Summer Breeze (11 page)
Kim and Brenda both turned to Miranda and stared at her. Hardly knowing how to respond, Kim watched in astonishment as Cody threw his arms around Miranda.
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know who you are yet, but you must be a Christian, because only a Christian would help somebody find their relatives.”
Miranda stiffened and carefully detached Cody from her neck. “I am not a Christian,” she told him. “I believe that many paths lead to God—Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, even paganism. I’m proud to say that I’ve looked into just about every world religion that is now practiced or ever existed in the past, and I’m convinced there can be any number of roads toward divinity.”
Cody looked at Brenda, his eyes blinking in wonderment. “Did you hear that? She’s not a Christian. What’s her name?”
“My name is Miranda Finley,” the woman herself answered. “I’m Officer Derek Finley’s mother. We met the day I arrived—by the lake.”
Gaping, Cody eyed her in silence for a moment. “Only a Christian would give you chocolate cake,” he murmured.
“That’s not true, young man. There are plenty of good, caring people in the world, and not all of them are Christians. I would give you chocolate cake.”
“Right now?” he asked, brightening.
“No. But if I made some cake, I would share it with you. I’m a very nice person, and I’m not a Christian. I’m not even particularly fond of Christians, truth be told. They’re pushy.”
Miranda’s eyes focused on Kim for an instant; then she trained them on Cody again. “Now then, you need to be quiet while Brenda, Kim, and I chat.”
“But what about my relatives?”
“I’ll start looking for them on Monday morning. Meanwhile, stand aside, Cody.” She stepped between him and the other two women and held up the Belgian lace curtain. “What do you think of this, Brenda? Isn’t it a little too flowery to go well with leather and twill?”
D
erek couldn’t believe his good fortune at finding Kim awake in bed when he got off work after a twelve-hour shift that Saturday. The twins had been asleep for a while, he knew, and evidently his mother had shut herself into the guest bedroom for the night. This was definitely a positive sign, and he planned to make the most of it. Derek had been out on the lake all day, spending some of it snacking on a bag of nacho cheese–flavored tortilla chips. He would need to take a quick shower and brush his teeth before giving his wife the kind of kiss her eyes were begging from him.
“You look like heaven itself,” he told Kim, his voice low as he unbuttoned his shirt. She was wearing one of his favorite nightgowns, a blue scrap that was slinky and silken. “I must have seen a couple dozen half-naked girls in Anderson Hollow today, and not a one of them could hold a candle to you.”
“Though I’m sure you didn’t spend much time comparing, right?”
“Right,” he said with a grin. “Of course not.”
Like most of the other officers on the water, Derek was careful about what he looked at in Party Cove. If he spotted some young gal exposing herself, he turned his head quickly. Focusing on contacting the dispatcher and navigating through clusters of swimmers on his way to intercept the woman’s boat, he kept his attention in the right place.
A Water Patrolman’s hours were long, the sun hot, and the temptation great. Of Derek’s entire graduating class, only three officers remained on duty. The job—like most in law enforcement—took a toll on marriages and other relationships. Before committing himself to a wife and children, Derek had made very sure he knew how to handle his assignment and not get into trouble. With a woman like Kim waiting for him at the end of each shift, he didn’t have much to worry about.
“I was thankful for my canopy today,” he told her. “The sun was blistering. I hope you and the twins stayed inside.”
“Most of the time. The three of us drove over to Just As I Am for a cup of tea at about four this afternoon. Luke wanted to go as badly as Lydia.”
“Three of you? Didn’t my mom tag along?”
“She elected to stay home and wax her legs. Evidently she can’t find anyone down here who does it as well as her salon in St. Louis.”
Derek made a face. “Wax her legs?”
“Whatever floats your boat.”
He shook off the thought and focused on his wife again. “Oh, babe, I can’t wait to hold you in my arms. Can you give me five minutes to shower and wash off the day?”
Kim shrugged as she gazed at him. Just the sight of her dark, liquid eyes and bare shoulders sent currents through Derek’s stomach.
“Actually, I stayed up because I was hoping we could talk,” she said. “There are some things going on that I want to tell you about. I need your opinion.”
