A Wedding in Willow Valley (Willow Valley Women) Read online

“What’s happenin’?” Cadillac said, turning on his stool at the counter.

  “More coffee, Cadillac?” Jane said, causing him to spin back around to face her.

  Laurel grabbed her red jacket from the office off the hallway leading to the back door, and a few minutes later she and Dove were driving toward Ben’s building.

  “I don’t understand this at all,” Dove said, shaking her head.

  “We’ll find out what’s going on,” Laurel said, her hold on the steering wheel tightening.

  She drove three blocks down and one block over to the shabby brick building, then she and Dove rushed through the door and straight to Ben’s office inside. He stood as they entered.

  “Ben?” Dove said.

  “Sit down, please,” he said, sweeping one arm toward the two chairs fronting his desk.

  “No,” Dove said. “Is Eagle here?”

  “Yes. Dove, sit down,” Ben said.

  Dove sank onto one of the chairs and Laurel sat on the other one.

  Ben sighed. “Look, the evidence we have against Eagle is circumstantial, nothing concrete at this point, but there are questions that need answers. I can’t talk to him without you being with him, Dove, because he’s underage.” He paused. “Dove, did you see Eagle’s face this morning?”

  “His face?” she said, sliding to the edge of her chair and leaning toward Ben. “Yes, I saw it. He got up in the night to get a drink of water and his bedroom door was halfway open. He didn’t see it in the dark and slammed right into it. I think his nose might be broken because his eyes turned black and— Why are you asking me about Eagle’s face, Ben?”

  “You didn’t hear anything in the night?” Ben said. “He must have made some noise. Banging into a door that hard would hurt like hell.”

  “No, I didn’t hear a thing.”

  “Did you see any blood on what he wears to bed?” Ben said.

  “Well, no, he was already dressed when… Where is Eagle, Ben?” Dove said. “What have you done with him?”

  “He’s in a holding cell in the back and—”

  Dove jumped to her feet. “You put my baby brother in a cell?”

  Laurel pulled on Dove’s arm and got her to sit back down.

  “Ben,” Laurel said. “Could you get to the point a little faster? What is it that you believe Eagle has done? Since when is it against the law to get a broken nose by banging into a door in the dark?”

  Ben raised both hands in a gesture of peace, then related what had been discovered at the Madison home the previous night.

  “And you think my brother and someone else are the ones who have been breaking into the summer homes?” Dove said, her voice rising. “Benjamin Skeeter, you are out of your mind.”

  “I sincerely hope so, Dove,” Ben said. “But I need a feasible explanation for the condition of Eagle’s face this morning.”

  “He gave you one!” Dove yelled.

  “I can’t buy it, Dove,” Ben said quietly. “You would have heard him in the night if it really happened the way he’s telling it. Plus, I can’t picture him wiping up every drop of blood at that hour.”

  “Yes, he would.” Dove pressed one hand to her forehead. “No, he wouldn’t. Oh, God.”

  “Okay. Let’s get him in here and see what he has to say,” Ben said.

  Dove nodded jerkily and Laurel squeezed her best friend’s shoulder. Within minutes Ben returned with Eagle and another chair, which he set next to Dove. Eagle slouched onto it, crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at a spot on the wall.

  “From the top, Eagle,” Ben said, sitting back down behind his desk. “What happened to your face?”

  “I told you already,” Eagle mumbled.

  “I don’t believe you,” Ben said.

  “Tough,” Eagle said.

  “Eagle Clearwater,” Dove said, “you sit up straight in that chair and answer Ben’s—answer Sheriff Skeeter’s questions. He thinks you and someone who was with you are guilty of breaking into all those summer homes. This isn’t funny, Eagle. This is very serious and you’ve got to tell the truth. Right now.”

  Eagle pushed himself upward in the chair. “I didn’t steal anything. I didn’t break into any of those houses. I swear I didn’t.”

  “Were you at the Madison home last night, Eagle?” Ben said quietly.

  “I… It’s not like you think,” Eagle said.

  “Were you there?” Ben said.

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Dear heaven,” Dove said, pressing trembling fingertips to her lips.

