Hope Flames

Chapter 14

OUT ON PATROL, Luke’s mind wandered, especially when he pulled up along a stretch of Highway 66 to lay a speed trap.

It had been a slow day, and he and Boomer had been riding around for the majority of it. Except for the stop he had to make at the Davidson’s house—something he had to do at least once a week. Paul was ninety-two and convinced that his eighty-nine-year-old wife, Maureen, was trying to kill him. Since Maureen was confined to a wheelchair and on oxygen, it was highly unlikely she’d been coming after him with a butcher knife. Paul and Maureen’s daughter, Athena, who lived with them, always apologized and said it was the medication, coupled with her father’s growing dementia. And it typically seemed to happen whenever Athena ran to the store or hopped into the shower. Paul would get hold of a phone and dial 9-1-1.

By the time Luke arrived, Paul had no idea what Luke was doing there. But it was his job to check it out, and he figured Athena enjoyed the company. Sometimes, if Paul was lucid, Luke would stay and visit with him for a few minutes, and Paul would recount his experiences in the South Pacific during World War II.

Other than that, nothing eventful happened that day, so he and Boomer sat back in the shade under an overpass and pulled over a few cars going well past the speeding limit. He wasn’t one of those asshole cops who was going to ding someone if they went five or six miles over. But if they hit more than ten miles over the limit, they were getting a ticket.

In the hour he’d sat there, he’d only had to hand out two tickets. Not bad, though he’d registered some hotshot pulling twenty miles over the limit. That one was going to cost him. And the guy had been a belligerent dickhead on top of that, claiming he was late for a meeting.

Too bad. Luke explained it didn’t much matter what he was late for, since twenty miles over the speed limit was still illegal. The guy said he was the son of a local congressman, which didn’t bother Luke any. He could be the son of the president. He was still getting a ticket. So when Luke handed him the form to sign, he smiled at him.

Mr. Stanley A. Lexington III hadn’t appreciated that much. In fact, Luke was certain he’d heard a whispered fuck you as he’d walked away from Stanley’s Cadillac.

Luke grinned.

Sometimes it was good to be a cop.

“How’s it going back there, Boom?” Luke asked.

Boomer snored.

“Some partner you are.”

Boomer responded with a snort, then rolled over on his back, feet stuck up in the air.

“Yeah, I’d like a nap, too. Or maybe a beer. Neither one is gonna happen right now.”

He cracked a smile when Will Griffin pulled alongside him in his highway patrol cruiser. Luke rolled down the window.

“Infringing on my territory?” Will asked, resting his forearm on the side of the car.

“I think there are plenty of douchebags on this stretch of highway—you can afford to share the wealth.”

Will grinned. “You’re right about that. How’s it going?”

“Interesting day. You?”

“Wreck over on 75 North this morning. People in a hurry or on their cell phones don’t pay much attention to road-construction signs. Someone plowed right through a construction barrier and went airborne.”

Luke grimaced. “Anyone hurt?”

“Minor injuries, fortunately. The mess was in the cleanup and the rerouting of traffic. And the report I had to spend two hours writing.”

“Fun.”

“Yeah. Not really.”

Luke pulled his attention away as a car sped past. He caught the brake lights in his rearview mirror, then checked radar. Seven miles over. Close, but since Will was there, he’d give the guy a pass.

“Gonna go after him?”

“Not this time.”

“I’m sure he’s sweating bullets and checking his mirror.”

“Good. Let’s just hope he slows down.”

“He will. For a mile or two, until he’s sure you’re not throwing lights and showing up on his bumper or that you don’t have a partner who’s going to pick him up the next mile over the rise.”

Luke let out a laugh. “Yeah. That’s always fun.”

“Especially if you’re the one who gets to write the ticket. I never get tired of that deer-in-the-headlights look. Just when they thought they were out of the woods . . .”

“You’re a little sadistic, Griffin.”

Will shrugged. “Gotta have some fun in this job, ya know.”

“How are Jane and the kids?”

A genuine smile lit up Will’s face. “Good. Really good. We see each other almost every day—my stupid work schedule permitting. I’m coaching Ryan’s baseball team, and Jane’s busy with Tabby’s dance classes. And we’re house-breaking the new puppy, which isn’t as much fun.”

Luke laughed. “No, it never is. But I’m sure he’ll get through it. And so will you.”

“Yeah. And the kids like taking him for walks, so he’s getting plenty of exercise. They really love him.”

