“On a Sunday?”
“PIs work 24/7. I ran the names through the databases, and Michael Ambrose and another guest both checked in on the same day, both were from Denver, and both worked for the same company five years ago.”
“What company was that?” asked Sophie.
“Westgate, and it’s a real estate and property development holding. You ever remember seeing Ambrose with another guest or talking to anyone in particular?
“Not that I can remember, but I didn’t pay much attention to him until he asked to see me,” said her grandmother.
“You think this other man framed Grans?” asked Sophie.
“Anything’s a possibility. Plus, it would seem more fitting than it being someone from Greenville.”
“So you need to find him,” said Sophie.
“That’s my next move.”
“Do be careful, Wade,” said Emily. “If people resort to murder, well, I’m concerned about what you’ll stumble upon and they could hurt you.”
“Me, too,” said Sophie.
“You girls worry too much. And I’d like to give this and any other information I find out to your attorney,” said Wade.
“Fine with me. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this before I have to go for a pretrial hearing. And I can take this stupid thing off my ankle. It’s starting to chafe, and it doesn’t match any of my outfits.”
Sophie glanced at Wade. She knew he was on the brink of laughter, and she tried her best not to encourage him.
“Now, Wade, I hope you’ll be staying for supper,” said her grandmother.
****
Wade hated taking Sophie away from her grandmother for a second night, but after they’d eaten, he drove her over to his place. They’d planned to watch a movie and eat popcorn but one look at one another and as soon as they’d gotten inside the door they’d barely made it to the bedroom where they’d taken off each other’s clothes in record time.
“I want to do something to you I’ve never done to another woman,” Wade whispered in her ear.
“Now you have me intrigued.” Sophie nibbled on his ear as they fell onto the bed together.
“I don’t know if this will be a first for you, but I don’t want to know, okay?”
Sophie nodded. He didn’t even know if he’d be any good at it, but he hoped so.
He slid off the bed onto the floor and got hold of Sophie’s ankles and pulled her toward him until her butt was resting on the edge.
“Wade, what are you doing?”
“You’ll see. Now lie back and close those pretty blue eyes.”
He spread her legs and rested them over his shoulders, opening her up as much as he could.
He spread her pussy lips wide apart with his finger and thumb. A bead of moisture clung to the inside of one of her folds, and it was beautiful. He wiped it with his finger, watching as another bead seeped out. He put his tongue on it and licked. Sophie’s body quivered.
“Wade,” she whispered.
“Ssh, Soph, no talking now. Just relax.”
He put his hands on her thighs and tapped her clit with his tongue. Her thighs twitched, and he hoped that meant she liked it. He flicked as fast as his muscles would allow, hearing Sophie grasp and moan louder on each one.
He momentarily glanced up to see her sucking her finger as she rolled her head from side to side.
She pushed her hips up allowing the top of his tongue to brush her swollen nub. He felt it harden and swell under his tongue and then heard her cry out.
“Wade, oh my god, Wade, what are you doing to me?”
“Taking you to paradise.”
Wade’s cock twitched as he saw a steady stream of cream run from her slit. He so wanted to be inside enjoying the slickness and heat, but he wanted to give her more pleasure with his tongue first. He slid it inside her and licked and sucked and flicked again.
“No, Wade, I don’t think I can take it.”
“You can, Soph. Let me take you where you want to go.”
He pushed his tongue back inside and pushed upward, feeling her inner pussy wall grip it. He flicked, feeling like his tongue was about to snap.
Sophie called out, and he was sure the whole of Greenville must have heard her.
She took deep breaths as he stood, pulled her legs toward his chest, rested her feet flat on it, and was inside her.
Wade held her legs, pumped at her as hard as he could with Sophie raising her little ass off the bed to meet with each of thrust.
Her cry filled the room again, and this time he exploded inside her. He clung on to her legs, dug his fingertips into her soft skin, feeling her drain and milk him. He slid out and set his body down on the bed beside her.
They faced one another.
“I love you,” she said stroking his face.
He took her hand and kissed its palm.
“And I love you. So how about marrying me?
Chapter Twelve
Sophie hadn’t seen it coming.
He’d asked her three minutes and thirty seconds ago, and here she was still looking at him with her mouth open.
“Soph.”
“Yes.”
“Is that yes, you’ll marry me. Or a yes, I heard you?”
She put her arms around him. “It’s yes, I’ll marry you.”
“You’ve made me the happiest guy on the earth.”
“Not just in the state of Wyoming?”
“Nope.”
“Wade, we haven’t even thought that I live in Seattle and you live here.”
“Soph, I take it you’ll come back to Greenville.”
She didn’t answer.
“Is that going to be a problem?” asked Wade.
She shook her head. “Not as long as you let me give the town a makeover.”
He smacked her on the bottom. “You know you can’t do that, but I think you could run a design studio from here. So when do you think we should tie the knot?”
