At least I was before Tony Martin tore my rose-colored glasses off my face and threw them in the shredder.
Funny, but she’d been a certain way the entire time she’d lived and worked in DC—basically she’d been leery of men and distrustful of compliments and yes, on the lookout for the proverbial hidden agenda with everyone she met.
And she hadn’t fully realized that was how she’d been behaving until she came back home. She reined in her wandering thoughts and turned her attention back to her mother. She was familiar with the story of the founding of Lusty, of course. But one of the joys of being back home was listening to her mother tell it again.
“Now, when Sarah heard her cousin, Amanda Dupree, was on her way to visit, she was of course ecstatic.” Anna Jessop spread her hands. “Sarah had pretty much disowned her father by then. He’d jumped at Tyrone Maddox’s offer, you see, without taking the time to even discover what sort of a man he was. So there was poor Sarah feeling compelled to not only marry a man she didn’t care for, but to leave everything she had ever known behind. And then, to have to deal with Maddox’s perfidy!
“So, as tenuous as the connection to Amanda was, it was still a connection to her mother’s family, and had to have been a comfort to her.”
“I take it that it turned out the two ladies got along very well, as Miss Dupree settled down here,” Jeremiah said.
“Oh, my, yes they did! You can talk to Kate about them, because you see, she knew both ladies. From what I know, Sarah and Amanda became as close as sisters. Of course, aside from family they had something else in common, in that they both fell in love with, and married, two men.”
“We tend to think, in this day and age, that we are the authors of the concept of ‘alternative lifestyles,’” Eli said. “But ménage marriages have existed all through recorded history.”
Nancy noticed that her mother gave Eli a very approving look—as if he were her star pupil and had just said something brilliant.
“That’s absolutely right, young man. You know your history.”
“I studied some in college.” And didn’t Eli look cute as hell with that blush on his face?
“Too few people pay attention to the past, if you ask me,” her mother said. “How are we going to prevent making yesterday’s mistakes if we don’t know what they were?”
“I believe that human behavior is pretty much universal. At the core of all that we do is the instinct that drives us toward survival.” Jeremiah nodded toward one of the photographs that showed Amanda Jessop-Kendall with her husbands Adam Kendall and Warren Jessop. “By deciding to make themselves an autonomous community, they were doing all they could to ensure their own survival, as well as ensuring that future generations could live freely as well.”
“And that was the whole point,” Anna said. “It was actually Amanda’s idea, making a place where her husbands could love each other just as they loved her. She had grown up the daughter of a demimonde, you see, and the man her mother had been mistress to, almost exclusively, was the brother of Sarah’s mother.”
“I imagine that meant that Miss Dupree got a different kind of education than most young ladies of her day,” Jeremiah said.
Anna nodded. “She did, indeed. Her mother saw to it that she would be capable of taking care of herself and wouldn’t have to rely on a man to survive.” Anna lowered her voice. “Having a mother who was a man’s mistress also meant that by the societal standards of the day, Amanda was unmarriageable.”
“We’ve come a long way, but not far enough.” Eli looked almost stern when he said that.
“I quite agree.” Anna led them over to a glass display case and pointed to what was in fact one of Nancy’s favorite artifacts.
The men both looked, and read the card beneath it. Eli straightened. “Amanda Jessop-Kendall named her knife Pocahontas? After the Indian Princess?”
Anna grinned. “Amanda’s answer to that very question was that they were both Virginian women, she and the princess—and that certainly her knife’s specialty was giving a good poke.”
Both men chuckled at that.
The door to the museum opened, and Adam Kendall sauntered in. There was just no other word to describe the way her cousin moved. She hadn’t spent a lot of time in Lusty over the past two years, but since she’d come home a few weeks before, she had noticed that Adam no longer looked like a lost soul. He was a deeply happy man, as was his brother, Jake.
Since those particular brothers Kendall were two of her favorite cousins, she loved Ginny Rose Kendall for that alone.
