The Last Bride (DiCarlo Brides #6) (18 page)

“Sorry, she was in and out so fast. And she didn’t say she was in pain.”

Jeremy procured another chair and joined them in the room for several minutes. Then a nurse came in and scowled at them. “There are only supposed to be two in here at a time.”

“I only just arrived,” Jeremy said, standing.

“Well, now I’m going to kick you all out while I check on her. Give me ten minutes.”

Gage looked like he wanted to protest, but Jonquil nudged him toward the door. “It’s only a little while. Just clear out so she can do her job and then we can come back.”

Jonquil and Jeremy took turns sitting in the waiting area and bullying Gage to get up and walk around. Diane was in and out, and after another hour she started remembering some of what she’d said previously. By mid-afternoon the doctor declared she was doing well and Gage should go home.

“I don’t want to leave her here alone,” Gage protested.

“We’ll take good care of her.” The doctor set a hand on Gage’s shoulder. “Eat dinner, sleep in your own bed. We’ll call if there’s any change.”

With more poking and prodding from Jonquil and Jeremy, Gage eventually agreed to leave his mom overnight.

To keep him awake on the ride back up the mountain, Jonquil told Gage outrageous stories from her childhood, liberally exaggerated in some cases. She smiled when he drove right past the turnoff to her house and kept going to his place. She wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted her there or because he was too exhausted to think at all, but she didn’t mind. He needed to get away from the hospital, but she didn’t want him to be alone.

When he pulled into his garage he looked over at her. “Oh. Did you want to go home? I didn’t even think about it.”

She rubbed her fingers across his brow. “Don’t worry about it. I want to be here. I can get someone to pick me up later.”

He nodded, looking a little relieved.

They went inside. He was nearly stumbling from stress and exhaustion and she pointed him to the sofa, where he lay down and almost instantly fell asleep.

Jonquil found a soft blanket in the hall closet and draped it over him, then turned to the kitchen.

She wouldn’t call it a mess, exactly. Rosemary would have. Delphi would have, but Jonquil just called it
lived in
.
Very
lived in. She got to work scrubbing out pots, throwing away paper plates and plastic utensils and was surprised to find a full set of nice dishes in the cupboards. Apparently Gage was averse to washing dishes. She rolled her eyes and kept cleaning. Two hours later she was mopping the kitchen and dining areas. A lasagna from the freezer bubbled in the oven and Delphi was supposed to arrive with ingredients for the rest of the meal any moment.

Jonquil heard Gage roll over and suck in a deep breath.

“Are you awake?” she asked in a low voice.

“Mmm, I think so. Something smells good.”

“Something should smell good. It’s nearly done cooking.” She walked over and brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Feeling a little better?”

“A little. How long did I sleep?” His eyelids lifted, then lowered again, as if it took too much effort to keep them up.

“A couple hours.” The doorbell rang and Jonquil smiled. “That’s the rest of dinner. Give me a minute.”

She walked to the door and frowned when it was a cute redhead instead of Delphi on the other side. “Hi, can I help you?” Jonquil asked.

“I just wanted to check on Gage. I heard his mama was hurt and I know how close they are.” She has a darling Southern twang that made Jonquil’s teeth ache.

I’ll just bet.
“That’s very thoughtful of you. He’s resting right now. It’s been a long couple of days.”

“Ellie? What are you doing here?” Gage came up behind Jonquil, setting a hand on her back.

Ellie pushed past Jonquil and launched herself into Gage’s arms. “I just wanted to check on you. I’m so sorry about everything that’s going on right now.”

Jonquil’s brows lifted as she looked at Gage. He hugged the woman back, but seemed confused, though that may have been more because of his foggy head from his nap than anything else.

Jonquil remembered his conversation with Angela about not dating more than one woman at a time. Had he meant more than one woman, or just more than one member of her family at a time? “I’ll go finish dinner while you catch up.” Of course, he said he and Jonquil weren’t actually dating, didn’t he? She’d show him
not dating
if the girl thought she had something going with Gage.

