Not sure if that was a compliment to Mark or an insult to her, Ashlyn pursed her lips to bite back a response. Her mother had a way with words. “Thank you,” she finally said, deciding that ignoring her mother’s word play was the best plan of action.
At least it wasn’t a knock against Mark. The remark had only offended her. It was true, of course, but it wasn’t as though she’d dated ugly men. She’d just never been particularly concerned with looks. As long as a man was pleasant-looking enough, and more importantly, a self-made businessman, she’d never cared too much about what they looked like.
Devin, of course, was attractive, but had turned out to be ugly inside. With Mark, neither looks nor money had caught her attention; it was his inner strength. Mark had an air of confidence about him that was neither haughty nor arrogant. He just had a self-assured attitude from the moment he’d asked her to dance. Without a doubt, she’d fallen in love with him on the first evening.
He was strong and wanted to shield her from all the evils in the world. From the first night they’d met, he’d wanted to protect her. It was a bonus that he was so incredibly handsome, and something she’d learned after falling for him, a self-made man. No, he didn’t have the ridiculous amount of money that the Burkes had, but he did more than well. And when they finally combined households, they’d be quite comfortable.
Really, she wouldn’t even have to work, but her company had already agreed to let her work out of the home until she felt comfortable introducing her child to social interactions, which from all she read, seemed to be about a year.
Mark came through the front door, plastic bags lined up both arms and a case of soda tucked under one arm.
“Mom, I told you I was leaving this weekend,” Ashlyn said. “That looks like enough groceries for a family of four for a week.”
Laura waved her hand. “I can freeze what we don’t eat.” She took the twelve pack of soda from Mark and led the way to the kitchen. “Besides, I’m glad I did. I’m sure Mark has a healthy appetite.”
Mark glanced over his shoulder at Ashlyn and grinned. “I do, Ms. Allan.”
Ashlyn followed the two strangers into the kitchen and scooted onto a barstool at the counter. She watched as her mother and fiancé interacted civilly for the first time.
Mark was one of the few men that Ashlyn had ever introduced to her mother that she’d actually liked. Her mother had practically swooned the first time she met Mark; that is until Ashlyn explained that he was a police detective she met during the most traumatic situation in her life.
“Call me Laura,” her mother continued. “We’re practically related. No need to be so formal.”
Ashlyn shook her head behind her mother’s back, wondering where this sudden motherly attitude had come from.
Mark made his way over to the counter and kissed Ashlyn on the cheek. Obviously noticing her utter shock, he winked as he answered her mother, “Thanks, Laura. Is there anything else you need help with?”
“Nope. You kids go ahead and have a great day. But I’d like you home by seven for dinner.”
This time Ashlyn couldn’t contain the surprise. A chuckle slipped out of her mouth, causing her mother to turn toward her.
“What?” Laura asked, placing her hands on her hips in the most motherly fashion Ashlyn had ever seen. Was it possible that she and her mother could actually have a mother-daughter relationship?
“Nothing,” Ashlyn said. “Seven o’clock is perfect. What are you making?”
“Spaghetti okay?” her mother asked.
“Perfect,” Ashlyn said, and it was. Even her mother couldn’t mess up spaghetti, and Mark loved anything with pasta. “All right then, Mom. I’m going to take Mark to Harbor View Golf.”
Laura waved them off and Ashlyn took Mark’s hand and led him to the door.
“Golf?” He raised his hands in confusion. “I’m terrible at golf.”
Ashlyn grinned as Mark opened the door for her and helped her into his truck. She could manage of course, but being eight months pregnant, it wasn’t a good idea to pull anything. “Don’t worry. I’ll teach you.”
Mark closed her inside and made his way to the driver’s side. He turned the key, backed out of the driveway, but then stopped at the exit before leaving the subdivision. “Since when do you play golf?”
“Would you trust me, silly?”
Mark followed directions, and within ten minutes, Ashlyn directed him down State Street toward Harbor View. It was hard to spot the well-hidden tiny golf course, but that was the beauty.
