The Big Bad Wolf Tells All

by Donna Kauffman

  Rina and Sloan looked at her questioningly, but Tanzy mouthed, “I’ll explain later,” and quickly escorted Martin to the front parlor, which she and Riley had agreed would be the meeting location.

  “I’m so sorry to drag you out here on a weekend.” She tried hard not to sound nervous, and yet she had to clasp her hands together to keep them from shaking. It was ridiculous really. He was her boss. Her friend. And it took every bit of willpower she possessed to keep from blurting out, “Are you obsessively in love with me?” Just the fact that she’d thought it should make her want to laugh hysterically. Instead she felt like she was going to puke.

  “I had no idea,” he was saying, smiling at her, also looking somewhat nervous. “About the party, I mean. I feel like I’m intruding.”

  Were those the words of a man who’d been stalking her? She didn’t think so. Or didn’t want to think so.

  “Trust me, with all the hoopla going on in there, I’ll never be missed.” Probably not the thing to mention to a potential stalker.

  “Wow,” he said upon entering the parlor. “I see your aunt believes in leaving no room undecorated.” He wandered into the room, looking at the various ornaments, pausing beneath the giant chandelier.

  Tanzy thought about the first time she’d stood there, the moment she’d first met Riley. She knew he was watching them, right this very second. She cleared her throat. She and Riley had agreed on this course of action, but putting it into motion was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be. “I, uh, I have some papers I want you to look at.” The plan was to show him the SoulM8 emails, explain her concerns, without necessarily coming right out and asking him directly if he was behind the emails. She—and Riley—would monitor his reaction. And, at the very least, get his fingerprints on the documents.

  “Oh?” He glanced at her, must have seen something in her expression, because his shoulders slumped and he let out a long sigh. “Oh,” he repeated, this time with great resignation. “I knew it.”

  Tanzy’s heart plummeted. Dear God, could it really be? He’d probably suspected the jig was up when she invited him here. That explained his nervousness. She should have been freaked out by the quasi-admission, but looking at the bleak expression on his face, all she could feel was sad. Immeasurably sad. For both of them. “Martin, really, you had to know that I’d—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he interrupted, still not looking at her. “I saw it coming. I—I just didn’t want to believe it.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “It sounds crazy, because I know this is business, not personal. But . . . well, I guess I always felt like we were more than merely business associates. That we’d be together for the long haul.”

  “Oh, Martin.” Tanzy wanted to cry. How had this happened? When had this happened? But he looked so forlorn, she couldn’t bring herself to torture him with a barrage of questions. Yes, she’d been victimized by him, but it was clear now that, from his perspective, they’d been harmless love letters. Oh, Martin. If only she’d confronted him sooner they could have both saved themselves a great deal of anguish.

  “Listen, I know this is hard—”

  He laughed, though there was no humor in it. “So what else is new?” He sighed again. “When your column took off, I admit I got a little excited. I guess I needed to feel . . . needed. My life has been—well, you don’t need to hear about that. The thing is, I let my own selfish needs blind me.”

  “You’re going through a rough time,” Tanzy told him. “We all have them.”

  Just then Rina poked her head in. “I’m really, really sorry to interrupt, but the punch bowl is empty, the food is disappearing, and Sue is hip deep in diaper pails and baby blankets. You said no caterer, so can you direct me to where the rest of the stuff is?”

  Tanzy looked at Rina, then at Martin, who waved his hand. “Go, go. Please. I feel guilty enough as it is. We can finish all this up later.”

  “Are you sure?” She glanced at Rina, who was looking more than a little overwhelmed, and said, “I’ll be out in a minute, just go hold the fort down.” She looked back at Martin, who nodded.

  “Please,” he said.

  “Okay.” She sighed then, unable to believe it was all over. And so simply. She looked at Martin, who looked miserable. Okay, not so simply. Not for him. “Why don’t you at least stay long enough to grab a bite to eat, maybe look around a little. I know you’ve mentioned before you always wanted to see Big Harry. I wish I had time for a guided tour—”

  He shook his head. “No, I understand. And . . . well, I want to thank you. For being strong enough to do this face-to-face. You’re a class act. Always have been.”

