Flame Road (Scorch Series Romance Thriller Book 5) Page 7

  Chapter Twelve

  Cash

  “Well, howdy.” With Sunshine safely tucked behind him, Cash spread his arms to show that he didn’t have a gun. “Here, Tiny.” The Akita obeyed reluctantly, pulling back to stand beside Cash. “We’re awful hungry. And we could use a bath.” He smiled to show that he meant no harm.

  A long moment of silence followed as the men looked him over. Sunshine stood still behind him, her hand on Tiny’s back, just where Cash wanted her. The way they seemed to read each other’s minds, how well they worked as a team amazed him. Like today’s delicious meal that they caught, foraged, cooked and served perfectly together. Cash had been spooked by how much he wanted to keep coming home to her in a little cabin in the forest, eating what they captured or cultivated from the land.

  The man wearing a greasy ball cap spat on the ground again. “Got any skills or anything to trade? We don’t do handouts in Grimesville.”

  “Grimesville, eh?” Cash restrained himself from commenting on the unappealing name. “I can hunt, trap, build, and do basic first aid. Before the Scorching I worked as a firefighter. Sunshine here was a schoolteacher, and she’s good at…” he paused, unsure what Sunshine would want him to say. He glanced at her.

  Reading his question, Sunshine stepped out from behind him, head high and aqua eyes confident. “I was a teacher. I can cook, sew, clean, care for children and animals. I can forage. I’m very good at organizing.”

  Cash smiled at her earnest expression as she turned to him, her eyes bright with this new realization. Cash tore his gaze away from her and looked back to the men. “We’d be happy to work for a home-cooked meal, a bed and a bath.”

  “Especially the bath part. And maybe some clothes,” Sunshine added.

  The man in the middle broke into a grin. “Yeah, you look like you could use a change of clothes.” He put up his rifle, as did the others, and extended a hand to Cash. “We’ll keep your weapons while you’re with us.”

  Cash frowned but surrendered his bow, knives and axe.

  “No guns?” The leader lifted a scraggly brow.

  “Never cared for them.”

  “Suit yourself. My name’s Jeb.”

  “Cash. And this is…” He paused, glancing at her again. Did she want to go by her given name?

  “Sunshine.” She extended her hand, dignified and lovely in spite of her rags and shorn hair. “Glad to meet you.”

  Jeb shook her hand and gestured to the other men. “This here’s Ralph, and Henry.”

  “Ma'am.” The men tugged their hat brims with old-fashioned gallantry.

  Sunshine had an effect on people. She made them want to be their best. That mysterious alchemy had thoroughly saturated Cash, and he felt a buoyant tightness in his chest. He was proud of her.

  “Right this way.” Jeb started walking. “We have a boardinghouse where you two can stay tonight, and we’ll put you right to work because we’re having a big social event at the town square.” They fell in step behind the men and followed them into the town.

  Grimesville sat in a cleft in the mountains overhung with heavy trees. The paint on the buildings was shadowed by a gray veil of mold, likely due to the heavy precipitation levels in the area. Sunshine looped an arm through Cash’s, her body trembling as she eyed the strange men.

  She’d put on a good show, but Sunshine was still scared. She seemed so happy with him, and with her hair grown in just enough to hide the scars on her head and the bruises and cuts from her desperate escape through the woods fading, it was easy to forget how vulnerable she was—but the woman still had amnesia!

  Sunshine pulled him closer, and Cash squelched a zing of lust as her ample hip brushed his thigh.

  No. He must stick to his resolve. He needed to get some distance. Cash couldn’t break her heart. She’d already lost so much. Apprehension squeezed him, remembering her turquoise eyes, confused and tearful, as she asked him what was wrong.

  He had to tell her. Then she’d know what and whom she was dealing with.

  A killer.

  He didn’t deserve a woman as good as Sunshine.

  Cash gently detached himself from her and moved away, speeding up to walk alongside Jeb as they entered the heart of the town. Sunshine needed to start learning to get by without him. He sensed an emptiness, and realized that Tiny had stayed by her side. Great. He’d lost his dog to her, too.

  Cash wrenched his attention back to the man at his side. “How’ve you been dealing with the Scorch Flu in Grimesville?”

