by Jule McBride
“You’re not going to get out of this one,” Sheriff Durham said. “Not unless you confess and can offer some reason for what you’ve done. Then, if the Anderson women are nice enough to take pity on you and not press charges, seeing as their property doesn’t look harmed, you might be set free.”
“Don’t count on it,” Ariel said. “As much pain as this jerk has caused us, I can’t imagine not pressing charges. So, no confession will be necessary. I think we can rely on the evidence.”
She felt a rush of pleasure as Rex’s hand curled around her elbow. Heat suffused her. All at once, she wished they were somewhere other than here. Like in bed. Time was running out, the festival was tomorrow, and she wanted to spend every last possible moment with him.
Glancing beside her, she surveyed how the T-shirt hugged his muscular chest. Her gaze dropped, then took in the tight fit of his worn jeans. The fly curved over him, molding the unmistakable bulge. As she blew out a breath, she took in the hard muscles of his thighs. And dammit. As usual, it was Studs Underwood who was in the way of what she wanted!
If not for the sheriff, the recipe book would still be stored in the safe, her relatives wouldn’t have been worried all week and could have been busy preparing specialty tea blends to sell tomorrow. Now, they’d be up all night, hard at work on pouches of teas for the booth. Which meant she’d be busy, too. Suddenly, she saw all her best-laid plans for lying naked in bed with Rex tonight going up in smoke. “Definitely, we’re pressing charges,” she burst out.
“Now, Ariel, honey,” Studs began, a pleading look coming into his beady brown eyes.
The look alone was enough to push her over the edge. “I hope you rot in jail. Ever since high school, you’ve been spreading rumors about me all over town.” She stared at Joanie. “And they are rumors. Frankly, I wouldn’t touch your husband with a ten-foot pole. Who would want him?”
“All that was lies!” Jeb exclaimed.
She whirled on him, not about to mince her words just because of Jeb Pass’s age. After all, he’d already heard it all through the grapevine, anyway. “What?” she said, the laughter coming from her lips undercut by her steely gaze. “Do you really think I had sex with him in the parking lot of Jack’s Diner? Or drove into Charleston with him, just to get it on with another woman in a skanky motel room?”
Before Jeb could answer, she plunged on. “Now, look at me, Jeb Pass. And look at him. Me. Pretty, smart and working for a television station in another city. Him. An overweight thief.”
“Well, uh, Ariel…put that way…” Jeb began.
She almost smiled with satisfaction. Yes, maybe she should have defended herself years ago, but she’d known no one would listen. And now, since he’d been caught red-handed, stealing from her family, she had leverage. Since Michelle worked at Jack’s Diner, the news of this would probably be all over town before sunset.
Marsh gasped. “What a jerk!”
“Arrest is too good for a man like him!” said Michelle.
Ariel was staring at Joanie. “So, don’t you ever—” She paused “—And I mean ever come looking for your husband in my bed again. It interrupted me. And it interrupted our guests who pay good money to have a pleasant stay and vacation!”
“Well said,” commended Rex.
Not that Joanie heard. “How could you?” she said to her husband.
Ariel almost felt bad about what was happening. The pain in Joanie’s expression was apparent, but then, none of them were kids any longer. Pushing aside a twinge of guilt at hurting them, she said, “I’d feel sorry for you two, but you’ve caused a lot of trouble.”
“Why?” Joanie asked, her eyes on her husband’s, imploring.
Studs hung his head in a way that would almost have been comical, if not for all the havoc he’d wreaked in Ariel’s life. “I…wanted the recipes for myself,” he admitted, trying to keep his voice low enough that only his wife could hear. “And I wasn’t going to ask the witches for it.”
“Only because I was up there,” Ariel said. “And you know I wouldn’t give you a damn thing, Studs. What do you have against me and my family, anyway? Did you do this out of spite?” Only now did her mind really register that he’d said he wanted the recipes.
He lifted his gaze, as if to meet hers, but his eyes stopped shy of hers. He exhaled a long breath. “C’mon, Ariel. Tell him to let me go.” Now his eyes did meet hers, and the uncharacteristic honesty in the gaze made her heart lurch. Then she reminded herself that Studs was only being nice so he wouldn’t go to jail.
