One to Keep

Chapter Five

Jen shivered as the door to the jet was opened and the February air hit her. She pulled Stefan’s coat around her. She turned to look at him. He was wearing a dress shirt and slacks. He must have been freezing, but the minute she began to shrug out of his coat he sent her a look colder than the wind outside. Jen stuck her tongue out at him and buttoned up the coat.

“Very mature, Jennifer,” Stef murmured as he gestured for her to go first.

She felt her spirit sag. That was the crux of their problems. He thought she was too young for him. It wasn’t like he was some old guy. He wasn’t even ten years older than she was. It also wasn’t like she’d asked him for marriage. She’d been in love with him. That didn’t necessarily lead to marriage. She’d seen her mother fall in and out of love. She had never pushed Stef for anything more than friendship and some sex. He seemed to think she was too young even for that.

Jen stood at the top of the stairs and looked down. One lone figure stood on the tarmac holding a handmade sign that said Welcome Back, Felon.

Callie Sheppard grinned as she held her sign up, and Jen felt tears fill her eyes.

“She missed you,” Nate said from behind her.

For the first time she thought about what she’d done when she’d snuck away from Bliss. She had meant to leave behind Stef and all their problems, but she’d done more than that. She’d left Callie and Stella and Rachel and Laura. She’d walked out on Mel and the Harper twins, and Zane and Nate. Tears flowed freely now as she took her wobbly first step down the staircase. She’d left the only place that had ever felt like home because she’d been too embarrassed to see Stef again.

Maybe he was right. Maybe she was too young. And maybe, just maybe, it was time to grow up.

Jen took hold of herself and rushed down the steps. She didn’t stop until she threw her arms around Callie.

“Hey!” Callie said. She dropped her sign. Her arms quickly enveloped Jen. “Hey, it’s okay, sweetie. It’s going to be okay. Don’t you worry about a thing. You’re home now.” Jen felt Callie smooth down the back of her hair, and she cried.

She didn’t care that everyone was watching. Now that she was standing here, she knew Callie was right. Everything would be fine because she was home.

“I’m sorry,” Jen managed after a moment. “I should never have left the way I did.”

“It’s okay,” Callie said softly. “You’re back now. That’s what matters.”

And that was Callie in a nutshell, Jen thought. Callie would never hold it against her. She would never withhold her affection. Her heart was open.

She felt another hand on her back, and she looked up at the sheriff. Nate Wright’s eyes were far softer now, and he nodded down at her.

“Callie’s right. It’s going to be okay. We won’t let you go back to jail. Stef is already working on getting the charges dropped. Let’s get the car and get out of this weather.” Jen took a step back, and Callie went on her toes trying to press her lips against her husband’s. Nate’s gloved hand came out to stop her. Callie’s lips made a little O.

“No can do, baby.” Nate shook his head as he stared down at her.

Callie pouted. Her hands went to her hips. She was drowning in a parka, her small, curvy body completely covered by her coat. “What did I do?”

“It wasn’t you. It was Stef,” Jen supplied, saving Nate the trouble.

“He needs his fake girlfriend again, and he doesn’t care that she’s already double married.”

Callie’s brown eyes widened. “What are you talking about? Oh my, Sebastian! And Stef! Why didn’t you call? And what are you doing without a coat?”

Callie stalked toward the plane where the Talbot men were disembarking. Jen stared at Nate. He had some explaining to do.

“Okay, where’s the big guy? I know you two have something awful cooked up for Stef.” There was no way Nathan Wright allowed his wife to be used in some cover-up.

A little smirk crossed Nate’s face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, darlin’. I’m just helping out an old friend. I am a very patient and tolerant man.”

“Since when?” The only person less patient than Nathan Wright was Max Harper. Nate was a notorious hard-ass, and the last thing Jen would expect him to do would be to allow his wife to pose as another man’s girlfriend.

One shoulder came up negligently. “You know this whole threesome thing works on several levels for us. It takes two men to keep Callie out of trouble, but more than that, I can always count on Zane to do the right thing.”

Jen listened to Nate talk, but her eyes were on Stef and Callie. She felt a sick pit of jealousy form in her gut as Stef wrapped his arms around Callie. She knew that it was all for show. She could see Stef whispering to her, probably begging her to play along, but it still hurt.

Callie was good enough to show off. Callie was sweet enough to bring home with him. She doubted Stef had told anyone about the night they had shared. Callie might be a fake girlfriend, but Jen doubted it hurt worse than being the dirty little secret.

