Still the One & Hometown Hero's Redemption
Author
Susan Mallery
Reads
16.8K
Chapters
34
When Kari Asbury left Possum Landing, Texas, for New York City eight years ago, she was thinking only of the future — not of her ex-boyfriend, Gage, the one she left without saying goodbye. Gage Reynolds had planned to propose to Kari on the night of her prom but instead he finds himself jilted and abandoned without a word. Shocked and heartbroken, Gage does his best to move on, building a life in Possum Landing and working his way up to becoming the town sheriff. He's all but forgotten Kari — until she comes back to sell her grandmother's house and turns his carefully built world upside down.
FREE STORY INCLUDED IN THIS VOLUME! Hometown Hero's Redemption by Jill Kemerer Firefighter Drew Gannon needs help when he becomes guardian to a troubled ten-year-old boy. To get former social worker Lauren Pierce to agree, he'll have to prove he's changed from the sports jock she knew back in high school. Lauren wants no part of her old profession, or a reunion with Drew. But a desperate boy and his handsome guardian may be more than Lauren can resist.
Chapter One
Kari Asbury fully expected to have trouble cashing her out-of-state check, she just didn’t think she would have to put her life on the line to do it.
It wasn’t just that the check was drawn from a bank in big, bad New York City; it was that her driver’s license was also from that East Coast state. Ida Mae Montel would want to know why a girl born and raised in Possum Landing, Texas, would willingly run off to a place like that...a place with Yankees. And if a girl had to do such a thing, why on earth would she give up her Texas driver’s license? Didn’t everyone want to be from the Lone Star State?
No doubt Sue Ellen Boudine, the bank manager, would mosey on over to examine the check, all the while holding it like it was attached to a poisonous snake. They’d make a few calls (probably to friends, letting them know that Kari was back in town and with a New York driver’s license, of all things), they’d hem and haw, and sigh heavily. Then they’d give Kari the money. Oh, but first they’d try to talk her into opening an account right there at the First Bank of Possum Landing.
Kari hesitated in front of the double glass doors, trying to figure out if she really needed the cash that badly. Maybe it would be better to pay the service fee and get the money out of the ATM machine. Then she reminded herself that the quicker everyone realized she’d returned to town for a very temporary visit, the quicker all the questions would be asked and answered. Then maybe she could have a little peace. Maybe.
There was the added thrill of finding out if Ida Mae still wore her hair in a beehive. How much hair spray did that upswept style require? Kari knew for a fact that Ida Mae only had her hair done once a week, yet it looked exactly the same on day seven as it did on day one.
Still smiling at the memory of Ida Mae’s coiffure, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. She paused just past the threshold and waited for the shrieks of welcome and the group hug that would follow.
Nothing happened.
Kari frowned. She glanced around at the bank established in 1892—taking in the tall, narrow windows, the real wood counters and stylish paneling. Ida Mae was in her regular spot—the first position on the left—as befitted the head teller. But the older woman wasn’t talking. She wasn’t even smiling. Her small eyes widened with something that looked like panic, and she made an odd gesture with her hand.
Before Kari could figure out what it meant, something hard and cold pressed against her cheek.
‘‘Well, lookee here. We got us another customer, boys. At least this one’s young and pretty. What my mama used to call a tall drink of water. That’s something.’’
Kari’s heart stopped. It might be nearly ninety in the shade outside, but here in the bank it felt closer to absolute zero.
Slowly, very slowly, she turned toward the man, who was holding a gun. He was short, stocky and wearing a ski mask. What on earth was going on?
‘‘We’re robbin’ the bank,’’ the man said, as if he could read her mind.
His astuteness startled her, until she realized his deduction wasn’t much of a stretch.
She quickly glanced around. There were four of them, counting the man holding a gun on her. Two kept all the customers and most of the employees together at the far end of the bank, while the last one was behind the counter, putting money that Ida Mae handed him into a bag.
‘‘You go ahead and set your purse on the floor,’’ the man in front of her said. ‘‘Then start walking toward the other ladies. Do what you’re told and no one will get hurt.’’
Kari flexed her hands slightly. Her chest tightened, and it was nearly impossible to speak. ‘‘I, uh, I don’t have a purse.’’
She didn’t. She’d come into the bank with a check and her driver’s license. Both were in the back pocket of her shorts.
