Sandra Robbins - Point Blank

“I had everything arranged for Luke to fill in for me today, but we had some excitement yesterday afternoon.”

Dean pulled on the lead attached to the horse’s halter and started toward the corral. “Let me put this horse up, and you can tell me all about it.”

“That’s why I came by,” Ben called out as Dean walked away.

As Ben waited for Dean to return, a slight smile pulled at his lips. He knew this ranch almost as well as he knew his own. He’d become friends with Dean soon after Dean had come to live with his grandparents when they were both still kids. They’d been inseparable through school as they explored the trails in the mountains they both loved. By the time they graduated from high school, they’d become valuable members of the search and rescue teams that helped find missing persons in the vast wilderness of the Smokies. Then they’d drifted apart when they had gone to separate colleges.

He had moved back home while still in his midtwenties, and Dean had arrived back at his grandparents’ home a few years later. They’d both returned to the mountains they loved, and each had brought his own baggage with him. Maybe that’s why it was so easy for them to resume their friendship after not seeing each other for years. They needed the support of each other as they battled the addictions and overcame the grief that had driven their lives for too many years.

They’d hung in there, though, and had been there for each other during the darkest time of their lives. Their struggles had paid off. Now Little Pigeon Ranch was not just a prosperous business, but a happy home for Dean, his wife, Gwen, and their daughter, Maggie.

Ben still couldn’t believe at times that he was the sheriff in the community where he’d grown up. But most of all he often thought of how he and Dean had struggled to get where they were today. He knew their achievements wouldn’t have been possible if they hadn’t shared a deep faith in God that guided them to the lives they had today.

“Now tell me what happened yesterday.”

Ben jerked around and frowned as Dean stepped up beside him. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I was lost in thought and didn’t hear you.”

Dean chuckled. “You must have really had a bad day yesterday. What happened?”

Ben pulled the hat from his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “The day had been fairly routine until I got the message that Hannah had been abducted from Bart’s Stop and Shop.”

Dean’s eyes rounded like saucers. “Hannah Riley? Your Hannah Riley?”

Ben frowned and pushed his hat back down on his head. “Yes, Hannah Riley, but she’s not my Hannah Riley,” he growled.

Dean tried to smother the grin that pulled at his lips, but he wasn’t successful. Ben straightened his shoulders and glared at him. Why did Dean always act like this whenever Hannah’s name was mentioned? Ben had explained to him over and over that he and Hannah were just friends, but Dean always appeared to read more into the relationship than what it really was.

Dean waved his hand in dismissal, but his grin didn’t disappear. “Whatever you say. Now tell me what happened.”

As quickly as he could, Ben gave Dean all the details of the abduction yesterday, Hannah’s trip to the hospital and the search that hadn’t turned up any clues to the identity of the suspect.

“The good thing,” Ben said, “is that Hannah wasn’t seriously injured, and she’s safe back at home.”

Dean rubbed his chin and frowned as he mulled over what Ben had just told him. Dean had been a big-city detective for a number of years, and when it came to tracking down criminals, Ben trusted his instincts without reservations. “Do you think this was random or maybe planned?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m leaning toward the idea that it was planned. His escape was planned in advance, with a car waiting for him. This wasn’t just a crime of opportunity. Besides, the guy told her at one point that it was for payback.”

“Payback?”

“Yeah. She had no idea what that meant. She couldn’t think of anyone that she’d had a disagreement with.”

Dean was silent for a moment before he spoke. “Do you think it could have anything to do with her dead husband? He probably had a lot of people who were jealous because of his success.”

Ben nodded. “That thought crossed my mind, but there’s no way of knowing at this point. For the time being I’m going to keep an eye on her just in case this guy has something else planned. I don’t intend for anything to happen to Hannah or Faith if I can help it.”

Dean’s eyebrows arched, and his grin grew larger. “And she’s just a friend, huh? It sounds like she might be more than that.”

Ben shook his head and scowled at Dean. “Cut it out. You know I’m not going to ever go there with another woman. I learned my lesson a long time ago.”

Dean sighed. “Ben, when I came back here, I didn’t think there was a chance that Gwen and I would ever get back together. My police work had me so messed up that I was a danger to her—she was right to walk out on me. And even after I left that all behind and came back here, I knew I had a long way to go before I could be the man she fell in love with again... If she was even willing to ever give me another chance. But you kept after me and encouraged me, and look where we are today. We’re married again, we have a daughter and are happier than I could ever imagine being. I want the same for you.”

As it did every time Dean brought up the past, Ben’s heart constricted, and pictures of a long-ago night filled his head. “The difference is that you didn’t kill Gwen like I did Laura.”

“You didn’t kill Laura,” Dean said. “She was driving the car that ran off the road and hit a tree.”

Ben’s eyes watered as they did every time he thought of Laura, the vivacious blonde who had stolen his heart in college. “But she wouldn’t have been driving in that awful storm if I hadn’t been so wasted. She kept begging me to leave that party, but I thought I was having too good a time drinking and smoking pot with my friends. When she finally convinced me to leave, I was in no condition to drive, and the storm that hadn’t been so bad an hour before made the roads downright treacherous. I failed her that night. I lived, and she died. I can’t forget that.”

Dean took a step closer to him. “I’ve told you over and over that we both have things in our pasts that we’d like to change, but we can’t. That doesn’t mean we have to let them ruin our lives. It’s time you forgave yourself. I want to see you as happy as Gwen and I are, but only you can decide to take that step.”

Ben shook his head. “I will never take a chance on hurting another woman. I worry all the time that something will happen that will send me spiraling back to where I was then. I can’t take a chance on hurting another woman, and especially one as wonderful as Hannah.”

“Then all I know to do for you is to pray. I want you to find happiness. You deserve it. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have kicked my addiction.”

Ben reached out and bumped Dean’s shoulder with his fist. “Thanks, buddy, but you give me more credit than I deserve. You’d already made the decision to turn your life around by the time you left the force and moved back here.” He glanced down at his watch and frowned. “I didn’t realize it was getting so late. I need to run by Hannah’s house and see how she’s doing this morning. Then I think I’ll grab a few hours of sleep before I go to the station. I’ll talk to you later.”

Dean nodded. “Later,” he said as he slipped his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Ben was almost back to his car before Dean called out to him. “And tell Hannah that I’m glad she wasn’t hurt yesterday. Gwen and I’ll go over later today and check on her.”