  Tanzy smiled, felt like she was going to cry. “Thanks. So have you.” She pointed him in the direction of the party. “Go. Have quiche. It sounds like it’s winding down. Millicent is here. She loves to show off the place, especially at Christmas.”

  She foisted him off on Rina, then ducked down the hall, pushing the punch-bowl cart laden with empty food platters to the kitchens for a refill. The reality that it was truly and finally over began to sink in, leaving her feeling almost light-headed, giddy. Mariel, she noted, seemed thrilled with all her booty. Rina had mentioned that Mariel’d been particularly touched by the baby-milestones journaling book Sue had helped Tanzy pick out. Appropriate from a writer, she’d thought. She’d noticed Sue looking over the mountain of baby gifts, cooing and ahhing, as she’d left the room.

  “Oh, she’s definitely next,” she murmured, trundling down the hall. Anyone who looked that rapturous over some contraption that cleaned diapers was a total goner. At least it looked like Mariel would have someone to gab baby with, mercifully leaving the rest of them out of it.

  God, the kitchen looked like a war zone. Millicent had offered to have the entire event catered and they’d eventually agreed to have the food brought in, but no wait staff. Tanzy hated having to insist on that, but after the charity ball, both she and Riley felt better knowing there was no hired help on the premises, no matter how vetted the caterer was ahead of time. Looking at the kitchens now, with the stalker crisis over and done with, she really wished she’d lightened up on the catering embargo.

  “Need a hand?”

  Tanzy squealed and jumped about a foot. Hand to her chest, she turned to find Riley lounging in the doorway. “God, you scared ten years off of me.”

  “I’m sorry, I thought you heard me.” He took the bowl from her hands and put it on the counter, then drew her into his arms. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I guess you saw and heard everything?”

  “Yeah.” He didn’t say anything else, just pulled her against his chest and rubbed her back. “I’m sorry.”

  She hadn’t known what to expect from Riley. She should have known it would be compassion. For her, and for Martin. “It’s so sad, really. I think he was just lonely. And one thing led to another and he built up this whole other fantasy in his head. I just wish I’d brought it all out in the open sooner.”

  “We didn’t know. And I still think it was better to be cautious.”

  She smiled up at him. “Yeah, easy to say now that being cautious ended up landing us in bed together.”

  “Well, there is that.” He grinned, then leaned down and kissed her. “I was really proud of how you handled the whole thing.”

  She hugged him. “Thanks. I—” She shook her head. “It’s going to be a little weird for a while, but I think we nipped it off in a way that will allow us to salvage our working relationship okay. I just hope he gets some help.”

  “Yeah.” Riley looked beyond her to the disaster area that was the kitchen. “You’ll be happy to know I gave Millicent the go-ahead to bring in a cleaning crew when this is over.”

  “Does she know? About Martin?”

  “I didn’t think this was the right time. Who knows what she’d say to him.”

  Tanzy shuddered, glad they’d never included her great-aunt in their little plan. She’d have never been able to pull it off if she tho
ught Millicent was out in the foyer, eavesdropping on the whole thing. Which she assuredly would have been, one way or the other. “True. What did you tell her?”

  “I just whispered that the crisis was over and that we’d discuss it later, after the party. She’s off giving Martin the grand tour.”

  “Oh, good.” She took a breath, then let it out. “I can’t believe it’s really over.” She looked at the punch cart. “I guess I’d better get out there with more stuff before they start gnawing on the diapers. Who knew a bunch of women could eat and drink so much. Must be all the baby talk. Nesting hormones and eating for two, and all that rot.”

  Riley laughed. “It’s not contagious, you know.”

  “Tell that to Sue.” Tanzy began arranging food on the empty platters. “Sloan showed up.”

  “Yeah, I saw.”

  “Right. I forgot. You were upstairs playing Rocket Powers, International Man of Mystery.”

  “You’re so amusing.”

  She gave him a cheeky grin. “I certainly try.”

