Love Me If You Dare (Bachelor Blogs 2)

We can get to you anywhere, anytime.

She was now officially scared. Being held at knifepoint by one lunatic was enough to convince her not to take stupid chances with her life.

There was only one man she trusted to keep her safe. The same man who’d never been far from her thoughts and dreams. She’d kept up on Rafe’s progress through the station grapevine and knew he was feeling better each day. He’d already successfully eluded the Bachelor Blogger’s reach. She needed to do the same. As a bonus, she’d be able to spend time with him and discover whether he’d meant the compliments he’d uttered before passing out.

But first she needed to find him.

She’d been using her cell phone for personal calls, but someone as well-connected as John Morley, someone willing to kill for money, would find a way to track her cell. She purchased a disposable phone with limited minutes, and in between packing, she called Rafe’s cell. He didn’t answer. Her call went directly to voice mail, and though she left a message, by the end of the day he hadn’t returned her call.

Out of options, she either had to surprise him or not go stay with him after all.

She stalled leaving for another day.

Then the assistant district attorney in charge of the case called to tell her they’d had a tip from John Morley’s cell mate, seeking favors in exchange for helpful information. Morley mentioned how he hoped something would happen to that pain-in-the-ass cop before she could testify. And as the inmate pointed out, people with Morley’s connections knew how to make their wishes come true.

No more waiting to reach Rafe.

Sara rented a car with a good GPS system and headed north. It wasn’t hard to figure out where Rafe had gone. He used to talk about his cabin on Lake Ontario, in his hometown. The perfect getaway in the middle of a scorching summer heat wave. And since he also would complain about how the village of Hidden Falls was so small everyone knew everyone else’s business, finding him there should be as easy as a map and a few targeted questions on arrival.

She couldn’t imagine him turning her away.

CHAPTER FOUR

RAFE MET HIS BROTHER, Nick, at Billy’s Bar, an institution in Hidden Falls. With the vast amount of wineries in the area attracting the summer tourists, Billy’s was the place where the locals met and hung out. Billy was older than dirt and had long since turned the running of the bar over to his son, Joe, who, like his father, knew everyone’s choice in drink with no need to ask.

While Rafe nursed his first beer, Nick was already on his third.

“Angel giving you trouble again?” Rafe asked his brother.

Nick narrowed his eyes and rumbled an unintelligible answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

To the horror of the older generation in the family, Nick and his wife had separated. Angelina, or Angel as everyone called her, had moved into her father’s empty home. Empty because her father, Pirro DeVittorio, had recently married Rafe and Nick’s Aunt Vivian, a widow of five years, and lived in her house.

Aunt Vi was their father’s sister, an aunt who Rafe had always felt close to over the years. Together, Aunt Vi and Rafe’s father ran the Spicy Secret, the family business, while Pirro was head of shipping and delivery. Add in Nick as vice president, and the family’s business and personal connections were definitely messier now.

Rafe glanced at his older brother. Nick’s current foul mood went beyond the separation, which was six months old.

Unlike Rafe, who’d gotten out of town and broadened his horizons as well as his beliefs, Nick was still a traditional man who’d expected his wife to stay at home or work in the family spice business only until she had children. But after Angel had a miscarriage, she’d decided she needed something more out of life.

She wanted to open her own business. Nick didn’t agree. Angel went ahead with her plan anyway, and when the arguing became too much, she moved into her father’s house and turned the upstairs rooms into guest rooms. She’d joined the chamber of commerce and now ran a successful bed-and-breakfast. On the surface, it seemed like Nick just couldn’t deal with a businesswoman as his wife, and until he did, Angel wouldn’t budge on reconciliation.

Rafe sensed there was more going on.

“Women know how to make you crazy,” Nick said, finishing the last of his beer.

“I hear you,” Rafe muttered. A woman who wasn’t even his had him tied up in knots.

Sara still occupied his thoughts, day and night. He’d hoped by coming here and getting away from the damned blog and its innuendos, maybe then he’d stop wanting a woman he couldn’t have. He’d accomplished part of his goal. He was relaxing and recuperating, feeling stronger every day. But even without the blog, Sara was constantly on his mind.

Nick raised his hand to order another drink.

“Hey. You’ve had enough,” Rafe said, waving away the waitress. “Let’s talk first. Then, if you still want to keep drowning yourself in alcohol, I won’t stop you.”

His brother rolled his eyes. “I hate it when you use that psych degree on me.”

Rafe shook his head. “You don’t need a shrink. You need common sense knocked into your thick skull. It’s the twenty-first century. How’s the caveman attitude working out for you?” He deliberately provoked his brother, hoping for a reaction. For something that would explain why Nick was acting like a Neanderthal and not a smart guy who could compromise with the wife whom he loved.

Nick glanced up, eyes red and bleary. “Hey, smart-ass, did you forget my wife had a miscarriage? It’s not cavemanlike to want her to deal with the loss instead of burying her emotions in work.”

Finally. Now Rafe understood. “You never talked about it except to tell me it happened.”

Rafe lived five hours away, and his brother was the least-communicative human being he knew. Which explained why there were missing pieces to this story.

Nick glanced down. “It’s not the easiest thing to talk about. The doctor said she probably would never carry to term. That’s when she started talking about turning her father’s house into a bed-and-breakfast. Then she set about doing it. If she grieved for the loss of the baby, the loss of our dream of having a big family, I never saw it.”

Rafe placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Everyone grieves differently.”

“I know that. But that business stands between us. She’s buried herself in it, and now we’re at a stalemate.” He ran his hands over his hair.