“Oh, hello, Adam!” Anna Jessop fairly beamed. It could reasonably be said that Adam was one of her mother’s favorites, too.
“Good morning, Aunt Anna, Nancy. Gentlemen.” Adam’s tone had gone from warm with his greeting to the women to something she’d never heard before on that last word.
Nancy felt her right eyebrow go up. She looked at her mother, who barely blinked. It was one of those rare mother-daughter moments when it seemed as if her mother could read her mind.
“Adam, I wonder if I could have a word with you, please? In private? Right now.”
Adam truly looked torn. He’d clearly come into the museum knowing that Eli and Jeremiah were there with her.
She knew all about the recent change in policy on behalf of the Town Trust when it came to newcomers and strangers in town. But because she knew her Grandma Kate, she guessed that the head of the combined families already had in hand all the facts on or about Eli Barton and Jeremiah Winthrop.
But I don’t, and I sure as hell don’t want to find out whatever it is Adam’s in a knot about from him.
“Adam? Please.”
Oh, her mother was good. That nose slightly up and peering over the top of the glasses look tended to make every person it landed on step to it.
Adam sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”
Anna turned to Eli and Jeremiah. “Please excuse me. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“Of course,” Eli said.
“Take your time,” Jeremiah said.
Adam gave them a frown, but followed her mother into the curator’s office. As soon as the door closed, Nancy turned to Eli and Jeremiah.
“Okay, talk. You’ve only got about five minutes to tell me everything.”
Jeremiah tilted his head to one side, but Eli had gone perfectly, absolutely still. He said, “I beg your pardon?”
Nancy shook her head. “Y’all already made at least one comment about my excellent mind, so don’t bother playing dumb.” Nancy wished she could push away the gut-churning unease that suddenly filled her. Grabbing hold of her determination with both hands, she continued. And she found the words flowed easily, because in truth, the moment Eli and Jeremiah had appeared last night, she’d known something was not quite right with their story. “Here’s the thing. No one who wants a career in Washington as a lobbyist just up and quits Darnell. It’s simply not done. So there was more to your position over the last few years than just being ordinary lobbyists, wasn’t there? You’re not really lobbyists at all, are you? So what are you? My bet is FBI. Yeah, because I think Peter and Joe both recognized you last night. So, okay, FBI. A special task force…ooh, a special task force on corruption? So what the hell did you do, follow me all the way to Texas because I’m a suspect?” That had to be it. Damn it, just when Nancy thought that she’d found something real and lasting, just when she had begun to believe that these two men and what they said they felt was real, this had to happen. Oh, stop it before they add Drama Queen to the list of your titles. You know damn well you’ve been suspicious of their motives this entire time.
Nancy wished she could box her inner voice up and lock it away somewhere.
Eli had folded his arms over his chest as Nancy had spoken. Jeremiah just looked nonplussed. She hadn’t meant to ramble on, and she certainly hadn’t meant to practice her jumping-to-conclusion artistry. But once her mouth opened, the words had just come out.
“What you are,” El
i said quietly, “is asking for a spanking.” He looked in the direction of her mother’s office. Then he looked at Jeremiah, who grinned.
“You’ve got to love that brain of hers,” Jeremiah said.
“Well, of course I do. It’s sexy as hell.” Eli put his focus back on Nancy. “And as it happens, Ms. Smarty Pants Jessop, we’re pretty damn smart, too,” Eli said. “You think your cousin came in here to out us to you. And your mother—who, by the way, looks like Mrs. Santa Claus—somehow got your psi type message and has sidetracked the sheriff to give us time to confess all to you so you won’t be surprised, or embarrassed, once he opens his mouth.”
“A lot of people have said that about Mom—that she looks like Mrs. Santa Claus. I don’t see it, myself.” Nancy shrugged.
Eli gritted his teeth and gave her a stare that let her know she was really getting under his skin and pushing it. She might indeed end up with a spanking if she kept it up. Of course, knowing that just got her hot. Who wants a man she can walk over, let alone two of them? Nancy sure as hell didn’t.
