by Lisa Norato
Her mother grinned. A confident gleam shone in her eyes as she relaxed back in her seat as though mulling over her answer. “Your father, he calls me a romantic. This is true, si, but he also knows I am a good judge of character. I know people. I sense things. I watch and I listen. I see the heart. And I have seen Rick come around our family like a lost puppy begging to be loved. In his heart, he knows the value of family. The love. And he has been watching and listening, too. You say it has only been one date, but Rick has spent months getting to know you. He observes. He sees the woman you were raised to be, your character, the way you make a home, how deeply you care and love, and he wants to be a part of that. This is what I believe. This shallow man you worry he may be, that I don’t see.”
She leaned forward and patted Jamie’s hand. “Now, what do you think, eh? The truth. You know Rick better than any of us.”
Jamie sighed. “I suppose I did let myself get scared off.”
“I can understand you’re scared,” her mother continued, “but do you think you’ll feel any better wondering if he actually did care for you, knowing you didn’t even give him a chance? What about Rick’s side of the story? He was expecting you for dinner and must be wondering where you are. Hasn’t he tried to contact you?”
“He did try to reach me just before you came in, and I think he left a message,” Jamie said, pulling out her phone. “I haven’t listened to it, though.”
“Go on, then, cara. We’ll listen together.”
Jamie put her cell on speaker and placed it on the desk between them.
Rick’s voice came through in a harried tone. “You must already be on your way, so just in case I’m not at the house when you arrive, give me a ring. I’ll have my phone with me. Something’s come up.”
No mention of Vera. So either Rick had not yet returned to his Victorian or he arrived home, found Vera and went back out again. But why? The message was oddly suspicious.
Jamie looked to her mom, who met her gaze with the same puzzled expression.
“What do you think came up?”
“I have no idea. The question is, Jamie, what does your heart tell you? Do you care enough to find out?”
Chapter Fourteen
Halloween had been weeks ago, so why were so many of Rick’s neighbors out for a stroll on this chilly night?
Their flashlights bounced to and fro across the road and at anything that moved. More than once Jamie had been blinded by a beam flashing across her windshield. She drove at a slow roll in her mother’s Lexus, which she’d chosen to take instead of her van. The Lexus would be unrecognizable to Rick if she lost her nerve and kept on driving past the Victorian.
Jamie parked across the street, turned the headlights off and watched the house. The lights were on, both inside the Victorian and out on the porch. Vera’s red rockers remained in place, but there was no sign of her car. The garage was closed and no vehicle occupied the gravel drive.
It looked like he was home alone.
No turning back. Confronting her mother with her cowardice wasn’t an option. She had to stay, walk up to the Victorian and knock on Rick’s door.
A rapping on the glass near her head gave her a terrible start. Jamie jumped. The fine hairs at the back of her neck stood on end as she turned to find herself face-to-face with one of the flashlight walkers.
Breathless, she stared at the shadowy face until recognition came. Jamie powered down her window.
“I thought that was you,” Dorie said. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your van. I’m sorry. Did I scare you?”
Jamie answered with a shake of her head. She wanted to ask Dorie what she was doing, roaming the neighborhood on this cold, dark night and sneaking up on unsuspecting motorists as they sat in their cars, but she hadn’t quite caught her breath yet.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” the woman continued. “Rick was expecting you sooner. He’s beside himself. He knocked on my door in a state, wanting to know what he should do and asked if I wouldn’t mind keeping an eye out for you. He’s been around the neighborhood with no luck. Hasn’t taken a break since he found out, except to contact the police. Which, of course, they didn’t appreciate. You can imagine how panicked he’s been. And now it’s getting late. I don’t think there’s anything more that can be done tonight, and everyone’s getting tired.”
“Police? Wait. What?” Jamie tried to wrap her head around what Dorie was saying. Had they been looking for her? Did Rick suspect something had happened to Jamie when she hadn’t shown up for dinner? That Vera had gotten to her and kidnapped her? Or worse.
It wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility. Get serious, Jamie.
“You mean you don’t know what’s going on?” Dorie asked.
“I received a message from Rick that something was up, but that’s all he said.”
“Oh, Jamie, it’s Boo Boo. Rick came home to find her missing. She must have gotten out of the house somehow.”
Boo Boo! “Oh no, poor Rick.” What more could go wrong tonight? she thought. “Of course I want to help.” Jamie turned off the ignition and pocketed her keys. “Where is he?”
Dorie explained she’d last seen him in the backyard searching his bushes. Again. Jamie parted ways with the woman at the Victorian’s front walkway. Dorie pressed her flashlight into Jamie’s hand and wished her luck.
Jamie watched Dorie make her way to her own home. It must have been Dorie who had organized the neighborhood search. What a sweet lady. Seeing these people come to Rick’s aid touched Jamie in a way that made her fall in love with Elm’s Corner and this old Victorian all over again.
Clutching the collar of her jacket against the chill, she picked her way over the grass to the back of the house. As she passed beyond the reach of the porch light, she shone a beam on the lawn in her path.
Rounding the corner, she found Rick standing under the elms at the edge of his property, his back to her and shoulders slumped, staring into the wooded lot beyond.
No sign of Vera. Thank God for small favors.
Jamie shone the flashlight on him. “Rick?”
He turned at the sound of her voice, warding off the beam she shone in his face with a hand, until Jamie lowered the flashlight.
They quickly approached each other.
“Where have you been?” he demanded. “I stepped out for a quick run to the store and came home to find Vera had all but broken into my house. Boo Boo is missing and you never showed up for dinner.”
He looked distraught and disappointed, making Jamie feel guilty, even while she believed she had no reason to feel guilty. “I did show up. With braided garlic. And a pot of parsley. It’s not as impressive as a set of porch rockers, but I put a lot of thought into that gift,” she said defensively. “Vera didn’t tell you I was here?”
“No. You’re saying you were here with Vera? So what happened? Where’d you go? Why haven’t I heard from you?”
“Really? Vera never mentioned me?”
He shook his head.
The shrew. “Okay. Well. To be honest, I left because I let myself get intimidated, and I stayed away because I was angry and hurt and wasn’t sure I was ready to talk to you. But I had time to think about it and came back for a drive-by to see if Vera was still here and because maybe I might have overreacted.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Never mind. We can talk about it later. What can I do to help find Boo Boo?”
He gazed aimlessly about the darkness and threw up his hands. “Nothing. In the morning, I’ll call the shelters, put up flyers, offer a reward.”
Jamie shone a light up into the branches overhead. “She could have been spooked by another cat and ran up a tree to get away.”
“You don’t think I haven’t already searched the grounds a hundred times?”
“Take it easy. I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t understand how this happened. Dorie told me you came home to find Boo Boo gone
, and yet Vera was in the house during your absence. She must have seen Boo Boo. What does she have to say about this? Or was Boo Boo still here by the time Vera left and got out afterwards?”
He looked dejected. And she couldn’t say for certain, but Jamie thought she saw a sheen in his eyes. Her heart broke for him.
“You know, I told Vera I was expecting you for dinner,” he said, “but she never once let on that you’d been here. She wouldn’t own up to knocking over the pumpkin either. You’ve probably noticed the smashed jack-o-lantern, which just so happens to be the one carved in your likeness.”
At Jamie’s nod of acknowledgement, he continued. “For all I know, Vera’s lying about not seeing Boo Boo. That’s what she claims. That she never saw Boo Boo the entire time she was here.”
Jamie frowned thoughtfully. “Boo Boo probably sensed a cat hater in her house and would have kept out of sight. Cats know how to be sneaky. They have excellent tiptoeing skills. She could have gotten past Vera without Vera ever being aware of her.”
“Vera had the deliverymen bring the chairs into the house before changing her mind and having them set up on the porch. The door had been open the entire time. That must have been when Boo Boo got out, though Vera claims she was watching and never saw the cat.”
