Page 57 of Dangerous Secrets
But he was done with that.Donedenying himself.Done taking orders.
He dropped the binoculars, letting outa groan.
He’d get some temporary relief, thenmove ahead with the plan he’d been working on.
Delaney Bryant was going to see how itwas when a real man fucked her.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Delaney stretched, trying to relievethe stiffness in her shoulders and back.It’d taken her to nearlyeleven at night, but she was done and the columns of expenses andincome had balanced with her bank statement.Cider Mill Farm was inthe black.Well, gray.They were out of the red and in the gray,which she hoped would soon be more black than gray.
She’d forced herself tosit and do the math, determinednotto think about what had happened between her andWalker two nights before.She’d left the window to her downstairsoffice open a crack.After the heat of the day the cool night aircoming through was welcome, with the added benefit that she couldhear the hooting of what were now two great horned owls calling toone another from the trees.Maybe they’d found truelove.
Callie lay on the rug in front of thedesk, nose resting on her paws, gaze fixed on Delaney.It seemedevery day brought more white hairs around her muzzle.
Delaney closed her eyesand dropped her head to her hands.Nothingcould completely stop her from thinking about being withWalker.Busywork helped, but her mind seemed determined to replayeverything from the feeling of incredible rightness when she andWalker had been together to the night’s awful ending.
She’d managed to avoid him, and hehadn’t sought her out.Working between rows of berries thatafternoon, she’d determinedly kept her head down when he’d drivenpast in his truck.
Tonight, she’d almost broken herresolve.After a quiet dinner shared with Gran, she’d fought thetemptation to take a walk to Walker’s cabin.She wanted to know ifhe’d learned who’d broken into his place and terrorized Bud.Shealso felt they needed to talk.
Maybe storming out after Walker’srevelation hadn’t been particularly mature.But no matter how muchshe craved the connection that pulsed between them, she was donegiving to the men in her life more than they were willing to giveback to her.Her father had been a champ at that, and Walker hadproved to be the same.
James had been the one trueexception.
She was thankful she’d stayed strongand not gone for that walk because not twenty minutes earlier,she’d spied the taillights of Walker’s truck heading toward theroad.He was going out late in the evening and obviously wasn’thung up on their relationship.
It wasn’t like he’d takena walk to findher.
Trying to get out of her head, shepicked up her phone to scroll through her favorite social mediaapp, made a few comments to posts by friends, gave a few thumbs-up,and was about to call it a night when a notification popped up atthe top of the screen, the name attached prompting her to click onthe email.
Donna Brennan, Melanie’s mom, hadresponded.Delaney scanned the contents.Donna was good, happy withher new life, though was more guarded about sharing info on Mel.She did say her daughter had given permission to send Delaney heremail address and said she’d like to hear from her oldfriend.
Progress.Finally.Too tired to starton it tonight, she needed to think about what she wanted to say andhoped she’d find time tomorrow to craft an email.She needed to getto bed because her morning started early.
It was Friday, and in exactly one weekCider Mill Farm would be open to the public and would continuewelcoming guests through Thanksgiving.
There was still so much to do.Theywere waiting on the part for the donut machine, which was supposedto come Wednesday.Fingers crossed as they were cutting itclose.
She stretched, yawning, but instead ofgetting up and going to bed, she leaned back in her chair andclosed her eyes.
The bakery was going to be a hit thisyear.It was always popular, but Cam’s creations would take it overthe top.She’d been picking early berries to use in experimentalrecipes, and the appleberry tarts Delaney had sampled earlier hadbeen nothing short of heaven.
In addition to bakery items, she’dfollowed Cam’s request and purchased a commercial-grade blender,and Cam had perfected a yummy berry-banana smoothie they planned toadd to the menu.
Her phone rang.She glanced at thescreen, surprised to see Cam’s name on the caller ID.Unexpectedlate-night calls were never good.“Hi, Cam.What’s up?”
“There’s a fire, Delaney.At the mill.I called nine-one-one.”
She put a hand to her chest as herbreath backed up in her lungs.“Oh god.How bad?”
“I don’t know.I saw thefire from my house and ran over to wake up Oscar and Franny.I toldthem I’d make the calls.They’ve gone over there, and I’ll go whenI’m off the phone.”
“Okay.The buildings arelocked up and no one is inside, so everyone needs to stayback.”
“We will.I don’t know howbad it is, but you should come.”
“I’ll wake Clara so sheknows what’s going on.I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
