“Okay, let’s shuffle the cards.”
Chapter 26
“Dean, do you think the library here in town will have newspaper archives from 1947?” Mack moved to sit beside him on the sofa.
He reached out and pulled her toward him for a hug. “Probably, why? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that if Thomas can’t talk, then surely there would have been something about a young woman going off the cliffs written up in the newspaper. If there was, why didn’t Jacob read about it? Most people read newspapers.”
“You’ve got a point. Do you want to go?”
She sat up to look closely at him. “Are you sure you don’t mind spending time at the library?”
“As long as I’m with you, I don’t mind.” He caressed her face then leaned in to kiss her.
As he started to pull away, she took hold of his face and sealed her lips to his for another quick kiss. “Mmm.” She licked her lips. “Thank you for being understanding. I really appreciate it. We could go somewhere after the library if you like.”
“I’d like.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I took a picture of the photograph Thomas found. Let me show you.”
She stood up, reached for her cell, and searched through her pictures to find the one she wanted. Unfortunately, it was a really bad picture and didn’t really show the faces. She must have taken the picture just as Thomas removed it from the table when Lucas appeared.
“Damn, this is totally crap. Look.” She passed her cell to Dean.
“You can take another one, Mack. In fact, when we go to visit my grandfather, I’ll bring my laptop and portable scanner over, and we can get a better copy for you.” Dean stood up and grabbed his jacket from the back of the kitchen chair.
Mack followed him out of the cottage. “That would be great. Thanks.”
He put his arm around Mack’s neck and brought her in close to him before he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Come on, the library awaits,” he said, not wanting to let her go.
As Dean pulled his bike into a parking space outside of the Thomas Memorial Library, Mack wondered if it was the same library where Rose had worked all those years ago. Parts of it certainly looked old enough, although it looked like new sections had been added over time.
They climbed off Dean’s bike and removed their helmets. Mack reached up to him and pulled his head down to hers for a sizzling kiss, and then pulling away, she gave him a saucy grin.
“What was that for?” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer to nuzzle her neck.
“I can’t resist you.” She groaned.
A car suddenly backfired, which brought them back to their senses. Dean took a deep breath and moved her away from him so he could think clearly. “We’d better head inside before I bend you over the bike and take you back to the cottage.”
She giggled when she caught the look on Dean’s face. They were acting like lovesick teenagers. Mack opened the door to the library and stood with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to catch up. “Coming?”
“I’m not answering that.” He ushered her inside.
Dean leaned against one of the pillars in the middle of the library and just watched his woman walk over to one of the library assistants. She’d put more of a sway into her step, which she’d done deliberately to get a reaction out of him . . . Hot damn!
Last night when Mack took matters into her own hands, literally, it was a very nice, pleasurable surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that, although he’d hoped. What guy wouldn’t?
Yesterday, when he’d listened to Mack read about his grandfather’s love life, he’d found it kind of creepy and hard to imagine the Jacob from the diary, who was in love with Rose, to be his grandfather who was in love with his wife, Eliza.
Mack waved him over to follow her. He straightened from his slouched position and followed her to an archive room. She seemed to be in deep discussion with the male library assistant, who was ogling her. Ogling his girl . . . Dean’s woman.
Dean placed their helmets on top of the large table in the center of the room, and his leather jacket on the back of one of the chairs. He walked over to Mack, wrapped one of his arms around her waist, and pulled her in close to stake his claim. She didn’t let him down either. She placed one of her arms around his waist with her hand going into his back pocket to squeeze his butt. The little minx! Dean leaned over and placed a kiss on top of her head as he pulled her in tight to his chest.
The assistant seemed to get the message because, after he’d finished telling her to come get him if she needed anything else, he dashed from the room.
She grinned, reached up, and pulled his head down to hers for a quick kiss as she walked off toward the shelves where a lot of rather large books were stored.
“The newspapers we want are over here. Apparently, each page is laminated for protection, so he didn’t have any problem leaving us alone in here.” Mack looked back to Dean.
“Alone? For how long?”
She laughed. “Get your mind off body parts and come over here and help. You’re taller than me.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He sauntered over, laughing.
He lifted the volume down that covered the week of April 14, 1947, and set it down on the table, while Mack took her denim jacket off and placed it on top of his on the chair.
She was really excited, hoping there was something in these papers about what happened to Rose. It appeared to have been awhile since anyone had looked through them because they were caked in a few layers of dust. She blew it off the best she could, then turned the page to April 15th. They both eagerly scanned each page closely to try to find something.
As they carefully looked through the 19th, Mack started to lose hope of finding anything. It was five days after the event, and surely, it would have been covered before then.
Just as she started to turn the page, something caught Dean’s eye. He put his hand out and stopped the page from turning. “Mack, look. Read this.”
April 19, 1947
Today the Coast Guard called off the search for the missing girl, who fell to her death, over the cliffs on the evening of the 14th. Clothes have come ashore on the beach, but as of yet, there is still no sign of a body.
If anyone has any information about the identity of the missing girl, please contact . . .
“Could this be Rose?” She lifted her face up to look at Dean, excitement filling her eyes.
