Simply Being Belle (15 page)

As the movie
neared its frightening conclusion, he realized she had inched closer to him
with each new onscreen terror.  When she clutched his arm, holding onto him
tightly, he calmly disengaged her hand, and then draped his arm over her
shoulder.  She didn’t protest, but instead leaned into him.  He pulled her
closer and she didn’t seem to notice.  He, however, noticed the floral fragrance
of her shampoo, the soft scent of her soap, and how her feminine curves seem to
fit against him perfectly. 

When moments
later, the movie ended, she suddenly seemed to register that she was currently,
for all intents and purposes, in Dare’s arms.  She pulled back in surprise, her
eyes wide with shock.  “Sorry,” she told him.  “I guess the movie scared me
more than I realized…”

“Hey,” he said
with a shrug, “It’s not a problem.  Not a problem at all.”

.    

Belle spent the
better part of Saturday on her computer, turning up all manner of information
about Jacob Biggs.  Although she had promised Dare she would stay off of the
computer Friday, she’d made no such promise for Saturday.

She learned Biggs
was a developer with a philanthropic sense, and beloved in the community.  She
read an article about him that spoke to his desire to improve the lives of
those less fortunate by building well-planned and well-appointed low income apartments. 
His aim, he explained, was to construct homes people could be proud of.

As she scanned
article after article, she found nothing to suggest he was anything but a
reputable businessman.  As she reviewed pictures of and plans for his apartment
complexes, she found none that even remotely resembled the huge, grey
monstrosity with the myriad defects Belle had visited with Dare. 

She clicked on a
newspaper article written about Biggs about two years before.  A picture of him
flashed onto the screen.  He stood in front of one of his apartment complexes
with scissors in hand, ready to cut a ribbon. 

Belle leaned
forward to study the photograph.  Biggs was surrounded by several people,
including the mayor and the chief of police.  But one man caught her eye. 
Standing just behind him and to the left was a younger version of him.  Whereas
the older version had gray hair, the younger man had crisp, dark hair.  But
there was no mistaking the family resemblance.

She quickly
scanned the article, finally finding what she was searching for.  The younger
man was Biggs’ son, Jacob Biggs Jr.   

As Belle continued
reading, she hit pay dirt.  In a paragraph near the bottom of the article, the
younger Biggs had been quoted as saying he was proud to be following in his
father’s footsteps.  He noted plans were in place for him to oversee the
construction of a much larger complex than any his father had built to date. 
The complex—Elm Place.

She gasped, her
heart pumping with anticipation as she read on.  Jacob Biggs Jr. reported
construction of the complex would begin the following week.  It was then Belle
remembered something she’d read in an earlier article.  Had she printed a
copy? 

She thumbed
through a stack of printed material and her eyes lighted on the article.  She
quickly scanned it.  Yes, she had remembered correctly.  The senior Mr. Biggs
had been out of the country for nearly a year, assisting a humanitarian group
building houses in a far off county.  Much of the construction of Elm Place had
taken place during his absence. 

She sagged against
her chair.  The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fit together. 

She simply had to
call Dare to fill him in.  She reached for the telephone, but remembered she
didn’t have his phone number.  She placed a quick call to Lacey’s home, but her
friend didn’t answer.  If Lacey was gone, Steven was likely with her.  She
tried her cell phone next, to no avail. 

She made a quick
decision to take a drive over to Dare’s place.  She called the dogs onto the
porch and locked the screen door behind them.  She hurried back into her office
to scoop up the articles she had copied, and then climbed into her car and
drove to his house.

She pulled into
the driveway, surprised to see he’d spiffed up the old Madson place in
seemingly record time.  A cottage like her home, the house had been neglected
for several years.  Belle recalled it had been encased in vines the last time
she’d walked past it, but today the front exterior was free of plants, and
boasted a gleaming white paint job.  She especially liked the door, which he
had painted a bold red.  While the house had been an eyesore before, it
certainly didn’t lack curb appeal now.

Belle grabbed her
purse and the stack of papers and jogged to Dare’s door.  She’d no sooner
raised her hand to ring the bell when the door flung open.  He was about to
step across the threshold.  His eyes registered surprise at seeing her. 
“Hello, Belle.”

