About That Man (21 page)

“I'm a pretty good investigator. I'll find out.”

“Poking around in things that are none of your concern won't win you any points, Detective.”

“I'll win my points the old-fashioned way.”

“How's that?”

“Charm.”

Daisy chuckled. “Awfully sure of yourself, aren't you?”

She was surprised when he sighed.

“No, Daisy. Lately, I'm not sure of anything at all.”

She was still thinking about that response when Tommy hung up the phone a few minutes later and turned to her, his expression excited.

“It's gonna be really neat to have Uncle Walker here all the time, isn't it?”

“You bet,” Daisy agreed.

“It'll be like having a real family again.” His face clouded over. “I mean, not like having my mom exactly. I know I can't ever get her back, but this is almost as good, having you and Uncle Walker.”

Daisy's heart ached for what he had lost, and what he had never known, a father's love. “I'm glad you're happy here,” she said softly.

Tommy met her gaze with an earnest look. “Do you think maybe you and Uncle Walker might get married?”

She shouldn't have been startled by the question, but she was. It was exactly what Anna-Louise had warned her about.

“Oh, sweetie, I don't think so.”

“Why not? He likes you. I can tell. And you like him at least a little bit, don't you?”

“Of course, but it's more complicated than that.” There was that word again. It seemed to sum up her life lately.

“Well, I hope you do,” Tommy said, his face set stubbornly. “The kids at school say I'm nothing but a lousy orphan, that I don't have anybody who really loves me.”

Daisy was horrified. “That's absurd. I don't ever want to hear anyone say something like that. You have a lot of people who love you.”

“It's not the same,” Tommy said, his shoulders slumped wearily. “I'm going to bed.”

Long after he'd gone, she stared after him. Darkness gathered, but she stayed where she was. Giving Tommy a make-believe family wasn't the answer, just as Anna-Louise had said. He needed to belong to a real family. Walker was his biological family, so that was where it had to begin. And it was up to Walker to provide him with a mother. As long as she was in the middle of things, that would never happen. It would be too easy to allow things to drift along, because they were convenient and comfortable and because they all got along well enough.

Tommy had to have more than that, and it was up to her to set things in motion.

 

She was waiting for Walker when he arrived with his things the following week. She met him on the porch and blocked his way inside.

“This isn't going to work,” she said bluntly.

“What isn't?”

“Keeping Tommy here. You can stay tonight, but in the morning I want you and Tommy to find your own place.”

Walker dragged her over to a chair, then gestured toward it. “Sit,” he ordered in a tone that normally would have had her refusing. “Tell me what this is all about. You're not making any sense. I thought this was all settled. I thought you were happy about keeping Tommy with you a little longer.”

“It's a bad idea.”

“Why?” His gaze narrowed. “This has something to do with whatever was upsetting you last week, doesn't it?”

She wasn't going to explain that Tommy wanted them to marry. She wasn't sure she could do it without letting Walker see how badly she wanted that, too.

“Why doesn't matter. It's my decision and it's final.” Her gaze locked with his and her chin set stubbornly.

She could tell there was a storm brewing in Walker's eyes, but he finally gave a curt nod.

“Your decision,” he said tightly. “Maybe I'll just stay at the hotel tonight, so I won't be underfoot while you explain this to Tommy. Or have you told him already?”

She hadn't. She wasn't sure she could bear to. “I haven't said anything. I thought…” She swallowed hard. “I thought we could tell him together.”

Walker shook his head. “I don't think so, because I don't know what the hell is going on. This is your show, Daisy. You'll have to do your own dirty work.”

With that, he whirled around and stomped off the porch, leaving her once again in darkness, her thoughts troubled, her heart aching. She honestly didn't know
what was right anymore. If this was it, though, then why did she feel so blasted lousy?

 

Walker had no idea what had gotten into Daisy. Nor had he liked the way his stomach had started churning when she'd gazed up at him with those big violet eyes shimmering with tears and told him to go and take Tommy with him.

