Reflection Point

chapter TWENTY





Savannah bolted upright in bed, her heart pounding with alarm, fear riding her blood as his words washed over her. No, please, no. She couldn’t. Not again. Her heart couldn’t bear it. Couldn’t I have the fairy tale for just a little while longer?

“No, Zach. Don’t say that. You can’t say that.”

The soft look in his eyes sharpened just a little. “I did say that.”

“That wasn’t the deal. You’re a guy.”

“I’m glad you noticed,” he snapped, then his voice gentled. “Savannah, I said it because I mean it. Let’s talk this through. I know you’ve had a bad experience in the past, but you should—”

“No … please.” She was breathing fast. She could feel fissures splitting her heart into pieces. She couldn’t go there. Didn’t he see? What they already had was perfect. Couldn’t she just have the perfect without the strings? Strings strangle a person. “Guys are supposed to want no-strings, just-for-fun sex. That’s the deal.”

“What deal?” Zach’s gentle warmth now completely disappeared. Temper crackled in his movements as he flung back the covers and climbed from bed. “I don’t recall making any deal. Especially about sex.”

“We’ve been dating. That was the deal.”

His mouth twisted. “We’re lovers, Savannah. ‘Dating’ is for high school.”

High school? Savannah’s anger flared at that, and she seized upon it. Anger was much better than fear. So she was inexperienced compared to his vast number of bedpost notches, like the ski instructor Sarah had mentioned or the pharmaceutical sales rep from Colorado Springs whom Ali said he’d been seeing last year. And let’s not forget half of my friends, she thought. “I know you’ve had lots of women.”

He reached for his shorts with a shrug. “I have. But I’ve only been with you since we met, so my past pertains to this discussion how?”

“Well …” Savannah’s thoughts were raw, panicked, confused, and disjointed. He didn’t tell all the women he slept with that he … that he … loved them. Did he? “I’m supposed to be another notch in your bedpost.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. “That’s insulting to us both.”

She felt tears welling up, and she panicked even more. She was losing control. She had to stay in control, otherwise she would never survive. “See, this is why I told you before that this is wrong. It just can’t be. We’re too different. We never should have started this. I can’t … I just can’t.”

His eyes went to blue ice. “Can’t what? Love me back?”

Don’t say that!

He started to reach for her but stopped. His arm fell back to his side and he questioned quietly, “Did I ask for that, Savannah? Did I ask for anything?”

“You ask for everything!” She threw out her arms. “You want me to trust you, to forget all the lessons I’ve learned. Oh, you don’t say it aloud, but you’re drip, drip, drip. Mr. Nice Guy. Mr. Everybody’s Friend and Problem Solver. Mr. Haven’t Been Laid in Years? I’ll Take Care of That for You. You wear a woman down, and this is no different.”

In the process of pulling on his pants, Zach froze. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“It’s true, isn’t it? You’re like a nun with a penis. You’re a do-gooder. You’re generous and kind and a dream date, a dream lover.”

“Well, pardon me for such horrific behavior,” he sarcastically drawled.

“You’re the sheriff, for heaven’s sake!” And through the crazy haze of her emotions, she realized just how true that was. Barney Fife? He’d never been Barney Fife. He’d always been Andy. Andy Taylor, Zach Turner. The perfect sheriff in the perfect little town. Well, they didn’t have an ex-con soap maker in Mayberry. I don’t belong in that world. Not with Sheriff Andy, anyway. “You’re the town cop!”

Zach tightened his belt with a jerk. “Yes, I am. But I’m not Kyle effing Vaughn! Dammit, Savannah. That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? You need psychological help. You cannot equate every man who enters your life with the one a*shole who betrayed you.”

Now her tears spilled as Zach continued, “You know what? I’m tired of that. I don’t deserve that. I’ve treated you with nothing but respect, but that doesn’t matter, does it? It’s not enough for you. Well, guess what. I’m done. I might have fallen in love with you, Savannah, but I don’t need this. You can hunker down and be afraid and be alone. That should make you perfectly happy.”

“Zach … I …” Her voice trailed off. She wanted to protest, to apologize, to beg for his forgiveness. But if she did, they’d be right back where they’d started. Nothing had changed here, had it? She didn’t want to fall in love again. She couldn’t do it. He was right. She was afraid and it was easier to be alone.

