by Lynn Patrick
“I can attest to how delicious it is,” Kristen confessed, grinning. “I cheated and tasted it already.”
“As you should,” Priscilla Ryan said. “Being this party is in your honor.”
Shara and Gloria, both employees of the quilting store, and Priscilla, Kristen’s best friend from high school, stood around the punch bowl with the bride to be. Kristen was beaming as she ladled punch into little cut glass cups that matched the bowl.
Heather thought her sister looked happier than she’d ever seen her. Thinking about her own shower, Heather blinked away the sting from her eyes. She wasn’t going to ruin this night with sad memories of Scott. That she could compartmentalize so easily now surprised her. It meant that she had finally finished grieving for him. Not that she would ever forget him—how could she with two beautiful reminders of their love? But she had to admit that she finally felt ready for something new and wonderful to happen to her, too.
“Here you go, honey,” Gloria said, holding out a cup of punch.
Heather took it from her. “That’s a great blouse,” she said, admiring the layers of cutouts and embroidery in the white cotton.
“Thanks.” Gloria beamed at her. “My sister brought it back from Mexico when she went to visit our grandmother.”
Priscilla set down a tray next to the punch bowl. “Everyone try some of my cheeses. I brought three kinds, plus crackers and seasoned almonds.”
“Yum,” Kristen said. “I love cheese.”
Priscilla had recently moved back to Sparrow Lake from Green Bay. Kristen had said it was because her old school friend was trying to start over after the relationship with her latest boyfriend went sour, and she’d vowed to find the right job to make herself happy at work. Conservative when it came to her clothes, Priscilla always wore colors that were a little dull against her bright red hair and clear green eyes. Today, her slacks and blouse were both beige.
Heather asked, “So what have you been doing with yourself since you got back to town?”
“I’ve been getting my new business going—an artisan cheese shop.”
“So when you said ‘my cheeses’ you meant—”
“That they’re ones I’m going to sell,” Priscilla clarified.
“What fun.” Heather grinned. “When does the shop open?”
“Actually, I’m opening it Friday with a tasting. Everyone is invited. Do you think you might come?”
“Hmm. A grown-up activity.” Something Heather could look forward to. “I’m pretty sure I can use an extra big pizza to bribe Brian to babysit. If the twins don’t give him too hard a time tonight.”
“Great. And you can bring someone.”
Uh-oh, there it was again. “I’m...uh...not exactly dating anyone right now.”
Priscilla sighed. “Yeah, me, neither. Always the bridesmaid...”
Kristen had told Heather that Priscilla had been a bridesmaid several times in the past few years. Apparently Kristen was the last of her old friends giving up the single life.
“We can always hang out together,” Heather offered.
“Wait!” Gloria said. “The two of you have dates for the wedding, right?”
“Uh, no,” Heather said.
“Nope.” Priscilla’s cheeks flushed nearly as red as her hair. “I can’t seem to meet a guy I can connect with long term. So if any of you know an eligible man, send him my way, would you?”
Eligible man? The only one Heather knew was Rick, who was definitely not meant for her, not when he was thinking of re-enlisting. But that didn’t mean he might not be right for someone else. Still, not wanting to get Priscilla’s hopes up for nothing, she kept her thoughts to herself for the moment.
Everyone sampled the goodies and chattered.
In the midst of their talk about the wedding, Kristen changed the subject. “What happened to that cute dog the girls found yesterday? Kirby, was it?”
Heather sighed. “We still have him. He’s on a waiting list at the shelter. I’m hoping to find his owner. Or if not, a new home for him.”
“Won’t the girls be disappointed?”
“Taylor especially,” Heather admitted. “But I have a tight budget as it is. If only they’d found him a few months from now, when my work situation is settled.”
“So you like the dog?” Kristen asked.
“Of course I like him. But I need to be practical, and—”
“We need to get down and dirty here,” Shara broke in.
Gloria whooped and Heather grinned. Enough with the dog already. She’d been sad thinking about his fate. Time for a little fun with her sister. Gloria and Shara had set up a gift-giving area between the table of quilting kits and one holding bolts of velvet.
The first gift was from Priscilla.
“Crystal toasting glasses with a bottle of champagne for the wedding day,” Kristen said. “How beautiful.”
“I want you to have a special cheese to go with it,” Priscilla told her, “but I’ll have to bring it to the wedding. On ice, of course.”
“And here’s something for the bridal bed.” Shara handed Kristen a pretty pale pink and silver bag with matching ribbons.
From it, Kristen lifted a big silver pillow cover, quilted with silk and laces and decorated with pale pink sequins that read Just Married.
“Oh, how lovely.”
“And I have something less pretty and more fun,” Gloria said.
Which proved to be massage oils and scented candles. Heather grinned as Kristen opened one of the bottles and inhaled.
“Mmm. That will certainly set a romantic mood.”
“Now for something totally different,” Heather said, handing over her gift.
Kristen opened the card first. Her eyebrows shot up. “A photograph?”
“Wearing what’s inside.”
