Anna Leigh Keaton & Madison Layle - Serve & Protect 02 - One Night of Paradise

by Anna Leigh Keaton

  “I have a feeling you’re going to wish you’d gone home alone when this is all over.”

  Carol stuck her tongue out at her best friend. “One week, Gracie. Just give me one week to feel like a princess before you go all negative on me.” Carol got up and poured herself another cup of coffee. “How you ever wound up with a man like Steve, I’ll never understand. Now, you need to go. I’ve got to wash this stuff out of my hair and get ready to head to school.”

  Gracie laughed. “Yeah, I can take the hint.” She kissed Carol on the cheek before leaving.

  Chapter Nine

  He was in the third row center. Good seats, Carol thought as she peeked out the stage door. But what the heck was he doing here? He was supposed to be home watching hockey with Billy, not sitting in the theater right up front where she could stand and gaze at him all afternoon.

  Tagg sat next to his son, his head tipped toward Billy as he listened attentively to whatever was being said. Her heart clenched as she watched him. He was such a good father. She ached for Billy, too. The poor boy had it rough, living with his mother. He needed Tagg full-time, not as a weekend dad.

  As the lights went down, Carol slipped back behind the stage and made a quick visual check of the scenery. Everything was in place, and the stagehands knew what to do. She smiled at “Alice” and bid her to break a leg as she passed the girl.

  For the next forty-five minutes, Carol was busy directing her young charges when to change the scenes. Seven minutes before the curtain descended calling intermission, she rushed down the long corridor that led to the school’s auditorium foyer. Gracie was already at the snack table pouring cola.

  “Hey, great job on the sets,” Gracie said as she handed Carol a Dixie cup of diet cola. “Acting’s not so bad either.”

  Carol gulped down the cold drink. “Thanks.” She grabbed the big plastic tub of cookies from beneath the table and popped the lid. As she arranged them on a platter, she asked, “Where’s Steve?”

  Gracie grinned. “He weaseled his way out of coming.” Then she laughed. “Fire call just as we were walking out the door. I think he had dispatch radio him so he wouldn’t have to sit through another school function, since he wasn’t officially on duty tonight.”

  Carol frowned as she fanned out the napkins in a colorful display. If there was one fireman in all of Cooper Valley who’d rather be with his wife than out on a fire, it was Steve. The man doted endlessly on his Gracie. “Yeah, right. So why are you grinning?”

  The grin spread into a toothy smile. “I just got some news.”

  Carol turned toward her, hands on hips. “What news?”

  “I have to tell Steve first.”

  “Then why’d you bring it up? You know how rude that is.” Carol huffed. She really wasn’t in the mood to play Gracie’s little games tonight.

  The glow of spending the night with Tagg had begun to wear off. That empty space inside her seemed to expand exponentially by the second. She’d never thought of herself as a lonely person before because she always had plenty of things going on in her life to occupy her time. But for the past few hours, even surrounded by dozens of kids that she loved dearly, she felt...empty.

  Gracie threw her arms around her and laughed. Carol stood there in stunned silence. Gracie had never been one to openly display any kind of affection. “If I tell you, you have to swear you’ll never tell Steve you knew first.”

  “Uh, okay.” Confused, Carol had no idea where this was going.

  Gracie held Carol by the shoulders, her smile spreading even more, if that were possible. “We’re going to have a baby!”

  A baby. Carol was the one to initiate the hug this time, more to hide her suddenly teary eyes than anything. “That’s great, Grace,” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

  “Isn’t it? With all the problems we’ve had trying to get pregnant, we were ready to give up. Then wham! Right out of the blue. I was going to tell Steve tonight after the play—but now I’ll have to wait until he gets home. I’m so excited, I can hardly wait!”

  Carol held her smile, nodding. “I’m so happy for you.”

  Gracie’s smile slowly began to fade. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She shook her head in denial. “Really. I’m happy for you.” She was falling apart. She should be jumping for joy for her best friend. Gracie and Steve had spent over a year actively “trying” to get pregnant. Gracie had been heartbroken when she found out she might not be able to conceive.

