Justice Burning (Hellfire #2) (3 page)

Dragging his gaze back to the road ahead, he swerved to miss an escaped Brangus bull, wandering across the road. “Damn.” Again, he radioed to dispatch. “Call Raymond Rausch and tell him Francis is loose again. Remind him that he needs to fix the fence on the highway to keep that bull from crossing the road.”

“Roger.” Gretchen, the dispatcher, responded. “Someday someone will hit that damned bull.”

“I sure hope not. I doubt it would hurt the bull, but slamming into him would most likely kill the driver.”

“Exactly.” Gretchen asked for a mile marker sign and promised to call Rausch immediately.

As he entered town, Nash tried to push aside any feelings of guilt or empathy for the bride in the back seat. The best he could do was to find a telephone for her to make a call to her family back wherever she was from. They could come collect their runaway, and she would be on her way. “My brother has a phone at his shop. I can let you in to use it.” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

She lifted her chin. “Thank you, but I don’t want to call anyone.”

“Don’t you have family who can come get you?”

Frowning, she shook her head. “I’m not going back.”

Great. Now what was he supposed to do with her? “How about a friend?”

“I don’t have any friends,” she said, her voice firm, but the bottom lip she’d been chewing on trembled.

“Well, I can’t just leave you on the street.”

She glanced down at the ring on her finger and slipped it off. “Is there anywhere I can sell this ring? I’m sure it’s worth something.”

He pulled up in front of Rider’s garage and shifted into Park. “There is a pawn shop two blocks down. Joe might give you something for it.” Staring again at her in the rearview mirror, he added, “Are you sure you want to sell it? Is there no chance of reconciliation between you and your fiancé?”

Her face went another shade paler. “No chance at all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Could you take me to the pawn shop?” She leaned forward, placing her hand on the back of the seat. “If I could sell the ring, I might be able to pay for a new tire.”

Already, this Good-Samaritan act was delaying him from getting off duty. But he couldn’t drop a barefoot bride on the street. He glanced over his shoulder. “Just so you know, I’m not a taxi service. But after the pawn shop, we’re going to the shoe shop with some of that money.”

She smiled, for the first time since he’d spotted her on the highway. “Thank you. I’m sorry to be so much trouble.” The smile slipped away and her gaze darted out the window.

At the pawn shop, Nash opened the back door for Phoebe. When he bent to lift her out, she placed a hand on his chest. A waft of honeysuckle filled his senses, scrambling his brain cells.

“I can walk. Going barefoot won’t kill me,” she pointed out.

A moment passed while heat radiated from her palm over his chest and throughout his body. Then he straightened, heat climbing up from the collar of his shirt. He held out a hand, instead. She placed hers in his and allowed him to pull her to her little bare feet with the pink toenail polish. When she stood beside him, the top of her head barely reached his shoulder.

Phoebe bent to gather her train, looped it over her arm and marched into the pawn shop, the sound of the material swishing as she moved louder than any sound her bare feet might have made on the concrete sidewalk.

Why he was thinking about the sound of her bare feet on concrete, Nash didn’t know. He dragged in a deep breath and followed her into the pawn shop.

“Deputy Grayson, where’d you find this pretty little thing?” Big, bald curmudgeon Joe Baumgartner grinned across the counter at Phoebe, holding the ring in his chubby fingers.

Nash couldn’t recall a time when Joe smiled, much less grinned. “On the highway. What can you do for her?”

The Joe Nash knew wiped the smile from his face, pulled out a jeweler’s loupe and stared down at the ring. “I don’t know that I can do much. I’m no expert, but this ain’t no diamond. I think it’s a cubic zirconia. I’d have to send it to my cousin in Dallas to be sure.”

Phoebe’s brows dipped. “Cubic zirconia? You’re kidding, right?” She focused those pretty green eyes on the old man, tears pooling to make them even greener. “Is it worth
anything
?”

Joe shrugged. “Might be worth twenty-five bucks for the gold.”

Nash watched as Phoebe seemed to shrink into her dress, her eyes rounding like a puppy in the animal shelter.

“Is that all?”

The shop owner nodded.

She fingered the locket at her throat. “What about this locket?”

The pawn shop owner shook his head, reached beneath the cabinet, pulled out a tray full of antique lockets and laid it on the counter. “Can’t sell the ones I have.”

Phoebe’s crushed look hit Nash in the gut. Damn. “Is that all you can do, Joe?”

Joe tipped his head, staring at the ring in Phoebe’s hand. “Twenty-five is really more than I think I can sell it for.” He raised his hands, palms upward. “Take it, or leave it.”

