Jake was impressed by the way Grace had pulled herself together. The robe was belted tightly around her slender waist and she'd not only stopped trembling, but even had a steely strength radiating from her eyes.

"I woke up knowing somebody was in my room. Before I could do anything, he was on top of me and had shoved a gag into my mouth. Then he tried to strangle me."

She raised her hand to her neck. Some of the redness had faded, but the idea of anyone wrapping their hands around her neck, the throat he'd kissed with such desire earlier, filled Jake with new rage.

"I thought he was going to kill me. I tried to fight but with my sling on I only had one hand. I finally managed to knock over the lamp next to the bed, which woke up one of my girls, which apparently woke up Jake." She cast him a grateful look. "I pulled the gag out of my mouth and screamed."

"By the time I got to the bedroom, whoever had been inside was gone. I went out on the balcony but didn't see anyone. Unfortunately, there's no light out there so he could have been anywhere in the yard and I probably wouldn't have seen him."

"Do we know for sure it was a him?" Greg asked.

Grace looked at him in stunned surprise, as if the idea that her attacker might have been a woman hadn't occurred to her. It certainly hadn't occurred to Jake.

"I don't know," she said slowly. "I just a.s.sumed..." Once again her hand went to her throat. "The grip was awfully strong to be a woman. And the person felt heavy...big." She dropped her hand and released a deep sigh. "But I was also terrified out of my mind, and my perceptions of those moments could be way off."

"Hopefully Deputy Bartell and Deputy Lathrop will find something...a fingerprint or a hair," Greg replied.

Grace shook her head. "There won't be any fingerprints. Whoever it was, he or she was wearing gloves." She winced, as if able to feel those gloves still around her neck.

"Greg, you've got to do something about this," Jake snapped angrily, and then caught himself and offered a tight smile of apology. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just frustrated."

"Don't worry," Greg replied easily. "No offense taken."

"Does Shirley know how to fire a gun?" Grace asked. Both Greg and Jake looked at her in surprise. "Well, it's obvious she resents my connection to Justin. I was just wondering."

"I don't know if Shirley knows how to shoot or not. Certainly most of the women around these parts aren't unfamiliar with guns," Greg replied. "I believe her daddy is a hunter."

Jake tried to wrap his mind around the idea of Shirley as some crazed, jealous killer. Crazed jealous girlfriend, yes, that was easy to imagine, but a killer? He'd known Shirley for most of his life and wouldn't have thought it of her, but wasn't this the kind of real-life stuff television movies were made of?

He listened as Grace explained to Greg about the earlier confrontation with Shirley in the ladies' room at the restaurant. "It wasn't really ugly," she said. "I a.s.sured her I had no grand design on Justin, and when Jake and I left them at the restaurant I a.s.sumed everything was fine between me and Shirley."

"So right now I've got a list with a grand total of two suspects on it-Justin and Shirley." Greg shook his head. "Justin's alibi for the time of the shooting was fairly solid. Maybe I need to have a little chat with Shirley about where she was when those shots were fired and where she was tonight. At least that's a place to start."

He looked at Grace for a long moment. "You sure there isn't somebody else in your life that might have a grudge against you?"

"A grudge deep enough to want me dead?" She gave a half-hysterical laugh. "n.o.body that I can think of. I can't even imagine what Justin or Shirley would hope to gain by my death. None of this makes sense, none of it!"

Jake once again placed an arm around her shoulder as he heard the rising emotion in her voice. She was scared and bewildered and he felt the same way.

"I need to go home," she said, more to herself than to anyone in the room.

"I understand your desire, Ms. Sinclair, but I'd really like it if you'd stick around another couple of days while I do a little investigating," Greg said.

"I'll keep you safe, Grace," Jake exclaimed. "I'll turn this place into a d.a.m.ned fortress if necessary to make sure that nothing else happens to you while you and the girls are here."

She looked at Greg. "I'll stay through tomorrow, but first thing the next day I'm going back home."

Jake wanted to protest but realized he had no right to ask her to stay any longer. Justin had certainly given her no reason to hang around. Somebody had tried to kill her twice. Could he really blame her for wanting to get out of town as soon as possible?

He had a feeling if not for her shoulder injury she'd already be packed up and in her car headed back to Wichita. He knew with certainty that come h.e.l.l or high water, she'd force her shoulder to be okay to get her out of here the day after tomorrow.

He should be glad to see her go. After all, that's what he'd wanted from the moment she'd shown up here with those adorable little girls and a gun in her pocket.

Thoughts of the gun sat him up straighter on the sofa. He hadn't thought about it since they'd locked it in his glove box at the hospital the day that Grace had fallen. If she'd had that gun tonight maybe she would have been able to stop the attack, wound the attacker. Or the gun could have been taken away from her and used on her instead.

A headache blossomed across his forehead, along with a tight vise across his chest as he realized what might have happened tonight. If she hadn't managed to hit the lamp, if one of the girls hadn't started to cry, he might not have gotten out of bed and the intruder might have been successful in killing her.

Chapter 9.