  Yet instead of sharing in her friend’s joy, Carol felt hollow. So alone.

  She should never have spent the night with Tagg. Now she wanted all her dreams to come true, but she knew they never would. She wanted Tagg. She wanted home and family. She wanted it all. And she was just plain old Carol.

  “Sweetie…” Gracie slipped her arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. This whole thing with you and Taggert has got you tied up in a knot, doesn’t it?”

  “No! Don’t be silly, Grace.” Carol shrugged off her friend’s comforting arm and grinned, trying to lighten her own mood. “I was just thinking that now that you’re pregnant, you don’t have to try any longer.”

  Gracie laughed. “You don’t know Steve like I know Steve. Now that the work is done, it’ll be all fun and games from here on out.”

  The sound of applause came from the auditorium. “Here we go,” Carol said. “Ten bucks to the pot if we break fifty dollars.”

  “You’re on.”

  The money they raised from selling drinks and cookies, along with the sales of the tickets to the play, went to the school’s art fund. Every penny counted. They raised money for art supplies to build the sets, but that was just a small part of the bills. Mrs. Branagan was always asking for money to buy supplies for her art students. Cooper Valley High School didn’t have many affluent families who could make donations, so money was always needed in so many areas, from art supplies to books for the library to basketballs for the Phys. Ed. department.

  Carol helped each and every way she could. She didn’t make a mountain of money as the school librarian, but she was always right on top of things when it came to volunteering or baking her special chocolate chip cookies. The PTA had a booth at the other end of the lobby selling Cooper Valley High T-shirts and sweatshirts. The drama club had another table filled with items with the Alice In Wonderland logo.

  The crowd started to flow out the doors and lines formed. Gracie handled the money at their booth, while Carol served. “Hello, Mrs. Holmes,” Carol said, greeting an elderly woman who was the grandmother of one of the seniors in the play. She’d taken in Shelly, her granddaughter, after Shelly’s parents were killed in a car accident three years ago.

  “Oh, Ms. Haley, what a wonderful show. The props are absolutely stunning.”

  Mrs. Holmes’ words warmed her heart. “Thank you,” she said demurely.

  “She acts all modest,” Gracie said as she took Mrs. Holmes’ money, “but she puts her heart and soul into every production.”

  “And it shows.” Mrs. Holmes took her cup of cola and a cookie and moseyed away to talk to some other teachers standing near the doors.

  “Uh oh. Here comes trouble,” Gracie whispered toward Carol.

  Carol’s head snapped up just in time to hear Tagg’s deep rumble of laughter. Her pulse spiked, and then settled into a rapid beat. Her palms went moist. “I have to go.” She slipped through the door directly behind the table. A broom closet that smelled of moldy mops and astringent floor cleaner. She peeked out the crack at Tagg. Oh my word, she thought, he just gets better and better. He wasn’t dressed for work tonight, no dark suit and tie. Nope. Faded blue jeans and a blue denim work shirt with the sleeves turned back. The jeans hugged his muscular thighs and cupped his outstanding— Carol squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t think about that now. She couldn’t. His son was right there, for goodness sake! What kind of sick pervert was she turning into, lusting after a man while his teenaged son
was standing next to him?

  “Good evening, Detective Taggert.”

  Tagg extracted a few bills from his wallet and smiled at Gracie.

  “Dad, this is Mrs. Sheldon, my English teacher,” Billy said.

  Tagg extended his right hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sheldon. Billy’s has nothing but good things to say about you.”

  Gracie shook Tagg’s hand. “And I’ve heard nothing but good things about you, Detective.”

  “Please, call me Tagg.”

  “Have a cookie, won’t you?” Gracie indicated the plate of cookies. “Our librarian, Carol Haley, baked them.”

  “Is Ms. Haley here? I want my dad to meet her,” Billy said as he picked up his cup of cola and a cookie.

  “She had to, uh, run to the store and get more soda.”

  Tagg’s gaze took in the array of two-liter soda bottles on the table and raised that one sexy eyebrow.

  Gracie laughed. “She’s a little anal retentive that way.”