  “More than half the town’s gone.” Jeb lifted his chin toward the shuttered houses and businesses. “Another third fled, hoping to get ahead of it. That left those of us too stubborn or broke to leave, trying to keep food in our bellies and raiders away from our doors.”

  “So you could use a hunter.”

  “Most definitely. And someone to help us with maintenance around town. This is a rough environment, and our buildings are falling into disrepair. We’ve had to use all our daylight hours just burying the bodies up until now. We recently decided to post lookouts on the roads. But we’ve got to keep our town alive now that we’ve buried our dead.” Jeb showed tobacco-stained teeth in a brief grimace. “If you like it here, you’d be welcome.”

  “That’s a most generous offer.” Cash didn’t plan to commit to anything.

  The three men accompanied Cash and Sunshine to a gray-and-white Victorian in the center of town. A white picket fence surrounded the seedy front yard, and a sign hung from a post declaring: ROOMS FOR RENT.

  Jeb led them up the steps. “Maud!” He bawled into the interior. “Got folks for you to put up, and one of them looks to be a project that’s right up your alley.” He winked over his shoulder at Sunshine, who ducked her head, pleating her skirt, color staining her cheeks.

  Cash restrained his impulse to put an arm around Sunshine’s shoulder, to comfort and claim her, as the innkeeper approached. Maud was a trim woman with iron-gray hair pulled into a loose ponytail, wearing worn jeans and a button-down shirt that looked like it had belonged to a large man. Had it belonged to her husband?

  Cash’s chest tightened. Reminders like these were part of the reason he’d escaped to the woods. The loss and death unleashed by the Scorching overwhelmed him. Anger at those who’d released the flu rose up, energizing and welcome compared to the dark sadness that cloaked him in the wake of Nando’s death.

  “Welcome to Grimesville,” Maud greeted them with a smile. “Come on in and I’ll get some hot baths going for you.”

  “Maud is helping us take care of the good people who come through town,” Jeb explained. “Grimesville is only going to survive if we all work together. Thanks, Maud.” Jeb clapped Cash on the shoulder and pulled him back onto the porch. “But you’re going to have to wait to get your claws into this one, Maud. I need him to help set up for the dance.”

  Sunshine looked back at him, eyes wide and her mouth a little “o” of surprise as Maud took her hand and towed her into the house, Tiny close behind. “We’ll get you all prettied up for the party,” Maud chortled. “Oh, my. Whatever in the world happened to your hair, child?”

  Cash reluctantly followed Jeb down the street to the town square, where a small group of citizens strung outdoor lights, mowed the grounds, and set up tables around a bandstand.

  “We’ve decided to celebrate. It’s our town’s one-hundredth anniversary. We were going to ignore it with the Scorch Flu, but then decided it was worth celebrating. We’re still here, we’ve survived, and there haven’t been any new cases in weeks.” Jeb pointed to the party area.

  “Sounds good.”

  “I need you to help us put up the tent. It’s a big ‘un.”

  Indeed it was, taking all the able-bodied men Jeb could round up to erect the large, white, wedding-style tent. By the time they had the shelter up, the first fireflies and stars sparkled in early twilight. Cash, filthy and exhausted, needed to do one more thing before getting his promised bath. “I’d like to
use a radio, if you’ve got one, to reach my family.”

  Jeb nodded. “Sure thing.”

  He led Cash to the former post office and into a small room with a ham radio. The thing worked and Cash felt a thrill of excitement as he reached out to his brother, JT. “Stone Bear, come in, this is Easy Money.”

  Jeb stepped into the hall, offering Cash some privacy.

  “Cosimo! Is that you?” Only his mother used his full name, and he recognized Ana Luciano’s voice, high with excitement.

  Cash’s chest tightened. “Hey, Mama.”

  “Oh, baby!” Her voice grew thick with tears. “We’ve been so worried!”

  “I’m on my way to you.”

  “Thank God you’re alive. We have so much to be thankful for.”

  She’d just lost one of her children, and yet Ana Luciano was pointing out the good in the world. That’s the kind of thing Sunshine would do.

  Cash pushed the thought away. “Mama, tell JT I’m on my way now. I’m bringing a woman with me.”

