Secrets in a Small Town (17 page)

“A good reporter always goes where the story is,” she said, snapping another shot, ignorant of the turmoil twisting his insides into a knot. How could he simultaneously eye her like a succulent snack and want to snarl and yell at her for being such a pain in his ass? Right about now he wanted to grab that fancy camera of hers and pitch it into the woods.

Last night he’d been thwarted in his attempt to question her about her motives. He wouldn’t let the opportunity pass him by again.

“Did you know they were going to do this?” he asked, her answer important to him.

She stopped taking pictures and turned to him, her eyes serious. “No.” Unfortunately, his relief was shortlived as she added, “Well, I’d heard about
something
that
may have
been mentioned about it but I never got a date and then I forgot. I’ve been busy with other things.”

“You don’t think it might’ve been important to mention?” he asked, deceptively calm.

She had the grace to look guilty even if she didn’t cop to it. “And why would I tell you? That seems inappropriate.”

He held back the words he wanted to say for another time. Instead, he said, “I’m going to send them a bill for my lost time.”

She surprised him when she agreed. “Seems fair and expected seeing as their goal was to shut you down for a day or two.” He glanced at her, nonplussed. She shrugged, adding, “However, you’ll have to take them to court to get the money and it will likely cost you more in attorney’s fees than will make it worthwhile, which is something they likely already know.”

Damn. She had a point. He sent a dark glower toward the group, watching with no small amount of happiness as they were marched into awaiting squad cars. One woman, before being put in the backseat in handcuffs, shouted, “Get out of Dayton! No one wants you here!” and Piper’s expression faltered, clearly bothered by the woman’s shouting.

“Friends of yours?” he asked.

“My mother,” she answered with a sigh. She caught his startled gaze. “What? You knew my parents were involved in this. It’s not like it’s a secret.”

No, he figured not. But her mother? If the woman hated him before, if she found out where his mouth had been last night, she’d really hate his guts. If he were a real jerk, he’d make mention of it as she was dragged off but the good manners Mama Jo had drilled into his head kept his lips firmly shut.

He glanced at Piper, taking in every last detail with silent care. The morning sun picked up the subtle strands of auburn threaded through her hair like the sparkle of the summer sand during a sunrise and he caught himself before he reached out to touch her. Suddenly, Piper turned to him a bundle of taut nerves and agitation and he was glad to see he wasn’t the only one twisting in the wind over the situation between them.

“Did you and I…” Piper started then stopped, her mouth tightening with the awkwardness of the moment. She drew a deep breath and he knew what she was getting at but he waited until she threw it out there. “What I mean to say is…did we
finish
what was started last night because I don’t quite, well, I don’t remember.”

Equal parts relief and sharp disappointment followed her admission. He shouldn’t be the only one saddled with the memory. He didn’t answer right away and she clearly took that as an affirmative. For some reason he didn’t feel obligated to correct her. He was still mad about the tree-sitters and whether she was an accomplice or not, she was certainly involved.

“Oh, God. This is terrible,” she said with open distress, which he found mildly insulting.

“Was it that bad?” he asked.

“How should I know? You could be the best lover in all of Dayton, or all of California, for all I know, because I don’t have a point of reference to judge against. However, that’s not the point.” He waited, curious to see where this was going even though his conscience started to twinge about the deception. “The point is that…”

“You were saving yourself for marriage?” he supplied with mock helpfulness.

Her mouth firmed. “No. I wasn’t saving myself for anything. I wanted to stay focused on my career not my libido. Now the seal has been broken.”

He nearly choked. “The seal?” He’d never heard it called that before. “I don’t think I understand.”

Piper glowered, her brows crashing together with very real agitation, waiting a second for some privacy as the last of the tree-sitters were escorted away, then said, “You know, the seal. If I never know what I’m missing then I don’t lament its absence. But now I know what all the fuss is about and likely I’ll want to do it again at some point.”

His breathing turned shallow and his mouth dried at her blithe statement. It took every ounce of willpower not to volunteer on the spot to be the one to accommodate her. He certainly didn’t like the idea of anyone else helping her out in that regard. But he didn’t like the obsession he was developing when it came to her, either.

She seemed lost in thought as she mused aloud. “I suppose I’ll need to consider birth control now. Oh, crud. Did we use a condom?” she asked, rubbing her forehead as if trying to massage the memory free. “This is why I don’t drink. Thankfully, I’m not ovulating or else we could be having an entirely different conversation because I’m certainly not ready to be a mother—not that being the mother to your child wouldn’t be nice, I’m just saying, I’m not ready to be
anyone’s
baby mama.”

