Lone Defender (Love Inspired Suspense) by Shirlee McCoy Page A

and the plastic bottle of medicine there. She didn’t speak, though. Just rested her head on the window, the rhythm of the truck matching the pulsing rhythm of her heart. She let it carry her away from the pain, the truck, Jonas and his unspoken questions. Let herself drift for just a little while.
    “Skylar?” A callused hand smoothed hair from her cheek, and she jerked upright, scared out of her mind that she was back where she’d been a week ago, lying on the front seat of the jeep, the sun streaming in through the window, scorching her face.
    “Where are we?” She looked into ocean blue eyes, fear slipping away as reality took hold. The hospital visit. The truck ride. Jonas.
    “My place.” Jonas got out of the truck, and she did the same, stumbling from the cab with little grace, her movements shaky and disjointed.
    To her left, a small house stood in the middle of a landscaped yard. Yellow stucco bungalow. Whitewashed front porch. Baskets of flowers hanging from the eaves. Comfortable, homey. Nothing like the house she’d imagined Jonas living in. Everything like the one she’d once dreamed would be hers.
    She’d wanted it so much. The pretty little house. The kids laughing in the yard. The family she could go home to.
    “It’s adorable.”
    “Thanks. I think.”
    “Adorable is good.”
    “I’d prefer masculine and tough, but my sister’s vision is a lot different than mine, and I gave her carte blanche when she moved into the garage apartment.” He gestured to a detached garage that sat a few yards from the house, an external stairway leading up to a second-story door.
    “She’s a decorator?”
    “A social worker. At least, she will be once she finishes her master’s thesis. She has a good eye, though, just like Debby, and she knows how to make a house a home. It made sense to let her take charge of the cosmetics.”
    “Jonas!” The apartment door flew open, and a curvy blonde hurried down the stairs. Mid-twenties, Skylar estimated, her hair falling in a sleek bob to her chin, she looked as effortlessly beautiful as Debby.
    “I thought you were going to clear out before we got here,” Jonas growled, and the young woman shrugged.
    “I’m packing.”
    “For a few days, Rayne, not a year. That doesn’t take an hour and a half.”
    “It does when a person actually cares about how she looks.” She patted her hair, offering a saucy smile that made her seem even younger than Skylar had first thought. “Besides, I wanted to meet your guest. I’m Rayne Sampson.” She offered a hand, and Skylar took it.

    “Skylar Grady.”
    “I know. My mother filled me in. Said I should take out a container of her chicken-noodle soup and let it thaw, because you’d need it. I think you need a change of clothes and a shower more. Am I right? Come on. I’ll show you around, get you settled before I head out.” She slid an arm around Skylar’s waist, the same way her mother had done at the hospital.
    “You’re staying with Debby and Dad, right?” Jonas followed them up the stairs and into a small living room, his presence dwarfing the comfortable couch and easy chair, overshadowing the homey decorations. He’d been larger than life out in the desert. The small room only showcased his height, the breadth of his shoulders, the force of his gaze.
    “Tonight, I’m staying with Rachel. We were planning on heading to the college library to work, then getting some dinner, so it made more sense than driving all the way from the university to Mom and Dad’s place.”
    “You didn’t tell Rachel why you needed a place to stay, did you?”
    “I may be your younger sister, Jonas, but I’m not a child. I’ve seen the news. I know some crazy things are going on, and I figured you are trying to keep Skylar hidden away for a few days. If anyone finds out she’s here, it won’t be because of me.”
    “Sorry. It’s been a long few days.” Jonas raked a hand over glossy black hair, and Skylar couldn’t help