Special Delivery. Laura Browning

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СКАЧАТЬ don’t leak and it’s cheap.”

      And right now, cheap suited Holly to a T. Making an instant decision, she smiled. “Sounds perfect. I’ll take it.”

      “Ain’t offered it yet.”

      She smiled. “But you’re going to, aren’t you?”

      The old man laughed. “I like you. You got nerve.”

      They hammered out a rental agreement, signed it with a handshake, and it was Holly’s car that stayed while the old man and his truck bumped back to the main road.

      * * * *

      If the church ladies could just see him now, they’d have a cow. Cards and poker chips were on the table. Jake grinned as he glanced around the living room. He’d pushed the big table that stood in front of the double window to the middle of the room with the kitchen chairs pressed into service around it. Knowing Sam and Evan would want cigars, Jake had set an ashtray to one side. Beer was in the fridge, along with soft drinks for the preacher. Potato chips and peanuts—check. He’d brought home pizza from Mercer’s. He even had some spray cheese and crackers. Yep. He was ready. How freaking domestic.

      With just himself for company, he’d admit it would be nice to have some noise around the big old house. He hadn’t thought about how empty it would seem when he bought it.

      Maybe because he’d pictured it full of kids, like his house had been growing up with his three brothers and Becca, the baby. They had all gone their own ways as adults, but damn it would be nice to have family around. He rubbed the ache in his chest.

      Right.

      Single and not a woman in sight, and he was thinking kids.

      When the door opened without a knock, he grinned. “In here, Evan.”

      His friend sucked his teeth. “Aren’t you the domestic goddess. Are we having those little canapés on triangulated white bread?”

      Jake grunted. “Pizza and beer. You want cucumber sandwiches, you need to hook up with one of those blue-blooded sorority girls your mama and daddy keep tossin’ your way.”

      “Not hooking up with anyone, bro. Not happening.”

      Jake laughed. “Right. You bought the big house just for you to ramble around in?”

      Evan’s eyes narrowed. “Pot and kettle, man, and I bought mine before you. You have all the signs, Allred.”

      “What signs?”

      “Of a guy just looking to get hooked up.”

      Jake snorted.

      The door knocker thumped. Jake left his friend and the conversation behind, somewhat relieved Sam and his preacher buddy had interrupted.

      “Jake…this is Joe Taylor,” Sam rumbled in his deep voice. “You met yet?”

      “In passing.” Jake stuck out his hand. “Welcome, preacher.”

      “Joe,” the younger man grinned, returning Jake’s greeting with a firm handshake. “This is definitely not a parochial visit. I’m hoping to fleece some of my potential flock…all proceeds to go to the church general fund, of course.”

      Evan laughed. “I like you. Nice addition, Sam.”

      The sheriff nodded. Sam was a big man, as tall as Evan and as broad as Jake. A little older than the rest of them, he was still a fixture—born and raised in Castle County.

      As they sat and the dealing began, Jake thought his earlier conversation with Evan was over and done with, but after so many years, he should have known better. As Jake passed out pizza and paper towels, Evan said, “So, Sam, don’t you think Jake has the look of a man just looking to settle down and get busy on the two-kids-and-a-dog routine? I mean, look how domestic he is already all handing out paper towels so we can wipe our fingers.”

      “Bite me.” Jake laughed. “I just don’t want greasy fingerprints all over my cards. As to settling down? Unlike you, Ev, I don’t have any exes hanging around.”

      This time the smile left Evan’s eyes and Jake knew he’d gone too far. Before he could think up some awkward apology, Sam spoke up. “You’re both thirty. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the two of you with rings through your noses or on your fingers before the New Year.”

      Jake and Evan’s eyes met and the two men howled.

      * * * *

      Almost a month after arriving in Mountain Meadow, Holly began to let down her guard. Tyler was enrolled in the local elementary school. The bus picked him up at the end of the lane. She’d discovered few people braved Mistletoe Lane once they got a good look at the potholes. She lurched her way to the part-time job she’d found keeping books for Crawford Pallets. The job suited her and the pay was okay. Mr. Crawford, her boss, had been desperate to find someone to untangle the company finances, which were in terrible shape with invoices and receipts shoved willy-nilly into file folders and nothing entered on computer.

      She’d straightened that out, and he was making noise about bringing her on full-time. Holly grinned. Extra hours would help. Mr. Crawford had been so relieved to have her handling the books, he’d even mentioned allowing her to bring the baby to work. At lunchtime, she knocked on his office door.

      “Mr. Crawford, I just wanted to remind you about my doctor’s appointment this afternoon.”

      He smiled over the half-moons of his reading glasses. “Right. Thanks, Holly. We’ll see you tomorrow then.”

      She’d told Tyler to wait for her at the general store after school. With it being right off the town square, she figured it would be safe enough, especially since the courthouse and the police station were both within sight of it.

      From Spence, she’d heard nothing at all. Of course, with their tightening finances, she’d had to let the cell phone go, so now he had no way to harass her. And he’d been cautious about calling her cell since the restraining order. No, he was very careful not to provide any solid proof of his badgering.

      Her fingers tightened on the wheel as she drove to her appointment. Spence was a chameleon. That had been part of the problem. The face he presented to everyone else certainly wasn’t what she saw, at least now. He’d been smooth enough to begin with. That’s how she’d gotten sucked in. Only later did she discover he was an adult and much more dangerous version of the kid who was always pinching or punching people behind the teacher’s back.

      She wasn’t fooled anymore. He was a snake, and she needed to stay on her guard to make sure he didn’t slither back into their lives unnoticed.

      The clinic was located in a building right next to the hospital. Holly’s choice of where to stop had been pretty fortunate. Mountain Meadow was the Castle County seat and laid claim to the sole hospital in a three-county area—something she would need. Holly sat in the waiting area with people of all ages. A family practice wouldn’t have been her first choice, but it was close, and she’d had a lot of her prenatal care already done by her obstetrician before she left.

      “Miss Morgan?”

      As the nurse СКАЧАТЬ