Fool's Gold (7 page)

“You don’t have to.” Addie stumbled up the stairs onto the porch. She patted her pockets, wondering where her keys were.

“Keys?” Mel said from behind her, holding out her purse.

“Oh.” Addie laughed and grabbed the bag. After finding the keys, she unlocked the door and went inside.

Mel followed, flipping on a light. “Ah, furniture refinishing. Looks like a big job.”

“Too big. I can’t do it.” Addie tossed her purse on the counter and went straight to the kitchen for something to drink. In the fridge, she noticed the six pack of beer they’d purchased was gone, but one bottle remained hidden towards the back. She popped the beer open and stumbled back out to the front room. “Sorry, it’s my last one. I can share.” She held the bottle out.

Mel waved a hand. “I’m good. You should sit down.”

Addie dropped onto the sofa. “I’m good, too. Fucking peachy good.” She took a draw on her beer.

Sitting next to her, Mel asked softly, “Where’s Chloe?”

Raising her wrist to look at an imaginary watch, Addie murmured, “Probably about Utah, by now. Unless she has to stop and pee every hour like she did with me.”

“Utah? What’s in Utah?”

Silly thoughts whirled in Addie’s vodka-addled brain, and she said the first thing that came to mind. “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.” She laughed at the hilariously funny joke.

Mel sat back with a confused look on her face. “I never got the impression Chloe was Mormon. So is there another reason she’s going to Utah?”

Addie took a swig of her beer and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “She’s going to San Franshishko. San Franshih-ka-bob.” She laughed again, holding her stomach.

“Okay.” Mel brushed hair from Addie’s forehead. “We can talk about this tomorrow. If you’re okay, I’ll just go.”

“No!” Fear knifed through Addie’s heart. She clutched Mel’s hand. “Please, don’t go. I don’t want to be alone.”

A strange look crossed Mel’s face, as if she were trying to decide. “I guess I could stay. I don’t have to work tomorrow.”

“Good!” Addie breathed a sigh of relief. She tossed back the last of her beer and set the bottle on the floor. “Because I really want you to stay.” She turned back to Mel. Before she had time to think about what she was doing, she tossed a leg over and straddled Mel’s lap, facing her.

“Whoa!” Mel pulled back, surprise on her face.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.” Addie leaned forward and kissed her.

Mel’s eyes widened when Addie’s mouth touched hers. She thought about returning the kiss and bringing to life the fantasy she’d harboured for over a week. But the sexy, dishevelled woman tasted like beer and something stronger, and Mel was not about to take advantage.

“Whoa, slow down, there.” She pressed Addie back gently.

Addie raised her hips and ground herself into Mel’s lap. “Don’t you want me? I want you very much.”

“Um, yeah.” Mel didn’t know how to answer that one.
Hell yes, I want you
.
But it’s not
going to happen like this.
She gripped Addie’s shoulders. “Not tonight, honey. Not in the mood you’re in.”

“I’m in the perfect mood.” Addie smiled at her, a lopsided try at seductive.

“Yes, I see that. Come on, now.” Mel moved the delightful body off hers and set her back on the sofa.

“Aw, hell!” Addie began to cry. Big drops trailed down her cheeks, smudging her mascara.

Mel gazed at her and realised, judging by the makeup, it wasn’t the first time she’d cried that night. She reached out and pushed a lock of hair away from Addie’s face. “Don’t cry, sweetie. Maybe we just need to talk. Seems like you have a lot on your shoulders right now.”

“I can’t talk about it.” Addie shook her head. “Can’t think about it. Too much. Way too much.”

“What’s too much? Come on, Adeline. Tell me what’s going on with you.”

Addie opened her eyes and looked at Mel. She sniffled, wiped her face and smiled.

“Okay, Melissa. I’ll tell you. Nothing is turning out right. My father wasn’t supposed to die, my mother wasn’t supposed to disown me…”

“Slow down.” Mel could see Addie had a lot to get off her chest. “Start at the beginning, please. When did your dad die?”

Addie’s slurred speech seemed to clear up as she reached into the past. “A few months ago. He had lung cancer. Smoked all his life. They tried to operate, but the doctors discovered it was too far advanced. He lived one year from the diagnosis, but he was pretty miserable.”

“I’m sorry.” Mel saw Addie relax, leaning back on the sofa, and she did the same.

“What about your mom? You said she disowned you?”