Kristen opened the box and lifted the negligee.
“You bought me a present?” came a male voice. Having just arrived, Police Chief Alex Novak stepped behind Kristen, kissed his fiancée’s cheek and winked at Heather. Tall and good-looking, he and Kristen made a striking pair. “So is the party over?” Alex asked.
“No, it’s not over!” Heather grinned at him. “You just want Kristen all to yourself.”
“My present isn’t even opened,” Aunt Margaret said with a laugh. As Gloria picked up the large rectangular box, Margaret added, “Careful. It’s fragile.”
Gloria placed the box in the middle of the table for Kristen to open. As she lifted the lid, she grinned. “Wow!”
“Hey, I want to see,” Heather said impatiently.
Kristen gasped. “My goodness, Aunt Margaret, I’ve never seen such a...big...cake.”
“And probably not as unusual a cake either,” Alex mused with a cough as Kristen pulled it from the box.
Heather had to laugh and join the oohs and aahs at the sight of the rectangular cake emblazoned with a frosting portrait of a romantic couple in an embrace—a blonde woman in the arms of a dark-haired muscular man who looked like a pirate.
Oddly enough, though the man was dressed in historical garb, he reminded Heather of Rick...
Alex laughed. “Where did the cake-maker get such inspiration?”
“From an old historical romance novel I’ve kept for decades,” Aunt Margaret told him. “It’s amazing what they can reproduce on cakes these days.”
“Apparently,” Alex said with a chuckle.
“You weren’t even supposed to see it,” Aunt Margaret informed him. “This was something for the ladies to enjoy.”
Heather laughed. “You can choose your own cake, Alex—any kind you like—for your bachelor party. C’mon, Kristen, let’s cut a piece.”
Kristen started with the hero-decorated half, giving each of the women a giggle along with
their serving.
Heather’s piece was a shoulder and part of a well-muscled arm encased in a billowing thin white shirt. As she took her first bite, she couldn’t help thinking about Rick, who had muscled arms to match those from the romance novel cover.
Or The Terminator, she thought with a grin.
CHAPTER SIX
ONE OF THE surveillance cameras went off in the middle of the night, the alarm waking Rick, who’d left his laptop on the table next to the bed. To his disappointment, the culprit wasn’t human, but rather a couple of raccoons foraging for grubs in the lawn, where it had been ripped apart for new gardens.
Before going back to bed, he hadn’t been able to resist watching the video of Heather again that he told himself he was going to delete.
Really he was.
Just not yet.
Watching her fuss with her hair, make faces for the camera and pucker her lips in an air kiss, he couldn’t help but grin. He’d seen movement in the dark, but he hadn’t been able to make out what was going on—the camera needed to be adjusted because he should have been able to see more clearly. Only when Heather turned on the light did he realize she’d changed into that dress. And wearing it, her hair fancied up, her lips luscious with a swipe of lipstick, she looked amazing.
Maybe that was the reason he’d dreamed of her.
Of them.
Together...
Awake now, the dream still pricking at the edges of his mind as he left his coach house quarters to find the housekeeper, he faced reality. Heather Clarke was more than an attractive woman that he would like to get to know better. She was a mother with two young girls, one of whom probably hated him after the dog incident.
He didn’t need that kind of complication in his life.
That decided, Rick tried to shove Heather out of mind and entered the mansion through the kitchen. He’d expected to find the housekeeper having her breakfast, but no one sat at the big table near the kitchen windows.
“Have you seen Cora?” he asked Kelly.
The chef was preparing some kind of fancy egg dish in a glass baking tray. And she’d set out a platter of mixed fruits, too.
“You’ll probably find Cora in the drawing room,” Kelly said. “She’s waiting to have breakfast with our only guest so he doesn’t have to eat alone, but that won’t be for a short while yet.”
Remembering Cora’s excitement at Mr. Guildfren’s arrival, Rick suspected her having breakfast with the man spoke to a more complex motive. A romantic one? Though he hated interrupting them, he needed a minute to speak with her.
“Thanks, Kelly.”
But he didn’t get as far as the dining room before Gina Luca greeted him. “Rick, are you here for breakfast this morning?”
He wasn’t much of a breakfast person, usually just slogged down some coffee with a piece of toast. “Actually, I’m here on business. I need to see Cora for a moment.”
“Maybe I can help. I am the concierge here,” she reminded him. “I book the clients, make plans for them, give them advice and directions on places to eat or have fun.”
“Thanks so much, but I need to talk business with Cora specifically.”
Gina shrugged. “Well, if you change your mind...”
Rick proceeded to the drawing room.
The Phillips family had kept the public room just as it had been for many decades—old-fashioned but elegant. The room had a fireplace and a fancy crystal chandelier hanging from the middle of the ceiling, with cherubs dancing around the base. Several couches and even more chairs were upholstered in pale creams and yellows and blues.