He'd wanted to argue with her. Hell, he'd flat-out wanted to plead, but pride wouldn't let him. But he sure as heck intended to find out what had put this particular bee into her bonnet.

Instead of checking into the hotel, he headed straight for the parsonage so he could talk to Anna-Louise and Richard. Between them, they were bound to have answers. Tucker certainly hadn't had any clue about this turn of events, or he would have said something when Walker had seen him earlier.

He found Anna-Louise and Richard sitting in back of the cozy little parsonage enjoying the breeze off the river and tall glasses of lemonade. The steeple of the white church next door cast a shadow across the yard.

Walker waited impatiently while Anna-Louise fixed a glass for him, then told them what had just happened at Daisy's.

“She what?” Anna-Louise asked, her expression shocked.

“You don't have any idea why she would do this?” Walker asked.

“None at all. She told her father to butt out of it when he objected. She all but told me the same thing. Her mind was made up. This is a complete turnaround.”

“I think I might have an idea,” Richard said slowly.

Walker and Anna-Louise stared at him. “You do?” they said simultaneously.

“I got a couple of letters at the paper.”

“About?” Walker said, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“A local teacher—unnamed, of course—who was setting a poor example for her students by having a man all but living with her. They indicated that they'd gone to the principal several weeks ago and nothing had happened, so they were calling on the school board to take some action.”

Walker muttered an expletive, then cast an apologetic look toward Anna-Louise. “Sorry.”

“Don't be. That was my sentiment exactly. How could they? There is not a finer teacher or a better example to her students in this county,” she said indignantly.

“And the ridiculous part is that I'm not moving in,” Walker said. “We'd already decided against that.”

“But with Tommy there, you'll still be in and out,” Anna-Louise said. “It's a fine distinction, and some people won't consider it at all.”

“So that could explain why she wants Tommy gone, too,” Walker concluded. “Can she be fired over this?”

“Possibly, if these people can get enough others worked into a frenzy,” Richard said. “The school board would at least have to take a look at the complaint.”

“Are you printing the letters?” Anna-Louise asked, looking as if she were ready to do battle if he said yes.

Richard shook his head. “They were anonymous. I only print letters with signatures.”

“Thank goodness,” Walker said, relieved that the
man's journalistic integrity and friendship weren't going to butt heads.

Anna-Louise's expression turned thoughtful. “I know this is terrible, but I don't think this is behind Daisy's decision not to let Tommy stay. She's never been one to back away from a fight, particularly when it's something she feels passionately about, and that's exactly how she felt about having Tommy there. This kind of pressure would only make her mad.”

“Then what else could it be?” Walker wondered aloud. Unfortunately, before they could discuss it further, his brand-new beeper, provided by Tucker less than two hours earlier, went off.

“I've got to go. Apparently my new boss has something on his mind, too. Or maybe, if things have gone completely haywire, he's going to tell me he's not even my new boss anymore.”

“Don't kid yourself. Tucker's not going to fire you,” Richard said with certainty. “He's too ecstatic to have someone with your background on the force. I've got a whole piece on it running in this week's paper. He's singing your praises as if you're single-handedly going to save this county from crime.”

Walker groaned. “I hope you tempered his comments some. I'm not a superhero.”

“Don't tell Tucker that,” Richard said. “He's a happy man.”

When Walker reached the station in Montross, Tucker was waiting along with Bobby. For one fleeting instant, Walker had the sinking feeling that they were there to ambush him about whatever they thought he'd done to Daisy.

“We've got trouble,” Tucker announced, his tone somber.

Bobby nodded, looking just as glum.

“What's up?”

“Tucker's had me keeping my ears open around the marina. There's been some talk the last day or so,” Bobby began. “Mostly kids, so I don't know how reliable it is, but I think there might be a drug deal going down.”

“When?” Walker asked, glancing from one man to the other.

It was Tucker who responded. “Sometime this week.”

