Midnight Secrets (22 page)

The doorbell rang. Even with all the visitors over the last few days, she already knew it was Zach. He would want to know how she was, apologize for having to walk away. He might even expect that they could start up where they’d left off.

There was no point in denying the truth. Something deep within her still felt a strong connection and bond with Zach. And judging by his demeanor since her return, he felt something, too. Lust and nothing more? Who knew.

Feeling much older than her twenty-eight years, Savannah made her way toward the front door. If she ignored him, he wouldn’t give up. Might as well face the tiger now.

She didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door to Zach, but it wasn’t a man holding a large bouquet of red roses and a tender look of apology that should melt any woman’s heart. She wished she could say she was immune.

“I just wanted to drop by before I headed off to work. I’m sorry about last night.”

Telling him it wouldn’t happen again was the sensible and rational thing to say. Unfortunately, when it came to Zach, sensible and rational weren’t part of her emotional vocabulary.

With a small smile, Savannah took the flowers he held out for her and sniffed them appreciatively. “Thank you, but that wasn’t necessary. What happened on the call? Was it the same guys, you think?”

He shook his head. “Just two bored kids out for some kicks. Security cameras caught it all.”

“So, when’s our next stakeout?”

Though Zach was often hard to read, she saw relief in his eyes. And since she had seen through his ploy early on, she knew it wasn’t because he really needed her help.

“How about next Tuesday night?”

“Works for me. See you then.”

She went to close the door, but Zach placed his palm on the door, stopping her. “I know we need to talk … get everything out in the open.”

Yes, they did. But not right now. With her lack of sleep, if they talked today, she’d go beyond the basket-case stage into full nuclear meltdown. Still, it had to be done. “How about tomorrow night?”

He shook his head. “I’m on duty Sunday and Monday night.”

“Sounds like Tuesday would be best for that too, then.”

He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but finally nodded his head and stepped back.

Savannah whispered, “Thanks for the flowers,” then closed the door.

Sunday morning in Midnight meant one of three things. One either went to the Baptist church on Harper’s Drive, the Methodist church on Beechum Road, or the nondenominational church over on the bypass. As her granddad used to say, “Midnight is full of sinners. Come Sunday morning, if you’re not in church, you’re going to be the subject of the gossipers, so you might as well go and cut down on their fun.”

Her grandfather had been a regular at the Baptist church, but Aunt Gibby was Methodist through and through. After her parents died, Savannah and her sisters had alternated between the two churches. Gibby had insisted that they needed the diversity of both denominations, and Daniel hadn’t argued.

Savannah closed the car door behind her aunt and followed her into the large foyer. Returning to church here felt familiar and comfortable. The minister was the same one as when she was a kid, the pianist played the same songs, and the song leader had the same nasally tone she remembered from long ago.

Gibby liked to sit on the front pew. And Savannah was treated to more than a few whispers and speculative stares as she walked beside her aunt. Even with a job that was often in the public eye, she still didn’t like to call attention to herself. This wasn’t the worst part, though. That would come after the service. Years ago, the leading members of the Methodist and Baptist churches had made the decision to unite as one congregation once a month for a Sunday social. When the nondenominational church had started up about fifteen years ago, they had wisely invited them to participate. It was a tradition that everyone seemed to enjoy. Not only did you get some of the best Southern cooking in Alabama, but you could also pick up the latest gossip you might have missed. Though the subject of the gossipers was often in attendance, their presence rarely stopped the talk. You just had to lean closer to hear the juiciest parts.

As the old familiar songs were sung, Savannah couldn’t help but remember the many times she and her sisters had sat beside her parents on a Sunday morning just like this. Sunlight on the stained-glass windows gave them an almost ethereal glow, making the worship service seem even more reverent. Feeling an odd ease within her, she turned her attention to the service, hoping for comfort and solace for what she would soon face with Zach.

