Last First Kiss (23 page)

“I think you’re right. So that’s second on my list of things to do today. Third is going to my office and running that list of guests through the databases to see what I come up with.
”

“And your first is to make Sophie breakfast in bed?”

“Nope, I’m going to make love to her.”

“Wade, I have to get back to Mountainview
,
and you have to get to Cathy’s. If we have sex again, we’ll be in this bed all day.”

“Now there’s a thought.”

“It’s not our honeymoon.

“I know
, just wishful thinking on my part.”

Wade flopped onto his back.
“But you’ll be spending the night here with me, right?”

Sophie rolled on top of him. He placed his hands on the small of her back while they rubbed noses.

“You want me to?”

“I insist on it.”

“In that case I will. Now, I’m getting up, getting dressed
,
and going to Mountainview for some of Grans
’
s
famous blueberry
pancakes.

“Oh, save some for me. I’ll be by after lunch, okay.
”

He
pinched her butt before she slid off the bed.

He put his hand
s
behind his head and smiled, watching her lovely naked body before him. The breasts, those nipples, the tiny waist, the curls at the top of her thighs
,
and the treasure that they hid.

She blew him a kiss and was gone.

Chapter Eleven

When she arrived at Mountainview she found her grandmother sitting at the kitchen table reading the Sunday newspaper.

Grans pushed down her glasses onto the tip of her nose and looked over their rims at her.

“Well, well, look who decided to ret
urn.” She
picked up her coffee mug.

Sophie put her bag on the table and pulled out a chair and sat. She poured herself a cup of coffee and took tiny sips hoping it would soon be cool en
ough to take a complete swallow because she needed a jolt of caffeine.

“You have something to tell me?” asked Grans.

“Yes
,
I do.”

“Well, then let’s
hear
your version of the story.”

“Wade
and I spend the night together…
that’s my version.”

“Sophie Richardson, in case you’ve forgotten
,
Greenville
is a small town
,
and gossip travels fast. I’ve already heard from three people that you and Wade were caught in a compromising
position
and
by his girlfriend no less. I thought I’d raised you better than to steal other women’s men.”

Sophie raised her hand, hoping
she could plead her case.

“
That might be the story Cathy is telling everyone
,
but Wade broke up with her before we, well you know.
.” Sophie put the mug down
,
spilling some coffee on the table. She stood to get the dishcloth from the sink.

“And you don’t think your
coming home
and maybe confusing poor Wade
had anything to do with that?”

Sophie turned around. “No, I don’t
,
s
o I’m not going to feel guilty about that.”

Grans took a deep breath. “And what happens to W
ade when you go back to
Seattle
?
I’m assuming you will.”

Sophie nodded. She had a business and home there
,
but she hadn’t thought of anything past today, tomorrow
,
the next day…finally having sex with the man you loved could do that to your brain.

“We’ll have to see how things work out. He can always move to
Seattle
.”

“Sophie, listen to me.” She slapped her hand on the table. “Do not break that boy’s heart again.”

“I have no intention of doing that. And
by the way,
he knows.”

Sophie reached for the dishcloth and wiped up the spill.

“Knows what?”

“About the reason I got married, the baby, the miscarriage…everything.”

“I always believed
you should have told him years ago.”

“I know
,
but I wanted it to be our secret.”

Sophie sat down
,
and her grandmother put her hand on her arm.

“You know you’ve got a hickey on your neck?”

Sophie put her hand on the
exact
spot. Wade had suggest
ed they give each other one while
they’d fooled around in the middle of the nigh
t. S
he’d forgotten all about it
.

“And you’re taking precautions I hope,” said Grans.

Sophie smiled.
“You mean condoms?”

“Laugh if you like
,
but
I’m not to
o
old to talk about those things with my granddaughter.”

“Yes, Grans, that’s all taken care of.”

****

Wade thought about ca
lling Cathy first before he
arrived unannounced on her door step but then decided maybe it was best to surprise her. After a
ll, he wouldn’t be too shocked or hurt for that matter
if she d
idn’t want to ever see him again
.

He walked up to the front door
and knocked on the glass panel running down its center.  When no one answered he leaned forward and peered inside. Didn’t seem that she or Max were home.  He pulled out his wallet to write a quick note on one of his business cards but the
n decided he’d call back later instead.

As he walked down the driveway
to his car
,
one of
her neighbors was outside watering some pink flowers in
a wooden
planter near the road. She waved to Wade. He waved back.

“You haven’t see Ms. Moran or her son this morning have you?” Wade called across the street.

