Safety in Numbers

Yes, he’d look at the file concerning her mother’s murder and hope that in the end he didn’t take another family member away from her.

Chapter 3 (#ulink_2183d629-903b-5106-84aa-c75b5ccd47ad)

Dinner was chaotic. It always was when the entire West family broke bread together. Meredith let the conversation swirl around her, grateful that for the moment nobody was focused on her.

She’d had enough attention when each of her brothers had arrived at the ranch. They’d teased her unmercifully about her new haircut until her father had insisted they stop picking on her.

Red West had gazed at her for a long moment, a softness in his eyes. “You look exactly like your mother did when I fell in love with her,” he’d said, then hugged her. “She would have been so proud of you.”

His words had merely renewed her desire to get to the bottom of the crime that had stolen her mother. She and Chase had agreed to go over the file that evening, after her family had left and her father went to bed.

She cast a surreptitious glance across the table at Chase, who was in the middle of a conversation with Zack. There was no denying the fact that she was attracted to the Kansas City cop.

It had been over a year since Meredith had enjoyed any kind of relationship with a man. At that time she’d been working in Florida and had fallen into a relationship with a local man. It had lasted over two months, until her job in Florida had ended.

Todd Green had been a terrific guy and she’d hoped when it was time for her to return to Oklahoma that he’d beg her not to go, that he’d tell her he couldn’t live without her.

But he hadn’t. Instead he’d told her he’d had a lot of fun with her, but when he finally decided to settle down for a long-term committed relationship it would be with somebody softer, somebody less capable…a real woman who needed him.

She’d been devastated. Not so much because she’d been head over heels in love with Todd, but rather because his hurtful words had pierced through to a well of doubt and insecurities she’d secretly harbored.

How could she know what it meant to be a real woman when there had been no woman in her life? She’d learned martial arts and self-defense like her brothers. She’d been taught how to shoot a gun and how to assess a situation for danger. But nobody had taught her how to be a real woman.

Since Todd there had been nobody else. Until Chase McCall with his piercing blue eyes that for some reason made her feel oddly lacking whenever he gazed at her.

The talk at the table turned to the Fall Festival dance in three days. “The whole town shows up for the dance,” Tanner said. “Except Meredith, she always heads home before the band starts to play.”

“We’ve all decided she must have two left feet,” Zack added with a teasing grin. His wife, Kate, elbowed him in his side.

Despite the teasing, there was no denying the sense of unity at the table, the fierce loyalty and love they all felt for each other was on display, no matter who the guests of the house might be at the time.

Chase gazed at Meredith from across the table. “Surely this time you’ll stay. If fact, I insist you save me a dance or two just to prove to your brothers that you don’t have two left feet.”

The idea of being held in his arms even for the length of a song caused a stir of warmth to seep through her blood. She wanted to protest, to tell him that she never went to the local dances, but try as she might, the protest refused to rise to her lips and she found herself nodding her assent.

Chase and his mother had only been in town for three days, but each day had increased the annoying tension in Meredith. She’d tried to keep her distance from him, but it was difficult in the confines of the house.

After dinner there was another hour of small talk, then everyone began to leave. “Meredith, will you walk me to my car?” Dalton asked.

She looked at him in surprise. “All right,” she replied. Together brother and sister left the house and stepped outside into the chilly night air. Darkness had fallen and the only light was the faint glow of the moon drifting down from the cloudless sky.

“I assume you wanted to talk to me alone?” Meredith said as they crossed the expanse of yard to where Dalton had parked his car.

“I’ve got a favor to ask you,” Dalton replied. “About the dance on Saturday night. Even though you said you’d be there at the dinner table, I thought you might sneak out early. I know dances aren’t your thing, but could you hang around and entertain Chase and his mother for me?”

Meredith had already decided to skip the evening festivities despite the fact that she’d said she would save a dance or two for Chase. Her experiences at the occasional town dances had never been pleasant ones.

“Why do I have to babysit your guests?” she asked, a touch of irritation deepening her tone.

