Wildly Inappropriate (11 page)

"How the hell do you know if he loved her or not?"

He sounded angry now and she regretted bringing up the topic, deciding not to mention the diaries. "The lockets I found in the attic. He gave her pretty things and he had them engraved
I love you, Rafe.
He looked so proud with his babies in his arms." She winked at him. "And you sure looked cute in a dress." She narrowed her eyes critically. "Hard to believe you were ever that small, though."

He huffed out a laugh. "Cammie wouldn't agree. I can remember hearing her tell Georgia I was so big she thought she'd given birth to an elephant."

"Well, it's big, but not
that
big."

He gunned the big truck onto the highway. "Sounds to me like you need to experience it again."

"Yes, Daniel." There was power in that phrase, judging by the way it made his eyes go green. She wasn't used to feeling like she had any power at all. She liked this game. His cell phone rang and she listened quietly to his end of the conversation. When he ended the call she couldn't resist asking, "Something happened to your brother's girlfriend?"

"She was speeding like a damned fool and ran her truck off the road. Slight concussion and a cut on her scalp, but that's one hard head. They're keeping her overnight at the hospital to run some tests."

"I've never had a speeding ticket," Cynda informed him proudly. "Or any other kind of ticket. But then again, I've never owned a car."

"I commend your driving record." He smiled at her and she'd never felt so proud of being afraid to drive above fifty-five in her life. She was flat-out terrified of interstates, but decided he'd laugh at her for that, so she kept it to herself.

"I drive my grams' old Volkswagen GTI," she confessed. "Had to take the keys away from her when her cataracts got so bad, but it was the last car my Grandpa Earl picked out for her so she won't sell it."

"Cammie got it in her head she wanted a Jaguar," he responded. "Rafe bought an old nineteen fifty drophead coupe and restored it for her. Picked that one because the body was made of steel and he worried about her safety. It's under a cover in the barn. I can't bring myself to sell it, and I won't let my brothers drive it." He smiled at her. "But that GTI, it's a damn good car. Reliable and solid."

She let him ramble about cars, a topic she knew nothing about, simply enjoying looking at him. He was handsome and when he talked about things he liked, his face sort of relaxed and he lost that watchful look he had, like he expected something bad to happen every minute. It was becoming abundantly clear that he had no need of the money from selling any land, and she began to worry about how she'd stop King from taking Grams' house.

"Where's your favorite shoe store?" He interrupted her worries.

She told him and sat lost in thought, trying to figure out how to handle King while he drove to the opposite end of town.

She felt embarrassed walking into the store wearing no shoes. The white sales clerk stared pointedly at her feet and rushed from behind the counter, headed in her direction.

"These shoes are cheap. And tacky," he announced once they stepped through the door and he took a brief look around.

The store was inexpensive. That's why she shopped here, but why would he want to spend a bunch of money on shoes anyway? He might not realize how much it was going to cost to get her hair braided. In her limited experience, men always underestimated the cost of girly things. "No, they're fine," Cynda argued, picking up a pair of purple pumps she'd die to own. They had stacked soles and little brass-colored studs all over the leather. "Let me just try these on in my size," she begged. She turned the shoe over, delighted to see a sale sticker. "And, they're only fifteen dollars."

"You set your sights too low, Cynda."

"May I help you?" the clerk asked.

Unsure what he meant but stung by his tone, she set the pretty shoe back on the display. He selected a simple white sandal. The clerk brought out her size and she dutifully tried them on, but had to blink back tears. He'd suggested shoe shopping, not her.
This was his game
, she reminded herself,
but the man had bad taste in shoes. And dog's names.

"Walk around and be sure they don't hurt your feet."

Cynda rolled her eyes but did as he said, annoyed when the clerk followed her.

Daniel apparently noticed the woman's behavior. When she returned to say they felt fine, he whispered, "Why's she following you?"

Cynda looked over her shoulder disdainfully, raising her voice slightly. "She's concerned because I'm SWB." She saw his brows knot, so she interpreted the acronym so familiar to her and apparently so foreign to him, "Shopping While Black."