“Good to know,” he said, though how he managed without sounding as if he were in pain, he didn’t know.

She sighed, a very put-out sound if he ever heard one, saying, “Yes, well, the problem is, because I don’t exactly remember what the actual deed was like, I’m not entirely sure if I liked it. Everyone says the first time is painful. My mother—” She noted his expression—and possibly the fact he was damn tempted to toss her over his shoulder and find a quiet spot in the woods to educate her on the finer points of what they didn’t actually do—and she faltered, her tongue darting to wet her lips. The action nearly undid him. “Are you all right? You have a funny look on your face.”

“Funny how?” he asked, trying to appear calm when, in fact, he was trembling with the effort.

“I don’t know but—” she swallowed, admitting “—it’s a bit unnerving.”

He didn’t know how much longer he could stand. His foreman, Wesley, hollered at him and he was glad to have a plausible escape. “Duty calls,” he muttered, not waiting for her reaction. He didn’t care if he seemed abrupt. He needed a little distance so he could think straight again. All the blood had drained from his head to detour south, and it’d be a miracle if he could walk at all.

An image of her mother, spitting hatred and vitriol toward Owen, made her frown. Why did Coral despise him so much? Her feelings seemed to go a little deeper than the environmental angle. A general sense of unease settled in Piper’s bones as she made the decision to talk to her parents about her feelings.

And about their connection to Red Meadows.

The sound of a truck pulling up had her lifting from her chair in the hopes that Owen had returned, but no such luck. She sat with a disappointed frown when she saw it was only Timothy, Owen’s top faller. The man wasn’t much of a conversationalist, particularly around her and he had a tendency to stare a bit. It made her uncomfortable. She withheld a sigh and offered a smile for the sake of being pleasant when he came in.

“Everything all right?” Timothy asked, glancing around the office as if checking for the boogeyman, suspicious of every shadow. “Owen said he wanted me to check on you.”

She warmed at Owen’s concern. “That’s so sweet of him. I’m fine. Just a little hungry is all,” she added, mostly to make small talk but also because it was the truth. She’d forgotten to pack a snack and now her stomach was growling.

Without a word, Timothy turned on his heel and left. She blinked and frowned after him. What a strange man. So quiet. She wondered if she wanted to know what was happening behind that quiet facade. Likely not. In her experience, what went on in a man’s brain wasn’t something a woman needed to know. Although she wished she’d had some inkling as to how rotten Danny was behind that false smile and oozing charm. A tear escaped and she wiped at it, irritated at herself for allowing such self-pity. She’d made her bed, she’d find a way to climb out of it.

The door opened and Timothy returned with a red apple in his hand. He offered it to her with that dark-eyed stare that unnerved her. “S’all I got in the truck but it’s fresh. Just put it there this morning,” he said. “You shouldn’t let your blood sugar drop. Here, take it.”

She accepted the apple, unsure of what to do in the face of the unexpected gesture. She tried a tentative but genuine smile for his thoughtfulness. “Are you sure, Timothy? You work far harder than me…you sure you won’t miss it?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” she said, rising to wash it off and cut it into manageable pieces. “But you have to at least share it with me. I wouldn’t feel right otherwise.” He shrugged as if agreeing but his eyes seemed to rest on her belly before rising to meet her questioning gaze. “What?” she asked, smoothing her hand over her stomach in a defensive motion. Why did he have to stare at her like that?

“Nothing,” he said, looking away. “You feel all right?”

“My back hurts a little,” she admitted, though why she didn’t know. She managed a light laugh as she handed him a few apple slices on a paper towel as she returned to her seat. “I think it’s this office chair. Not great for my growing behind,” she said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Nothing wrong with your behind,” he said, then seemed to blush when he realized what he’d said aloud. “All’s I’m saying is that…I don’t know, it seems fine to me. Good. Nice. Whatever, you know.”

Now it was her turn to blush. Had he just called her fat butt
nice?
Danny had always poked and pinched at her thickening body as her pregnancy had progressed, snickering and making fun of her burgeoning belly. She risked a glance at Timothy. “Thank you. Feels good to hear even if you’re just being polite,” she said to him, giving him an out but he didn’t take it. In fact, he seemed even more determined to heap compliments her way. Well, compliments Timothy Knox-style.

