Stipulations and Complications

by Becki Willis

  He peered down at Maddy to see her reaction. His heart stalled in his chest. For him, it had been nothing less than magic. Life altering. But— “Are you… crying?”

  “M-Maybe.” Her voice was small.

  His heart hurt, thinking she did not share the same feelings of wonder. The same sense of rightness. Devastated, his arms dropped from around her.

  “I’m sorry,” he said stiffly. “That’s not the response I was going for. I thought we got it right that time.”

  “We did.”

  “Then… why are you crying?”

  She lifted her gaze, tears swimming in the bright hazel of her eyes. “Because it was so perfect,” she whispered.

  Relief washed over him, settling into his weakened knees. He had never felt so relieved — nor so exposed — in his forty-two years of life. He wanted to celebrate. He wanted to shout to the world that he and Maddy were… What? Perfect together, that’s what.

  Before he could swoop her into his arms, she continued. “That’s what scares me. Perfect never lasts. Perfect’s not real.”

  He tried to make light of the situation, but the warble in his voice was heartfelt. “Give me another chance. I promise not to do so well this time.”

  She reached up to finger the sharp line of his jaw. A tiny thrill shot through her when she felt him quiver beneath her touch. How could he possibly understand? She had dreamed of this kiss for over half her life. She had been half in love, half in awe, of this man since she was fifteen years old. This kiss had been everything she had dreamed of. More than she had hoped for. It fulfilled her every teenage fantasy.

  Her eyes fell to his mouth. He saw the desire in her eyes. The temptation.

  “Find out,” he challenged softly.

  She jerked her eyes back to his. “Wh—What?”

  “You’re wondering if it was a fluke. The one and only perfect kiss. You’re thinking a second kiss couldn’t possibly be as good as the first. So find out.”

  Madison drew in a sharp breath. Did she dare? And what if it weren’t? What if it destroyed her fantasy? The romantic girl inside her heart begged that she be satisfied, to leave well enough alone. She could savor her one perfect kiss. Let it be enough.

  But the red-blooded woman inside her body accepted his challenge. Maddy raised her face to his, pressing her warm mouth against his, willing to take the risk. As she threaded her fingers into his dark russet hair and pulled his face to hers, she knew one kiss would never be enough.

  A long moment later, Brash lifted his head. A confident smile tickled the corners of his mouth. “Well?”

  “Damn it, Brash, that one was even more perfect than the first.” She sounded slightly annoyed as she pulled her arms from his neck and straightened her shirt.

  He chuckled at her discomposure. “Why, Madison, I’ve never heard you curse before,” he teased.

  “Oh, sorry.” She waved away the blunder. Beneath her breath, she grumbled, “I can barely remember my name right now, much less my manners.”

  It thrilled Brash to see the normally cool Madison Reynolds so flustered. Does wonders for a man’s ego, he thought, his chest puffed with joy. Not to mention his heart. With a twinkle in his eye, he playfully bumped her shoulder with his. “I tell you what. I’m willing to try this kissing thing over and over, until one of us finally messes up. What about it? You game?”

  She gave him a scornful look and changed the subject. “I believe you mentioned eating?”

  “That’s right. Not a proper date without dinner.” He scooted off the tailgate with ease, then offered his hand to help her down. She knew he would use the excuse to steal another kiss.

  Even short and sweet, his kiss was perfect. “Yep, still got it,” he teased.

  Maddy rolled her eyes. “You’re going to be impossible now, aren’t you? I should have never opened my mouth.”

  He let his eyes trail wickedly down to the mouth in question. “Oh, but I’m so glad you did,” he rumbled.

  Amazing how one look could burn like fire. Maddy’s feet faltered and she felt herself blushing like a schoolgirl. Flirting with Brash deCordova — even better, having Brash flirt with her — was an exhilarating experience.

  Brash reached into the backseat of his pickup and pulled out the essentials for a picnic. He tossed a ragged but colorful quilt her way as he carried the cardboard box. After selecting a relatively flat spot along the riverbank, they spread out the cloth and pulled their feast from the box.