“I’ll take it,” Phoebe said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The pawn shop owner counted out the bills and handed them to Phoebe. “Sorry I couldn’t give you more.”

She handed him the ring. “You did the best you could. Thank you.” Phoebe turned away, her bare feet tripping over the train she’d let fall to the floor.

Nash dove forward, caught her and lifted her in his arms.

Old Joe rounded the counter and helped pile her dress on top of her. “Good luck, missy. Hope that jerk who stiffed you gets what he deserves.”

Phoebe shot a wide-eyed glance at Joe and stuttered, “Th-thank you.” She wadded the bills in her hand and turned to Nash. “Ready?”

He nodded. As he carried her through the door, her scent wafted beneath his nose. Nash nearly groaned out loud. He had to get her situated soon.

She leaned down and opened the back door of the SUV.

Nash settled her onto the seat and helped her gather as much of the dress as he could, shoving the folds into the vehicle. Finally, he was able to shut the door, figuring he had maybe five more minutes before Rider arrived with her car in tow. If he could wrap this up quickly, he could have her off his hands sooner rather than later.

Feeling like a chauffeur to the rich, he drove the SUV to the only shoe store in town. Sighing, he got out, opened the back door and waited while she got out, the ridiculous dress swelling around her. If anything, it appeared to be getting bigger.

She tiptoed into the store and crossed to the nearest display of sensible shoes.

Lola, the shoe storeowner, hurried from the back toward Phoebe like a hawk swooping in to claim its prey. When she spotted Nash, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening, her dark red lips curling into a smile. “Nash, honey, what can I help you with?” She altered her direction from Phoebe to Nash.

Nash ground his back teeth together.

Though nice enough, Lola had made it clear she had her heart set on Chance, Nash’s older brother. Never mind Lola was easily twenty years older than Chance. Her behavior was a constant source of pain for Chance, and he’d told her on more than one occasion he wasn’t interested. Unfortunately, Lola refused to take no for an answer.

Lola touched Nash’s arm. “Where’s that brother of yours?”

“I imagine he’s sleeping. He worked last night.”

“Mmm.” Lola ran her fingers down his chest, tapping the buttons one at a time. “You Grayson men are all so…so…delicious. And men in uniform are so very
hard
to resist.” Her hand dropped lower, catching on his belt buckle.

Easing back an inch, he captured her hand before she could get her claws into him. “Lola, could you please help Miss Smith find a pair of shoes? She seems to have left the church without hers.”

Lola blinked and turned toward the only other person in the store. “Oh, a customer. How nice of you to bring her to me.” She batted her eyelashes up at Nash. “I’m available tonight, if you’d like to show me your…badge.”

“Not interested, Lola.” He turned her toward Phoebe. “Please, help Miss Smith.”

Lola pouted, but pasted a smile on her face. “What can I get you, sweetie?”

Phoebe, her cheeks a rosy shade of pink, pointed at a pair of serviceable boat shoes. “I just need something to wear.”

“Oh, honey, those won’t go with the dress.” Lola plucked a pair of rhinestone-studded stilettos from a display shelf. “How about these?”

“I’m not interested in high heels. I need something I can work in. I need to find a job as soon as possible.”

“Oh, dear heart, you can work in any shoes I sell here. It all depends on what kind of work you’re interested in.”

Phoebe’s brows furrowed.

Nash stepped forward. “Lola, she just needs to be able to walk.” He lifted a tennis shoe from a display shelf. “What can she get for twenty-five dollars?”

Lola blinked. “Nash, you know I can’t discount my inventory that much. I have to pay the rent.”

“You don’t have anything for under twenty-five?” Nash’s hopes of being home in time for dinner were quickly fizzling.

“The only shoes I sell for that price are children’s sizes.” She glanced at Phoebe’s feet and tipped her head. “Your feet are small, but I don’t think they’re quite
that
small.”

Phoebe held out the bills. “I only have twenty-five dollars. I need shoes and something to wear besides this dress, so that I can find a job and a place to stay.”

“An admirable goal.” Lola tapped a finger to her chin. “There’s a thrift store behind the fire station. If you don’t mind secondhand clothing, you can make that twenty-five go a lot farther than one pair of my cheapest shoes. And the proceeds from the sales go toward the women’s shelter.”

Nash shook his head. “I forgot about the thrift store.”

“I know how it feels to get out of a bad relationship. At least you got smart before you said I do.”

Phoebe gave her a shaky smile.

Lola touched her arm. “Sweetie, I have an apartment over my garage, if you’re interested.”

Phoebe’s face brightened. “I am.” Just as quickly, the light faded. “But I don’t have any money.”