Stef was talking to his father, his arm firmly around Callie’s waist as she twisted her head around slightly. Her brown eyes were questioning as she looked back at Nate. The sheriff merely gave her a hearty thumbs-up, and she shrugged and turned back around to talk to Sebastian Talbot.

It was at that moment that Jen noticed big, gorgeous Zane walking down the tarmac, two Styrofoam mugs of coffee in his hands. Zane Hollister was roughly six and a half feet tall. His beautiful face bore some scars from his time as a DEA agent, but he was heavenly looking to Jen. She’d always wanted to paint him. It would be a challenge to get his spirit just right. He was an intoxicating mix of rough man and vulnerable boy. But now he looked like an angry bull.

He stopped in the middle of the tarmac, and his mouth dropped open.

Jen followed his line of sight back to where Stef was leaning over, placing a light kiss on Callie’s lips.

Nate sighed, satisfaction plain in his stance. “You see, I can be the good guy in this situation. I can say, sure, use my wife the way you have for years. Don’t worry about me. I don’t mind. I can say all of that, because I know that Zane will do the right thing.” Apparently, in Nate’s mind, the right thing was to toss down his coffees and run toward the man horning in on his wife. Stef turned around just in time to get tackled. Jen rushed toward the fight.

“Zane, you get off of him right now!” Callie shouted at her husband.

“You fucking overgrown ape, stop hitting me!” Stef tried to push Zane off.

“You get off my son, sir!” Sebastian’s back stiffened, and he looked at Callie. “Call the police, dear.”

“The sheriff is standing right over there laughing his ass off, Mr.

Talbot,” Jen said. She looked down at Stef, who was trying to give as good as he got. She had to give him that. For a rich boy, he knew how to fight dirty.

“Zane Hollister, stop beating up my best friend.” Callie’s booted foot stomped in the snow.

Zane got Stef in a choke hold. “Not on your life, babe. He kissed you. We took sacred vows to never allow another man to get close enough to kiss you. Right, Nate?”

Nate was all smiles now. “That’s right, buddy. You do what you have to do.”

“Asshole,” Stef managed to wheeze out. He pulled his elbow out and caught Zane squarely in the gut. “I won’t forget this when your next contract is up. Don’t think I won’t talk to the mayor about finding a new sheriff.”

“Good luck with that, Stef. No one wants the job except Nell.

She’s threatened to run against me. Other than that, you got nothing.” Callie pulled at her dark-haired husband. “Zane, you get off him right this instant. I’m invoking the note clause in our marriage contract.”

Zane popped up in an instant, his face a storm of pent-up rage.

“Fine. I’ll go bring the car around, but his ass is walking, and if you ever touch my wife with your lips again in a non-brotherly fashion, I’ll kick your ass even harder.”

Zane stomped away, leaving Callie shaking her head as she lent Stef a hand. Jen brushed the snow off his back.

“Note clause?”

Nate frowned. “Yeah, every time we do something she doesn’t like she points to the note we wrote when we left her. She saved it.

She framed it and put it on the wall by the door, and she’s threatened grave bodily harm if we take it down. She uses it like a sledgehammer filled with guilt.”

“I merely remind the boys of the poor choices they once made.” Callie turned to Stef. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.” His gray eyes narrowed as he looked at Nate. “You planned that.”

“I have no control over Zane’s actions, man.” Nate turned and followed his partner.

“So, Callie isn’t your girlfriend anymore?” Sebastian was looking between them all as though desperately trying to figure out what was going on.

“I was never really his girlfriend, Sebastian,” Callie said, her voice a sad little sigh. “I’m sorry I misled you. Stef has always been more of a brother to me than anything else.”

“And now that…large, rather brutish fellow is your husband?”

“His name is Zane.” She sighed again, this one a dreamy sound.

“Stef introduced us. He introduced me to Nate, too. They are the best husbands a girl could have. Don’t let their rough exteriors fool you.

They’re sweeties. I should probably go and make sure they don’t leave Stef behind. It’s a long way to Bliss.” Sebastian’s eyes stared at a place right below Stef’s face. “So you hid this from me? Callie got married, and you never told me you broke up?”

“I was never with Callie,” Stef admitted. His whole body was shaking.

Jen got close, and he shoved his arms under hers, wrapping himself under the coat she was wearing and rubbing his body against hers. “Hey!”

“It’s my damn coat. You can share.” His beautiful face was stark, and his lips were turning just a little blue.