Delphi’s car pulled in front of the house and Jonquil went out to get the rest of the food.

“Who’s that?” Delphi asked, peering into the doorway where Ellie was hanging on Gage’s arm.

Jonquil narrowed her eyes at the woman who could have walked out of a shampoo commercial. “I don’t know, but if she’s not gone soon, we’re going to have words.”

“I sure wouldn’t stand in your way.” Delphi grinned and headed back to her car.

“Thanks for bringing the food,” Jonquil said.

“No problem.”

Jonquil returned to the house, catching the possessive light in Ellie’s eye when she entered. “The rest of dinner is here,” Jonquil announced. “I’ll go throw it together.”

“It’s so sweet of you to do this for our Gage,” Ellie said, sliding one arm behind Gage’s back.

Gage shifted away, his eyes moving between Ellie and Jonquil. He seemed clearly aware that Jonquil wasn’t happy.

“Yes. Isn’t it?” Jonquil dropped the bags on the counter beside her and started unloading it. “I’m just full of sweetness when it comes to Gage.”

“What would I do without you?” he asked, coming up beside her.

“With any luck, you’ll never have to know.” Jonquil smirked a little at Ellie and got to work slicing the French bread for garlic toast.

“I appreciate you stopping by.” Gage crossed back to the door, opening it for Ellie. “Tell your mom that I’ll have mine call in a day or two when she’s feeling better. I’m sure she’d love company.”

“Sure. I’ll tell her.” Ellie shot Jonquil a nasty glare and smiled easily for Gage before leaving.

Jonquil smiled to herself as she slathered the bread with margarine.

“You know there’s nothing going on with her, right?”

“Good. I take it you’ve known her since you were kids and that your
mamas
are bosom buddies?” She set the knife aside and pulled out the herb mixture she used at home.

Gage’s arms came around her from behind, pulling her back against him. “I’ve never been the least interested in Ellie. She pokes around here periodically, hoping to catch my eye, but I’ve never been tempted to ask her out.”

“Luckily for you, I believe you.”

“Then why are you angry?”

“I’m not… okay, I am.” She set down the herbs and turned to face him. “I’m seriously irritated, but more at myself than anyone. Well, no, I’m more irritated with her than myself.”

“I get why you’re irritated with her but why yourself?” He slid his hands onto her hips and stepped closer.

“I don’t get jealous and catty. Usually.”

Gage grinned. “I have to admit, I kind of liked it.”

“So you’re all about having women fight over you?”

“No. I’m all about having
you
fight for me.” And his mouth covered hers, soft and lingering. His lips trailed along her jaw and to the sensitive spot of flesh below her ear.

Jonquil gasped even as she tipped her head to give him better access. His moves were deliberate and possessive, drawing her in even while his hand stayed still, unassuming. She slid her hands up his back, appreciating the way his muscles contracted under her hands, the firmness under his soft cotton T-shirt.

His thumbs quested below the hem of her shirt, brushing across the bare skin of her waist.

“Whoa.” She sucked in a breath and pushed him back. “I gotta finish putting things together.” While she was still in control of herself.

“I think dinner can wait,” he said, kissing her cheek and then moving back toward her mouth.

“No. No it can’t.” She had to breathe, had to take a moment to think. She batted away his hands and turned to the oven, checking to see that the top of the lasagna was bubbling and melty. She grabbed the oven mitts she’d dug out of a drawer earlier and removed it, and then slid the French bread into the oven.

“What’s going on?” Gage asked her after a moment.

“We said we’re in the friend zone. Obviously we’re not anymore.” She grabbed the tomatoes and began chopping them up.

Gage leaned back against the counter. “No, I don’t suppose we are.”

