Chapter Fifteen

KRISTA'S TENSION ABATEDsomewhat when she turned the truck into the emergency entrance and pulled into the brightly lit circle drive in front of clinic. But relief flooded through her when she saw medical staff waiting with a stretcher. The deputy behind her must have guessed her destination and called ahead—thank heavens.

It took three of them to transfer Sam to the stretcher. She'd walked beside him, holding his hand while answering questions about what happened. And they didn't blink when she stayed in the room while they got him hooked up to monitors and examined him. When it was time to take him to the scanner, she asked to stay with him. The nurse looked at their joined hands and nodded.

Unfortunately, Jerry showed up at that moment—the epitome of bad timing—and with a scowl on his face which foretold trouble for her, addressed her formally. "I'll need you to make a statement, Miss Evans."

"Evans?" the nurse had asked. "Not Golden?"

"They aren't married," Jerry had answered before she could stop him.

There was nothing to be done after that, even when the radiology staff came to take him for his test. The movement of the bed woke him briefly. He'd gripped her hand hard and gruffly said, "Stay." He was out again the next minute, and both the nurse and the doctor both told her firmly, family only.

Now, she could only wait here where they refused to tell her anything, or go home.

"Krista?"

The sound in the empty room where she'd waited alone for hours startled her so much she jerked in her chair. When she glanced up, Judge Peterson stood a few feet away. "I didn't want to disturb you, as lost in thought as you were."

"Oh, no, sir. It's fine."

He gestured to the seat next to her. "May I?"

"Of course."

"Are you okay, Krista? It's not Sam, is it? I heard it was a concussion, he was groggy, but they expected him to be able to go tomorrow."

"That's more than I know. They wouldn't tell me anything, since I'm not family. Why did they tell you?

"Because I'm Uncle George, and no one would dare call a sitting judge a liar." He patted her hand. "I can see what I can do to get you in, but I just left him, and he was foggy, kind of in and out."

"That's pretty much how he's been since I found him."

"I heard the story from Jerry, although he's not happy about it. You were very brave, but also foolish, my dear. Kleinman was armed and dangerous."

"As long as Sam is okay and the bad guy is under arrest, I'll take all the chewing out I have coming, from Jerry, and Sam, once he's better."

"You've decided to stay. I'm glad."

"What makes you say that?"

"You're making plans." He glanced at the wall clock. "And you've been free to go for two hours now."

Her gaze followed his, and she saw it was indeed past midnight and well into day thirty-one.

"I won't be staying."

"But I thought you and the sheriff were getting on well."

"We are, but Sam isn't interested in anything permanent."

The judge's salt-and-pepper brows knitted together. "It's his wife. He told you about her?"

"Yes, and how he refuses to risk his heart again."

"I've never seen a love like theirs, but after all this time... I'm sorry, Krista. I never would have urged him to take you on if I hadn't felt strongly, he was ready to move forward."

"Why? It was a contract for thirty days. Why should it matter?"

"I had hoped the two of you might hit it off."

"Are you saying this was all some weird matchmaking attempt?"

"How could that be, dear? You were caught, well and true. If Sam hadn't agreed to take you on, another would have."

"Like who?"

His face reddened, and he glanced away. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about that just yet."

"It was Geoffrey," she guessed. "Is that why he was with you that night?"

"No! We had a meeting scheduled with Sam to discuss this nasty drug business. How could we have known what you were up to in that coat room?"

This was true, but he seemed disappointed, and, in hindsight, much too eager to put her in the sheriff's hands at the time.

"I assure you, Geoffrey being there was coincidence. But once I saw you with Sam, and knowing both of you needed someone..."

"I should head home," she said abruptly and stood up. Realizing what she said she clarified, "To the ranch, I mean. We took off so fast to get here, we kind of ran off without Dallas, Sam's dog. He'll need to be fed."

The older man rose, too. "You'll be back tomorrow, won't you? He'll be awake by then, and Sam can tell them to let you in."

Yeah, but would he want that? At two hours into day thirty-one, it was time for her to end this, let Sam off the hook, and to do so without tears on her part.

"I have school in the morning." This was a lie. She didn't have class on Monday. "Once I'm in the city, there won't be any reason to return."

"Except to say goodbye. Don't you owe that to Sam?"

She did, of course, but was too much of a coward to face the man she loved and then have to walk away.