Luke liked seeing Will happy. “So, you’ve basically become a father to her kids.”

“I love those kids. And their mom.”

“Any marriage plans?”

“We’re still taking it slow, and I don’t want to push her, since Jane needs to believe I’m always going to be there for her.”

“Because of that asshole ex of hers who ran out on her and the kids.”

“Yeah. But we’re talking about it. Actually, we talk about it a lot. I want to marry her and become a father to her kids. A legal father.”

“Is that even possible, given the fact no one can locate her ex?”

“It’s possible. We’re talking to an attorney who can get us a court date to have his parental rights permanently removed due to abandonment. But again, no rush on that. I don’t want to push Jane into anything she’s not ready for. It’ll all happen at some point. The most important thing is for her and me to get hitched so I can move in with her and the kids. We don’t feel it’s setting a good example for the kids for us to live together until we’re married, so we’re waiting. Which is hard.”

“I imagine it is.” He liked seeing Will happy and settled. Maybe it hadn’t worked out for Luke, but Jane was awesome, and he could definitely tell she was the right woman for his best friend. “I’m glad things are going well for you.”

“Me, too. How about you and Emma Burnett?”

Luke cocked a brow. “What about me and Emma?”

“Heard she was out at the ranch last weekend.”

“What the hell. Is my personal business published on Facebook or something?”

“Uh, not that I’m aware of. But maybe. I haven’t checked Hope’s town Facebook page yet.”

“Funny. How did you know Emma was at the ranch?”

“Jane told me.”

“Oh.”

Will shot him a wry grin. “Touchy, aren’t we?”

“Maybe a little. Everyone just seems to assume Emma and I are dating.”

“And you’re not.”

“No.”

“But you’d like to be.”

He paused. “Maybe. We’re taking things slow. Or maybe I’m taking things slow. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing.”

“Yeah, I understand that whole slow thing. But you know, a woman who’s worth it is worth going slow for.”

That was working for Will, but Luke wasn’t searching for the same happily-ever-after his best friend had found. He’d been down that road once before and had been whacked over the head with the reality stick. “I’m not looking for a relationship, you know.”

Will laughed. “Yeah, neither was I. Look at me now.”

After Will took off, Luke leaned back in his seat and watched the differing speed numbers tick off on his radar while trying not to think about Emma.

For someone who only had the intention of taking her on that one date, he’d sure been seeing—and thinking about her—a lot lately. He’d even gone to her parents’ house for dinner. What the hell was that about?

It had to be the whole physical-chemistry thing, and the fact he hadn’t been with another woman in a while. Maybe if he just went out with someone else, Emma would fade into the background.

Though he thought about her silky hair and that sexy smile and her body, and the way her lips curved when she smiled. And that laugh of hers that hit him like a vibration straight to his balls. Not to mention what it felt like to kiss her. And make love to her.

Yeah, no way Emma was going to fade into the background. She was on his mind all the time and it didn’t look like she was going anywhere.

He thought about the other women he knew, and he knew a lot of them.

There wasn’t a single one he thought about calling. Except Emma.

Not good.

His radar beeped and he caught sight of a truck blasting down the highway. A quick glance at his radar showed the truck doing a good fifteen miles over the speed limit. He hit the lights and sirens and pulled out, hitting the gas hard.

Oblivious to Luke coming up behind him, the truck kept speeding, barreling through what were fortunately green lights.

Someone was in a damn hurry.

He pulled up behind the truck, which looked vaguely familiar, and finally the driver grabbed a clue, slowed down, and pulled over. That’s when recognition set in and Luke’s lips curved into a smile. He got out, grabbing his ticket clipboard, and sauntered over to the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Emma rolled down her window, though she didn’t look sheepish or embarrassed. She looked damned annoyed.

“Luke.”

“Emma.

Seventy-five in a sixty.”

“I know. I have a heifer with birth complications, and I need to get there in a hurry.”

He leaned against the windowsill. “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one.”

That at least got her to tilt her lips up a little. “I’m seriously sorry. I know I shouldn’t have been speeding, but if I don’t get there in a hurry, she’s going to die.”

He nodded, picking up on her distress. “Whose farm?”

“The Millers over on Route 45.”

He knew the Millers, had gone to school with their son, Jeremy. They lived just outside city limits.

Since he was getting off duty shortly anyway, he asked, “Do you know where it is?”