“Nothing to say? Well, fine. Like I said, I’m done. Forget what I said about loving you, Savannah. That’s what I’m going to do. Logan will pick us up at nine-fifteen. I’m through with this. I’m through with you.”

He didn’t slam the door behind him when he left. Somehow, the quiet snick sounded louder than a bang.

Zach didn’t speak to Savannah on the return flight to Eternity Springs. If Logan picked up on the tension humming in the air between them, he wisely kept it to himself. Upon their arrival at Reflection Point, Zach tossed her the keys to his truck. “Leave it parked wherever you like. I’ll pick it up later.”

He ignored the tight look of pain on her face and marched into his house without a look back. He showered, shaved, and dressed in his full uniform, something he seldom did but that seemed both right and necessary today.

Zach was furious with Savannah. Some of the things she’d said would sting for a long time. Bedpost notches. A nun with a penis? Really? It made him want to put his fist through a wall.

He was angry at Savannah, but even more pissed at himself. What in the world had possessed him? No sooner had he come to a potentially life-altering realization than he felt the need to share it without thinking the possible consequences through. How stupid was that?

Pretty damned stupid. He should have kept his big mouth shut. If he’d taken two minutes to think about it, he’d have known how she would react. Savannah had done a fair job of hiding it, but he knew that her heart had been grievously wounded. It needed time to heal, and he’d rushed her. He’d known it even as he allowed the words to roll off his tongue.

Still, a nun with a penis?

He grabbed the keys to his motorcycle and headed in to work. When he spied a car with California license plates run a stop sign, he was in just a cranky enough mood to stop the driver and write a ticket.

Ginger greeted him with a smile that died after she got one good look at his face. He gave her and his deputies a gruff “Good morning” before striding into his office and shutting the door. He didn’t miss the look his dispatcher exchanged with his deputies, but he chose to ignore it.

He managed to bury himself in paperwork, and as the morning waned, his mood eased. Nothing like compiling crime stats for the state to get a man’s mind off his troubles. He worked through lunch and had just finished up a phone call with the Colorado Springs district attorney’s office when a knock sounded on his door. Glancing up, he was surprised to see Jack Davenport.

This can’t be good, he thought as he waved Jack in and gestured for him to take a seat. “Do we have a problem?” he asked without preamble.

“Possibly. Something happened up at the camp I figured you should know about. I brought TJ Moore and Aiden Marshall home today.”

Well, hell. “What happened?”

“That’s part of the trouble. I’m not exactly sure. What I do know is that between the archery session and horseback lessons, the two had a dustup. I don’t know who started swinging first or why. Neither boy is talking.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“TJ has the beginnings of a shiner. Aiden has a busted lip and a swollen nose.”

Zach sat back in his chair and considered. He wasn’t completely surprised. “So, this isn’t something the sheriff’s office needs to become involved in?”

“I thought you’d want to know because of Savannah. She wasn’t very happy when we showed up at Heavenscents.”

“I don’t imagine that she was.” He hesitated a moment, then asked, “Did you tell her you were coming to me?”

“I told the boys. I thought it might help prevent them from bringing the trouble off the mountain into town—at least for a little while.”

“I’ll bet they loved that.”

“Like I said, I couldn’t get either kid to talk, but the animosity was thick enough to cut with a knife. I don’t think it’s over, and I suspect that at some point in time you’ll be dealing with them.”

“Do you have a guess on who the instigator was?”

Jack glanced at his wristwatch, then stood. “I’m afraid I’d pick TJ, though it’s just a guess. Before they got into it, Aiden seemed to be having fun, but TJ was a little moody. Now, I’d better get back up the hill. I’m scheduled to lead a hike in half an hour.”

Zach found himself wishing the fistfight had occurred last night rather than this morning. The Davenports would have called Savannah and their wonderful evening would have been interrupted, but this morning’s disaster wouldn’t have happened, either.

He shook Jack’s hand, thanked him for the heads-up, and wished him smooth sailing for the rest of the camp. Alone again in his office, he assumed his favored thinking position by propping his feet up on his credenza as he gazed out the window.

What now? He probably should develop a strategy for going forward. To do that he needed to figure out what he wanted. To figure out what he wanted, he needed to be firm about what he felt.

