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  “Hey, baby, I guess you forgot our appointment.”

  Her stomach curled. Nausea rolled through her. “How . . . how did you get this number?” She’d changed it after Joey had conned one of the girls in the secretarial pool where Meri had worked as a temp into giving it to him.

  “You can’t keep secrets from me. You should know that by now.”

  Her mind spun. Only a few people had this number. Her friends knew what Joey was like. No way had it come from one of them. “What do you want?”

  “You know what I want, you little bitch. I want that money old lady Vandermeer left you.”

  “I don’t have it, Joey. It’s all gone. I tried to tell you that.”

  “You’re lying. You packed up and left so you wouldn’t have to give me my share. You think I couldn’t figure out where you were headed when you left? Your friend Michelle Peach was with you the night we met. Remember? She said she was moving to Portland. She wasn’t that hard to find. Me and Kowalski paid her a visit and we had a little chat.”

  Dear God, Joey was in Portland! And he was with that big bruiser friend of his, the one he called Ski. “You and Kowalski . . . you didn’t hurt her?”

  “All I did was slap her around a little. It’s your fault. I wouldn’t have had to do it if she’d given me your number the first time I asked.”

  She couldn’t think of anything to say. Her heart was hammering, her palms slick with fear.

  “Where are you, you little bitch? I spent a fortune in gas driving up here. I had to sell some of my personal stash to get enough money to make the trip. I want it back.”

  “You . . . you should have stayed in LA.”

  “Bullshit. Michelle says you changed your mind about Portland, says you’re taking the kid somewhere else. I want to know where the hell you are.”

  Meri hung up the phone. With shaking hands, she hurriedly pressed Michelle’s number, ignored the frantic beeping of Joey calling her back. Michelle picked up on the second ring.

  “Are you okay?” Meri asked.

  “I’m okay. That bastard scared the hell out of me, but I’m fine. I had to give him your number to get him and that big behemoth to leave.”

  “Oh God, Michelle, I’m so sorry. Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?”

  “He slapped me a couple of times. I hit my head when I fell, but I’m okay. I didn’t want to give him your number, but—”

  “No, you did the right thing.”

  “Don’t come here, Meri. I told him and that bald creep I didn’t know where you were. Since it’s the truth, I’m pretty sure he believed me. But, Meri . . . Joey’s crazy. He’s taken too many drugs or something. He isn’t thinking straight.”

  “I just talked to him. Will you be okay?”

  “I’ll be all right. I told him if he came back and bothered me again, I’d call a friend of mine who’s a federal agent. Raider’s like family. He’d be here in a minute. Joey could tell I meant it. Besides, it was obvious you weren’t here.”

  “I’m changing this number,” Meri said. “Once I have a new one, I’ll call you.”

  “Take care of yourself, Meri. And take care of Lily.” Michelle ended the call.

  With trembling hands, Meri turned off the phone so Joey couldn’t call her again, then she sank down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs.

  You’re safe, she told herself, trying to calm her nerves. Lily’s safe. Everything’s going to be okay. Joey had called, but there was no way he could find them. As long as they were in rural Spokane, they were safe.

  Still, she couldn’t stop shaking. She gasped when she looked up to see Ian standing in the kitchen doorway, his jaw set, his face as dark as a thundercloud. She wondered how much he had overheard.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Meri forced herself to smile. “I . . . ah . . . saw a mouse. Silly, I know, but those things really scare me. Sorry.”

  Ian didn’t look convinced. “You’re shaking. Are you sure that’s all it was? If something’s wrong, you can tell me, Meri. You can trust me to help you.”

  She took a steadying breath, managed to control her voice. “I was talking to one of my girlfriends. The mouse caught me a little off guard. I’m fine.”

  Ian’s eyes remained on her face a few seconds longer; then he grabbed something in the mudroom and stalked back out of the house.

  Meri took a deep breath. She still had a job, still had a lot of work to do.

  And she refused to let Joey Bandini interfere in her life again. Meri grabbed the broom and started sweeping.

