9 Ways to Fall in Love

by Caroline Clemmons

  She situated herself between his thighs and took him into her mouth. He rode the pleasure she offered to the crest and over the edge once more. With his hands still buried in her silky red hair, he returned to the present, guided her gently up his body and thoroughly kissed her sultry mouth. His hand trailed down her back to cup her bottom. Before he could act on his plans to return her pleasure, a knock sounded at the front door followed by a ringing phone.

  "Damn." He levered over her to the side of the bed, grabbed his jeans and pulled them on. Turning back he said, "Maggie, I'll get the do—" But the bed was empty. His phone hit him in the chest then fell to the floor. He picked it up in time to see her grin as she slipped into her robe on the way out of the bedroom.

  When they met in the hallway, he held up his cell, and said, "I know, it's Elliott." He cupped her cheek, and kissed her again, then joined his brother outside on the porch.

  Elliott gave him a once over, but obviously chose to ignore Graeme's appearance. "I found several listening devices in the house at the ranch."

  "What the hell?"

  "Following our theory, I thought you'd want to check Maggie's place to be on the safe side."

  Graeme looked back toward the house and moved farther from the door. Lowering his voice a few notches, he asked, "Do you know, yet, who did it?"

  "The DA's investigators are on their way up here to check 'em out, see if there are any fingerprints or a signature they recognize. It all depends on how good these guys are at planting bugs."

  "Right. Whatever is found, I think we should leave them in place for now so we don't tip our hand."

  "Agreed." Elliott shoved his hands into his back pockets, palms outward. "Want company when you tell Maggie?"

  "No, thanks. I'd feel better knowing you were with Bridey and Andrew." He gazed out across the yard, past Elliott, mentally going over recent developments, when it hit him. "Damn. Andy's coming home this afternoon. She'll need to decide where he's going to stay."

  "Wouldn't it be better if they both stayed elsewhere?"

  "Yes, but I have an idea she won't want to leave." He chuckled remembering her quick temper and how passionate she was about getting her life back on track. "Something tells me she's going to be pissed."

  "Have you told her about Wyatt, yet?"

  "No, we – not yet."

  "My suggestion? Don't wait too long." Elliott stepped off the porch and turned back to face him. "As soon as I know more, I'll call you."

  "Yeah, same here."

  Graeme knew he'd slipped up by not telling Maggie about Wyatt's true activities in the year or so preceding his death. She deserved to know about that and the letter they'd discovered, where he'd reaffirmed his love for her and Andy and essentially asked forgiveness for shutting her out.

  But would telling her this now affect their tenuous bond? They'd elevated to a new stage in their relationship last night. A new level of trust in their intimacy. He'd finally gotten what he'd lost years ago, Maggie and the possibility of family. Could he risk losing that now? Could he ignore the code of honor that existed between brothers and lovers?

  He went back into the house and found Maggie sitting in the middle of the bed, the sheet pulled across her but remarkably leaving all strategic areas of her body exposed. He sat on the bed beside her then laid her back onto the pillow and kissed her. He kissed her cheek then her ear lobe and finally, with the length of his body holding her to the bed, he whispered his message.

  "I have something to tell you and I need you to listen without comment. It's imperative that you not speak out loud. Do you understand?"

  He knew he'd frightened her when her arms tightened around his neck, but she nodded her head and whispered, "Yes."

  Shifting his weight so as not to crush her, he told her, "Andy and the family are okay." She exhaled a breath and relaxed a fraction. When he continued, her breathing seemed shallow, while her heartbeat pounded against his chest. "It's a possibility there may be a listening device or devices somewhere in the house. I need you to get dressed while I make a cursory search. Okay?"

  She nodded her head again whispering, "Yes, but who –why?"

  "Get dressed, we'll talk when I know more."

  While Maggie grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom, Graeme looked about the bedroom in all the obvious places a bug might be found -- lamps, back of the mirror, landline telephone. Nothing. He glanced up as she came back into the room.

