by Celya Bowers
He pulled her against him. “Yeah, me too. But Sean is sending someone to interview her in the morning.”
“Why is the CIA involved?”
“Because of that money. She lost her job, and has no other income, Sean is hoping she’s ready to talk.”
“What about that money Paul took?”
“That money can’t be touched. If she had known where the money was or had access to it, she would have moved immediately after he died.”
“I would still love to talk to her, woman to woman. To think she’d been having an affair with my husband, and then sit across from me at that meeting, just really pisses me off.”
He rubbed her back, hoping to control some of her anger. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. This time we’re going to have to let someone else do the work. We’re both too emotionally involved with it, to act logically.”
She leaned against him and nuzzled his neck. He was her calm in the storm. “You’re right, as usual. I love you, Tristan.”
“You didn’t give me an answer,” he said quietly, moving her onto his lap.
She kissed him, letting all the emotions of the day exit her body. “You didn’t ask me a question,” she answered between kisses.
Tristan continued the sensual love play. “Sure I did.” He bit her bottom lip. “Let’s get married.”
“Tristan!”
“What?” He moved in for another kiss.
This was going too fast. “Tristan MacDonald, are you asking me to marry you?” Her head was spinning. There was so much still in the air between them. “Tristan, I don’t think you’re thinking this through.”
“Doesn’t matter, if I have or not. I love you and need you in my life. I love your kids as though they were mine. Nothing will change the feelings in my heart.”
“I have to think about this, Tristan. I have to think about the kids. They have been through so much in the last month. This may be too much right now.”
“I’m not saying we have to get married tomorrow, Lizzy. We can take it slow, if you like.”
“So you’ve changed your mind,” she accused him. Was that her sounding like a crazy person? She really needed to get it together.
“No, but I want you to be sure. Take some time and think about it. I want you to want this as much as I do. I hadn’t plan on proposing, but when the time is right, there’s no fighting it.”
She so wanted to say yes. But she had to talk to the kids first. After all, they were a team. Right now, she just wanted to relax and solve the mystery of Paul Hall Sr.
“Come on, babe. It’s getting late and we both have to be up early.” He also filled her in on the contents of the report.
She hated when he was more logical than her. She was the parent. “Okay, I’ll just check on the kids, then I’ll be in.” She rose from his comfortable lap and started upstairs.
Tristan waited until she was out of sight before he let out a deep breath. It took every speech trick he knew to make his voice sound casual. He hadn’t wanted Lizzy to feel pressured and that was exactly what had happened. He should have broached the subjects with the kids before he opened his big mouth.
Now what, genius? He couldn’t back-track and recalling the proposal. No, he was going to have to ride this one out. He didn’t know which was worse: having his heart broken or her not immediately saying yes.
He thought of his first marriage. He hadn’t been in love. He thought it was time to be married, so he married. This time he was in love and wanted to do things right. Somehow, someway, he had to fix this mess.
By the time he made it upstairs, he had a speech all made out in his head. First, he checked on the kids as he did every night. He knew Lizzy also had looked in on them, but in the six weeks, they’d been under his roof, he couldn’t help it. They were both sound asleep, now he could turn his attention to their mother.
Once he opened the bedroom door, all thoughts of the speech went out of his head. Lizzy had lighted candles in the room. All over the room. She was sitting up in bed, apparently waiting for him. She was wearing a lacy number that was doing crazy things to his manly parts. He locked the door so the kids wouldn’t come in.
“I was beginning to think you weren’t coming to bed,” she said. “All this would have went to waste.” She motioned at the candles.
“Lizzy, what’s going on?” He reached into the dresser for a pair of pajamas. He smiled at the new addition to his wardrobe. He went inside the bathroom to change.
“Nothing. I wanted to continue our conversation,” she called to him.
This was his chance to smooth the waters. “I’ll be right out.”
When he came out of the bathroom, he got another surprise. The lacy nightgown was now on the floor. He had to be strong and not give into the lust of the moment. “You said you wanted to talk?” He walked to the bed.
“Yes, I did.” She pulled back the bedcovers and patted the empty space. “Sit down.”
He was walking into the lion’s den, but there was little he could have done, but hold his head high. He sat on the bed and noticed that yes, she was nude under those covers. “What did you want to talk about?”
***
“Tristan, are you listening to me?” Sean Callahan asked. He sat across from Tristan in his office. Sean was going to reveal what his agent learned from the interview with Natasha Allen.
After his all night love marathon with Lizzy, he could barely hold a thought. Thank goodness, the day was almost over. She’d seduced him no doubt, but he enjoyed every minute of the time they spent in bed. He didn’t get an answer to his proposal, but he was cool with that. At least she hadn’t said no. “Sorry, man, I’m beat today.” Tristan hadn’t wanted to reveal why he was so tired. “I’m think I’m cutting out early today. “So what did Ms. Allen have to say.”
