Charli hung her mop beside Phoebe’s. “For a newbie, you did good. Thanks for sticking it out. Rodeo week can be a killer.”
“I’m glad I could help.” She rubbed her hands on her jean cutoffs and straightened her back. “I hope Audrey will be okay.”
“Jackson called an hour ago. After ten stitches and a painkiller, Audrey is sleeping. He has baby duty through the night.” Charli smiled. “I’ve never seen a grown man so over the moon about a little girl as he is. Emma is one lucky baby.”
“Audrey and Jackson seem to love each other a great deal.”
“If you work here long enough, you’re bound to run across them getting it on in the storeroom. Just fair warning.” Charli winked. “And they don’t mind if you watch.”
Phoebe’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Their love is true and they aren’t afraid to show it.” Charli pushed her long blond hair back behind her ear. “You better get home and grab some sleep. If you’re available tomorrow, we could sure use your help.”
“I can work,” Phoebe said and then frowned. “Only thing is I might not have a way to get here.”
Charli tapped her chin with the tip of her finger. “Where are you staying?”
“In Hellfire. I’m renting a garage apartment from a woman named Lola.”
“Let me work on the logistics. If I can’t find someone coming out from Hellfire, I’ll swing by myself. We can’t manage this rodeo crowd without your help.”
Phoebe’s chest filled with warmth at the praise. Never having held a job, she didn’t know how good working felt. Putting in a hard day’s effort, gave her a greater appreciation for the staff that made her family home sparkle.
“Charli, I could use a hand in here,” Libby called out.
The assistant manager turned to go back into the saloon before Phoebe had a chance to tell her Audrey was supposed to be her ride home. She’d have to catch her before she left. But for that moment, Phoebe stared out at the starlit Texas night.
A shadow detached itself from the only tree behind the building and a man wearing a cowboy hat walked toward her.
A flash of caution made Phoebe take a step backward and reach for the doorknob. She twisted the handle, without taking her gaze off the man whose face she couldn’t make out in the shadow from the hat’s rim. “Who’s there?” she asked, her fingers turning the knob behind her back. It didn’t turn. The door had closed and locked automatically.
Her pulse kicked up a notch, slamming blood through her veins in double-time.
“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s me, Nash Grayson.”
She let go of the breath she’d drawn in, and laughed shakily. “Don’t scare me like that.”
Deputy Grayson nodded toward the door behind her. “It locked, didn’t it?”
Phoebe grimaced. “Yeah. I’ll have to go around the front to get in.” She tilted her head to the side. “I thought you’d left a long time ago.”
“I left when the saloon closed, but sat in my truck. Figured you might need a ride back to Hellfire. Most of the waitresses who work here live in or near Temptation. It’s the opposite direction from where you need to go.”
She smiled. “Thanks. Jackson gave me a ride here and Audrey was going to take me home, but from the sound of it, I need to find alternate transportation. I don’t like being a burden on anyone.”
“Rider should be able to get a tire on that rental car by tomorrow, if you give him the go ahead.”
She pulled the wad of cash from her pocket and held it up. “Not bad, for my first night.” Phoebe pushed the money back into her pocket and descended the steps to the ground. “I’ll check with Charli and Libby. If they don’t need me anymore, I’m ready to leave.”
Deputy Grayson nodded and accompanied her around the side of the saloon. The parking lot was empty except for the two vehicles in the back and a truck Phoebe assumed belonged to the deputy.
Phoebe stopped at the front door and turned to face Nash. “You know, just because you rescued me from the side of the road today, doesn’t mean you’re responsible for me.”
His brows rose and his lips quirked upward on the corners. “Do you want me to leave you to walk back to Hellfire?”
The thought of running into the two men from earlier sent a chill slithering across the back of her neck. But she shook her head. “No, I don’t want you to leave me to walk. I didn’t want to ask Libby or Charli for a ride, because I know they live toward Temptation, and they’re as tired as I am.”