"I'll leave him a note and ask him to meet me for coffee soon. Will that satisfy you?"

"No, and I doubt it will the sheriff, either. You've met Sam Golden, right?"

She smiled sadly. "Yeah, which is why I really have to go."

***

CLOSE TO COLLAPSINGafter a night with no sleep, Krista forced her legs to climb one step at a time up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. She'd known her place was crap before, but Sam had opened her eyes to the safety issues. A front door without locks, poor lighting, vagrants camped out on the stoop, no matter how friendly, and in a dangerous neighborhood—she really needed to look for something else.

With her keys out and looking for someone lurking around every corner, she finally made it to her floor with an irate Morris in his cat carrier. He meowed his outrage when she set him down with a grunt.

"You need to lay off the treats, buddy. I think you've gained five pounds this month."

He told her what he thought of the insult with a low rawrr.

She didn't blame him for being put out with her. It had been a really long night.

Arriving back at the ranch at 3:00 a.m., she fed Dallas who she found curled up and sound asleep on the front porch swing. Morris had roused long enough to see if there were any food scraps he could beg for. She gave him a few treats then went out to the barn, ready to saddle up Willow, who'd had plenty of time to recover by then, and head out to rescue poor Rio whom she'd left tied out on the access road in a storm.

She was relieved to find him outside the paddock, his head through the fence, happily munching on hay. When she led him into the barn, she found his reins tangled with a broken branch.

"Don't like to be deserted in electrical storms, huh, boy?" she asked as she wiped him down. "I don't blame you."

With Sam's horse safely back in his stall, she told Willow goodbye one last time and went to the ranch house to pack.

After she piled her and Morris' stuff by the door, she agonized over her note to Sam, and rightly so. Leaving in the middle of the night was the coward's way to end things, but that was exactly what she was. Afraid to face him for goodbyes, afraid she'd blubber like a heartsick fool, afraid she'd drop to her knees and beg him to be her forever daddy. This way, she spared them both the embarrassment.

With that task done, at almost six in the morning, she stuffed her not-so-sweet boy into his cat taxi and called a real one. The fare from the Landing to downtown wasn't cheap. And since not just any cab companies were allowed to operate inside the residential zone, she'd had to call one on the island whose rate was almost double normal fare, which wiped out her cash.

A last-minute change in plan had her arriving at her grandmother's place, where Nana cat-sat while Krista borrowed her car and got cat litter and a new pan. The cab driver was irritated enough at having a feline passenger, especially who howled like he was being tortured the entire trip, having to stow a used litter box in his pristine vehicle would have gotten her the boot.

Once her errands were done, it was back to her nana's where she gave her a G-rated version of her month-long romance that didn't work out. She, of course, wouldn't hear about her leaving without one of her homemade cinnamon rolls, which she said was the best cure for a romance gone bad. They were good, but not that good. And she was afraid after this past month with him, she'd join the ranks of the forever brokenhearted like her mother and Sam.

Her next stop was home, which brought her to now, and she was completely exhausted.

But she had two more loads of crap to haul up three floors. She couldn't ask her nana to do it, and had told her so when she'd dropped her off. She'd have to find the energy somewhere because leaving anything on the stoop in broad daylight was like an engraved invitation to the neighborhood to come take her stuff.

She was ready to slide her key into the first of two locks, when the slight brush of her hand pushed the door inward. The hinges creaked ever so slowly, like in a horror movie. Krista froze, unsure what to do. With no car, most of her clothes on the stoop, and in a terrible bind, she felt her best option was to bluff.

"The cops are on their way," she called out. "And I've got Mace, which I'm not afraid to use. If you don't want to get busted or sprayed, there's a fire escape in the bedroom. Use it. I'm counting to ten. One... Two... Three—"

The last number turned into a scream as the door was thrown wide and she was hauled into her apartment by steely fingers wrapped around her wrist.

"Are you out of your mind?" was shouted so forcefully into her face she felt the loose tendrils of hair around her face flutter.

"Sam?"

"You don't stand at your door and threaten a criminal with the cops," he continued to rant. "You run to someplace safe then you call them. Good god, Krista. Real burglars with guns would have shot you twice over by now."

"Sam?" she repeated. His ruggedly handsome face was dark with livid outrage, but to see him awake and upright and not moaning in agony was a welcome sight. "What are you doing out of the hospital?"