Lola wrapped an arm around her. “I can waive the first month’s rent if you’re willing to clean it yourself. I’ve been using it as a place to store Christmas decorations for the shop.”

“Thank you.” The young bride nodded. “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Good.” Lola backed up a step. “Go find some shoes and clothes. I’ll have a key for you when you get back.”

Nash wasn’t so sure he was happy Lola had offered the woman a place to stay. If he had his way, he would have bundled Phoebe onto a bus headed back the way she came. Now it appeared she was staying in town a little longer.

“Come on. We need to get to the thrift shop before they close.” Nash grabbed Phoebe’s hand. At the contact with her hand, an electric charge raced up his arm. He told himself it was nothing. This woman was a stranger. An almost bride, who’d almost married another man, and probably wasn’t staying in Hellfire any longer than it took to figure out the town was too small for her. Most young people moved on, finding the town too cramped and the community too nosey.

Yeah, she’d be gone before the week was out.

No worries, right?

That warm rush of sensations coursing through his veins was in reaction to the hot Texas sun, not the hot little bride holding his hand.

Keep telling yourself that, Nash. Keeping telling yourself.
Doing so wouldn’t make it true.

A
s Phoebe eased
past Deputy Grayson, she caught a whiff of his cologne. No…not really cologne, but the fresh scent of soap, the outdoors and one hundred percent male. No other man she’d been around made her heart skip several beats and then rush into a pounding frenzy.

She was embarrassed, overwrought and afraid of going to jail. At least that was her excuse for the way her breath caught and her pulse pounded whenever the deputy put his hands on her.

In a hurry to move past him, she wasn’t paying much attention to the ground at her feet—not that she could see it below the yards of taffeta and tulle. Why had she picked this dress? She missed the step down from the curb, stumbled and felt a sharp stabbing pain in her big toe. “Ouch!” Phoebe’s knees buckled. She would have fallen except for the big hand that grabbed her elbow and held her up.

“Are you okay?” Grayson bent over her, his brows knit.

She shook her head and pulled the skirt of her dress away from her foot. Deep red blood dripped onto the bright white of the wedding gown still draped across the ground. “I must have stepped on glass or something.”

“Is it still in your foot?” he asked, bending closer to study her bleeding toe. “Well, damn. You can’t go bleeding all over town.” Once again, he scooped her into his arms.

That familiar scent of him wrapped around her with his arms. Phoebe’s heartbeat did that quirky thing of stopping and then pounding hard as if she were racing for a finish line. “I’m so sorry to be such a mess. I didn’t think before I left…” She shook her head. Tears welled in her eyes. Before one could drop, she glanced away, refusing to appear weak in front of such a strong, virile man. If she wanted to be independent, she sure as hell had to start acting like it. “Put me down. I can manage.”

“The hell you can.” He juggled her body and opened the back door to the SUV, setting her on the seat. Then he pointed a finger. “Stay.” Before she could respond, he turned toward the rear of the vehicle and opened the hatch.

“I’m not a dog,” Phoebe grumbled. Just like her father, the deputy had given her a command and expected her to follow it. If she weren’t bleeding and barefoot, she’d get her ass out of the back of Grayson’s vehicle and march right out of his life. But she was bleeding…and barefoot. As Grayson appeared, Phoebe’s stomach rumbled loudly. And hungry.

It didn’t seem possible, but the deputy’s frown deepened. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

Phoebe didn’t want to think about food. She had a dead fiancé in the trunk of a stolen car. An even louder burble sounded from her belly. Pressing a hand to the tight wedding dress, she shrugged. “Yesterday evening at the rehearsal dinner,” she answered, although she hadn’t really touched the expensive filet mignon the chef prepared for her and the rest of her bridal party.

Sitting at the table with Ryan on one side and her father on the other, her mother across the table from her, laughing and flirting with one of her father’s business partners, Phoebe had experienced a wave of panic. Her stomach knotted and her hands clenched in her lap. She was marrying a man her father had selected. A man she’d dated and kissed several times, but she really didn’t know. How had she let this happen?

“Hey, it’s not all that bad. Just a little cut.” Deputy Grayson glanced up from the first-aid kit he laid on the ground.

Phoebe bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. So much for being tough and independent. “I’m okay. Really.”

“Trying to convince me?” He glanced up, his mouth quirking upward on one corner. “Or yourself?”

She laughed, though it sounded more like a sob. “Ever have one of those days that goes wrong in so many ways your head spins?”

He snorted. “As a sheriff’s deputy and a ranch owner, yes. More often than you can imagine.”