“I took the book. I admit it. And…” His eyes shifted to his wife. “I made up those lies.” All at once, his voice cracked. “Joanie baby,” he continued. “It was for you. You’d get so jealous when you thought I was with Ariel, and then you’d come running to me, doing all those sweet things, trying to make sure I loved you best. But you’ve been so unhappy lately…” He swallowed hard, then continued. “I couldn’t ask the Andersons for any specialty teas, but I figured if I borrowed the book for a few days, maybe I could find a tea that would…”
Joanie’s voice was hard to interpret. “Set things right between us?”
He nodded.
Ariel could only shake her head in stupefaction. “This is his motive,” she muttered, unable to believe it. Surely, Joanie would leave the jerk now. Already, she was unhappy in the marriage, and now her husband had been exposed as the most dangerous kind of gossip, as well as a thief.
As if reading her mind, Michelle muttered, “Leave him in the dust.”
Instead, Joanie grasped her husband’s hands and brought them to her heart. “Oh, Studsy,” she whispered. “You did all that for me?”
Ariel uttered a strangled sound. Could this possibly be happening?
“You know how much I love you, Joanie,” he said.
Had Ariel’s whole life been dogged by rumors, just so Studs could make Joanie jealous? Joanie was smiling through tears. “Well, you know they’re saying something’s in the water, so maybe we should…”
“Kiss and make up?” Leaning, Studs offered a wet, sloppy kiss.
Ariel’s eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her head. “I really don’t believe this,” she said, stunned.
“They deserve each other,” said Michelle.
“Don’t you dare show mercy,” Rex put in.
“Throw the book at him,” Jeb said.
“Ditto,” added Marsh, sounding astonished.
“I wasn’t about to let him off the hook,” Ariel assured.
Swiftly, as soon as she nodded, Sheriff Durham stepped past Joanie, grasped Studs’s wrists and cuffed him. As he moved toward the door, Ariel felt Rex’s arm slip around her waist, guiding her in the same direction. Her whole side warmed, and once more that telltale heat washed over her, urgent and undeniable. As they walked toward the front door, their steps were in perfect tandem, and she wanted to feel Rex against her, skin to skin.
“C’mon,” he urged, leaning so close to her ear that his breath feathered over the lobe. “Sheriff Durham can handle the rest. Maybe we can get some alone time before he returns the book to you. After that, we may be busy all night, helping your folks get ready for the festival.”
And she had to sleep, unfortunately. Tomorrow was such a big day. The cameraman from Charleston would be here to greet her by seven in the morning. Most of the real work would take place in the editing room in Pittsburgh, but Ariel wanted to make sure the story wound up having the exact right approach. Since Jack and Ryan had said she could use the material about the CDC looking for a love bug in Bliss, she was sure the piece could be humorous, quirky and heartwarming. That’s what she wanted, at all costs.
“I think we can steal a couple hours,” she whispered huskily to Rex, already feeling his fingers on her thighs, parting her, and the rush of sensation as he filled her until she was sure she’d die from the pleasure of it.
They’d reached the yard when, from behind her, she heard Marsh say, “Maybe we ought to tell S
heriff Durham about Angus Lyons.”
“Yeah,” Jeb cut in excitedly as Ariel turned to look over her shoulder at the others. “We saw him,” Jeb continued. “I recognized him from an old newspaper clipping that Chicken Giblets, I mean Miss Gibbet, showed us in school. I thought it was interesting, so I read more about the Core Coal takeover. Anyway, it’s definitely him. He’s back, and he’s staying at the Outskirts Motel.”
Studs’s voice sounded then, the tone as sly and crafty as a snake. “That’s another reason I’ve been so busy lately, honey,” he said to his wife. “I’ve been staking out Angus Lyons. He’s registered at the Outskirts under a fake name, Lawrence Nathan. I’ve been watching him and his ex-lover.”
“Oh, honey,” commiserated Joanie, as if her husband were Perry Mason and Sherlock Holmes rolled into one.
