“That’s what you deserve,” Matt retorted. “What the hell were you thinking creeping around out here? You’re acting like a couple of aging, Peeping Toms.”
“We’re investigating,” Gabe said, clearly offended by the possibility that their actions might be misinterpreted.
“I thought I told you to leave the investigating to me,” Matt said, wondering how the devil they’d gotten away from Cramer. He was supposed to be preventing exactly this kind of rogue investigation.
“Have you found anything?” Harley asked.
“Not yet,” Matt conceded.
“Then you need us,” Gabe said.
“What I need is the patience of Job,” Matt countered. “Go home, while I try to explain to Jennifer that she has nothing to worry about.”
Gabe regarded him indignantly. “You can’t go and tell her something like that. I still say she knows something about Don dying the way he did.”
“If she does, I will find out about it, but not if the two of you go blundering around here and get her guard up. Now go, before I drag you up to the house, so you can apologize in person.”
“You wouldn’t,” Harley said.
“Try me,” Matt said. “Let’s go.”
He walked with them until they were safely settled into Gabe’s car, pulled his own car out of their path, then followed until he was reasonably certain that they were actually headed home. Then he drove back to Jennifer’s and rang the bell.
“Matt?”
“It’s me,” he reassured her.
She peeked out, then opened the door. “Did you find them?”
“It was nothing for you to worry about,” he assured her. “Just a couple of old guys who got lost.”
She didn’t look as if she believed him. “Are you sure about that?”
“Very sure. I don’t think they’ll be over this way again.”
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said, regarding him with suspicion. “I could always read you, you know.”
“I’m telling you the truth,” he insisted, though maybe not the whole truth. She didn’t need to know the rest.
She didn’t look entirely reassured. “If you say so,” she said skeptically. “Can you come in for coffee?”
He hesitated, then decided maybe this was the best chance he’d have to get some of the answers that he and Emma were after. “Sure, for a few minutes,” he said, then followed her into the kitchen.
The coffee was already brewed, the kitchen filled with the aroma of an expensive blend. He could see the bag of imported coffee beans on the counter. One of the reasons they would never have worked—aside from the fact that he was still crazy about Emma—was Jennifer’s expensive taste. She would have hated living on a cop’s salary and he would have hated being with a woman who insisted on buying her own luxuries.
“Late at night to be drinking so much caffeine,” he noted. “You planning on being awake awhile?”
“I’m not sleeping that well lately, anyway. I thought I might get some work done.”
“I thought you just got back from vacation,” he said. “That’s what Cori said, when I came by the office.”
“It wasn’t exactly a vacation,” she said, avoiding his gaze.
“A business conference?”
“No.”
“What then?”
She lifted her gaze to meet his. “Does it matter?”
“It might.”
“I needed to get away. That’s it.”
“Where’d you go?”
“I have a place in the mountains in North Carolina. I bought it last year, after you and I split up. It was sort of a reward for not falling apart when I realized you still had the hots for Emma Killian after all these years. I went up there for a while.” She regarded him with a hint of defiance. “Satisfied?”
“Far from it.” He met her gaze. “Did you happen to buy some flowers before you left?”
She regarded him with what looked to be genuine incredulity. “Flowers?”
“A funeral arrangement, to be specific.”
She looked shaken by the question. “No. Why on earth would you think that?”
“Somebody sent a rather lavish arrangement to the lakeside memorial for Don Killian.”
“It wasn’t me,” she said at once. “I left…I left before I even heard about his death.”
Now Matt was the one who was startled. “You did?”
She nodded. “I didn’t know anything about it, until I picked up my mail in North Carolina a few days later and got the Winter Cove paper. The funeral was already over by then.”
Something didn’t sound quite right, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “You had your mail forwarded? Why?”
“Because I knew I was going to be gone for several weeks,” she explained with exaggerated patience. “Why else does someone have mail forwarded?”
“Why such a long vacation?”
“I told you, I needed to clear my head. I had a lot going on.”
“Such as?”
Her expression turned hard. “Am I under investigation for something?”
Matt sighed. “No, not really. I’m just looking for answers.”
“About?”
“Why Don killed himself,” he said bluntly, watching closely for her reaction to his claim of suicide when all published reports had called the death an accident.
She didn’t disappoint him. Shock registered in her eyes. “I thought it was an accident. That’s what the paper said.”
“That’s the official ruling, yes,” Matt agreed.
“But you have doubts?”
“I have doubts,” he confirmed. “How about you? What was your gut reaction when you heard the news?”
“I didn’t have one, except for sorrow. I took the report at face value.”
“Really? Even though he’d had an appointment with you late in the afternoon on the very day he died?”
Bright patches of color appeared in her cheeks. “You think I had something to do with his death?” she asked angrily. “That’s why you and Emma made an appointment to see me? Dammit, Matt, I was afraid it was something like that. Are you crazy?”
He ignored the indignation. It seemed genuine, but she could be faking it. He’d never been able to read her all that well. “We made the appointment because I thought you could give us some help looking over his accounting records, yes. It wasn’t till today when you deliberately tried to avoid us that I began to think you might be more involved than we realized.”
