Crazy in Paradise (18 page)

“Nobody told me you called.”

“Didn’t I tell you I’d be coming over last night?” he sounded annoyed.

“Honestly, I forgot. When I got home, the thought of being there alone had me running back out the door. I remembered on the drive over, and planned to call when I got here and instead went to sleep. My mother doesn’t know what happened,” I whispered.

“When I called and it went straight to voice mail I got worried about you.”

“I took one of the pills Doc Rivers gave me, and I was asleep when my head hit the pillow. I didn’t realize until this morning my phone had gone dead. How’d you find me here?”

“I’m an investigator. A good one,” he pointed out. “I went to your house and, when you didn’t answer the door, I went inside.”

“Are you telling me you knocked on the door?”

“Funny. I walked around, and realized you’d packed up Jazz and left. I figured there weren’t many places you could go and take your cat. I called this morning, Madeline confirmed you’d arrived last night, and here I am.”

“You should have asked to speak to me.”

“Why would I do that? You wouldn’t have invited me over.”

“I could’ve warned you. Brad’s coming to dinner.”

“I want to meet your brother.”

I rolled my eyes. “Do you remember the last time you had dinner with Mother? Expect that times two.”

He sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms. “I figured Madeline had an ulterior motive. She’s your mother.” His hand found the deep slit in my dress, and he ran his fingers over my butt. “I can protect both you and me. Trust me.”

“I hope so. My mother isn’t one of your criminals. She’s really good at getting information out of her children.”

“I like this dress,” he grinned, pulling on the neckline and peering inside.

“Stop that! What if my mother sees you?”

“No underwear. Very nice,” he chuckled. “I may not be able to protect you from your mother and brother after all. I’ll be distracted with other thoughts. How far do you think I can get my hand up this dress?”

“You definitely don’t want to get caught,” I laughed.

Mother walked back in carrying a tray of fresh shrimp, and cut-up fruits and vegetables.

“What happened, Zach? Why are you using a cane?”

The front door opened. Thank goodness for the diversion. “Brad’s here,” Mother smiled at him.

“I apologize in advance,” I whispered in Zach’s ear.

“Hey sis.” Brad looked at Zach. “Mike isn’t it?”

“Mike? His name is Zach,” I said.

“Whose cane?” Brad asked.

“It’s Zach’s. I was just asking him about that,” Mother said.

“Minor leg injury,” Zach answered.

“Ah. The boyfriend,” Brad gave Zach the once over. “Don’t you two think the boyfriend -girlfriend thing is a little soon? How long have you known each other? Five minutes?”

“You’ve been in love, haven’t you?” Zach baited him.

“Love,” Brad snorted.

Zach and Brad ramped up with the testosterone talk, marking their territory.

“First of all, big brother,” I interrupted. “My love life is none of your business. If you and Mother have some sort of good guy, bad guy scheme cooked up, forget about it.”

Brad stared at me. “With your history, we just want to make sure he’s not a total jerk.”

“With my history,” I snorted. “What about yours? Let’s talk about psycho Patty. Didn’t she end up doing a stint in the nut house?”

“Behave. Both of you,” Mother said loudly.

“Let’s change the subject,” I said.

“What’s happening with the estate?” Mother asked.

“Tucker, Will, and I had a meeting, and discussed plans for a smooth transition,” I lied.

The buzzer sounded on the stove and Mother disappeared into the kitchen. “Do you need any help?” I called out.

“Brad can help me.”

I laughed at Brad as he left the room, and he glared back.

“Come here,” Zach said, pulling me into his arms. I leaned against him, hungry for his kiss. And more. “How much of what you said about The Cottages is the truth?” Zach whispered, nibbling on my ear.

“None of it.”

“You lied to your mother?” he asked, trying to sound shocked.

“Don’t go there. If those two had any idea I was having problems, they’d want to micromanage.”

His hand slipped inside my dress. His fingers moved up and down my back.

“Hey sis, have you forgotten you’re at your mother’s house?” Brad asked.

“Is dinner ready?” I responded.

“Food’s on the table if you two can separate yourselves.”

I stood up and handed Zach his cane. He got up slowly. “We haven’t talked since Neal Cooper,” he reminded me. “Come home with me tonight.”

“I can’t. I told Mother that I’m staying overnight. I’ll be back late in the morning.”

