“My money’s on never,” Jake added.
If Laila hadn’t been standing there, Will might have said something more pointed, but he settled for a scowl, then muttered, “I’ll be back, and we’ll finish this conversation then.”
Laila led the way outside and headed toward one of the benches on the town green, still looking grim. Even after they were seated, she couldn’t seem to summon up a way to get into whatever was bothering her. In a woman he’d always found to be direct and forthcoming, her behavior was uncharacteristically reticent.
“Do you need counseling about something?” Will prodded carefully. “Would you be more comfortable in my office?”
She shook her head. “Truthfully, I don’t know quite how to get into this,” she began, then took a deep breath and added more bluntly, “I think there may be a problem with your dating service. A serious one.”
Alarm bells immediately went off for Will. “What sort of problem?” he asked, dread settling in his stomach.
“Once a match is made, you pass along contact information, right?”
“Only with each party’s permission,” he said. “Why? What’s happened?”
“I’ve been getting some calls in the past week. First, it was just a couple of odd hang-ups, but twice now there have been obscene messages left on my answering machine. I brought the tape.” She reached into her purse and handed it to him.
“Why not take it to the sheriff? And what makes you think it has anything to do with Lunch by the Bay? I’m not questioning you, just asking how you came to that conclusion.”
She nodded, not looking the least bit offended. “The timing, I guess. It could be some random jerk, I suppose, but it started right after I turned down a second date with this one guy I’d met through your company.”
Will winced. “Are you sure it’s the same man leaving the messages?”
“Not a hundred percent, no,” Laila said. “I tried to check the number for the incoming calls, but it’s blocked. I’ve listened to the tape maybe four times now, hoping I could tell for sure if it’s his voice, but I can’t swear to it. I’d had a prior message from the guy before we went out, but I’d erased it as soon as I’d called him back.”
“No reason not to,” Will agreed.
“I came directly to you because I thought maybe you’d want to check it out before the police get involved,” she told him. “If it turns out I’m right and this goes public, it could ruin your company’s reputation. I certainly didn’t want to take a chance on that without proof.”
“Damn the company!” Will said heatedly. “I don’t want my clients harassed like this. It’s wrong. Why don’t we go back to my office right now and call this guy? I’ll put him on speaker phone, and we can compare his voice to the tape. Maybe if we do it together, we’ll know for certain. Then, one way or the other, we’ll go straight to the police.”
Laila nodded. “Thanks. I thought I was a pretty tough woman, but I have to admit these messages shook me up. You’ll see what I mean once you’ve listened to them.”
“I can see how much they’ve disturbed you, and you’re not the kind of woman who gets rattled without good reason,” Will said grimly. “Let’s go and see what we can find out.”
“What about your lunch?”
He gave her a wry look. “Haven’t you heard? It’s the same old boring thing.”
She laughed. “I’ll take you out for something more exciting as soon as we get this resolved,” she offered.
“Sounds like a deal to me.” He studied her as they walked. “You okay?”
She forced a smile. “I will be, as soon as this guy’s off the streets.”
“Until that happens, why don’t you stay with your folks or Trace and Abby?”
“I don’t want them to know about any of this. They’ll just worry. Plus, you know Trace. He’ll never let me hear the end of the fact that I used a dating service in the first place, even yours.”
“Then stay over at the inn with Jess.”
She gave him an amused look. “You going to stand guard over both of us?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then I’ll think about it. It makes sense, actually, though I hate giving in to fear.”
“Sometimes fear can be a healthy thing. In this case, I think it’s justified.”
After he’d heard the tape, then placed the call to the man they suspected, Will felt even more strongly about that. When he spoke to Vince, he was careful not to suggest he was aware of the calls to Laila. He acted as if he were only inquiring about how Vince liked the Lunch by the Bay service.
“It’s been great, man!” Vince said enthusiastically. “Thanks to you, I’ve found quite a few women I otherwise wouldn’t have met. I’ve been staying in close contact with a couple of them.”
“Which ones?” Will asked innocently. “I like to know which matches seem to be working out.”
“That Laila from the bank? She’s a real hottie.” He named another client, as well.
Will shuddered as he listened. Though the comment could have been made in all innocence by any man, there was an unmistakable undertone that set off alarm bells.
Will wondered if the other woman had been receiving the same kind of calls. Rather than saying something that might give away the true reason for his call, Will forced his voice to remain neutral.
“Thanks for the feedback, Vince. I really appreciate it.”
When he’d hung up, he glanced at Laila, who looked as if she’d been sickened by the call.
“He’s done this to someone else, hasn’t he?”
“Possibly,” Will said. “I’ll call her to find out, then I’m turning everything we have over to the police. Okay with you if I have them come here right now?”
She nodded, but her complexion was ashen.
“Want me to call Jess and have her come over here?”
She looked relieved by the suggestion. “Would you? I don’t know why this has shaken me so badly, but I have to admit knowing I was right has turned my stomach.”
