A One-Woman Man

by ML Gamble

  “Who is it? Is everything okay with your parents?” Tommy Lee interrupted, moving close enough to her that Elizabeth felt his warm breath on her cheek.

  His question, and the notched-up energy in his voice, reminded Elizabeth of his earlier warning that her parents might be in danger. She nodded and put her hand over the receiver. “It’s fine. It’s my father’s caretaker. I’m going to tell him a bit about what happened and have him make sure the gates and house are locked.”

  Tommy Lee nodded. His agreement had the peculiar effect of making her feel more in control than she had for several days. She liked his approval and felt, oddly, as if they were a team. “Uh, Mr. Willow. Thank you for picking up the call. Are my folks still over in Belle Fleur at the party?”

  “Yes, Elizabeth. They’re being dropped off by one of the other couples who were going to the party. A friend of Miss Lou’s who lives over in Bayou Pines.”

  “Good. I’m glad the judge isn’t driving so late at night. Anyway, like I was saying in my message, I was involved in a near hit-and-run accident today—”

  “Then you’re not at the mayor’s party? Are you okay?”

  He certainly paid attention to what was going on in her family, Elizabeth thought. “Yes. Really, I am fine. Please don’t go into all this with my parents, Mr. Willow. I’ll give them the whole story tomorrow when I see them. But the police think someone may have done this because of my involvement with the Queen of Midnight Pageant—”

  “You mean like a stalker or something?”

  “I…I don’t really know yet, Mr. Willow. But to be on the safe side, would you please see to it that the front gate is closed up tonight, and that the house is locked after my folks get in?”

  “Of course. I’ve been sleeping in the room downstairs by the kitchen, on and off this winter. I’ll bunk down there for a couple of days. Miss Lou worries I’m not warm enough out back in the cottage, anyway, so I won’t be upsetting her by doing that.”

  “Great. That’s really great, Mr. Willow. Thank you. Now if you could write down the number of where I am, in case of an emergency. Tell my parents to please not bother to call, though. Everyone here is pretty tired.” Her eyes met Tommy Lee’s and she again took a measure of the fatigue and pain lines in his face. But another emotion showed clearly, one that made her catch her breath. Need. His dark eyes burned with it and she felt her body respond.

  “What’s the name of the family you’re staying with, Elizabeth? Are you in Belle Fleur?”

  Willow’s questions pulled her thoughts away from Tommy Lee. “McCall. I’m not in Belle Fleur, but a few miles past the marina.”

  “Okay,” Clay replied. “You get some rest, Elizabeth. I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t worry at all about the judge and Miss Lou. You lock your door and get some sleep, okay?”

  Elizabeth smiled, touched by the man’s concern. “I will. Thank you.” She clicked the button on the phone and passed it to Tommy Lee, who was still standing inches from her.

  “What’s the caretaker’s name? Willow?”

  “Clay Willow,” she supplied, crossing her arms over her chest. Her skin felt moist and feverish, and she wondered if it was from her injuries, or from her close proximity to Tommy Lee McCall.

  “Why did you tell him where you were staying?”

  She sat up straighter, a little annoyed. “Because he asked, Tommy Lee. Let’s not be too paranoid, here.”

  “You know that guy pretty well, then? I mean, you’re sure he’s okay?”

  “Okay? Mr. Willow? Well, no, I don’t know him all that well personally. But my folks have taken to him in a big way, and they’re pretty choosy about people. He’s worked for them the last two years and become more like a member of the family than hired help. I trust him to do what I asked.”

  “Does he have kin in Belle Fleur? I don’t know anyone with that name.”

  “I think he’s originally from Mobile, or Birimingham. Stop thinking like a cop. He’s not a suspect, Tommy Lee.”

  For a moment he stared at her hard, then gently reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “I can’t stop thinking like a cop.”

  The regret in his voice made her wince. Elizabeth covered his hand with her own, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up anything so personal. I know you’re upset about—”

  “About what? Losing my job? Look, I don’t know what Luvey shot her mouth off about, but it’s none of your concern. I don’t need anyone’s pity, Elizabeth,” he snapped.