The robber stared at her for a couple of seconds, then nodded. ‘‘Seems you don’t. Now head on over there.’’
This couldn’t be happening, Kari thought, even as she headed for the cluster of other customers huddled by the far end of the counter.
She was halfway to the safety of that crowd when the rear door of the bank opened.
‘‘Well, hell,’’ a low voice drawled. ‘‘One of us has bad timing, boys. You think it’s you or me?’’
Several women screamed. One of the masked men by the crowd grabbed an older woman and held the gun to her head. ‘‘Stay back,’’ he yelled. ‘‘Stay back or the old lady dies.’’
Kari didn’t have time to react. The man who had first held a gun to her jerked her arm to drag her back to him. She felt the pressure of the pistol against her cheek again. He wrapped one wiry arm around her neck, keeping her securely in place.
‘‘Seems to me we’ve got a problem,’’ the man holding her said. ‘‘So, Sheriff, why don’t you just back out real slow and no one will get hurt.’’
The sheriff in question gave a sigh of the long-suffering. ‘‘I wish I could do that. But I can’t. Want to know why?’’
Kari felt as if she’d slipped into an alternative universe. This couldn’t be happening to her. One second she’d been too scared to breathe, and the next, Gage Reynolds had walked back into her life. Right in the middle of a holdup.
Eight years ago he’d been a young deputy, tall and handsome in his khaki uniform. He was still good-looking enough to make an angel want to sin. He was also the sheriff, if the gleaming badge on his shirt pocket was to be believed. But for a man of the law, he didn’t seem all that interested in the robbery going on right in front of him.
He took off his dust-colored cowboy hat and slapped it against his thigh. His dark hair gleamed, as did the interest in his eyes.
‘‘Don’t make me kill her,’’ the gunman said, his tone low and controlled.
‘‘You know who you’ve got there, son?’’ Gage asked casually, almost as if he hadn’t figured out what was going on in the bank. ‘‘That’s Kari Asbury.’’
‘‘Back off, Sheriff.’’
The robber pressed the gun in a little deeper. Kari winced. Gage didn’t seem to notice.
‘‘She’s the one who got away.’’
Kari could smell the criminal’s sweat. She was willing to bet he hadn’t planned on a hostage situation, and the fact he might be in over his head didn’t make her breathe any easier. What on earth was Gage going on about?
‘‘That’s right,’’ Gage continued, setting his hat on a table and stretching. ‘‘Eight years ago, that pretty lady there left me standing at the altar.’’
Despite the gun jammed into her cheek, Kari spluttered with indignation. ‘‘I did not leave you standing at the altar. We weren’t even engaged.’’
‘‘Maybe. But you knew I was gonna ask, and you took off. That’s practically the same thing. Don’t you think?’’
He asked the last question of the robber, who actually considered before replying.
‘‘If you hadn’t really proposed, then she didn’t leave you at the altar.’’
‘‘Fair enough, but she did stand me up for the prom.’’
Kari couldn’t believe it. Except for her grandmother’s funeral seven years ago, she hadn’t seen Gage since the afternoon of her high school prom. While she’d known that Possum Landing was small enough that they would eventually run into each other again, this wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind.
‘‘It was complicated,’’ she said, unable to believe she was being forced to defend herself in front of bank robbers.
‘‘Did you or did you not skip town without warning? You left nothing but a note, Kari. You played with my heart like it was a football.’’
The bank robber glared at her. ‘‘That wasn’t very nice.’’
She glared right back. ‘‘I was eighteen years old, okay? I apologized in the note.’’
‘‘I’ve never gotten over it,’’ Gage said, emotional pain oozing from every pore. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a package of gum. ‘‘You see before you a broken man.’’
Kari resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t know what Gage’s game was, but she wished he would play it with someone else.
Her confusion turned to outrage when Gage took a stick of gum for himself, then offered the pack to the bank robber. Next they would be going out for a beer together.
Gage watched the anger flash in Kari’s eyes. If she could have spit fire, he would be a scorched stick figure right about now. In different circumstances, Gage might have worried the issue, but not now.
The gunman shook off the gum, but that wasn’t important. The gesture had been made and well received. Gage had established rapport.
‘‘She went on up to New York City,’’ Gage continued, tucking the gum package back into his breast pocket. ‘‘Wanted to be a fashion model.’’