“No problem.” He made the call, then explained the situation to Jess. “I think Laila could use your support right now.”
“Give me five minutes,” she said at once.
“Thanks.”
“I’d like five minutes alone with that son of a bitch,” Jess said furiously. “I’d teach him a thing or two about being a real man.”
Though the situation wasn’t even remotely amusing, Will smiled. “That’s one of those things I love about you. You’re always willing to jump right into the fray for your family and friends.”
“Of course,” she said. “It goes without saying. Tell Laila to hang in there. I’m walking out the door of the inn right now.”
Will disconnected the call and relayed the message. He was about to place the call to the other woman but decided to wait until Jess arrived and could sit with Laila. He’d make the call more privately, then notify the police.
Just thinking about how something he’d intended to be a good thing for the lonely singles of Chesapeake Shores could turn out this way made him want to slam his fist into something. Agreeing with Jess, he thought the most obvious choice would be Vince’s face, or perhaps some other more appropriate part of his anatomy.
Jess was still boiling mad that anyone could have done this to her friend. She’d been tempted to call Connie but had stopped herself, uncertain if Laila would want anyone else to know about the obscene calls.
When she stormed into Will’s office, she found Laila looking pale and shaken, but her usual spirit was sparkling in her eyes.
“Oh, sweetie, this just sucks,” Jess said, pulling her into a hug, then dragging a chair closer, so she could sit right next to Laila.
“How are you doing?” she asked, as Will left the room to make phone calls.
“Better, now that Will’s handling things and you’re here,” Laila said. “On one level, I’m scared to death. I didn’t realize I was until we pretty much confirmed it was the man I thought it w
as. It put a face to it, you know?”
“I know,” Jess said.
Laila tried to smile, but it never reached her eyes. “On another level, I’m spitting mad. I’d like to take this guy apart with my bare hands.”
“You wouldn’t have to do it alone,” Jess assured her. “I’m ticked, and I can only imagine how infuriated Will must be.”
“I don’t want something like this to ruin this company of his,” Laila said.
“I’m sure he doesn’t care about that.”
Laila nodded. “That’s what he said. He suggested maybe I should stay with you at the inn until this is settled. Would that work?”
“Absolutely. You can have the room next to mine at no charge, or I can bring a roll-away bed into my room if you’d be more comfortable that way.”
“Will said he’d stand guard.”
Jess chuckled. “I don’t doubt that for a second. I can’t seem to shake him loose these days.”
“Do you want to?”
“No, which surprises the dickens out of me,” she admitted. “Scares me a little, too.”
“I’m glad things are finally working out,” Laila said. “You two wasted a lot of time.”
“More than I’d realized,” Jess said, looking up as Will returned. “How’d it go?”
“The other woman had the same problem but hadn’t told anyone. She’s on her way over. So are the police.”
Laila’s expression brightened. “Then this could be over today?”
Jess worried about her assumption. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Laila. The police might have to do their own investigating.”
“She’s right,” Will said. “I made a quick call to Connor to ask him how the police were likely to proceed. He thinks this will be enough to get things started, but even if both of you press charges and Vince is taken into custody, he could be right back out on bail.”
When he arrived, the sheriff’s deputy told them the same thing. He regarded both Laila and the other woman somberly. “If you’ve got someplace else to stay for a while, it might be a good idea to do it. Let’s get this guy behind bars for good before you let down your guard. The reason people like this leave their messages on answering machines is that they’re basically sick cowards. He’s not going to be happy about being identified.”
Will turned to his other client. “You have a place to stay?”
She nodded. “I have an older brother here in town. I can stay with him. I’ll probably need to be there to keep him from killing the guy, anyway.”
The deputy winced. “I did not just hear that.”
Laila smiled at her. “Ditto with mine, which is why I’m not saying a word to him just yet.” She looked pointedly at Jess when she said it. Jess nodded her agreement.
“Okay, then, we’ll go pick this guy up,” the deputy promised. “I’ll stay in touch with you, let you know what’s going on.”
“Thanks,” Will said.
He turned to Laila and the other woman. “Any expenses you have because you’re out of your homes, I’ll cover,” he assured them.
“That won’t be a problem,” the other woman said.
“And Laila’s staying with me,” Jess told him.
Will didn’t look appeased. “I’m just saying, if you need it, the help’s there, and I’m not just saying that because I’m worried about repercussions. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to both of you.”
Laila regarded him with concern. “Will, you’re not to blame yourself for this.”
“I agree,” the other client said. “It could have happened with any other service or in some online chat room. There are sleazy people in the world.”
“I know that,” Will said. “I should have figured out some way to weed them out.”
Jess could see from the deeply troubled expression on his face that he’d taken this incident to heart and placed all the blame squarely on his own shoulders.
Having Laila close by was more fun than Jess had anticipated when she’d made the offer. And, though she didn’t want to admit it, Laila also made a nice buffer between herself and Will. The intensity of their relationship needed to cool down, though she had to admit she missed some of their more impulsive escapades.