“Let’s wait until Grans gets all the legal stuff sorted out.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I’d hate to have that hanging over our special day.”
“I still have the curtain ring you gave me when we got married in the barn.”
Yep, she’d said it, and he was probably about to laugh his head off at her, but she wanted him to know she’d kept it all these years.
“I have mine, too.”
So it’s not just me who’s a sentimental romantic.
“You didn’t throw it away when…”
He put his finger up to her mouth. “In my heart I always thought we were supposed to be together and that in some strange way we’d find a way back to each other.”
****
Sophie looked across the table at her grandmother. She’d spend the night with Wade again and had returned at 10 a.m. that morning when Wade had headed for the airport to go to Denver to check on his leads.
“I know you’re bursting to tell me something,” said her grandmother not looking up from the book she was writing in.
“Wade and I are getting married.”
There it was out.
“Well, you two didn’t waste any time.”
“We’ve wasted too much of that already.”
“I agree. Now will I have time to get my hair done before the wedding?”
“Grans, of course. We’ve decided that we’ll wait until all this mess with you is sorted out.”
“Yes, I’d hate to go to my only grandchild’s nuptials with a monitor on my ankle or worse still, armed police escorting me there. I saw that happen on an episode of the Sopranos.”
Sophie smiled. She couldn’t imagine Grans watching a show like that.
“Don’t worry. Wade’s gone to Denver, and he’ll do some digging around.”
“I know he’ll do his very best for me. And Sophie?”
“Yes.”
“I’m very happy for the both of you.”
Sophie stood and planted a kiss on Grans’s cheek.
****
Wade got into the car he’d rented at the airport and readjusted the seat and mirror. He’d still been trying to reach Cathy all morning. He’d give it one more try. This time at the beauty salon. He pressed in the number, hoping she was there because he didn’t want her to hear about his and Soph’s engagement through a third party, which was often the case in Greenville.
He tapped the steering wheel as the number rang.
“Moran’s Beauty Salon. Nadine speaking.”
“Hi, Nadine, it’s Wade Linley. Cathy wouldn’t happen to be there by any chance, would she?”
“Sure, she just got back from her doctor’s appointment.”
“Great, could I speak with her?”
Wade checked out the buttons on the car’s dashboard as he waited.
“You have a lot of nerve calling me,” said Cathy.
He took a deep breath. “I know, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“I thought we had something special going here. I mean I don’t go away on weekends and do that sort of stuff with just any guy.”
Wade felt himself coloring up. “I know you don’t, and I never thought that poorly of you, really I didn’t. It’s just that Sophie and I have a long history.”
“Didn’t she dump you for some city slicker? You don’t think she’ll do it again?”
“No, no I don’t. And I wanted to tell you this before you heard it elsewhere that…”
“You’re getting married.”
News did travel fast around Greenville.
“Yes.”
“I think you and I need to have a chat before you do that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Can you meet me at my place tonight?”
“I’m in Denver for the day, and…”
“Denver, you’re joking, right? What the hell are you doing there?”
“Some business connected with Emily Richardson’s case.”
“How did you get involved with that…don’t tell me, Sophie.
“Nope, Emily’s like my surrogate grandma. Someone hurts her, and they hurt me.”
“Wade, did you ever stop to think that she really did kill than poor man?”
“I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“If you say so, but don’t be upset if it turns out of be true. Now can you be at my house around 7 p.m.?”
“I should be back by then, but if not I’ll stop by tomorrow. You sure you can’t tell me about it over the phone?”
“Nope, has to be in person.”
She disconnected the call, and Wade looked at his phone as if that would give him the answer as to why she needed to see him in the flesh.
He’d worry about that later, but for now he had some snooping around to do.
****
His ex-wife was pacing the floor. She always did that when she was nervous. She used to smoke, but since becoming a mother, she’d paced. This time he wondered if she’d wear out the floral pattern on the carpet in his motel room.
“I can’t trust you to do anything right,” she said.
“You wanted to take care of Ambrose?”
“No, but…”
“But what?”
She slumped down on the bed. The very bed where they’d lost their senses six weeks ago and resorted to having sex. Sex with your ex was as good as people said and even better.
“How the hell did Ambrose find me here?”
“I don’t know, but you don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“No, but I’ve got Wade Linley to worry about in his place.”
“What that he dumped you?”
“Yeah, that hurts, too, but now he’s gone stooping around in Denver. He’s smart, and he’ll put two and two together and come up with…”
“Nothing.”
She shook her head. “He’s going to see the connection. The fact that we were married while we worked with Ambrose and know we killed him…or should I say you killed him.”
He sat down beside her and took hold of her hand. He really was stupid to let her go because they were good together both in business and in bed.
“Then we’ll have to convince him to leave things alone and let the old lady take the heat.”
