When its taillights disappeared, Larry bent his head down to Tess, his breath sour on her face. “Sorry about this, Tess. But there’s way too much at stake and you can imagine how expensive it is to maintain someone like Marci.”
“Poor Marci,” she gasped. “Or does she know what kind of man you are?”
“She doesn’t know about any of this—and she never will.” He began to drag her toward the Volvo, using a flashlight he had pulled from his pocket to light the way.
Tess let herself go slack, her eyes desperately trying to penetrate the dimness cast by the flashlight, hoping in vain for a glimpse of a branch or rock. Anything to reach out for. He grunted with her dead body weight and yelled something but she didn’t hear in the gust of wind that had picked up once the sun fell behind the mountain peaks.
When they reached the Volvo, he loosened his grip to open the door. Tess made her move, flinging out an arm and sending the flashlight clattering into the dark. But before she could run, Stone’s hand came back and struck her on the side of the head. Dizzy with pain, Tess staggered against the rear side of the car. The door was open, spilling light onto Stone as if he were an actor on a stage.
He raised his hand again and took one step toward her. His last one.
A figure lunged from the shadows, grabbed Stone by the collar of his jacket, spun him around and landed a punch forceful enough for Tess to register the sickening crunch of bone. She pressed into the car door, expecting to see Jed Walker move into the spotlight.
“Tess?”
Her relief almost made her throw up. She held out her arms and let Alec clutch her to him. They stood, locked together, for a long time. The wind whistled through the conifers and scattered dust up around them but all Tess could hear was the steady beat of Alec’s heart against her ear.
When she could speak, she asked, “Nick?”
“Later,” he murmured, tucking her head back under her chin. “Right now, just hold on.”
And she did, a few minutes longer. Until she couldn’t keep any of it inside anymore. She started to talk, but he placed a fingertip to her mouth. “It’s all finished, Tess. When I saw Stone’s pickup at the turnoff, I knew my hunch was right. Then Walker left and I knew you were here alone with Stone.” He made a soft shushing noise in her ear. “Everything will be okay.”
He smoothed her hair back from her face, his fingers running along the edge of her chin and raising her head just enough for his mouth to find hers. She let his kiss flow through her, easing the tremors of the last hour. Soothing her qualms about Stone, prone on the ground. Reassuring her that now, at last, everything would be all right.
And then she heard above the wind and Alec’s soft breathing, a shrill ring. He pulled back, frowned for a second and flashed a sheepish grin.
“See? That’s exactly why I hate cell phones,” he muttered, digging into his windbreaker pocket.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“I CAN’T BELIEVE how so much can change in forty-eight hours.”
Tess leaned back into the crook of Alec’s arm. She tossed a small handful of tamari roasted almonds into her mouth and crunched contentedly. Alec made some kind of murmuring response as he continued to nuzzle the base of her neck.
“Pardon?”
He raised his head. “I said, don’t chew so loudly, you’re hampering my concentration.”
She laughed. It was a rich, throaty laugh that brought his face up level to hers. His breath puffed against her, carrying with it the bouquet of the Merlot they’d shared at dinner. “I’m ready for dessert. How about you?” he whispered in her ear, running the tip of his tongue along her lobe until she shivered and gently pushed him away.
“We had dessert,” she teased. “At the restaurant.”
“Not me,” he said. “I was saving mine for later.”
Tess decided to stop playing coy. “Maybe you were, but I’ve had mine and so have the kids.” She jerked her head in the vague direction of the family room where the television was blaring.
He made a low grumbling noise and sagged back into the plumped cushions of the living room sofa. They had taken Nick and Molly out for the promised celebratory dinner and called Mavis in Chicago to fill her in on recent events. Now, Tess sensed Alec was hoping to defer the thorny topic they still hadn’t discussed.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, taking in the lines that seemed to have been etched into his face since Wednesday night. Some of his stress had been alleviated by the bank’s willingness to reexamine the loan held by Walker. They’d agreed to a time extension, allowing Ken and Karen to pursue other loan options.
Still, Tess knew she ought to relieve Alec of the worry that was still on his mind. The move to Chicago. But she had agreed to Nick and Molly’s request for a family talk first.
Family. She couldn’t ever recall using the term except in reference to other people. As a teenager, whenever she’d been asked about her family, she’d shrugged and sullenly replied, “Well, there’s Mavis, my guardian.” A sure conversation stopper.
“Before the show finishes that the kids are watching,” she said, “I wanted to tell you what I found out from Lieutenant Slegers.”
Alec shifted on the sofa, facing her. “When did he call?”
“As we were walking out the door to meet you at the restaurant.”
“And?”
“Apparently Jed Walker wants to cut some kind of deal with the District Attorney.”
He gave a derisive snort. “Of course. He’s a lawyer, isn’t he? The nerve of that son of a—”
“Yes, well I agree totally with you on that. But the thing is, there’s not a lot to pin on him. Larry Stone confessed to setting up the accident that killed Dad and Gabriela.” She had to stop for a moment, replaying the scene that had been in her head since Slegers had described it for her.
