Lethal Affair (46 page)

“
What
announcement?”

“
The one about jumping my
bones.”

His fingers traced a light, teasing
line down her spine, awakening her senses. “A promise is a
promise,” she said, and turned into his embrace.

Their bodies moved in the kind of sync
that lovers acquire through familiarity, a haven for their troubled
emotions, doubts and fears. For a while Kylie found peace as Will's
love washed over and around her, cleaning away the filth of Drew
Hammond's psychosis.

This time the sweet, dark enclosure of
dreamless sleep swept her into oblivion, where nothing could touch
her.

* * * *

CHAPTER TWENTY
THREE

The diner was busy as hell, a quote
from Kim. They were running lunch specials of comfort food to ward
off autumn's chill, a different stew every day from spicy chicken
gumbo to hearty beef with barley. No one left hungry or
wanting.

“
We should do a side-line
business of baked goods,” Kim told Lyle as they worked in tandem,
pumping out orders. “We can slap on a fancy label, market 'em out
to the delis and supermarkets. Other restaurants. We'll have those
extra ovens to work with at the new location. Picture this: we do
our thing as usual but in the mornings we pump out irresistible low
calorie confections.”

“
Anything specific in
mind?”

A response. It meant he was actually
considering it, and that gave Kim's idea wings. “Trendy stuff but
with an innovative twist. Chocolate swirls with berry centers,
miniature scones that look like little beehives. We'd use all
natural ingredients with low fat and sugar. We could do mini
versions of your pies in a variety pack. Those will fly off the
shelves for sure.”

Lyle nodded. “I like it. But let's not
get ahead of ourselves. We need to crunch numbers, see what it'll
take to be profitable.”

“
Already done that,” said
Will as he entered the kitchen. Dino got up from his bed and
sniffed at Will's feet. “It's looking good on paper, but there are
logistics to work out. The time factor for one. I'm thinking the
solution is to hire a sous chef for the new location who
specializes in desserts.”

Lyle put down his mixing bowl. “Makes
sense. Once a routine is established we can figure out a baking
schedule. Are we going to hit our target date for
opening?”

“
Al gave me a green light.
The landscaper comes in this week so we'll be opening right after
Hallowe'en. Lyle, how's Jolene coming along with her
training?”

“
Her kitchen skills outshine
her waitress expertise, so I guess you can say she's a natural.
We're doing inventory tonight.”

“
Perfect.” Will ushered Dino
back onto his bed and left them to their fun.

*

Having worked through the lunch hour
keying data onto spreadsheets in her makeshift office of table and
chair and a power outlet, Kylie left the temperature controlled
greenhouse and headed for the Big Red Barn. The cold autumn air
took a bite out of her, but inside the Barn where they were doing a
brisk business, it was pleasantly temperate.

Kylie found Olivia helping a customer
load her cart with an assortment of plants. Although her smile was
intact, it bore tension at it's edges.

“
How are you getting along?”
Kylie asked when the customer moved away.

“
Well enough. I've known my
way around plants most of my life. I enjoy helping people decide
which ones work best for them.”

“
Margie says you're a
natural at it.”

Olivia shuffled, understandably edgy.
“The Detective told me about your obstetrician and her husband.
Thank God it didn't turn out worse than it did.” She offered her a
thin smile. “I can't say it enough. I'm so sorry for all of
this.”

“
It's not your fault. The
police profiler says Drew has tapped into a part of himself that
was probably there all along, something he may have been struggling
with his entire life. Apparently violent tendencies can manifest in
a number of ways, and me getting pregnant may have been his
trigger.”

Olivia's sad smile did not falter.
“It's all guesswork, isn't it, the workings of the mind, how it
evolves, how it copes. For some it's like walking a tight rope I
imagine, the inevitable fall up to fate.”

“
Sometimes fate can be given
a nudge in the right direction. Still in AA?”

“
Every evening. One day at a
time.”

“
It's all we can do, isn't
it?”

Olivia met her gaze with conviction,
knowing they weren't talking about AA anymore. “Yes, it
is.”

*

Jolene and Lyle were in the storage
room.

Lyle was all business as he punched
data into his tablet. Watching him move around in snug jeans and a
casual shirt that flattered his muscular physique, she felt a
familiar pull on her heartstrings. Not to mention other body
parts.

“
Uh, baby? Can we switch
gears for a minute?”

He frowned. “We're not ready for the
canned goods yet.”

“
I'm not talking inventory.”
Her tone had lowered to a sexy growl and his gaze snapped to hers.
In this neon lit interior her copper curls emphasized the gold in
her hazel eyes. Her body seemed to vibrate, magnetize, pulling him
in. He felt a twinge of desire and slowly put down his
clipboard.

“
What is it?”

She moved seductively toward him and
he knew he was a lost man. Lost to this woman, her warmth, her
depth, her strongly assertive emotions. She'd already proven she
was a fiercely loyal friend. A weaker woman with a roommate under
the kind of fire Kylie Lambert was experiencing may have run for
cover by now. Instead she'd insisted on being there for her, and
that stood for something. It meant she had staying power. Wasn't
that his biggest concern, that she might want to leave him if
things got dicey? Hadn't that been the one thing that had made him
swear off of marriage?

She'd crushed his concerns with
unwavering love. Looking at her now, he didn't just see a vital,
sexy woman he could take to bed and tumble with for a few hours,
but rather a mate, his most intimate friend in the world, someone
he could say anything to and not be judged. Someone he couldn't
live without.

Wouldn't live without, he decided.
Relationships involved give and take. It was time for him to
give.