Damn him. She couldn’t resist that slightly quivering lip. She pushed her body against his, sharing her warmth. But she wasn’t just going to lie down and give it up for him. She’d done that. Jen wrapped her arms around Stef, but turned to Sebastian. “He’s been lying to you because he didn’t want you to find out the truth.” Stef’s father’s face fell, and a chalky whiteness took over his skin.

“Stefan, you have to know that you’re my son no matter what. I’ll still love you.”

“I never knew you loved me in the first place,” Stef managed to chatter.

A slight flush permeated Sebastian’s skin. “Of course I do. You’re my son. Just because you’re…well, nothing changes that.” There was a long pause. “Is it, well, is it one of those boys?” Stef shivered in her arms, and he planted his face in her shoulder.

“What is he talking about, and can you make him stop?” But Jen had an idea, and it made her giggle. “Which boys are you talking about, Mr. Talbot?”

He pulled his wool peacoat around his slender frame. “Those Harper boys he was always around. I suppose I always knew deep down. He talked about them all the time. I couldn’t get him away. I thought it was about Callie, but now I can see the truth. I just don’t see why he wouldn’t admit it. I’ve never been one to hold a person’s sexuality against them. Talbot Industries offers life partners insurance and benefits. Why would my own son lie? Unless…oh, no, it’s that Max fellow, isn’t it? Oh, my son, you can do better than him.” Stef’s head came up, and he stared down at Jen. His eyes closed briefly as though in terrible pain, and then those gorgeous gray orbs were piercing into her. “Does he think what I think he thinks?” A little bit of glee lit her heart. “I think he thinks you love Max.” Stef turned to his father, his face turning red despite the cold.

“Damn it, Dad! I am not Max’s gay lover. Max is married.” Sebastian sighed, his relief a palpable thing. “Okay. I can handle Rye. He’s a nice young lad.”

“I’m not with Rye, either! He’s married, too. I am not gay.” Jen tried to contain her giggle, but it was hard when his whole body was quivering, and he seemed to be trying to crawl into her. He looked like a little boy arguing with his dad. She’d never seen Stef look so open. “I can vouch for the ‘not gay’ part, Mr. Talbot. I know for a fact that Stef Talbot is one hundred percent capable of sleeping with a girl. He just needs to tie her up and spank her a little bit first.”

“Jennifer!”

She shrugged. “Do you deny it?”

“TMI, Jennifer. TMI.” He frowned down at her before burying his face in her hair. His breath was warm against her ear. “You’re under my authority now, love. I have the papers to prove it. I’ve been indulgent to this point, but now you’re racking up the punishment time.”

Now she didn’t need the coat. Her whole body flushed with the memory of what it felt like to be punished by Master Stefan. Then he shivered again, and the moment was lost.

“Where the hell is Zane with the car?” Sebastian’s mouth was open as he watched his son. “Perhaps I should have come much sooner. We’re going to have to talk about this, Stefan. I didn’t raise you to spank people.” Stef groaned in her ear and burrowed further as though he could escape into her skin.

When Zane pulled the SUV around, Stef pushed her into the back, making sure she was in between him and his father. The two men stared at each other over her head the whole hundred miles from Alamosa to Bliss.

Two hours later, Stef was back in fighting form, and Jen sort of wished they could go back to that delicious moment when he needed her body heat and her support. The minute Zane turned into the Talbot estate’s drive, he’d sat up and held himself away from her. He’d gone from needy little boy to the distant Dom she’d tried so hard to get to know. He’d neatly and efficiently packed everyone into separate rooms as he and Nate filled Zane in on what was going on with her.

She figured she should have been in on that meeting, but apparently her voice wasn’t required. She heard them in the study talking to someone over the conference phone. It sounded like Finn Taylor explaining what legal maneuvers he was planning. Jen simply let Callie lead her to a big, brightly decorated room that contained all the stuff Stef had packed up from her apartment. There was a suitcase of her clothes and some of her sketchbooks.

“He was really upset when you left,” Callie said as she opened the drapes and let in some of the most beautiful light Jen had ever seen.

“Really? Because the way we left things, I thought he would be thrilled.” Jen didn’t like to think about the morning she’d left.

Sometimes she couldn’t help it, and it played over and over in her mind like a bad movie. Of course at night when she was asleep, she dreamed about making love with Stef. She couldn’t help it. In her dreams he took her over and over. He spanked her to warm her up and then made love to her like a starving man.

Callie blinked behind her glasses. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you. I just know he was really upset. I know Stef.

He was far too quiet, and he retreated into his studio for two weeks after you left. He barely said a word to anyone.”

