by D L Lane
“Marcus was having an affair.”
Danica’s hoarse voice drew his attention back to her.
“That’s him. It might not show his face, but that’s his body. His birthmark.” The tears started rolling down her cheeks. “He was cheating on me.”
Gage had never told her of his suspicions, but the pictures confirmed what he was hoping not to be true.
He took a deep breath. More than once, Gage wanted to strangle the man if he were still alive, and that feeling was very much present.
Tugging her up, he pulled Danny’s body into his and hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could take away this pain for you.”
“He, he, he cheated on me.”
“Whoever sent those pictures, wants to lump Marcus’ bad decisions in with me. Why else put a picture of me talking to Jenny in with them and say what they said in their note. This person knows you and me.”
Danica tensed.
“Nothing is or has been going on between Jenny and I. Not since before I turned eighteen. We’ve kept in touch over the years, but only for her son’s sake. I tried to be there for Justin as much as I could because I promised not to leave the boy hanging. It’s not my story to tell, but how her son came to be isn’t a happy one or even one of passion and love.”
Danny was silent.
Gage blew out a breath. “I do speak with Justin. And someday, I would like you to meet him. But that’s a discussion for another time. I want to focus on the right now. So, if even there is the slightest chance some of this hurt bombarding you is due to that picture of me, let it go.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and cried.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
“Mrs. Harding,” Detective Rudd said, taking a seat on her couch. “I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today.”
It had been two weeks since Gage turned over the photographs that arrived in the mail to the detectives in Seattle who had been looking into Marcus’ supposed suicide. Somehow, no matter what, Danica had a hard time believing he would kill himself.
“You’re welcome.” Reaching over for support, she took hold of Gage’s hand, the man entwining his fingers with hers.
“I’m sure you’re still in mourning, and what I have to say isn’t going to be easy to hear. But, I’m afraid there’s no way around this.”
She nodded.
“We already believed your husband was having an affair, so those photographs only add to the mounting evidence we have collected since the time of his death. Computer records your husband kept indicate something we believe are meet dates.”
“Meet dates?” she asked with a tilt to her head.
“Yes. Dates he met with or didn’t meet with someone.”
“R with a plus sign and R with a negative?” Gage inquired.
The detective nodded. “It is possible this indicates dates he met with a woman or possibly the dates he purchased or didn’t purchase illegal drugs.”
Danica closed her eyes and squeezed Gage’s hand.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Harding?”
“Yes,” she lied, returning her gaze to the stern man with eyes so brown they almost looked black.
“We think the large amounts of money missing from your accounts went to sustain his drug habit.”
She shook her head. “But, my husband wasn’t some addict. I would have known if he was, wouldn’t I?”
“Autopsy results indicate prolonged drug usage, as well, forensic toxicology shows Marcus had a Molotov cocktail of drugs in his system.”
Danica dropped her head, wondering if this were real. Something she’d pondered more than once.
“Mrs. Harding?”
She looked at him. “I’m sorry. This is all so…”
“I realize this is difficult.”
“Do you need to stop?” Gage asked her, concern swimming in his silver eyes.
She did, but she had to face this. “Let’s continue.”
He nodded at the detective, who then asked, “Do you know your husband checked himself into drug rehab?”
Danica blinked rapidly. “No. How is that possible?”
“It was before your marriage to him. He completed the program in April a year prior.”
She did the calculations, thinking about the first time she met Marcus. It was in the receiving line at WSU when she and Ryan danced in the final showcase in May.
“Danny?” Gage called, making her glance up at him. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe we should take a moment? Perhaps step out and get some fresh air?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t want to waste Detective Rudd’s time.” Danica glanced back at the man. “Forgive me.”
“No need to,” he said. “As we spoke before, several weeks back, your husband was let go from the hospital.”
“Yes. I had become aware of that before we spoke.”
“What wasn’t said at that time, drugs went missing from there. This took place before your husband was let go, and while the issue was investigated, it couldn’t be linked to Marcus. However, it seemed to resolve itself once your husband left.”
“So, you’re saying he took drugs from the hospital?”
“It is a possibility. Some of what I’m speaking to you about I can’t prove, but you might be able to help me.”
She frowned. “How?”
“You might have met the person who supplied Marcus.”
“You think he would have introduced me to a drug dealer?”
“I think it is very likely. But you need to drop any preconceived ideas about drug dealers looking like gangsters from the hood with gold teeth and dreadlocks. Most of the high-end dealers are people you would never suspect.”
“I-I—” Danica licked her lips. “The only people who I didn’t know, who my husband would have introduced me to, would have been colleagues of his at the hospital.”
The detective nodded. “Was there anyone, a person he tended to visit with on a scheduled basis?”
“Not anyone I’m aware of. I didn’t even know about that R thing on his calendar until Gage—” She cleared her throat. “I mean, until Chief Harrison asked me about it.”
“It’s okay, Danny. You don’t need to call me Chief Harrison. Detective Rudd knows we grew up together and have been friends for years.”