"I was released this morning. I thought I'd see you waiting to drive me home, but instead I had to call one of my men. Then, guess what I found when I got home?" It wasn't a question she needed to answer, evidently, because he went right on raging. "You...gone. Morris...gone. And your stuff vanished. Dallas wouldn't get off your side of the bed. He didn't even greet me when I came in, just gave me the stink eye like I was responsible for you being gone. And then, to beat all..." He reached into his pocket and braced because she knew what was in there. "A fucking note. What the hell, Krista? You weren't even going to say goodbye?"

"I thought you'd be happy to see the last of me."

His head jerked in surprise, which was immediately followed by a wince, and his fingers coming up to rub his temples. "If that was true," he ground out, "why would I ask you to stay?"

Her heart fell like a rock to the pit of her stomach. "What?

"I was groggy, my head was pounding. It still is now, and only a tenth less than last night, but I distinctly remember asking you to stay."

"But I thought you were talking about staying with you at the hospital."

"And you didn't do that, either."

"But they wouldn't let me. I tried." She stared up at him, his face only slightly less irate than when he'd roared in her face. Still, the bud of hope unfurled inside her once again. "Did you mean stay, like in at the ranch, for real, with you?"

His arms came around her, slid to her ass, and he lifted her until she was face to face with him. "At the ranch with me, for real, yeah, baby. I want all of that."

She wouldn't allow herself to believe it, not yet. "But what about April? I can't compete with a ghost, Sam. I don't even know where to begin."

"I loved her once; I can't deny that, but there is no ghost. I let her go years ago, but clung to the memories of how much it hurt to lose her. What you found when you came to the ranch a month ago was a lonely man with a wounded heart, a man too afraid to take a chance again."

"What changed your mind?"

"A pretty blonde fell into my lap needing love, lessons, and protection. Deep down, I knew you were meant for me, darlin', but the stubborn instinct of self-protection was deep-seated after five years. My friends have been telling for weeks I'd be a fool to let you go. I guess it took a blow to the head to knock some sense into me. But the truth is, when you came into my life, you were the balm to my soul, and you healed that wound, darlin'."

Her hands slid up his chest and curled over his shoulders, hanging on tight. "I was lonely and afraid, too. But you showed me how to trust again. I should have waited and said goodbye, but I was afraid. I didn't want to go. I love the ranch, and the horses, and the guys, even grouchy Lester." She rested her forehead against his and bared her soul. "But, most of all, I love my sometimes stern, sometimes playful, sometimes sweet-as-can-be, rule-loving, big-hearted daddy."

"And I love you, too, Krista. I want to be the man you need, which is all of the those things, but also be the daddy you deserve, who will love and cherish you, as well as take you to task for that sometimes sassy, frequently salty tongue, who will also kiss you breathless, love you until you see straight, but also tie you up in the barn and tease your body until you scream loud enough to rattle the rafters, and a few of the horses. And I want to be the daddy who will protect you, always, which means no more wild horseback rides on Rio in the pitch dark with my loaded shotgun straight into the crosshairs of dangerous criminals."

"You know? I mean you know about the end, when I found you, but how did you know about Rio?"

"Curt runs a tight operation, darlin'. You should know that after working with him for four weeks. He knows when a saddle has been left out in the rain. And Jerry... Let's just say it's a bad idea to hang up on a dominant. He was in my hospital room, filling me in first thing this morning and demanding I blister your butt."

She leaned in and trailed a line of kisses from his scruffy jaw to his mouth. "You defended your white knight, didn't you, Daddy?"

"No, I did not. I told him I'd get to his grievances in a month or so, after I took care of mine."

Looking into his dark eyes, she didn't see a sliver of residual anger so thought it was safe to say, "I'd do it a hundred times over, no, a million, if it saved your life. Geoffrey was going to leave you there, injured, with a storm coming."

"I know, Krista, but I can't allow you take such risks again."

"Again!" she exclaimed while leaning back in his arms. "There had better not be an again. My heart can't take it. I'll make a deal with you, Sheriff." She poked him in the chest. "You will wait for backup from now on—which is one of my golden rules—and in return, I won't go on any more wild rides on Rio with shotgun blazing."

"The thought of that makes my head want to explode."

"You should probably sit down for a while, but before you do, do we have a deal?"

