Southern Spice (Southern Desires Series Book 1) (4 page)

Derrick looked at her, arching a brow. What did she know about the guy Collins? Was that her boyfriend? Was that where she was going when she landed on his property? “Why is that?”

She smiled proudly. “Because I’m your missing man. My name is Casey Collins. I work for FEMA.”

Hell. No. She absolutely, no way in hell, could be the person he agreed could stay at the ranch for a week. Another hour alone with her was asking for trouble.
“Jack—”

“Looks like I’m heading back to town alone. See you in a week, Derrick,” Jack said, laughing like a dang school boy, as he hustled down the steps and climbed back inside his Jeep.

Don’t you dare leave her here, Jack. You of all people know why.

Jack put the Jeep in gear and started to pull away. Before he was out of earshot Derrick heard him shout: “Derrick, find her some more clothes.”

He normally didn’t take orders from anyone. The last twenty-four hours seemed to be nothing but that. Derrick was being pushed beyond his limit, and there was going to be hell to pay. If he had known Collins was a woman—never mind this woman—he wouldn’t have agreed. Seeing Casey standing in the living room, holding her sole belongings, pissed him off even more. If it wasn’t for the fact Casey could have been killed in that crash last night, he would have bet this was all a setup.

He didn’t need to be in the house with her right now. If he was, he would only say things he’d regret later.
Most likely not. Maybe if I were a gentleman or had a conscious, then I would. Good thing neither applies to me. At least not anymore.

Some people can’t stand being alone, but Derrick preferred it, especially now. He knew he should say something to her to make her feel comfortable—welcomed—but she was there for a job, and one he wanted no part of.

Heading down the porch steps, he strode to the barn. He knew the guys didn’t need his help today, but he needed some distance, a chance to clear his head. If he couldn’t be back in the office behind his laptop, he would have to settle for the solitude of the open range.

It wasn’t just Casey causing frustration, though. It was everything from the past five years. He wanted to love being here, but it was difficult. So many memories and reminders of what he no longer had.
I lost everything. So quickly, I lost it all.

New York was all about business and making money. That wasn’t the case in Texas. Every time he came back it was the same thing. People from town attempted to console him—get him to open up—to talk and feel again. It took incredible restraint each time he walked away instead of putting his fist through a wall. Everyone was sorry for his loss and told him healing takes time, and in time it would get easier. All lies.

There wasn’t a day that went by where he didn’t hate himself for leaving his family. It was a family vacation, just the three of them in the country, but he couldn’t stop working long enough to enjoy it.
Fuck. Work was so damn important. Now it’s all I have left.
It was supposed to be a quick trip to New York, meet and greet, sign some papers, and fly back to meet up with the family. But when the storm turned inland, all flights were canceled. It didn’t matter how much money you had, or how much you threatened; no one was flying into a hurricane.

The grief counselor and his parents had called him afterward and tried to explain to him that he was going through what was called survivor’s guilt. To him, it was all bullshit. He wasn’t mad for being alive; he was angry he wasn’t there to save them. Maybe if he had been the one driving he could have done something differently. Then maybe none of this would have happened.

Before Derrick entered the barn, he turned and looked up the hill on the far right of the ranch house. Even from there he could see the two white crosses marking the final resting place of Penny and Kim.
At least, I would be with them now. And not alone.

Casey suspected there was much more going on with Derrick Nash. Women’s clothing but lack of any sign of one was odd. Add that with his behavior, and it really piqued her interest. Asking him was out of the question; she was far from being a detective. That left snooping around his home to find the answers. Although she really wanted to know, Casey wasn’t willing to go that far to obtain the answer.
I won’t be here long enough to figure it out. Derrick Nash will have to remain a mystery.

Making her way to the couch, she sat and lifted her leg onto the ottoman, keeping it elevated. While the others were around she attempted to put on a good front to show them she could make it around with no problem, but it was far from the truth. The swelling had reduced, but each time she put pressure on it, stabbing pain radiated up her thigh.
Hopefully resting will do the trick. It’s probably just bruised badly. I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s anything more than that.

She looked around the room, hoping to find whatever he had rubbed on her knee last night. Crazy at it sounded, the ointment for horses had worked very well.
Not that I plan on telling him that. The last thing I need is to feed that man’s ego. He’s already arrogant enough.

Was there any reason to concern herself with his issues? She’d been sent to Honeywell for business only, not to be worrying over a sexy stranger.
Wait. What? Sexy? I must still be in shock from the accident. I’m stuck in his house with no clothing of my own, no money, and no laptop. Shit. What am I supposed to do now? Staying here alone with him has gone from bad to worse.

The procedure manuals she had read had nothing regarding these circumstances.
Maybe after this I can rewrite them. Right now, Casey, get your head back in the game.
Her first and only priority was to assist the people of Honeywell to understand what they needed to do to gain assistance, if any, from FEMA. Since there didn’t seem to be any obvious damage to his ranch, the only thing she needed from him was a temporary roof over her head.
And maybe a few more articles of clothing.

From where she was sitting, she saw he had a landline phone. She remembered him saying the phones were out last night, but maybe they’d come back on overnight. Pulling herself from the comfort of the large leather couch, she made her way across the room, trying not to put too much pressure on her right leg.
I’m not sure sitting was worth it. Now I’m stiff, and the pain is exacerbated by trying to move again.
Holding herself steady, she lifted the receiver and was relieved to hear a dial tone.

