted him.”

Her mouth gaped as she
stared at him. “You didn’t believe him.”

“No,” he shook his head.
“I didn’t.”

“He’s been stalking me. I
didn’t realize. He tried to buy my land last year.” She told him about the job
with his realty company, the paycheck he held hostage for her sexual favors,
the whole sordid mess, and dropped her head back on the headrest. “He was
always a sleaze, but this—I never imagined he would do something this crazy.
Alex,” she said, turning again to face him. “He’s nuts. I’ve never felt scared
before.”

Alex gripped the steering
wheel, trying to sort through his avalanche of emotion. “Don’t be scared. I’m
here.”

She started crying, quiet
little sobs that whispered across the short distance between them. “He would
have taken me,
Alex,
he said he had a place. What
would have happened? He wanted to make me his slave. No one would have known
where I was or what happened. I always thought I could take care of myself.
What’s wrong with me?”

“There is nothing wrong
with you, do you hear me?” He turned into the farm drive and rolled to a stop
beside Randall’s truck. “Bryn, listen, he’s still in your house. Do you
understand? I’ve had Randall watching him until we decide what to do. I think
we should call the sheriff about this, have him arrested. Do you agree?”

“He said he knew things.
I think he’s been watching my house all this time. He described one of the
sessions with Dan when you were here hunting. He must have had binoculars. Oh,
god, I feel sick.”

She
shoved
the door open. Her whole body buckled as she retched. A few moments later she
fell back in the seat.

“Alex, he said everyone
knew I was a whore. He said he’d tell about what I did, that I was running a
house of prostitution. Can he do that? Is what I did with you guys
prostitution? I got money from you, remember? They could use that as evidence.”

“Bryn,
stop.
He was
trying to intimidate you. He has nothing. You’re not a whore.”

She laid her head back
and breathed loudly.
“
Ohh
.”

“Listen, what we did,
what you did with
Dan, that
was private activity
between consenting adults. If there were other men…”

“No,” she interrupted
fiercely. “No other men.”

“Even if there were, Bryn,
this is your private life.” He really wanted to kill this guy. Randall was
standing on the porch. Something had to be decided. “
Bryn,
let me call the sheriff.”

She rocked forward,
holding her face in her hands. “What if he tells them what he saw? People
around here already gossip about me.” She rocked back and faced him. “Damn it,
I can’t let this go. I told him I’d have him arrested. Yes, Alex, call them.”

He stood outside the car
while he made the 911 call then briefly consulted with Randall before sliding
back into his car seat. “They’re on the way.”

***

Bryn watched the two deputy sheriff
vehicles disappear onto the highway, taking with them the syringe, the drug
vial, and a banged up Brent Thompson. Or at least, Alex said he was banged up.
She intentionally didn’t look at him, but kept her back turned as she stood by
Alex’s car after talking with the deputies. She felt relief at having him out
of her house, but some kind of delayed reaction had set in, causing her to
shake all over. Alex held her against him as he walked her into the house.

She looked around the
living room. It looked like nothing had happened.

“Where do you want to be,
couch?
Bed?”

“Couch.”

“Something
to drink?”

“Water.”

The cool water tasted
wonderful and helped clear the nasty taste out of her mouth. For as long as it
could last, she wanted Alex’s arm to stay around her, his warm chest next to
her. A slight amount of dizziness hovered at her forehead, especially if she
turned her head fast, but the joy of being with Alex overpowered everything
else.

For a long time, she sat
there curled into Alex, staring out the living room windows. Maybe she couldn’t
take care of herself. Maybe her life would keep sliding downhill. A fresh wave
of tears
brimmed
her eyelids.

The trees had halfway
leafed out, coating the distant hillsides in pale green fuzz. Locust bloom
scented the air with honey fragrance. Alex with his blue eyes looked like
spring to her. If she ever stopped seeing him, whenever that day arrived, the
world would be forever winter.

“I can never thank you
enough for all you’ve done here, Alex. You’ve literally saved my life.
Twice.”

“Twice?”

“Actually, three times.
When you and Dan paid for your hunting trip, I only had days left before the bank
foreclosed. And then, your amazing development plan. You know, even if I had
thought of it myself, I couldn’t have done it. I didn’t have money for
surveys.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,
Bryn. It’s not like you didn’t do your share.”

“And
today.”
She tucked
her head against his chest. “Alex.”

“I should have been here
sooner,” he said in an angry voice. “I could have stopped him before he touched
you.”

“He’s been watching. He
wouldn’t have come if he saw you were here,” she said, nuzzling against his
shirt and inhaling his scent. “He would have waited until you left. That would
have been worse. I can’t even think about what would have happened. Alex, you
did everything right.”

“There’s nothing right
about it.”

His eyes shone at her
like nuggets of sparkling lapis.

“I’m…dirty.” She sat up
suddenly. “I need to take a shower. Will you…wait for me?”

“What?
Of
course.
I’ll be wherever you want me to be—here, in the bedroom,
whatever makes you feel safe.”

“The couch is fine,” she
said, pushing herself up. Leaving his warm side felt wrong, but she didn’t want
to spend one more minute with that man’s touch on her body. She stood in the
hot shower soaping twice and letting the water run until her skin and hair felt
squeaky clean.

Dressed in fresh clothes
and her towel-dried hair hanging in curly strands around her shoulders, Bryn
emerged from her bedroom. Alex looked up from the couch, that beautiful man,
the man she loved. Had she said that to him, or had she dreamed it?

“Dinner,” she said, turning
toward the kitchen. “I have things underway.”

She peeked at the chicken
still simmering away in the slow cooker.

“You’re not seriously
planning to cook,” Alex said, coming into the room.

“Yes, I am. It’s the only
thing I seem to do without screwing up. People—not so much.”

“What are you talking
about? You’re one of the most caring people I’ve ever met.”

“Thanks,” she smiled.
“You’re such a nice guy.”

“Not so much,” he smiled
back. “I have my moments of pure selfishness.”

“I refuse to believe it.”

“True. Like when you
wanted me and Dan both, remember? I knew you wanted us both at the same
time, that
you had a fantasy about it, and I know why, with
us both working you over. I would have felt the same if two women had me at
their mercy.”

He dropped his head,
reddish patches appearing on his cheeks.

“I confess
,
I wanted you for myself. It was obvious you preferred Dan,
the way he treated you, what that did for you. And I understand it better now.
But I couldn’t leave you alone. When I had the idea of developing some of your
land, it wasn’t just because I’m such a nice guy and wanted you to have some
financial security. Well, yes, I wanted that. But really it was about me
needing to see you, making up excuses to be here whether you wanted me or not.”

Her jaw had dropped open
at some point during his confession. “I’m having a really hard time with this,
Alex,” she began.

“I’m sorry. Do you need
to sit down?”

She shook her head. “No,
Alex, about what you’re saying.”

“Bryn, you said things,
when we were driving back from the doctor.” He set down his glass. “Do you
remember?”

“That I love you? I’m
sorry,
I was halfway out of my mind. I shouldn’t have
pressured you with that. I know you’re in a relationship.”

“A
relationship?”

“Yes, you told me,
remember? Something ‘complicated,’ I think you said.”

He looked away. “That.
Bryn, I was talking about you. I tried to hint around about my feelings for you
without spilling my guts. I didn’t want to make you feel coerced about the land
deal.” His voice shifted. “And it seemed pretty clear you didn’t want me.”

 “Are you serious?
You let me think you had someone because you thought I didn’t want you? Who the
hell did you think I wanted?”