Phoebe stared down at the top of his cowboy hat as he bent to open the first aid kit. “You own a ranch?”

He nodded, extracting an alcohol prep pad. “My brothers and I own a ranch close to town. We run cattle and horses.”

“And you’re a deputy?”

He shrugged and tore open the packet. “I like to keep busy since coming home from the war.” He lifted her foot in one of his big hands and studied the cut. “I don’t see anything embedded in the wound.”

Phoebe wiggled her toes. “I can’t feel any.”

“This might sting a little.” He touched the alcohol-soaked pad to the pad of her toe.

A sharp flash of pain ripped through her toe. Phoebe instinctively gasped and jerked back her foot.

Grayson held her foot firmly in his hand and waited for her to relax. “Ready?”

She braced herself and nodded. “Just do it.”

He cleaned the wound and applied a sterile bandage. Then he tucked her into the back of the vehicle. “Let’s find some shoes, before you cut another toe.” He closed the door, effectively locking her in the SUV.

Phoebe sat in the back seat, her foot and leg tingling from the deputy’s gentle touch. Shoes, clothes and then she had to find a way to get out of Hellfire. The deputy was proving to be far too attractive. For a woman who should have been married by now, she was having highly inappropriate thoughts about a virtual stranger.

The handsome deputy stowed the kit in the back of the vehicle and climbed into the driver’s seat. Without a word, he drove a couple blocks, turned and parked in front of another building.

Phoebe grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, remembering at the last minute it was locked.

He opened it. Instead of backing away to let her get out on her own, he bent and lifted her into his arms.

Rather than argue, Phoebe draped an arm around his neck and sighed. As soon as she had a pair of shoes, she could get around on her own. She didn’t need this man’s arms to carry her everywhere. Though they were solid, and muscular, and so very strong…

He backed through the door and carried her inside. “Peg, I have a customer for you.”

A small, athletic woman with graying strawberry blond hair leaned out from a rack of blue jeans. “Oh, hi, Nash.” She blinked, doing a double-take. “What on earth have you got there? Did I not get an invite to the wedding?” She grinned.

Nash’s jaw tightened. “I picked up this stray on the highway into town. I don’t suppose you could help her find some shoes to fit?”

Phoebe frowned. “I’m not a stray, and I can speak for myself.” She glared up at him. “Please, put me down.”

He set her on her feet. “You’re in capable hands. Peg will help you with whatever you need.”

With her weight balanced on her good foot, Phoebe gathered her dress around her. “Thank you.” She turned her attention to a large room with row upon row of clothes racks and felt overwhelmed. “Oh, dear, where should I start?”

Peg’s smile disappeared. “Sweetheart, let me help you.” She held out her hand. “Margaret Clayton. Most folks around here call me Peg.”

Phoebe took her hand. “Phoebe…S-Smith.” She glanced around. “I need shoes and clothes I can work in.” She held out the bills in her hand. “Whatever I can get for twenty-five dollars.”

Peg curled her hand around Phoebe’s without taking the money. “Honey, you keep your money. This thrift shop supports the women’s shelter. From the looks of you, I’d say you could use a little of that support right now.” She hooked a hand in the crook of Phoebe’s elbow and herded her toward a rack of clothes.

For the first time since he’d come across Phoebe on the side of the road, Nash was more than four feet away from her. As soon as she left his side, he felt a void where she’d been. When he should have been breathing a sigh of relief and stepping outside into the fresh Texas air, he stood rooted to the tile floor, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Rescuing a damsel in distress must have triggered some kind of residual protective instinct. That had to be it. He pushed his hat back on his head, semi-satisfied with his reasoning.

Then why hadn’t he had the same feeling when he’d rescued Maggie Parker from her abusive boyfriend? She was young and as pretty as Phoebe. Maggie was a friend. He knew her and he didn’t know Phoebe. Yet, he hadn’t felt this weird sense of territorial claim or belonging he was feeling toward the runaway bride who kept looking back, as if afraid he’d leave her stranded in the thrift shop.

Nash spun on his boot heels and started for the exit and clear, country air. He had his hand on the door when he made the mistake of looking over his shoulder.

Peg had disappeared in the maze of clothes racks.

Phoebe stood with her wedding dress bunched in her arms, her gaze on him, her eyes round and scared.

Damn.

Instead of pushing through the door, he stopped, turned his back to the windows and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms as if he had all day to wait for Phoebe to get dressed in something besides that billowing poof of a wedding dress. He nodded toward her, keeping his face set and serious.

Phoebe’s shoulders relaxed, and she turned toward Peg, who approached with an armload of denim.

