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Sally didn’t expect him to look at her for approval, so she wasn’t disappointed.
“Marshal?” The usually quiet Coop was the first to voice the question.
“Shit, Luke. What the hell?” Apparently, Travis was just getting up to speed, worrying about his involvement in obstructing justice.
“Marshal Lambert is in charge of protecting Sally.” Luke turned back to Greg. “But the witness protection program is voluntary. Isn’t that right, Lambert? You can discourage her from quitting, explain the danger and try to persuade her to accept the new identify you’ve procured for her and disappear. Kidnapping—removing her forcefully by threatening to leave her daughter behind—that’s low. I’d think that would be frowned upon by the US Marshals Service.”
Greg glared at him from the couch.
Luke nodded his head toward the door. “We need to talk about how this is going to end.” He turned his back on Greg and stepped toward the door. Travis, Coop and Matt parted to let him through and then watched distrustfully as Greg rose and followed him from the cabin.
Sally quickly disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Her emotions were all over the place. Anger, humiliation, frustration and dread—all playing hopscotch on her chest. If she’d thought it was possible to hide away in this room forever, she’d have given it a shot. Anything not to have to face the three men in the front room. And she wasn’t so hot on encountering Luke anytime soon either.
She shook her head and her chin came up. She’d hidden long enough. It was time to take a stand and face things head-on. Starting with getting dressed and making a pot of coffee for the men who’d been left to babysit her. Sally pulled on jeans and a sweater, removing Luke’s shirt and tossing it on the bed.
When she stepped from the bedroom, Travis was positioned by a front window, obviously on sentry duty. Coop sat on the couch, reading a magazine he’d picked up from the coffee table. Matt, bless his heart, was already brewing coffee. Sally nodded to each of them in turn and stepped toward the big man arranging five coffee mugs on the counter.
“How do you take yours, Sally?” Matt poured steaming hot liquid in four of them.
“Black is fine.” She forced a smile as she gratefully accepted the coffee he handed her.
Coop and Travis sauntered over and each grabbed a cup.
Travis grinned at her, lifting his coffee in salute. “That marshal should have known better than to threaten Baby Bear. Mama bears never stand for that shit. Way to go, Sally.”
Coop and Matt mumbled their agreement.
She grimaced, uncomfortable with their praise when Luke was so obviously displeased with her involvement. “Thanks, guys, but I can’t help thinking I shouldn’t have come here. It wasn’t my intention to bring trouble into Daniel and Ellen’s home. And you guys shouldn’t have to take care of me either.”
“Oh, hell. Daniel would do anything for Luke. He can take care of what’s his too. If he’s even half as tough as his brother, Ian, he’s one tough mother. Pardon my French. Any friend of Luke’s is a friend of ours.” Coop glanced at the other two, who nodded their agreement.
Sally smiled half-heartedly as heat seared her cheeks. Luke wouldn’t even look at her before he left with Greg. What would his friends think of her once they found out she’d managed to upset him to the point of turning his back on her?
Travis returned to his station by the window and Coop kicked back in a tweed recliner nearby, nursing his coffee. Sally glanced up as Matt stepped closer.
“Want to talk about it?” His voice was low, as though he purposely spoke so no one else would overhear their conversation.
Of Luke’s three friends, Sally had been instantly drawn to Matt “MacGyver” Iverson. His compassion, his honesty and his obvious respect for Luke instilled trust in her for the dark-haired man. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him of Luke’s anger.
“About what?” Sally met his gaze.
Matt chuckled. “Luke and I are tight. He wouldn’t let a little thing like that marshal showing up here bother him overmuch. But he definitely had a mad on, so I’m betting something didn’t go the way he planned.”
Sally opened her mouth to deny having any part in it when Matt’s eyebrow shot up and he crossed his arms, watching her expectantly. She snorted derisively. Matt might talk slow, but he didn’t miss much. Still, she couldn’t tell him the whole truth. Not the part about Clive Brennan being her father. And especially not how she’d betrayed Luke—betrayed them all—by withholding that information. She turned her back to Travis and Coop just in case they glanced her way.
“I’m afraid it’s my fault. Luke told me to stay in the bathroom, but I started to have a panic attack trapped in there, so I opened the door. I just needed some air, but then I heard voices, and I snuck closer so I could hear. I overheard Marshal Lambert say he didn’t think I knew what was best for me and Jen.” Sally paused and raked a hand angrily through her hair.
Matt leaned closer. “Made you mad, didn’t it? I don’t blame you. How long have you been making decisions for yourself and that little girl? Nobody else knows what’s best for the two of you. My guess is, that marshal only said it to get you to show yourself.”
“Well, it worked. I went barreling out into the front room, not realizing what I’d done until I saw the expression on Luke’s face. He looked so angry. I wouldn’t be surprised if he got in his car and…” Sally took a small sip of coffee, needing a little time to fight back the tears that suddenly threatened.
Matt scoffed. “Ah, angel, Luke ain’t goin’ nowhere. That man’s got it bad for you. He carried that picture of you and little Jen everywhere. He needs you like he needs air. He’ll be back. You can take my word on that. He gets all tweaked sometimes—we all do, but he’ll get over it. He knows you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him…even if you don’t follow directions very well.” He gave her an exaggerated wink.
Laughter bubbled from her throat. “I may be lousy at following directions, but why do men think their instructions are irrefutable?”
Matt grinned broadly and clinked his cup with hers. “Because, darlin’, we’re always right.”
With a roll of her eyes heavenward, Sally lifted her mug in silent appreciation for his friendship, a smile sliding easily over her face. It slipped away just as quickly as Luke strode through the door.
