Part 7 (2/2)

I didnt take any notes all day, she said in surprise. Normally at the end of the day her hand was cramped from living life in the third person.

The intensity of his gaze reminded her of the strength of his arms, the solid bulk of his chest, his warmth during the worst of the storm. Ill pick you up at eight, he said.

Ill be taking notes tomorrow.

I consider myself warned, he said as he leaned across to open the pa.s.senger door. For an instant he was so close the hair on the top of his head tickled her chin. His scent was masculine and very real and threatened to break through her detachment.

Get going, he ordered, sitting upright again. His voice was rough but no longer forbidding.

She stepped out onto the sidewalk with the unnerving realization that after her article was done, shed still want to learn more about Mack Whittaker.

Mack resisted the urge to get out of the car and help Chloe as she stumbled up the steps of the B and B. She wouldnt appreciate his help. Stubborn woman. Yesterday at this time hed wanted to throttle her. Run her out of the county for being a tabloid bottom-feeder. Todayhe didnt know what he wanted.

He did know how good shed felt in his arms. In the middle of a storm. In his parents bas.e.m.e.nt.

He shook his head. He was losing it. Or was he? For the time they were huddled under the quilthe glanced down at his thumb where the teeth marks were beginning to fadeuntil shed bitten him, there was nothing but an elemental human connection. Physical touch. Without words. Without expectations. Without complications. Without a future or a past He headed toward Tanyas house. When hed delivered the cooler and supplies earlier in the day, shed said the baby had banged his head on an end table during the storm. The two middle kids, cooped up after being sent home from school early, were driving her nuts. Hed give her a break for a couple of hours. Play with the kids. Give them baths. Read them a story. Put them to bed.

Although it was painful being around children.

Tanya met him at the door, dark circles under her eyes. G.o.d, Im glad you came back, she said, leading him into the small living room dimly lit with battery-powered camp lanterns. My sister called. She has electricity. If, right now, I was given only one wish, itd be to put my feet up and watch a whole TV show, start to finish, without someone needing something from me.

Go. Watch two shows, he said, pus.h.i.+ng her to the door as Emma, Pete and Wayans plowed into him with glee. Is Duke home?

Staying next door with his buddy J.D. tonight.

Mack tried not to let the relief show. He could handle Dukes rebelliousness. But he could barely handle the fact that the boy was growing up to be the spitting image of his father.

You kids listen to Mack, Tanya admonished as she shrugged into a light jacket.

Yesm! the three shrieked in unison, turning his pockets inside out, looking for candy.

I dont know what Id do without you, Tanya said, blowing him a kiss and heading out the door He did. Without him, she wouldnt be in such a mess. Every day was a struggle for her. Because of him.

He shrugged off his morbid thoughts to turn his attention to Emma, Pete and Wayans. He loved kids. Not, however, the same way he had before hed gone to Iraq. Still, he could play a credible bucking bronco, make an edible PB&J, give three baths without flooding the bathroom, then tell a whopper of a bedtime tale. By the time Tanya came home, the kids were asleep, the dishes washed and in the drainer, and hed repaired the lock on the back door.

Thank you, she said, leaning against the kitchen counter. You want a soda?

Did her eyes ask if he wanted something more? He couldnt read signals anymore. Didnt have the desire to relearn them.

No, nothing for me. Ive had a long day, and its not over yet.

Hows that thing with the reporter going?

Shes only half a pain in the a.s.s. Now why had he said that? It was unkind. And it wasnt true. The woman had shown herself vulnerable today. And then shed shown herself to be strong and full of heart.

Call me if you need anything, he said to Tanya.

Like another pair of hands?

You can count on mine.

I do.

Her trust unnerved him.

All the way back to the barracks, where he planned to catch forty winks, then hit the road again on patrol, he thought about Tanya. And Nate. His parents.

Then there was Chloe.

Working her way under his skin.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

T HATS NOT A NEWS ARTICLE , Deirdre Kinkaid said. Thats blatant hero-wors.h.i.+p.

Sorry shed mentioned yesterdays events at all, Chloe held her phone to her ear as she searched under the inns bed for her shoes. The storm had taken out the power at the Sun s offices in Brevard, but Chloe would have much preferred the annihilation of a cell-phone tower. In particular, the one that serviced her editor.

Deirdre, Im not setting Mack Whittaker up as a hero. In the wake of the storm, the entire department pulled together heroically. I happened to be riding with Whittaker. Who was supposed to have picked her up fifteen minutes ago.

Remember your unbiased observation. Your Gravitas, I know. She found one very muddy penny loafer, then the other. Poor June hadnt given even a peep of concern for her floors when Chloe had dragged in last night, disheveled and dirty. She stuck the shoes in a plastic Piggly Wiggly bag. Shed take them out to the backyard later and see if she could clean them. Today shed have to wear her black lace-ups. You dont have to hold my hand through this a.s.signment, she told her editor.

I hope not. The article isnt for the Living section. Were not looking for warm and cuddly here.

What if the truth is warm and cuddly?

Now I know youre trying to tick me off.

Chloe heard a knock at her door. Would Mack come up to her room to get her? If so, things certainly had changed from yesterday.

My rides here. Gotta go.

She opened the door, not to Mack, but to June Parker.

Sorry to bother you, June said, but Mack is waiting for you downstairs.

I have to find my shoes.

Dont hurry. I put him in the parlor with a cup of coffee and a plate of biscuits. June delicately picked a minuscule piece of lint off her sweater sleeve. How isthe article going?

Chloe peered up from tying her shoe. I think its going okay. Though Im sorry it took the storm to get it on track.

Sometimes adversity brings out the best in us. Andsometimes its nice theres someone to chronicle the best in us when we cant see it for ourselves.

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