Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (Rose Gardner Mystery #4)

by Grover Swank, Denise

  “And how do you feel about that?”

  I turned to Mason, searching his eyes. I hated that he looked worried. “I told him that I can’t forgive him for running to Hilary so soon after we broke up. Even if we got back together, I wouldn’t be able to trust him not to go back to her.”

  His expression was still guarded. “Is that how you really feel or what you thought you should say?”

  If anyone other than Mason had asked me that question, I’d be angry. But there was no malice in his voice, and he of all people deserved an answer. “I have to be able to trust the man in my life, Mason. I’ve been hurt by too many people. If I give my heart to someone, I want him to be truthful with me. The fact is, Joe hid so many things from me. He wasn’t truthful with me over the majority of our relationship.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “He said he wanted to protect me from Daniel Crocker, but I told him that I didn’t need him. I told him I had you. Just like I’ve had you for months. I just didn’t realize it.”

  “Rose.” His hand slid up my arm.

  “I’m glad I saw that side of him today. It freed me to move on and not feel guilty for wanting to be happy with someone else.”

  His gaze fell to my mouth. “Someone else?”

  “You, Mason,” I whispered. “I want it to be with you.”

  His mouth lowered and my breath stuck in my chest as his lips lightly brushed against mine, like he was worried he’d scare me away.

  I rested my hands on his shoulders and parted my mouth as his tongue explored mine. A fire erupted in my chest and I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer. My reaction removed his hesitancy and he wrapped one arm around my back, moving the other behind my head.

  Desire flowed through my veins and I turned awkwardly in the passenger seat to press myself against more of him.

  His head lifted, leaving us both panting. “I suspect your neighbor is watching us.”

  I grabbed his hand. “Come inside.”

  He got out of the car and came around to open my door, pulling me into his arms and kissing me until I was lightheaded.

  Why had I been resisting him for weeks?

  Leaning back with a grin, he took my hand and dragged me up to the front porch. “Keys,” he mumbled before he kissed me again. When he lifted his head, he said it again, “Your keys.”

  I stared up at him.

  “Your keys? So I can unlock your door.”

  “Oh.” But I still studied his face in a daze. Mason had literally kissed me senseless.

  “If you keep staring at me like that, I’m liable to skip going inside, which wouldn’t be so great for my career given that your neighbor makes bi-weekly calls to my office to report indecent activity at your house.”

  I laughed as I dug through my purse and found my keys. Mason took them from me and quickly unlocked the doorknob and the deadbolt. But instead of opening the door, he pushed my back up against it and kissed me again. One hand cupped my cheek while the other slid under my sweater and skimmed the bare skin of my waist, setting my hairs on end. I grabbed the back of his neck, clinging to him as my knees weakened. My heart pounded in my chest and my skin flushed.

  Mason lifted his head, his eyelids heavy with lust.

  “Are you coming in?”

  He watched me for several seconds. “No.”

  I blinked, certain I’d heard him wrong. “No?”

  “I’ve waited for months, but you haven’t. I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for.”

  “You’re not pushing me into anything. I want you.”

  “I don’t want you to regret this, Rose. We have time. We can wait.”

  “What if I don’t want to wait?”

  His hand caressed my cheek. “If I can wait, so can you. I just want you to be sure. You only decided today to move on.”

  I buried my face into his chest and groaned. I could see the sense in his words, even though I didn’t want to admit it. “I hate that you’re right.”

  His arms wrapped around my back. “You have no idea how hard this is for me. I’m going to have to go home and take a cold shower.”

  I looked up into his eyes and pressed my lips against his before I could stop myself.

  He groaned and deepened the kiss as I clung to him. “Rose, you’re not making this any easier.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled against his lips.

  “Liar.” He laughed and took a step back. “Go inside and lock the door. They have Crocker cornered, so you should be safe, but I’ll have the police do several drive-bys tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  “Will you meet me for lunch at Merilee’s tomorrow?”

