Page 59 of Legacy of Lies
Shit. What kind of fucked up parent was jealous of his child?
“I’ll go with him.” Kerr stood with a grimace, reached down toward his leg, but pulled his hand away. “We’ll make sure everything is locked down tight. No one’s getting close to the house tonight.”
After Kerr limped out of the front door, ominous silence descended, punctuated by Zach’s light breathing.
Sara stared everywhere but at Garrison. “You’ll want to get him to bed.”
“About earlier this evening—”
Her palm came up. “Stop. Take care of your family. Get cleaned up. Then maybe you can take me back home.”
“You’re not staying by yourself.”
“I can make my own decisions. And you don’t need more to worry about.”
Oh no, he groaned inwardly as her chin came up. Son of a bitch, he didn’t have the energy to argue with her tonight.
“What about your safety?” he asked.
“I’ll be safe. Besides, you have way bigger fish to fry, by the looks of things. I’d be in the way and make more trouble for you.” Her sad smile hit him in the solar plexus. “Already have caused trouble.”
“No—” He crammed his hand through his hair. “Damn it. Okay, look, let me get Zach tucked in, and we’ll talk. Just. Stay here.”
“I’ll meet you back here. Kerr said there’s a guest bathroom down the hall?”
He nodded.
Her lips curled upward, tempting him to kiss that impish smile away. “Don’t worry, I won’t leave. No transportation.”
A tiny spark of hope flared as he bent down. His front-row seat to her cute dimple made him forget how to speak. So, without a word, he picked up Zach and left the living room.
Garrison walked away. His attraction to this woman had the worst timing in the universe.
• • •
For the tenth time, Sara paced from the couch to the window and back. She’d memorized the location of the patterned rugs on the floor and how many steps it took to traverse them. The mellow brown log walls should have felt relaxing, cozy, but being so close to disaster made her shake in her shoes.
Between the ache of longing in her core from the interrupted sexy interlude and the fear of what would happen next with Hank, her insides were twisted into knots. Add to that her vow not to form any more attachments in Copper River, and she couldn’t tell up from down. Yet the memory of Garrison’s rough stubble and soft hair at the nape of his neck made her fingers tingle with the need to touch, connect. And his lips. Mother of all that was holy, what she would give to have those firm but strong lips on hers, his tongue dipping into her mouth and stroking her until ...
Suddenly, she needed to rest her flushed face against the window. Closing her eyes, she flattened her palm against the cool glass and sighed.
Beyond lay the destruction she had caused.
The remnant of the barn glowed as the twisted wood popped and settled in a heap on the far side of the ranch house. On the other side of the property, near the fenced area of livestock, the unlit bulk of the second smaller barn absorbed all light, the dark hulk an echo of the larger structure that had been reduced to ashes.
Hank might have been behind this mess. How was that possible? But the evidence pointed in his direction. This evening’s display of anger revealed a dangerous edge she’d never seen before. If he was connected to the fire, then Sara and the Taggarts were in far more trouble than they realized.
If.
She rubbed her bruised forearm. Damn Hank, he’d made his point. Now why couldn’t he simply leave the Taggart family and her alone? This mental breakdown theory had gained real traction.
Because if he’d done all of these bad things and was sane? God help them all. They were all in deep, horrible trouble. Someone who could deliberately burn down a barn and put people in danger could sure as hell do even worse things. She rested her forehead on the window casing.
Holy Christ. Yeah, her goal of one day leaving this town and making a fresh start in Atlanta? Pretty good idea, after all.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
She spun around.