“Start with these. I guessed your size.” She was back in a moment with blouses of all shapes and colors. Like a child’s automated toy, Peg darted left and right, ducking in and out of racks, until she had a shopping cart filled with a mound of clothing and another filled with shoes.

At the sight, Nash groaned and chanced a glance at his watch. He keyed his mic and spoke into the radio on his shoulder. “Gretchen, could you notify the office I’ll be delayed another thirty minutes to an hour?”

“Sure, honey. Any problems? Need backup?”

Did he need backup? Hell yeah! A runaway bride, whose gaze could melt him in his tracks, was something he had never come up against. And by against…her warm, curvy body pressed to his had left a definite impression. “No. I don’t need backup,” he said, his voice a little harsher than he’d intended. He didn’t need backup. He needed someone else to take over so he could run as far away as possible.

Hell. And that really wasn’t an option. Not when she finally emerged from the dressing room wearing a pair of slim-fitting jeans that clung to her body like a second skin. Those and a pale green, short-sleeved sweater that hugged the rounded swell of her breasts and narrow waist had Nash shifting in his boots, wishing he could adjust the fit of his trousers to accommodate what the sight of her was doing to his libido.

Sweet Jesus!

In the wedding dress, she was a tiny fairy princess enveloped in clouds of poofy cotton candy. In the jeans, light green sweater, and a pair of gently scuffed, brown cowboy boots she was the girl next door, only better and somehow more real. She’d pulled the remaining pins and her long auburn hair fell around her shoulders in wild waves.

When she turned her gaze to meet his, Nash’s breath caught and held.

Alarm bells rang out in his head.
Warning! Warning!
Had he listened, he’d have run the other way. Peg would have seen that Phoebe got a ride to Lola’s apartment or the women’s shelter. Nash had no obligation to stick around and see her to her next destination.

His feet wouldn’t budge from the floor. He couldn’t breathe, much less move when she gazed at him with those eyes the soft green of spring hay.

Peg held out a bag bulging with other items of clothing and another with several pairs of shoes. When Phoebe extended the twenty-five dollars, Peg lifted her hand and shook her head. “Take them. Pay it forward when you get on your feet.”

“Thank you so very much,” Phoebe said. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”

“What do you want me to do with the wedding dress?” Peg asked, tilting her head toward the dressing room.

“Keep it, sell it, or burn it. I have no use for the thing.”

“Consider it payment for the items you’re taking with you.” Peg smiled. “I’m sure it more than covers them. And you look wonderful and ready to take on life on your own terms.”

Phoebe hugged Peg and turned to Nash, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. “I’m ready.” She squared her shoulders, even as her bottom lip trembled. She sucked it between her teeth and lifted her chin.

He swallowed past the tightening in his throat and resisted the urge to gather Phoebe in his arms, to protect her from the world and feel this whole new woman, free of the wedding dress, pressed against his body. But resist, he did. To hold her now would start a landslide of something he was sure would bury him completely. One thing was certain, he wouldn’t emerge unscathed. Outside the thrift shop, he held the SUV door for Phoebe.

She slid in, drawing in her slim legs like a celebrity, or someone used to riding in the back seat of a limousine.

Nash blinked. That thought tugged at his memory. With her hair down and that ridiculous dress gone, she appeared somewhat familiar. He’d seen that face before, but he couldn’t put his finger on where. “Should I know you?”

Her eyes widened, and she turned away. “I don’t see how. We just met today.”

His gaze narrowed, as if by squinting he could pinpoint that memory of where he’d seen her before. For a long moment, he stared at her profile. Finally, he shook his head. “Guess I’m mistaken.”

“Yes,” she said, her voice breathy. “Perhaps so.”

He shut the door, rounded the vehicle to the driver’s side and climbed in. He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Were you at the last rodeo in Fort Worth?”

Phoebe shook her head and stared out the window, fingering the locket at her throat. “No.”

“Where are you from?” he asked, surprised he hadn’t asked before. What kind of deputy was he, anyway?

“Does it matter?” She continued to stare out the window, allowing a long strand of hair to swing forward and block her eyes from his view. “I’m sure you have better things to do than chauffeur me around. Likely Lola will be waiting for my return.”

A non-answer. Nash’s eyes narrowed. He supposed she wasn’t in a hurry to let her folks know where she’d run to, nor did she want a well-meaning sheriff’s deputy to notify her family of her whereabouts.

Nash shifted into reverse, backing out of the parking lot. Two minutes later, he pulled into the parking lot of Lola’s shoe store.

Lola hurried out, locked the door behind her and held up a key. “I have the key to the apartment.”