To Protect the Heart of a Brazen Woman [Brazen Sisters 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

She just hoped it wasn’t serious. “Frank, what’s wrong?”

“Bethany was in a car accident.” Bethany, as in his wife and her sister Georgie’s friend.

She gasped. “Oh my God. Is she okay?”

“She has a broken leg and she dislocated her shoulder, but the doctors say she’ll be fine.” His heavy sigh was probably relief, but Bobbie thought there might be more to it.

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Between trying to run the B&B and being at the hospital, I’m a mess. I don’t know how to do half the stuff she does here. Her sister came to help, but we’re lost without Beth at the helm. We are trying to run things the way she does, but the place is in a shambles. We’ve even double booked a few rooms, and lost a few reservations. I know you just got home and I hate to ask, but is there any way you can come down for a few weeks, just until we get a handle on things? You’re the only one who could possibly run things as efficiently as Beth does.” Frank’s fast talking gave Bobbie the feeling he was afraid she was going to turn him down.

Beth and Frank may have started off as Georgie’s friends, but now they were Bobbie’s, too, and she never turned down a friend in need. “I’ll tell my sisters what’s going on and leave this afternoon.”

“Darling, you are a lifesaver.”

“Give Beth my best. I’ll see you tonight.”

Bobbie ended the call then instantly dialed Jake’s cell number. She’d left town once without saying good-bye and it had driven them both crazy. It wasn’t a mistake she wanted to make twice. He didn’t answer, so she left him a voice mail asking him to call her back as soon as possible. Bobbie thought—very briefly—about returning to class, but she had more important things to do if she was going to leave in a few hours.

Not wanting to tell Georgie about Beth’s accident over the phone, she called her and asked her to meet her at the lodge. Then she called Jessie and filled her in on what was happening. Bobbie drove to the lodge, not surprised to find her sisters’ cars already there when she arrived, all of them. She found them holed up in the conference room waiting for her.

“Jessie’s says you’re going out of town again,” Joey said as Bobbie entered the room.

“Only for a week or two.” Bobbie took a seat next to Georgie. “Beth’s been in an accident. She’s okay, but Frank called to ask me to come down and help until she’s on her feet enough to oversee things.”

“I’ll come with you,” Georgie offered instantly.

“I know you want to, but Stephanie starts school this week and she needs you here. Between me, Frank, and Beth’s sister, Molly, we’ll handle this.”

“You’re right. I can’t let her down,” Georgie agreed. “Just promise that if you need help you’ll call me.”

“I will.” She nodded and squeezed Georgie’s hand. “I need to be there by tonight.”

Her sisters launched into action, and in less than an hour she was ready to head out. Joey had gone to the bank and given Bobbie’s account an infusion. Frankie had taken the Jeep to fill the tank and check the oil, while Bobbie and Georgie went to the house to pack her bags. Jessie scheduled someone to cover her shifts.

Sam had put together a huge care package for Bobbie to bring down to the B&B. Mostly frozen stuff Bobbie could just toss in the oven. She even made a batch of her blue-ribbon-winning blueberry muffin mix. All Bobbie had to do was add milk, eggs, and two cups of the huge carton of blueberries Sam included in the basket.

Bobbie had called or emailed her teachers and explained she had a family emergency and would be out of town for a few weeks. They were all very understanding, even the professor she’d walked out on today. They’d agreed to let her turn in her assignments by e-mail and take any tests she missed when she returned.

The only thing stopping her from leaving was Jake. She’d called him at least a dozen times and left about half as many messages. As a last resort she even called the station, only to be told he was in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed. Bobbie figured that was why he hadn’t answered his phone or gotten back to her. She debated waiting for him to call her back, but she really needed to get on the road. So she wrote him a note explaining everything, and that she would call him when she got there. Georgie promised she’d give it to him. Then, for the second time, she left home without saying good-bye, but this time at least she’d tried to.

Jake picked up the receiver and put it back down, which finally ended the conference call. “This is why I chose being a small-town sheriff over government work.”

“Yeah, the paperwork sucks, but I love the travel.” Bill stood and rolled his shoulders.

“At least it’s over for now. And Jake can get back to wooing his girl.” Tom smiled and winked at him.

“Funny.” Jake laughed with them, but Tom was right.

He had no more excuses not to go see her. The guys were leaving in the morning, and things around the station were back to normal. Fred knocked on the door and Jake waved him in. He handed him a slip of paper. Bobbie had called. There was no message, just that she called. He was going to have to teach Fred how to take a proper message.

Damn it, he could’ve excused himself for a few minutes to see what she wanted. “How long ago?”

“About three hours ago? And her sister dropped this off for you.” Fred held out a small white envelope.

Jake reached for it as he got to his feet. Tom had stood and was lifting the pot of coffee from the tray in the middle of the table. Their arms collided just enough for Tom to jostle the pot, causing coffee to slosh over the side. The envelope slid through Jake’s finger. Bill reached out to catch it, but he just ended up knocking Fred’s hand, since he was trying to catch it, too, and they both missed it. The envelope landed in the small puddles on the table.

He snatched it up. Even though it had only been in it for just a few seconds, the brown liquid had already seeped through the envelope. The coffee dripped from the corners as he tried to open it without tearing the wet flimsy paper. He got the paper out and instantly recognized Bobbie’s writing, but all he could make out was his name, leaving, good-bye, call him later, and her name scrawled across the bottom.

Jake let go of the paper and it fluttered to the floor. He ignored it and headed for the door. Tom made the mistake of stepping in front of him. Though they were more or less the same size, Jake pinned the other man against the wall. It only took him a few seconds to realize Tom wasn’t fighting him. Clint and Bill had silently moved into position on either side of Jake.