Cora and her gentleman sat in upholstered chairs in a bay looking out to the lake. David Guildfren was leaning over the table toward Cora, his hand on hers. Whatever he was saying in a low tone was making her smile. Seventy-some years or not, she looked radiant, transformed by her apparent feelings for the man.
Rick’s gut tightened. No woman had ever looked at him like that.
What if Heather Clarke did?
Reminding himself that he had a job to do, he shook away the thought and cleared his throat loudly enough that he got their attention.
“Rick,” Cora said, the smile fading on her lips.
“I need to speak to you,” Rick said, “just for a moment, I promise. It’s about my work here.”
“Of course.” Cora withdrew her hand and stood. “Excuse me, David. I must see what our handyman needs.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”
Cora quickly joined Rick, who led her away from the open doorway, just in case anyone was around to hear.
“Do you have the information I need?” He’d asked her for a list of all employees, both full and part time, and for their Social Security numbers so he could run a security check on each of them.
“Yes.” She slipped her hand into her trouser pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Though I just can’t believe anyone working here has anything to do with our intruder.”
“Hopefully, you’re right.”
Taking the paper from her, he slipped it into his own pocket.
“In addition to Kelly and Gina, we have three day maids, two kitchen helpers, a server and a boat man for the season. They’ve all been working here for years.”
“No one is new?”
“Kelly started last summer, and Gina was hired at the holidays, but the day workers have all been here for at least three years. One of the maids as long as eight years.”
Not that length of time proved anything, Rick thought. But because Cora seemed so distressed by the idea that one of the people working for her could be dishonest, he nodded encouragingly.
“I’ll let you know what I find out.”
Cora glanced back in the direction of her breakfast companion. “I was in the middle of a new tale about Red Flanagan, and I’ve left Mr. Guildfren midstory. So, is that it?”
“Not exactly. I wanted you to know I have security cameras in place on all sides of the house, inside the coach house and inside the boathouse. They’re all triggered by movement and once they go on, they send a digital signal to my computer system where the action is recorded.”
“Good. Good.”
“Did you see or hear anything unusual last night?”
“Why? Did you get something on one of those recordings?”
“Actually, I did.” Not that Rick would tell her about catching Heather in the boathouse. That was his secret. “Raccoons.”
Cora gave a relieved laugh. “Oh.”
“I just thought I would check with you to see if the cameras missed anything.”
“Not that I can say.”
He nodded.
She frowned. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“Nothing definite, but I have an idea how someone got in one of the tunnels.”
“How?”
“I’m looking for an entrance that either wasn’t blocked or, more likely, was reopened by a previous owner—”
Just then, Kelly approached and entered the drawing room. “Breakfast is served.”
“Ah, good! I’m starving!” they heard Mr. Guildfren say.
Cora looked from the doorway to Rick, questions in her gaze.
“It can wait,” he murmured. “I still have to check out my theory. Maybe tonight I’ll have something to report.” He intended to do a little exploring at the end of the day after Heather and her work crew were gone. He didn’t want any interruptions. “Go see to your guest.”
She flushed a little. “All right. Later, then.”
He suspected the secret entrance was somewhere in the coach house, but he hadn’t yet found it. He simply needed more time.
Even as he left the mansion, the EPI crew arrived, Tyrone and Ambe
r in the truck, Heather in her SUV. His phone practically burned a hole in his pocket, and it took a great deal of willpower not to take it out and view the footage again.
Instead, he helped Heather’s crew haul out more landscaping materials from the truck and took the time to admire her in person. She was a hard worker and an amiable boss. It was obvious that both Tyrone and Amber liked her, if not in quite the same way as he might.
“Thanks for helping us,” Heather said as they loaded bags of mulch onto the cart. “And I didn’t even ask.”
“No problem. I wasn’t doing anything anyway.”
Of course he had something to do as soon as he got to his computer.
Not that he was in a rush to leave her.
“And, um, Rick—” she looked around as if making sure they were alone for the moment “—about yesterday...”
Okay, here it came. She undoubtedly wanted an explanation.
“Listen, I’m sorry if I overstepped my bounds.”
“No, no! I’m sorry. When I cooled down, I realized you were trying to keep my girls safe, which is what I want, of course.”
“You’re apologizing to me?”
“Yes! Taylor can be quite a handful. And even though she claimed you hurt her, I’m sure that was her frustration talking.”
The attraction he already felt for her curled through his stomach. His lips softened into what had to be a loopy grin as she gazed into his eyes.
“Oh, my gosh, I forgot!” she suddenly said. “Don’t leave!”
Rick put up his hands. “Okay.”
Heather ran back to her SUV and opened one of the rear doors, reached in, then slammed the door and ran back toward him, waving her hand.
“My sunglasses!” He immediately slipped them in place. “I forgot where they were.”
“Addison mistakenly took them with her.”
“No problem. I’m just glad to get them back.” Seeing that Tyrone and Amber were joining them, he grinned and said, “Gotta keep up the image, you know.”
Heather laughed, and the warm sound whispered through Rick, making him back up. He needed to get a grip when he was around her. He could hardly think of anything else.