“Yes, they drove off with a man while
I was cutting the grass. Oh,
I’d say about an hour ago now.
”

He
wondered if that’s who Cathy had taken Max to
be with
yesterday aft
ernoon before they’d headed out to the dance.
Wade waved to the neighbor as he got back in his car and headed over to his office.

On Sundays he could
park on the street. He pulled up
, turned off the ignition and grabbed the folder with all the information he’
d gathered from
Emily’s records.

Wade made his way into the office building and
walked
up to the second floor where he pulled out his key and stepped inside. He took off his hat and placed it on the table and then went to his desk and fired up the computer. Opening up the folder, he logged in and then clicked on the icon for his database. He glanced at the first name and typed it into the search area.

He sat back and watched the screen as it flashed three addresses. He did the same for the next
,
but nothing in particular jumped out at him. However, on the sixth and eighth entry there seemed to be some connection between the two guests
. B
oth had come from
Denver
,
Colora
do
on the same day but hadn’t checked in together.

Yeah, that might not be much of a coincide
nce. Lots of people from the same cities
visited
,
but it was worth further investigation.

Wade clicked on another icon, bringing up another one of his databases. He glanced sideways at his files making sure he had the correct spelling for both names.

He sat back on his chair, hearing it creak a little. He tapped his fingers on his lips while he waited for the search to finish.

There
it
was, flashing in front of him. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk so he could take a good look at what the search had found.

What he saw was be
yond
Las Vegas
odds. Ambrose and another guest had both worked for the same company five years ago
in
Denver
.

****

Sophie didn’t let on
to
her grandmother
,
but she was secretly making sketches of the reception area. She would give it a makeover, even if it was
such
a subtle one
that
Grans
would har
dly notice the change.
Those old
drapes and the artificial flowers in the bowl had to go.

“Caught you.”

She jumped when she felt someone squeezing her shoulders.

Sophie turned to see Wade standing there. He kneeled behind her and glanced over at the sketch book.

“When did you get to be such an artist?” he asked.

“In design school.”

“And would this be Emily’s reception area by any chance?”

“
Ssh
, I don’t want her to know what I have planned.”
He tried to take the book from her. “I’m betting
a sketch of
my place is in here
,
too. What will buy my silence so your grandmother doesn’t
know about your fiendish plot
?”

“You wouldn
’t tell her,” said Sophie pulling on Wade’s arm hoping she’d
give
her
the
book back.

“I just might if I don’t get what I want.”

“Which is?”

“First of all a kiss because I’ve missed you the last four hours.”

Wade moved around and kneeled in front of the chair. Sophie leaned toward him and put her lips on his
and then put her arms around his neck
.

There was an obvious coughing noise. They both looked over to see her grandmother standing there.

“Emily. Just the lady I want to see.
I’ve been working on your case,” said Wade quickly standing.

“On a Sunday?”

“PIs work 24/7. I ran the names thro
ugh the databases
,
and Michael Ambrose and another guest both checked in on the same day
,
both were from
Denve
r
,
and both worked for the same company five years ago.”

“What company was that?” asked Sophie.

“Westgate
,
and it’s a real est
ate and property development holding
.
You ever remember seeing Ambrose with an
other guest or talking to anyone in particular?

“Not that I can remember
,
but I didn’t pay much attention to him until he asked to see me,” said her grandmother.

“You think this other man framed Grans?” asked Sophie.

“Anything’s a pos
sibility. Plus,
it would seem more fitting than it being someone from
Greenville
.”

“So you need to find him,” said Sophie.

“That’s my next move.”

“Do be careful, Wade,” said Emily. “If people resort to murder, well, I’m concerned about what you’ll stumble up
on and they could hurt you
.”

“Me
,
too,” said Sophie.

“You girls worry too much. And I’d like to give this and any other information I find out to your attorney,” said Wade.

“Fine with me. Maybe we can get to the bottom of this before I have to go for a pretrial hearing. And I can take this stupid thing off my ankle.
It’s starting to
chafe
,
and it doesn’t match any of my outfits.”

Sophie glanced at Wade. She
knew he was on the brink of laughter
,
and she tried her best not to encourage him.

“Now, Wade, I
hop
e you’ll be staying for supper,” said her grandmother.

****

Wade hated taking Sophie away from her grandmother for a second night
,
but after they’d eaten, he drove her over to his place. They’d planned to watch
a movie and eat popcorn but one look at one another
and
as soon as they’d gotten inside the door they’d barely made it to the bedroom where they’d taken off each
other’s
clothes in record time.