Bottom line: was he in love with Savannah Moore or not? Was the emotion real or the result of sensory overload from a spectacular romantic rendezvous? His gut instinct told him it was real, but he’d never been in love before. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe time would prove him wrong.

Everything considered, he decided he’d be wise to give it a few days, maybe a few weeks, to be certain of what he was feeling—and frankly, to get over the sting of this morning’s fight. Nun with a penis, my ass. He could use the time he wasn’t spending with her to make those calls to Georgia he’d been wanting to make. He didn’t have to wait until after tourist season. His free time was his free time. He could spend it working if he wanted.

Then he could make a run at her again.

Because, if time proved that he was truly in love with Savannah Moore, then he wouldn’t let her fear stop him. If he wanted her, he’d win her. Of that he had no doubt.

Mr. Nice Guy wasn’t above playing dirty.

In Eternity Springs, August was the height of the tourist season, as people from all over the heat-baked Southwest flooded to the Colorado Rockies for weather relief and recreation. As a result, Heavenscents serviced customers from open to close, and Savannah stayed so busy that she was able to put Zach Turner out of her mind.

Sorta.

She missed him. She hadn’t spoken to him since she left Reflection Point that difficult morning almost two weeks ago. She’d seen him twice at various town events, but he’d made certain to stay far away from her. She told herself she was glad about it. It made life easier, didn’t it?

Easier, but not nearly so fun and exciting and thrilling.

Maybe not even easier when it came to dealing with TJ.

The boy might possibly be the death of her.

The day Jack brought him home from camp, the hair dye, earrings, and attitude returned. Around home, TJ continued to meet the terms of their agreement with regard to taking a return trip to Georgia, but he’d reverted to the sullen, angry boy he’d been upon his arrival in Eternity Springs.

Savannah hadn’t managed to get one word out of him about the events that led to his being sent home from camp. While he hadn’t gone back to his hoodlum ways, neither was he making any attempt to make friends. He wasn’t shooting baskets with Mandy anymore. When he wasn’t working for her, according to her friends, he was spending his time by himself fishing along Angel Creek.

The shop door opened, shaking Savannah from her reverie. Gabi Romano stepped inside, glanced around, then asked, “You alone?”

“Actually, I am. First time all day.”

“Good.” She folded her arms and scowled. “Then tell me what the heck you’ve done to my boss.”

Savannah blinked. “Um … I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, don’t give me that BS.”

“I haven’t talked to him in two weeks.”

“My point exactly. And now we only get rare glimpses of the easygoing, friendly guy I went to work for, because he’s hidden in a fog of sulky funk.”

Sulky funk? Zach?

“What happened to you two? One minute you’re lovebirds and the next he’s scheduling himself for double shifts so that Martin can go home to visit his dad who has been ill.”

“Martin’s dad is ill? I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“West Nile virus. He’s recovering. Talk to me, girlfriend. Did you dump my b—” Gabi hesitated, a strange look flashing across her face before she finished. “Boss?”

Savannah’s instincts went on high alert, and a surge of possessiveness washed through her. “Why do you ask? Do you want to date him? I guess that’s the next natural step. He’s worked his way through the rest of the women in town.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Gabi drew back, frowning. “Of course I don’t want to date him. I’m your friend. I’m his friend. I care about you both and I’m worried about you both.”

Savannah glanced toward the door, which remained frustratingly closed. Where were her customers when she needed them? “Look, there is nothing at all to worry about. From what I understand, Zach is accustomed to having a revolving door where women are concerned. He’ll be just fine. I’ll be fine, too. I am fine. We had a fun few weeks together, but that’s all it could ever have been. I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“Why not?” Gabi asked. “This is one of the good guys, Savannah. And he cares about you. Everyone can see that.”

Savannah hesitated, debating how to respond. She valued Gabi’s friendship and didn’t want to alienate her, but Gabi had a militant look in her eyes.

She’s on Zach’s side, Savannah realized, her heart twisting. Of all her new friends, Gabi was the one to whom she was closest, and the only one whose friendship with Zach didn’t predate a friendship with her. They’ll all take his side. I’ll lose all of my new friends because I indulged in a romance with the beloved town sheriff.

Serves you right for breaking his heart, her conscience chided.