  “Dove, no, wait,” Eagle said. “I didn’t steal anything. I wouldn’t do that, you know I wouldn’t. I was just trying to… I didn’t want…” He shook his head as tears filled his eyes. “Forget it.”

  “Who are you protecting, Eagle?” Laurel said gently. “Loyalty and a code of honor are fine, but not at the expense of destroying your own future.

  “You went to the Madison house to attempt to stop someone you care about from robbing yet another summer home. Right?

  “You’re a good friend, Eagle, but you’ve done all you can do for that person. He has to pay the consequences for his own choices, don’t you see? If he doesn’t, he’ll continue on as he is, believing that his actions are fine as long as he doesn’t get caught. Do you want to be responsible for him having that mind-set?”

  A heavy silence fell in the room.

  There was the answer, Ben thought, staring at Laurel, who was staring at Eagle. Laurel had nailed it. Damn, she was a fine psychologist, and he was so proud of her at this moment he could burst his buttons. He’d been afraid that Eagle had done something so stupid that his future plans were blown to hell, but Laurel… Oh, man, he loved that woman.

  Eagle sniffled. “I tried to stop him. I really did. He’s been bragging to me about the money he’s going to get from selling the stuff he took from the houses and I told him he would get caught, go to jail, but he wouldn’t listen to me.

  “He said he was doing the Madison place last night, and I went there and we got into a fight because I said he wasn’t taking anything out of that window, and he broke my nose. But I sort of busted his arm and… I didn’t mean to break his arm, but when I shoved him back through the window, he landed hard on the ground with his arm under him, then he got up and just took off.”

  “Who is he, Eagle?” Ben said softly.

  “My…my cousin, Yazzie Slowtalker,” Eagle said.

  “Oh, no,” Dove said. “Aunt Bethany is going to be devastated.”

  “I know that, Dove,” Eagle said. “Aunt Bethany is a cool lady and I like her a lot, you know? She’s our mom’s sister and she tells me great stories about our mom and dad and she works so hard to buy food and stuff for all of them in that house and it’s never enough for Yazzie, never, ever enough.

  “I tried to get through to him, Dove, I did, but he wouldn’t listen to me. So I snuck out last night and went to the Madison house and… I thought I could fix things somehow but… I’m sorry. I made a big mess of the whole number and I even broke Yazzie’s arm and… I’m sorry, Dove, I really am and…”

  “Shh, honey, what you did was wonderful,” Dove said. “My heart is filled with such pride over what you attempted to do.”

  “Really?” Eagle said.

  “Really, sitsili, my younger brother,” Dove said, smiling at him. “May we leave now, Ben? I want Doc Willie to take a look at Eagle’s nose. We’ll walk down the block to his office. Okay?”

  Ben nodded. “I’ll need a statement from Eagle, but we’ll get it later. We’ll find Yazzie and wrap this thing up.” He got to his feet. “Eagle, I’m proud to know you. You go on with Dove now.”

  Laurel stood and hugged Dove, then Eagle. She watched as they left Ben’s office.

  “You’re a helluva fine psychologist, Laurel,” Ben said. “You’ve got a gift, a sixth sense or something. You zeroed right in on the truth, while I was still heartsick over what could happen to Eagle if he’d really gotten so far off the proper
path. Yeah, you’re very good at your chosen profession.”

  Laurel’s head snapped around and she looked at Ben as the color drained from her face. “No, I’m not. I’m not. I’ve known Eagle since he was born. That’s why I knew he couldn’t be guilty. It has nothing to do with my training. Nothing at all.”

  Ben frowned. “I’ve known that kid since he was born, too, but I thought he might have done it. Why are you diminishing your abilities as a psychologist? Take credit where it’s due. You’re good, very good.”

  “No…I’m not,” Laurel said, taking several steps backward. “I don’t want—I don’t want to discuss this further. I’m grateful that Eagle is innocent and… I’ve got to get back to the café.”

  “Laurel, wait a minute,” Ben said, coming around to the front of his desk. “What’s going on with you? You’re pale, you’re even trembling. Talk to me. You just did a fantastic thing in this room and you’re acting so strange. Laurel?”