Zach sat next to me and across from Mother, which I thought would be safer than him having him sit next to or across from Brad. I hoped everyone would be too distracted by Mother’s barbequed salmon for anything more than small talk. Secrets were hard to keep in this family. The less talk, the less chance anything would slip.

“I found a guy to work on Elizabeth’s boat,” Brad told us.

“That’s good news,” I said. I was excited that the boat would be running again.

“Was Mr. Spoon able to recommend someone?” Mother asked.

“Spoon?” I said and turned to Brad. “You know Spoon?”

“Never met him. Madeline gave me his number.”

“Why does he get to call you Madeline and I don’t?”

“He doesn’t either,” she frowned at him.

“Spoon referred me to a man named Moron, who’d worked on the boat for Elizabeth.

“Moron?” I said. “That’s awful.”

“You know how Spoon has a gift when it comes to cars? Moron has the same talent with boats,” Zach spoke up. “Moron is a nickname from elementary school. His name is Angelo Marone. The kids teased him unmercifully. First they called him Angie, and after a couple of fistfights, it changed to Moron. Trust me, there’s nothing stupid about the man.”

“Moron asked me how solid your relationship was with Zach here,” Brad eyed me.

“Why would he ask about me?” I asked. “I’ve never met him.”

“Well he seemed to know all about you. He did say he hadn’t actually met you, but that he’s looking forward to it.” He glared at me.

“How nice.” I glared back.

“He also thought someone should warn you about your friendship with that character Spoon.”

“Spoon’s not a bad guy,” Zach interjected.

“He did a good job on my car, and I got it back looking like new,” Mother said.

“Moron also wanted me to tell you that renting to one of Spoon’s parolee friends is a bad idea. Most of them go right back to prison. Why would you rent to someone who just got out of prison? Why not drug addicts?”

“Prison?” Mother said, horrified.

“What would Elizabeth think?” Brad asked. “I’ll tell you, what she’d think is that she made a bad decision leaving you The Cottages.”

Beneath the table, Zach put his hand over mine and squeezed.

“I can’t believe you had a conversation about me with someone who hasn’t met me,” I told Brad. “You’re making all kinds of accusations without facts. I’d never be so disloyal to you, and I’ll not sit here while you question me about pure gossip,” my voice rose.

Brad turned to Mother. “Have you noticed she’s become a master at not answering a question with a straight answer?”

“How’s this for clear, Brad?” I said. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Madison!” Mother chastised.

The silence around the table was deafening. Brad and I continued to glare at one another.

“So what’s a security expert?” Brad asked Zach.

“Stop!” I yelled. In an attempt to change the subject, I asked, “Did you win at poker, Mother?”

“I did, but not as much as I wanted.”

“You’re a lot like your sister,” Zach said. “Elizabeth had a weekly poker group. She loved those games.”

“I used to play with them when we came for vacation. We always had a lot of fun.”

“Madison, at some point you’re going to have to let us ask your boyfriend a question or two,” Brad continued, intent on forging ahead with grilling Zach.

“How’s your love life, Brad? Got any more hot psycho babes stashed out in The Glades?”

“Really you two,” my mother pleaded. “You’re acting like children, and ruining a family dinner.”

I gave it right back to her. “When exactly did you call and invite Brad to dinner? Before or after you invited Zach? When you called Brad, did you tell him Zach would be coming?”

“Madison, there’s no need to protect me. Not tonight anyway,” Zach said.

Mother stood up. “Who wants dessert? Crème brulee or ice cream?” The mention of dessert broke the tension.

“Who’s going to take ice cream or over crème brulee?” I asked.

“No thank you, Madeline,” Zach told her. “I’ll share with Madison.”

“If he eats more than two bites, he gets his own,” I said. He’s crazy. No one shares dessert, at least not in this family.

* * *

“Let’s go outside and sit by the pool,” I suggested to Zach.

Brad, who refused to be left inside by himself, followed us.

“You never said what happened to your leg,” Brad reminded Zach.

“I got shot. No damage, just hurts a lot.”

“Shot?” Mother asked as she walked out on the patio. “Is that part of your job?”

“It’s a hazard of the job,” Zach tried to sound casual. “Thankfully it doesn’t happen often.”