  “I’m not pitying you,” she retorted. “Look, you’re tired. I’m tired. Let me say thanks again. I’ll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow.” She sat down on the bed and eased herself back against the fluffy pillows, hoping he would just leave. But he didn’t. He was staring at her. Meeting his gaze, Elizabeth was suddenly aware of her bare legs and scanty attire. She closed the robe and tried to cross her legs, but the movement made her knees smart.

  Tommy Lee stepped next to the bed, touching her right calf tenderly. “You need anything for the pain? You’re not moving too easy there.”

  “What have you got for pain?” she asked with a small smile.

  Before she could blink, his mouth was on hers. The kiss was brief and hard, and by the time she reached up to hold him to her, he had pulled away.

  His dark eyes rested on her banged-up knees, then traveled up her body like a searchlight. “I’d rather you stayed here at the house for a while in the morning. I want to talk to Frank Foley, maybe get him out here. And you and I need to have a talk about where, and if, we’re going on with this.”

  “With what?” she asked, holding her breath, praying he’d kiss her again, wondering if he would if she asked him to.

  “Your investigation. I’d say that attorney, Peach, is the best place to start. I’ll call Dottie and see what she found out, then we’ll talk to your daddy and see if he knows anything more.”

  Elizabeth blinked as if she had been slapped, and blushed slowly from her hairline, down her face and neck to her breasts. She felt light-headed and stupid and incredibly naive. What in the hell did she think he meant by that little kiss, she scolded herself. He was just being friendly, and she was just being dumb.

  She jerked her borrowed robe snugly around herself and ducked her head down, hoping he wouldn’t notice her blush. “Fine. That sounds fine. Although I’d rather talk to the judge by myself. He doesn’t know about the stupid letters and such and I want to be sure he doesn’t get too upset.”

  “Upset? You were nearly struck by a car and drugged by a man impersonating a doctor today. He needs to be upset. This is serious, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “Don’t lecture me,” she sputtered. Elizabeth squared her shoulders and met his eyes, no longer feeling much like a team member but more like a schoolgirl being bossed by her teacher. “I’m okay. Those were bizarre things, but as far as we know, someone is just trying to scare me, not kill me. The judge has a heart condition. I’m not going to let anyone throw him into a panic. So since you’re working for me, I call the shots, okay?”

  “You that good at controlling other people?” he challenged, the color back in his face.

  Elizabeth noticed, not for the first time, how he clenched and unclenched his jaw when he stared at a person, and how big and strong-looking his hands were. “I don’t make it a habit to control, or bully people, Mr. McCall. How about you?”

  Tommy Lee wanted to yell at her, but he didn’t. He didn’t have the energy. Tommy Lee sighed and pulled on the left side of his mustache, as if that would help him keep his temper.

  Outside, the foghorn blew eight miles away on the sandbars at Green Point. It was nearly one o’clock and he felt a hundred years old. He shouldn’t have kissed this woman, his mind chided. She was the kind you kissed once and got hooked, like a fish on the line.

  And the very last thing Miss Elizabeth Monette needed right now was a love affair with a guy who didn’t know for sure where his life was going to be six months from now. “You’
d better get some rest. Can I get you anything more before I hit the sack? Something to eat? Or some more cocoa.”

  “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

  He looked her up and down and nodded. She was miffed at him. Good. It would cut down on the possibility she’d ask him for another kiss. ‘Cause if she asked, he wasn’t going to refuse. “Good night, then. I’ll see you at breakfast”

  “Thank you again, Tommy Lee. I mean that.”

  He flashed a smile.

  Smug old thing, Elizabeth said to herself once he’d left. But she wondered what he would have done if she had patted the bed beside her and asked the ex-cop to stay awhile. Though they hardly knew each other, and both of them were physical wrecks, there had been something real in that kiss. Something not just fooling-around about it, Elizabeth decided. Something she wanted to find out about.

  If he hadn’t made her feel confused and flustered and angry and happy all at once, she could have handled this little scene better. Barely suppressing the urge to blow a kiss to the empty doorway, Elizabeth instead flipped off the light. For a moment her body would not relax, and her senses replayed the feeling of Tommy Lee’s mustache brushing her mouth. It had felt soft and sexy, scratchy but nice.