“Several years ago. I was fresh out of high school. She’d always suspected I was different, but when I turned eighteen and joined a gay rights activist group, she blew up.

Kicked me out of the house and all that. I was happy to go, but I didn’t have any money.”

“Were you going to college?”

“Nope. Never quite figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. Still haven’t, I guess. Anyway, my father set me up in an apartment, which annoyed my mother no end. I got a job waiting tables, and he got booted out of the house just like me.”

“You’re kidding!” Mel had never heard of such a thing. Her parents were fun-loving, easy-going types. Better than that, they were best friends. They’d been married twenty-five years, and their relationship showed no signs of aging.

“Not kidding. Dad was okay. He was a plumber with his own little business. There was never a shortage of work. Truthfully, I don’t think he was ever good enough for my mom.

She thought she was hot stuff—some big shot banker’s administrative assistant. That’s a fancy-ass word for secretary. I heard people say that might not have been all she was to the guy, but I didn’t want to get into that. Colorado Springs is a big place. She lived her life. Dad and I lived ours.”

“At least you were close to your dad.” Mel tried to see the positive.

“Yeah, he was great. Towards the end, when he knew he couldn’t work anymore, he sold his business and got enough money to keep us going. I quit working to take care of him the last three months of his life. Then I spent the next three trying to straighten things out. He had a will, and not that much stuff, so it shouldn’t have been that complicated.”

“But?” Mel could tell by the sound of her voice there was more.

“But my mother went nuts when she found out I inherited his money. She sued me for his estate.”

“Oh my God!” Mel shook her head.
No wonder Addie is depressed.
If anyone had a reason to be, it was her. “What happened?”

Addie shrugged. “I paid a lawyer up front to handle things for me then I spent the rest of the money as fast as I could. On this place.” She glanced around. “Such as it is. My very own iron pyrite.”

“Excuse me?” Mel wasn’t following.

Addie waved a hand around the room. “Fool’s gold. My father used to tell me about miners who gave up everything they had and moved west, looking for gold. Some of them found iron pyrite, which looks pretty on the outside but isn’t worth much on the inside. They lost everything chasing fool’s gold. Just like I did with this inn.”

“It is
not
just like that!” Mel insisted. “This inn was a beautiful place with a great business. It will be again, you wait and see.”

Addie shrugged. “I’ll wait if I can. Have to see how the lawsuit comes out.”

“The lawsuit—you mean your mother’s pursuing that?”

“Yep. Isn’t settled yet, far as I know. I assume the lawyer will contact me.”

Mel blinked. “But you spent the money.”

“Yep.” Addie smiled. “So if she wins, I’ll be forced to sell this place and pay her back.”

“You don’t think you could scrape together enough—”

“Melissa, right now I couldn’t scrape together milk money. I’m running on fumes. Not literally, because when that big guy at the garage finds out I can’t pay for my car, he’ll have to keep it.”

Mel thought about Gill driving the old green Pontiac and bit back a chuckle.

“What?” Addie looked at her.

She couldn’t resist speaking her thought, hoping it would lighten the mood rather than piss Addie off. “You think Gill will want that car?”

Addie stared at her then started to laugh. “Hey, it’ll have a new muffler!”

Mel laughed until her stomach hurt. She nudged her arm against Addie. “See, there’s always a bright spot. You just have to know where to find it.”

“Oh, yeah?” Addie’s mirth faded away. “Find me the bright spot in this, Little Mary Sunshine. Thanks to my lawyer’s advice, I did take out insurance on the inn. But he told me since it was a business, I should go with a higher deductible to lower my payments. In order to have this place fixed up, I’ll have to come up with thousands of dollars.”

Mel gazed at her sincerely. “I’m sorry. So I guess you don’t really have a cheque coming in?”

“Uh, no. Not proud to say it, but I lied.”

Mel sighed. “No wonder you were trying to forget your worries.”

“I was.” Addie nodded. “I offered to take Chloe to the bar and relax for an evening.
At
the bar, she met some guy named Del and his girlfriend Rita, who wanted to have three-way sex with us. No wait! That would be four-way, wouldn’t it? Anyhoo, I declined, and Chloe left with them. Headed to some street faire in San Fran—wherever.” She shook her head.

“You know where I mean.”

“Chloe’s gone?” Mel couldn’t believe her ears.