She was so immersed in the uplifting sermon, it wasn’t until she stood at the end of the service to sing the closing song that she knew the identity of the person who had come in late and sat behind her. The deep baritone was unmistakable. Years ago, Zach had kept her entertained and in stitches as he parodied some of the popular rock songs on the radio. And though the song they sang now certainly wasn’t a parody, Savannah had no trouble recognizing the deep masculine voice.

Tempted to turn around, she resisted the urge. Pretending he wasn’t there was her best bet. She should have known Aunt Gibby wouldn’t cooperate. The moment the service was over and they stepped into the aisle, Gibby exclaimed, “Chief Tanner, it’s about time you graced us with a visit. I thought those Baptists had snared you for sure.”

The too-infrequent smile lit up Zach’s face. “Actually, I just go there to keep an eye on them. I figured y’all had it all together over here.”

Gibby cackled. “You got that right.” She winked at Savannah and grabbed her arm. “Let’s get out of here as soon as possible so we can snag a good spot at the park.”

Knowing many eyes were on her, Savannah gave Zach what she thought was a cool but pleasant smile of acknowledgment and then led Gibby down the aisle toward the entrance.

Zach blew out a ragged sigh as he watched Savannah walk away. The wariness was back and he cursed himself for letting that happen. He should have figured out a way to see her last night so they could have the discussion that needed to take place. Now he felt as if he was starting at square one, right where he’d been the first day of her return.

“It’s so nice to see you here, Chief. Are you going to the social?”

The sugary sweetness of Lindsay Milan’s voice gave Zach chills. There was such a desperate neediness to her tone. When she grabbed his arm and tightened her fingernails into his skin, he had to grit his teeth not to jerk away.

His mind on the beautiful woman who had just left, Zach nodded an acknowledgment and pulled away gently. “Mrs. Milan.”

Lindsay was having none of it. She held tight to his arm and asked the same question, only louder: “You going to the social, Chief?”

Something in her tone grabbed him. Pulling his thoughts away from Savannah, he took a moment to assess the woman still hanging onto his arm. Dark circles shadowed worried-looking eyes.

“Let’s go, Lindsay.”

The growling voice came from Carl Dayton, Lindsay and Clark’s father. Zach had had few dealings with the older Dayton. He was a not-so-successful farmer whose wife had left him years ago. Rumor was that she had finally gotten up the courage to leave him after years of abuse. Was Lindsay getting the same treatment? There was no proof that anything like that was going on, and coming right out and asking would only cause problems. However, he couldn’t ignore the possibility.

Well aware he might pay for this later, he turned back to Lindsay and said, “Actually, I am going to the social. Would you like to ride with me?”

Relief and something like gratitude gleamed in her expression. She nodded eagerly and held on to his arm tighter.

Carl gave a seemingly warning glare to Lindsay before he walked away.

“Thank you, Zach,” she whispered.

“What’s going on? Are you in trouble?”

“I—”

“Zach Tanner, as I live and breathe. I thought it’d take handcuffs and a gun to get you inside this church.”

They both turned as Reverend Simmons practically shouted at him. Zach couldn’t blame him. Not only had the man taken every opportunity to invite him to attend services, the minister was almost totally deaf. Shouting was the norm for him.

Grinning, Zach shook the man’s hand and exchanged small talk. All the while, he kept a close eye on Lindsay. Something was definitely going on with her. When one of the parishioners interrupted them, Zach took the chance to walk away, Lindsay at his side.

More than aware of the whispers and sideways glances of those they passed, Zach made it outside without anyone else stopping him. He stopped abruptly when he saw Savannah in the parking lot with her aunt, helping her into the car. In that instant, she looked up and saw him. He watched as her eyes shifted to Lindsay, whose hand was still on his arm, then her face stilled and became expressionless.

For the first time in a long while, Zach felt helpless. Every time he made any kind of progress with her, something happened to diminish it.

With the knowledge that there was nothing he could do right now, he walked with Lindsay to his car. Knowing that others could still hear them, he waited until they were both in the car, then said, “Okay, what the hell’s going on?”