  * * *

  Ian carried the wrench he’d been looking for back to the barn. He didn’t know if he was more angry at Meri or whoever had been on the other end of her phone.

  Dammit, why didn’t she just tell him? He could help her if she would only let him.

  With a frustrated sigh, he walked over to check on Lily, who sat in the stall with the kittens. She seemed mesmerized by the tiny little gray-and-white creatures, content to watch them for hours on end.

  Satisfied that she was okay, he returned to the tack room he had been cleaning, putting away old saddles that needed oiling, headstalls, reins, and miscellaneous feed bags and water buckets. The smell of hay and manure brought back memories of his youth, a time when he had imagined working with his dad to raise quarter horses. At least a few of them, more a hobby than for the money they might earn.

  At the moment those memories were overridden by the scene he’d stumbled onto in the kitchen, which refused to leave his head. He didn’t know what had happened, but he’d seen Meri turn off her cell phone, seen the pallor of her face.

  Someone Meri didn’t want to talk to had called, someone she didn’t want to talk to again.

  As much as he hated to go behind her back and check on her, Ian figured it might be in her best interest if he did. Maybe the trouble she was in had nothing to do with something Meri had done, and everything to do with someone who intended to do something bad to her.

  He’d give it another day, see if he could get her to talk to him. If he couldn’t, he’d phone his office, get one of his investigators to do some digging for him.

  Ian found himself walking back out of the barn over to his Jeep. Though he owned the company and rarely took cases anymore, he was a licensed private investigator, and as such, licensed to carry.

  His Glock nine mil rode in a locked compartment in the center console. He couldn’t leave it lying around with a child in the house, but the gun safe was portable. He could make sure his weapon was loaded and in easy reach if he needed it in a hurry.

  Ian carried the gun safe into the barn.

  Chapter Five

  The painters arrived the following day. Ian put them to work upstairs while Meri did a last-minute check of the kitchen to be sure it was also ready to paint. Lily was in the den watching cartoons with Daniel.

  Meri found herself smiling at that.

  She felt better this morning, more optimistic. So Joey had been looking for her. So what? Michelle didn’t believe Joey would be back to bother her again. He hadn’t found Meri and he wasn’t going to.

  She took a last look around. The ratty old kitchen curtains were down, everything was put away or draped with a cloth. Ian was on his way out the door to buy the paint when she caught up with him.

  “Ian, wait!”

  He turned and smiled down at her. “What is it?”

  The man was so handsome, for a second she forgot what she was going to say. “I was . . . just thinking. I know the kitchen was white when you were a boy, but with all the white cabinets and counters, it’s going to look awfully stark in here. How would you feel about a soft, butter-cream yellow? I think it would really warm the place up.”

  He glanced around the room, probably seeing it as it had been when he was a kid. “My dad would probably have a fit.”

  She shrugged. “It was just an idea.”

  He gave her one of his charm-you-out-of-your-knickers smiles. “Come with me to the
paint store and we’ll take a look, see if it would work.”

  She hesitated. She shouldn’t go with him. She didn’t trust herself where Ian was concerned. Just looking at him made her heart beat too fast. Yesterday she had seen him with his shirt off as he worked in the yard and, dear God, the man was ripped. A sweat-slick chest banded with muscle, broad shoulders, a trim waist, six-pack abs, and powerful biceps.

  Last night she’d had an erotic dream about him. Since she’d never experienced the hot rush of passion she’d known in the dream, it was insane.

  “Come on,” he urged, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the door. “Lily’s in the den with Dad. She’ll be fine till we get back. We’ll pick out the color together.”

  She flicked a glance toward the den. They would only be gone a few minutes. She let him pull her out of the house and help her climb up in his Jeep. As she clicked her seat belt in place, she could still feel the imprint of those warm, hard hands around her waist.

  Thinking what those big hands had done to her in her dream, heat rushed into her cheeks . . . as well as other places she firmly ignored.

  She started talking about the house. “It’s really coming along, Ian. I think your dad actually likes the way it’s shaping up.”