Jamie reached for his forearm and gave it a squeeze. “Maybe I can think of some place Boo Boo could be where you haven’t looked yet.”
“I’ve looked everywhere, Jamie.”
“How about the garage?”
She could tell in his expression the moment he realized he hadn’t looked everywhere.
“Did you happen to leave the garage door open when you left to go to the store?” she asked.
“I was in a hurry. So you think… ?”
Jamie shrugged. “She could be hunkered down in a spot that’s not easily seen. You wouldn’t have been looking for her when you got home, thinking she was safe inside the house. It’s worth a check, but we might need something to draw her out. She would have been locked in the dark for a while and is probably frightened. Do you have tuna? Tuna was what we used to befriend her when my crew and I first discovered her.”
“I have tuna,” he said, his face brightening with hope. “Good thinking.”
They hurried to the kitchen, where Rick pulled a can of tuna from the pantry and opened the can. Jamie took note. Italian tuna, considerably richer than the budget-friendly, water-packed stuff of Boo Boo’s early days at the Victorian.
Back outside, they made a dash for the garage and slipped in by the side door. Jamie switched on the overhead light while Rick called to his cat and set the can down in a readily visible spot between the back end of his BMW and the wide carriage house style door.
Jamie wasn’t expecting immediate results, but Rick stood there staring as though all his hopes were piled into that oily tuna can on the cold cement floor. His melancholy and the dampness of the garage sent her a chill that reached down to her bones. She shook it off and began searching the storage shelves and garden tools lining the walls, advising Rick to do the same. It didn’t take more than ten minutes to determine Boo Boo had not taken refuge in the one-car garage. Rick just hadn’t lived there long enough to collect enough stuff to create a very effective hiding place. There were no cobwebs. The building still smelled of new wood.
What now? The question hung in the air between them.
“Vera didn’t let me through the front door or I might have noticed then Boo Boo was missing,” Jamie said, staring at the can. If only I’d stayed. She couldn’t bring herself to admit it aloud.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t about to get off that easily. Rick spoke the words for her. “Why didn’t you stay? What did you mean before when you said you were angry? You!? We had plans and you don’t show, don’t call. I thought you’d stood me up.”
His sharp tone had her snapping her gaze up to his. His blue eyes flashed angrily.
Jamie’s temper flared. She let out a sound that was half grunt, half huff, but one hundred percent indignation. When she managed to find her voice, her tone rose in frustration. “Why did you leave me here alone to face your ex-girlfriend? Or is Vera not an ex anymore? I’m not really clear on that point. Why would you tell her it was okay to come over when you and I had plans for an evening alone? Our second date. Your words, not mine. Did you forget?”
“Of course I didn’t forget! I never would have allowed Vera to stop by. It was just as much of a surprise for me to find her here.”
Jamie crossed her arms over her chest. “She told me she called you to let you know she was on her way with a housewarming gift and you were fine with it.
“And you believed her?”
That set her aback. At the time, Jamie hadn’t considered not believing Vera, allowing herself to feel vulnerable and intimated instead. She gave Rick an angry glare. She wasn’t ready to let him off the hook. He had put her in a very embarrassing position.
“What’s with the look? I’m the one who should be upset. You didn’t believe in me enough to stick around until I returned,” he argued.
“What am I supposed to think when I arrive and you’re not there to greet me? Instead, I find Vera has made herself comfortable, wearing one of the sports watches I mistakenly assumed were meant for us to share. My jack-o-lantern is smashed on the ground, and her red rockers have taken its place on the porch. She let me know the two of you were getting back together, and to prove it she had the key to your house!”
He winced. “All right … I admit it must have looked bad, but you didn’t misread anything, Jamie. Vera snooped around on her own and found the watch. It’s yours. I was going to give it to you tonight. I’m sorry she behaved so spitefully to you. Before I went overseas on business, I had left a spare key with her for safekeeping. I hadn’t even moved in yet myself. I’d completely forgotten.”