  Finally, she closed her eyes and let relief and fatigue wash over her body like a warm bath. Her last coherent thought was of Tommy Lee jumping out his window to save her.

  “My hero,” she whispered with a gnn. Elizabeth fell sound asleep, for the first time in weeks not afraid of dreams or memories or of what the morning might bring.

  TEN MILES AWAY, in Belle Fleur, Paris Prince’s guests mingled with the Queen of Midnight Committee members filing out of Bennett and India Heywood’s mansion.

  Aspen made a beeline for the judge and Miss Lou, determined to be the one to tell them about Elizabeth and reassure the older couple that their only daughter was in no danger.

  “But I don’t understand,” Miss Lou replied after listening to Aspen’s story. “Why didn’t someone from the hospital call us?”

  “Bennett!” Judge Monette barked toward the door, where Rosellen Heywood stood in animated conversation with her parents. “Bennett, can I have a moment, please?”

  Aspen cleared her throat “Judge, I’m sure everything is fine. Luvey said Elizabeth was staying with a policeman,” she added, hoping that would make the judge feel better. “I’m sure he’s very respectable, sir.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” Miss Lou repeated, as Bennett Heywood walked up to the small crowd, his wife, India, in tow.

  “Judge, you and Miss Lou please come back inside with us.”

  “Hang on a minute, Bennett,” the judge challenged. “Do you know what the hell happened to my daughter at your hospital?”

  “No sir, I don’t. Let’s go in and I’ll call and find out what in the blue blazes is going on.” With a huff, he took the judge’s arm and headed back toward the front door.

  “Come along, Lou,” the judge yelled over his shoulder.

  Miss Lou looked toward the house, then back at the group of young people. “You go ahead, Baylor. I’ll help India get these folks on their way. Please see if you can find out where Elizabeth is so we can go get her.”

  The judge nodded, then continued on with Bennett Dora and Harold Eckles, the Monettes’ friends who were going to drive them home, trailed after the two men.

  Miss Lou and India moved farther down the walkway.

  “Can I do anything?” Aspen asked, squeezing Miss Lou’s hand. “Do you want me to take you folks home?”

  “No, darling, you go get some sleep. We’ll have Elizabeth call you tomorrow,” Miss Lou replied, kissing her daughter’s friend. “Come on, now, don’t be so glum. You know as well as I do that Elizabeth can take care of herself. Now, you go on home, and give your mama my love.”

  “You sure you don’t want me to come back after I get everyone to go home?”

  Miss Lou noticed Luvey and Tammy, who lived on the other side of Paris Prince, at Number Five, Kings Landing, and she wondered why they were still outside. India Heywood was right; Luvey Rose had a terrible reputation for causing trouble.

  “No, that won’t be necessary, Aspen. India will take care of us.”

  “I certainly will,” the evening’s hostess muttered as she stood glaring at Luvey, who had turned away from her chattering group of fans and was looking over at them. “If you want to help things, Aspen, you get that bigmouthed sister of Tammy Rose to stop stoking the gossip fires. We don’t need this kind of nonsense on a night when a new Queen’s been chosen.”

  Aspen grimaced and hurried off. A second later, Luvey and Tammy Rose joined India and Miss Lou.

  “Miss Lou!” Luvey exclaimed. “Don’t you worry a thing about Elizabeth. I’m sure she’s safe with Tommy Lee. He’s basically a goodhearted type.”

  “He jumped out the window to save her life,” Tammy gushed, her cornflower-blue eyes wide with adoration. “Can you believe it!”

  “Is this some kind of joke?” India demanded, shaking her finger at the thirty-year-old Luvey as if she were five. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about—someone jumping out a window?”

  Luvey gave India a barely civil look and then launched into an abbreviated version of the story. “So then, according to Katie Smiths, Tommy Lee just carried Elizabeth out of there. Chief Foley’s boys are still looking for the black car that nearly killed them earlier today, to say nothing of the lunatic who was playing doctor. Hope they catch him, too, in case he’s planning to go after one of the other electees.”