Mark laughed. “Got it! You sure you’re up for this? I’m a champion at putt-putt.”
“You just wait. This golf course is different from others. A little thing called ‘Mischief Spinners’ evens up the odds since your girlfriend is a walking whale.”
“Fiancée,” he corrected her. “And you’re not a whale.” Mark parked the truck and rushed around to her side, allowing her to slide into his arms and gently setting her down. “This place looks like fun.”
“Oh, it is! And wait’ll you see the view. I want to take you to Presque Isle State Park next. You can see it from inside the course, though.”
Mark escorted Ashlyn into the tiny building and paid for their two rounds of 18-hole miniature golf. He handed her a club with a pink handle and toted his red-handled club as though he were a pro golfer. He made a few practice swings. “Of course it’s too short. I don’t think they make putt-putt clubs for six-four men.”
She laughed. “I’m sure they do; they probably just don’t get a lot of giants here.”
He grinned and motioned for Ashlyn to go ahead with their first challenge. “Ladies first.”
Ashlyn spun the Mischief Spinner. “Blind Putt. Cool! That’s an easy one.” She dropped her ball, closed her eyes, and raised her club to swing.
“Wait a second.” Mark interrupted her mid-stroke. “How will I know if you close your eyes?” He stepped up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes. He didn’t touch her anywhere else, but for some reason, a blast of heat erupted inside her body. The need to feel his touch had parts of her anatomy pulsing with anticipation.
She ignored her body’s reaction to his touch, doing her best to squash the raging desire that felt as though it might burn right through her skin. Hoping Mark didn’t feel the warmth of the schoolgirl flush she felt work its way across her cheeks, she lowered her club in search of her ball.
Ashlyn blindly touched her ball with the club, and making sure she didn’t miss, she just barely pulled back and tapped it. As soon as Mark removed his hands, she opened her eyes and watched as the ball traveled up the hump, around the bend, bounced off the border, and rolled right into the hole. “Yay!” she screamed. “I’ve never made a hole-in-one.”
“Hmm…sure.” Mark stepped up and spun the wheel. “Extra Obstacle,” he said, laughing. “Great. I get to putt around a whale.”
“Hey!” Ashlyn pouted, but stepped into his path, doing her best to take up as much room as she could.
Mark stepped forward and kissed her. “I’m just kidding, baby. You’re my whale, and I’d love you no matter how big you got.”
Ashlyn pulled her foot in just slightly as Mark swung. The ball went right between her legs, over the hump, banked off the side, and rolled within an inch of the hole.
Her sophisticated, always prim and proper husband-to-be proceeded to jump up and down, attempting to make an earthquake she guessed so the ball would roll in. When nothing worked, he tapped it, and she scratched a ‘two’ on the sheet next to her ‘one’.
Ashlyn spun and then quickly made her shot, since her ‘Runaway Ball’ command would come into play after Mark made his shot.
Mark made his spin and then frowned. “Hands On.” He laughed. “It would have been fun if you’d gotten that one.”
“I’d have to pass on that prompt. At eight months pregnant, I’m not getting on my hands and knees for anyone.”
Mark raised a brow. “How about a kiss for go
od luck then?”
Ashlyn obliged with a peck, but Mark pulled her back for more. He glanced around after a second, making certain the foliage shielded them, she guessed, and wrapped his arms around her and took her mouth again. His kiss felt so good that she decided maybe putt-putt wasn’t such a good idea. She’d rather just cuddle up the rest of the afternoon in his arms.
“Where’s this park you mentioned?” Mark asked, evidently thinking the same thing as she was.
Ashlyn pointed toward the bay. “But we have to drive west to get there. It’s about a fifteen-minute drive.”
“Can we go now?”
Ashlyn nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do that. But that means I win.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He took her hand and led her back to the truck. They grabbed some towels and sunscreen at Country Fair and headed toward the park.
