Ladd Springs (Ladd Springs, Book #1) (15 page)

“Well
maybe I wanna make it my business. You know, on account of you always meddlin’
in mine.”

Prickles
raced across her skin.

“So
where’s your friend?” Clem pretended to look around. The sidewalk was empty, store
fronts quiet.

“What
friend?” she asked.

“Your
big, strong man friend,” he sneered. Clem stole a sideways glance to the
street. Not a car in sight.

“He’s
not my friend.”

“Ain’t
he?” Clem snickered, as though he knew better. “I think you’re sleepin’ with
him.”

“What
the hell are you talking about?” she snapped, but knew full well what he was
talking about—and the fact that he was talking about it was a bad sign.

“Wonder
how Ernie would feel about that?”

Delaney
forced herself to remain in place. “What I do is none of Ernie’s business or
yours, Clem Sweeney, and I’d advise you against stirring up trouble.”

“Like
you?”

“Like
me,
what
,” she demanded before thinking.

“You’re
a troublemaker,” he hissed. “I know a secret about you and it ain’t a good
one.”

Nerves
snapped and popped. “You’re wasting my time, Clem.”

“Am
I now?”

“Yes,”
she said and turned on her heel to go.

Clem
grabbed her hard by the arm, his wiry grip steeled around her bicep. “Let me
give you a friendly warning.” His eyes glittered as he spit out in putrid
breath, “Watch your back, Dell.”

She
yanked away, but his nails were dug in deep. She swung at him with her free
arm, but he was ready and clutched her wrist. Anger percolated deep inside as
her.

“You
keep it up and those scratches on your arm will be the least of your worries.”

“You
don’t tell me what to do,” she said and threw her entire body into him, shoving
him off balance. Clem lost his grip and tried to grab her again. “Leave me
alone!” she shouted, hoping someone would hear the commotion.

But
with no one on the sidewalk around them, Clem lunged at her. He grabbed both
arms and this time Delaney lost her balance, careening into a parked truck. The
side mirror edge jammed sharply into her shoulder. Rage streamed through her
veins. “Nobody hits me,” she growled and pushed off from the vehicle with her
boot, ramming into Clem with everything she had. Nailing him in the chest, she
pushed him hard into the cement wall of Fran’s. He hit with a thud and shrieked
in pain. Delaney jabbed her elbow into his upper body, his stomach,
shoulders—anywhere she could make contact. Clem yanked a clump of her hair,
jerking her head back.

She
caught a glimpse of a black car, tires screeching as it swerved on the pavement
and landed against the curb. A man jumped out of the car and ran toward them. Before
his identity registered, Nick slugged Clem in the jaw. He reeled under the force,
hitting the wall again and slumping to the ground.

“Get
up!” Nick yelled. He yanked Clem up by the shirt and held his back to the faded
blue wall. “I should beat the hell out of you right now.”

“Don’t.”
Heart pounding, Delaney squeezed the knot on her shoulder, her bicep beginning
to throb.

“Give
me one good reason,” he bit back.

“He’s
not worth a night in jail.”

Nick
shoved Clem hard and warned, “I don’t want to see you within twenty feet of
her, you hear me? Twenty feet.”

Clem’s
head bobbed up and down.

“If
you do, the jail time will be worth the pleasure I’ll take bashing your skull
in.” Nick gave him a push down the sidewalk. Clem pulled at his shirt, put a
hand to his jaw, and scurried away.

Entrenched
in place, they watched Clem clear the premises. Once he was gone from sight,
Delaney retreated to her truck, Nick close by her side. She opened the door and
stood facing him, her shoulders sagging. “You seem to show up when I need you
most.”

“We
travel in the same circles.” Concern drew his gaze to the shoulder she was
favoring. “Are you okay?”

Delaney
hung a hand from the top of her door frame, painfully aware of her shoulder. “I
will be.”

Tenderness
mingled with danger in Nick’s dark eyes. “You should have let me finish the
job.”

She
shook her head. She had other plans for Clem.

“You
need to let me help you, Delaney.”

“And
why is that?” she asked, her shock from the encounter not fully subsided.

“Because
we want the same thing.”

Delaney’s
hip fell back against her truck. “No, we don’t.”

“Yes
we do. We both want what’s best for this property and for Felicity.”

Her
heart thumped in defiance. “You have no right to bring my daughter into this
conversation.”

“Felicity
is a nice girl. She deserves the best.” Nick set a hand to the door frame
alongside hers and the two faced off, the door hanging between them like a
makeshift barrier. “My buying this property can give her that.”