  “You’ve done a great job, Meri. I couldn’t have asked for more. In fact, I was wondering if you might want to stay on after the house is finished. You know, keep doing what you have been? Cooking and cleaning for my father?”

  She shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m planning to move to the city, get a secretarial job or something.”

  As the Jeep moved along the road, Ian flicked her a sideways glance. “What city do you have in mind?”

  She’d been planning on Portland, but that was now out of the question. “I don’t know. Lately I’ve been thinking I might go to Denver. I hear it’s really pretty there and if I start looking on the Internet ahead of time, I should be able to find a job.”

  “Seattle’s nice,” he said blandly.

  But Ian lived in Seattle and she needed to stay away from him at all costs. If she didn’t, she was going to end up in his bed. She wondered if he was one of those guys who was into making conquests. If she slept with him, would he be down the road the next day?

  She didn’t want to find out. She knew how much a breakup could hurt. Joey was the stupidest thing she had ever done, but falling in love with Matt Sawyer had been even worse. Matt had made a complete fool of her. He’d spent weeks seducing her, finally scored, and dumped her three days later.

  She wasn’t making that kind of mistake again.

  “I’m thinking Denver,” she said more strongly. “I don’t have enough saved yet, but in a couple more weeks I will. That should give you time to find someone else to take care of your dad.”

  He just nodded, returned his attention to the road. In the paint store, he surprised her by picking up a paint chip the exact shade she’d had in mind.

  He held up the soft-butter-yellow chip. “How about this?”

  She loved it. “What about your dad?”

  “What do you say we brave the lion and take our chances?”

  Meri laughed. “I say yes.”

  So they bought the paint, got back in the Jeep and started home. “I was wondering, Ian . . .”

  He cocked a dark gold eyebrow. “I think I see more trouble on the horizon.”

  “What if we got some curtains to match the color of the paint? Maybe some placemats or a tablecloth? It would really finish off the room.”

  Instead of answering, Ian wheeled the Jeep around and headed for the Bed Bath & Beyond they had passed along the route.

  Twenty minutes later, they walked out of the store with kitchen curtains, two tablecloths, two sets of placemats, and some yellow-and-white terry cloth kitchen towels.

  “Oh, it’s going to look wonderful,” Meri said.

  Ian cast her a glance. “Let’s hope my dad thinks so.” But he was smiling.

  Meri smiled back. She couldn’t wait to see the curtains up and everything in place, couldn’t wait to see how the room finally turned out.

  * * *

  While Ian finished painting the kitchen, the crew at work upstairs finished the entire second floor. The bad news was, the whole place smelled of paint fumes. There was no way they could stay in the house while the work was being done.

  “What are we going to do?” Meri asked. “It’s not that cold—maybe we could all sleep in the barn.”

  Ian laughed. “My barn-sleeping days ended a long time ago. We’ll take rooms somewhere for a couple of nights. I’ll get on the phone and call around, find us a decent motel.”

  A knock at the front door interrupted him. When Ian walked into the entry and pulled it open, he found Heddy Peterson standing on the front porch, a foil-covered glass pan in her hands.

  “I saw the paint trucks parked out front. I figured with the house torn up, you wouldn’t be able to cook tonight, so I brought you a ham-and-cheese casserole.”

  “Come on in—if you can stand the smell.” Ian took the casserole dish from her hands and led her farther into the house.

  Heddy wrinkled her nose at the fumes. “My goodness, this is worse than I thought. There is no possible way you can spend the night in here.”

  “I was just about to start calling motels, see if I could find a place for all of us to stay. The painters think they can finish by tomorrow night. Once they’re done, we’ll air the place out and move back in the next morning.”

  “If you want to leave, go ahead,” Daniel grumbled as he ambled toward them down the hall. “I’m staying right here.”