She looked at him, then back to the man across from her. “I have no idea what that R means, and if it was someone, who it would be.”
“You might know it, but you aren’t aware you do. So, take some time. Think about some of your husband’s acquaintances, and if you come up with anything, give me a call; or let Chief Harrison know and he will pass the information along.”
The man stood. “Again. I’m sorry for your loss and for the difficulty of everything we spoke of today.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Four months. While not long in some ways, in others, it seemed like a lifetime. Danica still had difficulty believing Marcus was gone, that he’d missed so much. It was strange to think of how the world kept going on without him. How she had no choice but to keep on going too.
The twins had turned a year old, and Breck and Mase made a big announcement. “We’re pregnant!” she’d said on Christmas Eve, glancing up at her husband with nothing but love and adoration. Danica shared in their joy, while at the same time swam in her sorrow. But the holidays came and went, and all had been quiet. No more bombshells or break-ins, just a peaceful time with her family and Gage, who still lived in her guest room. The two of them had become a weird amalgamation of their old friendship, their new friendship, his protective side, his tender side, and platonic roommates.
Danica was the president of the Chamber of Commerce. Her babies were talking with words more than sounds and walking, while she tended to hover, keeping an eye on them, worried they’d hurt themselves if they would fall the wrong way—her mother telling her not to be one of those helicopter mom’s. And, then there was Gage. Alw
ays Gage.
At first, she wasn’t sure what to think about the active part he played in her life, not used to having that from a man, she supposed. But after a while, Danica settled into the feeling of nice. Real nice. When he left work, he came home. Well, to her home, but he never left her hanging. Gage also helped her with the twins. The man, God bless him, would read to them, help with baths, change diapers. He’d even get on the floor and play with them. Aaron would roughhouse, his little frame doing body slams on Gage’s muscled bulk—Ari more into sitting on him than wrestling around.
While things with Gage were great, things were also confusing. He’d been sitting in their room, reading the babies a bedtime story just moments before she excused herself, saying she’d be right back. What she didn’t mention? It was too hard to watch him. Seeing how lovingly attentive he was with her children, tugged at her heart every time. And while she appreciated him, tremendously so, she was also frustrated in a ‘woman loves man’ kind of way that was never acted upon. And she wasn’t sure if it ever would be. She still dealt with a mental tug of war over what was right and wrong, proper and improper for a new widow.
“Lord,” she whispered, “is it wrong for me to have feelings for Gage?”
Admittingly, Danica was all jumbled up over loving Marcus, being devastated by him, believing she didn’t know the man she married at all. Yet, she couldn’t deny she’d loved Gage first. Once-upon-a-time, he’d been her everything.
“Aaah!” Needing to let her mind settle she left her en suite, knowing only one thing that would work and wandered into her home studio. Yes, it was a dance studio once again, thanks to Gage and Mase.
Glancing over her many music options, she pulled out an old CD, popped it into the player, toggled to the song she wanted, and pressed play.
When Jewel’s sultry voice started, she began to move. Then she closed her eyes and lost herself in the feel of the music as it wrapped around her.
~
Gage went looking for Danny the moment the twins fell asleep, concerned because she’d never come back like she said she would. The first time she left him with the twins, saying she’d be back happened a few months ago, causing him to look for her then when she didn’t return. He’d heard her voice coming from her room. At first, he thought she was on the phone, but soon figured out she was praying. For him. What she said hadn’t been elaborate, but simple and to the point.
“Lord, please help Gage. Heal him.”
He knew Danny hadn’t been praying for physical healing any longer, but his spiritual one. Something shifted in him then—not a new faultline of anger and despair, but perhaps, the mending of one.
Coming to the hall, Gage heard the music and headed in that direction, stopping just inside the door to her studio.
She was still wearing her dark blue yoga pants and t-shirt combo, her hair piled on top of her head, but she had removed her socks and was swaying in a way that captured him.
Unable to move, he watched her, Danny’s eyes closed, dancing as if she’d never taken such a long hiatus—the arch of her back, the extension of her arm, the bend in her leg as she spun. She was the embodiment of sensuality, grace, and beauty. It wasn’t just physical beauty, but the type that shone from within and radiated from her smooth porcelain skin, making her glow.
Twirling across the floor, she was breathing hard. Heck, so was he. But no matter how much Gage tried to stay put, he couldn’t. The mental chains he’d secured around himself so he could bide his time, snapped, and he went to her as she danced into him.
“Oh!” she spluttered, in a breathy pant, those eyes he loved opened, looking up at him from beneath her long lashes.
“Danica,” he all but growled, taking her into his arms, lifting her off the floor, backing her into one of the mirrored walls, claiming her lips.
Just like their first and last kiss, he wasn’t soft. He couldn’t find gentle. And after a second, neither was she. His Danny wrapped herself around him—arms encircling his neck, those shapely legs around his waist. They had become mouths, tongues, teeth, hands, oh, her hands as she gripped his hair, giving him just as good as she got.