“And how do you think you’ll do that?”
“His dream girl Sophie.”
“You can’t hurt her. I mean I hate the bitch, but just leave her out of this.”
“I’m not going to hurt her but convince him I will if he doesn’t get his nose out of my business.”
She flipped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling.
“There’s something else I should tell you. Something I found out this morning”.
He was listening.
****
Sophie estimated she had just over an hour for her grandmother to drive into town and get her hair set before she returned to Mountainview. She’d been into town on a quick errand to buy new drapes, and she’d hidden them in the car and quickly brought them inside and stowed them in her room until her grandmother left. While she’d been in town she’d had the eerie feeling she was being watched, followed even, but had put it down to her being stupid. Unless of course the person framing Grans…
Sophie shook her head. If you weren’t safe in Greenville there was no place left on earth to be secure.
She walked out to the garage, found a step ladder and carried it into the reception area.
“So do you think you and Wade will run this place one day?” asked Julie.
“I don’t know. I suppose we will because it’s a family tradition. However, I’m sure Grans has many years left.”
Sophie reached up and unhooked the old drapes and threw them on the ground sending a puff of dust billowing into the air around her. She coughed. When was the last time Grans had cleaned those things, and she was so fussy about everything. Sophie knew the answer. They were old because they’d been hanging at the windows since her grandpa was alive, and she knew Grans was probably scared if she washed or dry cleaned them, they’d fall apart or worse yet crumble. She knew she was sentimental, but for her own good, they had to go. She looked behind her and saw Julie still standing there.
“You’ve always got a job here if you’re worried about that,” Sophie told her.
“No, I’m not worried. Well, yes, I guess I am because I’ve been here since I left school, and Emily’s like family to me.”
“I know, and you’ll always have your job as long as I have my say. Now could you hand me those new drapes over on the couch there?”
Julie walked over to her, lifted them up, and passed them up to Sophie.
“Aren’t you worried that Emily’s going to be madder than hell when she knows you’ve taken down those drapes?”
“Sure, I’ll be in hot water, but she’ll see it gives the place a different perspective.”
“I think she likes the one we already have.”
Sophie grinned.
“Sophie Richardson, what are you doing?”
Sophie almost fell off the step ladder when she heard her grandmother’s voice ringing out from behind her.
“Giving you a gentle makeover,” said Sophie. “And I like your hair.”
“Don’t sweet-talk me.”
“I wasn’t. You really do look pretty.”
“And those old drapes looked pretty nice, too.”
“These are much better.”
“Sophie.”
“Don’t worry. I’m making over Wade’s place next.”
“Which reminds me I think I need to talk to you about something.”
Sophie got down the steps and looked at Grans. She suddenly looked serious.
“What is it? Something about Wade?”
Her grandmother was suddenly silent.
“On second thought as he’s your now husband-to-be maybe he should be the one to tell you what's going on between him and Cathy Moran. It’s all over the beauty salon.”
****
Wade looked at his watch. He was running late because the flight back from Denver had been delayed due to bad weather in Las Vegas. It was close to eight, and he wanted to drive to Mountainview to tell Emily what he’d discovered but knew he had to get the business with Cathy out of the way first.
He pulled up her driveway, got out of the SUV. He decided to pick up Max’s blue toy truck that was sitting in the middle of the lawn. He placed it on the door step and tapped the glass paneling. Through it he could see Cathy heading toward him. When she opened it she no longer had a smile on her face. Not that he could blame her.
“You’d better come in.”
Wade followed her through to the living room where Max was on his belly on the floor scribbling in a book in front of the TV.
“Hi, Max,” said Wade.
“Hi, Oncle Vade.”
Wade smiled.
“Max would you take that into your bedroom because Wade and I have to talk grown up stuff okay?”
“I’m watching TV.”
“Now, Max, now.” She stamped her foot at him and pointed to his room.
He reluctantly got up off the floor. “Oncle Vade, are you sleeping over?”
Wade shook his head. “Sorry, Max, I can’t do that anymore.”
“Then maybe a story, Vade.”
“That I might be able to do.”
He’d be late, but he really liked the little guy; and it wouldn’t hurt spending ten or fifteen minutes with him.
“You want to sit down,” said Cathy.
“I can’t stay long,” said Wade. “So what’s this about?”
Cathy walked over to the bookcase and took something down and strolled back to him. She held it out to him. At first he thought it was a thermometer, but then he saw it was a pregnancy test stick. He swallowed when he saw the word positive in its window.
“Is this yours?” he asked.
“Well it’s not Max’s.”
Wade did need to sit down because he had a feeling what was coming next.
“It’s mine?” he asked.
Cathy nodded. The room spun, bile rose in his throat, and he just wanted to run far away. He hoped Cathy didn’t expect him to marry her. And how the hell had this happened? He’d worn a condom every single time he’d had sex with her.
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