Betsy sank down in a chair beside Mona’s desk and sighed. “No, thanks. I’m not trying to be difficult, Mona. It’s just that I’m so worried about Mark. He got hurt trying to protect me, and I feel responsible.”
The receptionist’s eyebrows arched. “No wonder you’re worried. I would be the same way if my boyfriend got hurt trying to protect me.”
Betsy tried to control the surprise Mona’s words produced. Ocracoke Island might host a lot of tourists, but the locals knew all about each other’s personal problems. One of the hottest topics on the village grapevine was about the abuse Mona suffered from her boyfriend, Mac Cody. No one could understand why she put up with it.
Betsy’s gaze drifted to a vase filled with red roses next to the computer and then to the bruise underneath Mona’s left eye. Concern for the young woman she’d grown up with pricked her heart. “Would Mac protect you?”
Mona’s forehead furrowed, and she stared at Betsy. “Of course he would. He loves me.”
Betsy reached out and grasped Mona’s hand. “We’ve been friends since we were in first grade. I know what a rough time you’ve had since your parents died and your sister moved away. I don’t know why you put up with Mac.”
Mona jerked her hand free. “You don’t know anything about Mac.”
“I know he shouldn’t be using you for a punching bag. You deserve better.”
Mona’s eyes darkened, and she shook her head. “Please, Betsy. My personal life is none of your business.”
Betsy searched her mind for words that might offer hope to someone living in an abusive situation. “It’s my business because I care about you. A few Sundays ago our pastor spoke about friendship in his sermon. He reminded us that a friend loves at all times, even when bad things happen to us. I’ve been your friend for a long time, Mona, and that’s not going to change. If you ever come to the point you want help, let me know.”
A tear trickled down Mona’s face, and a sad smile pulled at her lips. “We’re not all as fortunate as you are, Betsy. You have a supportive family, and you have a boyfriend who puts himself in danger to protect you.”
The word
boyfriend
took Betsy by surprise, and she shook her head. “No, you have it all wrong. Mark isn’t my boyfriend. I’ve known him for a long time, but we’re not romantically involved.”
Mona tilted her head to one side and let her gaze drift over Betsy’s face. “Well, you could have fooled me. From the way the two of you were looking at each other before Doc shooed you out of the exam room, it sure
looked
like there was a lot of chemistry there.”
Betsy jumped to her feet and frowned. “No, he’s just a friend who’s visiting the island.”
Before Mona could reply, the phone on her desk rang, and she reached for it. “Ocracoke Health Center. May I help you?”
Betsy turned away and strode to the couch. She glanced at Mona, who was still talking on the phone. The smirk on her face conveyed the message that Betsy needed to deal with her own problems before trying to tell someone else what to do.
Betsy’s face burned at the memory of how scared she’d been when her abductors had attacked Mark. She put her palms to her cheeks and wondered if her face betrayed how she felt. She only hoped Mark hadn’t gotten the same impression Mona obviously had.
The chime of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts, and she pulled it from her pocket. Scott’s number flashed on the caller ID. She jammed the phone to her ear. “Did you catch the creeps who tried to abduct me?”
Her brother’s low chuckle vibrated in her ear. “And hello to you, too.”
She propped her free hand on her hip and gripped the phone tighter. “I’m sorry, Scott, but this is no time for polite conversation. I want to know what’s going on.”
“Whoa, Betsy. Are you all right? You don’t sound like yourself.”
Betsy took a deep breath. There was no need to take out her frustrations on her brother. “I’m sorry. It’s not every day I witness a robbery and have a gun held to my head.”
“I know, but thanks to Mark you’re okay now. And to answer your question, we haven’t found the robbers yet, but we did find their car in the parking lot at the lighthouse. No sign of them, though. We talked to the ranger on duty and the tourists there. Nobody remembers seeing anyone near the car.” He sighed with frustration. “It’s like they vanished into thin air. They’ve got to be on this island somewhere, but it could be anywhere.”
Betsy sank back down on the couch. “Are you going to check the cars at the ferry in case they try to leave the island?”