He pulled her out of the chair and onto his lap. “I don’t know. It sounds like it. But why isn’t her name in the article? It’s as though no one knows it’s Rose.”
She snuggled into him. “I’m going to have to ask Thomas. It just doesn’t make sense. Her family obviously had money. If her father was trying to marry her off to a wealthy guy, her drowning should have been bigger news.”
“Come on, let’s go and get something to eat, then head back and see if there’s anything out there on the internet about Rose. There should at least be a death certificate we can view.”
Chapter 27
“Are you enjoying your lunch?” Thomas wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled at Lucas, who was arranging his remaining fries into a row of soldiers on his plate.
“Yeah, that was really awesome.” He shoveled more ketchup-covered fries into his mouth. “Hey, look! It’s Auntie Mack and Dean,” Lucas shouted. He shot up out of his chair, ran out of the door and into Mack’s arms.
“Are you okay, Lucas?” she asked as Dean walked around his bike and started to ruffle his hair.
“Great, I can play poker,” Lucas added with great pride.
“Oh, you can, can you?” She grinned at Dean.
Dean took Mack by the hand and led the way inside to be introduced to Levi. Walt had already left before they had got there.
Mack looked stunned. “You’re Levi. I mean, Levi?” She laughed. “Sorry, I’m not usually an idiot. I mean Levi as in the childhood friend of Thomas?” She found it unbelieva
ble that Levi and Thomas were still best friends after all these years.
Dean handed her an ice-cold Pepsi and put his down on the table. He carried a couple of chairs over for himself and Mack. Placing both chairs close together, he eased Mack down into hers. He needed to touch her and put his arm around her. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and whispered in her ear, “What’s wrong?”
Mack turned to reply and stopped when she realized just how close to Dean’s face she was. Looking into his eyes, she leaned forward slightly. “It’s okay.” Then she kissed him. “Just making sure the ladies over there know that you’re mine. Plus, I couldn’t resist.”
She moved slightly away and noticed a twinkle in Thomas’s eye. He probably has us married already, she thought. After she’d taken a long drink of her Pepsi, she looked over at Thomas. “How long have you known Levi?”
“Seventy-seven years, or thereabouts.”
Dean put his drink down rather abruptly. “Damn, that’s a hell of a long time.”
Mack looked just as shocked. “In Rose’s diary, she mentioned you a couple of times. In fact, the description that really made me laugh was about you and Thomas absconding with an apple pie, and that you both got caught returning the plate.”
“I remember that as though it was yesterday,” Levi replied, laughing.
Dean could see the wheels turning in Mack’s head and wondered how long it would take her to start questioning Levi.
Dean was seated close with his hand caressing her thigh, her hip, or anywhere else he could reach. Right now, his hand was caressing the back of her neck. Mack had her hand on his thigh and was sliding it up and down. He wasn’t sure she knew what she was doing. Boy, another couple of inches, and she would know just how much she affected him.
“Levi, can I ask you something?”
He paused and took a drink, and then he quickly glanced at Thomas. “Yes, I guess. As long as it isn’t going to get me into trouble.”
Dean reached down and removed her hand from his thigh. She was playing hell with his libido. He laced their fingers together while she decided what to ask Levi.
“Do you remember Rose? What she was like?”
“I do.” He had a slight blush. “She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen, and I had one hell of a crush on her. I didn’t tell Thomas, but I had planned on marrying her when I was ten.”
“I knew.” Thomas laughed.
“What’s a crush?” Lucas asked, having just finished his huge, ice cream sundae.
“A crush is when you really like someone, and you can’t think about anyone else,” Mack replied to Lucas, who still looked confused.
“So you mean like you and Dean?”
With everyone laughing, Dean let go of her hand, took hold of her face, and kissed her . . . it was a very slow and very soft kiss.
“Yes, like me and your Auntie Mack,” Dean answered, grinning at Mack’s dazed look.
Just then, Dean’s cell started to ring. “Excuse me a minute. It’s my mother.” He stood up, and before he walked outside to answer his cell, placed a quick kiss on the top of Mack’s head.
Her sandwich arrived and she started to eat it but kept glancing outside to catch a glimpse of Dean. She liked to look at him. Wherever he was, her eyes were always drawn to him. Was this how Rose felt when she was with Jacob?
Dean came back inside and appeared rather distracted as he sat back down next to her. “Is everything okay? You look bothered.”
He sighed in frustration after he’d talked to his mother. “I’m fine.” Then he looked directly at Mack. “I have to go to Boston tomorrow for a garden party at my folks’ place. Do you and Lucas want to go with me? We would, of course, have to go in your car, but we could share the driving. We could also bring my laptop and scanner back as well.”
She stayed silent, not sure whether it was a good idea to meet his family after only knowing each other for a short time.
“Mack?” he asked nervously.
“Are you sure you want me to meet your family?” she whispered.
Dean took hold of Mack’s hands. “Yes, I do. I need to warn you, though, Cynthia, who I mentioned before, will be there trying to get her claws into me . . . you know . . . maybe this isn’t a good idea, after all.”
She heard Dean say Cynthia was going to be there and felt her hackles rise at the women’s name. There was no way her man was going to a party without her when another woman wanted him. No way in hell.