First there had been the early-morning phone call on the twenty-eighth from Mark Kaiser in Denver, asking if the meeting that afternoon could be changed to Saturday as he was going to be delayed. Kaiser didn’t know that Richard was no longer part of the deal. Richard, confused and suspicious, contacted Walker who was out of the office. But his secretary said that Walker was meeting with Kaiser later that afternoon. At the lake site. Richard had guessed right away that Walker was somehow trying to pull a fast one on him.
Slegers had implied that at that point, Richard should have contacted police. Instead, he and Gabriela had driven out to the property to confront Walker and Stone. There was a vicious argument. Richard and Gabriela drove away, threatening to go directly to the police. It was late March and snow flurries made driving treacherous.
Tess closed her eyes, thinking of how it had ended. Larry Stone and his truck, forcing Richard and Gabriela off the road.
“Walker’s just as responsible as Stone,” Alec was saying. “And what about Kozinski? Who killed him?”
“They’re running DNA tests. Both Walker and Stone are denying it but it had to be one of them. Although Slegers did say there might be another suspect. Brent Holloway.”
Alec straightened on the sofa. “What? Like a lover’s quarrel or something?”
Tess nodded. “I suppose. And guess what? Walker confessed to forging the bill of sale so the land problem is all settled.”
“Great. And I can recommend a good lawyer in town to go over the trust that Walker set up for the kids, to ensure it’s all above board.”
Tess nodded. Everything was unfolding perfectly. There was just one more piece of business. “Listen, I need to tell you something. I called my office today and had a long talk first with Carrie, my secretary, and then with my boss.”
Something flickered in Alec’s face. He didn’t want to hear this now, Tess figured. He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “Can we get serious later?” he murmured, intent on her fingers.
Tess laughed and pulled her hand away. “You’re impossible, Malone. You’ve got to listen to me. I—”
Alec raised a forefinger
to his lips, shushing her. “I think their show is over. Any second, they’ll—”
Nick and Molly swarmed into the room. “It’s time,” Molly announced solemnly, standing in front of Tess and Alec.
“Yeah. Remember?” Nick was staring at Tess. “You said we’d have our family talk right after dinner.”
“She did?”
Tess almost lost it at the incredulity in Alec’s face.
“Yeah. About the move to Chicago. Molly and I kinda talked about it already and—”
“You said I could tell,” Molly whined.
“Jeez,” muttered Nick. “So do it!”
“We voted to stay here in Boulder.”
Tess felt Alec’s eyes on her but didn’t look his way. “Is there more?” she asked Molly.
Molly frowned. “Not from me. I don’t think so. Is there more, Nick?”
“No, not from you,” he said patiently, exercising what Tess considered remarkable restraint. “From me. It’s about the family thing.”
Tess saw Alec make a move to stand up. “I should leave,” he was saying. “Let you guys have your family talk.”
“Why?” asked Nick. “Aren’t you part of this now?” His face broke into a bewildered frown. “Have I been getting that wrong? I mean, I thought you and Tess…”
Tess felt the heat rush into her face.
“Alec, we want you to be part of our new family. With Tess. And she wants it, too,” Molly piped up.
Tess looked at her in disbelief.
“Right, Tess?” Molly asked.
“Well, uh, yes but you know…” How could she just come out with it? Yes, I’ve already given my employer notice and I’m willing to look for work in Boulder—there is a first-rate university here where I might get a teaching job—but I’ve been waiting for a specific sign from a certain someone.
Nick took charge. He turned to Alec, standing beside the sofa. “Alec, we want to know. Do you or do you not love Tess?”
Tess covered her face with her hands, stifling laughter. She didn’t dare look at Alec.
There was the briefest of pauses that had Tess a bit concerned. Then Alec said, in a clear and deep voice, “Of course I do. Doesn’t she know that?”
Tess uncovered one eye to see Nick raise his shoulders as if to say, Maybe you should ask her.
“Do you, Tess?” Molly was bending over to whisper between Tess’s fingers.
Tess dropped her hands from her face and burst into laughter. “I think I need to hear it. You know? From Alec.”
As if Alec had missed the entire conversation, Molly raised her head and said to him, “Well, Alec. I think she wants to hear you say it yourself.”
By now, even Nick was unable to control his laughter. Alec was beginning to figure out the whole scene had been a setup. He got down on one knee in front of Tess, placed his right hand over his heart and said, “I love you, Tess Wheaton. Will you marry me?” He squinted at Nick and Molly, as if noticing them for the first time. “And will you let these two wretched children and I start a family with you?”
Nick moaned. “Oh, God, I don’t believe it.”
When Tess dissolved into laughter, opening her arms wide and cried, “Yes, yes, yes!” Nick, Molly and Alec piled onto her.
Suffocating but deliriously happy, Tess knew just at that moment what family felt like.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-3648-6
THE SECOND FAMILY
Copyright © 2003 by Janice Hess.
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