His expression darkened. "Take those shoes off, Cynda."

She didn't want them anyway and was glad to obey, yet felt further humiliated when the woman sneered at him, her expression saying the white bitch thought he'd lowered his standards to be out with Cynda. He shoved each sandal roughly into the box and held it out to the clerk. "No, thank you. I'm sure there are other stores where we won't be treated like criminals. Stores with nicer shoes."

Following him out of the store, she didn't speak again. He hadn't been the one disrespected, had he? She suddenly longed to see Grams. What was the point in living in his house, pretending to be something she wasn't when she needed to be home figuring out a way to help Grams stall King? They drove in silence to a strip mall she'd never been to. Lost in thought, she got out of the truck and dutifully followed him into the new store. Catching sight of a rare pay phone, she almost asked him for the change to call someone to come get her.

A salesman wearing a jacket and tie rushed to greet them. The shop was small, but smelled expensive. "Her favorite color is purple," Dan announced. "Find this beautiful woman a pair of purple shoes that'll put the sparkle back in those gorgeous brown eyes, please. Size seven. Then, find her an everyday pair of sandals, in white."

The salesman led them to a pair of chairs with gilded frames that looked to Cynda like they belonged in the living room of a queen. She sank into the seat, looking at him in amazement. "How did you know that?"

"Easy," he shrugged, propping an ankle on his knee and settling back in the other chair. "In a garden full of colors, you chose the purple ones to make your crown." He wrinkled his nose. "Not to mention that hideous nail polish."

She couldn't decide whether she wanted to hug him or slap him.

The salesman came back holding the most gorgeous shoe she'd ever laid eyes on. "I thought the temptress theme would be appropriate." He spoke to Dan and held out a lavender-tinted shoe that appeared to be covered with silk. The heel was gold metal. A snake with jeweled eyes wound around the slender spike. The reptile had sparkling stones that looked like amethysts set in double rows down his back and it coiled into loops around the back of the shoe. Its head featured a large, glittering white stone. She tried not to squeal aloud as she reached for it.

"The stones are Swarovski, of course," the salesman informed Daniel as Cynda slipped her foot into the shoe. "The shoe is handmade in Italy from the finest leather and covered in dyed raw silk. We have only the one pair. I just unpacked it from the shipment."

"That's the look," Dan stated. "We'll take them." He raised his brows as she stood to prance across the floor. "Unless they hurt your feet."

Cynda grinned at the salesman. "I don't care if they make my toes fall off." She twirled carefully on the high heels in front of a full-length mirror while the two men laughed at her, but she didn't really mind.

He selected a pair of cute white sandals with a delightful flower mounted to the strap that slid between her toes. The leather forming the petals was so thin the flower almost looked real.

She gasped when she heard the price, prepared to have to give them back, but Dan calmly doled out one hundred dollar bills, ten in all, getting back minimal change.

He showed the same assurance at the hair salon, flipping through a book of photos and asking to see the beads to be sure they were wooden and not plastic. "This style," he stated, pointing to a photo. "The white wooden beads, at least ten on each braid."

The dark-skinned shop attendant shook her head. "Ten's hard. Unless I make smaller braids the braid won't fit through the holes. She has thick hair." The older woman put her hands on her hips and looked up at Daniel. "And smaller braids mean more time and more time means more money." She looked over at Cynda. "Besides, looks like you just straightened your hair, why you wantin' to braid it?"

"Would you like to be paid in advance?" he asked calmly. "I'm going to hang out with Colton at the hospital while you get this done," he said to Cynda, lifting her chin. "I'll leave you my credit card. Call me when they're done so I can come back and pick you up." He looked at the shop attendant. "See to it she gets something to eat, please. And pay yourself for going to get it."

To her utter shock, he kissed her, just a soft press of his lips to hers. Then he pulled his card from his wallet along with cash for her food, laid them in her palm, and just walked out the door as if he dropped her off every week for a hair appointment.

The shop girl leaned over the counter to watch him walk to his truck before giving Cynda a hard once-over. "Good Lord, your man's hot. Girl, where in the hell did you get those shoes? And that dress looks like something out of a museum. I gotta get me a white man. He got any brothers?"