His eyes twinkled; he was not at all intimidated by her show of dominance. "When did you get so bossy?"

"Last night, about the time I found you knocked unconscious by a whack job with a gun. But seriously, Daddy, promise you won't take a chance like that again."

He held up his hand to swear. "I've learned my lesson, always wait for backup."

"Thank you."

His gaze dropped to her lips just as his head drew near. "You know you're sexy when you're bossy."

"That's usually my line," she replied, though her words were smothered by his lips as they hungrily covered hers.

"Just don't make a habit of it. There can only be one dominant in this family, and you're kissing him." It was difficult carrying on a conversation while lip locked with the man she loved, but she persevered until Morris let out a loud sharp meow, reminding her of his presence. They broke apart and looked down at the carrier and the peeved cat.

"It seems Morris doesn't like being locked up. Which reminds me..." He released her but caught her hand. "Come sit with me on the couch for a minute."

He didn't ask, only brought her along with him. It was a habit of his, one she found bossy and autocratic, but it was all Sam, and she didn't mind in the least. After last night, she thought it was over as along with so many other things she'd come to love about her daddy. Now that it wasn't, when he hauled her to the couch by her hand, it made her smile. So did the way he sat and pulled her down in his lap.

He turned her so she was facing him, astride his thighs, which was different, and he wasn't smiling.

"If this is about my sentence, the judge said I was officially off the hook."

"No, darlin', this is something else."

"Geoffrey?" she guessed. "He didn't get away, did he?"

"No. In fact, he spent the night the same way I did, with a raging headache at the hospital, except he was under guard. When he recovers, he'll be facing serious time."

"So, the investigation must be over, now that you've got the drug boss, right?"

"We've got more work to do. Kleinman didn't run the operation alone, but it's unraveling fast with his help because he's talking already." His hands slid up her thighs to bracket her hips, squeezing gently when he added, "And so is your mother."

If he told her he was being crowned the king of England on Saturday, she wouldn't have been as surprised. Krista felt that sick sense of dread wash over her. "What does my mother have to do with this?"

"My men found her at Geoffrey's. Seems they've been an item for a few weeks."

"Oh my god," she whispered. "That's how she got onto the ranch. But how did she meet Geoffrey Kleinman."

"Jerry followed up on that lead. The rental car agency is the legitimate front for a drug distribution center. They actually rent cars, but they also hire drivers to send shipments all over the country. Lily Evans was a new employee. It seemed she needed a lawyer to clean up her driving record for her before she could be hired. Bet you can't guess where she got the money."

"My tips? Oh my god," she repeated. "That doesn't make me an accessory, does it? She stole them. I didn't give her the money."

"Settle, Krista. This doesn't implicate you at all. Do you want to hear the rest?"

"No," she asserted firmly.

He tipped his head, brows raised, waiting.

"Yes..." she muttered.

"Through that job, she met Kleinman, who was impressed by my scene with an innocent, blue-eyed blonde a few weeks back. She was already taken, but when he found one that looked a lot like her, he settled for the next best thing."

She grunted lightly. "My mother is in no way innocent." Suddenly, her gaze met his as who Geoffrey really wanted sank in. She shivered in revulsion. "Ew! He said some really disgusting things last night."

"I'll bet."

Her hands flew up to cover her face. "I can't even think about that. Please, tell me there isn't more."

"Only that she'll be facing prison, this time, darlin'. When my deputies picked Geoff up, they also arrested Lily and three others who were packing up the drugs stored at the inlet. Seems you were right, it was a drop-off point, but when things got hot after you spotted them, his buyers ran scared. They were caught with cocaine, meth, and heroine with an estimated street value of five million. Geoff's lawyer isn't going to be coming to bail her out this time, mostly because he'll be dealing with his own legal issues."

Her eyes drifted to the picture she kept on her end table. Her father was alive, her mom was happy, her grandparents were without worries, and, at eight years old, she thought her life was perfect.

In a flat voice, she spoke of the irony. "I've gone from being the daughter of a decorated war hero to the daughter of a drug kingpin's moll. Isn't that nice for me."

Sam caught her chin in his hand and turned her face back to him. "No, you're Krista Evans—smart, determined, funny, brave, beautiful. I could go on, but what I'm saying is your parents do not define you."

She leaned into his chest, burying her face in his neck. "That you think all that's true makes me feel better, Daddy. Better, but not great."