  She looked at him with hands held out, palms up and her eyebrows raised in question.

  Smart and brave woman. If he wasn't already in love with her, he would be now. He shook his head in the negative and answered aloud, "Say do you have any more of that great bacon and some eggs? I'm so hungry my stomach's gnawing on my backbone."

  "Yes, I believe I do. Why don't I go fix us some?"

  Her conversation though stilted and stiff, earned her huge points for following his lead. After she'd gone to the kitchen, he continued his search in the bathroom cabinets, linen and clothes closets, and the vents. Back in the bedroom, the a/c vent had a missing screw, but upon inspection contained nothing more than dust and lint. Reluctantly, he moved toward the bed, hating the direction his suspicions were headed. Sure enough, there it blinked attached to the back of the headboard next to the wall. Dammit.

  On the way in to join Maggie, he checked a couple more obvious places, but found no new bugs. Upon entering the kitchen, Maggie greeted him, plates in hand.

  "It's relatively cool this morning, so I thought we'd eat on the back patio. What do you think?"

  "I haven't done that in a long time. Come on, I'll get the door for you."

  "Coffee and juice are there on the tray, bring it with you?"

  "Got it."

  Out on the patio, music played over outside speakers and he smiled. He circled his index finger in the air between them, pointing toward the speakers along the edge of the pergola and asked, "Why?"

  She grinned and kept her voice just above a whisper. "I read it in a book or saw it in a movie, I think. Okay?"

  Beautiful, smart, and brave all in one package. "Never hurts to be careful." He took a bite of his bacon and mulled over the best way to tell her what was happening.

  Maggie picked at her eggs getting more exasperated by the minute waiting for Graeme to explain what was going on. Why couldn't he just tell her? Finally, she took the lead. "I don't know what's up, but everything went to crap with Elliott's visit. Whatever it is can't be as bad as what I'm imagining." Again he didn't answer right away and her stomach played host to a thousand butterflies.

  "He told me he found a couple of listening devices at the ranch this morning and thought it a good idea to check here to be safe."

  She resisted the urge to scream while the butterflies entertained friends. "Okay, you didn't find any devices though, did you?" He hesitated just long enough that she knew he had.

  "Yeah, I've found one, so far, in the bedroom."

  A full range of emotion ran through Maggie. She was embarrassed, angry, overwhelmed, and worst of all, her most intimate privacies had been violated. Suddenly, the butterflies turned to lead and she fought nausea. Needing to vent, she picked up her plate and slung it into the yard where it hit the cement birdbath, shattering into pieces. Graeme grabbed her hand, preventing her from issuing the same fate to the pitcher of orange juice.

  "We don't know if there are others. As soon as Elliott's investigator finishes the sweep at the house, he'll come do the same here." He pushed his plate toward her. "You should eat something so the acid will have something to work on besides your stomach lining."

  "I think I might throw up."

  "Trust me, a little egg and buttered toast will help."

  "Hey," she protested half-heartedly. "I'm the nurse, remember?" She fed the butterflies a couple of bites, then thought of Dinah for the first time since she left last night. "I should go wake Dinah. We need to tell her."

  "Hold off, Maggie, until we have some answers. The fe
wer people that know the situation, the better off we'll be."

  "I guess you're right."

  Back inside the house, she made her way to the office and Dinah's make-shift sleeping quarters. She knocked lightly on the door and when no one answered, she looked inside. The bed hadn't been slept in. She worried about Dinah and her propensity to fall in love or lust too easily. She sincerely hoped Di and Ben took whatever it was they had going on slowly. They both deserved some good in life.

  She stood in the doorway seeing the room differently than she had yesterday. As she walked back to the front of the house, she wondered whose ears were listening and did they have eyes on her as well? What if the scan found more bugs? Could she bring Andy home to this? Could she continue to live here and ever feel safe again?