She waved a piece of paper at him. “I have directions.”

“It’s kind of complicated. I’ll show you. Follow me.”

“Great. Thanks.”

He headed back to his cruiser and led her the few miles out of town, right past the water tower and down the dirt road that led to the Miller’s farm. They pulled up in front of Fred and Abigail Miller’s place. Abigail was there waiting for them, worry etched across her face.

“Thanks for coming, Dr. Emma. Hi, Luke.”

“Mrs. Miller.”

“Abigail, please. I’m just so glad you’re here.”

She started moving away, so he followed behind Abigail and Emma, who were talking and walking at a brisk pace to the barn.

When they got there, one of the heifers was in obvious pain—indicated by the sounds she made. Fred was there with her. Emma put on her gloves and knelt down beside the cow.

“Looks like a uterine prolapse,” Emma said. “When did she calf?”

“A couple of hours ago. There’s been some bleeding. More so than would be usual,” Fred said.

Emma nodded, taking out tools. “We’ll need to turn her over. First I need to clean the uterus, then figure out where this bleeding is coming from.” She looked up at both Luke and Fred. “I’m going to need both of you to help, unless you need to leave?”

That she asked of Luke. “I’m off duty in thirty minutes. Unless I get a call, I can stay.”

It took a few hours for Emma to repair the tear in the cow’s uterus and fix it back in place. Cattle weren’t the easiest animals to hold, especially when you couldn’t knock them out. It required Luke and Fred to keep her in place. By the time she was finished, they were all covered in gunk that Luke didn’t even want to think about. He’d likely just toss this uniform.

Emma gave the cow antibiotics and vitamins, then checked out the calf.

“Mom and calf are going to be fine,” Emma said, removing her large-animal gloves. She went to the barn sink to wash up.

So did Luke.

Both Abigail and Fred shook Emma’s hand.

“Thank you,” Fred said. “We really didn’t want to lose this one.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like you’re going to, but call me if anything changes. Keep an eye on her tonight, though I’m sure she’s tired and she’ll rest.”

They walked out to the house. “Thanks, Dr. Emma. You, too, Luke. We appreciate you lending a helping hand,” Abigail said. “Since both the other clinic docs were unavailable, we didn’t know what to do.”

“It’s no problem. Call me anytime.”

Fred and Abigail went back to the barn. Luke turned to her with a satisfied grin.

She was obviously as pleased as he was with how well everything had turned out. “Thanks for staying. You were a big help.” Emma looked like she wanted to hug him, but they were both a mess, covered in mud and other animal grime.

“It’s no problem.”

She put her supplies back in her truck, then turned to him and offered a smile. “I promise to drive the speed limit all the way home, officer.”

“Yeah, about that. I know you get called out on emergencies sometimes, but if it hadn’t been me today, you might have been facing one hell of a speeding ticket.”

Her smile faded. “You’re right. In the future I’ll be more mindful of that. I was only thinking about the cow.”

He tipped her nose with his fingertip. “Think about your safety first.”

“Oooh, I get all tingly when you talk cop stuff and the law.”

He stepped closer. “Don’t tease me, Emma. I have handcuffs.”

Her eyes went dark. “Yeah? And you know what to do with them?”

In an instant, he’d jerked her against him. “If we weren’t standing in front of the Miller’s house right now, both of us covered in cow—whatever—I’d show you exactly what I could do with handcuffs.”

She swallowed. “Right. And I smell really bad, so don’t you think I should take a shower first?”

He laughed. “You’re right about that. We both need a shower.”

“And I owe you at least dinner for helping me out. And for not giving me a ticket.”

“I’ll take you up on that.”

“Meet me at my place in about an hour?”

“Sure.” He let go of her and climbed back in his cruiser. She followed behind him until they got on the main highway, where he noticed she drove the speed limit. He smiled at that. She turned off on the road leading to her house, and he went home and took a quick shower. After dumping his uniform in the trash, he changed into jeans and a T-shirt, then grabbed Boomer and headed out to Emma’s place.

On the way, he stopped at the liquor store for a bottle of wine.

She met him at the door wearing jeans and a button-down shirt. Her hair was still damp.

“Oh. Wine? You didn’t have to do that.”

“I figured after the whole cow crisis, you might need it.”

“You might be right about that. Come on in.” She let him inside, and he followed her into the kitchen.

“Something smells good.”