A mournful meow came from the cage by the open door.

"He sounds as ticked off as Dallas."

"Yeah. I think he wants to go home and be with his friend."

"I don't blame him. Do you know I saw a mouse in the kitchen while I was waiting? He looked at me like I was the intruder into his place."

"Morris has been gone for a month. That was his job." A question popped into her head which, surprisingly, hadn't occurred to her before. "How did you get in here, anyway?"

"Your deadbolt, baby? It's a piece of crap, as is your regular lock. I picked them in less than a minute."

"Cool!"

He shook his head. "No, I won't teach you."

"I wasn't going to—"

His lips stopped her from finishing. "You would have." His head turned to the door. "Now I have a question. I see and hear Morris, but where is your bag?"

"Probably stolen by now. I had to leave it on the front stoop. I was about to make a second trip when you scared me to death."

"Good. it will save me the trouble of lugging it back down, which any other day would be no problem. If it's gone, we'll buy you new clothes."

She groaned and buried her face in his shirt front. "My textbooks were in there, too."

"That reminds me of something else." His chin dipped to his chest as he looked down at her. "While we're letting it all hang out. You're no nurse."

"I know, but its good paying, steady work."

"Let me finish. I want you working at the ranch. It's what you love, and it would take a load off me."

Krista sat up, facing him while making sure she understood what he was saying. "You mean take over your Sunday chores? I can do that, but I'd still like to finish college."

"That's good, and I'm proud of you for wanting to see it through, but how about majoring in something useful."

"Being a nurse isn't useful?"

"Not if you're puking all over your patients, darlin'."

"Yeah, that is problematic. I was lucky not to spew while I was treating your head wound last night."

"I believe that makes me the lucky one," he corrected.

She leaned into him again, trying to suppress a giggle. He had a point. His hand came up and smoothed down her hair and back which felt so good she snuggled closer.

"As to the point I was making. I work long hours. Nurses do too, in addition to nights, holidays, and weekends, when would we ever see each other?"

Score another point for Sam. What was the good of being together if they never actually got to be together? "What could I take that would be useful? I'd want to do my part."

"Equine studies."

"Is that a thing?"

"Ask Curt. He's got a degree in it from your school."

"You've checked?"

"Once I found out you planned to be a nurse and were afraid of blood? Yeah, baby. That's

insane."

"I chose it solely for the money."

"Which, with me, you won't need."

She shook her head, refusing to be the gold-digger with a rich rancher on her hook that her mother had accused her of being. "It's not like we're married, Sam. I can't just freeload."

"Who says you can't? I've got more than I need, and who said we're not getting married?"

Her head tipped back and she searched his face for the truth when she asked, "We are?"

"Not tomorrow, but that is definitely where this is headed."

She sat up and crossed her arms. "If that's a proposal, Daddy, it really needs work." Then a giggle bubbled up from inside her. "But I forgive you because you got coshed in the head." She threw her arms around his neck and laid a wet one on his grinning mouth.

But he pulled back, frowning. "Is that a yes?"

She nodded, blinking fast to keep her tears from overflowing. "That is an absolutely, positive, emphatic, hell yes!"

A slow grin curved his lips. "I'm gonna let that one slide, if you kiss me."

Of course, she did, starting with his chin then both cheeks, rising up on her knees to kiss his forehead then placing a sweet one on the tip of his nose. Lastly, she touched her mouth to his, caressing his lips more than kissing him. That's when he took over, turning what she'd started with tender sweetness to tantalizing possession as he smothered her lips with demanding mastery.

Krista sighed into his mouth, unable to think of anything better than her daddy's kisses. Except maybe his hands running over her bare body, like they were now, or the hard length of him rubbing along the seam of her wet pussy through her jeans, also happening.

Okay, there were a few things, but not many.

They didn't care that anyone could happen by while they made out on the couch, but Morris did. Another loud meow of protest came from the carrier. It echoed down the stairwell and seemed to perpetuate.

They broke apart, each looking at the other with a silly, happy grin on their face.

"He won't admit it," Krista said softly, as if he might overhear and be offended, "but I think he misses Dallas."

Sam whispered back, "Then I think we need to do something about it."

She laid her hand on his unshaven, scruffy cheek. "Yeah, I guess it's past time we headed home, Daddy."

"No sweeter words, my darlin' girl."