“Talk?” He froze, his belt halfway out of its loops. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Listen, Derek, I know what’s on your mind, but I’m exhausted tonight. I’ve spent the whole day on the house, trying to put things back in order after working all week. I must have done fifteen loads of laundry. I made French toast for everyone for breakfast, and then I fixed ham-and-cheese sandwiches for lunch. And then I put in a pot roast and I thought I would bake … bake some … potatoes…”
“Kim? Are you crying?” He couldn’t believe this. He had walked into the bedroom to find his wife looking like a seductress. Setting all his hopes on kissing her sweet lips, he discovered she only wanted to talk about her day … it wasn’t possible. Laundry and French toast?
“I’m not crying,” she said, sniffling and wiping a finger beneath one eye. “I’m fine. It’s just that you know I do everything I can to show you and the kids that I love you. I never ask anything of you except to watch the twins when you can. I do all the cleaning, the cooking, and the washing, plus I hold down a full-time job. I’m happy to do it. But then I find out I’ve hung the wrong curtains in the living room.”
“Curtains? Wait a minute… What?” Derek had a bad feeling his wife was upset that he didn’t help around the house more. He had been steeling himself to apologize when her train of conversation took a sudden twist, like that last unexpected loop on a roller coaster ride.
Curtains.
Derek tried to remember the living room drapes. How could curtains matter after a long, tiring day? What they both needed was to hold each other and ease their stress with some welcome loving.
“I don’t know about curtains, baby,” he said, stepping toward her and gathering her in his arms. “All I know is that you look delicious in that little blue thing. I could just eat you up.”
Usually Kim slipped her hands around him and began drawing circles on his bare back. This time she laid her head on his shoulder and let out a deep sigh.
“The curtains are lace,” she murmured. “From Belgium. I think they’re wonderful, but even Brenda Hansen said they might look better in the dining room. Can you believe that?”
Derek made a valiant attempt to concentrate on his wife’s words instead of on the warm, pliant figure pressed against him. He mumbled in her ear, “So, what was Brenda Hansen doing here?”
“
Your mother
asked her to come!” With that, Kim pushed on his chest until he plopped down on the edge of the bed. She began pacing. “Your mother said she thought our house needed Brenda’s decorating expertise. Brenda Hansen is a good friend, but it’s not like she knows everything there is about home decor. She doesn’t have a degree in interior design. I don’t think she even went to college. But everyone around here considers her the expert.”
Reaching the wall, Kim made a U-turn. “Well, I happen to like those curtains,” she went on. “I love them, in fact. And I think they go perfectly well with the leather chairs and the twill couch. I don’t want them hanging in the dining room, because that’s where we have the best lake view. Those windows ought to be left bare, just the way I have them.”
Another U-turn at the opposite wall. “It’s not like I hire Cody Goss to do anything for us. I do it. I do everything myself, because it’s the best way I know to show you all how much I love you. I want you to eat a good, hot meal and hear that food whispering that your wife loves you. When you put on your uniform, it should let you know that I care about you, and that’s why I take the time to wash it and iron it and fold it so neatly.”
Derek began to feel like he was watching a tennis match.
“And I bought those Belgian lace curtains specifically because they were soft and pretty. I keep them washed and bleached and ironed and hung on their rods, because I love my family. Your mother just doesn’t get that. All she can think about is rearranging our home and criticizing my baked potatoes.”
Derek did his best to concentrate, but he had no idea what she was talking about. All he could see were her long, tanned legs; her graceful neck; that slender waist; and the outlined curves beneath her little blue gown.
But now she turned all of a sudden, hands on her hips and brown eyes boring into him. Like a turtle frozen in the middle of a highway, he held his breath and tried to think clearly. The last thing he recalled Kim saying was something about potatoes, but he couldn’t remember what.
“I love your potatoes,” he fumbled out.
She let out a muffled cry of exasperation. “Don’t you get it? She’s sabotaging me with the kids. Now they think we eat too many carbohydrates! Lydia said that very thing, mimicking her exact words right at me. Derek, you know I’m doing everything I can to feed our family a balanced menu. I make sure Luke counts his carbs.”
“Of course you do,” Derek affirmed. Was Kim upset about Luke’s diabetes? Or had Brenda Hansen criticized her cooking? That didn’t sound like something Brenda would do.