  He kissed her, and what started out as a brief kiss turned into another, then another. “You sure you don’t want to leave a bit early? I think wrapping this up deserves a celebration. I had something for two in mind.”

  “I can’t leave until this is done. Sue would never forgive me. As it is, she’ll want a full explanation of where I was during the gift oohing and ahhing portion of her program. I figure we have another hour at least.” She smacked at his arm when he went to pull her back into his arms. “Stop flirting with the help.”

  “Wait till I show off my big muscles and manhandle that full punch bowl onto the cart for you. Gets ’em every time.”

  “If you really want to prove your manhood, you’ll roll the cart into the parlor so I can carry these last trays of food out there.”

  He didn’t even blink. “Sure thing.”

  “I don’t think you understand. A roomful of women? Playing with baby things? Nesting? Cooing? It’s the estrogen ocean in there.”

  He just winked. “I’m Rocket Powers, remember? If you get bored or you just need a break from bassinettes and strollers, you know where to find me.” He rolled the cart to the door.

  Tanzy pictured the women in the room enjoying watching Riley. She certainly did. He’d make an interesting contrast to all the pinks and blues, geese and mice. “Be brave,” she called after him.

  “I’ve managed to face the best defense the NFL can throw at me. I can handle this.”

  “Ah, but you underestimate us, grasshopper. Women have a sixth sense about weak spots. And you with that bum knee.” She tsked. “You’ll never stand a chance.”

  “You’ll rescue me if necessary?”

  She grinned and patted her hip. “I’ve got my estrogen laser gun already set to stun.” She heard him chuckling as he rolled the cart down the hall. Still grinning, she turned back to the trays of food, suddenly feeling a whole lot more settled about the entire thing.

  She was actually humming a tune to Jack and Jill, as she arranged the similarly themed salt and pepper shakers on one of the trays, when she heard him come back in.

  “If you’re coming back in here to lure me upstairs,” she began, a wicked smile curving her lips, “you just might succeed. Because I was thinking that I could save some of these cherries and—”

  “Finally, we’re alone. I’ve waited such a long time for this moment.”

  Tanzy started in surprise. It wasn’t Riley behind her. It was just one of the guests. What had she said? Waited such a long time for this—? Oh, she realized a second later. One of the ladies must have recognized her, had probably been waiting for a private moment to ask for an autograph.

  She pasted a smile on her face and spun around. And felt her heart stutter. It was the woman with the floppy flower hat. Mariel’s unfortunately frumpy relative. Only looking at her straight on, Tanzy now realized she’d seen her before. And not in Mariel’s family photo album. She’d been thrown off by the dead-brown shade of hair. It had been blond in the employee photo.

  “Margaret? Margaret Swingler?”

  Her eyes, hidden behind thick-lensed glasses that made even Riley’s sheep frames look stylish, widened slightly. “You’ve known? Known it was me?” She clasped her hands together, a look of almost maniacal rapture lighting her face.

  It was the maniacal part Tanzy keyed in on. Oh. My. God.

  Well, it appears I have an apology to make.

  Someone, who shall remain nameless, pointed out to me that by categorizing men into sheep and wolves, I was really shortchanging both groups. I wasn’t sure I agreed at the time. But now that I’m spending serious quality time with a man who could rightfully claim a space in both the herd and the pack, I suppose I have to admit that he might have had a point.

  Chapter 23

  Martin wasn’t her stalker after all!

  But then, what in the hell had they just been talking about in the front parlor?

  Tanzy would have to worry about that later. Right now, SoulM8’s sister, or cousin, or whoever, was definitely commanding all of her attention.

  And if this was indeed SoulM8’s sister, it was apparent the whack-job gene ran rampant in the family.

  “I hadn’t dreamed—” the woman began, obviously flustered now. “I thought— When I saw you with—” She stopped, and actually pulled a hanky from the sleeve of her poorly designed suit. She shifted her glasses so she could dab at the corners of her eyes. “But I see now. It all makes sense. It was just a cover, wasn’t it? If I’d only known you were waiting for me, I’d have come sooner.”