  “I should tell you no for being so mean.”

  He kissed me again, murmuring against my lips, “I’m doing my best to convince you.”

  “If you kiss me like this tomorrow, then definitely yes.”

  His face lit up with a grin. “I have court in the morning, but it’s Judge McClary and you know how he likes his noon lunch recesses.”

  “So noon? I’ll be working at a job site by myself tomorrow, so I might not be too pretty.”

  “You’re always beautiful, Rose.”

  I blushed.

  “Are you building the retaining wall? By yourself? Can you get someone to help you temporarily until Bruce Wayne shows up?”

  “I could ask David, but he hated working for me before. He only did it because I promised he’d earn recreational money.”

  “Try him again. And maybe he’ll tell you more about Bruce Wayne while you’re working.”

  “Okay.” I had to admit it was a good idea, although I suspected he’d be resistant, particularly since this would be even harder manual labor than what I’d hired him for the first time.

  “Now go inside. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know that Crocker was officially apprehended.”

  I opened the door and stood in the doorway for a moment. “Goodnight, Mason.”

  He leaned over and gave me one last kiss, proving that meeting him for lunch was the best idea since the invention of the microwave.

  “Goodnight, Rose.” He gently pushed me inside and closed the door behind me.

  After flipping the lock I turned on a lamp and peered through the curtains as his car backed out of the driveway.

  I leaned my back against the door and sighed as a strange feeling washed through me. I tried to put my finger on what it was. It was weird not having to let Muffy outside, but that wasn’t it. My body was filled with surging hormones and an unsatisfied craving, but that wasn’t it, either. I felt unsettled, as if my life were on a teeter-totter and I didn’t know where I was going to land. Was this what it was like dating someone else? Dealing with the uncertainty of the future?

  With a tired sigh, I pushed away from the door. It was only nine o’clock, and I was nowhere near ready for bed. I put on my pajamas and called Neely Kate, filling her in on my day with Mason. When I told her about Mason kissing me, she squealed so loudly in my ear that I had to hold the phone away. “You’re going to make me deaf, Neely Kate.”

  “Hearing is overrated. So he’s a good kisser?”

  “Well, I don’t have much to compare it to, but when he finished, I was pretty fuddled.”

  “Oh!” She squealed again. “I knew you two would have great chemistry. You’re a rising Scorpio and he’s a Cancer. You’re a perfect love match.”

  “How do you know Mason’s birthday?”

  She gasped. “I can’t believe you of all people are asking me that!”

  “No kidding.” I laughed. Neely Kate was known far and wide for her extensive knowledge regarding everything and everyone around her. But incredibly, she wasn’t prone to gossip. “I can’t believe he’s making us wait.”

  “I think it’s romantic. He really cares about you, Rose.”

  “I’ve known that for weeks. I don’t need him to wait to prove it.”

  “Well, you rushed into sleeping with J
oe and look how that turned out.”

  I sighed. “That was different. I was sure I was about to be murdered and I didn’t want to die a virgin.”

  “Still, I like it. It makes him more chivalrous. If I wasn’t married to Ronnie, I’d go after him myself.”

  “I’m eating lunch with him tomorrow. I’ll be sure to tell him he has options.”

  She snorted. “It would be a waste of breath. The guy only has eyes for you, Rose. Be sure to kiss him in public, though. He’s turned down so many eligible Fenton County women that rumors have been going around that the poor guy is gay.”

  I laughed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Call me tomorrow after your lunch. Unless you’re too busy.”

  “You’re terrible. Goodnight.”

  I turned on the TV and started a new episode from season two of Grey’s Anatomy. After I found out about Joe’s engagement to Hilary a few weeks ago, Neely Kate had brought over the first few seasons. Now I was hooked. But tonight I couldn’t concentrate, remembering the way Mason had kissed me and how much I wanted more. I’d worried that dating Mason would feel like I was cheating on Joe. But I hadn’t given Joe any thought whatsoever just now. I tried to pay attention to who was sleeping with whom at Seattle Grace, which seemed to change from episode to episode, but my mind kept drifting to Mason and our moment on my porch. Finally, I gave up in the middle of the second episode and turned off the TV.