“Yeah, about that. It’s Italian food from the restaurant down the road. Sorry. No home-cooked meal for you tonight.”

“Any food tonight sounds good to me, even takeout.”

“I’m so glad you think so, since my plan tonight was going to be something microwaved from the freezer. This is a much better option.”

She handed him the corkscrew while she pulled plates from the cabinet. He opened the wine, then helped her set the table.

“Come on, Boomer,” she said. “You can run out back with the other dogs.”

“Thanks for inviting me over. Though I’m not sure if it was gratitude, or if you’re interested in my prowess with handcuffs.”

She laughed as they sat at the table. “Well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

The food was good, and Luke was starving. The wine was decent, too, and he was glad he’d picked up the bottle. Emma seemed relaxed, especially after the first glass.

“Rough day?” he asked.

“Busy day. Though they all seem to be busy lately.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yes, it is. I’m not complaining at all. Though I hadn’t expected the cow thing. That’s not really my area of expertise, since my focus is on small animals. But I was happy to be able to help out.”

“There are large-animal vets in the area.”

She took a sip of wine and nodded. “True, but they’re not always available. And I can deal with it in an emergency.”

“Kind of like a cop delivering a baby? Not exactly what we’re trained for, but if it comes up . . .”

She lifted her gaze to his. “Have you ever had to do that?”

“What? Deliver a baby?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head. “It hasn’t come up. Yet.”

She laughed. “I’m guessing you hope it doesn’t.”

“No. I’m hoping every set of expectant parents on my stretch of road gets to the hospital to have their babies.”

“It’s a good wish. But as we know, emergencies happen and sometimes events occur that you can’t foresee.”

“That’s true.”

She took another long swallow of wine, her gaze distant as she spoke. “Sometimes, life doesn’t turn out as you plan it at all.”

Somehow, he got the idea she was talking about more than just cattle emergencies and babies being born in the car.

“Emma?”

She jerked her attention back on him. “Yes?”

“Is there something on your mind?”

“No. Not at all. Why do you ask?”

“Because I don’t think you were referring to cattle or babies.”

“Oh. Sure I was.”

“You know, you really haven’t told me about your past. Or the guy who left you heartbroken and wary of relationships.”

“Did I say there was a guy?”

“You mentioned it in passing.”

“Oh. Well. Not much to tell.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that, but I think there’s a lot more to the story. And sometimes it helps to talk. I told you about Rebecca and the disaster that was my first marriage.”

“You did, didn’t you?”

“So . . .”

Emma took a deep breath, and another long swallow of wine. He could tell she was pondering whether or not to tell him something. Obviously it was a big thing to her, so he waited patiently.

“It’s an ugly story, Luke. And it makes me look bad.”

He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I find that hard to believe. But it obviously bothers you. I think you should tell me about it.”

She nodded. “I met Vaughn my freshman year of college. He was one of my professors. I was enamored of him. He was so smart, and sharp and funny, and oh, I had such a crush on him. It was like our eyes met in the classroom, and that was it for me. He encouraged it, would meet with me in his office to go over my papers and my lab notes. One thing led to another, and we got involved in this very heavy relationship, which of course could have cost him his job.

“The fact that he didn’t seem to care made it all the more thrilling for me. We were madly in love—or at least I was. He helped me with all my classes. He’d help me study, and I was doing so well in school. Of course I couldn’t move in with him, because the school couldn’t know about our relationship. I think the clandestine nature of it was what made it so exciting.”

She paused, took another couple of sips, staring at the glass, not looking at him. Luke knew she was reliving that time, and maybe she needed to in order to get it all out. He didn’t want to say anything, because he realized this was important for her. He also realized she probably didn’t talk about this time in her life very often.

“By my senior year, I was convinced that after graduation we’d move in together. I could be seen with him as a graduate student because he wouldn’t be involved with me once I started vet school. I applied and got into vet school. I was so thrilled.

“That’s when everything started to change, when his hold on me turned from encouraging to dominating. He told me he wanted me to live with him, but as a vet student I’d be immersed in my studies and we’d never see each other anymore, that I wouldn’t be able to help him with his school projects anymore. It would be like we were strangers, so we should probably end it.

“I was crushed. For four years we’d been everything to each other—or at least he’d been everything to me. And he was ready to walk away from it all because I would have to focus on my studies?”

Luke frowned. “He forced you to choose between him and vet school.”

“I didn’t realize it at the time. I was so in love with him, I’d have done anything for him. But yes, that’s exactly what he did.”