“You’re going to laugh,” Sean said.
“Please make me laugh,” Tristan said.
“She killed him.”
“What?”
“She’d followed him to Lizzy’s house. She’d plan to threaten him to the altar, but Hall just laughed at her. She knew he was searching for some kind of records, but didn’t know where or what was on it. They argued. Gun went off. The force of the impact made her fall back, thus shooting him again.”
“So who’s on the account, since it’s not her,” Tristan asked. “I know he wouldn’t include her in his mess.”
“Oh, you would be wrong. She’s listed on the account as Tay Westbrook. Her maiden name and the other name was a dummy name. The idea was that they would get married if she was successful in getting Lizzy charged.”
“But Lizzy wasn’t charged.” Tristan couldn’t help stating the obvious. “We thought he was trying to get back at her for filing the divorce.”
“He’d been searching for the disc since he and Lizzy separated. He realized she must have about eight months ago and that’s when he started his little harassment campaign.”
Tristan could put the rest of the dots together. It was an ugly picture, but that was Paul. Lizzy won’t be pleased, but at least she’ll have closure. Then they would be able to move on with their lives.
“So what happens to Ms. Allen?”
“Right now, she’s in custody for murder. Her mother, Mrs. Miriam Hargrave, has custody of the son,” Sean said, looking through his notes.
“They were in it together,” Tristan said. He had to get to Lizzy right now.
Sean stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Mrs. Hargrave is the principal at the kids’ school. She’s the one who kept after Lizzy when Paul didn’t pick up the kids. I kept wondering why there was no letters from the school about it,” Tristan said.
“Wow! This keeps getting better. They can pretty much kiss that insurance money good-bye. You can not profit by crime,” Sean said.
Tristan knew they were getting into some sticky place. “But if you charge her, the little boy will have no one.”
“No, there’
s other siblings, but most likely she’ll get a slap on the wrist. It’ll be up to Paul’s mother if she wants the child to have anything.”
Tristan leaned back in his chair. “I’m sure she will give him something.”
FOURTEEN
Later that night, Lizzy and Tristan laid in bed. They were lying in complete darkness, facing each other. Tristan had just told her everything Sean had revealed concerning the case. “I almost feel sorry for that crazy woman and her mother. To think, she’d done all of that because she actually loved him. I’m just glad this mess is over.”
“Me too, honey,” he said, pulling her closer.
Lizzy loved times like these. Tristan was next to her, making her feel safe and content for the first time in a long time. The kids were sound asleep down the hall. “Thank you for helping me through all this.” She grabbed his hand and placed it over her heart. “I don’t think I could have gotten through all this without you.”
“Baby, I told you I’m not running away from you or the kids.” He leaned toward her and kissed her. “With you guys staying here, I feel nothing but happiness and love.”
“I feel exactly the same. When I was married, I thought I was happy, but I wasn’t. I don’t think I was ever truly happy.”
“And now?”
“Being here with you, I keep getting glimpses of what true love could be and I feel like my heart will explode if I don’t tell you I’ll marry you.” She’d talked to the kids earlier that day and they were excited. PJ wanted them to get married the next day.
She waited until the information finally reached Tristan’s brain. “Oh baby, really? It’s only been a week. Are you sure? Did you ask the kids?”
He didn’t say your kids. He already considered them his. Her heart swelled again. “Yes, to all. Yes to you.”
He pulled her in his arms and smothered her face in kisses. “I’m so happy, Lizzy. I promise I’ll make you happy.” He pulled back a beat. “I want to adopt PJ and Tatum.”
She couldn’t hold back her tears one more second. “PJ wanted to know if he could call you dad.”
“Really?” She heard the crack in his voice. “He can call me anything he wants. But dad is at the top of my list too.” Then this sexy Irish man surprised her by crying in her arms.
It was a week before the realization occurred to Lizzy that she was actually engaged to Tristan. They were decorating her parents’ home for Izzy and Cam’s celebration party when her father asked the dreaded question.
“Where’s her ring?” Ray asked the minute Lizzy and the kids were in the kitchen, out of earshot.
Tristan was hanging the congratulations banner with the aid of Lizzy’s brother, Jason. Tristan looked absolutely perplexed. “Ring?”
Raymond Carter looked up at him as he stood on the ladder. “Yes, you know an engagement ring of some sort to tell the world you’re marrying my daughter.”
Tristan laughed. It had been a week, and the ring had been burning a hole in his pocket. He dug in his pants pocket and retrieved a small black box. “You mean this ring?”
Ray laughed. “You always keep me on my toes. I’ll let you handle your business.”