“Yes, we would love to go,” she replied. She noticed a mixture of relief and fright cross Dean’s face. She giggled. “I’ll sharpen my knives. No one messes with my guy, so don’t be surprised if I can’t stop touching you all the time. I need to lay claim to you!”
“Christ, you’re hot when you get pissed, and babe, you can touch me as much as you want. I’m all yours!” Dean whispered into her ear, feeling relieved and happy that she obviously had deep feelings for him.
Thomas stood up and took hold of Lucas’s hand. With a cough trying to smother his laughter at Mack and Dean, he said, “We’re going to the beach for the afternoon so I’ll have the boy back home for dinner.”
“Are you sure, Thomas?” She was worried about leaving Lucas all day with him.
“I’m sure. I’m not about to miss dinner!”
They finished their lunch in silence as they watched Thomas and Levi take Lucas across the road to the shady part of the beach. Mack, for the second time, wondered what it would be like to live in Cape Elizabeth instead of the city.
“You finished?” Dean asked her rather abruptly.
“I am, thanks. That was really good.” Mack wiped her mouth on her napkin.
She watched Dean place the dishes onto the bar and let her mind wander back to last night and how he looked naked and aroused.
Dean started to walk back to Mack and noticed the steamy look in her eyes. He hesitated. “What do you want to do now?”
She licked her luscious lips and stood. “Mmm, how about going back to my place and getting naked?” she whispered.
Dean tightened his hold on his jacket, picked the helmets up, and then practically dragged Mack out of the door and onto his bike.
To try to keep his libido in check, Dean took some deep breaths as he waited for Mack to climb off his bike, then he followed her into the cottage.
She dropped her jacket onto a chair at the kitchen table before she then turned and perched on the edge of it, looking up to meet Dean’s eyes. She stared at him, then licked her lips and watched his eyes go from hot to blazing in seconds. “Make love to me, Dean.”
“My pleasure.” He couldn’t wait for her anymore and dropped his jacket to the floor. He ripped his T-shirt off over his head, and with a couple of strides over to Mack, his lips met hers in a very hot and fiery kiss.
Mack was seeing stars, and before she could think about anything else, Dean’s hands were on her bottom as he pulled her into him.
She raised her arms so Dean could remove her T-shirt, then as he looked down at her bra encased breasts, his eyes glittered. He moved his hand between them and unclipped her bra. First, he pulled one cup away and placed a kiss on her rose-colored nipple, which had shivers shooting down Mack’s spine. Then he removed the other cup from her breast and planted a kiss to that aroused nipple. He pulled the bra down her arms and tossed it on a chair. Bending down, he gave her nipple a quick lick before he pulled away slightly to take in much-needed air.
He looked down into Mack’s eyes and moved in for another taste. She tasted of chocolate and woman and he couldn’t get enough of her.
Her hands stroked up and down his back. He was so close to losing it and needed her to stop if he had any chance of making this good for her. Breaking away from her mouth, he kissed and nibbled along her neck and down to her collarbone before he kissed and suckled her nipples.
“Dean,” she groaned.
Her breasts looked well loved. He pushed her back so she was lying on the table while he unzipped her jeans and
pulled them down her long legs. He pulled them off with her underwear. Mack was so aroused. She wrapped her legs around his hips and couldn’t stop rubbing herself against him. Dean wasn’t faring any better as his hips had a mind of their own, grinding against her. “You drive me totally crazy. You know that, Mack?”
She moaned. “Dean, now!” Mack grabbed hold of Dean’s arm and pulled herself up. She unzipped his jeans, pushed them down past his hips and took hold of his erection, which was throbbing and weeping in her hands.
“Christ, Mack.” He moved her hands away before he totally lost it and slammed his lips back down to hers. He grabbed her hips with his hands, moved her to the edge of the table, and thrust inside her to the hilt. He stopped briefly to try to calm himself down. “I’m falling in love with you, Mack.”
Her legs were wrapped around his hips and her hands were holding his head in place to receive her kiss. “I already love you.” Then she grinned and squeezed her internal muscles. His eyes rolled back in pleasure. “Love me,” she whispered.
He started to slide slowly in and out of her and couldn’t remember ever feeling so alive.
Mack stared up at him. Her eyes were locked on his as she ran her fingers through his hair. He quivered. She held his head and brought him closer for another toe-curling kiss, while Dean started to move faster and faster, in and out of her.
They moved their hips rhythmically, totally synchronized. Mack arched her back. “Oh, Dean . . . yes!” Mack shouted as she started coming around him. Her climax sent Dean over the edge at the same time that he felt her orgasm rippling up and down his dick.
Dean collapsed on top of her. “Hell! I think I’ve died and gone to heaven!”
“I’m too exhausted to think,” Mack gasped.
Come dinnertime, Mack was once again in the kitchen while Dean was trying to beat his score on the Super Mario Brothers game. All she could really think about was the gloriously sexy afternoon she’d just spent with him, in fact, she was lucky she didn’t burn herself while cooking the dinner since her mind was completely distracted.
Rose and Jacob Page 16