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, Maggie and Graeme sat on the porch swing showered, dressed and waiting for Andy, Nancy and Ed's return from Disney World. They still had no definitive answers concerning listening devices or their placement in her house, but to err on the side of caution seemed a better option for private conversations. A good breeze fanned them, making it merely warm in the shade and not hot. She'd thought over their earlier discussion about whether to stay here or somewhere else. So far all she'd decided was that Andy wouldn't be here. She felt certain as soon as she told her mother about the situation, Nancy and Ed would take him home with them.

  Graeme look at his watch. "They should be here soon. Didn't you say they were to land at eleven?"

  "Yes, if there were no delays."

  There it was, again. Silence. She wondered if it might be possible for a crazy person to go loony in this much quiet. Maybe she should go pack a bag for the trip, for she was definitely a little nuts today. Pushing that thought to the back of her mind for later discussion, she glanced at the man she'd welcomed back into her life and her bed. She realized, now that she both respected and trusted him and entertained the idea that she just might be falling in love. Looking away, she stopped herself. Thoughts like that made her certifiable.

  "I've been thinking, after I've fed Andy some lunch, why don't I take him to play miniature golf?"

  "That's probably a good idea. Do you mind if I go along?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I'm guessing you don't want him here while they're going through the house."

  "No, I don't, and he'll have fun. Plus, Mom and Ed can have some down time before I take him to stay with them indefinitely." She fanned her blouse back and forth to try and cool her body, then held out the neckline and blew air directly down her front. "Do you think we'll be gone before they show up to sweep the house?"

  "Don't know. Elliott said he'd call when they're on the way, besides, they're supposed to look like exterminators to keep suspicion at bay." He smiled and winked at her. "You can thank Bridey for the gift next time you see her."

  "I know you're trying to lighten the mood and the situation, and I appreciate it more than you know. But it's all just too much. I blame Wyatt for this whole whatever-this-thing-is that we're in and I'm so angry with him for involving us. I won't ever forgive him, he's –"

  Before she could finish her tirade, Ed's car drove up the driveway dragging a billowing dust cloud behind it. Maggie ran down the steps and caught Andy mid-flight as he escaped the confines of the car seat and seatbelt.

  "Mommy! I missed you, can I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" His hug for Maggie apparently forgotten, he ran up the steps and stopped short of knocking Graeme over. "Hey, mister, I saw you at the airport." Andy waved, then turned and ran into the house. "I wanna go see my new room!" With that final statement, he disappeared into the house.

  Maggie greeted her mother and step-father. "Well, you don't look too worse for wear."

  "No, honey, he's the best little boy and so smart."

  "We're not sayin' he isn't a pistol," Ed chimed in. "'Cause he is. And he sure kept us hoppin'."

  "Now, Ed," Nancy said. "We knew what we were in for when we asked for that precious baby to go with us. Stop whining."

  Maggie took Nancy by the arm and started toward the house. "Come on, Nanny and Pops, let's go have lunch, before you head home."

  * * *

  Graeme and Maggie followed Andy out onto the miniature golf course. The boy possessed more energy in his pinkie toe than Graeme, himself, could muster from his whole body. By the time he and Maggie reached the first hole, Andy had already rolled his ball through the windmill blades three greens ahead. When Maggie called him to come back, he did so with no argument, walking the man-made creek all the way.

  "Here, Andy," Graeme said. "This is where we start. You go first, and then your mom, then I'll take a shot."

  "No, that takes too long." Andy balked at playing the game properly, much less the rule of taking turns.

  "You liked it the last time we came here, remember? We had a lot of fun." Maggie tried to cajole him into playing, but he was having none of it. "Show me again how to make the ball go up around the hill to the hole."

  "I showed you already."

  "Yes, but I forgot." She ruffled his hair and handed him a golf ball. "Here you go."

  Graeme stifled a grin at the look of exasperation on Andy's face. It was a look he'd witnessed a million times on Wyatt as they'd grown up together. Somehow they managed to maintain some resemblance to the game for one more hole, and then all bets were off.

  Maggie's tolerance appeared to have just about hit its limit by the time he made a suggestion. "Since we're the only fools out here in the heat, why don't we let him go on ahead? We can watch him closely and we'll all have a less stressful time."