“And now she’s volunteering to help Cody look for his relatives,” Kim went on. “Can you believe that? She thinks that because she knows how to trace genealogy, she can find people who’ve been absent from his life for nearly twenty years. People who might not even exist. Ancestors and missing families are not the same! Besides, it’s bound to upset Cody, no matter how it turns out. But she just can’t keep her nose out of things.”
Derek stood and rubbed his chest. He hadn’t seen Kim this upset in a long time, and he couldn’t imagine why she was. If Brenda Hansen wanted to look for Cody’s relatives, let her. Chances were slim anyone would be found.
“Honey, why has this got you so worked up?” he asked. “You have your own life. Let this other stuff go. Come here and let me hold you.”
Kim resumed pacing. “And you know what else? You never tell me anything.”
“What? Yes, I do. I tell you I love you. I tell you I think you’re beautiful, and I’m crazy about the kids. I love our house, and you’re a great cook, and most of all … you’re beautiful.” He shrugged. “And I think you make the best baked potatoes I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
She glared at him from across the room. “I
mean
you don’t talk to me about your work! People are constantly asking me about that drowning, and you never even told me it was a woman. I had to find out from someone else. So what do you know about the case? How old was the woman? What color was her hair? How did she die, and why did the body wash up near Deepwater Cove?”
“You know I don’t talk about ongoing investigations, Kim.”
“Why can’t you tell me? Don’t you trust me? I’m your wife, and you ought to trust me.”
“Why would you even want to know?”
“Because of Cody. He’s all confused. He thinks the dead woman might be his mother, but this afternoon I couldn’t say, ‘No, she’s not. I can assure you of that because of the information Derek gave me.’ Everyone expected me to know about the body in the cove, but I didn’t. You never say anything to me about your day except that I’m prettier than all the half-naked women in Party Cove.”
“Well, you are.”
“Derek, that’s shallow. That’s not even real conversation. When you talk to me, you don’t say anything. You just toss out compliments like candy at a parade. And I’m supposed to think that’s wonderful?”
Whatever flames of passion Derek had been feeling were growing colder by the minute. How could she dismiss his loving words so easily? Nothing communicated love and approval more than a compliment. Not only did Kim rarely return his sentiments; now she was acting like she didn’t even appreciate all the kind things he made a point of saying to her.
In three years of marriage, he had never seen his wife this worked up. She was actually wringing her hands. Derek could confront a boater in violation of the law, chase down a jet-skier, or handcuff a belligerent drunk. But this was different. This was an agitated wife in a skimpy gown at the end of a long, hard day.
“Okay,” he said, starting for the bathroom. “You made your point, whatever it was, so I’m going to take my shower and get some sleep. If you want to keep talking about all this, we’ll try it again in the morning.”
“Derek!”
He pushed open the bathroom door and turned to her. “Look, Kim, I’m tired.”
“But what about the curtains? And your mom? And Cody? And why won’t you tell me about your work?”
“I don’t want to fight, babe. Arguing is not my style. You know that. Now get back in bed and try to rest. Things always look better in the morning.”
He shut the door behind him and glanced in the mirror. Wow, he’d gotten a lot of sun during the day. His nose was beet red. He would put some lotion on it after his shower.
As he started running the water, he thought about Kim waiting up for him just so she could stalk back and forth across the bedroom floor. Whatever had upset her surely wasn’t worth that much energy. Curtains? How trivial could you get? He didn’t give a hoot about curtains; that’s for sure.
And why all this sudden interest in the drowning case? Kim had never pried into his work, and he didn’t ask about hers. They shared highlights once in a while, sure, but he couldn’t fake an interest in dental hygiene any more than she could pretend to care how many boaters he had ticketed on a particular day.
Derek stepped into the shower and let the warm water run down his tired body. Why had she put on that blue teddy if all she intended was to rant about Cody Goss and Brenda Hansen? No, the longer he weighed the situation, the more certain he felt that Kim had been preparing for some late-night passion. Maybe these other things had crept into her mind while she waited for him to get home. And maybe … just maybe … by the time he got out of the shower, she would have remembered her original goal for the evening. As he lifted his face into the spray of water, Derek smiled.