  After making sure all the doors were locked, I climbed into bed, missing Muffy so much it took me longer than usual to get to sleep. My dreams made me restless and when I woke up in the morning, I felt uneasy, like something was wrong.

  Cracking my eyes open, I glanced around the room. Everything looked fine until I noticed specks of red all over my ivory comforter.

  Red rose petals were strewn all over my bed.

  Shrieking, I sat up and scrambled backward, bumping into the headboard.

  Rose petals were scattered in a path that led from my bed out the open doorway into the hall.

  My heart hammering in my chest, I got out of bed and rounded the corner into the hallway, terrified of what I’d find. The petals continued down the hall and led to my sofa, which was now covered in red splatters, eerily similar to Momma’s sofa after her head had been bashed in by Daniel Crocker with her rolling pin. I fought hysteria and swallowed to keep from throwing up as I inched closer, terrified the red stains were blood. A wooden rolling pin covered in red on one end lay on the middle cushion next to a geode with purple crystals, both pinning a piece of paper in place. I carefully pulled the sheet out, my hand shaking so hard I could barely read the handwritten note.

  My dearest Rose,

  You and I have business that I’m very much looking forward to finishing.

  Eternally yours, Dan

  Chapter Nine

  I stumbled into the bedroom and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, trying to get my fingers to cooperate to dial Mason’s number. But I was having trouble breathing and my vision was blackening around the edges. I will not pass out. After two more deep breaths, my vision returned to normal, but a new thought hit me.

  What if Daniel Crocker was still in the house?

  My clumsy hand dropped the phone and I fumbled to pick it up as I ran down the hall and out the kitchen door. Standing in the driveway in my spaghetti strap nightgown and barefeet, I struggled to see the numbers on my phone through my tears.

  Get it together, Rose.

  I blinked and the screen cleared enough for me to find Mason’s speed dial.

  “Rose?” He sounded alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

  Do not freak him out. I was freaked out enough for both of us. “How did you know something’s wrong?”

  “Because you’re calling me at six-thirty in the morning and you’re crying.”

  “Someone’s been in my house.”

  “Get out of there. Now!”

  “I did. I am.” I shook my head. “I’m standing in my driveway.”

  “Go to Heidi Joy’s. Or even better, Mildred’s.”

  That cleared my head. “I’m not going to Mildred’s house.”

  “Did you call 9-1-1?”

  “No, I called you. And he’s not here anymore.” I was starting to feel more in control. “He got his point across.”

  “Who? What happened?” He sounded breathless. “Never mind. Tell me when I get there. Just go to Heidi Joy’s. Now.”

  “Do you want me to call 9-1-1?”

  “No. We’re already on our way.”

  “We? You’re with the police? At this time of morning? Why?”

  “I’m with the sheriff and he’s already got someone on the way. Are you at Heidi Joy’s yet?”

  “No, I’m on the phone with you.”

  “Go over there!”

  “He’s already gone, Mason. I’m safe.” For now.

  “Rose, just humor me. Please.”

  “Okay. I’m going,” I said, climbing her front porch.

  “Stay put. I’ll be right there,” Mason said before hanging up.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to wake Heidi Joy up. She had looked so exhausted the last few times I’d seen her that I didn’t want to steal her precious sleep and scare her half to death by telling her that someone had broken into my house. Again.

  I sat on a chair on her front porch and wrapped my arms across my chest. Now that my shock had worn off, I was getting cold. I considered going back inside my house to get a robe, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I hadn’t lied to Mason when I said that I was sure Daniel Crocker was gone. But the horror of what happened was hitting me.

  Psychopath Daniel Crocker had been in my house—while I’d slept—and I hadn’t known it. He could have easily killed me; he’d chosen to taunt me instead.