“We will, but we don’t have a description. They wore masks, and the only thing we know is one is nursing a broken arm. That may prove helpful. But Brock and I are on this. We won’t give up.”
“Thanks, Scott. There’s one more thing I think I should tell you. It may be nothing, but it concerns me.”
“What is it?”
“When the man was pulling me toward the car, he mentioned my brother wouldn’t be able to save me. If I was a random hostage, how did he know my brother was a deputy?”
“This doesn’t sound good,” he agreed tersely. “I think Mark is right about somebody being after you. What did he say about this?”
“I haven’t told him, but I will when I see him again. Doc should be coming out anytime now.”
“Tell Mark we’ll run by and check on him if we get a chance, but it looks like we’ll be tied up for a while.”
“That’s all right. I’ll stay here and see what Doc has to say.” The door to the hallway opened, and Doc Hunter motioned for her to follow him. “Here’s Doc now, Scott. I’ll call you back and let you know what he says.”
“Good. And stay close to Mark.”
Betsy shoved the cell phone in her pocket and headed down the hallway behind Doc. “How is he?”
He stopped outside the same exam room Betsy had been in the day before and pushed his glasses up on his nose. “He says he’s fine, but I’d like to check him out more. I want to airlift him to the mainland and do a CAT scan at the hospital, but he says no. He’s determined to go back to Treasury’s. Do you think you can convince him to go to the hospital?”
Betsy frowned and shook her head. “I doubt it. He probably thinks he’s indestructible. But let me see what I can do.”
“I’ve been arguing with him for thirty minutes and haven’t done any good. If you can’t convince him, then he’s free to go. I’ll be in my office. Let me know what he decides.”
Betsy pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Mark’s long legs dangled over the edge of the exam table, and her heart constricted at the thought of how scared she’d been when he’d been unconscious earlier. “How are you feeling?”
Grinning, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be okay. I’ve had worse happen to me.”
“I suspect you have, but I’ve never been around to see it happen before.” She regarded him through narrowed eyes. “I was scared, Mark.”
His gaze didn’t waver from her face. “I told you I would protect you.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t scared for myself. I knew God would get me through whatever I had to face. It was you I was frightened for. I thought they might have killed you, and I didn’t want that to happen.”
“It was worth getting hurt if you really were concerned for me.” He pushed off the exam table and took a step toward her. His body swayed, and he grabbed the edge of the table to steady himself. Before she had time to think, Betsy wrapped her arm around his waist, and his free hand circled her shoulders as he sagged against her.
Betsy hadn’t been this near Mark in a long time, but for a moment time stood still. She closed her eyes and let the familiar feeling of years ago return. She didn’t want to remember how she and Mark had laughed together and walked hand-in-hand along the banks of the Mississippi River, but it was no use. Even when she’d proclaimed how much she despised him, she had secretly longed to renew their friendship and see where it would take them. Now he was here, and he had saved her life.
His fingers tightened on her shoulder, and she stared up at him. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and he bent closer. Her breath froze in her throat as his face drew nearer to hers. Then he tensed, and his free hand brushed at her cheek. “You have another smudge on your face.”
A chill rippled through her body, and his arm drifted from her shoulders. She swallowed in an effort to suppress the emotions racing through her body and took a step backward to put more distance between them. “You need to listen to Doc and get a CAT scan.”
His gaze flitted about the room from one object to another, anyplace but at her. “I don’t have time for that. I need to talk to Brock and Scott and see what they’ve found out.”
“I just talked to Scott.”
“What did he say?”
As she relayed what Scott had told her on the phone, Mark rubbed his chin and nodded. He appeared to be in deep thought the longer she talked, but he still hadn’t made eye contact with her. When she finished, he took a deep breath. “I need to talk to them. There’s something they need to know.”
Why wouldn’t he look at her? Was he embarrassed because he suspected she thought he was going to kiss her? She couldn’t let him know how shaken the encounter had left her. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Do you want to tell them the real reason the men came into the store was to abduct me?”
His mouth dropped open, and his gaze darted to her face. His dark-eyed stare almost took her breath away. “How did you know?” he demanded.