  “It’s dangerous to breathe this stuff, Dad,” Ian said. “It shouldn’t be a problem to find a couple of rooms for the next two days.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Heddy Peterson said. “Your mother was my friend. She would roll over in her grave if I didn’t insist you spend the night at my house. I have plenty of room and I’d love the company. Now . . . when you’ve finished working, just get what you need and come on over. I’ll put the casserole in the oven and it’ll be ready whenever you are.”

  Daniel stepped in front of her. “Did you hear what I said, woman? I’m staying here.”

  Heddy didn’t back down. “Ian told you it’s dangerous. You’re staying at my house, Daniel, and that’s the end of it.”

  He scowled, but then a smile of amusement slowly curved his lips. “You always were one stubborn woman, Heddy Peterson.”

  She blushed. Ian couldn’t believe it. Heddy and Emma Brodie had always been close friends. But after his mother died, Heddy seemed to look at Daniel a different way. There were a few times Ian had thought that his dad was seeing Heddy in a different way, too.

  If he had been, he had ruthlessly squashed any chance of a relationship. Looking at the two of them now, Ian had a hunch he knew why.

  “We’ll stop work a little before dark,” he said, “get showered, and come on over.”

  Heddy reached out and took the casserole from Ian’s hands. “I’ll have supper ready,” she said, turned and walked out of the house.

  “Stubborn damned woman,” Daniel grumbled, his gaze still on the place she had been. In her late fifties, Heddy was an attractive woman, small but buxom, with short silver hair, clear skin, and a face that was mostly unlined.

  “She’s a good woman, Dad. You always liked her. What happened?”

  Daniel looked up at him. “Nothing happened and it isn’t going to. I was married to your mother for thirty-five years. I loved her something fierce. She’s still right here, you know?” He pressed a hand over his heart. “Even now that she’s gone, it doesn’t seem right to look at another woman.”

  Ian just stood there. He’d been right. Guilt was the force keeping his father away from the woman next door.

  He watched his dad walk away, glanced up to see Meri standing in the doorway.

  She smiled as she came toward him. “I’ve never believed in that kind of lo
ve. The kind your father and mother had. The kind that lasts forever.”

  “Yeah . . .” Ian’s throat felt tight. “Dad always said, when a Brodie falls, he falls hard.”

  “I think he likes Mrs. Peterson more than he lets on.”

  “So do I. It’s been five years since Mom died. Maybe Dad’ll figure out my mother would want him to be happy.”

  “Maybe,” Meri said wistfully. There was something in her voice, something that made his chest feel tight. When she looked at him, he felt that funny little kick.

  Ian cleared his throat. “The painting crew is at work in the den. I’m going to start on the living room. I want to get as much done as I can before we quit for the night.”

  “Why don’t I pitch in and help?” Meri asked. “There’s nothing else I can do till the house is finished.”

  “You know how to paint?”

  She shrugged. “I can do pretty much anything.”

  Ian’s gaze drifted over her. He couldn’t help imagining her naked, moving beneath him in bed. “I’ll just bet you can.”

  Meri blushed, just like Mrs. Peterson. He found it charming, then realized it actually wasn’t. He had to stop thinking about Meri that way. Told himself firmly that he would.

  The furniture had all been moved to the center of the living room, a tarp spread over it so nothing would get ruined. For the next two hours, he and Meri worked side by side, painting the living room a nice soft shade of rose, the color it had been before.

  “I like your mother’s taste. This is a really pretty shade and it looks great with the burgundy furniture.”

  “You didn’t much like the white kitchen.”

  “It was okay.” She grinned. “Yellow looks better.”

  Ian’s mouth edged up. “The kitchen’s still partly draped, which means my dad hasn’t noticed yet, but sooner or later he will.”

  Meri groaned. “Don’t remind me.”

  Ian laughed and they went back to work.

  Chapter Six

  That night they stayed at Mrs. Peterson’s house. Meri called her Heddy now, as the older woman insisted. Heddy had installed Meri and Lily in one of the upstairs bedrooms, put Ian in a second room, and his dad in another. It was a big, roomy old house in excellent condition. Unlike Daniel, Heddy maintained her home very well.