After discussions of manning a four-wheeled, pedal-driven cart, walks to one of the three lighthouses, and assurances of turtle and turkey sightings along one of the trails, Mark and Ashlyn decided that sitting on the beach, watching the waves and birds would be the most enjoyable afternoon.
The weather was a perfect sixty-five and sunny, and she’d brought her jacket just in case it was windy. Ashlyn couldn’t have ordered up a better day.
Mark assisted her to the towel and then sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He pressed his lips against her neck. “You know,” he whispered in her ear. “Before your mom interrupted us, we were discussing weddings and honeymoons…and lingerie.”
Ashlyn felt a deluge of arousal surge through her again. “I haven’t forgotten.” She leaned her body against his. “How soon?”
“I was thinking immediately,” Mark responded without hesitation. “We could get a license on Monday and then plan to skip town next weekend.” He tilted up her head. “Of course, that’s just because I’d like to give you and our son my name. I still want to have the big wedding whenever you’re ready.”
Ashlyn peered up at him and gulped. “Okay.”
“You said okay, but your eyes said, ‘I’m scared’,” Mark stated without a hint of condemnation, just concern.
“I’m not scared, Mark. I promise. I’m just concerned about what to do with the baby. I’m not sure about naming him.”
Mark nodded, but she could see she’d hurt him.
“Hear me out, Mark. This has nothing to do with us. This is about our son, and he will be your son. I just have to figure out the legalities and respectable thing to do. My mom mentioned another reason why she thought I should tell his grandparents. Mom didn’t have grandparents. My grandmother grew up without a mother or father, just her grandparents, and then my mother had her mother and father—who were great—but she never had grandparents. And grandparents are fun.”
Mark nodded. “I understand. I loved my grandparents, and I miss them. My father was forty when he had me, so they’ve been gone a long time. And my mother’s parents died when she was young.”
“I’m sorry. You never told me that. And your mother never told me. I feel terrible complaining about my mother when she lost hers.”
Mark smiled and touched her face. “Don’t feel sad. She loves you. And she knows you don’t complain needlessly and probably thinks along the lines, ‘If I had a daughter, I’d…’” He laughed at his imitation of his mother’s voice. “She tells me all the time that I owe her granddaughters. So we better get started...” He lowered his head to kiss her, and she cut him off before she forgot.
“Oh, wait. I found the coolest thing that I wanted to show you.” Ashlyn reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out the old photograph she’d found in the cookbook. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced. Even if the man in the photo hadn’t killed her great-grandmother, she still had to have known him. Otherwise why would his picture have been there? And the date matched. She handed the old black-and-white snapshot to Mark.
“Yeah, I heard your mother dated him. Weird, huh?”
Confused, Ashlyn cocked her head. “What do you mean? Dated whom?”
Mark pointed to the picture. “Gregory Burke. I heard your mother and he had dated each other all through high school.”
“That’s true, but what does that have to do with this photo? I just found it.”
Mark laughed. “That’s right. You’ve never seen him. Ashlyn, that’s Gregory Burke. Your baby’s grandfather.”
Ashlyn shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together. Her head swarmed with confusion, the blood pumping so fast, she felt she might pass out. As her blood pressure rose, Mark’s face blurred before her eyes. She tried to fill her dry mouth with moisture so she could speak.
“Mark,” she gasped, “look at the date.” Goose bumps soared down her arms as a sudden chill swept through her body. “I think…I think that’s a picture of my great-grandfather.”
Mark took the picture from her quivering hands and studied it, shaking his head repeatedly. “The date is wrong, Ash. This is Gregory Burke. I spoke to him several times.”