The robber studied Kari, then shrugged. ‘‘She’s pretty enough, but if she’s back, then she didn’t make it.’’
Gage sighed heavily again. ‘‘I guess not. All that pain and suffering for nothing.’’
Kari stiffened at his words, but didn’t try to break away. Gage willed her to cooperate for just a few more seconds. While every instinct in his body screamed at him to jerk her free of the gunman, he forced himself to stay relaxed and focused. There were more people to protect than just Kari. Between the bank employees and the customers there were fifteen innocent citizens within the old walls. Fifteen unprepared folk and four men with guns. Gage didn’t like the odds.
Using his peripheral vision, he checked on the progress of the tactical team circling around the building. Just another minute or two and they would be in place.
‘‘You want me to shoot her?’’ the gunman asked. Kari gasped. Her big blue eyes widened even more, and the color drained from her face.
Gage chewed his gum for a second, then shrugged. ‘‘You know, that’s mighty neighborly of you, but I think I’d rather deal with her in my own way, in my own time.’’
The team was nearly in place. Gage’s heart was about to jump out of his chest, but he gave no outward sign. Another few seconds, he thought. Another—
‘‘Hey, look!’’ One of the robbers near the back turned suddenly. Everyone looked. A tactical team member dropped out of sight a moment too late. The gunman holding Kari snarled in rage.
‘‘Dammit all to hell and back.’’ But that’s all he got to say.
Gage lunged forward. He jerked Kari free, yelled at her to get down on the floor, then planted a booted foot firmly in the robber’s midsection.
The bad guy gave a yelp of dismay as all the air rushed out of his lungs and he fell flat on his ass. He scooted a couple of feet backward, but by the time he sucked in a breath, two armed tactical team members had guns on him.
But they weren’t as quick to capture the man by Ida Mae. A gunshot exploded.
Gage reacted without thinking. He turned and threw himself over Kari, covering her body with his.
A half-dozen or so rounds were fired. He pulled out his sidearm, looking for targets, and kept his free arm over Kari’s face.
‘‘Don’t move,’’ he growled in her ear. ‘‘I can’t,’’ she gasped back.
After what felt like a lifetime, but was probably just seconds, a man called out. ‘‘I give, I give. You shot me.’’
There were muffled sounds, then a steady voice yelled, ‘‘Clear.’’
Five more ‘‘clear’’s followed. Gage rolled off Kari and glanced around to check on the town folk. Everyone was fine—even Ida Mae, who had kicked the wounded gunman after she climbed to her feet. The leader of the tactical team walked over and stared down at Gage. He was covered in black from head to toe, with a visor over his face and enough firepower to take Cuba.
‘‘I can’t figure out if you were a damn fool or especially brave for walking in on a bank robbery in progress,’’ the man said.
Gage sat up and grinned. ‘‘Someone had to do it, and I figured none of your boys was going to volunteer. Plus we know these were small-town criminals. They’re used to seeing someone like me around. One of you all dressed in the Darth Vader clothes would have scared ’em into acting like fools. Someone could have gotten killed.’’
The man nodded. ‘‘If you ever get tired of small-town life, you’d be a fine addition to our team.’’
Gage didn’t even consider his offer. ‘‘I’m flattered,’’ he said easily, ‘‘but I’m right where I want to be.’’
The man nodded and walked off. ‘‘You knew they were there.’’
He turned and saw Kari staring at him. She still lay on the ground. Her once long blond hair had been cut short and stylish. Makeup accentuated her already big, beautiful blue eyes. Time had sculpted her face into something even more lovely than he remembered.
‘‘The tactical team?’’ he asked. ‘‘Sure. They were circling the building.’’
‘‘So I wasn’t in danger?’’
‘‘Kari, a criminal was holding a gun to your head. I wouldn’t say that ever qualifies as safe.’’
She smiled then. A slow, sexy smile that he still remembered. Lordy but she’d been a looker back then. Time hadn’t changed that.
He suddenly became aware of the adrenaline pouring through his body. And the fact that he hadn’t had sex in far too long. Eight years ago, he and Kari had never gotten around to that particular pleasure. He wondered if she would be more open to the experience now.
He got to his feet. If she was back in Possum Landing for any length of time, he would be sure to find out.