“So what are we?” She watched him out of the corner of her eye as she prepared the salad, not sure what
she
thought and most certainly not ready to speculate about the future. Even getting to this point seemed a little miraculous, expecting more seemed like tempting fate—something would have to come between them.

He paused to consider, then said, “I guess we’re dating. I have to admit, the thought of you dating someone else puts my teeth on edge. You obviously feel the same way, if Ellie irritated you.”

Jonquil threw the tomatoes onto the salad and set down the knife again. “So we’re dating. Exclusively?”

“Is that what you want?” he asked.

More than anything.
“I could live with that. But I’m not sleeping with you today.”

He mouth dropped slightly. “What? I mean, left field, anyone?”

She lifted her brow at him. That was not even remotely from left field. “I know what you were thinking a few minutes ago when we were kissing. It wasn’t that far from my mind, either.” When he shifted closer, she held up a hand to stave him off, wanting to get her point across. “But it’s way too soon. So kissing, yeah, I’m all for it, but you’re going to have to wait for the rest for a while because I don’t jump into bed with every guy I date.”

“I never thought you did.” He tipped his head and smiled. “It wasn’t that far from your mind, though?”

“I definitely want to put a bookmark in it for a little while, if you don’t mind.”

He tipped her head up and kissed her. “I think I can wait.”

Jonquil smiled and nudged him away again so she could check on the garlic bread.

They were finishing up dinner when Joel and Sage stopped by.

“Come in,” Gage gestured for them to enter. “You have any news about Natalie?” He’d been checking his phone every twenty minutes, wondering if he might have missed a call with an update.

Jonquil put a hand on his arm, making him pause and calm down. He was tied up in knots.

Joel and Sage took the sofa while Gage and Jonquil sat across from them.

“I’ve been in contact with the detective several times today and have been back to your mom’s place,” Joel said. “It looks like someone got in through the sliding glass door to the living room and ran into your mom, then found your sister. They dug through everything in Natalie’s room. The cops lifted prints and checked out the security system, but they’re no closer to figuring out who has Natalie. Not right now. They’ll need more information.”

Gage nodded. “They need to have a chat with Liam, her old boyfriend. Natalie said that he introduced her to the bookie. Maybe he knows what’s going on.” Gage’s voice rose with each sentence as anxiety filled him. They had found out nothing else about the kidnapping while he was with his mom? How could they be no closer after a full day?

“The detective did try to contact him, but he left town a few weeks ago and no one seems to know what happened to him. His family claims they have no idea where he is and haven’t heard from him either. His mom is worried now that he might have been a prior victim.” Joel’s expression turned grim. “We’re hitting nothing but dead ends. The detective still has some feelers out, looking for answers, but he’s not optimistic about finding Liam now. In the meantime, Vince has been questioning Natalie’s closest friends, hoping one of them knows something that will be helpful.”

Gage pushed out of the sofa and whirled around, pacing across the floor before turning to face Joel. “They said not to bring the police into this. What if one of her friends is in on it and word gets back to the kidnappers? What do we do then?”

“That’s why Vince is doing it instead. Jeremy is going to help. They’re just saying that you’re looking for Natalie’s old boyfriend because he has something of hers that he didn’t return. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’ll help us weed out the ones who didn’t even know him. We hope. Then we’ll go from there.”

Jonquil turned to Sage. “How is this going to turn out? Do you know?”

Sage shrugged. “I haven’t been able to get any clear answers. You know I often can’t tell.”

“Why are you asking her? She’s not all-knowing,” Gage bit out at Jonquil, irritated.

“You don’t have to believe it,” Jonquil said defensively. “Heck, I didn’t believe that psychic stuff either, until I met her. But she knows things sometimes, things she really couldn’t otherwise. It was worth asking.”

Gage couldn’t believe Jonquil bought into the crap, but didn’t want to argue about it. “So now what?”

“Now you need to speak with the detective. He’d like to come here to talk to you and see if he can jog your memory. I can stay, or have Vince or Jeremy come back here with you.”