  “That’s enough, Luvey!” India shouted, an edge of hysteria in her voice. “I won’t have you suggesting that what happened to Elizabeth has anything to do with Queen of Midnight Pageant. And I wouldn’t go repeating it, if I were you. You’ll be hurting everyone here, including Tammy. You don’t want her expelled from the Pageant because of your talk, do you?”

  “I hardly think that could happen, India,” Luvey retorted, her green eyes flashing. “Besides, since the tally’s already been taken, Tammy might just be Queen. I’ve never heard the Midnight Ball Committee expel a Queen before she’s been crowned. Although maybe you have, since you’ve been around for a lot more scandals than I have.”

  “If that’s some kind of veiled remark—”

  “Ladies, ladies,” Miss Lou interrupted, placing an arm around India while shooting Luvey a look of warning. “Thank you for the details, Luvey. Now, why don’t you and your sister go home and get out of this cold.”

  Luvey and India exchanged a last, hostile look. The young woman then kissed Miss Lou on the cheek and hustled Tammy off. Luvey knew better than to challenge India on her home ground. India Heywood’s temper was as legendary as her supper parties.

  “That redhead’s a monster,” India hissed, allowing Miss Lou to turn her around and head toward her own front door.

  “Now, don’t be so hard on Luvey, India,” Miss Lou said softly, as she and India walked up the front steps and through the doors of the hundred-year-old Colonial. “I’m sure she was just excited.”

  “That girl’s always had a big mouth,” India replied. “Her mother, Tela Goughis, was the same way. Tela just couldn’t wait to spread all kinds of gossip about me the year I was supposed to be Queen. When she died, I didn’t even send flowers. Just a card.”

  Miss Lou was concerned about India. She could see the woman was upset, and knew how much pressure she’d been under to make the night a triumph. Miss Lou, despite her distaste for gossip, had heard from several sources that India’s tirades and obsession with the Queen of Midnight election had grown more pronounced during the years she and the judge had lived in Baltimore.

  If the exchange she had just heard between Luvey and India was the norm, she would have to admit the gossip was true. It was time to change the subject, Miss Lou decided. Get the woman refocused. “Thank you so much for letting us come back in, India. Do you have any idea where Bennett and the judge have gone off to?”

/>   “I’m sure they’re in Bennett’s study. Come.”

  Miss Lou followed India down the center hallway. As they approached the study door, the sound of Dr. Bennett Heywood yelling clearly filled the room.

  “And when I tell you to call me if something sensitive happens, I mean call me. Not my service, not my maid! Is that clear?”

  Miss Lou and the judge, who was sitting on the leather sofa by a smoldering fire, exchanged a look. Miss Lou turned her attention to the elderly couple seated on the sofa opposite her husband, Dora and Harold, who looked equal parts fatigued and ill-atease. “You poor dears. Look at the time! Please, I’ll never forgive myself if you both don’t take each other home this instant.”

  “Harold, I’m going to call my caretaker and have him come get me. You go on now,” the judge insisted.

  Though both Eckleses looked relieved, they made it plain they were honor-bound to stay when their friends needed them, but Miss Lou finally persuaded them and watched as India’s maid led them from the room.

  As they left, Bennett slammed down the phone. “God in heaven, India!” he yelled. “Why didn’t you let me talk to Katie Smiths when she called earlier?”

  “We were leading our guests in to dinner when she called, and it simply wouldn’t do to interrupt the committee on a night like this!”

  “When someone is accosted by a nutcase in my hospital, it takes precedence over any dinner guest! Didn’t you even ask why she was calling?”

  “No, I didn’t. You spend way too much time there as it is. And with tonight being such an important night for me, I couldn’t see how it would matter. If I had known it involved one of the electees I would have driven over to the hospital myself!”

  The doctor set his jaw and turned to Judge Monette. “Forgive me, Baylor. It seems that someone did attack Elizabeth while she was in one of the hospital rooms, but she’s fine. A policeman took her into something like protective custody until Chief Foley could get to the bottom of things. He’s a good man, McCall. Retired last year after taking a bullet in the back during a robbery. Very good man,” he added, glaring at his wife, obviously still angry that she had not informed him about the call earlier.