His eyes skated to Ariel’s, and now, although he was wearing handcuffs, the gaze held a gleam of ugly triumph. “Now that you’ve gotten me arrested,” he said, his mouth slowly broadening into a Cheshire cat’s grin, “you have a free afternoon stretching before you, Ariel. So, why don’t head on down to the Outskirts Motel and meet your daddy?”
15
“MY DADDY?” ARIEL SAID in shock, clutching the dash board as Rex drove. She glanced beside her. Feeling uneasy about what she saw in his expression, she added, “What?” as he pulled into the parking lot of the Outskirts.
Rex hesitated, then said, “Nothing.”
She squinted, inviting further commentary that didn’t come, then she glanced around the lot. “My mother’s car’s here,” she murmured, her hand already on the door handle. Her mind was still reeling. Maybe her mother had had an affair with Angus Lyons years ago, after what appeared to be an outbreak in Bliss.
Then after he’d left town, he’d carried the bug to Szuzi.
But was she, herself, a result of their union?
Angus Lyons, she thought now. Impossible. And he’d seemed like such a nice man. Maybe that was the worst thing. She’d taken a liking to him both times they’d met. No wonder he was looking at me in such a strange way. Almost…as if he knew me. Had he and her mother kept in contact? Why hadn’t her mother said something about him? Had she known he was in town? And had he known about Ariel?
Whatever the case, she hated that the information had come from Studs. Anger surged through her as Rex turned off the vehicle. Not waiting for him, she hopped out of the mobile lab, slammed the door and headed for room twelve, having no idea what she might find.
Rex’s hand grabbed her from behind. “Maybe you’d better take a deep breath, Ariel,” he murmured. “Don’t go in there half-cocked.”
Even though she knew he was right, she wasn’t about to wait. She’d been wondering about her father her whole life. “I’m fine,” she said, her voice a mere croak. Her lips had gone dry. She licked them and realized she could still taste Rex’s kisses. That calmed her some. “Okay,” she said, seeing the concern in his eyes. Dutifully, she made a show of inhaling deeply, then exhaling.
A slight smile toyed with his lips, and it brought a twinkle to his eyes. His voice grew husky. “Kiss me first.”
Her arms circled his neck quickly, drawing him near, and his arms wreathed her back. Mouths and hips locked at the exact same moment and sparks of fire passed between those two pressure points. She tilted her hips up ward as his tongue plunged deep, meaning business. She gave him a payoff, a slow thrusting that got the juices rushing inside her. A second later, her mind cartwheeled into the abyss.
He went with her, she could feel it in his response.
She was falling into the wet heat of his mouth, spinning over a waterfall, riding a current of relief.
The past hour had been so strange. But this man was grounding her. Gliding her hands from his neck, she cupped his powerful shoulders, then flexed her hands, drawing him yet closer…and then wanting him closer still. She wouldn’t be satisfied until he was thrusting deep inside her again.
Rex’s grip around her back grew tighter, as if he had every intention of pulling her right down onto the burning concrete and loving her, here and now. The sun was strong, and when she opened her eyes, she saw sunspots.
Blinking, she found herself looking into his eyes, which were as blue as the sky. When he tilted up his chin, she could see clouds reflected in the irises.
She squinted. “What?”
He shook his head. “Hmm?”
“You’re looking at me funny.”
He hesitated, and once more, just as in the car, she was sure he was withholding something from her. He shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
Whatever it was, there was no use trying to find out.
Turning, she slipped an arm around his waist and headed for the door. Nothing more than the knock of his hip against hers made her knees weaken. When they reached the door, she lifted a hand and rapped.
A man’s voice called out. “Who is it?”
Her hand curled around the doorknob. “Ariel.”
Would he know who she was? Yes. She was sure of it. He’d watched her earlier with such awareness. He had to know she was his daughter. But maybe she was wrong. What if all this was just fantasy? But that’s why she’d come here, wasn’t it? To put the past to rest, so that she could move on.
