Outlaw's Honor. B.J. Daniels
“I left, as well, when it was safe. No one saw me leave, so don’t worry. Anyway, I can take care of myself.”
Not against this man. “You know what he’s capable of.” There was silence on the other end of the line. “Maybe you should pick up another phone.”
“I won’t call unless...well, you know.”
She did know. Tears filled her eyes. Her hand went to her wrist to stroke her grandmother’s bracelet, only to remember it was gone. The loss hadn’t hurt as badly as it did at that moment. “Please be careful. I know you don’t believe in the evil eye—”
“I’m wearing my pendant,” her best friend, Serra, said. “Why not? We both need all the luck we can get and our grandmothers lived to ripe old ages—maybe we will too.”
Mariah disconnected and tucked the phone behind the pillow on her bed. She had to end this and get moving again. He wouldn’t quit looking for her.
But she wasn’t leaving without her bracelet. Her friend was right. She needed all the luck she could get.
Tonight, though, she needed to clear her head and there was only one way. She grabbed the key to her bike. When she got like this, the best thing she could do was hit the road, let the motorcycle run and push away all the crazy thoughts.
Slipping on her jacket, she stepped outside. The moon peeked over the mountains, a brilliant glowing sphere that gilded the landscape. The air felt chilly and wonderfully scented with pine.
Swinging up onto her bike, she started the engine, loving the sound of its throaty roar, and turned toward the highway out of town. Once she hit the wide pavement, she opened it up and let it run. There was no traffic on the highway this time of night. It was just her and the road. The speed blew back her long hair in a dark wave. She breathed in the night. She was Mariah Ayers, granddaughter of a Roma queen. Nothing could stop her. Not even Darby Cahill.
The thought of the handsome cowboy with those dark-fringed gray eyes and easy smile made her even more restless. He was a temptation, one she couldn’t afford. If she stayed here much longer—
She took the next curve too fast. The bike leaned dangerously, but she managed to pull it back out as the road straightened again. Her heart was pounding. Darby and this place, this feeling, were dangerous. They made her reckless.
Mariah slowed the bike to turn around and head back, feeling as if now she could get some sleep. It was time to move up her plan, time to put Gilt Edge and Darby Cahill behind her. Tomorrow night.
* * *
“SOMETHIN’S UP,” BILLIE DEE whispered and pointed toward the bar.
“Something like what?” Lillie whispered back. The two of them had been in the kitchen talking while Billie Dee made cornbread to go with her pot of Texas ham and beans cooking on the stove.
“Your brother and Mariah.”
Lillie’s attention perked right up. “Like what?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, but they act very strange around each other. Kinda too polite and yet I see each of them watchin’ the other.”
“She’s new. Darby probably just wants to make sure she does a good job. And she’s probably self-conscious knowing he’s watching her.”
Billie Dee laughed. “That woman is anything but self-conscious. She knows exactly what she’s doing—driving your brother crazy.”
“What?”
“He has it bad. Haven’t you seen how off-center he is around her? He’s not his usual cool self.”
Lillie thought about it for a moment. “You’re right. He hasn’t been himself since the Chokecherry Festival. Do you think they met there and don’t want us to know?”
“Why would they do that?” the cook asked frowning.
“Maybe because my brother doesn’t like anyone to know his business. Do you realize he hasn’t even invited me up to see my apartment?”
“You mean his apartment?”
“Whatever. But I think you’re right,” she said, watching Darby behind the bar as Mariah came up to place a drink order for one of her tables. “He’s definitely interested in her. So why hasn’t he asked her out?”
“Because he’s Darby. Or because she works for him. Or because—”
“If he’s really interested, then none of that matters. Maybe there is something we can do to help them along.”
Billie Dee was already shaking her head. “No way,” she said, heading for the stove to stir the beans. “I’m not gettin’ involved in that.”
“I thought you were a romantic,” Lillie teased.
“I keep my nose out of other people’s business. I suggest you do the same.”
Lillie laughed. “You know me better than that. But first I need to know more about this woman.”
* * *
“WHAT IS THIS obsession with Mariah?” Darby asked after being confronted by his sister when he came downstairs to the kitchen the next day. “So what if she doesn’t have a Facebook page? A lot of people don’t.”
“She has no online presence at all,” Lillie said from the table where she sat with her laptop propped open. “How is that possible in this day and age?”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but the woman travels by motorcycle and lives out of a backpack. She doesn’t even have a cell phone.”
“Exactly. That’s not...normal.”
He laughed. “It sounds great to me.”
His sister shook her head in exasperation. “I saw the paperwork on her. She hasn’t stayed at any job more than a few weeks. What do you even know about her?”
“I know she’s a good waitress. That’s all I have to know about her. And if she doesn’t stay around long...well, that’s fine too since mostly we need the help through these busy weeks of summer.”
Lillie mugged a face at him. “So you expect her to leave soon too.”
“Based on her past employment, probably. She says she’s looking for a place to settle but hasn’t found it yet. I really doubt that place is Gilt Edge.”
“Why not?”
He groaned. “If you’re looking for an argument—”
“It’s not like you to hire someone off the street.”
“We hired Billie Dee and Kendall that way,” he pointed out.
“So you’re telling me that’s all that’s going on?” Lillie pressed.
Darby did his best to look innocent. “What else?”
“I don’t know. I just get this feeling that you’re interested in her but...”
He rolled his eyes. “You and your feelings. Or maybe you just need something else to occupy your mind other than your wedding and furnishing your new house and starting your new life. By the way, Dad’s definitely back at his cabin. I saw his Jeep parked out front in a different spot. It’s strange though that he hasn’t contacted one of us. I wonder why he came out of the mountains so early?”
She sighed. “Mariah is sure beautiful, but kind of secretive too.”
He cut his eyes to her. “Seriously, you’re that determined to talk about her?”
“Okay, I’ll lay off, but I think there is more to the story.”
Darby was saved as Billie Dee came in the back door singing about saints marching in.
* * *