Delaney
withdrew her hand and looked into her truck. Her backpack sat on the passenger
seat, she the only one privy to its contents.

“Why
won’t you let me help you?”

Because
she didn’t trust him. She looked down the sidewalk to where she and Clem had
been at each other’s throats. She didn’t trust anyone.

“What
happened back there?”

“Old
feud.”

“Happen
often?”

She
turned to Nick. “Of course, not.” His dark eyes grew impatient, but he held steady.
Did he not believe her
?

Delaney
blew a fallen strand of hair from her face, cut another glance up the sidewalk
and mumbled, “Doesn’t matter. I know how to handle Clem.”

Nick
raised a brow in reproach but didn’t say what had to be obvious to the both of
them. Delaney hadn’t handled anything with Clem. Who knew where it would have
gone, had he not showed up. And they both knew it. Tempering her tone, she
looked up at him. “Listen, can we talk about this some other time? I’ve got to
get home before Felicity shows up.”

“Why?”

“Just
because.” Delaney cast a wary eye down the street in either direction as she
eased into the driver’s seat. She grasped the door handle but didn’t close the
door. How could she? The man just saved her butt from who knows what—an
occurrence that was becoming all too frequent—and she hadn’t even thanked him. “Please.
Stop by later? We’ll talk then.”

A
smiled curved his lips into a near smirk. “Already planned on it.”

Delaney
slumped back into her seat. “You can’t move into my front porch, you know.”

He
smiled smugly. “No desire to.”

“Then
what?” And with every fiber of her being, she wanted to know the answer. The
real
answer.

“I
want to be satisfied you’re not in any danger.”

“That’s
why you’ve appointed yourself as my bodyguard?”

“Can’t
think of a better way to spend my time while I’m waiting for your uncle to come
to his senses.”

Memories
from their conversation the night before loosened the knot in her chest. Nick
wasn’t a bad guy. Whether or not he wanted more from her remained to be seen. “Come
by around eight. We’ll talk then.”

Nick
smiled, producing those large dimples she had noticed from day one. It was as
if they carved pleasure into the rugged lines of his handsome face. She closed
her car door and gunned the engine to life. Memorable. That’s what they were. Simply
memorable.

Parked
at her kitchen counter, Nick sat comfortably on a wooden saddle stool, one leg
outstretched before him. Felicity was safely squired away at her uncle’s home,
playing her flute for him in what Nick found to be an act of pure grace. From
what he could discern, the man deserved very little affection. He certainly
didn’t dole it out to those around him.

Clad
in tank top and jeans, both faded blue tonight, Delaney chomped on carrot
sticks like they were the last food on the planet. Although he’d downed two
loaves of her amazing cornbread, she hadn’t touched the first morsel. Claimed
homegrown carrots were all she wanted tonight.

Nick
scoffed. They’d work for about two minutes, but after that he needed something
more substantial to fill his belly. He’d already downed a plate of Fran’s
meatloaf. Could Delaney cook meatloaf?

“Want
some more?” she asked.

“No
thanks.” He decided to hold his question about her cooking abilities for
another day. Taking in the ugly patch of black and blue skin on her shoulder,
he felt a fresh rise of anger. “Do you have any reason to believe Clem is
involved with the man from yesterday?”

She
angled her head, her gaze darting down to the floor before bouncing back to
him. “No. Why do you ask?”

Because
he didn’t believe in coincidences. “This Clem fellow seems hell bent on making
your life miserable, as does the man from the woods.”

“So?”
She held the carrot suspended before her mouth.

“So-o,”
he rolled out, “either those two have something in common or you have a damn
good way of pissing people off.” The muscles in her jaw visibly tightened. “Any
idea which it might be?”

“No
idea.” She snapped off the end of a carrot with her front teeth and chewed more
rapidly than necessary.

“Huh.”
He paused. White dots of light reflected in the black pools of her pupils as
she stared at him. “And you have no idea why Clem accosted you this afternoon
in broad daylight.”

“Not
the foggiest.”

Nick
knew a liar when he saw one. And he knew for a fact that Clem’s appearance on
the sidewalk was no accident. He’d been following the man since he left his
trailer early this morning. After a few brief stops, one at a rundown house on
the edge of town, the other at a pawn shop, Clem had turned his attention to
Delaney. He’d spotted her at the post office and trailed her from there, as Nick
trailed him, all the way to the diner. “Guess we have a mystery to solve,” he
said.

Pulling
another carrot from the plastic bag, her hand stopped midair. “A mystery to
solve?”

