Marie Harte: Rachel's Totem

“Sure. Everyone knows—I mean, knew Charlotte. In a town this small, no one’s a stranger.” Sarah wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m Sarah Duncan.”

“Rachel Penny.” They shook hands.

Rachel. Burke stared at her. It fit. A strong name for a strong woman. Now how to change the bad impression he’d unintentionally given and get the woman to sell him Charlotte’s property?

Rachel did her best to ignore the hot stare running over her from head to mid-belly—

what was visible before the table cut her off. Why hadn’t she ignored the mountain view and sat with her back to the jerk? She couldn’t help glancing up, only to see his eyes locked on her with an intensity that had her fuming…and glaring back out at the mountains as she tried to ignore the answering race of her pulse.

Why did every good-looking son of a bitch have to be such a creep? Her ex-husband had been an Adonis, and he’d not only cheated on her, but systematically wiped through their savings with his legal bullshit and games. Thanks to him, she’d finally settled her divorce with a whopping one thousand dollars to her name—and three months later less five hundred more—no house, no car, and what clients she’d managed to tear from their previous joint Internet business.

Sitting several booths down from her, the guy oozing sex appeal and a bad temper seemed worse than Jesse. For one thing, he was better looking with a better body. And that voice… Much as she felt annoyed, that irritation struggled against desire rising sharply out of nowhere. Tamping it down was harder than it should have been, but Rachel managed.

Mr. Bad Ass had sandy blond hair long enough to need a cut, giving him a bad-boy appeal. His eyes were a bright, whiskey brown, and his chiseled jaw and firm chin hinted at more than stubbornness—an attribute that never failed to attract Rachel. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t look at this guy. He’s not what I need right now. I mean, come on. His attitude needs an overhaul…as does his seeming inability to look anywhere but at my breasts.

“Anytime you’re through undressing me with your eyes,” she snapped.

Several grumbles sounded around her, one louder than the others, and she glanced around the diner to see a bear of a man choking on his laughter sitting with a pretty blonde.

Bad Ass simply grinned, and her hormones shot into overdrive, making her warring lust and rage into a tangible thing.

His grin faded and he cocked his head, studying her with a deep scrutiny that had her feeling like prey. Muttering a curse under his breath, he pushed away his half-eaten plate, threw a few bills on the table and stormed out of the diner.

The minute he left, her libido subsided, and Rachel waited for her breakfast in relative peace. The rest of the locals left her alone, though she could feel the weight of their curiosity in the stares that refused to leave her. Natural enough in a small town, she supposed.

Sarah brought her the special, a cup of coffee and her ticket, and apologized profusely for taking so long. Thankfully, the touchy woman left without another word, allowing Rachel to finally satisfy her hunger…and dwell on the circumstances surrounding her newfound fate.

A year ago she’d thought she’d finalized the divorce with Jesse, only to have him drag her through court as he tried to swindle what he could out of their holdings. They’d never been rich, but they’d been comfortable, and happy, or at least, she’d thought so.

Finding him screwing their accountant had proven her seriously wrong. And Linda wasn’t younger or prettier than Rachel, which made it worse. Apparently, the backstabber was better in bed, because her breathy cries had alerted Rachel that something was definitely “wrong” with their accounts.

The quickie divorce she’d expected turned brutal as Jesse became the ex from hell.

As if cheating on her weren’t bad enough, he tried stealing from her as well. Six months of negotiating and he’d still managed to rip the company name away and nearly ruin her in the process. For God’s sake, she’d brought him into their Internet web design company. Her baby from the get-go. Yet his fancy lawyer handed him the company’s name, more than half their assets he hadn’t already buried under false accounts, and her hard-earned reputation.

Rachel fervently hoped Linda gave him a disease, or better yet, an audit from the IRS.

Smiling into her eggs, which really were delicious, Rachel couldn’t help remembering her Aunt Charlotte’s raves over the diner’s full, sit-down breakfasts, which brought back the sad predicament landing Rachel in Cougar Falls again. The last time she’d visited she’d been all of six years old, and she could still remember crazy old Aunt Charlotte whispering of the magic underlying the town.

As Rachel looked around her, she saw nothing supernatural or mystical. Only a small town with a surprisingly handsome populace, but nothing more out of place than a packet of sugar mixed in with the Sweet’N Low.

Aunt Charlotte had been a hoot, in all of the dozen times Rachel had seen her throughout the years. Charlotte loved her life and had never seemed to care what others thought of her odd notions of what might exist beyond that which people might see. The only times her aunt had left Cougar Falls were to visit Rachel, her favorite and only niece.

First college, then her business had kept Rachel away. But despite their distance, the two managed to keep in touch via emails and phone calls, and Rachel had always felt a special affinity for the warm-hearted, open-minded woman.

Too bad I’ve finally come to see you, and you’re no longer here.

Rachel finished off her breakfast and slowly sipped her coffee. According to Gerald Winter, her aunt’s attorney, Charlotte had died peacefully in her sleep. She’d left her house and some property to Rachel, and a few other odds and ends that Gerald would read today in the will. Rachel, unfortunately or fortunately, depending upon her mood, had to be present to hear the legalities. She winced, recalling her last debacle with lawyers, the wounds still fresh.

Yet, it wasn’t as if she had any other place to go. Her parents were dead. She had no siblings and few friends outside the ones Jesse had managed to steal after the divorce.

Hell. The greater the distance between herself and her pitiful old life, the better. She’d spent the past nine months fighting, and the past three months licking her wounds.

Wasn’t it time to start over again? And with a clean slate this time.

Brooding over the optimistic idiot inside of her brewing with good tidings, Rachel gulped the last of her overly sweet coffee and glared at the packets in the center of the booth. Who ever heard of pink packets of sugar?

Grabbing her wallet out of her purse, she paid for her meal and left a tip for Sarah, then left the diner and its curious patrons behind. As she walked down the street toward her rental car, however, an altercation nearby forced her to stop.

Twenty feet down the alley to her right, Rachel saw the rude guy from the diner ducking punches from three overgrown bullies. Why she thought of the fight in those precise terms she didn’t know, but she had a definite sense that Bad Ass was the innocent party. The fact that the huge thugs crowding him looked like walking wolf-men made it easier to portray the rude guy as the good guy.

Good lord, but how hairy and huge did they grow them up here? Bad Ass was at least six-four, and the men trying to pin him to the wall between them were as big if not bigger. All three looked like linebackers for a pro team, and they sported long, thick hair, beards and mustaches like mountain men from hell. One of them turned to study her, and even in the daylight his eyes seemed to gleam with a preternatural shine.