“I didn’t break his heart,” Savannah defensively declared. “We were together for a few weeks. It was sexy and fun. Love doesn’t happen that quickly. Not true love, anyway. It takes time to truly get to know someone. It takes years, not weeks, and even then he can fool you.”

“Oh,” Gabi said, knowledge dawning in her eyes. “I get it now. You’re scared. It’s not what Zach feels that is the problem. The problem is what he made you feel. You’re in love with him.”

“No, I’m not! That’s ridiculous. Did you not hear a word I said?”

“Sure. Even more important, I heard what you didn’t say. Listen, Savannah, I think—”

Gabi broke off when the radio she wore attached to her belt emitted a beeping noise and Ginger Harris’s terse voice repeated a number that meant nothing to Savannah but had Gabi pivoting on her heel and heading for the door, saying, “I gotta go.”

Within seconds, Savannah heard a sound that was rare in Eternity Springs—an emergency siren. She gasped in a breath and everything inside her went tense. Zach.

Savannah covered her mouth and prayed, Please, Lord. Don’t let anything have happened to Zach.

The accident scene was horrific.

Twisted metal, shattered glass. Blood smeared across the pavement. The stench of burned human flesh permeated the air.

With the first rush of dealing with the emergency behind him, Zach allowed himself a moment of emotion as he bent and scooped a child’s stuffed bear off the pavement. He tried to brush the gravel off the animal’s face, but it stuck to the fluids that had soaked into the fur. “Some days I truly hate this job.”

“I think I’ll hear that little girl’s screams until the day I die,” Gabi responded.

Zach let out a long sigh as his gaze settled on the black body bag. “It was all I could do not to join her. This is the hardest accident scene I’ve had to work in a very long time.”

“She was a friend of yours.”

“Yes. She always had a kind word and a cup of coffee for me when I stopped in. She did a lot for this town.”

Gabi looked toward the northbound roadblock where curious onlookers had begun to gather. “With the fire, I doubt anyone will be able to identify the car, but we had a couple of cars go through before we set up the roadblock. We need to make next-of-kin notification soon.”

“I’m not sure who that is, to be honest.”

“Who would know?”

“Sarah Murphy is my best guess.” He rubbed the back of his neck and added, “Those women love their quilt group. This is going to break their hearts.”

He shook his head, flinging off the moment, and returned his attention to his job. He gave Gabi a list of items to oversee. “I’m headed to the clinic to take official statements. I’ll stop by Sarah’s and see what I can find out about LaNelle’s family on my way.”

“Zach?” The leader of the volunteer fire department climbed up onto the road from the shallow ravine where LaNelle Harrison’s car had come to rest. “We are good to go down here if you want to call in the tow truck.”

“Thanks, Henry. You guys did a great job. As dry as it’s been, I was afraid the fire would get away from us.” That would have been tragedy on top of tragedy.

Zach’s gaze drifted over the scene once again. “Gabi, just for my peace of mind, take an extra set of photos before we start the cleanup, would you please? I want everything. Skid marks, the entire debris field. The intersection from every direction.” Grimly he added, “Make sure you include the missing stop sign. That’s how we make our case for negligent homicide.”

“Will do, boss.”

A quarter of an hour later, Zach knocked on the glass of the front door of Sarah Murphy’s bakery, Fresh. It was after two, so the shop was closed, though he knew she’d be inside making preparations for the following day. She exited her kitchen smiling, but the moment she saw him, she stopped in her tracks and her smile died. He saw her lips form her husband’s name before her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

He held up his own hand and shook his head to reassure her. “Cam is fine. It’s not about Cam or one of the kids.”

She wiped her hands on her red gingham apron and unlocked the door. “I heard sirens earlier.”

“Yes. A car accident. It’s LaNelle, Sarah.”

“Oh, no.” Tears flooded her eyes. “She’s hurt?”

“It’s worse than that. She didn’t make it, honey.”

“No.” Her chin trembled. “She’s … dead? LaNelle?”

“Yes.”

“She was in a car wreck?”

“Yes.”

Sarah let out a little sob, then broke.

Zach took her in his arms and held her while she cried, mentally kicking himself for not calling Cam to give him a heads-up. Better late than never, he decided. “Let’s call Cam, honey.”

She pulled away from him. “What happened?”