“I’ll help you do the dishes,” I told Mother.

“Brad can help me. You stay with Zach.”

I mouthed a thank you to her.

“I’m rinsing, you load,” Brad told her as they walked into the house together.

I looked at Zach. “Let’s go put our feet in the pool. We need to talk.”

He looked at me, a serious look on his face. “I don’t think I can get my hand inside your dress if we sit on concrete.”

“How would you like it if I stuck my hand up your pants?”
Did I really just say that
?

“Yeah. My turn?” His big smile told me he would remember my suggestion.

“How about if I owe you one?”

“That will be the best IOU I’ve gotten to-date.”

“Since we’ve met, you’ve been shot twice, I’ve killed someone, and now a dead body has turned up. Not to mention Tucker, the irritating Will, and let’s not forget Harder.”

“What’s going on with Tucker and Will, I might be able to help. I’ll send Slice over,” he suggested. “He can straighten out Tucker. He’s afraid of Slice. They had an argument once that didn’t end well for Tucker.”

“Whit recommended a real probate attorney, Howard Sherman. Tucker doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to follow through and hire Mr. Sherman. He can deal with Tucker and handle my interest in the estate. I’m out of my league where Tucker’s concerned. He’s a master manipulator.” I kept quiet about my impromptu visit to his office. I didn’t want to admit that he scares me.

“I gave Cruz your number. He can represent you when you go to Harder’s office. Unlike Tucker, he has an excellent reputation.”

“Aren’t you going to ask what I was doing coming out of your bedroom?” I asked.

“At the hospital, Fab began explaining and at the same time yelling that she was glad I was alive,” Zach laughed. “I didn’t ask her to try and make sense. I learned a long time ago to wait until she calms down.”

“She seems like a person who never loses her cool.”

“For the most part, she doesn’t. When she does start yelling, that’s her way of telling you how important you are to her.”

“I’m not sure where to begin.”

“I wish the first time you’d come to my place had ended in hot sex, not gun shots.”

“My thoughts exactly,” I said, against his lips.

“I could sneak into your bedroom later.” He kissed me, his finger tracing my neck.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” Brad said, sitting in a chair next to us.

“You are,” I retorted.

“Mother is going to bed soon.”

I laughed at him. “That is such a huge lie, Bradley.”

“I need to leave,” Zach said, standing and pulling me into another kiss. “Come with me,” he whispered.

“Can you imagine?” I giggled. “I don’t want to disappoint my Mother.”

“When do you think you’ll get back to The Cove?”

“I’ll be home by late morning.”

“I’ll meet you at the house. In the meantime, I’m going to learn everything I can about The Cottages, and everyone who lives there. We’ll figure this out.”

“I’m sorry my brother was so rude to you,” I apologized. “He wanted to make sure you weren’t anything like my ex-husband.”

“I would terrorize any guy who liked one of my sisters, and chase off any I deemed unworthy. Thank goodness they’re all married.”

“Wouldn’t you give the guy a chance?”

“Hell no. I’d check the guy out every which way, and if I didn’t like what I found out, he’d be gone. Your brother doesn’t have my resources. We should be happy Moron hasn’t heard about the shooting and the dead body yet. This could’ve been a lot worse.”

“I’ll never get used to calling anyone Moron. Mr. Moron, maybe. When I do meet him, I’ll make it clear he’s not to rat me out to my brother ever again. I’ll take Slice along.”

“Taking the big guy?” Zach shook his head. “Walk me to the door. Your mother is standing over there giving me the evil eye.”

Zach and I walked over to Mother. “Thank you for inviting me, Madeline.” He kissed her cheek. “Come down to The Cove for dinner sometime.”

“I’d like that. And thank
you
for the hand-rolled cigars. I’m looking forward to sitting out here and enjoying one.”

“Cigars?” I said, confused.

“A hostess present,” my mother answered. “Wasn’t that nice?”

At the door, I grabbed Zach by the shirt, pulling him close, kissing him. “You scored on the cigars. Hand-rolled, very nice! I’m glad you came.”

“Kiss me like that again.”

And I did. I watched as he walked to his car, wishing for a different ending to the evening.

“Mother, you outdid yourself on dinner,” I told her, walking back into the house. “I’m going to bed.”

“You slept all day,” she said, frowning. “How can you still be tired?”