  But how? The last I heard, Daniel Crocker was cornered in a warehouse in Shreveport.

  Two police cars turned the corner and pulled up in front of my house, lights flashing and sirens blaring. This had happened so often over the last six months that I was surprised my neighbors hadn’t signed a petition to get me kicked out of the neighborhood. I couldn’t say I would blame them.

  A car from the sheriff’s office pulled up next, and Mason’s car was right behind it. His door flew open and Mason bounded across the yard, shrugging off his jacket. “Rose, I told you to go into Heidi Joy’s house.” He pulled me out of the chair and put his coat around my bare shoulders.

  “No. You told me to go to Heidi Joy’s. I just couldn’t wake her and scare the living daylights out of her. Although I’m sure the sirens did it for me.”

  He glanced down at my feet. “You don’t even have any shoes on.”

  “I saw…it and just grabbed my phone and ran out the door.”

  “What is it?”

  “Go see for yourself.”

  Heidi Joy’s front door opened and Andy, Sr. came out wearing flannel pajama bottoms and a stained T-shirt, running his hand through his bed-head hair. “What’s going on?”

  Mason put his arm around my shoulders. “Can Rose wait inside for a bit? Someone’s broken into her house.”

  “Again?”

  I cringed.

  “Rose, there’s something I have to tell you first,” Mason said. Taking a deep breath, he turned me to face him, keeping a strong arm around my back. “Daniel Crocker wasn’t in the warehouse in Shreveport.”

  “I know.”

  His face paled. “How do you know?”

  “He left me a note.”

  He pushed me inside the front door and turned to Andy, his face hardening. “Do not let her out of your sight.” Then he hurried across the yard, intercepting the policemen who were about to go through my open kitchen door.

  I stared out the front window, wondering why these things kept happening to me. I had lived a simple, boring life until Daniel Crocker showed up at the DMV that Friday in May, just five months ago.

  Mason came back about ten minutes later, carrying a pair of shoes and clothi
ng wadded up in a ball. He handed them to me, looking embarrassed. “I figured you’d want some clothes. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll take you for breakfast. We can talk about what we found.”

  “Okay.” I grabbed the clothes and started down the hall. As I unwrapped the wad, I quickly found the source of Mason’s embarrassment. He’d gotten me a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, but he’d also picked out a pair of panties and a bra. It had to be pretty apparent that I was braless in my nightgown. I closed my eyes, taking a moment to wallow in my humiliation.

  When I finished changing, I put on my shoes and Mason slipped his hand into mine and led me outside to his car.

  “Don’t you have to stick around?”

  “No, Sheriff Foster and Jeff are in there and I trust them to do a thorough investigation.” He opened the passenger door and climbed behind the steering wheel. “Are you okay, Rose?”

  “Yeah,” I said, watching several sheriff’s deputies walk into my house. This was a new twist to the law enforcement invasion of my house. I’d never entertained the sheriff before. “I’m fine.”

  We were silent as Mason drove through town, heading away from most of the restaurants that were open this early. He kept his gaze focused on the road, but I could tell he was upset.

  I turned toward him. “I thought we were getting breakfast.”

  “We are. At my house. I don’t think you should be in public right now.”

  “You mean out in the open.”

  He didn’t say anything and my stomach revolted. I looked in the side mirror and realized the car behind us had been following us through several turns. Inhaling sharply, I turned to Mason in a panic. “Somebody’s following us.”

  He reached over and grabbed my hand. “It’s okay. It’s a sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car. He’s protecting us.”

  Nodding, I pressed my knuckles to my lips. How was this happening? Panic bubbled up in my chest and I took deep breaths to calm down.

  Mason squeezed my hand. “It’s okay, Rose. It’s going to be okay.”

  I closed my eyes, telling myself I had nothing to worry about. Half the law enforcement officers in southern Arkansas were looking for Crocker. But it was the reassurance of the man next to me that made me believe everything could be okay.