Hidden (A McKenzie Ridge Novel Book 2) Read online

  HIDDEN

  A McKenzie Ridge Novel

  Stephanie St. Klaire

  COPYRIGHT © 2016 by Stephanie St. Klaire

  Gray Publishing Edition

  Stephanie St. Klaire

  EDITOR: Joanne LaRe Thompson

  HIDDEN

  A McKenzie Ridge Novel

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, or other status is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever known, not known or hereafter invented, or stored in any storage or retrieval system, is forbidden and punishable by the fullest extent of the law without written permission of the author.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Wow, another book published…

  First and foremost, all glory to God for seeing me through this journey, providing a way, and turning my trials to triumphs. I am blessed.

  To my hubby and our fave fab five (yes, five kids), this is all for you…

  To my parents for their endless support and encouragement, thank you.

  Special thanks to my dad for creating the star of this book, Ruthie. She is the glue that holds this story together. HAHA!

  ***

  Sincere thanks to all I have met on this amazing journey, and all that saw something in this new indie author.

  SSK Team…you are hands down, the best Street Team out there!

  Special thanks to Kallie K., Sallie M., Yomari S.R., Laura C., Shelly A., and Terry M.! You guys are the absolute best!!!

  My biggest thanks goes to all of my readers that took a chance on a new author! You loved me, loved my book, raved about it, and here we are with book two already. I hope you love Hidden as much or more as you love Rescued. I will keep bringing you the reads, as long as you’ll have me!

  I love you all more than bean dip…

  Table of Contents

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  OTHER BOOKS BY STEPHANIE ST. KLAIRE

  ABOUT STEPHANIE ST. KLAIRE

  Chapter 1

  High-pitched screaming had Colton’s undivided attention instantly. A brief stall allowed him to determine that it was coming from behind his home. Colton rushed through the back door, quickly making his way to the slight embankment that drifted down to the lakeshore, which rested just beyond his property. It was a woman screaming, and he only knew of one woman who would have access to the semi-private beach.

  Worry and an anxious vibe rolled through him while he prepared for the worst. Something must have happened to her, and he was prepared to rescue her from her desperate cries. Wild thoughts of coyotes and wolves, or perhaps an ill-tempered bear, crossed his mind. Pulse racing, he made it to the edge of the beach where he quickly halted at the sight before him.

  Laughter overcame him with such dramatic force that he bent at the waist, resting his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath. Megan Johnson was dancing and jumping around in the midst of a flock of rowdy…geese. She ran in a small circle, spinning around, trying to escape her attackers, all while holding a toddler over her head and out of reach from the vicious beasts. It looked like an awkward, spiritual, tribal dance, with the baby as her offering to the Gods. The toddler giggled his way through the fearful event while yelling “duck”, and clapping his hands.

  Graceful wasn’t a word he would use to describe Megan’s dance of shame with the animals. She was awkward and clumsy, tripping and stumbling backwards, ready to fall to her brutal demise, taking the boy with her, but not before Colton swooped in to save the boy from falling too. He also managed to grab the bag of day old bread that was dangling from Megan’s pocket, right before she fell flat on her ass…in the chilly lake.

  Colton was an animal lover, had many pets of his own and was known to care for the geese and lone duck that lived in their lake. The ferocious beasts were all too familiar with the old plastic-bag-full-of-bread, and were after a treat, not so much the beautiful woman. They were easily corralled away from a dripping wet Megan, still sitting in the lake.

  He noticed the two of them, many times down the beach, feeding the geese and duck. He hoped his feathery friends would lure her closer and it seemed today was his lucky day. She was a mess. He would be right here when she was ready to get cleaned up. If today worked out in his favor, he would bring his fowl friends a nice treat tomorrow.

  ***

  Still flailing her arms about, she finally realized the angry birds had moved on and were no longer out for blood. She watched as the “goose whisperer” himself, handsome fire fighter, Colton Sparks, rallied the fowl around him while he sat perched on an old weathered log…feeding them. She had been certain that this was a scene straight out of the Hitchcock movie, The Birds, so she knew what those monsters were capable of. But there they sat, perfectly calm and patient, waiting for their turn to get a treat. They even took gentle bites from her nephew’s hand.

  How the hell did he do that? She answered her own question when she recalled their first meeting, just months prior at Dawson and Sam Tayler’s wedding. She was the florist and new friend of the bride; he was one of the best men to the groom. They had spent that evening dancing close and sharing stories. Colton Sparks was easy on the eyes—tall, well-built, blonde hair who had that sexy almost unkempt thing working, and beautiful golden eyes. He was a hunky firefighter who was a true, chivalrous, gentleman at heart. She didn’t think they made men like him anymore.