Although she accepted his explanation, Jamie was still simmering. “I wasn’t about to fight over you on your front porch like some jealous schoolgirl. I won’t compete with Vera. And I won’t play her games.” She realized her voice carried, but she was beyond caring if anyone in the neighborhood heard. “You two looked cozy last night at the foundation dinner. Maybe you realized you loved Vera after all when you saw her looking so beautiful in her red dress. And you’d rather not be with a construction worker you had once mistaken for a teenage boy. Maybe flannel isn’t that attractive, after all. You might have been using me to make Vera jealous.”
He frowned darkly. “Like you used Dylan to make me jealous?”
“I never used Dylan. We’re co-workers who share a love of restoration and are friends off the job, but friendship is as far as it goes. If I led you to believe there was more between us, then I apologize. Were you seriously jealous of Dylan?”
The look in his blue eyes deepened, darkened. He moved closer. “Jamie, I’ve been secretly jealous of any man I’ve seen take an interest in you. I got very uncomfortable when I saw you dancing with Curtis last night. I don’t even remember what Vera was saying to me, because I was so distracted by the sight of you in his arms.”
Jamie lost herself in the intensity of his eyes … until she came to her senses and stepped back.
“Don’t throw me off the subject. We’ve only been on one date, but Vera was your girlfriend until recently when she broke up with you. I don’t know what this thing is between us. You’ve never really made that clear, other than admitting you’ve felt jealous. But that still doesn’t tell me anything about your feelings for me. Oh, except for last night when you said what you felt for me was ‘friendship.’ So, is that it? We’re just friends?”
He smiled to the point of almost laughing. “I hope we are friends, Jamie. Among other things. But friendship. True friendship. I never had that with Vera. Or any woman. They were all superficial romantic relationships. But you, Jamie. I genuinely like you. I care about you. I enjoy talking to you. I listen to what you have to say. I respect your opinion. I like being around you. It feels good. Right. L
ike I’m home again. And not just in Elm’s Corner or in the Victorian, but wherever you are.”
His eyes shone with a happiness that seemed to bare his soul to her. “I don’t want Vera. I never loved her. I had it out with her, and Vera is gone. Do you honestly want to know what I feel?”
“Yes, I think I would,” she said, but did she really want to know? Tonight was supposed to have been a simple date, but now Jamie found herself confronting the future of their relationship, if there were to be one at all, and she didn’t think she could bear another disappointment.
“Okay, let’s settle this.” Stepping forward, he gripped her arms, pulling her close as he gazed down into her face. “I think I’ve been falling in love with you all along. I’ve never met a woman I felt I wanted to be with forever. Until you came along. So … as corny as this may sound, will you go out with me, Jamie? Exclusively? Will you be my girlfriend?”
Jamie smiled, her thoughts abuzz, her heart light. Before she could speak, Rick leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her gently. Jamie could feel his strength and power, and as she began to respond, he crushed her to him, his mouth more demanding. Warmth spread through her body. She relaxed into it until she floated. Or so it seemed.
Slowly, his lips released her and Rick pulled away slightly. “Is that a yes?” His warm breath fanned her lips.
Jamie lifted her lashes to look into his eyes, and the affection she saw there made her spirit soar.
Her mother had been right.
“Yes. That’s a definite yes.”
Rick beamed at her. He pulled back to kiss her on the forehead, allowing Jamie the opportunity to wrap her arms around him. For several moments they stood in the embrace, holding each other.
It was wonderful and yet not as happy a moment as it could have been. Because of Boo Boo.
“I’m scared, Jamie,” he said.
The defeat in his voice nearly broke her heart. “I know. Me, too.” It was getting late. Her breath frosted in the air. Even inside the garage, it was cold. Too cold a night for a little kitty like Boo Boo. Too many dangers lurking in the dark. She was a petite thing, so dear. Jamie couldn’t bear the thought of Boo Boo lost. She shuddered.