Full Bloom (18 page)

“Yeah. The bushes broke my fall.”

Doc grinned. “Good. I won’t have to put you down.”

A sleepy-eyed Erdle suddenly appeared. “I heard someone scream. What happened to him?” He nodded toward Wes.

Theenie explained. Erdle looked up and studied the damaged wrought iron, scratching his head as though trying to decide how much work he was going to have to do to fix it. “I can’t believe the stuff that goes on around here,” he said. “It’s just one dang thing after another. I can’t take much more.” He wiped his hands down his face. “I need a drink.” He turned and walked away.

“What’s wrong with him?” Doc asked.

“We had a terrible time while you were gone,” Theenie said, wringing her hands. “I just shudder every time I think about it. You would not
believe
what we’ve been through. And poor Annie,” she added.

Doc waited. “Well,
what
?” he asked.

Theenie gave a sorrowful sigh. “I could tell you, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

“Well,
somebody
needs to tell me,” he said loudly.

“It all started the day you left,” Lovelle said, beginning with his gardener finding Charles’s body. She quickly filled him in on the rest.

Doc frowned at Annie. “You were
arrested
?”

The last thing Annie wanted was for Doc to worry about her. “It’ll be okay,” she said. “Max Holt hired a big shot lawyer who is confident I’ll get off.”

Doc’s ninety-year-old face suddenly took on more creases. “Are you sure?”

“Do I look worried?” she asked lightly. “My lawyer has already told me that no jury would convict me because there is absolutely no proof.” Annie hated to lie, but she didn’t want Doc losing sleep over her problems.

“You let me know if you need money, you hear? Or anything else,” he added.

“Let me help you up,” Annie told Wes. “We need to get you inside.”

He stood on his own. “Am I going to have to scale the walls and climb through the attic window or am I allowed to use the back door like everybody else?”

“Your Honor, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard,” Nunamaker said to his brother-in-law, who’d agreed to hear Destiny’s case first thing that morning. A male nurse and a social worker had driven Destiny to the courthouse, and the social worker had handed the judge a sheaf of papers and Dr. Smithers’s report.

The judge glanced over the report. “Dr. Smithers seems to think your client is dangerous and delusional.” He frowned. “Something about a spirit and a murder?”

Nunamaker waved it off. “The whole thing is preposterous. Dr. Smithers only saw my client once and for a very brief period. I have highly credible witnesses who are prepared to attest to the fact that Miss Moultrie is perfectly sane.”

He motioned toward Max and Jamie, who were sitting in the front row in the small courtroom. They both nodded. “Furthermore, my client is not involved with any murder, nor is she under investigation.” He paused and squared his shoulders. “I resent these frivolous accusations against Miss Moultrie, as well as the unorthodox measures Dr. Smithers took to have her committed. The magistrate who signed the commitment papers never even spoke to my client.”

“Dead people following her around?” the judge said. He arched one brow.

Nunamaker shrugged. “Miss Moultrie has psychic abilities. It’s common knowledge that those with her gifts are more perceptive to these phenomena. Miss Moultrie donates her time to helping others through a newspaper column. She writes as the Divine Love Goddess Adviser.”

The judge looked at Destiny. “So that’s where I recognize you from. My wife and I read your column. Your advice always seems to be right on-target.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Destiny said, speaking for the first time since she’d entered the courtroom. “I’m very proud of the work I do, for both the living and the dead.”

The judge leaned forward. “I’m not going to pretend to understand everything you do, Miss Moultrie, but you seem perfectly sane to me.” He turned to the social worker. “I’m going to deny Dr. Smithers’s recommendation to hold Miss Moultrie for further observation.” He smiled at Destiny. “You’re free to go.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” she said.

The judge stood, brandishing a brand-new tennis racket in one hand.

Annie was dressed and waiting for Danny when Wes came downstairs in his denim jacket, his camera hanging from his neck. Theenie had treated the needlelike puncture wounds and applied small, round Band-Aids to the worst of them.

“Where are you headed?” Annie asked.

“I have work to do.”

“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“Hey, you’re looking at one tough guy here. Want to see my muscles?”