“You’re using Laila as an excuse not to spend time alone with me,” Will accused a week into the arrangement. “Why is that?”
“I’m not,” Jess denied automatically, then winced at his penetrating look. “Okay, maybe I am.”
“Why? Were the feelings getting too scary?”
Though she hated to admit to being afraid of anything, she nodded. “I hate that you can read me so darn well.”
He laughed. “I know. It’s a curse, isn’t it?”
“You’re joking, but it’s not that funny,” she retorted. “I wonder sometimes if it wouldn’t be easier to be in a relationship in which I could remain a woman of mystery.”
“You’d go ballistic the first time some man didn’t know intuitively what was going on in your head.”
“Maybe so,” she said. “But I doubt it.”
“Want to test it?” he asked, regarding her with a challenging look. “You could always date a few guys, then report back.”
“I assume you wouldn’t be the one fixing me up with them,” she said, then realized the implication of her remark. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded, as some kind of knock on Lunch by the Bay.”
Though he’d stiffened, Will said, “I knew what you meant, and no, I was most certainly not going to fix you up. I was just offering you a time-out, if that’s what you really want. Go, test the waters.”
Jess was more shaken by the offer than she’d thought she would be. “Do you want to get rid of me? Is that what you’re saying?”
Will’s tense expression immediately fled. He reached out and pulled her close. “God, no,” he murmured in her ear. “It’s the last thing I want.”
She relaxed into his embrace, feeling secure once more. “Good, because it’s the last thing I want, too. As for all this time with Laila, she needs our company right now, and maybe it is good for us to let things simmer for a bit, instead of turning the heat up so high we burn out.”
Will laughed. “Our relationship is not going to burn out, Jess. I don’t see it happening.”
“It could,” she said, wishing she could be as certain as he was. She was close. It sometimes felt as if forever was within her grasp, but then panic set in.
One of these days, though, if Will remained steadfast long enough, she hoped to be exactly where he was, knowing that their future was as inevitable as breathing.
Even though his relationship with Jess seemed to be progressing nicely, Will still found himself walking on eggshells when they were together, especially lately with Laila as an almost constant companion. Much as he liked Laila and understood the reason for her presence, it occasionally grated. He and Jess were almost on the cusp of having it all. Adding a bystander to the mix was slowing things down too much for his taste.
Still, he did feel good about the progress he and Jess had made. And ever since their conversation about losing their privacy, she’d made an effort to ensure that they had at least a few stolen moments of alone time every evening. Or maybe that was Laila’s doing. She seemed to sense Will’s frustration in ways Jess did not.
Despite the ups and downs of the past ten days or so, Will was still stunned when he arrived at the inn to pick Jess up for a scheduled date and discovered that she’d apparently gone off on an overnight trip for the inn without bothering to mention it to him. His heart sank.
“Did she leave a message for me?” he asked Laila, who was on her way out to spend the evening with Trace, Abby and the twins.
“Sorry, no,” she said. “I thought for sure she’d called you.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“She got a call earlier, something about some real estate or something, and took off right after she made sure I’d be with Trace and Abby tonight.”
<
br /> “Okay, thanks. Enjoy your evening. If she happens to call you, tell her I stopped by.” He had to wonder, though, if even that would trigger her memory and remind her that she’d blown off a date. Was this her ADD, or was she sending him a message about how truly unimportant he was in her life? With Jess, especially recently, it was impossible to say.
An hour later, he was reluctantly matching couples on the Lunch by the Bay website and debating whether he shouldn’t be calling it quits and shutting down the site for good, when his cell phone rang: Jess, according to the caller ID.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
“I am so, so sorry,” she apologized. “This trip came up at the last second and I completely forgot to check my calendar. Laila called me to tell me. Why didn’t you?”
“I figured something important must have come up,” he said. “I understood.” And he did. For someone with ADD, keeping track of details was a constant struggle. He was actually surprised something like this hadn’t happened sooner. Of course, it had at the inn, but those things hadn’t directly affected him.
As if she’d read his mind, she immediately snapped back, “Dammit, Will, this isn’t about the ADD. I forgot to check my calendar, period. People do that kind of thing all the time. No one makes excuses for them and no one patronizes them.”
“I am not patronizing you,” he said, treading carefully. “I thought I was saying that I understood what happened. It’s not a big deal.”
“Blowing off a date with you is a big deal,” she contradicted. “And you shouldn’t be giving me a free pass just because I happen to have ADD.”
“Are we honestly going to fight about the fact that I’m not upset with you for forgetting our date?”
“Yes, because it’s symptomatic of exactly what I was afraid of when we started seeing each other. I mess up. You check your psychology text or something and figure it’s classic ADD, and all’s well.”
“Look, I would much rather be with you than home alone working on Lunch by the Bay matches, but this is simply not as big a deal as you’re trying to turn it into. We’ll see each other when you get back.”
“So, now I’m crazy?”
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