  “No picnic basket, I see,” she teased.

  “Baskets are for sissies,” he claimed. “This is what a real man’s picnic looks like.” He pulled out a roll of paper towels and waved them in the air. “Dual purpose, less waste. Used as both plate and napkin.” Next came a Tupperware container. “Sandwiches. My gourmet specialty, bacon and pimento cheese.” He kept digging. “Saltines. Cookies for dessert.”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Homemade, I see.”

  “I just use the fancy printed wrapper to keep them fresh,” he assured her. He pulled the final items from his cardboard box. “Red plastic cups. Good for sweet tea,” – he pulled out a Thermos — “song inspiration, or the pièce de résistance, wine from our local vineyard.”

  “Not bad for a cardboard box.”

  The sun dipped low as they shared their simple fare. As dusk crept across the sky, the air turned chilly. Brash brought her jacket from the truck and curled it around her shoulders, allowing his hands to linger. He nuzzled her cheek with a kiss.

  “I’m glad you called, Maddy. I was going crazy, thinking you might not.”

  It was a little late to warn him not to read too much into her call. Definitely too late to pretend she wasn’t interested.

  “It’s been a crazy week,” she opted to say. “Thank you for use of your thinking spot. You might be on to something with your ‘highly scientific method’ of problem solving.”

  “Just wait until I show you my stress relieving techniques,” he murmured, blowing softly into her ear. When she shivered, he asked, “Still cold?”

  She looked him directly in the eye and shook her head. “Not at all.”

  Brash swallowed hard and pulled away, readjusting himself as he settled close beside her. “Don’t look at me like that, Maddy,” he warned. “I might forget that I’m a gentleman, and that this is our first date.”

  “I’m not worried,” she told him, brushing away a lock of his dark hair. “You are, after all, a man of honor.”

  It pleased him to know she finally thought so. He pulled her against him as they found a comfortable position upon the hard ground and watched the sun sink behind the trees. Vivid streaks of color painted the sky and reflected off the river below. Wildflowers scented the air. The wind lay low and only a faint breeze stirred the encroaching darkness. In the distance cattle bellowed and motors whirred, but the evening around them was quiet and still.

  “Perfect,” Madison pronounced.

  “Mmm.” His fingers trailed over her arm, tracing the lazy pattern of a lover’s caress.

  As darkness settled around them, Madison snuggled deeper into his arms. She sat within the curve of his body, her back against his chest, their long legs intertwined at the ankles.

  “How did you manage to get away from the department tonight?” she asked. “Are you on duty?”

  “Nope. Told ‘em I was out of service for the night. Not to call me unless there was a dire emergency.”

  “Did you remind them that a goat trampling Myrna Lewis’ prized begonias did not qualify as an emergency?”

  “Sure did. Neither does Miss Sybille’s dog getting lost in the old sewer tunnels or Everett Howell’s horse walking down Main Street because it knows how to open the stall door. I think there’s a city ordinance against keeping animals within three hundred feet of the railroad tracks, but since he’s mayor of Naomi, no one enforces it.”

  “So I have you all to myself this evening?”

  “Yep, looks like you’re stuck with me. Unless you have a
curfew?”

  Madison laughed. “Actually, I don’t, not tonight. Blake went home with Jamal, Beth is spending the night with Megan, and Granny had Bingo. They usually go out to eat afterward, so there’s no telling what time she’ll drag in. Sadly enough, my grandmother has a more active social life than I do.”

  “Granny Bert is a pistol, that’s for sure,” he said affectionately. He dipped his head to nuzzle her neck, encouraged when she stretched the long column for his nibbling pleasure. “I’d be willing to help you out on that social problem. Can’t have your eighty-year-old granny going out more often than you, after all.”

  “Mmm. That’s thoughtful of you.”