Every cell in his body switched to overdrive. His muscles bunched, his breathing was beastly, and Gage was going to do what he always wanted to do—take her.
Ding Dong!
“The door,” she mumbled against his mouth.
“Ignore it.” His tongue delved past her plush lips as they ate at each other.
Ding Dong!
“It’s got to be the pizza I ordered. We’d better go, Gage.” She’d said the words, but went back to kissing him.
Ding Dong!
“Gah!” Danica dropped her legs from his waist.
Worked up, his hair probably a fisted mess, he reluctantly let her go, then grinned.
“Why are you smiling like that?” Danny asked.
“You look…”
“I look what?”
Ding Dong!
With her hair half hanging from its restraint liked she’d been in a wind storm, her shirt askew, those eyes taking on that lust-drunk look, and her lush lips bee-stung from his heated kisses, Gage had a sense of secret caveman satisfaction.
“See for yourself,” he said, tracing a fingertip along her jaw. “I’ll get the door.
Striding down the hall, heading for the foyer, he knew the exact moment she looked at herself in the mirror, hearing her, “Holy buckets!” which made Gage smile. Huge.
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Letting herself in, Danica entered her childhood home after the chamber meeting, where she had to pretend she and Gage hadn’t gone at it with their mouths the night before.
“Chief Harrison,” she’d greeted, shaking his hand.
The man dared to smirk and wink at her! “Mrs. Harding. It’s good to see you.”
She almost rolled her eyes, since she’d seen him a few hours before at her breakfast table.
“And you as well.”
From there, it all pretty much went downhill when Courtney wanted to challenge her to a verbal smackdown. But Danica made Gage smile when she put the nasty woman in her place from the podium and moved on to other business.
Returning her focus to the task at hand, she yelled, “Mom? You home?”
“Yeah, baby-girl, I’m in the den!”
Going into the room that time forgot, Danica bent and hugged her mother around the neck. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
When she took a seat next to Mom on the couch, her mother leaned forward, grabbed the remote and turned down the TV. “I’ve always got time for you. You know that.”
Danica nodded and bit the inside of her cheek.
“What is it?” Her mother’s green eyes were wide.
“Nothing, and yet, at the same time, everything.”
Mom took hold of her hand. “Tell me.”
Danica gave herself a moment to gather her thoughts, trying to come up with the best way to say this, then just blurted out, “I kissed Gage.”
Her mom blinked but didn’t look at all shocked.
“Did you hear me? I kissed Gage, and not in the ‘we’re just friends’ way.” Danica stared at her lap. “The thing is, I want to do it again.” She shook her head. “I’m so confused, Mom. I know Marcus did some horrible things, horrifying things really, but I loved him, and—”
“Baby-girl?”
Glancing up, she met her mother’s tender gaze. “You have always loved Gage Harrison.”
Had her jaw unhinged?
“Close your mouth, dear, before you attract flies.”
Danica did what her mother told her to do. “You knew?”
She nodded. “Of course. I’ve always known.”
“Then why didn’t you ever say anything to me?”
“Because you weren’t ready to talk about him. But now—” Mom grinned and patted her cheek. “You’re ready, baby-girl.”
Chapter Seventy
Looking up from her desk, Paula walked into Danica�
�s office at the chamber, saying, “Special delivery,” as she put a massive crystal vase of crimson roses on her desk.
“Oh, my,” she uttered, her hand going to her mouth. There had to be at least four dozen perfect blooms in front of her.
“I’d say you’ve got a pretty great secret admirer, Danny.”
“Huh?”
The woman, who’d worked at the floral shop for as long as she could remember, winked then sashayed out.
Standing up to sniff a bloom, Danica bent, took a deep breath, then plucked the little envelope from the spike holding it.
It didn’t say anything on the front.
Turning it over, lifting the tab and pulling the small card out, she read;
WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?
Her heart, which seemed overworked by the man, started beating wildly. No, there wasn’t any signature, but Danica smiled. She would know Gage’s big blocky handwriting anywhere.
Grabbing her cell phone, she typed out a quick text; Valentine’s day isn’t until next week, then hit SEND.
~
“We need to make sure and have an extra patrol working that night,” Gage said to Officer Davis. “I hate being the one to decide who’s going to pull extra duty, so you all talk among yourselves, and then let me know who is volunteering.”
“Will do, Chief.”
“Oh and—”
Tweedle-deet!
Gage held up a finger, indicating to hold on as he plucked up his cell phone, read Danny’s text, and grinned.
“Sir?”
He put his phone down and looked at his officer.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a call or a text while in a meeting,” he remarked, with an almost smile on his lips.
“Things change.”
“I guess they do.” The man gave him a knowing look. “You were saying?”
It took Gage a second to get his head back in the game. “Make sure you guys do a few more drive-bys during the Sweethearts dance. Make your presence known. Maybe that way, if those knucklehead seniors see you, they’ll think twice about getting in their cars and driving after knocking a few too many back.”