Chapter 24
I didn’t know what was worse, the pain in my chest from the pulling stitches or my sisters arguing with Harlon on the tarmac in front of his plane on the private runway.
“Maybe I should send my physician with you for the flight,” Harlon said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Gwen rolled her carry-on bag to the plane. “Nope, sorry, you know the rules. He would make number five, and I’m not in the mood to die today in a plane crash.”
I was sitting on the stairs, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, tossing prescription pain pills into my mouth and downing them with water. Hopefully, they worked on headaches too.
“You’ll take care of her?” Harlon asked, crossing his arms over his flannel shirt.
“A lot better than you have.” Gwen smirked. “Next time one of my sisters gets kidnapped, I’m not giving them days. I’m going in shooting, thanks to you.”
I moved on the stairs so Gwen and Cassie could squeeze by.
“Come on, Gimpy, let’s get a move on,” Gwen called over her shoulder.
I rose to my feet on the steps and was almost as tall as Harlon. He still had me by three inches.
“This isn’t goodbye,” he said. That sexy grin had my heart speeding up.
“I know,” I lied while running my fingers through his hair. “You’ve got one hell of a mess to clean up and things to make right.”
Harlon rested his head against mine. “Riley was right all along, and I was too blind to see that it wasn’t his family breaking the law. It was the Fields.”
“Yeah, have fun with that, and give Riley my regards,” I said and pressed a quick tender kiss to his lips.
“I read your sisters’ minds.”
“Oh, now I bet that can of worms will leave you with nightmares,” I teased.
“They don’t think you’ll see me again.”
They were probably right. “I hope you prove them wrong.”
He covered my mouth with his and sent me spiraling in a kiss that sparked all kinds of goosebumps down my arms. A kiss of pleasure, a kiss of…goodbye.
When he broke the kiss, I stared hard into his eyes, trying to figure out the truth. With a squeeze of his hand, I released his fingers and walked up the airplane steps backward. I stared at him as the stairs slowly closed between us.
“Ms. Bennett, if you’ll take your seat,” the pilot requested with his hand on the button.
“Thanks.” I cleared my throat and did what I was told. As I climbed into the seat, I stared out the window. One last visual caress to try to sear the picture of Harlon into my mind.
He and Suzie waved by the SUV. Mittens was by Suzie’s side as the plane taxied away from the hanger.
It was only then that I let a single tear slide down my cheek. I believed Harlon was the person I was meant to love. The man I’d probably never see again.
The plane ride was smooth, as if only to add insult to injury. Leaving Harlon was harder than the trip home, but it was obvious that, no matter the chemistry, we were from two different worlds.
My sisters dropped me off at my house and stayed to mother me until I kicked them out. My other sisters and Grams called to check in, too. The story of my kidnapping and potential love life made me more interesting.
Two weeks went by, with only a single phone call on the day I’d arrived to make sure I’d made it okay. Two weeks of waking up and drawing pictures of Harlon in various situations. None like the one that never came to pass with men holding guns pointed at Harlon. I could only guess the drawings represented us thwarting the police.
Then one day the picture I’d been drawing wasn’t him but a woman in the same woods where I’d found the kid. This woman was lying beneath a tree, her foot broken.
I picked up the phone and called Jimbo, the only cop I knew. He answered on the second ring.
“I don’t suppose you’ve drawn a missing woman?”