‘‘Welcome back,’’ he said, and held out his hand to help her up.
She placed her fingers against his palm. ‘‘Jeez, Gage, if you wanted to find a unique way to welcome me home, couldn’t you just have held a parade?’’
‘‘You can go now, Ms. Asbury,’’ the wiry detective said nearly four hours later.
Kari sighed in relief. She’d given her statement, been questioned, been fed and watered, and now she was finally free to head home. As far as she could tell, there were only a couple of problems. The first was that her heart refused to return to normal. Every time she thought about what had happened in the bank, her chest felt as if it were filled with thundering horse hooves. The second problem was that she had walked to the bank, a scant mile or so from her house, but the sheriff’s station was clear on the other side of town. It was summer in the middle of Texas, which meant billion-degree heat and humidity to match.
‘‘Do you think I could have a ride home?’’ she asked. ‘‘Or is Willy still running a cab around these parts?’’
The detective gave her a once-over, then grinned. ‘‘Wish I could take you home myself. Unfortunately I have more work to do. I’ll get one of the deputies to take you.’’
Kari smiled her thanks. When she was alone, she glanced out of the glass-enclosed office. Just looking around, she told herself. She wasn’t actually looking for someone specific. Certainly not Gage.
But like a bee heading for the sweetest flower, she found herself settling her gaze on him. He was across the large office, still in a glass room of his own, chatting with some members of the federal tactical team. Were they trying to talk him into leaving Possum Landing to join them? Kari shook her head. She might have been gone for eight years, but some things never changed. Gage Reynolds would no more leave Possum Landing than NASA would send Ida Mae up in the next space shuttle.
She watched as Gage spoke and the other men laughed. Time had honed him into a hard man, she thought. Hard in a good way—with thick muscles and a steady set to his face. Despite the fact that she’d been there when it happened, she couldn’t believe that he’d actually walked into a bank robbery. On purpose! He’d been calm and cool and he’d about made her crazy.
The detective strolled back into the office. ‘‘Ms. Asbury, if you’ll wait by the front desk, the deputy will be with you in a couple of minutes.’’
She smiled her thanks and followed him out to the waiting area. Ida Mae sat there, her hands folded primly on her lap. When she saw Kari, her wrinkled face broke out into a welcoming smile. ‘‘Kari.’’
The older woman rose and held out her arms. Kari moved forward and accepted the hug. Everything about it was familiar—Ida Mae’s bony arms, her beehive hairdo with not a hair out of place, the scent of the gardenia perfume she always wore.
‘‘You’re looking fine, child,’’ Ida Mae said as she released Kari and sank back onto the bench.
Kari settled next to her. ‘‘You haven’t changed a bit,’’ she said, then patted her hand. ‘‘Are you all right?’’
Ida Mae touched her chest. ‘‘I thought I was gonna have a heart attack right there in the middle of the bank. I couldn’t believe my own eyes when those boys pulled guns on us. Then you walked in and it was like seeing a ghost. And then Gage strolled in. Wasn’t he brave?’’
‘‘Absolutely,’’ Kari agreed. She wasn’t sure she could have knowingly walked in on a bank robbery, regardless of who was at risk. But Gage had always believed in doing what was right.
Ida Mae gave her a knowing look. ‘‘He’s still a handsome devil, too, don’t you think? Is he taller than when you left?’’
Kari wanted to roll her eyes, but figured she was getting a little old for that particular response. Fortunately, Ida Mae was on a tear and didn’t require an answer.
‘‘No one knew you were coming back,’’ the older woman said. ‘‘Of course, we knew you’d have to eventually, what with you still owning your grandma’s house and all. I can tell you, tongues wagged when you left town all those years ago. Poor Gage. You about broke his heart. Of course, you were young and you had to follow your dreams. It’s just too bad that your dreams didn’t include him.’’
Kari didn’t know what to say. Her heart had been broken, too, but she didn’t want to get into that. The past was the past. At least, that’s what she told herself, even though she didn’t actually believe it.
Ida Mae smiled. ‘‘It’s good that you’re back.’’
Kari sighed softly. ‘‘Ida Mae, I’m not back. I’m just here for the summer.’’ Then she was going to shake the dust from this small town off her shoes and never look back.