Annie would have enjoyed reminding him she had already seen his muscles and she liked them just fine, but she knew Theenie and Lovelle were taking in every word. She tried to hold back her smile as they exchanged looks, and Annie knew he was thinking about how they’d spent the previous night.

“We all have plans for tonight,” she told him, “but there are plenty of leftovers in the refrigerator.”

“I’ll grab something while I’m out,” he said, although he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. He just stood there looking at her, a half smile playing on his lips.

Annie tried not to remember what those lips were capable of.

“Oh, look at the time,” Theenie said. “If Danny doesn’t get here soon, the two of you won’t have much time to eat before the movie.”

Annie knew Theenie had mentioned the fact she was going out with Danny for Wes’s benefit.

Wes looked Annie over. “I’d better let you go so you can fix yourself up for your big date.”

Annie glanced down at her neat slacks and best white blouse. She’d even taken special care with hair and makeup. “I
am
fixed up.”

“Oh well, my mistake.” He winked once and walked out the back door.

“Very funny,” Annie mumbled under her breath.

Danny arrived shortly after. “So how about a nice, thick steak?” he said.

“You want to know what I’ve been dying for?” she said. “A big, fat, juicy hamburger, onion rings, and a thick strawberry milk shake.”

“You mean Harry’s Place? I offer you steak and you’d rather eat grease?”

“Yeah, ain’t it sinful?”

They arrived at Harry’s Place a few minutes later and found the parking lot packed. “Hope we can get a table,” Annie said as they made their way to the entrance. Inside they found a long waiting line.

Danny looked at his wristwatch. “We’re doing okay on time as long as we don’t have to wait too long to get served once we get a table.” He glanced around the room. “Oh, look, there’s your pal. What happened to his face?”

Annie glanced in the direction Danny was looking. She froze when she spotted Wes sitting in a booth in the back, across from him a pretty blonde. They were leaning forward talking, their heads so close they almost touched. “Um, he fell,” Annie managed, trying to keep her voice from wavering, but the sight of Wes with another woman almost made her ill. She resisted the urge to bolt out the front door.

“The guy certainly has good taste,” Danny said, looking amused. “He must like ’em young; she barely looks old enough to vote. I’d ask to join them, but they look pretty intense.”

“You know what?” Annie said. “I think I’d like to have a good steak after all.”

It was all Annie could do to remain cheerful and attentive as they waited for their waitress, but she was determined to give it her best shot, since Danny had taken her to a nice steak house. Because all of the other tables were taken, they’d been seated at one in the bar where mostly men sat on the tall stools watching a sports program on a wide-screen TV.

The waitress appeared, and Danny ordered each of them a glass of red wine and the filet mignon with béarnaise sauce. He waited until the waitress hurried off. “If you’re a good girl and eat all your vegetables, I’m going to order you your favorite dessert, Death by Chocolate.”

“You’re so bad,” Annie said.

“I know all your weaknesses, Anniekins.”

Sometimes she wished he wouldn’t be so nice, and she wondered if maybe Theenie was right, that Danny wanted more out of the relationship. She looked up and found him watching her intently, his eyes telling her things he had never said out loud. Annie averted her gaze and reached for her wineglass. She raised it to her lips, and it slipped through her fingers, splashing wine across her blouse, and shattered on the table. “Oh no!” she cried, reaching for her linen napkin to blot the mess she’d made. “I’m so clumsy!”

“Watch out for the glass,” Danny warned, using his own napkin in an attempt to help. The waitress arrived with a damp cloth.

“I need to run to the ladies’ room and see if I can get the wine off my blouse before it stains,” Annie said, and hurried away. Inside the restroom she wet a paper towel and pressed it against her forehead. Jeez, what was wrong with her? She was losing it, that’s what. She was making a fool out of herself over a man. She tried to scrub the stain from her blouse, but it was no use.

She looked up, spied her reflection in the mirror, and saw the pain and disappointment in her eyes. “Boy, you really know how to pick them,” she muttered to her reflection, her mind filled with the image of Wes and the blonde.