“He was just feeling a little guilty.”

“I don’t think so,” Callie said. “But I’m not going to be able to convince you.”

There was a brief knock on the door that saved her from Callie’s further explanations. Jen opened the door expecting to see Stef. She was surprised at the large, lovely man inhabiting her doorway. His hair was cut startlingly short, but Jen could see it was reddish. His face was an intriguing mixture of craggy lines and lovely features.

“Hello, did Stef send me a toy?”

He frowned, his brows making a neat V in his forehead. “No. I’m a doctor.” He looked past Jen to Callie. “Is this one of those patients, Callie?”

Callie laughed. “No, Caleb. She’s just extremely sarcastic. Jen, this is Dr. Caleb Burke. He’s the new town doctor. Stef brought him in for Rachel’s birth.”

Jen noticed he was carrying a large, battered leather bag. He strode into the room like he owned the place. He set his bag down and shrugged out of the thick parka he was wearing. The doc worked out.

That much was plain.

“Don’t forget all the people who get shot around here. For such a small town, you deal with a lot of trauma. I wasn’t here for the last two shootouts, but I have an emergency plan for the next one.” Jen had seen the effects of the last little emergency that happened in Bliss. Mel and Nate had gone to the hospital. Before that, both Max and Rye had been injured. “Hopefully we’ve seen the last violence for a while.”

The doc slapped his hands together. “Nope. Place like this is a magnet. Bad things will always happen, and I’m going to be ready for it.”

Callie nodded and gave the doc a smile. It was the same smile she gave Mel when placating him. “Caleb is a great believer in preparedness. He made the whole town act out a scenario where the town was taken over by armed gunmen. Nell and Henry decided to protest and…”

“Nell and Henry got shot. Protesting won’t stop an armed gunman. Kevlar. That’s what you need, and a damn fine plan of action.”

Caleb Burke had his hands on his lean hips, looking down at Jen like a drill sergeant with a new recruit.

Jen turned to Callie. “Tell me Nell and Henry are still in one piece.”

Callie waved off the concern. “He used paint guns. It was fine.

Henry was surprisingly mouthy for a dead guy. The big problem was that Mel was late, and Caleb used green paint.” Jen knew exactly where this was going. “Aliens have green blood.”

“Yup. Mel freaked out. Guess you weren’t so prepared for that, were you, doc?” Callie asked with a smile.

Caleb had the good grace to look slightly apologetic. “It wasn’t bad. I took out Mel with a tranq gun. He was fine. Now, let’s get on with it. If you’ll take off your clothes, we’ll get started.” Jen took a small step back, because the man didn’t look like he was joking. “Excuse me?”

“Stef brought in the doc to give you a physical,” Callie explained.

“He’s worried someone broke you in prison. He’s got a shrink coming in next week to help you with the trauma.”

“I was only in jail for a day. What does he think happened to me?” Caleb coughed a little. “Well, any number of things can happen to an incarcerated person. Dehydration, injuries due to violent acts, staph infections.” He leaned in, his voice going low. “Sexual injuries. You don’t have to be afraid or embarrassed. I’ve seen it all.”

“OMG, I was in lockup for twenty-four hours in the Dallas County Jail, not lost in some third world country. I’m fine. They gave me water. I didn’t even have time to acquire a girlfriend. Tell Stef to stuff it.” She turned to Callie. “I am hungry, though. They tried to give me bologna.”

Callie shuddered as she grabbed their coats. “We should go to Stella’s for lunch, then.”

“Hey, I have a job to do here.” Caleb got between her and the door.

Callie patted his chest. “I wouldn’t, Caleb, sweetie. She’s like Rachel.”

Caleb paled slightly and backed down. “Okay, then. Um, well, if you need anything or, you know, start to remember stuff like torture, call me. You know, post-traumatic stress can hit you when you least expect it.”

“He’s insane,” Jen stated as they walked out the door.

Callie pointed toward the snowmobiles on the lawn. “You expected different? He was the best we could get. He’s a damn fine surgeon, and he’s feeling his way as a general practitioner. He used to work at a big hospital in Chicago, but something happened and, well, let’s just say Caleb knows where of he speaks when he talks about post-traumatic stress disorder. You should see him get together with Mel. Caleb is sure Mel is repressing trauma that happened while in the military, and Mel is certain Caleb’s been probed.”

“Nice,” Jen said, hopping on the back of the snowmobile.

“They’ve gotten to be really good friends.” Callie gunned the engine and headed toward Stella’s.