‘‘Uh-huh.’’ Ida Mae didn’t look convinced. Fortunately the deputy arrived just then. Kari asked Ida Mae if she needed a ride home, as well.
‘‘No, no. My Nelson is probably waiting out front for me. I called him just before you walked out.’’
Led by the deputy, they headed out the front door and down the three steps to the sidewalk. By the time she saw that Nelson was indeed waiting for his wife, Kari had broken out into a sweat and was having trouble breathing in the heat.
‘‘Little Kari Asbury,’’ Nelson said as he approached. He grinned at her as he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief. ‘‘You’re all grown up.’’
Kari smiled.
‘‘Didn’t she turn out pretty?’’ Ida Mae said fondly. ‘‘But then, you were always a lovely girl. You should have entered the Miss Texas pageant. You could have gone far with a title like that.’’
Kari smiled weakly. ‘‘It was very nice to see you both,’’ she said politely, then headed toward the squad car that the deputy had pulled around.
‘‘Gage has had a couple of close calls,’’ Nelson called after her, ‘‘but no one’s gotten him down the aisle.’’
Kari waved by way of response. She wasn’t going to touch that particular topic.
‘‘Good to have you back,’’ Nelson yelled louder.
This one Kari couldn’t resist. She turned toward the older man and shook her head. ‘‘I’m not back.’’
Nelson only waved.
‘‘Just perfect,’’ she muttered as she climbed into the car with the deputy. He’d told her his name, but she’d already forgotten it. Probably because he looked so impossibly young. She was only twenty-six, but next to this guy she felt ancient.
She gave him her address and leaned back against the seat, breathing in the air-conditioned coolness. There were a thousand and one details to occupy her mind, yet instead of dealing with them, she found herself remembering the first time she’d met Gage. She’d been all of seventeen and he’d been twenty-three. At the time, he’d seemed so much older and more mature.
‘‘I know this is a crazy question,’’ she said, glancing at the young man next to her. ‘‘But how old are you?’’
He was blond, with blue eyes and pale cheeks. He gave her a startled glance. ‘‘Twenty-three.’’
‘‘Oh.’’
The same age Gage had been eight years ago. That didn’t seem possible. If Gage had been as young as this guy, Kari shouldn’t have had any trouble standing up to him. Why had she found it so incredibly difficult to share her feelings while they’d been dating? Why had the thought of telling him the truth terrified her?
There wasn’t an easy answer to the question, and before she could come up with a hard one, they arrived at her house.
Kari thanked the deputy and stepped out into the late afternoon. In front of her stood the old house where she’d grown up. It had been built in the forties, and had a wide porch and gabled windows. Different colored versions of the same house sat all along the street, including the home next door. She glanced at it, wondering when she would have her next run-in with her neighbor. As if returning to Possum Landing for the summer wasn’t complicated enough, Gage Reynolds now lived next door.
Kari walked inside her grandmother’s house and stood in the main parlor. Never a living room, she thought with a smile. It was a parlor, where people ‘‘set’’ when it wasn’t nice enough to settle on the front porch. She remembered countless hours spent listening to her grandmother’s friends talking about everything from who was pregnant to who was cheating on whom.
She’d arrived after dark last night. She hadn’t turned on many lights after she’d come in, and somehow she’d convinced herself that the house was different. Only now, she saw it wasn’t.
The old sofas were the same, as was the horsehair chair her grandmother had inherited from her grandmother. Kari had always hated that piece—it was both slick and uncomfortable. Now she touched the antique and felt the memories wash over her.
Maybe it was the result of all the emotions from the robbery, maybe it was just the reality of being home. Either way, she suddenly sensed the ghosts in the house. At least they were friendly, she told herself as she moved into the old kitchen. Her grandmother had always loved her.
Kari looked at the pecan cabinets and the stove and oven unit that had to be at least thirty years old. If she expected to get a decent price for the old place, she would have to do some serious updating. That was the reason she’d come home for the summer, after all.
A restlessness filled her. She hurried upstairs and changed out of her clothes. After showering, she slipped on a cotton dress and padded back downstairs barefoot. She toured the house, almost as if she were waiting for something to happen.
And then it did.
There was a knock on the door. She didn’t have to answer it to know who had come calling. Her stomach lurched and her heart took up that thundering hoof dance again. She drew in a deep breath and reached for the handle.