  Carol’s head thumped against the door in exasperation.

  Tagg’s head came up and he stared right at her. Or at the door, at any rate.

  “Mice,” Gracie said as she stepped back and firmly shut the door, blocking out Tagg’s next comment.

  Gracie was a dead woman. When Carol got out of the broom closet, she was going to ring her friend’s neck. Silently turning the knob, Carol cracked the door open again to see Tagg. He took a bite out of one of her cookies. His straight white teeth biting into the chewy dough made Carol’s mouth water with remembrances of those teeth skimming over her body, nipping, nibbling on her flesh, tasting her nipples. She stifled a groan as her body heated, tingled, throbbed.

  Tagg’s smile showed his approval of her treat. “Tell Ms. Haley it’s the best I’ve ever had.”

  “Oh, I’m sure she’ll appreciate hearing that,” Gracie said with that teasing lilt in her voice. Carol’s hands clenched into fists.

  The lights dimmed, calling the patrons back to their seats. “I guess I’ll meet Ms. Haley some other time, son.”

  “Yeah. You’ll really like her.” Billy leaned closer to his father. Carol strained to hear his words. “I think she’s really pretty, too.”

  Tagg’s chuckle played havoc with Carol’s already exposed nerves. “She’s your teacher, Billy.”

  Billy gave a one-shoulder shrug as he drank his soda. “She’s still hot.”

  Heat rushed to Carol’s face. Great. Great, great, great. She’s in love with the father while the son thinks she’s “hot.” Not exactly what she’d been going for.

  Chapter Ten

  One week of her life had never felt so very long. Carol had kept herself as busy as she could but by the time Friday evening rolled around, it felt as if an eternity had passed since she last saw Tagg.

  Last night, desperately wanting to hear his voice, she’d sat on the edge of the bed holding the phone in one hand, and his phone numbers on the little piece of paper he’d given her in the other, for over two hours. But she’d not found the courage—or perhaps sanity had ruled—and she hadn’t made the call.

  Carol checked her reflection one last time in the darkened glass window outside Lowery’s. Her new dress—which had cost way too much for her librarian’s salary—was a soft floral print that hugged her curves and fell to just above her knees. She didn’t think a skin-tight black thing was appropriate for this particular restaurant. With a deep breath for courage, she pulled open the heavy glass door.

  The lighting was dim, with candles on the tables and subdued chandeliers overhead. A few couples danced on the hardwood floor in the middle of the room to the soft music flowing from the piano in the far corner. The scent of grilled steak and spicy garlic filled the air. Her stomach rumbled, from hunger or nerves, she wasn’t sure.

  Glancing around the room, she didn’t spot Tagg. As the couple in front of her was led away to a table, the man behind a small podium asked if he could help her.

  “I’m meeting a Mr. Taggert for supper,” she answered.

  The man in the finely pressed black tuxedo checked his book and nodded. “He’s not arrived yet. Would you care to be seated, or would you prefer to wait in the bar?”

  “The table would be fine,” she answered, not sure what was proper. What the heck? A person only lives once. And Carol Barnes only lived for this one last night.

  A hostess led her to a small table toward the back of the room from where she could watch the front door and see Tagg when he walked in. Her heart sped up at just the thought of being in his company again, even if it was only for dinner.

  She’d seen Billy twice during the week. They’d just passed in the hallway, but even that little contact with Tagg’s son had felt like something special. Billy was really a good kid. He was one of those that acted up for the attention. She’d spent time talking to him about his mother when she’d helped him on his report, and learned that his mother wasn’t home a lot of the time. She liked to party, as Billy put it. He wanted to move in with his father as soon as he turned sixteen, when the courts in their area let the child decide which parent with whom he preferred to live.

  His dad was always there for him, Billy had told her. It was his mother who’d been missing from his life since the divorce.

  The maître d’ came to take her drink order. She ordered a coffee. The last thing she wanted was alcohol to dull her senses if this was her last night with Tagg.