  “No. No,” she said, shaking her head. “I have to go. I left my mother short of help at the café. I have to go.”

  Laurel turned and ran from the room. Ben frowned deeply and hooked one hand over the back of his neck as he looked at the doorway Laurel had fled through. He walked slowly to his desk chair and sank onto it heavily.

  The mystery of the robberies of the summer homes had been solved, he thought. He would have gotten the truth out of Eagle eventually by going over and over the questions and hammering away at the kid until he spilled it. But Laurel had done an incredible got-it-in-one.

  Now, didn’t that sound like a happy ending? Except, of course, for Yazzie. And his mom, who deserved better than the news Sheriff Skeeter was going to have to tell her. But the crime spree was over and the fine citizens of Willow Valley and the rez could sleep easy tonight.

  But he wouldn’t. No way. Because he was now facing a new mystery—Laurel Windsong’s bizarre behavior when he’d praised her on her fine abilities as a psychologist. She’d fallen apart right before his eyes, then gone running back to the Windsong Café and her mother.

  Just like the way she’d come running home to Willow Valley from Virginia.

  Chapter Seven

  It was nearly eleven o’clock that night before Ben was able to head home. He was tired, more emotionally exhausted than physically, and his stomach grumbled because he’d been unable to take the time to eat either lunch or dinner.

  He’d found Yazzie Slowtalker curled up in a wooden shed behind his house, cradling the broken arm he’d suffered when Eagle had shoved him out the window of the Madison house. Yazzie had been cold, hungry and in pain and had burst into tears when he saw his mother and Sheriff Skeeter. He quickly confessed to all the break-ins of the summer homes, saying he just wanted to get some money so he could leave the reservation after he graduated from high school in the spring.

  Bethany Slowtalker had hugged her son and, with tears streaming down her face, told him she’d stand by his side through the legal ordeal yet to come. Ben had hurried home to change into a fresh uniform, then driven the pair over to Prescott, where charges were filed against Yazzie and he was placed in the juvenile detention center. A public defender was assigned to his case and the young woman said she’d drive Bethany back to Willow Valley.

  Upon returning to town, Ben gave a statement to the newspaper saying the person responsible for the break-ins had been apprehended but because he was a minor his name was not being released. Ben knew full well that by then everyone in town and on the rez knew the whole story of Yazzie’s crime spree and Eagle’s attempt to stop his cousin, but at least the information had not come from the sheriff’s office.

  Ben went to Dove’s to get Eagle’s official statement, realized it was too late in the day to check on Grandfather, then returned to the office to type up the endless reports necessary to complete the file.

  “Home, food, bed,” Ben mumbled as he approached his house.

  He turned into the long driveway that kept the house hidden from the road, then frowned as he saw that the sensor lights he’d installed were glowing in the distance. Deciding that an animal from the woods had no doubt wandered in front of the house and triggered the lights, Ben stiffened in shock when he saw Laurel’s red van. He parked next to it, and she got out and met him at the side of his vehicle.

  “Hello,” Ben said. “I don’t mean to be rude, Laurel, but why are you here? How long have you been waiting for me to show up? No, back up. Why are you here?”

  “I had to come, Ben,” Laurel said. “I came as soon as I got off work at the café. I knew you’d get home eventually. You’ve had a long day.”

  “Yeah. What—I mean why—” Ben sighed. “Look, I’m bushed and I’m starving to death. There’s obviously something on your mind, so why don’t you come in while I get some food in me.”

  “Yes, all right. Thank you.”

  Inside the house, Ben turned on lights, locked his gun in a box on the closet shelf, set his Stetson next to the box then headed for the kitchen.

  “Your home is absolutely beautiful,” Laurel said, glancing around as she followed him. “It’s really lovely, Ben, and just the way you used to describe it and draw all those pictures of it so many years ago when you saw it so clearly in your mind.”

  “Yep,” Ben said, opening the refrigerator and pulling things out. “Are you hungry?”

  “No.”

  “Well, sit down at the table while I make myself a sandwich, then you can tell me why you camped out here waiting for me.”