He
nodded. “We need to find out why the man in the woods wants to hurt you, why
your friend Clem wants to do the same. From my experience, there’s usually a
reason.”

Dropping
her hand to the counter, she swallowed hard.

Well,
it was good to know the woman had the sense to be scared. She needed to
understand this was serious.

Resuming
her nibblefest, Nick wondered why she was keeping the truth from him—other than
the fact that she considered
him
her mortal enemy—why cover the truth
behind the attack? She couldn’t be protecting Clem, could she? Memories of Clem’s
lunge at her in the woods came to mind. Was there was a reason he felt entitled
to throw himself at her?

Nick
had no use for a woman who lied, cheated or stole, no matter how good-looking
she might be. And Delaney Wilkins was definitely a looker. He particularly
liked it when her hair was pulled back, as it was now, into a bun of sorts, hanging
low and loose in the back. It revealed the long, graceful curve of her neck,
the creamy line of her collarbone, the one he could imagine running his lips
over.

Nick
enjoyed the view, there was no question. But if Delaney wasn’t willing to
cooperate, there was nothing more he could do here. “So.” He slapped hands to
thighs and lifted up from the stool. “Guess there’s nothing more to discuss.” He
glanced over the contents of her counter, the half-eaten pan of cornbread, the
clear plastic bag of carrots, her glass of iced tea that remained untouched. It
was her turn to come to him. “What time do you go to retrieve Felicity?”

“Nine,”
she blurted.

“I’ll
shadow you down,” he told her. “In the meantime, I’d be sure to ice that
shoulder of yours.” Her face dropped to the bruised skin on her shoulder. “It’s
gonna hurt tonight.”

She
nodded numbly and he turned to go.

“Nick—”

Pleased
by the urgency in her voice, he turned back, slow and precise. “Yes?”

“Thank
you.” A small smile touched her lips, loosening the tension from her
expression.

Nick
felt an unexpected surge of desire deep and low. Delaney was opening to him. Her
chest rose and fell with the acceleration of breath, soft brown eyes yielded
entrance to her soul. She might not be revealing the details he sought, but it
was a start. “You’re welcome.” He tipped an imaginary hat and said, “See you at
nine.”

Chapter Fifteen

Delaney
breezed out onto the porch, closing the door in a whoosh of movement. Seated
off to the side, she acknowledged Nick’s presence. “I’m heading over to
Ernie’s,” she announced and bent over to pull on her boots, her knot of hair
falling to the side.

Nick
approved of the thigh-length knitted sweater cardigan she wore. Best she didn’t
alert anyone to the mark on her shoulder. It would only invite question. And the
off-white colored fabric would aid in keeping track of her in the dark.

“Are
you really going to follow me all the way down?” she asked.

Nick
stood, the muscles in his lower back tight against his gun. “I am.”

She
gave a flippant shake to her head and stood. “If you insist.”

“Now
you’re getting the hang of it,” he said, inflecting a carnal tone he couldn’t
resist.

Delaney
rolled her eyes to the ceiling and said flatly, “Listen. I didn’t tell Felicity
you’d be here, so keep out of sight, will you? I don’t want her getting the
wrong idea.”

Nick
cocked a brow. “So long as circumstance doesn’t prevent it.”

She
held him in her gaze for a long moment, but seemed to drop whatever follow-up
swirled behind her eyes, and headed for the screen door. Crossing the porch in
long-legged strides, she pushed outside and clamored down the steps, hitting
the gravelly ground with a thud.

Nick
kept his distance, but matched her pace. No moon to speak of tonight, he had to
stay close. Delaney disappeared into the darkness, the thick chirp of crickets
enshrouding her passage. In the dense foliage, the flicker of her flashlight as
she bounded down the narrow path to Ernie’s, her light moving in fits and
starts, allowed him to follow her down with relative ease. She hit the clearing
and crossed the small bridge, but he paused at the tree line. Scanning the
black woods around them her for signs of light, movement, noise. Edging his way
along, he was careful to stay out of the clearing as he tracked Delaney’s
progress to the front door. She entered, and he hung back, concealing himself
within the tree line. Less than five minutes later, Delaney and Felicity
emerged.

Nick
wondered at the black box in Felicity’s arms, but instantly realized it was her
instrument. The women hurried down the porch steps until Delaney froze,
Felicity nearly careening into the back of her. His antennae shot up, his body
tensed. The man named Clem rounded the corner of Ernie’s cabin.
What the
hell was he doing here
?