Walker muttered a whole string of expletives. And he'd thought coming to Trinity Harbor was going to simplify his life.

W
hen Daisy still hadn't heard from Walker on Saturday morning, she sent Tommy off to baseball practice, then headed for Earlene's to meet Anna-Louise. She'd been surprised by the pastor's call the night before. Usually Anna-Louise reserved Saturday mornings for her run with Richard. Maybe she'd just been looking for an excuse to get out of it this week. Her enthusiasm for jogging had definitely dwindled lately.

She found Anna-Louise already ensconced in a booth, sipping a cup of coffee, her eyes red, her complexion pale. She looked as if she'd thrown her clothes on in a hurry.

“Are you okay?” Daisy asked worriedly. “You look terrible.”

“Just what every woman wants to hear first thing in the morning,” Anna-Louise retorted. “Remember this. It's the way women our age look when they don't get any sleep.”

“You were up all night?”

“Most of it. Jane Miller was taken to the hospital in Fredericksburg last night. They think it was a heart attack.”

“But she's only fifty.”

“I know, but she has a terrible family history, and you
know she doesn't take care of herself. She lives on junk food and caffeine and cigarettes.”

“How is her husband?”

“Keith was devastated. He kept blaming himself for not insisting that she follow her doctor's orders, at least about the smoking. Of course, he said that while he was puffing away. No wonder she hadn't quit. At any rate, I sat with him while they tried to get her stabilized. It took most of the night, but they think she'll pull through.”

“Thank heavens,” Daisy said. “No wonder you're exhausted. You should have called. We didn't have to do this today.”

“Yes, we did,” Anna-Louise said.

Daisy hadn't thought it possible for her friend to look any more somber, but she did. “Why?” she asked, suddenly uneasy.

“Because I heard something last night, something you need to know. It's too important to wait.”

“What did you hear?”

“That there are people trying to get you fired,” Anna-Louise said bluntly. “I know it's absurd, that the school board would never fire you, but these people could certainly stir things up and make your life pretty uncomfortable.”

Daisy wasn't nearly as shocked as Anna-Louise had been. “How did you hear about this?” she asked.

“They've been sending letters to Richard. Fortunately, they were sent anonymously, so he's refusing to print them. If someone signs a name, though, I imagine he'll feel obligated to publish them.”

Daisy sighed. “It's gone that far, then.”

Anna-Louise regarded her with a shocked expression. “You knew about this?”

“I knew there had been complaints some time ago. I knew Evan had gotten calls at school. He and I talked. I thought it was settled.”

“Apparently not. They were anticipating that Evan would take action. When he didn't, they wrote their letters to the paper. They're not going to let it drop.”

“Dammit all!” Daisy said without apology.

“And there's more,” Anna-Louise said without commenting on Daisy's language. “Richard told Walker when he stopped by last night. He's furious. At first he thought that might be why you told him Tommy couldn't stay, but after we'd talked a bit, I think we all concluded something else must be going on. Whatever it is, you need to explain it to him before he goes charging off to take on your enemies.”

Daisy wasn't sure what stunned her more, that Walker had dropped in on Anna-Louise for a little heart-to-heart after he'd left her house, that he'd told her about Daisy's decision or that he was ready to do battle with the town in her behalf.

“That's ridiculous,” she told Anna-Louise indignantly. “As if I would ever let a bunch of busybodies dictate anything to me!”

“That's what I said.” Anna-Louise took another sip of her coffee, then beckoned for more. When Earlene had gone, she asked, “So why did you change your mind about letting Walker move in?”

“Actually it was something you said about Tommy starting to think of us as a family. Then he asked me the other night if Walker and I might get married. I realized you were right. It's not fair to get his hopes up.”

“No,” Anna-Louise agreed. “But are you so sure that
you'd be giving him false hope? Watching Walker last night, I got the feeling that there's a lot more going on between the two of you than you've said. He was genuinely upset, both about what you'd decided and about the threat to your career.”

