Sunrise Canyon (New Americana 1)

With a final glance around the yard, she went back into the house and locked the doors behind her. She would look in on Paige, then get ready for bed and try to get some rest.

Tiptoeing down the hall, she eased open the door to the little girl’s room. Paige slept with a night-light, a little angel figure that plugged into the outlet next to her bed. Lit by its soft glow, she was curled on her side, her profile sweet in sleep, her curls tangled on the pink Disney Princess pillowcase.

A framed photograph of her parents on their wedding day sat on the nightstand, where Paige could see it when she lay down to sleep and when she first woke in the morning. She had no memory of the fatal car crash. She accepted what she’d been told—that her mother was an angel, watching over her from heaven. Her father’s absence was harder to explain. She’d been told early on that he meant to come back for her. But as months turned into years, that chance had faded. Paige was mostly a happy child, secure in the love of everyone around her. But now and then, she still asked where her father was and when he was coming back.

Kira hadn’t told her that Dusty had gone to get him. How would it affect her now,

having Jake show up—a very different Jake from the smiling man in the wedding photo?

Standing next to the bed, Kira studied the picture in the glow of the angel light. She’d been Wendy’s maid of honor that day, awkward in an unflattering pink ruffled dress, which she’d never worn again. But Wendy, in a strapless mermaid-style gown that fit every curve of her stunning figure, had taken breaths away when she walked down the aisle on Dusty’s arm.

Growing up, the two of them had been almost as close as sisters—Wendy, the beautiful one with her emerald eyes and Titian hair, and Kira, known as the plain one, the smart, ambitious one. For as long as she could remember, Kira’s decisions had been guided by reason and common sense. But impulsive, passionate Wendy had always led with her heart. She had followed her heart to the very end of her life.

As for Jake . . . Kira’s gaze lingered on the handsome, smiling face. He’d looked so dashing that day, in the dress uniform of an Army Ranger, and he’d seemed so much in love with his beautiful bride.

That was the last she’d seen of him until Wendy’s funeral, three years later. At the time, she’d assumed his haunted look was nothing more than grief. Even then, she should have known it was more.

Turning away, she slipped back into the hall and closed the door, leaving it ajar. Maybe Jake would be gone when her grandfather got to Flagstaff. Or maybe Jake would refuse to come home with him. Surely, that would be for the best.

Wouldn’t it?

* * *

It was after midnight when Jake drove into Phoenix and negotiated the freeway connections that would get him off I-17 and onto I-10. From there, the drive to Tucson shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.

Simple enough. But as he made his way through the interchange and onto the route that would take him due south, it was as if a gate was closing behind him. Phoenix was where he’d spent his years as a foster kid. It was where, after turning eighteen and being booted out of the system, he’d signed up for ROTC and managed to get into college. It was where he’d met Wendy, at a big rock concert, when she’d climbed onto some boy’s shoulders and fallen into his arms. These days, he couldn’t even remember the name of the band. But at least the big, sprawling desert city was familiar; and not all his memories of the place were bad.

Leaving Phoenix felt like leaving a fortified base on a combat mission into hostile territory. The thought of the unknown, and all the things that could go wrong, was a fear he’d battled and conquered hundreds of times. But it never went away—not even here, in the good old USA.

Beside him, on the reclining passenger seat, Dusty was snoring like a bassoon. Jake wouldn’t have minded turning on the radio and getting some late-night music, but he didn’t want to wake the old man, who probably needed his rest. As it was, there was nothing to take his mind off what lay ahead.

Had he made the right decision, letting Dusty talk him into coming to the ranch? The longer he drove, the more doubts crept into his mind. If he’d stayed in jail and done his time, at least he could’ve walked away a free man—his own man. He could’ve left Flagstaff, found another job somewhere else, with nothing to tie him down. Now, it was as if he felt invisible walls closing around him.

It wasn’t too late, he reminded himself. He could pull off the freeway, park the Jeep in a safe place, like a busy service station, lock the keys inside and walk away. When Dusty woke up, he’d be gone. He’d pay back the money, of course—just drop the payments in the mail from different places. He was good at disappearing. By the time the old man tracked him down again, he’d be someplace else.

Someplace where nobody cared that he woke up from nightmares in a cold, shaking sweat, that he started at any sound that resembled a gunshot or explosion, or felt a welling panic every time he walked past a shadowed alley; someplace where nobody cared enough to be hurt by his outbursts of rage and terror. His demons were his own. He would deal with them in his own way. They were nobody else’s damn business.

The next off-ramp was coming up. There’d be a gas station or fast-food joint at the bottom. Could he do it? Jake’s pulse quickened as he steered into the exit lane.

He was heading down the ramp when Dusty woke with a snort, opened his eyes and sat up. “Are we there?” he asked, blinking in the glare of neon lights.

“We’re in Phoenix,” Jake said, knowing his chance for a quiet getaway was gone. “I was thinking I could use some coffee and a restroom. How about you?”

“Sounds good if you’ll let me buy this time.”

Jake thought of his almost-empty wallet. “Sure,” he said.

They pulled into a convenience store, used the men’s room and took their coffee back to the big SUV. “Want me to drive?” Dusty asked. “I’ve had a good rest.”

“I’m fine.” The last thing Jake wanted was to fall asleep and have one of his bad spells. “Tucson’s a straight shot from here, but you’ll have to give me directions to the ranch.”

“No problem. It’s easy enough. You’ve never been to the ranch, have you?”

“Nope.” Jake swung into the driver’s seat. “Wendy told me it was quite the hangout in its day. Movie stars and all.”

“It’s still pretty nice. I bulldozed the swimming pool when I retired from dude ranching. Too much upkeep. Now that Kira’s bringing those kids in, she’s wishing I’d kept the blasted thing.”

“How’s Kira doing, anyway?” Jake forced himself to ask. “Did she ever get married?”