  His genuine heart and kind soul left her feeling like Cinderella. So in true Cinderella fashion, she took off at midnight and didn’t turn back. She knew better than to pursue a relationship; it was just better for everyone if she kept her distance. He was the kind of guy who wanted a white picket fence and a relationship full of forevers. He already had the white picket fence, but she couldn’t be his forever, no matter how tempting he was.

  As luck would have it, she bought a house right next door to him. Fortunately, with his work hours and the acre or two between them, he had been pretty easy to avoid…until today when she and her nephew wandered a little farther than she would have liked. Damn birds.

  A chilling shiver traced her spine reminding her that she was still ass flat in the cold lake. Mortified by the show she must have provided, and the fact that she was still resting in the ice-cold water, she quickly found her feet and made her way out of the water to reclaim what was left of her dignity. A stinging sensation drew her attention to a nicely carved gap in her forearm, compliments of an embedded branch of sorts with a knife-sharp end. Of course she was bleeding everywhere, because dripping in muddy, cold, water wasn’t humiliating enough.

  She made her way
up the beach to where Colton and Jax, her nephew, were sharing a story, clean out of bread, and what appeared to be completely entranced sleeping geese snuggling in for affection. She rolled her eyes and shook her head ever so slightly wondering again how he did it. Only moments ago they were blood thirsty maniacs. Apparently he had the same effect on birds as he did women.

  Calm as they were, she still stood a safe distance as to not ‘ruffle any feathers’. She did have a subtle sense of guilt, abandoning a two-year-old in the middle of those blood sucking animals. She watched as Colton stood and made his way to her. She kept a watchful eye on the geese, taking a step back when they began to get up and move. They waddled their way back down to the water and drifted off across the lake on their way to terrorize someone else, she thought.

  “Hey, thanks for…uh…well, saving us. They’ve never done that before,” she said with a sheepish smile, her embarrassment still evident by her rosy cheeks, while reaching for Jax.

  Colton lifted the tot from his hip to hand him over, “You’ve probably never had a bag of bread dangling from your backside then…” He quickly pulled the little guy back noticing her bloody arm. “Whoa, that’s a nasty cut. Why don’t you come up to the house, I’ll fix it up.”

  “It’s okay, really. I have some Band-Aids and ointment. I’ll be fine.” She shrugged. She knew going into his house was the beginning of the end, and she wasn’t one to tempt fate.

  “What’s with the just the one duck in a flock of geese?” She asked, trying to distract him from her gaping wound.

  He playfully rolled his eyes at her and said, “Band-Aids, really? This is more than a Band-Aid job. I’ve got a first aid kit up at the house. C’mon.”

  He turned to walk up the path to his house and noticed she wasn’t following. She stood with a bewildered look on her face as if she was debating whether or not this was a safe idea. “I’m a fire fighter, remember? I’m trained in this stuff. Helping people is my job. And the duck, her name is Ruthie; the geese took her in when the ducks wouldn’t…strangest thing.”

  She took a moment, looked at her dripping arm, then took in the greater distance to her own house and gave in. “Okay, you’re probably right. It’s pretty gross.”

  He smiled at her with a wink and reached a hand out to her. She accepted it and he pulled her up the small trail so she could walk in front of him. Again, the gentleman. He put Jax up on his shoulders and made a ride of it, earning himself giggles from the little guy and an endearing smile from the lady.

  Smiling at the memory of their last meeting, he couldn’t help the sense of optimism that consumed him. She may not think they are a good idea, but he thought otherwise. An odd circumstance to earn a second chance, but beggars can’t be choosers.

  He recalled how intrigued he was by her. He still was and he wanted to get to know her better. There was something about her that had his attention from hello. Something other than her beauty and the genuine nature about her that made his heart palpitate and his breaths catch. Despite their hours together, talking and dancing like old friends, he knew little about her and he knew she wanted it that way. What was the mystery surrounding Megan Johnson? He couldn’t wait to solve it.

  Chapter 2

  Megan was warmed by the gesture and how great Colton was with Jax. She shouldn’t be surprised; she remembered his playfulness with Sam and Dawson’s children, Ellie and Gavin. He was one of those guys; the kind you write about in your love struck teen diary, the kind fairy tales are made of, and the kind that got sexier with a baby on their shoulders. That warmth was turning to tingles and she scolded herself for responding to all of his adorable man-charm. This wasn’t going to happen.

  Colton abruptly stopped her at the gate, Megan gave him an odd look, not sure what to think when he called out for “Rambo.” She was unsure what to think of a dog named Rambo, but appreciated his consideration rather than surprising her with another random animal attack for the day. Or was she?

  Megan quickly jumped behind Colton when Rambo came into view, and he was anything but a four-legged K9. When she saw what was headed directly for them, she thought a dog would be a more welcomed sight. Rambo approached with his head lowered and at full speed charging them, forcing Megan to grab onto Colton in fear.