Eli exhaled. “All right, then. Full disclosure, the abridged edition, as we don’t have much time. We are FBI agents and we were on a special taskforce, fishing for instances of influence pedaling. We were posing as lobbyists—first with the Miter Group, and then with Darnell Associates, although we both do actually have law degrees. But that isn’t why we left DC and followed you, and you sure as hell are not a suspect.”
“We followed you because you’re ours, Nancy Jessop, and we weren’t going to let you get away from us before we even had a chance with you,” Jeremiah said. “So you might as well get used to that idea and stop giving us fits at every damn turn.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Eli said. “And the fact that we have an extremely strong suspicion that you could very well be in a great deal of danger was entirely beside the point.”
* * * *
“Well, at least you called the police after the fact. That’s something, I suppose.” Sheriff Kendall’s tone was laced with sarcasm. He sat in his chair, behind his desk, and the position of power definitely, in Eli’s opinion, suited the man.
“Don’t you give me the stink eye, Adam Kendall! I didn’t tell you about the break-in when I came home, because as far as I was concerned—as far as the DC cops knew—I scared off the burglar before he could rip me off. End of story. You may not realize this, but there are more than a thousand miles between there and here. And there, as opposed to here, attempted burglaries are as common as fleas on a hound dog.”
Sheriff Kendall looked like he wanted to punch something, and Eli found he couldn’t really blame him. The way he and Nancy poked at each other, he might have thought they were siblings instead of cousins.
Eli turned his head and met Nancy’s gaze. “Behave yourself, cupcake. The sheriff is just doing his job.”
“The sheriff is a big fat pain in the—”
“Don’t say it, baby.” Jeremiah looked as if he wanted to laugh, which really wasn’t helping Eli keep a professional demeanor.
Nancy sat back and folded her arms across her chest. Now she looked like she wanted to punch something—or someone. Eli decided he’d memorize the expression on her face. It would likely come in handy in the years to come to be able to recognize when his woman got close to the end of her rope. I just have to hope she never looks at me that way too often.
Eli turned his attention back to Adam Kendall. The man had emerged from Anna Jessop’s office just in time to hear him tell Nancy that she could possibly be in danger. Actually, he hadn’t told her so much as he’d shouted it at her. I hadn’t meant to raise my voice. I never raise my voice. Nancy got to him like no one else ever had before.
The next stop for them all, of course, had been a few doors down Main Street, to the sheriff’s office.
Eli thanked God that Mrs. Jessop had seen fit to stay behind at the museum. He’d think about that mischievous smile she’d worn as she’d bid them a cheery good day, later.
Sheriff Kendall picked up a pen and began to turn it end over end. The deputy on duty, Matthew Benedict, coughed to cover his laughter. Kendall shot Benedict a narrow-eyed, you’re-not-helping stare. Then he sighed.
“All right, Nance, your point is well taken. I’ll get in touch with the Metropolitan Police Department. Who was the officer who investigated?”
“Um…” Nancy shrugged. “I don’t know. I honestly didn’t pay that close attention. I just wanted to go back to bed and get back to sleep so I could leave early. I was facing a long drive home.”
The sheriff looked like he was going to say something else acerbic. Eli felt for the man. “Detective Gary Ridgway is in charge of burglary,” Eli said. “I only found out about this B and E last night, myself. I was planning on contacting the man later today, but it’s definitely a better idea if you reach out to him instead.”
Sheriff Kendall nodded. “Yeah, I imagine the cops in DC get a little tired of always having to dance with the Feds.”
“I imagine,” Eli said. He looked over at Nancy. “In fact, I’m surprised the Feds weren’t called in that night, considering that you’d so recently left the staff of an influential Senator.”
Nancy looked down at her hands. “I might have neglected to inform the investigating officers of that fact,” she said.
Eli stared at her for a long moment. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
“Good God, baby. Don’t you have any self-preservation instincts at all?” Jeremiah asked.
Eli wasn’t surprised that Nancy’s only response was a not-very-sheepish shrug.
