Surely by noon or so the streets would be cleared of whatever snow had fallen overnight and the bus would finally arrive. It had to come today. She needed to get as far away from here as possible.
When the streets are cleared, he’ll come looking for you, the little voice whispered in her head. She felt like a fish in the bottom of a barrel, far too close, far too easily caught.
She’d left the bedroom only once during the night, to make a bottle for Sammy. Knowing that he would probably sleep for another hour or so, she got out of bed and headed for the adjoining bathroom. She wanted to be dressed and ready to leave as soon as possible.
It wasn’t until she stood beneath a hot spray of water that she thought of the man who had allowed her into his home. In another lifetime, under different circumstances, she might find herself attracted to him. He was certainly easy to look at, with that thick dark hair and those gorgeous green eyes.
He reminded her of another man—a man who had not been quite as handsome but had devastated her, bitterly disappointed her at the time she’d needed him most.
She didn’t need a man in her life. She and Sammy and Nana would be fine. All she had to do was get out of this town and decide where they would all begin a new life, far away from the reaches of Sheriff Brandon Sinclair.
After showering she wrapped herself in one of the large fluffy towels and walked over to the window for her first look outside.
She gasped as she saw that the storm hadn’t passed by but instead seemed to be sitting right on top of the little town of Cotter Creek. It was impossible to discern street from sidewalk. Snow had transformed the earth into an alien landscape where nothing looked as it was supposed to.
There weren’t just a couple of inches on the ground, there was at least a foot and a half and it was still falling from the gray, heavy sky.
Janette knew someplace in the back of her mind that it was beautiful, that the world looked like a winter wonderland, but all she could think was that the snow was a disaster, big fat fluffy flakes of doom falling from the sky.
Trapped. She was trapped there, and the only faint comfort was that if she were trapped by the weather, then so was Sheriff Brandon Sinclair.
She turned away from the window and crouched on the plush rug to open her big suitcase. The first thing she saw inside was the bright red book bag she’d thrown in at the last minute. Inside were the books she’d bought to study for her GED and the tape recorder she’d used in class.
It had been more than a year since she’d opened the bag that now represented not only the dream she’d once had for herself of getting more education, but also the worst night of her life.
She hadn’t opened the bag since the night she’d been pulled over for a speeding ticket, and she didn’t open it now. She set it on the floor and dug out a pair of jeans and her favorite blue sweater. She didn’t have a lot of choices as she’d packed only a minimum of clothes for herself. Most of the suitcase contents were cans of powdered formula, cereal and diapers and clothing for Sammy.
Once she was dressed and had brushed out her long, wet hair, she eyed the phone on the nightstand. She should call Nana and let her know what was going on. The old woman would worry if she didn’t hear from Janette. Thank goodness the call wasn’t long distance, Janette thought as she punched in her grandmother’s number.
Nana answered on the second ring and Janette pressed the phone to her ear as if to get closer to her grandmother. “Nana, it’s me.”
“Janette, honey, where are you?” Nana asked. “Did you get off before this storm?”
“No, I’m still in Cotter Creek.”
“At the motel?” Nana asked.
“The motel was already full by the time I found out the bus wasn’t coming. The snow was coming down and I didn’t know what to do, but then I saw a light on in the West Protective Services office.” Janette twisted the phone cord around her little finger. “I hired Dalton West to be my bodyguard and he brought me to his apartment for the night.”
“Are you safe there?” Nana asked, her voice filled with concern.
Janette considered the question. “Yes, I think I’m safe,” she finally replied. It was odd, but having survived the night she did feel safe.
“I’ve heard about those Wests,” Nana said. “Supposed to be good solid men. I’m just grateful that you and that precious little boy are away from here and not out in this storm someplace.”
Janette glanced toward the window and frowned. “It looks like I’m going to be stuck here for a while.” She twisted the phone cord more tightly around her finger. “Has anyone been by to ask about me?”
“Nobody, honey. The storm moved in and nobody is going anywhere at the moment. Don’t you worry none. He’ll never know from me where you went and by the time he makes his way here to ask questions you’ll be far out of his reach.”
“Let me give you the phone number here, just in case you need to reach me.” Janette read the number off the piece of paper Dalton had given her the night before. “I’ll call you when I’m about to board the bus. Maybe they’ll get the streets cleared by tomorrow.”
“You just take care of yourself and Sammy. Don’t worry about things here. I got my friends at the trailer park to take care of me and I’ll be fine as long as I know you’re fine.”
Janette unraveled the cord from her finger. How she wished she could crawl through the phone line and feel her grandmother’s loving arms around her, to go back to a time when she didn’t know about fear, about evil.
Afraid that she might cry if she remained on the phone much longer, she quickly said goodbye then hung up. Checking to make sure that Sammy was still sleeping soundly, she arranged the bed pillows on either side of him then walked to the bedroom door.
She hesitated before turning the knob to step out of the room. She’d told Nana she was safe, and at the moment she felt fairly safe, but she’d also been unaware of any danger on the night Sheriff Sinclair had pulled her over on the side of the road.
As much as she’d love to stay holed up in the bedroom until the bus pulled in, that was impossible. She hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before and her stomach was protesting its neglect in loud angry growls.
The scent of freshly brewed coffee greeted her as she opened the bedroom door, letting her know she was no longer alone in the apartment.
Energy surged through her as all her senses went on high alert. Her feet whispered against the living-room rug as she moved toward the kitchen.
She hesitated in the doorway. Dalton stood at the stove with his back to her. A white, long-sleeved jersey clung across his broad shoulders and worn jeans hugged the length of his legs. He was barefoot and his hair was rumpled like he’d just crawled out of bed.
A sizzling noise was quickly followed by a whiff of bacon and Janette felt the nerves in her stomach calm. It was hard to be frightened of a barefoot man frying bacon.
She must have made some sort of sound for he whirled around to look at her. “Good morning,” he said. “There’s coffee in the pot if you’re interested.”
“I’m interested,” she replied.
He gestured to the coffeemaker on the counter. “Cups are in the cabinet above.”
She walked over to the cabinet, retrieved a cup, then poured herself some coffee. She carried it to the table and sat, unsure what else to do.
Dalton turned back around to flip the bacon. Janette was aware of a tension in the air, the tension of two strangers sharing space.
“It