“And you chose him.”

She looked down at the wine. “I chose him. I dropped out of vet school and I moved in with him. And then I became his research assistant, helping him with his papers and his research. I’d do his laundry and clean his house, and whatever else he wanted me to do for him, whenever he wanted me to do it. He monitored where I was every moment of the day. If I was going to the grocery store, I had to call him before I left, and call when I got back. It got to the point where I was a prisoner in his home. I had no friends. I had lost them all years before because he wanted all my focus on him. He even cut my family off. So when he was teaching, I had to either be working on his papers or staying at the house.”

Luke’s stomach tightened. He knew where this was going, had seen it time and time again in women who were controlled and abused. “And if you didn’t?”

She shook her head. “Then I was punished. If I really loved him, I would do it right.”

He reached out and smoothed his hand over her hair. “I’m sorry he treated you that way, Emma.”

“I don’t deserve your sorrow. I was an intelligent young girl with career goals, and I allowed him to manipulate me into giving it all up to become nothing more than his slave.” She lifted tear-filled eyes to his. “How could I have let that happen?”

His heart ached for her. “You’re not the first woman that has happened to. Blame him, not yourself. Men like that have a way of making you fall in love with them, of making these promises for the future, and then once they have you hooked and seduced, they pull the rug right out from under you.”

“I could have walked away at any time. Why didn’t I?”

“Because you were afraid of him, of what he might do if he followed you and found you. He threatened you, didn’t he?”

She nodded. “All the time. He threatened me; he threatened my family. He even said he monitored my sister’s movements, knew where Molly was, and if I left him he’d hurt her.”

Sonofabitch. This guy was evil. “How did you get away?”

“I was so lonely. He was at school all the time, or at evening functions. I was always alone at the house. He never let me go anywhere. I finally had had enough of living that way. I used to be fun and outgoing. I had once had so many friends, a plan for my future, and he’d stripped it all away from me. I decided I couldn’t do it anymore, so when he had a business trip, I decided to seize my opportunity to leave. He hated travel because it took him away from me, where he couldn’t monitor me. But after a few years, he was confident he had me so under control that he could go out of town and I’d meekly stay there. But this time, he had a three-day trip. I packed up everything, took money I had stockpiled, took the car, and hightailed it out of there. Then I went home to my parents and told them everything. They helped me get a restraining order against him.”

“Did he get fired?”

Her lips curved slightly. “Yes. After I recovered enough of my backbone, I went to the university and told them what had happened between us during the entire four years I was an undergraduate, and after, including the restraining order. I saved all the e-mails we had written to each other when I was an undergraduate, up to and including the notes he wrote ordering me to do this or that, and I used those against him.

“He lost his job. He was furious with me, but with the restraining order, he couldn’t come near me, or he’d be arrested. The last time I heard, he was living in Texas.”

He took her hand. “Why didn’t you tell me about him—about all this—sooner?”

She gave him a look. “Come on, Luke. Would you have wanted anyone you care about to know about such an epic failure in your life like this?”

“Emma. I care about you. I don’t expect you to be perfect, or for your past to have been perfect. But if we’re going to have a . . . relationship, we have to be up front with each other about everything, including the ugly parts.”

“Yeah, well, this is really ugly and doesn’t paint me in a positive light.”

“Hey, I told you about my past.”

She gave him a look. “Luke, it’s not the same thing at all. You had a marriage that didn’t work out, that wasn’t your fault.”

“It wasn’t all Rebecca’s fault. I didn’t do my part, either.”

“But you weren’t a manipulating douchebag like Vaughn. And you weren’t a coward like me.”

He set down his wineglass and pulled her onto his lap.

“Stop. You realize this Vaughn guy is to blame for what happened to you, right?”

“I do now. I didn’t at first. I put all the blame on myself. It took a while and some counseling to realize what he’d done to me. It’s still hard to let go of the shame, though.”

“Look at where you are now, what you’ve accomplished. Do you know how many women never get away from men like him? You got out. You should be proud of yourself.”

He saw the tears shimmer in her eyes and realized how hard she was working not to let them fall.

She took a deep breath. “Well, thanks for that. I worked hard to fight my way back. And that’s why my career is having a late start.”

“But you have a career. And you got your education. So I guess Vaughn can just suck it.”

She laughed. “I guess he can.”

She took his hand. “Thank you. For understanding.”