“Hi.  Hey, do you
have a minute?  I’d like to show you something.  Well, several things,” she
admitted with a rueful chuckle.

“Oh, uh…”  He
glanced behind him.  Belle immediately spotted a young woman standing just
behind him.  The statuesque brunette stepped forward and extended her hand.  “Hi,”
she said, smiling warmly.  “I’m Bianca.” 

“Hello,” Belle
said in response.  “I’m sorry to interrupt.  It looks like you two were just
leaving.  I’ll just … go.”

She turned to
leave, when Dare took a hold of her arm.  “Just a minute, Belle.  Bianca, could
you give me just a moment?”

“Certainly.  Nice
to have met you, Belle.”

“Yes.  You, too.”

Dare caught
Belle’s gaze.  “What do you have there?” he asked, indicating with a nod the
stack of papers in her hands.

“Oh, I think I may
have found some information relevant to our case.  But, I can show you another
time.  I’m sorry to have interrupted you.”

“Don’t worry about
it.  You haven’t interrupted anything.  I suppose you managed to discover that J.
Biggs has a son of the same name and that he’s the developer of the Elm Place complex.”

“So you already
know,” she said, failing to mask her disappointment.

He nodded.  “This
morning, I got to thinking that the elder Biggs had really stepped up to the
plate with respect to the problems at the apartment complex, yet, as you and I
agreed yesterday, his newest construction project was a far cry from anything
he’s built in the past.  And, if he didn’t build the complex, why is he so
accommodating?  It occurred to me he might be covering up for someone.  I
figured a son or daughter, or a nephew maybe.  And then the son thing panned
out.”

She nodded.  “That
was good thinking.  Okay, I’ll get out of your hair.  I really am sorry to have
disturbed you since … you have company.”

“Really, it’s not
a problem.  Bianca’s a good friend—has been for years.  She decided to surprise
me with a weekend visit.”

She nodded, but
couldn’t help wondering if the gorgeous brunette was his girlfriend, or perhaps
had been at some point.  Maybe he had moved back to his hometown to escape the
memories of a failed romance.  Perhaps the towering beauty had come to town to
win him back.  Her mind wandered as she crafted scenario after scenario.  And
then she wondered, what the heck was she doing? It was none of her business.   

She smiled tightly. 
“I’ll see you later.”  She turned to go, but spun back around when a thought
occurred to her.  Surely if Dare had a weekend visitor, their beach trip was
off. 

He raised he brows
questioningly.  “Was there something else?”

“The uh, beach
trip.  Since you have a guest, I’m thinking…”

“I’m not
canceling,” he said with a wide grin.  “Don’t even think about trying to get
out of it.  I’ve already explained to Bianca I have plans, and that she’ll have
to find something to do for the day.  Isn’t that right, Bianca?” he called into
the house.

“Whatever you say,
lovie,” the woman crooned. “If you must abandon me, then you must,” she said in
a sing song voice.  “Though I may never,
ever
forgive you.”

Dare sent a
startled, quizzical glance in the woman’s direction, seemingly taken aback by
the term of endearment.  He shook his head and muttered something under his
breath.  Belle heard the woman’s breathy chuckle, and noted Dare sent a
withering look her way.

He turned back to Belle,
and smiled with obvious discomfiture.  He smoothed a hand through his hair.  “Bianca’s
just trying to shake me up.  Don’t pay any attention to her.  We have a
history.”  Suddenly his eyes widened.  “I mean, not the kind of history you may
be thinking…”  He sighed heavily.  “I’ll …uh, pick you up at eight a.m. sharp tomorrow.” 

She nodded, though
she’d have preferred he cancel, for so many reasons.  She turned to go again,
but he stopped her with a question. 

“Hey, did you
manage to sleep last night?”   

Had he noticed the
dark circles under her eyes?  “Not very well,” she admitted.  “It’s been a long
time since I’ve watched television.  And it’s been even longer since I’ve
watched a scary movie,” she admitted ruefully.

“You were
definitely into it,” he observed with a chuckle.