Tom held up his hands. “Dude, I was just going to say you might want to take a few minutes before you storm out of here.”

Jake took a step away and turned his back on all of them. Tom was right. He needed some time to calm down before he faced Bobbie. Maybe he was just stalling, because he wasn’t ready to confront himself just yet.

“I want Bobbie in here now. If you can’t find her, bring me one of her sisters.” Jake heard Clint and Fred flee the room.

“Why don’t we get the hell out of here?” Bill grabbed Tom’s arm and dragged him toward the door.

* * * *

As expected, Bobbie’s cell phone service had been spotty on the ride down. When she did catch a few bars she checked to see if she had any missed calls or messages. Nothing yet, which wasn’t surprising since she’d told Jake she would call him. She yawned as she drove down the long driveway of the B&B. It was well after midnight and she’d had a really long day.

Right now, all she wanted to do was find a bed and get some sleep. Jake probably wasn’t waiting up for her call, but she knew someone who was. She tugged her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her sister.

“I was starting to worry,” Jessie whispered instead of saying hello.

“Sorry, but I got stuck in traffic.” Bobbie wasn’t happy about it, either. “I actually just pulled up to the house.”

“As long as you’re okay.”

“I am,” Bobbie assured her.

“Okay, then get some sleep and call me back in the morning.”

Bobbie hung up and she closed her eyes as she leaned back against her seat. Her door opened and large hands reached in and pulled her out. She was swung up into an embrace and twirled around.

“Damn, it’s good to see you.” Frank lowered her to the ground, and before she got to steady herself, Molly was crushing her in a hug just as strong.

“We were getting worried.” Molly let her go and moved to the back of the car where Frank was waiting to unload all of Bobbie’s stuff.

Bobbie leaned back into the Jeep and grabbed her keys and bag. She walked over and handed Frank the keys. He unlocked and swung open the back door. Molly reached in and grabbed Bobbie’s duffle bag. Frank hefted the heavy tote Sam had packed into the air and headed for the huge Victorian house.

Bobbie closed the door, but instead of following them she leaned against the car and stared at the house. This was a true Victorian mansion three times the size of Jake’s place. Jake’s place was a more modern house, but they had a lot of the same qualities. The high slanted roofs, the big porches, and the asymmetrical facades. They were really quite beautiful, and she could see why Jake had decided to add the details to his house.

She was really glad the blaze Patrice had set hadn’t reached the house. It was bad enough he lost his garage and truck, but losing his beautiful home would have been much harder to get over.

Bobbie’s movements were a bit stiff for being in the car for so long, and her body protested as she climbed the porch steps.

Frank met her at the door. “After that long ride, I’m guessing you’re ready to drop.”

“I’ll catch a few hours after we unload that tote.” She wasn’t about to take a chance on letting anything defrost.

“Okay, but let’s get it done and get you to bed. I’m going to need you bright and early in the morning.”

“I haven’t forgotten how early you start here.” In about five or six hours, she’d be helping him and Molly get breakfast started.

They went inside and found Molly sitting at the counter. She looked as tired as Bobbie felt. The three of them worked together to unpack the food and get it stored away.

Molly was thrilled to see all the frozen meals. “Did your sister know that neither of us are much of a cook?”

“No.” Bobbie laughed and shook her head. “She was just trying to make things easier on us. It’s Sam’s way.”

“Well, I love her for it. I’ve burnt so much food in the past few days it’s a crying shame.”

Frank patted Molly on the shoulder. “You did your best, and you really are getting the hang of some of it.”

“Together we can handle this until Beth is back and able to run things they way she likes.” Bobbie would stick around as long as they needed her to.

“You can choose any one of the empty rooms you want.”

“Or you can share my room. Then we’d all be on the main floor.” Molly’s offer made sense, and Bobbie wanted to get know her better.

“I’d like that.” Bobbie and Molly headed for their room and Frank went to his.

Molly was already in flannel pajama pants and T-shirt, so she dove in her bed. Bobbie unzipped her duffle and pulled out something similar. After using the bathroom, brushing her teeth, and changing, she checked her cell phone one more time. As she expected, nothing. Even though she told herself she wasn’t going to do it she dialed Jake’s number. It rang a few times and then went to his voice mail.

He was probably sleeping, so she didn’t bother to leave him another message. Besides, what would she say other than the same message she’d already left?
“Hey, Jake, sorry I left without saying good-bye, but it was an emergency. Georgie probably already dropped off my note. I’ll call you later.”

She wanted to say “I love you” the past five times, but she’d held back. She grabbed her clothes and went back to the bedroom. Molly was already snoring, and Bobbie hoped she would be shortly.

Jake wouldn’t outright admit he’d made a mistake telling his men to bring in one of the Brazen sisters. He should’ve recognized the mess that he was getting into, but he’d been so angry he hadn’t really thought it through. Everyone who knew the Brazens learned real quick that if you messed with one of them, you dealt with all of them. After spending most of the night with them either ignoring him, or listening to the five of them have their own private conversation that he couldn’t understand, Jake was about to lose what little of his temper he’d managed to rein in.

Their husbands, who’d shown up minutes after the two squad cars pulled up with the Brazen sisters in the back seats, were useless. Jake had tried to appeal to the guys—who were supposed to be his friends—but it seemed that this time their wives had left them all out of the loop. He didn’t think that it had been an oversight, either. Whatever was happening, the women obviously weren’t ready to let any of them in on it.

Jake had done something supremely stupid and put them in the biggest cell he had until they were willing to cooperate. He kept trying Bobbie’s cell phone, but it had taken a few hours for him to notice none of them tried to call her. That brought him to the realization that she might have gone where her cell wouldn’t work. Then again, he was positive that they all knew where she was, so why would they bother to call her?