“Well, I’m not,” she said fiercely. “I can’t imagine why he would do such a thing.”
Matt leveled a look straight into her eyes. “Then you won’t mind meeting with me and Emma tomorrow to take a look at those books, will you?”
Her expression faltered, but she’d set a neat trap for herself. If she truly had nothing to hide, then there was no reason to avoid seeing them.
“What time?” she asked, evidently resigned.
“I think we’ll play that by ear. Just stick close to your office.”
“I can’t spend the whole day in there waiting around for you to show up,” she protested. “My schedule’s packed. I have a lot of appointments to catch up on. Not all of them are in the office.”
He regarded her with an unrelenting stare. “Make it work, Jennifer. You’ll have your phone, your computer and the stock ticker. What more could you possibly need?”
“You’re being unreasonable. That’s almost like house arrest or something.”
“I could bring you down to the station and let you cool your heels there till Emma’s free. Would that be better? I’m pretty sure our stock ticker’s on the fritz.”
She sighed. “I’ll be in my office.”
“Good choice,” he said, shoving aside his untouched cup of coffee. “Have a nice night.”
She gave him a sour look and didn’t offer to walk him to the door. Matt figured he’d pushed her just about as hard as he could given the fact tha
t he had absolutely nothing to indicate that she was in any way involved with any crime. But she wasn’t being totally forthcoming. He’d stake his badge on that.
15
Rosa sat at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee, waiting for Jeff to wake up and come downstairs. It was the first morning in weeks now that she’d felt halfway normal. She attributed that to having all of her children at home and to the impact of the meeting she’d attended at Saint Luke’s. It was the first day she’d awakened and hadn’t resented the brilliant blue sky and bright sunshine.
She’d almost finished reading the morning paper when Jeff wandered in, yawning. As he reached past her to grab the milk and pour himself a glass, she noticed that his eyes were clearer than they had been in a while.
“Good, you’re up just in time,” she said, smiling at him.
“Just in time for what?” he asked suspiciously.
“I thought we could go over to the diner and give Emma and Andy a break. They’ve been carrying the whole load for too long now.” She looked directly into his eyes as if she were anticipating a protest and added, “I could use the moral support, Jeff.”
She waited as he automatically opened his mouth to argue, but then clamped it shut again.
“Sure,” he said finally.
“Thank you. It means a lot having you back home.”
He seemed genuinely startled that she’d even noticed his absence. He gazed at her curiously. “You seem different, Mom, like you’re getting your act together. Has something happened that I don’t know about?”
“Actually, yes. I met some people yesterday, Jeff, people who’d lost loved ones….” She hesitated, not willing to get into the whole suicide thing with him. Instead she said, “The deaths were as unexpected as your father’s. It helped. Maybe you should come along next time I go.”
“No way,” he said at once. “I don’t give a damn about all that touchy-feely crap.”
“I felt the same way before I went, but it’s not like that at all,” she insisted. “These are real people who’ve been through what we’re going through. They understand in a way nobody else can.”
“If it helps you, go for it,” he said. “But I want no part of it.”
“You’re so angry, Jeff. It’s not healthy.”
“Are you telling me you’re not angry?” he asked incredulously.
“I was,” she said. “No, that’s not right. I’m still angry, but I’m facing it. I’m doing something about it. You need to do that, too. If you won’t let me help, there has to be someone else you can turn to. Matt, maybe.”
“As if he’d help me,” Jeff scoffed.
“Somebody else, then. Somebody besides Marisol. I don’t want to say anything against the girl—”
“Then don’t,” he said, cutting her off.
“Jeff, she’s wrong for you. Can’t you see that?”
“She’s been there for me,” he insisted.
Rosa accepted the claim at face value. “Okay, then. Who you rely on is up to you.”
He frowned, clearly not happy about her disapproval. “If we’re going to the diner, let’s go,” he said brusquely. “I’ve got someplace I need to be in a couple of hours.”
“Where?”
“Just someplace.”
“With Marisol, I imagine,” she said.
“You imagine right,” he said. “I’m out of here. I’ll wait for you in the car.” He slammed the kitchen door behind him.
Rosa stared after him. She was glad he had someone he could turn to, but did it have to be a girl who promised to be nothing but trouble? True, she was judging her on superficial things, her hair, her clothes, her tattoos, but those were indicative of her lifestyle and her self-esteem in Rosa’s opinion.
At least Jeff was home now and willing to work at the diner. Maybe she’d just have to be grateful for that and worry about the rest later.
Gabe and Harley regarded Matt sheepishly when he walked into Flamingo Diner and headed directly to their table.
“Did you two go straight home last night?” he asked as he pulled out a chair and straddled it facing them.
“You told us to, didn’t you?” Harley replied.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Since when have you listened to anything I had to say?”
“We listen,” Gabe retorted. “Sometimes we’re forced to ignore you in the interest of a higher good.”
“Oh, please,” Matt said.
Gabe was about to say something else, when Harley shushed him and turned to Matt. “Did you learn anything from the Sawyer dame after we’d gone?”