Annie had almost forgotten how bad she could hurt, and she hadn’t even known Wes long. She thought of Nick and Billie Kaharchek. Love at first sight. Annie sighed. That sort of thing only happened to other people.

She arrived back at the table to find the waitress had cleared the glass from the table and delivered their food. “The stain didn’t come out, huh?” Danny said.

“I’ll try to treat it with something at home,” Annie said.

“You’d better eat before the food gets cold.”

Annie picked up her steak knife and considered falling on it. What did it matter? Her blouse was already ruined. Instead, she grabbed her fork and began the process of eating.

“How’s your steak?” Danny asked.

“Great,” she said, giving him an appreciative smile. She suddenly spied the wide-screen TV and saw her own reflection. The local news station was enjoying a real heyday thanks to her problems. Her smile faded.

Danny followed her gaze. “Oh, hell,” he muttered. “Let’s get out of here.”

Annie waited until they were in his car to say anything. “It’s okay, Danny,” she said. “I’m getting accustomed to my new-found notoriety. Look on the bright side. I could be discovered and end up on
Star Search
. And you can tell everybody you knew me
when
.”

He shook his head. “Only you could crack jokes at a time like this.”

“The least you can do is look amused. I’m using my best material.”

“Do you realize there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you?”

“Of course I do. You’ve already proven it time after time.”

“I’m not talking about sanding floors or making household repairs. I’m telling you that there are no limits, no line I wouldn’t cross, to protect you.”

Annie felt herself frown. “Please tell me you’re not planning on doing anything dumb like Erdle did.”

“We should get away,” Danny said. “Spend a few days in the mountains. Theenie and Lovelle wouldn’t mind. It would give us time to think. And talk,” he added.

Annie looked out her side window and wondered when things had changed between them, wondered why she hadn’t seen it coming despite Theenie’s warnings. She had counted on Danny’s friendship for so long, what would become of them now?

“Annie?”

She couldn’t look at him. “You know I can’t.”

He gave a sigh. “I thought things would be different with Charles out of the picture. I kept hoping. But I guess deep down I knew it wasn’t going to happen.” He looked thoughtful. “And now there’s Wes.”

“I’m sorry.” She finally looked at Danny.

His face was weighted with disappointment, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he reached for the key and started the car. “What do you say we skip the movie tonight?”

Annie walked into the kitchen and skidded to a halt when she found Wes sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. And she thought things couldn’t get worse. “What are you doing here?”

“Last time I checked, I had a room here.”

“You’re home early. Why are you home early? What time did you get here? And where did you get that newspaper?” She had to pause to catch her breath.

“I’ve been here a couple of hours, and I found the newspaper in the bushes. Have you been drinking a lot of caffeine? Is that a wine stain on your blouse?”

“Why are you interrogating me?
I
haven’t done anything wrong.”

Wes studied her for a moment, a perplexed look on his face. “Could we start over?”

“I want you out of here, Wes. I’m evicting you as of this moment. I’ll give you all your money back.”

“I don’t want money. Besides, I like it here.”

“This is my house, and if I say you’re out, you’re out.” She turned and marched up the stairs.

Wes just sat there, shaking his head in confusion. Finally, he stood and started up the stairs. He found Annie in his room stuffing his clothes in his backpack.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m throwing you out. I should never have rented to you in the first place. You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now where men are concerned.”

He shoved his face in hers. “Lady, what
is
your problem?”

“I saw you tonight. With the
blonde
. Really, Wes, isn’t she a little young for you?”

He looked surprised. “She’s not as young as she looks. Her brother is a plastic surgeon.”

Annie grabbed his pack and lugged it from the room and down the stairs.

Wes followed.

Annie opened the door, dumped the backpack on the piazza, and crossed her arms. “See ya.”

“Red, we need to talk.” He closed his arms around her waist and locked his fingers together.

“Take your hands off of me!” she shouted.

“Not until you calm down and listen to what I have to say.”

“What is going on here?” Theenie demanded from the doorway.

Annie turned and found Theenie and Lovelle standing there, each holding her purse. “Wes was just leaving.”