“So tell me, Special Agent Barton, just what kind of trouble has my cousin landed herself in?”
Eli wondered why it sounded like the man wanted to add the words this time when Nancy hadn’t been a full-time resident of Lusty for some years. It also made him wonder if there was more to the story of how she’d earned those two monikers her cousins had given her than she’d told them.
“We’re not sure, exactly, that she is in any danger. It came to our attention that someone was asking questions about Nancy—after she’d already left DC.” Eli looked over at Jeremiah. His best friend returned his look, one eyebrow raised. Reassured of the tack he was going to take, he continued. “We may have overreacted, let our emotions get in the way. I can assure you, it would definitely be the first time.” And he couldn’t help but let his gaze wander to Nancy. He’d never had any trouble keeping that cloak of professional demeanor buttoned up tight—not until Nancy Jessop wandered into his sphere that first time. Eli turned back to the sheriff. “Senator Reese Davies has only been in the senate for a couple of years, but he’s already garnered a lot of attention, eviscerated a lot of good people, and made a lot of enemies.”
“Senator Davies? Is that why you wondered if I would ever work for him?” Nancy actually shuddered in revulsion. “Don’t worry. If I ever hear from him, I’ll be sure to tell him where to go—and it won’t be to Hawaii for a tan.”
Sheriff Kendall’s mood had changed, subtly. He quirked one eyebrow and fixed his gaze on Nancy. “You would poke a stick at a hornet’s nest, Nancy Jessop, if you were annoyed by the buzzin’ sound.”
Nancy scowled at her cousin. “Don’t you give me that, cousin of mine. You don’t abide fools or assholes, either, Adam Kendall.”
Sheriff Kendall met her gaze squarely. “That’s true enough. But I’m not the one the senator was asking about.” He looked at Eli. “I’ll reach out to Detective Ridgeway and see what he has to say about Nancy’s home invader. It could very well be the incident matches known MOs. In the meantime, young lady”—Adam turned his attention to Nancy—“you can give me a proper statement about that night.” He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a legal-sized pad of yellow paper. “From the instant you awoke and knew something was wrong until that son of a bitch got away after you went and missed him with your gun.” The scowl on the sheriff’s face left no doubt as to what he thought about that. “I want you to tell
me every single detail of your break-in.”
Nancy looked at Jeremiah, then turned to Eli. “You’re not going to threaten to spank me again, hearing these details one more time, are you? Because if you are, I’m not saying another word until you leave the room.”
Eli nearly cringed, but managed to manfully hang on to his composure. He tried to imagine how he’d feel hearing about some man he didn’t know threatening to spank one of his female relatives, and then he factored in the truth that Texan men tended to be very protective of their womenfolk. Fuck, we could be done for. No help for it but to do his best to share the pain with his best friend.
“I’ll restrain myself, sweetheart. But I can’t speak for Jeremiah.”
His best friend laughed, and then threw him right under the bus. “I’m not the control freak in this triad,” Jeremiah said.
Sheriff Kendall laughed. “There’s a lot of that sort of thing going on hereabouts. Probably because the women of Lusty can’t just deliver a really sound ‘bless your heart’ at the bastards in their lives, and leave the rest of the action to their men.”
Nancy laughed and shook her head. Then she looked at Eli. “Adam and Jake’s sweet little Ginny apparently confronted her stalker—an escaped felon—she being unarmed, and she did so in the full light of day right there out on Main Street in front of Lusty Appetites. I think his ego is still smarting from that.”
Adam pointed his pen at her. “It’s not ego, young lady. It’s the slap in the face that tells a man he’s fallen down on his most sacred and important duty, protecting his woman.”
Eli nodded. “Yes! That’s it, exactly.”
“Amen,” Jeremiah said.
“Damn straight.” Matthew Benedict nodded once to underscore the sentiment.
“Oh my God, someone get me a gas mask. The testosterone in here is so thick I can’t hardly breathe.”
Love Under Two Undercover Cops [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 10