“Then it’s settled.” He opened the door and held it. “I’m giving you a ride home. Not out of a sense of responsibility, but because I’m headed that direction anyway.”
“Oh. Okay.” She found Charli and Libby in the storeroom. “Need me to stick around?”
“We’re done here.” Charli gathered empty boxes in her arms and straightened. “See you tomorrow, then?”
If she wasn’t in jail for murder. “You bet.” She turned to find Deputy Grayson behind her. How ironic to have him taking her back to Hellfire when he might be the one to haul her off to jail when someone stumbled on the body in the trunk of her rental car.
Too tired to care and thinking the bed in the jail house sounded like heaven, Phoebe smiled. “I’m ready.” For whatever is thrown my way. After the day she’d had, her luck couldn’t get worse. And she still had to find a way to get Ryan’s body out of the trunk before someone discovered it.
As they left the saloon, Nash hooked his hand through Phoebe’s elbow and steered her toward his truck, the only vehicle left in the front parking area. “You never said where you’re from.”
“No, I didn’t,” she responded.
Shaking off the bolt of electricity inspired by touching Phoebe, Nash laughed. “I take it you still aren’t going to tell me.”
“No. And if you’re going to question me all the way back to Hellfire, I’ll have to pass on the ride.” She pulled free of his grip and stepped away from truck. “Charli could give me a ride back.”
Nash held up a hand. “Okay, okay. I promise not to grill you.” He opened the passenger door and held it. “We don’t even have to talk, if you don’t want to. That’s fine by me.”
Her brows dipped, and she studied him for a moment before finally climbing into the cab. “Thank you for not pushing it. And for the ride.”
“You’re welcome.” He closed the door and shook his head as he rounded the front of the vehicle and climbed in. As he pulled out onto the highway, he glanced her way.
Phoebe stared out the window, her bottom lip snagged between her teeth.
“You don’t have to worry. I promise not to grill you,” he said, shifting his focus to the road ahead. He fought to keep from asking her all the questions running through his mind. The woman was an enigma. What made her run away on the day of her wedding? Did her fiancé have an affair with one of her bridesmaids? Or was he abusive?
Nash’s fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel.
“Have you lived all your life in Hellfire?”
Her voice was soft, slipping across him like a caress. Nash nodded. “All except my time in college and the military.”
She shot a glance his way. “You were in the military?”
He nodded. “Six years. I joined straight out of college.”
“Why?”
His chin rose automatically. “I consider living in this country to be a privilege, not a right. I wanted to give back for all I’ve been given.” Nash could feel Phoebe’s stare burning into him.
“Did you fight in the war?”
Jaw tightening, he nodded. Fought, killed and watched his troops and friends die. At the ripe old age of twenty-seven, he’d lived a lifetime.
“I don’t think I’ve ever actually met someone who has served.” She shook her head, a sad smile lifting the corners of her lips. Her hand touched his arm. “Thank you for your service.”
He glanced down at the slim fingers on his arm and then returned his attention to the road.
“Was it hard?” She let her hand drop to her lap. “Being in the military and away from your family, that is.”
He shook his head. “When you’re in a unit, your peers are your family. You’d fight and die for them.” Although, the hard part was watching them die.
“You must have loved them.”
His eyes stung. Nash had pushed those memories as far to the back of his mind as he could since he’d left the army. His time in Afghanistan seemed like another life. He’d been a different person than the one he was now. Images flashed through his memories of the men with whom he’d served—many of whom died in the final battle that ended his career and gave him a banged-up knee.
“Why did you leave the military?”
“So it’s okay for you to ask me questions, but I can’t ask you any?” he bit out. “I left because they kicked me out. Otherwise, I’d still be over in some hellhole, fighting for my life and the lives of my men.”
“Kicked you out?” she persisted.
“Medically retired, due to an injury.” Thankfully, they weren’t far from Hellfire. In a few short minutes, he’d drop her off, and he wouldn’t have to answer any more of her questions.