“I’m on my way to the clinic to take statements now. The people in the other car were tourists. I came to tell you because I knew you were friends and also because I need to notify her family. I don’t know them.”

“She has a sister in California. Bakersfield, I think it is. Her name is Lucy.”

Zach had a friend in the department in Bakersfield. “Do you know her last name?”

Sarah thought for a moment, then her tears flowed anew. “No. I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay. You’ve given me a starting point and that’s what I needed.”

“I know LaNelle has her number in her cell phone.”

Zach didn’t want to tell Sarah that if LaNelle had had her phone with her, it hadn’t survived the fire. “Good. Now let’s give your husband a call.”

“Yes. And Nic. And Celeste. All the Patchwork Angels. Is it okay if I tell everyone?”

“Give me half an hour, okay?” He pulled two napkins from the dispenser on the counter behind her and wiped the tears from her face. “Call Cam.”

“Okay.” Sarah picked her phone up from the counter and placed the call. While it connected, she said, “I’m okay, Zach. You go on and do your work. I’m … Cam? Oh, Cam. Can you come home? Zach is here and he brought terrible news about LaNelle.”

Once Cam said he was headed home, Zach left the bakery. He’d just climbed back into his Range Rover when Sarah came rushing out. “I remembered her sister’s name. It’s Carrington. Lucy Carrington from Bakersfield.”

“Thanks, honey.”

On the way to the hospital, Zach contacted his friend in California and arranged to have the next-of-kin notification made personally. Then he tackled the next gut-wrenching event of his day, which was interviewing the driver of the car that had barreled through the intersection and broadsided LaNelle Harrison’s car—a sixteen-year-old new driver from Texas who would live with the consequences of today’s accident on her conscience for the rest of her life.

Both she and her father, who had been the occupant of the front passenger seat, had suffered cuts and abrasions from the deployment of airbags. The teen’s mother and nine-year-old sister, seated in the back and wearing seat belts, had escaped physical injury. However, the father’s attempt to rescue LaNelle from the burning car while the mother tended to the freely bleeding cut on her older daughter’s head had the nine-year-old screaming hysterically when Zach and Gabi arrived on the scene.

It was a hell of an afternoon and a bitch of an evening. Once he finished with the interviews at the medical clinic, he had to deal with city hall. LaNelle had been a particular friend of Mayor Hank Townsend’s wife, and when Zach arrived back at the office to write up his report, Hank had been waiting for him, wanting details.

Once he had the details, he wanted blood. “How long has that stop sign been missing?” he demanded.

“It was there the day before yesterday, Hank. I rode that route myself.”

“So it was missing a whole day and no one reported it stolen?”

“I don’t know that, Hank. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Ginger.”

“Any idea who stole it?”

“Kids, I’d imagine.”

Hank Townsend harrumphed and grumbled, “Probably that hippie kid from Georgia.”

Zach grimaced. Admittedly, the same concern had been hovering in the back of his head, but he wouldn’t abide by baseless speculation. Not within his hearing, anyway. “Hank, please keep those sort of thoughts to yourself. We have absolutely no evidence that TJ is involved in any way. For all we know, Celeste Blessing decided to take the stop sign home and polish it.”

“Now, that’s just stupid.”

“So is blaming a kid for this because you don’t like the color of his hair. He’s had a rough go of it. This sort of talk could hurt him in town.”

“Oh, all right.” Hank dragged a knuckle across his eyes, wiping away the wetness that collected there. “But I want you to find who did this, Zach. LaNelle deserves that. That poor girl who hit her deserves it, too.”

“I’ll do my best, Hank.”

He thought of his promise as he drove home that night. This wasn’t going to be easy. In a bigger town, he’d have had security cameras to monitor. He could have canvassed the area for witnesses. But at that intersection just outside Eternity Springs, any eyewitnesses other than those directly involved likely walked on four legs and had antlers on their heads.

He tried to wipe the day’s events from his mind as he took Ace and went on a long evening run. Afterward, he showered and fell into bed, exhausted. Sleep, however, eluded him.

Even worse than most nights during the past two weeks, thoughts of Savannah grabbed hold of him and wouldn’t let him go.

He hoped like hell that the stop sign theft wasn’t TJ’s doing. Time and some good old-fashioned strong-arming by the sheriff would tell.