Grace awoke the next morning in Jake's king-size bed between the navy sheets that held his familiar scent. For a long moment she didn't move, just remained still and breathed in the essence of him.

After Greg and the deputies had finally left, Jake had insisted she sleep in here for what was left of the night while he bunked in Kerri and Jeffrey's room next door.

She'd expected to be awake all night. She'd expected to be scared senseless until dawn lit the morning skies. But almost the minute she'd wrapped herself in the sheets that smelled of Jake, she'd fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep.

She suddenly shot up, aware that the sun was drifting in through the window at an angle that let her know it was late. The girls! Why hadn't they awakened her with their morning cries? They never slept this late.

She jumped out of the bed and grabbed her robe and her cell phone from the nearby chair. She pulled on the robe as she raced out of the room and held the cell phone ready to call for help if necessary. She realized at some point in the night she must have taken her sling off in her sleep, but that didn't matter now. All that mattered was that she check on her daughters and make sure they were okay.

One glance in the girls' room showed three empty cribs. Panic soared through Grace as she half ran, half stumbled down the stairs.

The normal scents of fresh-brewed coffee, crispy bacon and eggs calmed her as she entered the kitchen and saw her three girls all happily seated at their high chairs and enjoying a mess of scrambled eggs on their trays.

Jake stood at the stove with his back to her. He wore only a pair of jeans and was singing a rap-style rendition of "Rock-a-Bye Baby."

It was at that moment that Grace knew without a doubt that she was in love with him. She was head over heels in love with Jake Johnson.

She'd seen his tenderness with her daughters, tasted the pa.s.sion in his kiss. She was in love with him and there was nothing she could do about it, no way to change it.

She must have made some sort of noise, for he whirled around, spatula in hand, and gave her a smile that warmed her from her head to her toes.

"There she is, girls. Your mommy, our own sleeping beauty, has finally decided to get out of bed." He pointed her to a seat at the table. "Sit and relax. Bacon and eggs in about three minutes. I hope you like your eggs over however. Sometimes they're sunny and soft and sometimes they break."

"Over however is my very favorite," she said as she gave each girl a kiss on their foreheads, then sat at the table. Abby's T-shirt was on inside out and Bonnie was wearing Casey's shorts, but it was obvious Jake had done his best to get the girls up and dressed for the day.

She was grateful when he turned back to face the stove so she could have a moment to get her newly recognized emotion under control. She'd known she was getting too close to Jake, feeling wildly s.e.xually attracted to him, but it wasn't until now that the full force of her love for him crashed inside her heart.

"Where's your sling?" he asked as he placed a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of her.

"Probably on the floor next to your bed. I take it off in my sleep. Aren't you eating?" she asked as she took the fork and napkin he offered her.

"Already ate. I wasn't sure what all the girls should have for breakfast so I smooshed up some banana for them before I gave them the eggs. Was that okay?"

"Perfect." His bare chest made it difficult for her to concentrate on anything he was saying. That muscled chest should be outlawed for its effect on helpless women trying to eat their breakfast.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and joined her at the table. "How did you sleep?"

"Surprisingly well, considering."

His eyes narrowed slightly and lingered on her throat. "How's your neck?"

"A little sore, but I'm going to be fine." She watched as he used a napkin and wiped egg from Casey's chin as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do.

"You'd make an awesome father, Jake." The words slipped from her unbidden.

He frowned and tossed the napkin aside. "I've spent most of my life fathering my brother. I don't have the desire or the energy to father anyone else."

"Why don't you stop?"

"Stop what?"

She broke off a piece of her toast, but instead of popping it into her mouth she set it on the side of her plate and kept her gaze focused on his eyes. "Why don't you stop fathering Justin?"

She could tell her question irritated him, and maybe that's what she'd intended. Maybe she wanted to see him a little bit angry with her to somehow diminish what was in her heart for him.

"It's complicated." He took a sip of his coffee and eyed her over the rim of the cup. When he lowered it he gave her a tight smile. "I could ask you the same question. Why are you still mothering your sister?"

She hadn't expected him to turn the tables on her. "Okay, you're right. It's complicated. There are some nights I go to bed and swear to myself that the next time she gets herself in a fix I'm going to force her to get herself out of it."

"I've had plenty of those same kinds of nights," he replied. "I know Justin drinks too much and he's irresponsible. I know he makes bad choices, and most of the time I clean them up for him. But just about the time I decide to wash my hands of him, I get a vision in my head of my old man beating the c.r.a.p out of him when he was about six, and I remember I made myself a promise that I'd always take care of Justin."

She heard the tension in his voice and realized he'd gone to a dark place in his mind with his memories of his father. "It was a tough childhood," he continued. "Every morning I'd wake up and wonder if that was the day my dad was going to kill either me or one of my brothers."

"What a terrible way to live," she replied softly.

"It was, and the worst part was we never saw it coming. Dad was mercurial with his moods. I remember one night at dinner we were all sitting at the table. It had been a relatively pleasant day and Dad seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Then Justin reached for the bowl of mashed potatoes. Dad backhanded him so hard his chair tipped over backward and Justin crashed to the floor. He got up, got settled back in his chair, and Dad asked him if he wanted more of what he'd just gotten. Justin said no, but he'd still like to have some more mashed potatoes."