“The one holding me let it slip. I’ve already told Scott.”
“What did he say?”
“He said they would take care of it. So there’s no need for you to talk to them. They can do without your help for a while.” He started to interrupt, but she held up her hand to silence him. “So the way I see it is this—you have two choices. You can either go to the hospital or go back to Treasury’s where you will have two women fussing over you for the rest of the day.” She paused and smiled. “On second thought, you may have four women at your beck and call if Kate and Emma find out what happened.”
He let out a long breath, and a slow grin pulled at his lips. “When you put it that way, it’s a no-brainer. I’m ready to go to Treasury’s house anytime you are.” The grin slowly dissolved, and his gaze raked her face. “Besides, I’m not leaving you until I know these guys are in custody.”
He moved to step around her, but she reached out and grabbed his arm. “Mark, please don’t take your injury lightly. I’ll be all right with Brock and Scott.”
“No, Betsy,” he growled. “I’ve got a job to do, and I can’t do it from a hospital bed in a town miles away from the island.” He strode to the door, jerked it open, and turned to face her. “Are you coming with me or not?”
The closeness she’d felt minutes ago shattered, and she clenched her fists at her side. How could she have thought he wanted to kiss her? And what made her think he wanted to stay because he cared for her? To him it was only about the job, and it always would be.
Her nose tingled from struggling to keep tears from flooding her eyes. Ducking her head, she hurried past him and into the hall. She heard him close the door to the exam room and tell Doc he was leaving, but she didn’t turn around. She needed time to recover from the hurt his words had inflicted before she faced him. It would never do if he guessed she had let down her guard against him for a few minutes.
She wouldn’t do it again.
* * *
This morning, Mark had marveled at the beauty of the sunrise over Ocracoke, and now at sunset the sky was just as breathtaking. It reminded him of an artist’s giant palette with all the vibrant colors mixed together in sweeping patterns as far as the eye could see. He’d never thought about God much, but if there was a God, He had to be pleased with the picture He’d painted in the sky this afternoon above Ocracoke Island.
Taking another sip of the lemonade Treasury had fixed for him, he stretched out in the wicker chair on the back porch of the bed-and-breakfast and sighed. After all the excitement of the day it was good to sit out here and relax.
For the time being, Betsy was out of danger. She’d been in her studio ever since they got home from the health center. The time away from her had given him the opportunity to reflect on the events of the day.
Brock and Scott had reported an hour ago they still had no leads on the robbers, and that troubled him. At least she was safe here. He would never have suspected she would have been in danger in a crowded store, but she had been.
He rose from the chair and strode to the back-porch railing and grasped one of the posts that supported the roof. The scene from the store flashed into his head, and with it came the fear he’d felt when the men forced Betsy toward their car. Then that thought was replaced by the one at the health center and how close he’d come to kissing her.
How could he have lost control like that? He’d promised himself he wouldn’t get emotionally involved again with Betsy. It wasn’t fair to her or to him. Then he’d almost blown it.
He closed his eyes for a moment and remembered how she’d looked standing so close to him and how she’d lifted her face to gaze at him. It was almost as if she wanted him to kiss her. Did she? He smacked the railing with his hand.
“No,” he muttered.
“No, what?”
He whirled and almost dropped his glass of lemonade at the sight of Betsy. A puzzled expression on her face and a glass of lemonade in her hand, she stood just outside the back door. He walked back to the table and set his glass down.
“I—I was just thinking how I shouldn’t have taken you in the store this afternoon. I should have been more careful. I will be in the future.”
She pointed to his chair. “You need to sit down and quit worrying about this afternoon. Everything worked out okay, thanks to you.”
He dropped into the chair and waited to respond until she was seated across from him. “I just don’t want to fail you again.”
She cocked one eyebrow and leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
How could he say what he wanted her to know? He’d practiced it many times through the years, and yet he’d thought he would never have the chance to tell her. Now she sat across from him, and he’d almost kissed her this afternoon. Would she want to know what he’d really felt years ago in Memphis?