A Family Homecoming

“It was about Sara,” she lied. She was relieved when he climbed into the truck without challenging her.

On the way to the library, she berated herself for being susceptible to his masculine allure and the memories of their shared past. It was the sleeplessness, she decided, that made her restless and irritable and shattered her self-control.

Kyle went into the old brick building with her and inspected the place thoroughly before he left. She showed him the office where she would be working and gave her word that she wouldn’t leave the building until he came for her.

Once absorbed in the inventory check, she set other problems aside. The hours flew past. The next thing she knew, he was back, standing in the doorway and watching her when she glanced up.

“It’s time to pick up Sara,” he said. “I would go by myself, but she doesn’t trust me yet. I don’t want to be alone with her until she does.”

Danielle nodded and closed the computer files. She gathered her papers into their folder and tucked them into her briefcase. “Ready,” she announced.

“I got the mattress and springs and took them to the house,” he said.

“Fine.”

He picked up her jacket and held it while she slipped it on. His fingers brushed her neck, leaving a trail of fire wherever they touched. She worried about that fact all the way to the school.

Rafe was waiting for them inside the schoolroom. “We had a report of two men spotted out on the county road near where Sara was held. The rancher said one guy was a stranger, but he thought the other was Willie Sparks—”

“Who’s he?” Kyle broke in.

“A local boy, into misdemeanors as a kid, and some petty felonies—breaking and entering, shoplifting—later on.”

“Do you think he was one of the kidnappers?”

Rafe shrugged. “I don’t know.” He glanced at Sara, who was helping Lynn put up the posters for class the next day. “I was wondering if we could show Sara a picture of Willie and see if she could identify him.”

He and Kyle looked at Danielle.

“I would prefer to check with the doctor first and see what she thinks. It’s only been a little over three weeks since Sara got away. She still doesn’t speak.”

Kyle’s gaze locked with hers. “Sara won’t be safe until we have those two guys behind bars.”

“I know, but…”

“If we showed her several pictures and let her point to anyone she thought was familiar?” Rafe suggested. “We wouldn’t press her about it.”

Danielle could sense the men’s desire to get on with the investigation. She resented the pressure they silently exerted. She pressed her fingertips to one temple where the beginnings of a headache pinged in her skull.

“Dani,” Kyle said.

She jerked at the nickname. Heat flooded her body and rose to her face. The name had once been an endearment, spoken during the moments of bliss when his hands and mouth had roamed over her as they made mad, exquisite love and later, when they lay drowsy and content in each other’s arms. Go away, she ordered the troubling memories.

“I…all right. But I want to be with her.”

“Of course,” Kyle agreed smoothly. “When can you arrange it?” he asked Rafe.

“Saturday?”

Again both men looked at her. Danielle nodded. “At the house. It will be best if Sara is in her own home. She’ll be more comfortable than at the police station.”

“Great. I’ll come out around ten, if that’s okay.”

She agreed, then went to claim Sara. Rafe was gone when Lynn locked up and the four of them walked to the parking lot. After saying goodbye to the teacher, Kyle drove them to the main square in town and parked in front of the Hip Hop Café.

“This okay for lunch?” he asked.

Sara nodded before Danielle could speak. Looking at her daughter’s pleased countenance, she agreed. She was sorry the minute they walked into the odd little restaurant with its mishmash of articles from ornate mirrors to a moth-eaten moose head on the wall. The town gossip sat at one of the tables. She motioned them over before Danielle could shepherd them in a different direction.

“Well, if this isn’t a surprise,” Lily Mae Wheeler exclaimed, her earrings, which were two bright-green parrots perched on gold wires, swinging madly from each ear as she looked from one person to the other.

Sara, who thought Lily Mae was neat, took a seat. That left Danielle no choice but to join them. Kyle sat next to her, his eyes busy taking in the dining room and each person in it. When he looked at her, he smiled.

Caught off guard, she smiled back.

“Well, so this is your husband,” Lily Mae said. “We’ve been wondering if you were real or made up to cover an embarrassing circumstance.” She glanced meaningfully at Sara.

A dark red tinge crept up Kyle’s neck. “Danielle and I have been married for six years,” he informed the busybody in no uncertain terms.

Lily Mae giggled, then leaned close. “Well, years ago we had one librarian who told one whopper after another. Lexine Baxter left town as a teenager, then came back pretending to be a children’s librarian. Turned out she was a criminal, killed her father-in-law and husband and no telling how many others to get her hands on the Kincaid fortune.”

Danielle felt the air on her neck lift.

Kyle leaned forward. “Did she have a partner?”

“Oh, yes. She killed him, too. At her wedding to poor ol’ Dugin Kincaid, would you believe?”

Kyle looked disappointed and settled back into the chair. The waitress came to take their order.

“I’m up for a chili dog with lots of fries on the side. How about you?” he asked Sara.

Her eyes sparkled and she nodded shyly. Danielle didn’t argue with their choices, but, setting a good example, she ordered the vegetable plate lunch.

“Have you ever seen so many weddings?” Lily Mae asked when they were finished ordering. “Everybody’s getting married on the run these days. Not a good thing, if you ask me. People should take time to get to know each other.” She eyed Kyle. “What kind of work do you do? I might know of an opening you can check on.”

“Thanks,” he said, “but I don’t need a job.”

“Hmm, independently wealthy, huh?”

Danielle shifted impatiently at the woman’s nosiness but said nothing. Kyle was an adult. He didn’t need her help in fending off the inquisition.

“Seems odd that you haven’t visited your family.” Lily Mae turned to Danielle. “You and young Sara here have been in town about two years now, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Danielle said.

Janie, their waitress, who also managed the place, brought plates of steaming food. “Lily Mae thought Wayne Kincaid was an escaped convict when he showed up in Whitehorn and wouldn’t confess his life story to her. She had everyone thinking he was out to murder us in our beds.”

Lily Mae glared at the saucy young woman. “Well, how was I to know? He acted as if he had dire secrets, not telling anyone where he came from or why he took a job at the Kincaid ranch when everyone knew it had a curse on it. And probably still does.” Her heavily mascaraed eyes narrowed on Kyle. “It makes a body wonder is all.”