Dalton grinned, leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Because you’re the best sister in the whole world and I have a date with Melanie Brooks for the dance.”

She wanted to decline, she so didn’t want to do this, and yet Dalton had never asked her for anything. She also knew he’d spent the past month working up his nerve to ask pretty Melanie out on a date. “All right. I said I’d go, so I’ll go and make nice to your friend and his mother.”

“You’re the best.”

“That’s what you guys always tell me when you’ve managed to talk me into doing something I don’t want to do.”

Dalton laughed and got into his car. She watched as he drove down the lane, his headlights eventually swallowed up by the darkness of the night.

She wrapped her arms around herself and remained standing in place for a long moment. She frowned as she thought about the dance and rubbed her hands along the soft flannel of her shirt.

She didn’t even have anything to wear. Her closet was filled with jeans and shirts, and the only dress she owned was the bridesmaid dress she’d worn to Clay and Libby’s wedding. It was floor length and far too fussy for a town dance.

Maybe she’d talk to Libby tomorrow about borrowing a dress for the night. The two women were about the same size, and Libby had a closet full of clothes she’d brought with her when she’d moved from California to make a life with Clay.

A night breeze blew a burst of chilly air through the nearby trees. Dying leaves swished against one another and a chill that had nothing to do with the night air swept up her spine. Once again she felt that creepy feeling, like somebody was watching her, like she wasn’t quite alone in the night.

She told herself she was being foolish, but turned on her heels and hurried back into the house. She went into the kitchen to see if there was anything she could help Smokey with, but Kathy stood at the sink next to him chatting as she dried the dishes he washed. Smokey wore a long-suffering expression, as if her chatter was about to drive him insane.

Meredith’s father, Red, was in the living room seated in his favorite chair and Chase was nowhere to be found. She sat on the sofa and smiled at her dad.

“I love family meals,” he said. “I love having the family all together.”

“It was nice,” she agreed. As usual when speaking to her father she made her voice louder than usual. Although Red refused to admit any problem, all of his kids knew he was growing deaf. “It won’t be long before the family gets bigger. Anna is pregnant and I have a feeling if Kate has her way she won’t be far behind her.”

Red’s eyes took on a faraway cast. “Grandchildren are a blessing. I just wish—” He broke off and smiled at Meredith. “Well, you know what I wish.”

She nodded. He wished Meredith’s mother were here to share it all with him. He wished his wife were by his side in the autumn of their lives. Meredith thought of the file that was in the top drawer of her dresser in her bedroom.

She couldn’t give her mother back to her father, but maybe after all these years she could finally give him some closure. She could give him the name of Elizabeth’s murderer.

Minutes later Kathy and Smokey came out of the kitchen and the four of them visited for another half hour or so. Chase came into the living room from his bedroom just about the same time Red decided to retire for the night.

By ten o’clock everyone had gone to his or her room except Chase and Meredith. “Is now a good time to go through that file?” he asked her.

“It’s a perfect time. I’ll just go get it.” As she left the living room, she drew deep breaths, wondering what it was about Chase McCall’s presence that made her feel as if she never got quite enough oxygen.

She retrieved the file from the dresser drawer, then returned to the living room. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen where we can spread it out on the table?” she suggested.

He nodded and together they went into the kitchen and sat at the round oak table. Meredith placed her hand on the top of the file, for a moment feeling as if she were about to open Pandora’s box.

Inside the folder was the last evidence of a life interrupted, the pieces of an investigation that had yielded no results, leaving a man and six children to wonder who had committed such outrage and left behind such devastation.

“You sure you want to do this?” Chase’s voice was soft, but his gaze was sharp and penetrating, as if he were attempting to look directly into her soul.

“No, I’m not at all sure I want to do this,” she replied honestly. “But, I feel like I have to.” She looked at the folder beneath her hand. “I feel like she wants me to do this, she needs me to do this.” She laughed and looked at him once again. “I know it sounds crazy.”

“No, it doesn’t,” he replied. “I know all about needing answers, but you realize it’s possible we won’t get the answers you want from that file.”