She raised her arms to circle his
neck. They rubbed noses, an Eskimo kiss he knew it was called, and
sighed in the sweet knowledge that they had each other.

“
You know I love you. I want
you to be my forever man. The man I'll grow old with, the one I'll
stand by no matter what.”

That she had just echoed his thoughts
did not phase or surprise him. It was how they had become, a
unified front.

“
So...” he murmured, taking
little nips at her mouth, “you'll be my main ingredient in the
grand recipe of life?”

She laughed at his chef-like analogy.
“That's one way of putting it.”

It wasn't recklessness, nor an
impulse, but rather what he'd probably known all along but had been
too stubborn to admit. “How about us getting hitched after the
grand opening? That way we'll be a team in every sense of the
word.”

She gaped. Even having longed for it
and then half expected it, his proposal had the power to
jolt.

He disengaged from her and went to a
shelf, tore off a piece of tin foil from a package. When he turned
back he went down on one knee on the cold cement floor.

“
Let's make it official.
Will you, Jolene Sparta, build a life together with me as my
wife?”

She was all beams of sunshine. “Yes!
Yes!” He couldn't have worded it better.

He took her hand and rolled his
makeshift tin foil ring onto her finger. “This is just a symbol. A
much nicer one will replace it when I get a chance.”

Jolene's eyes filled. “This one is
perfect,” she sputtered, and pulling him to his feet, threw her
arms around him, with Dino dancing at their feet in
celebration.

*

“
This one is
perfect!”

Kylie kept walking along the row of
cages, leaving Rita and Jolene to play with the dalmatian puppy
they were cooing over.

“
She is perfect, but you
know male pride, and this one will grow much bigger than Dino and
make him feel inferior,” came Jolene's logic. She rose and tagged
along behind Kylie.

“
You realize this is killing
me,” Kylie told her.

“
Yeah,” Jolene agreed. “I
want to take them all.”

“
I can't look them in the
eyes. They're all so hopeful.”

Cage after cage of dogs, some of
recognizable breed, others street urchins, all incredibly
desperate. It weighed heavily.

Rita caught up with them.

The attendant appeared, a stick thin
young man with a buzz cut and elaborate tattoo work on his arms.
His soft, polite voice belied his appearance.

“
Find one you like?” he
asked.

“
Are there any female fox
terriers?” Jolene asked.

“
There's one, but she's got
issues. Our squad shut down a puppy mill where she was slated as a
breeder,” he explained. “She grew up in a cage. Skin and bones,
coat infested, sores, ingrown toenails and raging diarrhea. You can
imagine how bad her outlook was on life. We've found homes for most
of the other dogs, but even healthy now, she's not social. Stays in
a corner. We think it's 'cuz she's never known anything
else.”

Sight unseen, Jolene made her
decision. “She deserves to know what love feels like. I'll take
her!”

“
Whoa.” The attendant held
up a hand. “Don't you want to see her first?”

“
Lead me to her, but I don't
care what she looks like.”

Kylie and Rita exchanged impressed
looks.

The young man led them to a cage in
the rear. A dachshund and a maltese clamored for attention, while
the terrier pressed herself into a corner, her eyes lackluster as
though hope had never lived there. Her markings were typical,
short, white fur with brown and black patches on her head. She
burrowed her long snout into the fold of her legs and closed her
eyes to shut out the world.

“
Can you get her out?” asked
Jolene, now more determined than ever.

He went in. Ears laid back, she
cowered. Her tail thumped once, then she tucked it between her legs
defensively. The young man held the back of his hand to her nose.
Satisfied that she scented no danger, her head rose tentatively and
her eyes focused for the first time on the three women standing
outside the cage. Her attention diverted, he clipped a leash to her
collar and coaxed her to her feet. Slowly she came out of the
enclosure and sat timidly at the young man's feet.

Jolene squatted. “Does she have a
name?”

“
The owner had her listed as
number twenty four.”

The implications of that number and
how many more there might have been were not lost on
them.

Using the attendant's example, Jolene
held out her hand. The little terrier sniffed extensively, then,
surprising them all, snuffled into her palm and licked.

“
I know what this is,”
Jolene murmured quietly. “It's Dino. She smells him on me. I was
holding him just before you came to get me. Promised I'd bring him
back a sweetheart.”

Kylie squatted too while Rita wandered
off in the direction of the dalmatian. “Looks like you've found
her. What will you call her?”

Jolene quickly met her eyes. “Why,
number one, that's what!”

Kylie chuckled. “That might give Dino
an inferiority complex. How about Cookie? It's sweet and Lyle will
like it.”

“
Well, technically she'll be
mine. Once Lyle and me get married, we'll be a foursome.” Her eyes
momentarily glazed. “Every time I say that it sounds like I'm
talking about somebody else.”

Cookie submitted herself to the women
and their gentle, stroking hands. Ever so carefully Jolene took her
into her arms, all the while murmuring sweet nothings in her
ear.

“
She doesn't seem to object,
so Cookie it is.” Jolene turned to the young man. “Can I take her
home today?”

“
Not today. You fill out a
form and we send someone to see your place of residence, make sure
you'll be providing her with a good home. Can't take any chances of
her ending up the same way we found her.”

“
I can't just put her back
in that cage and walk away. She's in need of immediate love. Isn't
there a way to spring her today?” She batted her eyes and pouted a
little, and the attendant hesitated.

“
Well, she does seem to like
you. That's a first.”

“
I want to make a donation,
so maybe that will speed things up. Who do I need to speak
with?”