  "Sure, why not?" When she told Andy to go play but stay close, he whooped and hollered and took off. Maggie took the next shot and hit the windmill, her ball rolling back to her. "I never get this one."

  Graeme lined up his own shot and hit it straight through the blades and into the cup.

  "A hole in one?" Maggie stared after the ball. "I don't believe it, you skunk, do that again."

  "Sorry, ma'am, no can do." He smiled at her as he leaned on his putter and waggled his eyebrows. "It's against regulations. You can buy the DVD at the check-out counter."

  "Umm-hmm, you can't do it, can you?" she taunted. "I thought as much. You're just a one-hit wonder."

  "I could show you but I'd be violating a long standing agreement I made years ago with the management."

  "Oh, really?"

  "Yes, they allow me to play as long as I limit my "hole in ones" to one per visit."

  Giggling, she said with a note of sarcasm, "Please, spare me."

  "You doubt my prowess on the golf course?"

  "No, just your integrity. I think you talked Andy into making the shot for you."

  Just as he was about to protest her accusation, a ball rolled toward them from the cave behind the waterfall and stopped at the toe of his boot. Her laughter washed over him, making him glad they'd left the house. Glad he could give her a few moments of not worrying about someone listening in on her private moments.

  "That couldn't have been planned any better."

  "I honestly don't know how that happened."

  Maggie pointed toward the cave where Andy stood, grinning at them from behind his hand.

  "Come here, boy," he called out. "We need to have a talk." When Andy came to him, Graeme laughed and swung him up to sit atop his shoulders. Just as he got settled, and they walked to the next green, his phone alerted him to a received text message. After he read it, he showed it to Maggie. The look she gave him punched him right in the gut. With regret, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, placed his other hand on Andy's knee and said, "Time to go."

  Chapter 15

  Maggie secured Andy into the rear passenger seat of her mother's car. She got him situated with his snacks, water, juice and new Nintendo DS, then kissed his forehead. He flipped open the lid and jumped into the new Mario Brothers game straight away, apparently unfazed about not getting to sleep in his "new" room.
>
  "You be good for Nanny and Pops, okay?"

  He ignored her. His thumbs pushed the arrow keys up and down and side to side so quickly, that Maggie couldn't help but lean closer to watch him play. His concentration never wavered; he didn't even know she still existed. His brows snapped together and relaxed, his lips twitched, his shoulders lifted in turn to get Mario to the next level. Suddenly, his right arm shot up clipping Maggie on the chin. She jumped back as he groaned, "Oh no, I have to start over."

  "Andy, did you hear what I said?"

  "Yeah."

  "Tell me."

  "Be good." His tone couldn't have been more exasperated.

  "And will you?"

  "What?"

  Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Patience please, Lord. Firmly, she took his chin -- Wyatt's chin -- between her thumb and forefinger, repeating, "Be good for Nanny and Pops?"

  "Sure." He snapped the DS closed and turned it off. "Mommy?"

  "Yes, baby."

  "Will the 'sterminators kill all the bugs?"

  "Who told you we have bugs?"

  "That man over there." He pointed out the investigator talking to Graeme. "Will they?"

  Less than happy the investigator had taken it upon himself to brief her son about what was happening, she decided to keep her reply simple. "I sure hope so, honey."

  "Even the Roley Poleys?"

  "No," she said, hoping to give him the answer he might be looking for since there would be no actual chemical extermination. "I think they'll be all right."

  "Good." He sank against the seat and yawned. "I was really worried about 'em. They're my friends."

  "I know, I love you, baby."

  "Love you, too, mommy."

  Maggie kissed him again, closed the door, and waved as Ed drove away. Straightening her shoulders, she braced herself for what might've been found inside her house as she walked toward Graeme, Elliott, and the investigator. Each man acknowledged her, as she approached, their faces grim.

  "Wow, so much for the good news." She looked at them, one by one. "Just spit it out, will you?"