From behind the door came a rustling sound, whispers. No one said anything, though. They were in there together, trying to decide what to say, she thought, turning the knob. The door wasn’t locked. After a second’s hesitation, she pushed it open, then realized she shouldn’t have. Inhaling quickly, she glanced around the room. The man who’d previously called himself Lawrence Nathan was bare-chested and quickly donning his pants. Her mother was blushing, her cheeks bright red, and she’d clearly just slipped her dress over her head.
Ariel was so stunned she could only gape. “Sorry,” she managed to say. Then added, “I guess it’s true.”
The color that had flooded her mother’s cheeks now drained until they looked chalk white. “You heard…
How? That’s impossible.”
“Sheriff Underwood found out that…” She hazarded a glance at the man who was probably her father, and was thankful for the strong wall of Rex’s back, which she could feel right behind her. “That, uh, Angus Lyons was in town,” she said. “And we found the book. The sheriff took it.”
Her mother squinted. “The sheriff?”
“Long story,” Ariel said simply. “He wanted the recipes, to heal the relationship with his wife. Sheriff Durham arrested him and took the book to dust it for fingerprints.
We’ll have it back in an hour.” She could barely believe the words coming from between her lips. There were so many other more important things right now. And she wanted to know about her father…“Is it true?” she asked.
Her mother came forward, caught her hands and looked deeply into her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “You always asked questions, but I was very hurt by how my affair with your father ended, so I didn’t really want to talk, and I pretended you didn’t really need to know.”
“Maybe I didn’t,” Ariel said quickly, venturing another glance at Angus Lyons. He looked so still. Not a muscle moved. Even his gaze seemed stationary, just fixed on her face, and she had no idea what he was thinking.
“I’ve been happy,” she forced herself to say, hating the pain she saw in her mother’s eyes. And the love.
Over her shoulder, Ariel could see the mussed covers of the bed, and a lump formed in her throat. If she hadn’t met and made love to Rex, all this would be playing out differently, but now she knew how passion could rock a woman to her very soul. Her mother, too, might have lost her head and experienced the kind of loving Rex had shown Ariel. It would make people do things they never would otherwise.
“I know you’ve been happy, honey, but…” Her mother took a deep breath, then the story poured out, and Ariel listened with growing understanding. Her mother and Angus had met when he’d come to town with his father, to buy real estate, ostensibly for land
development. The affair had started during a late summer such as this one, and they’d spent an idyllic time, be coming lovers, even though Samantha’s grandfather, Eli Saltwell, didn’t approve.
“He didn’t approve of big business,” she explained.
“He’d worked in the coal mines in his youth, and had lived through some of the more violent strikes down in the southern part of the state. He remembered when that part of the country was kept peaceful only under marshal law, and he’d seen how chemical waste from the mines had destroyed the rivers and streams.”
Ariel’s mind couldn’t catch up. “Eli Saltwell was married to Great-gran?”
“Still is,” her mother said. “They never divorced, and now I believe they’re starting to make amends. Of course, who knows if it will last. Those two were oil and water. Passionate and fiery, but they couldn’t carry on a civil conversation.” Her gaze shifted briefly to Rex. “If you need any proof there’s something in the water, that’s probably it.”
From behind her, Ariel heard his chuckle. “I think I’ve found my own proof.”
“Angus was in the dark about how his father operated,” her mother went on. “And while he was here, he started to wise up.”
“Because I fell in love with your mother,” Angus clarified, now coming to her mother’s side. His voice was soft, almost silken, and seemed to strum with feeling. Ariel could hear the love in it. “I found…” He paused, his eyes drawing Ariel’s to his. “Things in Bliss I’d never imagined. Your mother bolted me out of the world I’d always known and made me see things in a whole new way….”
Ariel squinted. “What happened?”
“Your mother found papers in our rooms regarding the land deals. My father and I, as well as other members of the coal consortium, were staying in the bed-and-breakfast,” he explained. “And she was tidying up. I…there’s no excuse,” he began. “But I guess I bought my father’s sales pitch lock, stock and barrel. I figured he really did intend to turn Bliss into a tony resort, initially, but then began crunching numbers and realized that the coal business would bring more revenue, which was why people from Core Coal had come into town to meet us. I also believed he’d make good on his promise to the town later, and develop the resorts after Core Coal had mined.”