Seeing Lindsay Milan’s hand on Zach’s arm as if she had a claim on him cut Savannah deep. She had believed he was sincere, that he still had feelings for her. Was she being a fool once again?

“You’re not worried about that one, are you?”

Aunt Gibby’s voice broke into her thoughts. Savannah hadn’t even realized she was just sitting in the driver’s seat, staring out the window. She started the engine and backed out of the parking lot. Thankfully, as was usual with Gibby, responding to her questions wasn’t necessary.

“Sure, she’s pretty. But honey, Zach hasn’t looked at a woman since he got back in town. And now that you’re home, he can’t look at anybody else.”

“Aunt Gibby, don’t. That was over a long time ago.”

“Oh, I know you both think it was, but when you’re in love, it’s never truly over.”

Gibby had never married. Savannah didn’t know much about her aunt’s younger days, but the way she had made that statement made her think that Gibby knew all about lost love. Not wanting to pry, Savannah shook her head and said, “What we had wasn’t real love.”

As if she hadn’t spoken, Gibby continued, “You know, your granddaddy wanted to hunt Zach down and skin him alive for breaking your heart.”

She wasn’t surprised. Her granddad had been up close and personal with her heartache. Had held her while she cried, been with her every step of the way. Even the peace-loving Daniel Wilde must have wanted to exact vengeance against the man who’d broken his granddaughter’s heart and spirit.

“I think he even went to see Zach’s mama.”

“Really? When? He never told me.”

As if she hadn’t heard her, Gibby went on. “Course, when I asked him what happened, he got all secretive like he did on occasion. Hated when that happened.”

“He never told you anything about the visit?”

“Nope, but he seemed to calm down after that.” She glanced at her watch and said, “We’d better get going or all the good sittin’ spots will be gone.”

Savannah drove the short distance to the Midnight community park and pondered on Gibby’s revelations. Her grandfather had never mentioned going to see Zach’s mother. What had he learned that made him “calm down” about Zach?

Suddenly she was exasperated with herself. Why the hell did she still not know why he had left town without warning? She had been here a week and had seen Zach almost every day since her return. On one of those occasions, why hadn’t she just asked him outright? Or let him talk instead of cutting him off? When had she become such a coward?

She discounted the opportunity she’d had years ago. When Zach had finally contacted her months later, she’d been emotionally raw. Too much had happened. She had deemed it too little, too late, and had refused to speak to him, just wanting to forget.

Learning the truth now wouldn’t change the pain of the past, but she deserved to know. And Zach deserved an opportunity to explain.

Three long rows of picnic tables sat beneath giant oaks: four tables of casseroles, vegetables, and meats, two for tea, lemonade, and soda, and three tables filled with breads and desserts. It was a massive amount of food, but since the majority of the town’s citizens would eat here today, Savannah knew that within an hour the tables would be almost bare.

After settling Gibby into a lawn chair beneath a shade tree, Savannah stepped around blankets and running children as she made her way to the tables. She was greeted by everyone she passed, with either a smile, a wave, or a “Welcome home, Savannah.”

Deciding what to put on Gibby’s plate was easy. She loved casseroles and, other than turnip greens and collards, hated anything remotely green. With a plate loaded with what she knew were her aunt’s favorites, Savannah turned to the beverage table and almost ran over Zach.

“Whoa, that’s a lot of food.”

Unable to raise her head higher than his chest, she stretched her lips into a semblance of a smile and nodded. “Gibby’s hungry.”

A callused finger caressed the edge of her jaw and then settled on her chin to tilt her head up. “Can I see you later today?”

Despite the ninety-degree temperature, Savannah shivered. Zach’s voice had gone low and intimate, as if they were the only two people in the world. She examined his handsome face, seeing honest sincerity and absolutely no secrets. Unwillingly, her gaze shifted to the woman a few feet behind him, putting food on a plate. Lindsay Milan had obviously come to the picnic with him. Was he dating her? Was Zach low enough to ask her out while he was at an event with another woman?