  “Oh, how wonderful! JT has found love, too. A beautiful young scientist named Elizabeth.” His mother lowered her voice. “She can’t even cook beans, but I love her anyway.”

  Cash couldn’t help but laugh even as he set to correcting his mother’s misinterpretation. “I’m not in love, Mom.” His voice sounded hollow even to him. “She’s a nice girl, though, and she needs my help.”

  “That’s how it started with JT. Elizabeth needed help getting important cells to DC. She’s working on the cure.”

  “What?”

  The line went fuzzy and his mother’s voice crackled but picked up. “JT’s fiancée is a scientist working on the cure for Scorch Flu.”

  Cash’s heart thudded. Was that possible? Could there be a cure for this horrible disease? Tears pricked his eyes at the notion, and deep, strong emotions churned inside as he pictured a future that offered protection from the Scorching.

  “Mama,” Cash cleared his throat. “We’ll be there as soon as we can. I just wanted to call and let you know.”

  “I appreciate it, son. I’ll tell your brother. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Bye.”

  Cash ended the transmission and stared down at his rough, callused hands holding the radio for a moment. He’d killed with these hands. Cash shuddered. Sunshine needed his help, but that was all it could be. She deserved better than a murderer like him.

  “You all done?” Jeb stood in the doorway.

  “Yes,” Cash looked up at him, his eyes dry. “I’d like to go back to the boardinghouse if you don’t need me anymore.”

  “Go get cleaned up, let Maud feed you, and then bring that girl of yours back for some tunes and good times.” Jeb winked.

  “She’s not my girl.” The words popped out of Cash’s mouth, and he immediately regretted them, especially when Jeb’s eyes lit up.

  “Oh yeah? Then we have some very fine gals here in need of a man.”

  Cash cringed. But Sunshine couldn’t be his. He would only let her down.

  “Great.” Cash’s face felt stiff as he tried to smile. “I’ll see you soon.”

  He strode back to the boardinghouse, passing couples and several single women who eyed him up and down, even in his disheveled state. Agitated, Cash opened the Victorian’s door too hard, smacking it into a doorstopper and startling a gasp out of Sunshine and a bark from Tiny.

  Sunshine stood up from a chair in the parlor. Maud eyed him from the love seat, clearly wanting to see his reaction to her “makeover.”

  A dress with a nipped in, belted waist hugged Sunshine’s figure and a swirl of skirt in pale aqua danced above red, heeled cowboy boots. A blush brightened Sunshine’s cheeks, and lipstick highlighted her sweet, sensual mouth. A navy blue cowgirl hat hid her cap of shorn white-blond hair and set off her stunning eyes. Long turquoise earrings dangled from her tender, tasty ears.

  “Hi, Cash.” Sunshine took a step toward him and stopped, her cheeks brightening further as she caught the look in his eyes. “Hurry and wash up so we can go dance. I’m so excited.”

  Cash loved to dance, but the thought of circling her waist and twirling around with her in his arms made him painfully hard. He wrenched his gaze away from Sunshine and looked up the stairs. “I’m awfully tired. I think I’ll pass.”

  Dead silence.

  He couldn’t look at Sunshine as he headed for the stairs.

  “Well now, young man, you can get your own hot water then, and we’ll just be on our way.” Maud stood, taking Sunshine’s arm and leading her toward the door. He couldn’t look back, knowing her crushed gaze would nearly kill him. He hadn’t even told her how pretty she looked. “There are plenty of nice young men for you to dance with, my dear.”

  Cash had just been putting up the tent with several impressive specimens who seemed hearty, healthy and definitely not good enough for Sunshine.

  Tiny followed Cash up the steps, pushing her wet nose against his hand, questioning his dejected attitude. “I’m okay, girl,” he lied. Tiny whined, clearly not believing him.

  Bathing in the big old clawfoot tub, scrubbing down with real soap, then shaving at the sink, Cash uncovered a former self he’d lost track of in the wilderness. It felt amazing, in spite of the cold water and churning regret in his gut.

  The innkeeper had left a set of clean clothes draped over the end of the bed. Cash dressed in the worn blue chambray shirt and jeans, running a rodeo-themed, silver-studded belt through the loops of the pants, which were just long enough for his legs.