“He was upset at having his plans thwarted,” Daisy said flatly.

Anna-Louise regarded her intently. “You don't honestly believe that, do you?”

Daisy sighed. “Okay, I'll be as honest as I can be. I care about him, probably way too much. And maybe he even cares about me. But with all of this other stuff going on, how can we possibly spend enough time together to figure out if we have a future? That being the case, I have to think about Tommy. As much as I might hate it, his future is with his uncle. I've come to accept that after seeing them together these last weeks. Walker will be a good father. That's the certainty. The rest, well, who knows how it will turn out?”

“Then tell Walker exactly where your head is before he goes on a rampage. Right now he's ready to hunt down the people who are writing letters and making phone calls and tear them apart.”

“Frankly, when it comes to that, I'd like to help him,” Daisy admitted candidly. When she saw Anna-Louise's lips twitch, even as she tried to maintain a solemn expression, Daisy grinned. “Okay, I know I'm supposed to turn the other cheek or whatever, but it just infuriates me that they're talking about something they know nothing about.”

“I know. Me, too. Not that I'd counsel anything except understanding and forgiveness, of course. Maybe I'll make that tomorrow's sermon. That should make the busybodies squirm.”

“And I'll sit in the back so I can see who's doing the most squirming,” Daisy said dryly.

Anna-Louise chuckled, then sighed. “I think God might frown on me using the pulpit in quite that way.”

“He might,” Daisy agreed.

“You know, sometimes setting a good example is the pits.”

“Believe me, I know,” Daisy agreed.

“Yes, I imagine you do.” Anna-Louise glanced toward the door, then suddenly began to gather up her jacket and purse. She dropped a few dollars on the table. “See you.”

“What on earth?” Daisy asked, just as a shadow fell over the table.

She glanced up into Walker's troubled eyes. She noticed he didn't look a whole lot better than Anna-Louise. For the first time since she'd met him, his cheeks were unshaven. The faint stubble made him look even more masculine than usual. She had the oddest urge to reach up and run her fingers over his face. If only she had the right to, if only half the town weren't apparently watching for her to do just that or more to confirm their worst suspicions about the nature of the relationship.

“I was on my way out,” Anna-Louise said. “You two have things to talk about.”

“We do, indeed,” Walker said, sliding into the spot she'd vacated.

Under the table his knees brushed Daisy's, but he made no effort to shift away. Neither did she. What had ever made her think she could simply will herself not to respond to this man?

Once Anna-Louise had gone and Walker had downed
half a cup of coffee in one swallow, he carefully set the cup aside and met her gaze.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

Daisy didn't pretend not to understand. “Because, as I
did
tell you, I handled it.”

“If you'd handled it any better, you would have been out of work,” he complained. “That could still happen, couldn't it?”

“It won't. People in this town don't go up against King Spencer. And if push comes to shove, my father will back me. He'll defend my choices because that's what Spencers do. We stick together.”

“Even though he wants me gone, too?”

“He wants my happiness more,” she said simply. “At the moment, he just can't imagine how a rebellious boy and a Yankee could possibly bring me anything but pain.”

“He might have a point. Look what we've done so far.”

“You haven't done anything. I'm the one who made the decision to take Tommy in. I'm the one who invited you to stay when you came down for visits. And I thought it would be best if Tommy stayed on till you got settled.”

“But now you don't? Why? Is it because of the complaints?”

“Absolutely not,” she said fiercely.

“What then?”

“Can't you just accept that it's best for Tommy to be with you, starting now?”

“I could if it made any sense. Explain it to me.”

Daisy really didn't want to get into Tommy's expectations with Walker. She didn't want him to think for a second that marriage was in any way on her mind. Which it wasn't. At least not all the time.

“He just needs to learn that you're the one he should count on, not me.”

Walker's gaze searched hers in a way that had her stomach churning, but he finally nodded. “Okay, then. Have you told him yet?”

She shook her head.

“Then you're going to have to do better than that,” he said. “He won't buy evasions any more than I do.”