  Carol watched the door, watched the couples on the dance floor, and wondered if Tagg would ask her to dance. Other than swaying with Mr. Bigsley, the seventy-three year old Economics teacher at the last school dance she helped chaperone, Carol hadn’t been dancing since high school. And even then, it had been with a group of girls. She’d never slow danced, or fast danced either for that matter, with a man. Her husband had thought dancing un-masculine.

  Dreaming again? she asked herself. Yeah, I am. Oh, well. That’s all she had. Her dreams.

  After three cups of coffee and realizing an hour had passed, Carol couldn’t deny the niggling thought that she’d been stood up. She didn’t know whether to be angry or embarrassed. Or worried. Something could have happened to Tagg at work. No, she wouldn’t let herself think that. She refused to worry about him. Five more minutes and she’d leave.

  She used the restroom as a stalling tactic, hoping against hope that Tagg would show, but still he wasn’t there when she exited into the lobby. With one last longing glance toward her table at the other end of the room, she headed for the front door. An elderly gentleman in a tuxedo approached her just as she reached for the door.

  “Ms. Barnes?” he asked.

  She frowned. “Yes?” She was Ms. Barnes if this had to do with Tagg.

  The man let out a audible sigh of relief. “My name is Bradley, I’m the restaurant manager. I have a message for you from Detective Taggert. He told me I had to tell it to you just as he’d said it.” When Carol nodded for him to continue, he pulled a piece of paper from his pants pocket and frowned down at it. “I’m sorry. I was detained at the station. I feel terrible for missing our date. Please don’t hold it against me. Please call me on my cell phone as soon as you get home.” The manager crinkled his brow and looked at her with concern. “This is when he said I should get on my knees if I had to and say, ‘Please, please, please.’”

  Carol chuckled and lightly touched the older gentleman’s arm. “Sir, no need to do that. Thank you for relaying the message.” She pushed open the heavy glass door and went outside before she let herself acknowledge the sadness crowding her heart.

  It was over.

  She should have known better than to get her hopes up. People like Liam Taggert didn’t happen in her life. Not for keeps, anyway.

  She stepped into the phone booth on the corner and shut the door behind her, which turned on the overhead light. Pulling the folded piece of paper from her purse with Tagg’s numbers on it, she dropped a coin in the phone and dialed Tagg’s home.

  “Hi, Tagg. It’s
Carol,” she said, forcing herself to sound as chipper as could be. “Sorry we didn’t connect tonight. The manager gave me your message. I think I misplaced your cell phone number. Anyway...”

  Anyway what? She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that wanted to fall. She took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. Her mother had always told her that if you smiled when on the phone, you couldn’t sound sad or angry. “Thanks for last weekend. It...meant a lot to me. Bye.” She hung up before she could change her mind. She stared down at the paper with his numbers on it, then slowly tore it in half, then half again, and again and again, making it impossible to turn back and give in to the urge to call him out of desperation.

  Tears streamed down her cheeks, blurring her vision. Sure, she could always call the police station, or she could look up Billy’s file in the office, but she wouldn’t. Without the temptation of having his numbers in her possession, she wouldn’t call. “Bye,” she whispered again as she laid the shredded papers on the little table beneath the phone, and then pushed the door open and stepped out into the blustery night air.

  * * * * *

  Tagg cursed loud and long when he got home and checked his messages. Damn it, he should have had his home phone forwarded to his cell. He should have known she’d do something sneaky. And he’d bet his last dollar that she’d called from a pay phone, not her home phone, so there was no possibility of tracing it—of finding her.

  What was with her? He hadn’t tried to find her all week, hoping that things would be different after they saw each other again. He’d been hoping she’d open up a little—and at the very least, give him her real name. But he’d had to spend an extra four hours at the station filling out paperwork that couldn’t wait on a high priority case.

  Starting tomorrow, he was going to look for her. He didn’t know how yet, but he’d figure it out. He had to find her. Had to. She’d invaded his thoughts all week long. He’d been hard pressed to concentrate on anything because he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He wanted her. Hell, he was beginning to think he needed her. He didn’t like that feeling, especially when there was so much he didn’t know about her, but damn it all to hell if he didn’t want to find out.