Thankfully she was able to call the IT department instead of her boss. JT would love hearing how she rolled her truck into a ditch, destroying her laptop, portable printer/scanner, and informational packets. At least now there was a slim chance it could stay private instead of being brought up at a staff meeting.

Once they had all the details they assured her the replacement equipment and materials would be shipped overnight. Since she no longer had a room at the hotel, she did the next best thing and had it sent to the sheriff’s office.
At least I know everything will be safe there until I can retrieve it.
The sooner she could make contact with the members of the town, the faster the recovery process would be.
For some, at least, others never recover.

Casey had seen a lot of suffering and tragedy in her life. It didn’t matter if it was a natural disaster or an illness like her father being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS.
Everyone deals with things differently. Some cry, others get angry. Me? I chose to run from what I can’t control and not think about it.

Ever since the doctors confirmed his ALS diagnosis a few months ago she looked at life so differently. At first she was full of hope and refused to hear what they were telling her parents. To her, it seemed impossible. He’d always been so strong and on the go. Something like that couldn’t happen to him. She researched every option, every medical journal she could find, not that they made a lot of sense to her, but the findings were all the same. There was only a 4% chance of survival.
If my parents won’t stand still long enough to fight this, there’s nothing more I can do.

She felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead. As she wiped it away, she looked at the clock on the wall. Not only did it tell the time, but it also provided the temperature.
You’ve got to be kidding me. It’s only ten in the morning and already crossing eighty degrees? What I would give for a little snow right about now.

Texas was as far from her home in Buffalo, New York as she could get. It was late February, but she knew there was still plenty of snow on the ground there. How the days were so hot in Honeywell and the nights so cool was out of the norm to her.
At least they have some break from this heat. I couldn’t handle this twenty-four/seven.

It seemed the weather was going crazy in both places. Buffalo hit a new record for overall snow amounts of the season. Texas never saw these high temperatures in February yet they were setting new high temp records, never mind tornados this early. She didn’t want to know what spring was going to be like for them.

Back in Buffalo they dealt with the same thing every year: snow, snow, and more snow. But it was their way of life. Casey was used to traveling all over the country for FEMA. Unfortunately, there seemed to be an increase in need. Among hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and tornadoes, it was like the entire country was experiencing one thing or another.
How can FEMA keep up?

Then she remembered most of the town still had no power or even generators in working condition. That meant no air conditioning. If it was this warm on the ranch, she could only imagine what they would be facing when the heat of the day hit in the afternoon.

Her job was to educate and help people process the proper paperwork required for FEMA assistance. She was not supposed to become personally involved. How could she not care when it was going to be over ninety degrees today, and
she
would enjoy the comfort of Derrick’s air conditioning? Looking around, she noticed how huge his place was. His living room alone was the size of many homes in her neighborhood. The wheels in her brain were turning, and she knew she was teetering on breaking the rules, several of them, in fact. It wouldn’t be the first time, even though she prided herself on following orders.

Her father’s last words to her before he and her mother left on their assignment with the Peace Corp echoed in her mind.
“Make your mark in the world today, because your acts of kindness are all anyone will remember in years to come.”

He was so right. He’d spent thirty years as a firefighter with the Buffalo Fire Department before retiring. She grew up hearing people talk about how kind he was to everyone. When he retired she thought he would spend his days fishing by the lake. But once he was told he had ALS he refused to stop. Saying Casey was surprised when they announced they were going to become volunteers with the Peace Corp was an understatement. She begged and pleaded but he refused to listen. She even asked her oldest brother, Mark, to talk some sense into him, but he seemed to be on their dad’s side.
I’m never going to get used to them being on the other side of the world.

She told him it was risky being so far away. What if he needed medical treatment? But his entire life had been one of risk and his retirement wasn’t going to be any different. Casey, on the other hand, found it difficult to function that way. It didn’t mean she didn’t try, but each time she stepped out of the box of company rules and regulations she found herself in hot water. Her father had always encouraged her to make sure she was personally invested in whatever she did in life, as that would ensure she always did her best.

Even as a child she hadn’t been a risk-taker. At least nowhere near what the rest of her family was. Not even when she dated. Her choices were always so damn logical. She dated someone who fit the bill as to what the perfect boyfriend would be. Of course it only looked good on paper. In reality they turned out to be boring, and she never felt they had any chemistry. Was she going to go through her entire life like that?

Maybe it’s time to use my God-given intelligence instead of a rulebook.
Casey knew she was more than capable in her job but had left things of the heart fall by the wayside.
Maybe it’s time I think about opening myself up. What do I have to lose . . .?

That wasn’t going to be easy. To Casey, everyone was either right or wrong, nothing in the middle. In her eyes, things were black and white.

Where do I start? Do I go slowly or jump in head first? What if I get written up, or worse, fired for this?

Overthinking everything was something she excelled in. She couldn’t remember a time in her life that she’d simply reacted to a situation. Casey had always considered it a strength, but now she was beginning to question what opportunities she’d missed by being too analytical.
Honeywell isn’t going to be one of them.

Derrick had agreed to let her stay here for one week. That meant this was her base camp for assisting Honeywell.
I don’t have my laptop, but I think today would be a perfect day to have everyone here so I can talk about the paperwork yet to arrive. I know what is involved. I have been working in this job for six years. And meeting everyone might just take until the sun goes down and it starts to cool off.

She picked up the phone again and called information. “Hello. Can you please give me the number for the sheriff’s office?”