“Thanks, Ray. Just waiting for the right moment.”
“Now seems fine,” Jason quipped. “Unless you’re waiting for something else.”
Tristan wasn’t jumping at the grumpy man’s dare. “No, this time is for Izzy and Cam.”
“Gotcha!” Jason actually smiled. “Just testing you. You passed.”
“It was a wonderful party,” Lizzy told her mother. “I’m so glad you wanted to have it here. Izzy was so happy.” They were final stages of cleaning up.
Tristan had been wonderful. He and her brother had helped with the clean-up. Lizzy and her mother sat on the couch with a cup of tea. “I think they got enough baby things for two or three kids. The Callahans always amaze me. There’s no such thing as a quiet gathering when that bunch is involved.”
Her mother agreed. “Yes, I’m going to yoga with Amelia and Moira. Rain and Josie agreed to come sit with Izzy while I’m gone.”
“That’s great, Mom.”
“It’s not that I don’t enjoy sitting with Izzy, but being around younger women might help her. And with all of them marrying into the family, they can help each other. Maybe give Izzy some tips on being married to a Callahan.”
Her mother picked up her hand. “Where’s your ring?”
Lizzy shrugged. “I hadn’t gotten one yet. It’s only been a week.” She’d wondered what happened to all that eagerness. After she’d agreed to marry him, there hadn’t been any more talk of a ring.
“I’m sure he’ll get to it,” her mother said, reassuringly. “You know how men are, they would forget their heads if it wasn’t attached to their bodies. Your father is always forgetting things. It’s their nature.”
Lizzy nodded. She knew her mother meant well, but it didn’t lessen the hurt. “I know, I try not to think about it.” She heard the men enter the living room with the kids in tow. She had to get her face in check, before anyone saw her face. She almost made it.
“Mommy, what’s wrong?” Tatum sat by her mother.
“Nothing honey, just tired. Today has been a busy day. Mommy just wants to take a nap. She hugged her daughter. “What’s this?” Tatum had a something tied around her neck, but the long part was under her t-shirt.
“Tristan wanted me to give it to you.” She pulled it out of her shirt and untied it from around her neck.
Lizzy took the small box from Tatum. She knew it wasn’t a ring, because they hadn’t picked one out. She opened the box and gasped. The five-carat ring winked at her. It was perfect. She wiped her eyes, not believing this was even possible. Tristan stood in front of her, pulling her up in his arms. “I hope you like it. Izzy told me what you liked.” He took the ring out of her hand and slipped it on her finger. “I told you there was nothing we couldn’t handle.” He kissed her gently.
“Oh, Tristan, I’m so happy. I love you.”
“Right back at you, baby.” He moved in for another kiss, but Ray cleared his throat.
“So when is the big date?”
Tristan nodded at Lizzy. “Ask your daughter.”
He had put the ball in her court. “I’d like a church wedding. After all we’ve been through I want something decadent.”
He kissed her hand. “Then you shall have it.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Lizzy let out a tired breath as she fell on Tristan’s king sized bed. Tomorrow all this craziness would be over, she mused. She was getting married in the morning. She laughed at the silliness of it.
The last three months had been one rollercoaster ride after another. Izzy went into labor six weeks early, but delivered a healthy baby girl. Bethany Carter Callahan had already done the unthinkable at only two months of age. She’d melted her Uncle Jason’s cold heart. Since her entrance into the world, Jason Carter had fallen in love with her new niece.
Lizzy was thankful that the issue of Paul Hall had been closed finally. Natasha had been sentence to five years in a mental institution. Her mother had gotten probation, and custody of Justin. Paul’s mother would share custody and was named trustee over the insurance money.
Paul’s mother was even okay with Tristan adopting PJ and Tatum. “They need a positive force in their lives,” she told Lizzy. “Tristan is that man.” She was also going to be at the wedding.
Tristan’s parents had been wonderful especially welcoming PJ and Tatum into the family. They were going to keep the kids while they were away on their honeymoon in Italy.
Tristan walked into the bedroom, talking on his cell phone. “Yes, Mom. Okay, Mom. See you in the morning.” He ended the call and placed his phone on the charger. “That woman acts like I don’t know how to pack a child’s bag.”
Lizzy struggled to sit up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. She wanted to make sure I had packed enough clothes for the kids. It
’s not like she doesn’t have a key to the house.”
“Oh, baby, she’s probably just nervous. After all, her son is getting married tomorrow.” She patted the bed. “Sit down. I think she’s not the only one nervous.”
“You got that right. We’ll both be gone from the office for two weeks. This has got to be a first: city manager married his lead attorney.” He moved closer and kissed her. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Me either. Now take off your clothes.”
“Your wish is my command for the rest of my life.”
THE END
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
CHAPTER TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN