Meant to Be (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (10 page)

He waited a beat, then said, “So what did you think of Dana?”

Beth hesitated. She knew how much Cole loved his sister-in-law but her impression of the woman was not positive. “Truthfully, Cole, she seemed pretty cold.”

 “Wow! I don’t think that at all.”

“I guess I should amend my words. She was cold to
me.”

He squeezed her fingers. “She’s very protective of me.”

“And she thinks I’m going to hurt you.”

He glanced over at her. His face was cast in shadows. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

“Funny, you were the one who lied. Since she did, too, to Joe, I’d think she’d understand me better.”

“Maybe she should. She’ll warm up to you.”

“We’ll see.”

“Let’s change the subject. That house is something isn’t it?”

“It’s half the size of the Inn.”

“Dana could afford it. She saved money from her days as a ballerina. We should see her dance DVDs sometime.”

I can’t wait. “
Okay. What’s new on the site?” They hadn’t talked much last night. Just stayed in her suite and shut out the real world. “Still getting lots of customers?”

“Uh-huh. Everybody’s looking for happily-ever-after.”

Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it. “Think we’re going to find it, sweetheart?”

Did she, really? That was a hard question to answer. “I hope so.” She’d hedged, but what else could she say?

They made small talk until they reached her home. He pulled into the parking lot and looked toward the house. “I wish you could have stayed overnight with me at my apartment.”

“Well, Rob’s coming early tomorrow to see me. I want to be here and ready because he only has the morning before he has to fly off into the wild blue yonder.”

“Am I going to meet him? Maybe spend time with him and Ava?”

“Yes, of course. But let’s hold off on that a bit.”

He was silent. Turning in her seat, she tugged him around. “We said we’d take things slow. You know Ava is against us being together.”

“I guess. I just want to be a part of everything in your life like I want you to be in mine. It’s why I brought you with me today.”

“I’m trying, Cole, really I am.” She waved to encompass the car. Which meant Ellie. “This is just a lot to handle all at once.”

He sighed heavily. “I keep forgetting that, I guess.” Suddenly he tugged her close. “Come on, kiss me like you mean it.”

“Here? What if patrons come by?”

In answer, he put the car in gear and drove to the end of the lot under a tree, far away from the building and other cars. “There.” He shut off the engine and reached for her. He took her mouth possessively, and she loved it. Peter had always been a tender lover, but she never knew what was going to come from Cole.

He reached for the buttons of her blouse. She stayed his hands. “I am
not
taking my clothes off in a car.”

“God, you’re no fun.” With that, he slid his hands beneath her blouse and unsnapped her bra. Before she realized what he was doing, he drew one strap down her arm and over her wrist and pulled the whole garment down—and off—her other arm.

“What are you
doing?”
She tried to sound outraged, but she was laughing.

“Undressing you under your clothes.” He cupped her bare breasts and kissed her again. “Sweet, so sweet.”

She got into the kiss. When his hand drifted to her capris, and he cupped her there, she moaned.

“Let me make you come, Beth. Here in the car.”

She shook her head.

He ground his hand against her. “Please.”

Delirious with pleasure, she searched for willpower but couldn’t find it.

She didn’t have to. A squall came from the backseat, loud enough to pierce their ears. Ellie, of course.

Beth had been right. It wasn’t pretty.

Chapter 7

The next day, still surly from his and Beth’s interrupted lovemaking—or whatever the hell it was in the front seat of his car, for Christ’s sake—Cole headed downtown to meet Sabrina Jenkins again to discuss the predator-stalker issue in person. At Java’s, he bought a soy latte and went to sit by the window and wait.

And thought of Beth. Last night, she’d been beautiful with her auburn hair mussed, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. They’d both been frustrated but laughed about it. Her good-naturedness seemed forced, though. Before he could stop her, Beth gave him—and not the baby—a quick peck on the cheek, then sidled out of the car, leaving him bereft for a myriad of reasons.

His discussion with Dana came back to him then—and now.

She hasn’t picked up Ellie once.

I noticed. So did Mom, I could tell.

I couldn’t wait to get my hands on that beautiful child the first time I saw her.

What are you saying?

That she’s purposely distancing herself from Ellie…

Today, in the cold light of day, things were clearer. It was true that Beth wanted no contact with his child. Though he said he’d give her time, he was already running out of patience, which was not his strong suit anyway.

Sabrina arrived at the coffee shop wearing a pair of tight jeans and a hot-pink top hitting her hips. She grabbed her own latte and joined him.

“How do you manage to look so collected all the time?” he asked. “With two-year-old twins?”

“My hubby’s a doll. He’s a writer and works from home, so I have tons of help.” She frowned. “Problems with Ellie?”

“No. Just wondering.”

“You’re a single parent, Cole. That increases the work of a baby.”

“I guess I’m lucky to have help.” Ellie was with Mrs. Olsen from downstairs, who loved her like a granddaughter.

A fleeting thought that he and Beth could live similar lives to Sabrina and her husband’s calmed him. “So, Joey couldn’t find any connection between Ernesto Street and Alonzo Catelli.”

Sabrina’s dark eyes shadowed. “I know. But I got another call from Carrie Lawson. I gave her my cell number so we could discuss the situation because she’s so upset about it. Apparently, Alonzo’s disappeared but James Welsh is a suspect. Same M.O.”

“How are these guys getting past BeenChecked.com?”

“He must pick aliases who exist.”

“How does he do the payment by a paper check?”

“I don’t know, Cole. But people find ways around things when they really want to.”

“Well, turn this over to me. It’s gone beyond your realm of responsibility. I’m going to ask Joe what to do next.” He glanced at his watch. “His police station is right around the corner. I’ll go over now.”

“Sorry I couldn’t stop this with the safeguards we put up.”

“Not your fault.”

After they parted, Cole decided to walk to Joe’s office. The brisk morning felt good on his face. He was able to banish the thought of Beth’s attitude toward Ellie and try to figure out how to stop this stalking. Though he knew he shouldn’t, he felt responsible for Carrie Lawson’s situation.

When Cole reached the police station, the officer at the desk checked him in and sent him back to Joey’s office. The sight that greeted him made Cole proud. Joe was in charge of a whole unit of men and women sitting in the bullpen. Some of them greeted him, and since Joe’s door was open, Cole headed for it.

Joe sat turned away from his desk with his back to Cole, his feet propped up on a credenza; he held a phone to his ear. From the coaxing tenor of his voice, Cole guessed he was talking to Dana. “Come on, please. The house is always full of people. I checked and nobody’ll be home for lunch.” A pause. “Of course, I’m hungry. I’ll even bring food home. We can have it…after.”

Cole sighed.

A very male chuckle, then, “Thanks, baby. You won’t regret it.”

Joey clicked off, his feet thunked to the floor and he pivoted the chair around. When he caught sight of Cole, his dark eyes narrowed. “How long have you been there?”

“Long enough for me to hear you planning a nooner with your wife. You really should close your door if you’re going to play out nine-hundred calls in your office.”

Joe grinned. “This baby thing has got me behaving like a sap.”

Because one of the highlights of his life was seeing Joey this happy, he said, genuinely, “I’m glad for you.”

“Then why do you sound jealous?”

“Because I am.”

Sitting back against the leather chair, he gave Cole a questioning look. “Not going well with Beth? You seemed in sync with her yesterday.”

“I am, on some things. I don’t want to talk about her now. It’ll work itself out.”

He was afraid Joey would protest, and drag the truth out of him like he usually did, but Joe only shrugged. “So, why you here?”

Dropping down on the chair in front of the desk, he explained the newest development in the stalker situation.

“Let’s call the FBI. They take care of cybercrimes. They might not do anything because face-to-face contact hasn’t happened yet, but it’s best to alert them.”

At Cole’s nod, Joe picked up his desk phone.

“Just like that, you can call the FBI?”

Joe winked at him. “Yeah, but I can do even better. I got a buddy over there.”

“Of course you do.”

Grinning, Joe made the call.

o0o

Peter Robert Montgomery was a beautiful man, especially in his navy blue pilot’s uniform. Beth wasn’t biased. He had dark hair and snapping, green eyes, combined with broad shoulders like his dad’s, which stretched a starched, white shirt. And he had a killer smile. Now, he sat at the Inn’s kitchen island talking with Beth as the sun came through the skylight and sparkled off his pilot wings. After a restless night, Beth needed the delightful presence of her second child.

Picking at the fruit she put out, he speared a strawberry into his mouth. “So, Mommy dearest, tell me about this hot young guy you found online.”

Beth rolled her eyes as she stirred the pancake mix for the breakfast she’d promised her boy. “I’m going to kill Ava.”

“Yeah, this has her panties in a twist. He’s got a kid Mariel’s age?”

“Yes, he does.”

“Is that a problem?”

“The whole thing’s a problem.” Beth poured the mix onto the griddle and watched as the pancakes began to sizzle. The cook she employed had already fixed the morning meal for their patrons, but Beth loved to make food for her son.

“Tell me mom,” he said soberly. “What are they?”

“Two big ones: he’s eleven years younger than I am and he has a baby that certainly wasn’t in my future plans.”

“So why you seeing him?”

Beth turned the pancakes then glanced over her shoulder. “Because I…I fell for him online; when he came out here…” God she couldn’t tell Rob about the sex that had knocked her socks off.

She didn’t have to. He laughed out loud. “That good, huh?”

Her face flushed and not from the heat of the stove.

Because he knew her so well, he said, “Mom, it’s okay. You’re a young and beautiful woman. I know you have sex.”

She piled the pancakes onto a plate and joined him at the table. Her heart swelled at the total acceptance on his face. “You always were the one who wanted to talk about these things. Usually it’s the other way around, the girl child feels more comfortable with her mom.”

“It’s because Dad was so open about it.” His voice took on a nostalgic tone. “He would have wanted you to be happy, you know.”

“I know. I still miss him, even after all this time.”

After a quick squeeze to her arm, Rob dug into his pancakes with relish as he did everything in life. After he finished, he got up, poured more coffee for both of them, then rejoined her. “Sometimes, I think it was a mistake for you to keep this place.”

She frowned. “Why on earth would you say that? We worked so hard to get it.”

“Yeah, but Mom, this was Dad’s dream, not yours.”

“What gave you that idea?”

“I’m smart, perceptive and know my mother.”

“I love it here.”

“I know you tell yourself that, but I’m not so sure. At least you should move back next door and have a life of your own.”

“I didn’t want to be over there without Dad, but it has been six years. I guess I could.”

“Tell me honestly. Would you have done something different with your life if you hadn’t met Dad or had Ava and me so young?”

She didn’t respond, mainly because she didn’t want to admit the truth to him.

“I heard you talk to MJ about wanting to be a social worker. I just think, if it wasn’t for us, that’s what you would have done.”

“Well, it’s a little late for that kind of speculation.”

“No it’s not. You’re young. If I’m right, go ahead and do it now.”

“I’d have to go to college, and I’d be forty-nine when I finished.”

“You’ll be forty-nine anyway. And without a degree.”

She bit into a blueberry. “This is a silly discussion. I want to know about you, your job,
your
love life.”

“Okay. But think about what I said. Now let me tell you about this stewardess I’m dating.”

Beth smiled and let herself be carried away by Rob’s stories and activities. It was easier than thinking about her own.

o0o

In an effort to lure Beth into his daughter’s life, Cole stopped by The Montgomery Inn on Sunday morning after church. He found Beth in the kitchen with MJ, having coffee.

Dressed in tight jeans and a long, purple blouse, she stood and smiled as he came inside holding Ellie. Funny, he’d dressed her in purple overalls with a pretty lilac top. “Hi, Cole. Ellie. What are you doing here?”

“I know I showed up unannounced, but I’m taking Ellie to the park and thought you’d like to come along. The last time I was here, I saw a playground a few blocks down the road.”

“Oh.” She turned, but he caught her expression. “Let me introduce you to MJ.”

He could tell she wasn’t happy about his visit; she wasn’t very good at covering her feelings. Still, he tried to be personable. “Hi, MJ. Beth talks about you all the time.”

The dark-haired woman with a great smile stood and shook his hand warmly. “Hi, Cole. Beth talks about you, too. A lot,” she said with a wink.

That made Cole brighten.

“And who is this adorable child?” MJ smoothed down Ellie’s hair and immediately Ellie reached out her arms. MJ lost no time in scooping the baby away from him, taking a seat and holding Ellie on her lap. Immediately, the baby began to chatter and reach for MJ’s hair. Cole caught sight of Beth frowning at the two of them.