Jake shook his head and released a small laugh. "Justin never did know when to stop playing the fool."

Grace's heart hurt for the little boys they had been. She couldn't imagine a childhood like what they had endured. "What happened?"

Jake shrugged. "Dad pa.s.sed him the potatoes and the meal went on as if nothing had happened." He leaned back in his chair and drew a deep breath, then released it on a weary wind of resignation. "I know I cut him too much slack, run to his rescue way too often. There are times I just can't get the vision of him as a kid out of my head."

"But he's not a kid anymore," Grace said gently. "He's a man. It was different for me and Natalie," she said, trying to ease some of the darkness in his eyes. "I recognized fairly early that my mother wasn't capable of giving me the emotional support and love that I needed. I also realized fairly young that it was not a problem with me, but rather a problem with her."

"That's a pretty astute thing for a kid to figure out." He got up to pour himself more coffee.

"Mom was different with Natalie, more involved with her but not in the ways Natalie needed most. Mom would buy things for Natalie, spoil her with expensive items and toys, but she never gave Natalie what she needed most, which was her time and love."

"And so you have tried to make up for that with your sister." He returned to the table and offered her a rueful smile. "We're quite a pair, you know. Both of us trying to heal the damage our parents inflicted on our siblings." His smile faded as he looked at the girls in their high chairs. "He's never going to be what they need in their lives. I just don't think he's capable."

She nodded. "I know that now, and that's okay. I can't force him to be something he isn't." She raised a hand to her throat. "Now I just want to know if Shirley was the one who tried to kill me. It would be nice if I left in the morning with some kind of closure about what really happened here."

"I'm hoping Greg will have some news for us sometime today. Are you sure you'll be well enough to head home in the morning?"

Experimentally she moved her shoulder and winced slightly. "It's still sore, but much better than it's been. I think I'll be fine. If I need help when I get home I'll arrange for some." She stared at him for a long moment and once again her love for him buoyed up inside her, pressing tight against her chest. "It's time for me to go home, Jake." She had to leave, because she so desperately didn't want to leave him.

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, and then closed it again and nodded. By that time the girls were finished with their breakfast. "Da-da," Bonnie said to Jake and held out her arms.

"Don't worry, she doesn't mean it," Grace said as she carried her plate to the sink, rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher. "Most babies say *da-da' pretty regularly. It's an easy sound for them to make. We'll just get them settled in the living room for some playtime and you can take care of whatever ch.o.r.es you need to do."

"I'm not doing any ch.o.r.es today. I'm not leaving your side, Grace. I told you last night that I'd make sure nothing else happened to you while you were here and I meant it. My ranch hands can take care of anything that needs attention outside. Today it's just you and me and the girls."

He grabbed Bonnie from the high chair and then filled his other arm with Abby. There was nothing more appealing that a man dressed in babies, Grace thought as she carefully picked up Casey, using her good arm to do most of the work.

They got the girls settled in the living room. At that moment Grace's cell phone rang. She dug it out of her robe pocket, pleased to see on the caller ID that it was Natalie.

"Hey, sis," she said, trying to ignore how cute Jake looked seated on the floor with the girls. "I'm glad to finally hear from you."

"I was busy all day yesterday. I got a job," Natalie said.

"Natalie, that's wonderful! Where? Doing what?"

"It's just a waitressing job, but it's at a nice restaurant and the tips are decent and I kind of like it."

"But that's great," Grace exclaimed. "There's nothing wrong with waitressing, and at least it will give you a reason to get up in the mornings." And hopefully a sense of responsibility, Grace thought.

"So, what's up with you? When are you coming home? I miss you."

Grace smiled at her sister's words. "I miss you, too. And I'm planning on heading home first thing in the morning, so I should be there by noon at the latest."

"I'm working until five or so. I'll stop by your place as soon as I get off. Nothing has changed between you and Justin?"

"I've never met a man less likely to step up to be a father, so no, nothing has changed."

"Sorry about that. Kiss the girls for me and I'll see you tomorrow."

"I will," Grace agreed. She hung up and smiled at Jake. "She got a job."

"Congratulations," he replied. "That's got to be a relief."

"It is. She started yesterday, waitressing someplace. Let's just hope she can keep it for more than a week. Natalie has always been fairly good at getting jobs, it's been keeping them that's been the issue."

"Maybe this time will be different."

"Famous last words," she said and flashed him a rueful smile.

"Now, why don't you run upstairs and get dressed for the day while I watch the munchkins," he suggested. "Because I've got to tell you the truth, seeing you in that silky robe through breakfast has made my mind wander to places it definitely shouldn't."

"Oh." Grace's cheeks filled with heat. "And maybe while I do that you should pull on a shirt so I don't have the same problem," she replied and then turned and hurried up the stairs.

Desire for Jake nipped at her heels as she raced into her bedroom, a healthy desire coupled with the quieter, wondrous feeling of love.