  A short time later Ben sat opposite Laurel, a huge sandwich on a plate and a tall glass of milk next to it. He took a bite of the sandwich and raised his eyebrows at Laurel as he chewed, indicating he was ready for her to speak. Laurel clutched her hands tightly in her lap and met Ben’s gaze.

  “I came to apologize for my behavior in your office this morning,” Laurel said, her voice not quite steady. “You paid me a very nice compliment when you said you felt I was a good psychologist because of the way I approached Eagle, and I acted like a total idiot. I’m very sorry for my behavior, Ben. I knew I wouldn’t sleep tonight until I spoke to you. So here I am and I am very, very sorry.” She started to rise. “There.”

  “Sit,” Ben said, pointing to the chair Laurel was about to leave.

  She plunked back down.

  “So, okay, you’re sorry you acted the way you did,” he said, no readable expression on his face. “But I think I’m due more than that, Laurel. My question is, why did you behave that way? My guess is that it has something to do with your sudden reappearance in Willow Valley. Don’t you believe it’s time you told me what’s really going on with you?”

  “No,” Laurel said, shaking her head. “I’m not ready to talk about it, Ben. I haven’t even told Dove, and she hasn’t pushed me on the subject. I have some…issues to work through and…”

  “Issues?” Ben interrupted. “Oh, now there’s a great shrink word. Chalk it all up to issues. What’s next? You need to get in touch with your inner child? Give me a break.” He finished the milk and thudded the glass back onto the table. “Hell.”

  “This was a mistake,” Laurel said, getting to her feet. “You’re tired and I know you must be upset about Yazzie. All I focused on was what I needed to do so I could sleep tonight and I didn’t think about the shape you might be in this late. Well, I’m sorry again, Ben. Now I’m guilty of being self-centered. I’m batting a thousand here. I’ll leave you in peace.”

  “Laurel,” Ben said wearily, “I haven’t had much peace of mind since you left me ten years ago. Now? Whoa, look who’s back in Willow Valley, folks, with absolutely no explanation as to why. And to top off this nice emotional cake that’s being baked, we discover that what happened ten years ago was a lack of proper communication.” He shook his head. “Proper communication. There’s another shrink phrase, huh? A real beaut.”

  “Ben…”

  “What?” he said, rising and going to where she stood. “What else do you want to say
to me, Laurel? You know what really fries me? You’re still not communicating. You won’t explain why you came running home from Virginia, why you freaked when I made reference to your skills as a psychologist.

  “You’re back in town, making me want you until I ache, making me relive all the memories of what we shared, and you’re keeping so many damn secrets it’s a wonder you can even function.”

  “I…”

  “Well, I know one truth about you, Laurel Windsong,” Ben said, a rough edge to his voice as he gripped her shoulders. “When I kissed you by the lake, you responded to me, totally, absolutely, holding nothing back. You desire me as much as I do you. And that is a fact. There’s no secret about it, Laurel.”

  And with that, Ben pulled her close and captured her mouth with his in a searing kiss.

  Laurel stiffened and her eyes widened in shock, but in the next instant she melted into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Ben’s neck and allowing her lashes to drift down as she savored the taste, the aroma, the kiss that was Ben.

  The draining events of the day dissipated as Ben lost himself in the kiss.

  He’d come home from a grueling day and Laurel had been waiting for him, he thought hazily, just the way it was supposed to be.

  She’d sat with him while he’d had something to eat, and now he was holding her in his arms before they went upstairs to their bed to make sweet, slow love, just the way it was supposed to be.

  Laurel was here, just the way it was supposed to be.

  Ben raised his head a fraction of an inch to speak close to Laurel’s moist lips.

  “I want you,” he said, his voice husky. “I want to make love with you so damn much, Laurel.”

  “I want you, too, Ben,” she said. “I do. I…” She sighed and eased away from him. “No, I’m doing it again. I’m centered on what I want, and that’s not fair, not right at all. I have nothing to offer you, Ben. My life is a confused jumble, a total mess right now. I don’t know what I’m doing or where I’m going or…” She shook her head. “I’d better leave before— I’m sorry.”

  “Would you quit apologizing for stuff every two seconds?” he said.