  Tanzy scrambled mentally, trying to figure out what in the world she was talking about. But coming on the heels of her supposed revelation from Martin, she was beyond comprehending what in the hell was going on. Margaret was obviously SoulM8’s messenger, no doubt about it, but now that her words were sinking in, it sounded a hell of lot like she was the one with the fixation. Oh God. “It was you all along,” Tanzy whispered. “The emails, the notes.” A woman. They’d never even suspected, always assumed—

  And it all came together then, making some bizarre sort of twisted sense. You don’t need any man. You have me.

  Mentally reviewing the emails in her head, all of them could have been written by a woman. Why hadn’t either of them seen that? They’d simply leaped to the assumption that if someone had developed this fanatical passion for her, it had to be a man. She actually had to bite back the sudden, hysterical urge to laugh. Tanzy Harrington, notorious man-eater, was being stalked by a lesbian!

  Margaret’s smile began to falter. “But I thought you just said—”

  “I—I did,” Tanzy said quickly, trying like hell to stay focused, to think on her feet. “It’s just—I can’t believe it’s you. That we’re finally meeting. For real.”

  Margaret seemed to calm down a bit, though it was hard to tell. Tanzy couldn’t stop staring at the overly bright light in the woman’s eyes. Was she hopped up on some kind of drug? Or just completely nuts?

  “Then I was right. He was for show,” Margaret said. “Just for show. That man. I should have known.” She was almost muttering, as if angry with herself. She clenched and unclenched her fists. “I should have come to you sooner. Just a decoy. I should have seen.”

  “Yes, he’s just a bodyguard,” Tanzy said, hoping to spin her along long enough so said bodyguard could come and find them both.

  Margaret swung her wild-eyed gaze to Tanzy. “Why didn’t you tell me! We could have been together. All this time.”

  The sudden shift in anger toward her made Tanzy jump. “My—my manager has this policy about providing protection when I do events. So—so I couldn’t let them know. A-about us. For my safety. And yours.” She had to force the bile back down her throat. “I sent you my schedule. Didn’t you get it? I thought you’d come, then maybe I’d be able to slip away from my bodyguard and—”

  “Liar!” Margaret suddenly screamed, her voice cracking oddly. “I saw you with h
im! On the dance floor. He—he put his hands on you.” She shuddered almost violently. “You allowed it!”

  “It was an act,” Tanzy said quickly, backing up as Margaret took a step toward her.

  She was grappling with her oversize, god-awful ugly purse. And Tanzy had a sick sense that there was a god-awful weapon tucked right inside of it, too.

  “I had to pretend, to keep the others away,” she improvised. “But I thought you, of all people, would see that.” She sidled a bit to the left, hoping for a good angle to the door in case she could somehow make a run for it.

  But Margaret saw her movement at the same instant she finally undid the clasp of her purse.

  Tanzy had been right about the god-awful weapon. And though one part of her brain very rationally decided that the tiny silver derringer Margaret pulled out wasn’t all that big, the other part of her brain decided, when the barrel was pointed right at her, that it might as well be a Howitzer.

  They were equally deadly.

  “Please, let me explain,” Tanzy said, hoping she sounded confident. And not like a woman about to have a hole blasted into her. Margaret’s hand was shaking, which didn’t help much, since she might accidentally pull the trigger. But it was proof that she wasn’t any cooler with this than Tanzy was.

  Tanzy took a deep, steadying breath and slowly reached out with her left hand. Her right hand crept behind her back, searching the counter for anything she might use as a weapon. “Please, Margaret. Give me the gun. We don’t need it.” It took every bit of her willpower to utter the next words. “I want to be with you.”

  And if she ever had any doubts that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Riley, they vanished right then. Because she’d have no trouble whatsoever saying those words to him. She loved him.

  Tanzy Harrington was in love.

  Great. It figured she’d only realize it moments before her tragic death.

  She kept her gaze directly on Margaret’s. “Don’t you want to be with me, too?”

  Margaret’s entire body began to tremble. “You don’t know how I’ve dreamed about you,” she said, her voice strangely hoarse. “About us.”