Page 6 of Deacon

“Why do you need the branch cut?” His tone was patient, though she could tell he was frustrated with her.

“Because it taps against my window and keeps me up all night.”

“And you can’t just ignore it?”

“I tried but I didn’t get more than an hour’s sleep all night long because of this thing. I guess I could call you to come check it out when it freaks me out at two a.m.”

“No thank you.” He sighed again. “I’m not sure if I can break away right now. Give me a few minutes. If I can’t come, I’ll send someone.”

“Thank you.” She rang off and went back inside, hoping he wouldn’t send some stranger. How would she know if whoever showed up was from him or just some weirdo?

5

“What was that all about?” Deacon didn’t know who had been on the phone, only that Cowboy either needed to go or send someone. Probably Ava, though his friend rarely sounded that exasperated by his woman.

They were in the office of Cowboy’s shop. Before the phone rang, they’d been talking about a custom bike Cowboy was designing, what would work and what wouldn’t. The client wanted a sketch tomorrow and Cowboy wasn’t sure he was ready or that he was satisfied with the design.

“Lisa needs some branch cut. Says it can’t wait and she can’t reach it. She threatened to call me at two a.m. when it freaked her out.” Cowboy rolled his eyes.

Deacon frowned. Freaking out over a branch didn’t sound like the Lisa he remembered. No, she had been fearless, even chasing after someone far too old for her, even after he’d told her he couldn’t and why. She hadn’t taken no for an answer, and he’d started avoiding her. Simply for a little peace.

“I can’t go over there. I’ll pick one of the guys and send them.”

“Don’t,” Deacon heard himself saying before he knew what was happening. “I’ll go.”

“You sure?” Cowboy looked at him with surprise.

Deacon might never have told Cowboy why he’d avoided Lisa, but his best friend had noticed. There had been questions, but Deacon had avoided giving him an answer, making excuses instead.

“Yeah, I’ll get it.” He stood, shrugged to make sure his vest was in place, then picked up his helmet and went for the door. If nothing else, it might give him a chance to figure out if something was wrong like Cowboy seemed to think. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sure. Call if it’s more than just the branch. I swear, since she’s come back to Dickenson, you’d think she’d never done anything for herself.” Cowboy continued to mutter to himself as he made changes to his sketch, but Deacon had quit listening and left.

Out front, he swung his leg over his bike, buckled his helmet, then started the engine, and took off. He didn’t have far to go. He hadn’t asked, but had assumed Lisa was at her new place. Where else would she be that she would call from at two a.m.?

When he got to her place, he looked around, half expecting her to be waiting on the front porch, hands on hips and toes tapping. But there was no one around. He frowned again at the neighborhood. It wasn’t the best part of town, and he wasn’t thrilled that she was living here alone, but she was a big girl who got to make her own decisions.

He stepped off the bike and pulled his helmet off as he stepped up onto the porch. The door opened as he lifted his fist to knock.

“You’re not Cowboy.” Lisa’s tone accused.

“Not the last time I checked. I was there when you called. He was busy, so I said I’d come. Where’s this branch and do you have something to cut it with?”

She pulled a small set of pruners more appropriate for flowers than a branch and held them out to him. He took them, unsure they’d work, but he’d try before looking for something else.

“This way.”

He watched as she slipped on a pair of flipflops, unable to keep from noticing the bright red polish on her cute little toes. She slid past him and hurried off the porch and around the house. Deacon shook his head to clear the images those pretty toes had brought to mind then followed. He needed to get this done and get out of here.

She stopped under a tree on one side of the house and pointed upwards.

“That one. See?” She followed the branch to the window. “When the wind blows it hits the window and makes noise. It kept me up all night.”

“Even after you figured out what it was?”

She nodded. “I couldn’t help thinking that it was covering some other noise I should be hearing.” She closed her eyes and he saw a shudder shake her whole body for a few seconds.

He hated seeing the dark circles under her eyes, but resisted the urge to ask if there was something else bothering her.

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