Felicity
hung back as Delaney’s posture turned ramrod straight. In the yellow wash of
light emanating from Ernie’s porch lamp, a spray of insects swarmed above them as
the confrontation unfolded before him. Nick couldn’t decipher a word of the
angry whispers, but when Felicity’s body jumped, he moved toward them. Delaney
flagged a protective arm over her child and shoved a finger in Clem’s face.

Anger
fanned out in Nick’s chest.
What are you doing, Delaney
?

The
only reason Nick wasn’t standing between Clem and Delaney at the moment was
Felicity. More specifically, her mother’s request he remain anonymous.

Suddenly
it was Clem’s turn to play statue. Foreboding mingled in Nick’s gut. Nick
reached for his gun. Didn’t the woman understand she was playing with fire?

Clem
stomped off. Nick relaxed his grip on the cold metal handle. As Delaney stormed
off in the direction of her cabin with Felicity trailing behind, Nick backed
up, inserting himself into the landscape. To her credit, Delaney didn’t look
right or left as she passed him by. Instead, she made a bee line straight up
the trail.

Good
girl. Nick glanced back at Ernie’s cabin before whispering his goodbye.
See
you soon.
First, I have a spot of unfinished business to take care of.

You’re
gonna be sorry
.

Clem’s
words reverberated in Delaney’s skull. Seated alone on the porch, folded into
her rocker, she pulled the cable sweater more tightly around her body. Where
was Nick? He said he was going to be here tonight. Had he changed his mind,
leaving her mind to run through the scene again and again? Telling Clem that he
was a loser getting cheated by his own men had not been smart, but she couldn’t
help herself. He, of course, reacted with threats. But he couldn’t seriously
think he could have her killed, could he?

Her
thoughts swerved back to the man with the gun in the forest. His intent seemed
clear. The shots that whizzed by her head were real. Did Clem really believe
removing her would solve his problem? Apprehension sank into her bones.

It
would, wouldn’t it?

With
every noise, Delaney jumped. The light wind sounded eerie as it fluttered
through the trees. The katydids drummed in a steady racket, their rhythmic song
mind-numbing and ominously sound-neutralizing. They were so loud, the creek
below was nearly drowned out of existence. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able
to hear Clem coming!

Her
gaze drifted toward the porch door. Not a sign of Nick. And if the unseasonably
cool temperature continued to fall, she’d be forced indoors, the soft knit
insufficient to keep her comfortably seated outside. But she had to remain out
here. She wanted to talk to Nick.

Rubbing
the soft threads of material on her arms, she squeezed them close to her body. She
needed
to talk to him. Tonight she had made an error with Clem and she
could only hope it wasn’t a fatal one.

A
sound cracked in the dark. Delaney whipped her head toward the doorway and into
shaft of light outside. Her pulse hammered. It sounded like someone threw a
rock. What if they threw a rock at her floodlight? She’d be left in complete
darkness. She craned her head to peer down the trail but could see nothing, nothing
but the white-gray rocks of the trail disappearing into the black canopy of
forest. She saw no one, nothing out of the ordinary. An owl’s screech
punctuated the night.

Normally
she loved sitting outside alone, relaxing into the calm of night. But tonight
was no ordinary night. Tonight held uncertainty. She fingered the pistol
concealed in her sweat pants pocket, the hard lines against her thigh
reassuring. Where was Nick? He should be here by now. Was he waiting for
Felicity’s light to go out? Delaney drove her hands under her arms and pressed
hard against her rib cage.
Was he watching her
?

It
was eleven o’clock. Once again, Delaney involuntarily searched the trail,
willing Nick’s figure to appear, headed up toward her cabin as her protector. But
he was nowhere to be seen.

Pulling
her gaze back inside the screened confines, she relaxed into a soft focus on
the porch floor, grown uneven from weather and age, the splinters numerous and
perilous to the naked foot. She and Felicity kept the floor swept clean, but
even so, they both wore thick socks to protect their skin. Tonight the socks also
served to keep Delaney’s toes warm.

She
inhaled deep and full, then blew the air free in an anxious stream. Yet as her
temper cooled, the air chilled and her heart filled with regret. She had
allowed her tongue too much freedom and now it might cost her.

But
what was she supposed to do? Clem’s threat against Felicity could not go
unanswered. Just hearing her daughter’s name on his lips made Delaney cringe. But
the mere thought that he might follow through was unthinkable.
Little old
Felicity might just have an unfortunate accident
. Delaney shivered. If Clem
laid the first hand on Felicity, Delaney would kill him.

“Hey.”