Matt regarded him incredulously. “What have you been doing? Watching old Humphrey Bogart movies? Jennifer isn’t some dame. You’ve known her since she was a kid. She’s still young enough to be your granddaughter.”
Harley managed to look chagrined. “Okay, okay. Did you learn anything from Ms. Sawyer? How’s that? Is that politically correct enough for you?”
“Better,” Matt said. “And whatever I learned from her is none of your concern.”
“We’re partners,” Gabe protested.
Matt stared at him, barely managing to smother a laugh. “I don’t think so. If anything, you two are the thorns in my side, the banes of my existence, the weeds in the cabbage patch.”
Harley scowled at him. “We get it. You don’t have to be insulting. We’re just trying to help, you know.”
“I do know,” Matt agreed. “Which is why I haven’t locked the two of you up before now, but don’t think I won’t if you pull another fool stunt like the one you pulled last night. You’re lucky she didn’t shoot you.”
The two men fell silent, their expressions thoughtful. Matt had a hunch they weren’t pondering their misbehavior. More likely, they were trying to think of ways they could get away with more. Suddenly Harley’s expression brightened.
“Well, will you look at that?” he said, gazing past Matt. “Rosa’s back.”
The word quickly spread as Rosa came into the diner, a sullen Jeff trailing along behind. Matt caught her gaze and gave her a thumbs-up. He knew what a huge step this was for her, for the whole family.
He watched Emma come out from behind the counter to give her mother a hug. Then, her chin lifted high, Rosa grabbed a coffeepot and began making her way around the tables, offering refills as if this were a perfectly ordinary day. The bright patches of color in her cheeks suggested she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the old routine, but she was doing it. He admired her courage.
When she finally reached their table, Harley grabbed her free hand and gave it a smacking kiss. “Welcome back, beautiful. These tired old eyes surely did miss seeing you every morning.”
Rosa laughed and pulled her hand away. “You’re still full of it, Harley Watson.”
Matt met her gaze. “No, he’s not. You are beautiful,” he said quietly. “And everyone here has missed you. You back to stay?”
“That’s the plan,” she said, looking around the crowded diner with a nostalgic expression on her face. “Today was hard, even with Jeff beside me, but it’ll get easier, and this is where I belong. I just got a little lost for a while.”
“You have friends here,” Gabe told her, his expression serious for once. “Don’t ever forget that, Rosa. There’s not a person in here who wouldn’t do anything at all to help you get through this bad time.”
“I won’t forget that,” she said quietly. “Not ever again.” Her gaze caught Matt’s. “Think you can get Emma out of here? I don’t need her hovering over me all day as if she expects me to fall apart.”
He grinned. “Consider it done.” She had no idea how easy it would be, once he told Emma about the promised meeting with Jennifer. “Give me five minutes and we’ll be out of your hair.”
He crossed the diner, marched behind the counter and reached for the ties on Emma’s apron. “We’re out of here,” he announced.
She frowned at him. “Are you crazy? I can’t leave Mama alone here.”
�
�In case you haven’t noticed, Jeff came in. He may not be happy about it, but he’s already pitching in at the grill to relieve Andy.” Not that Andy had budged, Matt noticed. He just looked pleased to have his brother working alongside him. Matt looked Emma squarely in the eye. “Come on, Emma. Your mother wants you gone. I’ve been assigned to see that you go. Are you going to get me into trouble with her?”
“An intriguing thought,” she said, looking as if she might challenge him.
“Don’t go getting any ideas.” He tucked a hand at her waist and nudged her in the direction of the front door.
“What if I don’t want to go?”
He met her gaze. “Are you honestly going to deny your mother the chance to prove that she’s up to handling this place again?”
Emma hesitated for an instant and Matt knew he’d won. She would never willingly interfere in her mother’s recovery. She’d been waiting too long for some sign that Rosa’s heart was mending. The aching sense of loss might never go away, but it could be held at bay long enough to go about the business of living.
“Let’s go,” she said, then regarded him with eyes suddenly twinkling with mischief. “But you’d better make it worth my while.”
“Careful, sweetheart. You just might get more than you bargained for.”
She laughed. “Now that really is an intriguing thought. Do you seriously think you’re up to it?”
Matt’s blood raced so fast, it was all he could do to think coherently, but he kept his gaze locked with hers. “Only one way to find out.”
He caught her hand and dragged her from the restaurant. “Your place or mine?”
She faltered then. “Um, Matt, I was only teasing.”
“Oh, really?” he asked innocently. “That’s the kind of teasing that can get a woman in trouble.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. “Not with you,” she said confidently.
He took her hand, turned it and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Don’t count on it, darlin’. Even I have my limits.”
And he was damn close to reaching them.
Coming back to Flamingo Diner had been easier than Rosa had anticipated. These people were her friends, and they did everything they could to make her first day back seem like a celebration. It had been weeks since Don had died, changing her life forever, but today had felt like the first real day of the rest of her life. If she could get through today without coming unglued, then she really was going to be okay.
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