  He should go to the dance.

  Just to keep an eye on Sunshine and make sure she didn’t get into any trouble and check that none of her brother’s men showed up.

  Cash left Tiny at the inn and headed through quiet streets the short distance to the town square.

  The party was already in full swing, aided by a keg of beer and a tub of homemade hooch. A band, heavy on banjo, guitar and drums, thumped out from the bandstand. The lights, music, and whirling crowd disoriented Cash after so much time alone. His gaze roamed the crowd, searching for Sunshine, a compass needle seeking north.

  She twirled across the dance floor, her laughing face turned up to a partner as he spun her. The wide skirt spun out in a bell from her waist to expose shapely legs, and the man, a black-bearded burly lumberjack, swept her in close, his arm around her waist. Their heads tipped, and their hat brims banged together. Sunshine laughed again, a warm sound like a brook in spring, happy and free.

  Sunshine was laughing with another man who had his arms around her luscious body.

  A dark tight fist of some strange, unfamiliar emotion wrung his gut, a thoroughly unpleasant sensation that made Cash’s hands curl at his sides. He wrestled back an impulse to storm across the dance floor, snatch her away, and slug Blackbeard right in the face.

  She belonged with him.

  But no. That wasn’t right. Cash had no claim on her. He had even told Jeb so. He didn’t want the commitment, the responsibility, the god-awful pain of someone needing him and the inevitable disappointment when he let them down.

  Cash paced the edge of the dance floor, running a hand through his hair. He accepted a cup of the hooch and grimaced as he downed it quickly and took another.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sunshine

  Sunshine spun across the dance floor, the night air cooling her heated cheeks as Billy led her, weaving between the other couples. She laughed as he pulled her in close, their chests pressed together. He smiled at her, brown eyes lit up and twinkling. “Is he watching us?”

  Sunshine peeked over Billy’s shoulder. Cash grabbed another drink. Dark blue eyes flicked in their direction as he paced. Cash’s big shoulders hunched in the pressed chambray shirt he wore, the sleeves rolled to the elbow, exposing tan, strong forearms tensed as if ready for a fight.

  “Yeah, and I think he’s mad.”

  Billy turned them so that he could see Cash, too. He grinned, a flash of straight white teeth in
dark beard. “Oh yeah, he’s mad.”

  “Really?”

  “We’re making him jealous. Remember, that’s the plan.”

  “I never agreed to that. He’s not interested in me. We’re not together.” Sunshine’s voice lowered in sadness. When she’d first arrived at the party and Jeb started lining up dance partners for her, confusion swamped her. Jeb’s words upon seeing Sunshine’s expression still rang in her ear: “Cash said you two were just traveling together.”

  As if she could forget how he’d walked right by her with hardly a glance! Her belly tightened with fresh hurt.

  Billy had stepped forward at that moment and taken her arm. He’d led her away from the line of interested singles to “chat,” and she had spilled her guts to the kind, burly man. Billy seemed determined to help her with a problem that couldn’t be solved.

  You can’t make someone care about you.

  Besides, if Cash didn’t want her, Sunshine refused to moon over him. Finally in control of her own destiny, with their arrival at Grimesville, Sunshine had options. A place to stay, maybe even a job. Maud had mentioned they needed a teacher. Sunshine wasn’t going to waste time crying over a man who couldn’t be bothered to look at her, especially after the way he’d kissed her, and nuzzled her in the cabin. Her confusion hardened into angry hurt. Cash Luciano was a jerk!

  “And you’re a dirty little slut.”

  She tripped and Billy caught her as the rough words vibrated through Sunshine’s memory. Billy spun her and the memory of that voice, bitter and angry, drifted away like morning mist burning off in the sun’s first beams. Who did that voice belong to?

  “He’s crazy about you,” Billy announced as he pulled her in tight again. “I could tell as soon as I saw you two together.” He twirled her around again.

  “You didn’t see him at the inn. He walked right past me.” The band switched to a slower song. Billy wrapped his arms around Sunshine’s waist and she rested her head on his chest. He smelled good, of ivory soap and fresh cut grass.