Delaney
jumped. At the sight of Nick, she balled the sweater into fists and burrowed into
her seat cushion. “I didn’t hear you come up.”

“I’m
a quiet guy,” he said and let himself in. “The lights went off upstairs. Coast
clear?”

“Yes,”
she replied, a shred of nerves still flapping within. “How long have you been
out there?”

“Long
enough to know you’re the only one here.”

She
exhaled a sigh of relief. Nick was here.

He
took his seat in the opposite chair, the transition silent as the night. “Quiet
man” was an understatement. Three feet away from her, yet the rocker didn’t
make a peep as he lowered into it. No wonder she hadn’t seen him. He was
wearing a black button down and dark blue jeans. Add his dark hair and stealthy
movements and the man blended seamlessly into the night.

“Aren’t
you cold?” she asked.

“Not
a bit. Feels good.” He smiled, his eyes penetrating the darkness. “Nothing like
crisp mountain air to get the juices flowing.”

Montana
air. Home of the Rocky Mountains and one Nick Harris. She hadn’t noticed
earlier, but the black of his shirt enhanced his masculine features, deepened
the tan of his skin, the depth of lines around his eyes, mere shadows beneath
his heavy brow. She could feel him reading her.

“How’s
the shoulder?” he asked.

“Good,”
she said. “Tender to touch, but tolerable.”

“What
happened down there with Clem?”

Delaney
spewed out her breath. So he had witnessed the incident. “I lost my temper.”

“I
saw that. Any particular reason?”

Delaney
glanced away. How could she reveal what transpired without divulging her
discovery? How could she let him know the extent of her concern without laying
it all on the line, revealing everything?

“He’s
connected to those men, you know.”

She
turned and snaked her gaze around him. Oh, she knew. All too well.

“Wanna
talk about it?”

The
tenderness in his voice startled her. “Talk about it?”

Nick’s
eyes dashed to her shoulder. “You’ve had a rough couple of days. It could get
worse.” He paused, then added ever so gently, “I can help you.”

She
held onto the tender note in his voice, the fluid sway of his gaze. “You
can’t.”

“I
can.”

You
can’t
,
she cried silently. Not without taking advantage of the situation. Not without
taking the property from me, from Felicity. Once Nick learned there was gold on
the property, he’d want the land all the more. Anyone would. Delaney shook her
head and reverted her gaze back to the floor, taking refuge in the wood plank
curving at the porch’s edge.

“I
followed Clem tonight.” Like a fish on the line, Delaney jerked her face to him.
“He met with those men.”

“He
did?”

“Shared
some heated words with them, too.”

Angst
splintered her chest. “Did you hear what they said?”

“Some
of it. I heard enough to know he’s coming back.”

“
Tonight
?”

Nick
shrugged.

Delaney’s
heart fired with fear. He leaned forward and set a hand to her chair. She eyed
the move with disquiet. The faint rise of his cologne caused her mind to
sputter. Drawn into his black eyes, eyes that entrapped her, her insides
trembled.

“You
need to trust me.”

She
wanted to. It would make things easier. With his help, she could fight Clem and
his cohorts and keep Felicity out of danger. Suddenly, Delaney wanted to trust
him very much. But trusting him could jeopardize everything. And where did she
start?

When
she said nothing, Nick withdrew his hand.

“It’s
complicated,” she said.

“What’s
complicated?”

“Clem,
those men...” She dodged his questioning gaze. “Tonight.”

“What
happened down there, Delaney?”

She
glanced askance and said, “Clem made threatening remarks about Felicity and I
reacted.” Nick remained mute, but Delaney could sense him harden. She turned to
him. “Clem is trying to steal this property from Felicity and me, and I won’t
let him.”

“That
much, I gather.”

“It
rightfully belongs to us and I won’t let him and his hoodlum friends con Ernie
into giving it to them. I
won’t
.”

Nick
eased back into his chair. He cast an appreciative glance around the porch,
down the trail, and calmly proposed, “Why don’t we start from the beginning?”

Delaney
stared at him. Did she have a choice? She rubbed the chill from her arms and
blew out her tension in one long, ragged breath.

Being
alone on the porch with Nick held mixed emotion for her. Peaceful, serene—this was
where she came to think, to “be.” This was where she took her private time, her
release from the stress of life. Last night had begun awkwardly, but grew easy.
Nick was easy to talk to, easy to have around. She stole a glance at him, his
expectant expression patient, knowing. He was easy on the eyes, too. Having him
by her side felt cozy, like they were old friends. In fact, he was beginning to
feel like someone she wanted to see more of, to lean on, to
need
.