“Yep. I haven’t checked to see how much of my stuff she took with her. The house and crappy furniture are still here, so I have that.”

“Chloe is gone.” Mel repeated quietly. The words were too good to be true. But Addie had to be suffering, and Mel’s first thoughts should be for her and her well-being. “I’m so sorry, Addie. That’s just awful.”

“Yes, it is.” Addie closed her eyes drowsily.

“How long were you two together?”

“Hmm?” Addie murmured.

Mel couldn’t tell if she were thinking or had fallen asleep. She waited.

“Almost three weeks, I guess.”

“Three weeks?” Mel nearly shouted with excitement.
Why did I think they’d been
together
so much longer?

Addie’s eyes popped open. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong.” Mel gripped Addie’s shoulders, pulling the woman’s head into her lap. She stroked her hair. “Not a blessed thing.”

Addie gazed up at her. The look in her eyes was accusing. “You never came back. You dropped by that first morning, but I never saw you again.”

“Chloe.” Mel touched Addie’s face. “She warned me to stay away. I wasn’t afraid of her—hell, I could take her out—but I felt guilty because of the thoughts I had about you. I assumed you were in a committed relationship, and I didn’t want to come between you.”

“One of us should have been committed, all right.” Addie scowled. “I can’t believe Chloe threatened you.”

“She was, let’s just say, an interesting person. But sadly, she’s gone now.”

“Sadly?” Addie batted her eyelashes.

“Okay, not so sadly.” Mel smiled.

Mel woke up and glanced around, getting her bearings. She remembered talking with Addie late into the night, and at some point, they’d moved to the only useable bedroom in the inn. They’d continued to talk softly, not looking at each other but staring up at the ceiling.

It hadn’t taken long for Addie to fall asleep, her rhythmic breathing a comforting sound. Mel had rolled over and watched her for awhile before finally dozing off herself.

Shards of daylight filtered in through slits between the blinds, illuminating the empty bed. Mel heard the sound of water running in the adjoining bathroom. She stretched comfortably and waited.

The shower stopped, and footsteps padded around in the bathroom. A hair dryer came on briefly, then off again.

Addie appeared in the doorway, wearing a large, white towel. “Hey. You’re awake.”

“Yeah. Sorry I slept so long.” Mel rubbed her face.

“Nah, it’s early. I felt grubby when I woke up and wanted to hop in the shower.

Besides, I’m the one who should apologise. I’m sorry about last night.”

Mel tried to ignore the fact Addie wore nothing but a towel. It was becoming increasingly difficult. She glanced away quickly and waved a hand. “No big deal. You had a lot on your mind. I understand completely.”

Addie took a step closer to the bed. “I seem to recall you being very chivalrous. I remember throwing myself at you.”

Mel grinned. “It wasn’t easy. But you were pretty…” she searched for the right word,

“
groggy
. I wasn’t going to take advantage.”

“I was flat on my ass drunk. You were very kind. I didn’t know if it was because you weren’t interested—”

“Hell, no!” Mel’s face heated, the warmth slowly spreading lower. “Just the opposite.”

“Really?” Addie dropped her towel.

Mel blinked. The naked body before her was more beautiful than anything she’d imagined. Addie’s breasts were full and round, with perfect, brown nipples accenting the paler flesh. Her stomach was flat, leading down to the small patch of neatly trimmed pubic hair. “I, uh…Jesus. I need to go pee.”

Addie laughed and motioned to the bathroom. “Help yourself. I’ll be right here.”

Her heart racing, Mel hurried into the pretty, peach lavatory and used the toilet. She glanced at the shower longingly and decided a few more minutes wouldn’t kill her. “I’m going to shower real quick, okay?” she called.

“You bet. Clean towels on the shelf.”

“Thanks.” Mel saw the decorative wicker shelving unit and took one towel, setting it within reach. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and climbed into the stall, cleaning up faster than ever before. She hurried to dry off, but kept the towel around her when she returned to the bedroom.

Addie had thrown back the covers neatly and was lying across the bed on her side.

“Ah, no fair. I lost my towel. Your turn.”

Mel smiled, letting the fluffy cotton fall away.

“Damn.” The look on Addie’s face was one of pure lust. “You’re hot, girl. Get over here, now.” She patted the mattress.

Mel moved to the side of the bed and lowered herself slowly. She remembered her ponytail and dragged the elastic band from her hair.