ChapterSix
Greer hardly slept. He wasn’t certain if Taylor was truly Emery Reeder and planning to stab him while he slept, or if there was a crazy miracle and he’d just been given a gift straight from heaven of the most appealing, smart, and hilarious woman he’d ever encountered begging him to shelter and protect her.
When he’d drifted off initially last night, he’d awoken to her screaming, “help” and “no” alternately. He’d debated at her door for too long, but he couldn’t take the screams any longer and had quickly picked the lock to get in. Then he’d been rewarded with the opportunity of a lifetime … holding her. He couldn’t recall any woman who had hugged or even kissed him setting off that level of protectiveness and desire inside his chest, even Belinda. There was a warmth that filled him and lingered even after Taylor had removed herself from his arms.
He woke at five a.m. as usual to feed and water the sick herd and the new calves and check on his cattle. In the summer, the healthy cows ate grass or foraged in the fields. In the winter, he had to keep grass feeding them as the meat fetched a higher-price with “grass-finished” on the label.
Before he headed out, he couldn’t stop himself from easing across the living area and peeking into the guest bedroom. Why had she left the door open when she’d seemed upset that he’d picked her lock and come into her room last night?
He told himself he was only checking to make sure his guest was all right, but when he saw that angelic face resting against the white pillowcase with her dark curls spread out like a halo, he had to rub at his chest to work out the knot that suddenly formed.
Please don’t let her be Emery Reeder, he begged heaven above. He could sense it was an empty prayer, but he couldn’t stop himself from praying it.
Backing away, he hurried out through the garage, slipping into his boots and putting his hat on his head. He went through his chores on auto-pilot, wondering how long it would take Papa to get the information on Taylor slash Emery. Then he started wondering how late she would sleep, planning what he’d cook her for breakfast, wondering if he could hug her again today, and trying to figure out what he’d do with a plus-one all day long.
He was riding Bear along the fence line, luckily seeing no sign of breaks in the barbed wire or animal attacks from last night on the older calves tagging along with their mother cows, when his phone rang.
“Papa,” he greeted. He was instantly alert, and no matter how he wanted to ignore it, worried. He wanted Emery to be Taylor, wanted it badly. He’d shelter her from her ex, get to know her, someday in the future kiss her, then when he had her permission he’d set up a trap, lure the ex in, and dismantle the guy, then he’d kiss Taylor some more. He’d never had such an exciting and out-of-the-norm vision.
“You can imagine there are dozens of Taylor Miles in America. We narrowed it down based on age and proximity and we’ve found her.”
Greer pulled in a breath, praying for good news.
“Taylor Miles is a twenty-seven-year-old elementary school teacher from Denver, Colorado, teaching fourth grade at Park Hill Elementary,” Papa began.
Greer almost punched a fist in the air and cheered, but of course he’d never do that. He waited for more info. Interesting; she was actually a year older than him.
“Her online photos bear an uncanny resemblance to Emery Reeder.”
So that fit as well.
“The problem is the photos are all of her alone. No family. No friends.”
That was sad but she’d told him she had no one.
“And that’s not where the holes in the story end.”
Ah, crap. His dream started sliding sideways.
“My resources started checking into things last night and they can’t find a single person who knows Taylor Miles. Her picture and bio are on the elementary’s website, but so far everybody they’ve contacted associated with the school has no idea who Taylor is.”
Greer’s chest felt tight, the complete opposite of how warm and expanded it had felt last night.
“Granted, it’s only six-thirty in the morning, but they had a couple hours last night to get responses. We’ll keep digging, but …”
“She’s Emery Reeder.” A heaviness descended on him, and he hunched over the saddle horn. He had to face the facts. Emery Reeder had plowed through the forest to find him and try to trick him with a fabricated story. There was only one reason she’d do that. She knew he’d killed her brother and she wanted revenge. She was probably after the secret as well. Had Travis told her his plans before his death, or had whoever hired Travis gone after Emery to finish their dirty work?
It hurt to have his dreams destroyed. No matter how little he’d truly believed in them.
“Looks like it. I don’t like this, Greer. Hypervigilant doesn’t even begin to describe what you need to be. I’d come remove her from your house right now, but we need to know what information she has, why she’s here, and if she’s part of Travis’s puppeteer’s plan to find out where the secret is. I doubt she’ll tell me anything if I blow her cover and interrogate her.”
Greer’s gut wrenched. He didn’t want Papa interrogating her. He wanted to protect her. He’d promised to protect her. He just hadn’t known at the time he’d be protecting her from his own family.
Bear kept trotting along the property line and Greer attempted to look for vulnerable spots in the fence or danger to his cattle. All he could see was Emery’s gorgeous and innocent-seeming brown eyes in his mind.
“Here’s what I have on Emery Reeder’s recent activities,” Papa continued. “She left the home of her foster parents in Salmon, Idaho two days ago. Her 1998 Accord was parked in a storage unit in Grand Junction, Colorado yesterday morning. She paid cash for the unit and asked the owner not to put a name down. She hasn’t used a credit or debit card in almost a week, hasn’t taken a withdrawal from her bank account, and she paid cash for her brother’s funeral. On her teacher’s salary, and with her just buying a house and using her savings for the down payment, I can’t imagine she has a surplus of cash hiding under her mattress. If she did she’d upgrade her car. The Navy officer who informed her of her brother’s death said she seemed strangely detached and not at all surprised Travis Reeder was dead and asked no questions when informed that he was AWOL. The school where she works said she was teaching summer school, but in light of her brother’s death they gave her the rest of the summer off. Your thoughts?”
“Someone gave her cash and info to avenge her brother or keep up the hunt for the secret. Maybe both.” Greer took a quick breath. All these long sentences in the last twelve hours were getting to him.