* * * *

Dan wished miserably that Eric wasn't at the beach. Neither he nor Colton could coax a smile from Lila. Eric was good at that. He excelled at either pissing Lila off or making her laugh till she cried. Black silk stitches showed through her pale hair, still streaked with blood. He thought she might not have latched her seat belt in her anger and she could've hit the windshield. The more he watched her, lying so still with her hands over her stomach, the more he thought he might be right. If she'd gone over the steering wheel and then the air bag had deployed, that would account for a tummy ache. He didn't ask. Colton looked stressed out enough.

"Take him out in the hall and talk some sense into him, Daniel," Lila pleaded, sounding weary. "There's no need for him to sit in that chair all night when he has a perfectly good bed. I'll just sleep. Watching me do that is silly."

Taking the hint when she closed her eyes and turned off the light above her bed, the brothers stepped into the corridor.

"You goin' or stayin'? Dan asked.

"I'm not going anywhere," Colton burst out. "She's been trying to get rid of me ever since I walked in. I had to raise holy hell to make them let me into the Emergency Room with her. Finally just walked on back." Colton shook his head worriedly. "All she's done is cry right up until you got here. Those damn doctors didn't give her any pain meds. I'm worried about her. And now I gotta find her another truck. I might get her a bigger one, like mine. Those little ones she favors just aren't safe."

"The National Guard might have some surplus tanks," Dan offered helpfully, but his little brother was apparently too upset to laugh.

Colton had lost the band he used to tie his long hair back. He raked both hands through it, the way he did when he was worrying about something. "I think she might have breast cancer."

Dan could only stare at Colton with dismay. "What?" he demanded. "What makes you think that?"

Colton looked around miserably. "Her breasts. She won't let me anywhere near 'em, Dan. Before the wreck, I mean. And I swear to God, she makes me leave the room before she'll even talk to the nurses. She's had several doctors too. I think that's strange, don't you? I mean, one down in the Emergency Department gave her the sutures and ordered the head scan. A second doctor looked at the scans and said she had a concussion. She let me stay in the room for all of that. Then a third one showed up and she kicked me out of the room so fast it made my head spin. The bastard wouldn't tell me anything, either. She lives with me, sleeps beside me every night, I love her more than anyone on this earth, but we aren't married, so he won't tell me anything. Neither will these nurses."

Dan put his hand on Colton's shoulder. "Let's hope you're wrong."

Colton's eyes held such agony it made Dan wince. "If anything happens to Lila, I think I'll end up just like Dad." He heaved a deep breath. "Can you find out if she can go on my insurance? Cancer treatments are expensive. You know Lila doesn't have any insurance with her little business. She lost her policy when Pete died."

For the first time in his life, Dan could almost see selling the farm. Rafe had left the land to him alone so that none of the younger children could force a sale or sell their share. He'd trusted Dan to do what was best for the family. He didn't have to call their insurance agent to know what the answer would be. Lila wasn't Colton's wife. Colton knew that too, so for him to ask meant his baby brother was desperate. He hadn't fully appreciated Rafe's wisdom in not dividing the farm in his will until their sister Sarah had been murdered earlier in the year. He'd been able to make her arrangements by making one phone call to the bank, borrowing the cash so they'd had no worries about collecting her insurance and none of them had to worry about what happened to her share of the land. It went straight to Jonah, in Dan's mind. No fucking around with courts and wills, just a mental shift. He had the ability to make the decision he felt right and they all accepted that. He could sell at least a fourth of it, to give Colton the money to pay for Lila's treatments. Would that be enough?

"Let me know when you find out for sure, Colton. There's a person asking right now about buying the farm."

Colton looked at him steadily but his eyes were bright. "You'd do that? You'd sell it to help me save Lila? I mean, she got some money from Pete's insurance policy, but she might need more, you know?"

Eric would be vehemently opposed, but they could keep the twenty-five-acre plots of land he'd deeded each of his brothers to build their houses on, of course. Maybe this was his kick in the ass to sell the farmhouse, if Cynda's buyer wanted it.