Romancing the Wallflower Read online

  “Not for our mom.”

  She gave a small laugh. “If Rhett takes after the two of you, your mother had her hands full.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed, and felt the knot in his chest loosen slightly at the affection in her voice. David had no problem with his nephew’s rambunctious personality, but he was normally in the minority.

  He didn’t say anything more, and Erin didn’t speak for a few minutes. David liked quiet, but other than Tracie at the bar, most women he knew couldn’t tolerate it. The silence that filled his truck now was strangely comforting, like an extra blanket thrown over the bed on a cold winter night. Like all good things, it didn’t last.

  “What happened tonight? Is your sister in trouble? Is Rhett okay?”

  David sighed. He knew the questions were coming, and he owed the soft-spoken teacher an explanation before they reached the apartment. “How much did you overhear from Cole?”

  “No details. Just that there was a problem and Rhett wasn’t cooperating.”

  “He’s hiding,” he said, trying in vain to stop the anger and frustration from trickling into his voice. He could feel it seeping through his pores, making his blood run hot and raging. “Apparently he’s wedged under the kitchen sink. Jenna had a party, and things got out of hand. The cops busted it up and found drugs.”

  Erin gave a sharp intake of breath, rousing his temper even further, like a backdraft making a fire blaze out of control. “Jenna loves that boy with all her heart, but she’s in a bad way. It’s why I moved to Crimson in the first place.”

  “To help your sister?”

  To save her, he wanted to answer, but he only nodded. David knew his limitations better than anyone, and he was nobody’s hero.

  “She’s been clean for almost two years,” he said without emotion. “It’s been tough, but I thought she had her demons under control. Cole took everyone to the station. They didn’t realize Rhett was there until the place was empty and he made a noise. The deputies tried to get him out, but he freaked and scratched one of the officers. I know Cole so he called me before the social worker.”

  He bit the inside of his cheek and waited for the recrimination he deserved. He should have seen the signs that Jenna was teetering on the edge. He knew her better than anyone. Why the hell couldn’t he keep her safe?

  He pulled into the parking lot of the shabby apartment complex. There were two buildings, both with faded siding and balconies that looked like they wouldn’t hold the weight of a litter of kittens. He’d begged Jenna to let him help her move to a better place, but his sister was stubborn and resented any time he tried to “take control” of her life.

  “We’ll make sure he’s safe,” Erin said as he turned off the truck’s engine.

  Safe. The word had haunted him—and tainted every relationship in his life—for over a decade. Now this too-sweet-for-her-own-good woman offered it to his nephew like she had that kind of power. Damn if David didn’t want to believe it was true.

  He shifted to face her, the dim light of the parking lot illuminating her face so that her creamy skin looked like something out of a dream. Unable to resist, he ran the pad of his thumb over the ridge of her cheekbone, marveling at how soft her skin felt.

  The inherent goodness radiating from her drew him in at the same time he knew he should push her away. Someone like Erin MacDonald had no business knowing the ugly details of his sister’s struggles. She was Rhett’s teacher and nothing more. But he couldn’t let her go quite yet. Tonight she was his talisman. He had to believe having her close would keep the darkness always skirting the edges of his life at bay.

  He dropped his hand and they got out of the truck and started toward Jenna’s apartment. Toward the little boy David was determined to keep safe, by any means necessary.

  Chapter Two

  “Come on, buddy. You’ve got to come out.”

  The muscles bunched in David’s broad shoulders as he shifted his weight to one arm and leaned closer, reaching into the open cabinet under the kitchen sink.

  A high-pitched scream split the air and several bottles of household cleaners tumbled out onto the scuffed linoleum floor.

  David sat back on his knees with a muttered curse. “He bit me,” he said, examining the back of his hand where a semicircle of angry red teeth marks was clearly visible.

  “Same thing happened to me,” Cole Bennett whispered. Cole had been waiting at Jenna McCay’s cramped apartment, clearing out the other officers when David and Erin arrived. “I didn’t want to force him out because I was worried he’d get hurt banging his head on the pipes if he struggled.”

  The two men, both so strong, looked absolutely baffled at how to lure the young boy from his hiding spot. Erin glanced around the apartment and suppressed a shudder. On every surface, abandoned beer bottles and red plastic cups competed for space with fast-food wrappers and empty chip bags. It looked like a college fraternity house the morning after a huge party. The colorful drawings stuck to the front of the refrigerator were the only hint that a kindergartner lived here.

  One of the crayoned pieces of art gave Erin an idea. She moved toward the narrow hallway, stepping over trash until she got to a half-open bedroom door. The space was neat and clean, untouched by the mess in the rest of the apartment. Toys lined one wall and the small bed was covered with a football-themed comforter. She grabbed the stuffed blue dog sitting on top of the pillow and hurried back to the kitchen.

  David was once again on all fours in front of the cabinet, speaking so softly she couldn’t make out his words, only the rough yet surprisingly gentle timbre of his voice.

  She crouched low next to him and tilted her head until she could see Rhett’s eyes, wide and still terrified. “Rhett,” she said, “It’s Ms. MacDonald. I found your stuffed dog and wanted to let you know he’s okay.”