  Brash moved his mouth near her ear, his warm breath fanning over her and sending delightful shivers over her body. “This is our first date, but I want a second. A third. A twenty-fourth.”

  When Maddy laughed, the sound was almost gleeful. “Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you there, Chief?”

  “Like I told you before, sweetheart, I want a future with you.”

  The words sounded so beautiful in his deep, rich voice. So promising. Almost possible. Maddy hugged the arms that encircled her and deftly changed the subject.

  “Something you said a while ago… I think I want you to help me buy a gun, Brash. A pistol.”

  She felt him stiffen behind her. “A gun? Why do you want a gun, Madison?”

  “It’s not that I want one. But I think I might need one.”

  He physically turned her around to face him. “Why? Has something happened? Something you haven’t told me about?”

  “No. Not really. But like Derron pointed out, I sometimes travel out and about the countryside, and there are known to be cougars and wild hogs in the area.”

  “I’ll be sure and get you a pair of running shoes, too. If you’re close enough to shoot either one of those with a pistol, you’d better be doing it on the run.”

  She could hear his sarcasm. She knew she was not fooling him. “So many things have been happening lately,” she admitted. “And you have to admit, I’ve had a rather unusual series of . . . events since I moved here three months ago. I’ve been run off the road, rammed into a train, stuffed in an incinerator, locked in a room and now a stairwell, trapped in a wall, almost run over by a dirt bike…”

  He stopped her before she could go further. “I’d rather buy you a roll of bubble wrap and keep you protected. It makes my blood run cold, thinking of how many times I’ve almost lost you.”

  “Bubble wrap. I haven’t thought of that. Wonder if Blake and Bethani would mind if I wrapped them both up nice and tight…”

  “I’m serious, Maddy. I’ve just now found you. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “Says the man who faces danger every day. I feel the same way, you know. You’re a police officer, Brash. A special investigator for the sheriff’s office. What if something happens to you?” She shuddered at the very thought.

  “I’m glad to know you care enough to worry. But don’t. I’m a big boy. And yes, I’ll help you get a gun. After you take a gun safety course.”

  “Of course.” She turned back around and took up residence against his chest once more. She curled her hands over his as he wrapped both arms around her. Being in his arms already felt so natural. So right.

  “I know I said I don’t like to talk shop while on a date, but I have something I want to run by you. I’d like to hire you again.”

  She didn’t know which was more promising, the thought of an income, or the opportunity to see Brash each day. Either way, it was a win-win situation.

  “I’m sure I could fit you in,” she said in her most professional voice. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I need someone to do a record search, as in plural. Over several decades. Again, plural.”

  “What are you looking for?”

  “Anyone who might have something to lose if those journals are discovered.”

  “You think it has to do with the journals, too, don’t you? That’s my theory. I don’t care what Nick says, I don’t think kids are behind this. And I certainly don’t believe in ghosts.”

  “I think it has to do with the journals and with that skeleton we found.”

  “Any word from Austin?”

  “Nah. With hundreds of urgent active cases to process, identifying a fifty-or-more-year-old skeleton falls pretty low on the totem pole.”

  “But that body belonged to someone, Brash. And I think it has something to do with all those secret passageways. At the very least, with the hidden staircase.”

  “I agree. But unless we find those journals, we might never know what that is.” They shared a mutual sigh. “Do you have any more ideas of where to look?”

  “I found one promising spot, just as I heard the person moving around downstairs. To be honest, I had already forgotten about it.”

  She felt the tension coil within his body. A few moments ticked by.

  To give him credit, he tried. He never moved, never shifted, but Maddy detected the faint twitch in his corded arms.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she finally asked.

  She felt his sigh of relief. He had tried to stay relaxed, but the lawman in him was restless. “We have the keys,” he reasoned. “I declared the premises off limits, but you are the homeowner.”

  “And you are the chief of police.”

  They had the picnic tidied up in no time. As he stuffed it all back into the truck, Brash had a moment of regret.

  “Are we sure we want to do this? We have the evening to ourselves. That might not happen again anytime soon.”