“What if—” She gasped for air again. “What if he only looks like him? What if…what if when his grandfather found out he was dating my mother, I can’t even think of how they’d be related, but he’d demanded they break it off? My mother said they were madly in love, planned to elope, but then he’d unexpectedly dropped her off in front of her house and never returned her phone calls. Then I dated his son… Oh, my God. Why didn’t I see the resemblance? Devin’s eyes…” Ashlyn tried to slow her breathing, but the panic had set in. “Devin loved me, Mark. He may have been mean to everyone else, but he was crazy about me. He sat at the bar every single night waiting for me to get off work, even if we’d only have a few minutes together. And then suddenly he breaks up with me over the phone, and when he found out I was pregnant, he went ballistic. He even offered me a hundred thousand dollars to have an abortion. Just a few weeks earlier he’d been talking about kids and marriage.” Ashlyn gulped in another mouthful of air. “Oh, no! We’re related!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mark rested his hands on both sides of Ashlyn’s face. He understood her alarm, but it wasn’t safe for her unborn child. “Baby, calm down. Breathe in through your nose, and hold it.” She did as he told her. “Now breathe out through your nose. Then do it again.”
She listened, but her tears continued to roll down her cheeks and over his hands.
“The relation is so far down the line it wouldn’t cause any harm. Not that I’m condoning the practice, but in some places, first cousins still get married.” He brushed his thumbs over her brows. “I know you’re worried about the baby, but don’t be. The stress you’re feeling is far worse. It’s only because close relatives can carry the same defective genes and of course the ‘eww’ factor, but you’d be third cousins at best, right?”
Ashlyn gulped back the tears. “I don’t know. I’ve been trying to compute it in my head. If it’s true, then it means we have the same great grandparents. First cousins have the same grandparents. So, second cousins. Eww…”
“Not exactly. If it’s true, you only share one great grandparent on the Burke side. He obviously married another woman and had kids.”
“True, but—”
“I may be wrong, Ash. I’m sorry. He might not be a Burke.”
Ashlyn shook her head again. “No. The eyes…it’s there. I don’t know why I didn’t see it. Maybe I didn’t want to see it. And I talked to Mom last night, asked her what happened. She said that when I’d told her about Devin, she realized again how strange their breakup had been.” She dropped her head. “It makes so much sense now. Of course Gregory Burke’s grandfather wouldn’t have wanted to confess to him, but a first-cousin relationship is rather close, even if you’re only half-cousins. I guess he wanted to keep my family as far away as possible.”
Mark jumped to his feet and held out his hand to her. “Let’s go. You won’t be able to relax the rest of the
day anyway. We need to speak with your mother—and Gregory Burke.”
The ride back to the house was quiet except for the sniffles from Ashlyn’s side of the cab. Why hadn’t he thought before blurting out Gregory’s name?
He pulled into the driveway and parked next to Laura’s Benz, then raced around the front of the truck. He was at Ashlyn’s door within a couple of seconds to help her down. He should have taken the time and called her so he could have come in her Jetta.
Impulsive. As sensible as he was most of the time, he could also be irresponsible, especially when it came to Ashlyn. He’d wanted so badly to please her—from the moment they’d met—that he tended to throw caution to the wind. From now on, he’d think before speaking and acting.
Ashlyn leaned against him as they walked up to the house.
Mark stopped just outside the door. “We don’t have to do this tonight, Ash. What’s done is done, and nothing can bring back your great-grandmother. If Burke’s family had anything to do with her death, it wasn’t—” Mark stopped his own words as more pieces of his puzzle clicked, as Jay’s remarks in the library came rushing back to him.
Gregory Burke was a person of interest in the death of Wade Buchanan, since they’d had a large business deal going before the man had disappeared twenty-eight years ago. For that matter, Laura had dated Gregory, who ended up dating Wade’s daughter. And then Davis had dated Buchanan’s daughter before Gregory and had been the first on the scene according to the report his father had written twenty-eight years ago. Not to mention Mrs. Davis had fought the developers and the city to keep the deal from going through.
“What happened, Mark?”
Mark shook his head and sat down on the swing to clear his thoughts. “This is a damn soap opera, Ash.”
“What is?”
“A lot of missing pieces have just come together in this murder case I’m working. Only problem is that they are all so closely related it’s hard to see which piece fits where.”
“What does this have to do with the situation we’re in right now? What did you just think of?”
The Library: Where Life Checks Out Page 14