Page 44 of Hidden Desires

Chapter Thirteen

When Jackson awoke he was alone in Autumn’s bed with the sheets bunched around his hips. He yawned and sat up, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. 12:45. Damn.

He grabbed the pair of pajama bottoms draped on the papasan chair in the corner of the room. He hadn’t meant to sleep this late, though he’d been damned tired when his head hit the pillow. Autumn, however, stayed up and talked to—no drilled—him about Gallagher until he finally told her enough. She hadn’t been too happy when the lights went out and from the looks of it, he was seriously going to have to kiss some ass to make up for it.

“Autumn?” he called to the silent house. He walked through the living room and into the kitchen, with Autumn nowhere to be found.

He grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with orange juice. Tipping it to his lips, he spotted the note she left him hanging on the refrigerator.

When you decide to wake up you can meet us at the clinic. ~A

Jackson groaned and grabbed the phone. After punching in Autumn’s cell number, he took another sip of orange juice.

“Did you finally decide to wake up?” she asked when she answered on the third ring.

“Hello, darling. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“Can it. I tried waking you up three times and you ignored me so we left without you.” He heard the background noise lessen as if she walked away from the crowd.

“You talked me to death last night. I needed my beauty sleep.” He leaned against the counter and looked out the small window over the sink.

The day was really crappy. Rain drizzled enough to make it wet outside but not enough to claim it was actually raining. He could imagine what the clinic looked like and dreaded meeting them there.

“I don’t have time for a comeback. The fire marshal met with us today. He ruled the fire as arson. It seems there was a card found at the sight. Frank’s business card. I didn’t see it, but Jeffery spotted it, and I had to have a big sit-down discussion with the police.” She paused. “Are you going to come down here?”

“As soon as I get ready. Why? Do you need me?” He stood to his full height and reached in the cabinet for a Pop-Tart.

“No. I was just wondering if you were avoiding me.”

Jackson propped the phone between his ear and shoulder to open the package. “I thought you wanted time away from me? That’s what you said last night.”

“Jackson, please don’t do this. I can’t handle the smart-assed comments right now. I’m running purely on coffee and adrenaline.”

He rubbed his eyes. “Sorry. That was real shitty of me. I’ll be there in an hour or so.”

After they hung up, he dropped the two Pop-Tarts in the toaster. Today is going to be so much fun.

* * * *

Autumn’s head pounded, feeling on the verge of exploding. The smoke smell sank into her clothing, and the charred building a hazard to everyone and everything around them. She talked with the fire marshal for over an hour about what he thought happened. Then, she went to the police station to report all that had happened with Frank. She thought getting everything off her chest would help, but the police only nagged her about why she hadn’t come in sooner. After spending most of the morning there, she finally wound up back at the clinic where Jeffery and Davis had carried out filing cabinets and Summer and Kristin had sorted out the salvageable records.

Now, she sat outside in the rain, contemplating the next move to make. The building was obviously not going to be repaired after the last ordeal. So that meant she was out of work. No income meant no food, clothing, or shelter over her head. She calculated her savings and figured she could live possibly two months maximum on that if she needed. She’d be stretching every penny, but she could sacrifice.

Jackson’s truck pulled in the parking lot, and Autumn straightened from her crouched position. She watched as he parked and got out. His pull-over windbreaker protected him from the rain, and Autumn couldn’t help noticing the stubble covering his face made him dangerously sexy. She hated the fact that even when she wanted to be mad at him, she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t when she looked at him and he knew it. He took advantage of it.

“Why are you sitting out here by yourself?” He tucked the keys in his pocket.

She held up the phone. “Phone call. The police are bringing in Frank for questioning.”

Jackson sat beside her on the wooden bench outside the door. “You look like you’ve lost your best friend.”

“I’m contemplating my life. It’s not exactly a party right now.” She flipped her phone open and flipped it closed. “I have no job, no income. I have no place to open a clinic, no money to do so. Hardly anything is salvageable in there from the fire and water damage. I just . . .” She blew out a breath and continued to play with her phone. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Jackson turned toward her, propping his arm on the back of the bench. “I hear McDonald’s is hiring.”

She glared at him tears welling in her eyes. “Thanks, Jackson.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Autumn, you know any one of your family members would help you out. Hell, your dad would buy a state of the art clinic for you if you asked. You know I’d help you, too. I probably don’t have enough for a clinic, but I have money. The only thing I ever spend my paychecks on is upkeep on my great aunt’s house. Why worry about the small stuff? Let’s get Gallagher and make him pay for his dirty deeds, and then we’ll talk about the rest.”

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