“Everything about you is bigger,” he said, his stare drawn to her breasts that had indeed tripled in size since the beginning of her pregnancy. That had happened when she was carrying Quinn, too. “It’s nice. Real pretty, you know? Women are supposed to be soft and curvy.”

She chuckled, admitting sadly. “Danny said I was turning into a fat cow.”

At the mention of her ex, Timothy’s stare darkened and his mouth tightened as he said, “He’s an idiot. If he comes near you or Quinn…” As if he’d realized he’d said too much, he tossed an apple slice in his mouth and mumbled a quick goodbye. Then he was gone.

Frowning, she stared after Timothy’s truck as it pulled onto the highway.

She’d known Timothy for a year, almost right around the time she’d met Danny. He’d never opened his mouth around her until recently. Yet, she sensed something deeper beyond that hard faller’s usual expression. And the feelings it evoked confused her.

Timothy Knox?

She bit into the apple, wiping away the sweet juice as it dribbled down her chin.

He wasn’t her type. She could count on her hand the number of times he’d actually spoken to her before today. They seemed polar opposites. She liked to laugh and have a good time; he seemed to always hold himself apart from all the noise. No, he wasn’t the kind of guy she would even notice under most circumstances.

Yet…he’d given her an apple from his own lunch even though fallers had one of the toughest, most physically demanding jobs in the entire operation. His concern had been her blood sugar.

She sat in quiet reflection for a long moment. It appeared there was more to Timothy than she knew.

Sad, but she’d never dated a man who put her feelings above his own. Her eyes moist, she rubbed at her stinging nose and thought of Quinn and her new daughter and wondered how she was ever going to teach her girls to look for men who will love them, instead of belittle them, when she hadn’t found much luck in that department for herself. She sniffed at the tears that rolled down her cheek, annoyed at the show of self-pity but the tears kept falling. Damn hormones. She always turned into a weepy mess when she was pregnant. Owen, bless his heart, pretended not to notice but she knew it was hard to miss when he caught her sobbing over the fax machine because it had eaten her last fax. His answer had been to replace the fax machine, saying the office was due a new one anyway.

Owen was a good man, no doubt. Which was why she wanted to keep that toxic reporter away from him. Trouble was, that reporter seemed intent on being around Owen and that made Gretchen grouchy.

Owen was so good with Quinn. He treated her as a father should with strength tempered by kindness. Gretchen paused a moment to fully consider that thought. She’d known Owen for a while now but she’d never tried to attract his eye for she knew he was consumed by the job and besides, it never seemed prudent to keeping your job by messing with the boss. But, there was no doubt, he’d make an excellent father figure for Quinn. If only Owen had ever looked twice at her before she was pregnant, she might have something to build on. Now, she was seriously handicapped in the seduction department. Wallowing in self-pity and wondering what to do with her life, she wished she could snap her fingers and fix the royal mess she’d made with her litany of bad choices.

Her bladder sent a painful zing, reminding her that a tiny baby was using it as trampoline, and she waddled slowly to the bathroom. As she washed her hands, she caught her reflection in the mirror and made a face at what she saw. Everything seemed swollen. No wonder Danny couldn’t stand to look at her. Timothy’s bald appreciation of her curves came back to her and she wondered at what he saw. She was easily packing an extra twenty pounds on her frame including her pregnancy weight—an unfortunate side effect of her penchant for rocky road ice cream—and her face had lost the sharpness of her teenage years, rounding out a bit, particularly so now with the baby weight piling on. She tentatively cupped her breasts and groaned at how they overfilled her hands like giant melons. How could anyone find this attractive? Maybe Danny was right…there was no such thing as pleasantly plump. More tears threatened to fill her eyes but she wiped them away with determination. She’d be damned if she was going to sit here, curled up like a teenager at the prom bawling her eyes out because her date left her for someone else. She didn’t have the luxury. There was work to be done and if she was good at nothing else, she was excellent at keeping Big Trees Logging moving in the right direction.

She was halfway to her desk when her back twinged again.

This time hard enough to take her breath away.

“Ohhh,” she gasped when she could draw air in her lungs. “That one really hurt…” She touched her stomach and found it hard as a walnut. She knew that feeling.

Oh, no…it can’t be…

The next spasm created a band of fire around her belly and she knew there was no denying it—she was in preterm labor and alone.

Now, she realized, would be a good time to cry.