She laughed
self-consciously.  “I’d considered making television watching my new
hobby—you’d be amazed at how quickly the time passed yesterday—but I’m afraid
I’m liable to become a couch potato.  I hate to admit it, but I actually forgot
to feed the dogs and kitten their dinner last night since I was so engrossed in
primetime programming.  I’ve never forgotten my animals before.  That can’t be
good, can it?”

Dare winced.  “I’d
steer clear of the set.”

“Are you sure
about tomorrow?” she said.  “You’re not going to hurt my feelings if you
cancel.”

“Really?  Your
feelings won’t be hurt?”   

She shook her head.

“Well, now
my
feelings are hurt.”  He grinned.  “Nice try.  But didn’t Millicent suggest you
take a trip to the sandy shore and kick up your heels a bit?”

And then it hit
her.  He was simply part of her boss and co-workers’ campaign to assure she had
some down time.  He’d signed on to baby-sit her for part of the weekend.  It
was as simple as that. 

When she drove
home moments later and found Lacey and Steven waiting on her front porch, she
knew the twosome were her Saturday sitters.  Good grief, she moaned.  Was she
that pathetic?

***

“Where were you?”
Lacey demanded.  “We’ve been sitting here for…”

“Ten, fifteen
minutes tops,” Belle said ruefully.  “I stopped by Dare’s house for a few
minutes.”

“You went to
Dare’s place?  Really?  Why?”

“Case-related,”
she said simply.

“Right,” Lacey
said suspiciously and Belle shot her a withering glance.  “Okay, why’d you call
earlier?”

Belle shook her
head.  “What do you mean?”

“I saw you on my
caller ID, and then on my cell phone.  We thought something might be wrong, so
we headed over.”

“Why didn’t you
answer your phones then?”   

“We weren’t home
when you called, and my cell was dead.  I saw the caller ID when we
got
home…”  She waved her hand dismissively.  “Stop being a lawyer.  It doesn’t
matter.  Why’d you call?”

“Oh.  I was hoping
to could give me Dare’s phone number, but…”

“You went to his
house instead.”

“Yep.” 

“Well?” Lacey
prompted.  “Fill us in.”

“On what?”

“Why’d you go to
his house this morning?” she asked in a sing song voice.  She grinned at Steven,
then turned and gave Belle a suggestive wink.  “You two looked mighty cozy last
night…”

“What?  What are
you talking about?” 

“You know,” she
said, “when you slipped over beside Dare and he put his arm around you…”

“I don’t…”  She
shook her head, perplexed.  Suddenly, her eyes widened.  “Oh, then!”

“She was in a
trance,” Steven said tiredly. 

“I was not.  I was
simply trying to watch my movie in peace when you all showed up.”

“You were watching
your movie with Dare’s arm around you,” Lacey said pointedly.  “He likes you.”

“Hey, Lace,” she
quipped with a disgusted snort, “what grade are you in this year?  Seventh?”

“Oh, shut up.  And
you like him, too.”

“He has a
girlfriend,” Belle said succinctly.

“What?” Lacey
gasped, glancing at Steven with a horrified expression on her face.  “He does
not.”

“I just met her. 
Her name is Bianca.”

“Nuh uh,” Lacey
said, disbelief still evident in her eyes.

“It’s true.  Go
see for yourself.  The woman looks like America’s next top model.  Really.”   

Belle realized it
was perhaps misleading to tell her friends Dare had a girlfriend.  In truth,
she suspected he and the woman did have a romantic history.  It certainly
didn’t seem unreasonable.  The two made a perfect couple—both tall and
gorgeous.

Belle stepped past
her friends and slipped her key into the front door lock.  She went inside and
they followed her into the kitchen.  She hung her house key from a hook beside
the back door, and then sat down at her kitchen table. 

Steven and Lacey
joined her.  “So, what do you two have planned for the day?” she asked them.

The twosome didn’t
immediately reply. 

“Well, speak up,”
she prompted with a weary smile.  “I can’t sit around here all day.”

Lacey swallowed
loudly.  “Well, what would you like to do?”

She tipped her head
back, thinking.  “I’m going to take a nap,” she announced.  “I’m exhausted
because I had nightmares all night along.”