  “Hey, it’s okay, Rambo is a good guy!” Colton defended.

  “What the hell is it?” She panicked.

  “He’s a rooster! Tell me you’ve seen a rooster before.” He joked.

  “What’s wrong with him, where are his feathers?”

  “He has feathers, he’s just missing some; gives him character,” Colton replied with confidence, clearly a fan of Rambo’s.

  Rambo began to circle them focusing on Megan, smelling and pecking at her feet and ankles getting to know his new friends. He was rather large, in her opinion, for a rooster. He had copper feathers, what were left of them, a black ring around his neck, and a disgusting red fleshy thing flopping over one eye. The only thing he was missing was a few tattoo’s to fill in those bald spots. Rambo looked like a hard ass. He also looked hungry.

  What the hell was with this man and his birds, she wondered. Violent, bordering lethal, eat you for lunch birds.

  She closed her eyes and buried her face in Colton’s arm and asked, “Oh my God, what is he doing. What is he…”

  She looked down to see that her pecking friend was now perched on her feet and rubbing his head on her shins. Confused by his behavior, she gave Colton a confused look of shock before looking back to the rooster who had her cemented in place while he cuddled her legs.

  “He’s harmless if he knows you. I think he feels pretty good about you now,” Colton laughed.

  “And if he didn’t know me?” She replied tossing up air quotes with the word know.

  “Well, he would be chasing you.”

  “Chasing me? Does he think he’s a dog or something?” Her question more of a joke, but closer to the truth than she could have ever imagined.

  “Something like that. He was rescued from some kind of dog and cock fighting ring that was busted in the back woods a few years back. Pretty sure he was the smartest one there,” Colton shared, remembering how he came across his guard rooster.

  “Smart how? He’s a rooster.”

  A look of offense and question traced the lines of his face. She had obviously hit a sore spot but questioning the intelligence of his pet…rooster. She had heard of his love for animals, and should have known better. “He survived a cock fighting ring, and obviously as bait in the dog ring. He plays dead.”

  “Plays…dead. Like a dog?” She asked in confusion.

  “Exactly. He plays dead. Probably learned it from being around the dogs or something. When he was found, he was presumed dead. They picked him up to dispose of him with the rest of the deceased animals and he took off running.”

  She began laughing hysterically at the thought of some poor man or woman charged with the duty of disposing of dead animal carcasses and one getting up and running off. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time!”

  “It is pretty funny. But yeah, he’s smart. Sometimes I think he thinks he’s a dog. He follows commands and patrols the yard all day. Anyone comes by…he lets everyone know. If he doesn’t know you…look out.”

  She bent down to gently pet Rambo, feeling a connection of sorts; he was a fighter, like her. She liked that. “Well, Rambo, I’m impressed.”

  “Hear that boy? The lady is impressed,” he said, patting his rooster’s head.

  If Rambo could impress her, Colton had a fighting chance to impress her too. Or so he hoped.

  ***

  They made their way to the rear door that entered into a well-planned, tidy mudroom. There were various dog beds along one side, and a few perched on shelves above, making it evident that he had a few more pets. Of course he did. She looked around carefully trying to avoid a surprise from one or more of the bed owners.

  Colton reached for a small stack of clothing sitting o
n the tidy built-in folding table next to his washer and dryer. “Here, why don’t you throw these on, and toss your clothes in the wash real quick.”

  She looked at him with an uneasy expression, stuttering over her words, unable to come up with a quick excuse.

  “Relax. They’re clean and much warmer than what you have on. It’ll take a little bit to clean that wound up right anyway. You can change in here.” Not giving her an opportunity to protest, he nodded to the small powder room to her left and closed the mudroom door behind him, bouncing Jax on his hip as he left.

  Megan quickly changed and tossed her soiled clothes in the fastest cycle his washing machine had. This was an in and out job, no hanging out longer than necessary. Colton was tempting, which was why it was a quick one-time visit.

  She made her way out of the mudroom to a kitchen and dining room that caused her jaw to drop. The large expansive space boasted a chef’s kitchen with all of the modern amenities that gave away one of Colton’s passions. The kitchen merged with the dining room and opened to the living space to the left.

  Megan was impressed with how thoughtfully laid out each space was, appreciating the well-kept details. It wasn’t the bachelor pad she had assumed it would be. He even had a glass-covered plate of cookies as his table centerpiece. It was comfortable, warm…homey. Reeling her thoughts back in from where they were headed, she took a seat at the dining room table and waited for Colton.

  As if on cue Colton walked in with what looked like an oversized tackle box. That was some first aid kit. She looked around him, unable to find Jax. She stood in a panic calling his name. Colton intercepted her with his large hands on her shoulders to calm her.