  A faint whimper came from the cabinet. “Ruffie,” the boy whispered.

  “Ruffie is safe,” Erin said, using the same tone she would when soothing a child scared of letting go of his mother’s leg on the first day of school. “You’re safe, too. Your uncle David is going to take care of you. But we need you to come out now.”

  The boy wedged himself farther into the corner, as if he could make himself invisible. God, Erin did not want this child to feel like he needed to be invisible. David’s large hand settled on the small of her back, and the steady pressure and warmth of his skin were more of a comfort than she would have guessed.

  “Ruffie needs you.” She placed the small dog in front of her, just on the edge of the cabinet. “He’s scared and needs a hug. Can you do that for him?”

  She held her breath for what felt like an eternity, then released it as the boy slowly unfolded his body and climbed out. Her fingers remained wrapped around the stuffed animal’s back leg to make sure Rhett wouldn’t try to grab it and retreat again.

  Once he was in the light, she could see the smudge of dirt on his chin and the tearstains on his ruddy cheeks. Her heart broke for what this young boy had already seen in his life. David made a sound low in his throat and scooped up his nephew and the raggedy blue dog. It was as if a dam broke in Rhett and his whole body began to shake as he burrowed into David’s embrace.

  She straightened and stepped away, closer to the sheriff. Somehow it felt wrong to bear witness to the moment between David and Rhett, both tender and raw. It was obvious David was trying to keep his emotions hidden, but pain and guilt were bright on his handsome features, like a stoplight in the dark.

  “Nice work,” Cole Bennett said and put a hand on her elbow to lead her to the apartment door. “You’re like a kindergartner whisperer.” She started to turn but stopped at the sound of David’s voice.

  “Stay.”

  One word, but the intensity of it rocked her to her core.

  She glanced up at Cole, who arched a brow.r />
  “I’ll stay,” she told him.

  He nodded. “Someone from Social Services will be here soon. I can let them in. They’ll want to talk to David and the boy.”

  “We’ll be ready,” she said with more confidence than she felt.

  She turned back and followed David to the couch, quickly cleaning off the coffee table and dumping everything into the trash before lowering herself next to him.

  Rhett still clung to him, chubby fingers holding fistfuls of flannel shirt in a death grip. “Where’s Mommy?” he asked in a tiny voice.

  “She’s...” David paused and his gaze slammed into hers. The pain in his eyes made her want to wrap her arms around both him and Rhett and make this whole night go away. “She’s safe. Sheriff Bennett is taking care of her.”

  Erin wondered exactly how Jenna McCay was being cared for, and she hoped that whatever was happening Jenna was coherent enough to feel horrible about the situation she’d created for her son.

  “It was loud,” Rhett said. “Mommy’s friends woke me up. I came out to tell her, but there were so many grown-ups and I couldn’t find her. Then everyone started yelling and I got scared and hid under the sink.”

  “That was real smart of you,” David told the boy, his hand smoothing Rhett’s sleep-tousled hair.

  After a moment Rhett tipped up his head to look at David. “When is Mommy coming home?”

  “I’m not sure, buddy. But I’ll stay with you until she does, okay?”

  Rhett chewed on his bottom lip for a few seconds, then nodded. After a knock at the door, Cole let in a gray-haired woman who appeared to be in her midfifties. She wore a plain white button-down shirt and dark pants and looked about as no-nonsense as they came.

  The woman spoke to Cole in hushed tones for a few minutes, then they both approached.

  “This is Becky Cramer from the county Human Services department,” Cole said.

  Becky gave David a small nod, then bent to look at Rhett. “You’ve had quite a night,” she said gently.

  “It was loud,” Rhett said, turning in David’s lap but not releasing his shirtfront.

  “I’m David McCay.” David offered the woman his hand. “Rhett’s uncle. He’ll stay with me while we sort out things with Jenna.”

  Becky shook his hand, then glanced at Erin.

  “I’m Rhett’s kindergarten teacher, Erin MacDonald.” She saw a flash of surprise pass over Becky’s sharp features.

  Right. How was she supposed to explain why she’d ended up on the couch with David and Rhett, caught up in the middle of family drama that had started long past regular school hours?

  “Erin is a friend of mine,” David answered. Becky seemed to have no issue with that response, whereas Erin had trouble keeping her jaw from hitting the floor. Friends with David McCay? In what lifetime?

  Men like David didn’t have boring kindergarten teachers as friends. Before he came to Crimson, he’d been a major-league baseball pitcher. He must be used to drop-dead gorgeous women who were exciting and sexy.

  Erin knew she was boring. And ordinary. Not at all David’s type. She’d had a boyfriend last year—an accountant at a firm in town. He was quiet, average and exactly her type. Greg had broken up with her to date someone who was better than average, but that didn’t mean Erin could change the person she was on the inside. No matter how much she wanted to try.

  David had been her unrequited crush since the moment she’d first seen him. It was a harmless fantasy with no chance of rejection. Never had she expected to get to know him, let alone be part of his life in this kind of personal way.