“I don't see why I have to explain myself. It's my decision, my house.”

“Can your decision be reversed?”

“No.”

“Not even temporarily?”

Something in his voice alerted her that his asking wasn't simply a matter of trying to find a convenient place for Tommy to stay, a way to cajole her into changing her mind. “Why? What's happened?” she asked at once.

“I'm going to be tied up at night for the next few days. I don't want Tommy in a strange place all alone.”

Uneasiness stole over her. “This has something to do with work?”

Walker nodded. “Thanks to Bobby, we have a lead on a drug deal. It's supposed to go down soon. When it does, it will probably be at night. Tucker wants me doing surveillance out on the river.”

She didn't even hesitate. “Then of course Tommy can stay with me until this is over,” she said readily.

He clasped her hand in his. “Thank you.”

Daisy jerked her hand back. “Don't do that.”

“Do what?” His gaze darkened. “Don't touch you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Because she wanted it too much, because the instant he did, she remembered every exhilarating detail of making love with him. “Because I asked you not to,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“But it's not what you want, is it, Daisy?”

“Walker, please.”

This time he sighed. “You're right. I'm not being fair. This is exactly the kind of thing that will keep people talking.”

“Yes, it is,” she said, grateful for once for the gossip. It was the perfect excuse to keep him at a distance. He'd seen for himself now that very little in Trinity Harbor could be kept private.

“Walker, is this surveillance you're going to do dangerous?” she asked, thinking not just of him or even herself, but of Tommy.

“Tommy's not going to lose me, if that's what you're worried about,” he said, then added quietly, but emphatically, “Neither are you.”

Daisy had a feeling she was going to cling to those words in the days and weeks to come, because behind them she thought she heard a promise that went far deeper than the immediate situation in which they found themselves.

Was it at all possible that she'd gotten it wrong, that Walker's move here wasn't just about Tommy, after all? Was it possible that he'd begun to care for her, too?

 

Walker had known better than to believe that he'd left drug-related crimes behind when he quit his job in D.C. He just hadn't expected to become immersed in a smuggling case so soon after his arrival in Trinity Harbor. He'd
thought his suspicions and Tucker's were a long way from turning into a solid, all-consuming investigation. Now, several sleepless days and nights into it, he had concluded that police work could be twenty-four/seven no matter where a cop lived.

The timing sucked. This situation with Daisy needed more attention than he could afford to give it right now. He'd hoped to spend his first weeks in town trying to analyze the way he felt about her, trying to make sense of the fact that for the first time in years he was linking a woman and the future in the same thought. Instead, he barely had a minute to himself.

Tommy's presence was complication enough. He knew he couldn't get his nephew's hopes up about all of them becoming a family only to dash them if he decided he'd made a mistake, that he wasn't capable of the forever kind of relationship, after all.

Add to that the pressure of all the gossip, the expectations of Daisy's family and the threats to her job, then throw in the drug case, and his life was just about totally out of hand. All he needed now was his ex-wife calling and suggesting she bring the boys up for a visit. She'd been stunned—and clearly intrigued—when he'd told her about his decision to leave Washington. She'd been totally flabbergasted when he told her about Tommy and his intention to raise him.

“And how do you think your sons are going to feel about that?” she'd demanded.

“I think that depends a whole lot on what they're told,” he'd replied, implying that she wasn't to use it as another way to point out what a lousy father he was to them. “Tommy isn't replacing them in any way. Are we clear on that?”

“If you say so. I'm sure they'll want to meet this mysterious cousin for themselves.”

“They can do that as soon as I'm settled,” he'd assured her, but knowing her, she would haul them up here sooner, probably at the worst possible moment.

Well, for now, there was nothing he could do about that. In fact, work was the one thing he felt confident about these days. Stakeouts he understood. Not that he'd ever done one on the water, but the principles were the same. Stay out of sight, keep his eyes open and wait. Boring as hell, but amazingly productive…eventually.