  “I know. But I don’t think either one of us could really enjoy ourselves. Our minds would be on the case.”

  Instead of crawling into the truck, Brash shut the door behind him and hauled her into his arms. “You see?” he said. “Our minds think alike. Another reason we’re perfect together.”

  It was another ten minutes before they actually left. One kiss led to another, and then another. Madison could have spent the entire evening in his arms, but the damage had been done. Even lost in the magic of his kiss, the thought of the secret location lingered in her mind.

  “I’ll call dispatch, tell them it’s us at the house,” Brash said as they pulled away from the river.

  “Good idea. I don’t want to be called in for trespassing on my own property.” Thoughts of trespassing brought to mind her foray onto the Adams’ land. “What’s the penalty for trespassing, by the way?”

  “It’s punishable by fine. In some cases, jail time. A criminal record. Not something to be taken lightly.” He assumed she was talking about recent activity at the Big House. “I made certain there were plenty of signs posted around the property, so that an intruder would have no ground to stand on, claiming they didn’t know it was private property.”

  “So posting a sign is enough to press charges, should a person come onto your property?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Madison made no comment. She visualized the dozens of ‘Posted’ and ‘No Trespassing’ signs she had seen strung along Hank Adams’ fence line.

  Oops.

  Chapter Twelve

  Across town, Bethani and best friend Megan deCordova piled onto the futon, fortified with a barrel of popcorn, Dr. Pepper floats, fashion magazines, cell phones, chocolate candy, and the remote control. Everything two fifteen-year-old girls needed for a Saturday night sleepover.

  “Can you believe it?” Megan squealed with glee. “Connor Evans asked me to the prom! This is so unbelievable!”

  “I thought Miley was going to pee her pants when she saw him talking to you. She is soooo in love with him. She’s been telling everyone he asked her to go to prom. Now she has to suck face and admit she’s been lying all this time.”

  Some of the joy fell from Megan’s face. “My dad will never let me go. He says fifteen is too young to go to senior prom.”

  “I hear the same thing from my mother,” Bethani
commiserated. “Not that anyone has asked me. I was afraid Kevin might, but I sorta brushed him off the other day, so maybe he got the hint. I know Kaci likes him. But Connor Evans? You are so lucky, Meg! He’s like The Sisters High royalty!”

  “I know, right?” Megan pushed stylish purple-rimmed glasses further up her perky nose, sending a sheet of long russet hair over her shoulder with a flick of the wrist. Grabbing a frosty float, she leaned back into the cushions and dunked the ice cream up and down with the spoon as she contemplated her situation. “He’s definitely hot. And maybe if I could go out with him, then maybe Russell might give me a second look. He’s the one I’d rather go out with. I’d give anything to catch his eye.”

  “That might be hard to do. He’s all about Miley.” Bethani rolled her eyes at the injustice of it all. Miley Redmond was their archrival and a bane to their teenage existence.

  Savoring the taste of rich vanilla ice cream mixed with her favorite soft drink, Megan closed her eyes in pleasure. They popped back open immediately, and a huge grin lit her face.

  “You know what this is like?”

  Bethani shrugged. “Karma? Miley likes Connor, Connor likes you.”

  “That, too. But no, this is exactly like our parents, back in high school!” She scooted up on the futon, her face shining with excitement. She loved a romantic story, and her parents spun a sweet one. It even had a happy ending. “Your mom always had a crush on my dad. He was a senior, big man on campus, just like Connor. But my dad had a crush on my mother. She was a cheerleader, like me. Instead of liking my dad all that much during high school, she liked one of his best friends. Just like I like Russell, who is Connor’s best friend.”

  Bethani knew the story. “Momma Matt,” she nodded. She had taken to calling Megan’s stepfather the same affectionate name Megan did.

  “That’s right. But he had a huge crush on your mom. Sort of like Russell has a crush on Miley. And at the time, our moms didn’t like each other very much, just like I can’t stand Miley.”