  Her mind drifted to that moment in the car when he’d traced his thumb over her cheekbone. The simple touch had sent shock waves rippling through her and ignited a kind of flash-point desire Erin hadn’t realized she was capable of feeling.

  “It’s important the school and the family work together,” Becky said, bringing Erin back to the current conversation with a jolt, “to keep the boy’s life as stable as possible during this time.”

  She looked at Rhett, who had fallen asleep in David’s arms. “Let me put him to bed,” she whispered, “while you two finish talking.”

  David relaxed his grip, allowing her to lift the boy into her arms. She made sure to take the stuffed dog, too. Rhett remained asleep as she tucked him back into bed, sighing when his head hit the pillow. Erin sat on the mattress for several minutes, rubbing the boy’s back to make sure he didn’t wake again. She couldn’t imagine how scared he must have been earlier, unable to find his mother and with the wild party in full swing.

  She made a silent vow. She would keep him safe, no matter how far out of her comfort zone—and tangled up with David McCay—that led her.

  * * *

  It was almost two in the morning before David let himself into the apartment, exhausted and emotionally drained. Erin had agreed to stay while he went to see Jenna. Cole was keeping her overnight on possession charges but had agreed to drop them if she entered a rehab program.

  David had helped his sister get clean once before, and it was a rough road. She swore that tonight’s tumble off the wagon was a onetime occurrence. David wanted to believe her, yet he’d heard so many excuses over the years. All he knew was he had to protect his nephew. There could be no repeats of what Rhett had gone through tonight.

  It never should have happened in the first place, and he couldn’t stop blaming himself.

  The apartment was quiet when he entered, and he found Erin asleep on the couch, curled on her side as if she didn’t want to take up too much space. It blew his mind that the buttoned-up schoolteacher had so willingly pitched in to help with his hot mess of a life. He understood that Rhett was her student. But David had never encountered a teacher like her.

  Hell, he would have paid a lot more attention in school if he’d had someone like Erin MacDonald in his corner.

  If possible, she looked more luminously beautiful asleep than she did awake. She was like a damn fairy-tale princess with her creamy skin, straight nose, rosy cheeks and the long, dark hair that fell over her face. It was easier to study her now than when those too-knowing bourbon-colored eyes were staring back at him.

  He covered her with a blanket and went to check on Rhett. Unlike Erin, the boy was sprawled across the bed, arms and legs reaching out like a starfish. Jenna claimed she’d meant to have only her new boyfriend and a few of his buddies to the house to watch the Broncos play, but things had gotten out of hand. According to Cole, the boyfriend was serious bad news, having had more than a few run-ins with law enforcement over the years.

  How the hell did Jenna manage to attract the biggest scumbags on the planet every time she found a new man? He would have asked her, wanted to rail and shout, but she’d looked so defeated sitting alone in the holding cell. She understood she’d messed up and he knew from experience that heaping on more condemnation would only put her on the defensive.

  Fear and guilt had warred in his sister’s pale blue eyes, along with the remnants of a long-ago pain that she could hide from most of the world, but not from him. She’d agreed to check into a treatment program, so finding a place for her would be the first thing on his to-do list after getting Rhett to school in a few hours.

  He lowered himself into the recliner next to the couch. Erin had cleaned the messy apartment, another debt of thanks he owed her. David hated owing people anything, had learned the hard way to only depend on himself. Yet he couldn’t help but be grateful for the chance to simply sit and rest for a few minutes.

  His eyes drifted shut, although he didn’t intend to fall asleep. The next thing he knew, someone was shaking him awake. He blinked and found himself staring into Erin’s huge brown eyes.

  “I have to go,” she whispered. “I need to shower and change before school.”

  David blinked and tried
to look more with-it than he felt. “What time is it?”

  “Almost six in the morning.” She moved away and he had the ridiculous urge to pull her down against him. These past few hours had been the soundest he’d slept in years. Something about having this woman close soothed the demons that waited for him in the dark.

  “I’ll give you a ride,” he told her, rising from the chair. His lower back ached, and as he looked around the small apartment, reality came crashing over him like a tidal wave. Today was going to be awful. “I’ll need to wake Rhett and—”

  “One of my girlfriends is on her way.” Erin shoved a thick lock of hair behind one ear. “Rhett needs all the sleep he can get. He’s coming to school today, right?”

  “Yes,” David answered, mentally listing all the things he had to get done. “He needs a routine now more than ever.”

  “How’s your sister?”

  “She feels terrible and says she’s committed to straightening out her life once and for all. I need to pick her up this morning and then make arrangements to get her to a treatment facility.”

  “So Rhett will be staying with you while she’s in rehab?”

  “Yes. Not here. I live in a loft above the brewery.”

  “How long is the program?”

  He sighed. “A month. Rhett doesn’t know she’ll be gone. I’ll tell him when he wakes up, but she won’t leave until tomorrow afternoon. I want him to spend time with her—to know that she’s okay.”

  “It could be traumatic,” Erin said with a nod. “But we’ll get him through.”

  He didn’t want to admit how much her words resonated with him. When had he suddenly become afraid of dealing with things on his own? David prided himself on never being dependent on anyone, let alone a woman who’d been a stranger only twelve hours ago.