Awakened (Intimate Relations) (26 page)

*   *   *

Marc was the first one awake Sunday morning. It was barely dawn, the room filled with gray shadows, while Mandy slept soundly beside him. It was rare for him to be awake in the morning before her—Mandy seemed to have an unlimited supply of energy, though she crashed early in order to be up before the birds. That was something they’d have to adjust to when Mandy crawled into bed before nine and he was up a lot of nights until midnight or later.

So far they’d managed to meet in the middle. They’d certainly managed well last night. He lay there beside Mandy with a stupid grin on his face. This giddy kind of joy had never been a part of his life, not until Mandy. She made everything better, though he still couldn’t believe she actually loved him.

And for that he had his father to blame. Growing up unloved had unquestionably done a job on him, but he refused to let that man’s failure as a human being define his life any further. With Mandy there was no doubt in his mind—not only was he capable of love, he was loved and he was wanted. In so many ways she validated him, made him see himself as a better man. With that thought in mind, he rolled over and held her close. No point in wasting a perfectly good lazy Sunday morning, especially not when they were the only two here.

He’d just dozed off when his phone rang. Grumbling, Marc reached for it, saw the call was from Ted, and answered. “What’s up?”

“I just heard from Jerry Russo. It appears Steven Reed is in a jail cell in Tijuana. No idea how long extradition will take, since he’s not yet been charged in Sonoma County, but the authorities in Tijuana are going to hold him for a couple of weeks to give us time to come up with a case. Right now it’s on a fake passport charge. Jerry said his people got some good prints off the Ford Bronco, so even if they can’t nail him on your mom’s case, they can hold him on an attempted murder charge if they come up with a good match.”

“I thought Jerry said the car had been wiped down. Where’d they get the prints?”

“On the outside of the driver’s side door. A full palm print, as if he might have stumbled when he was getting back into the car after taking a shot at you two. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear.”

“What about the prints you got from our house? Anything there?”

“Not your father’s. They belong to a two-bit criminal that the SFPD is trying to locate. If we can tie him to your father hiring him, we might have something. In the meantime, I’ve located a private trainer who has a pretty successful cadaver dog. We’ll have to pay for his round-trip flight from Montana, but his reputation is pretty solid. I just need the go-ahead from you.”

“You’ve got it. Give him the info to bill Reed Industries for expenses—you can get that from Theo—but go ahead and arrange for his flight. If he needs a private jet to bring the dog, do that. Theo can help with the details, but you’re working under my authority and any expenses will be covered.”

There was a long silence. “Ted? You there?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m here, and I’m trying to get used to doing things without tons of red tape. I think I’m going to like it.”

“You’ll get used to it. It’s a lot more efficient, and actually more cost effective in the long run. Thank you, Ted. Just knowing you’re working on this is a good feeling.”

He ended the call and glanced at Mandy. She was wide awake and watching him. “Ted’s got a dog that can search for your mom?”

“He does. Good morning.” He leaned close and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around him, and everything he’d been worrying about quietly slipped away.

*   *   *

Around two that afternoon Mandy wandered out into the kitchen and found Marc working on his laptop. She stood behind him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and sighed. “I started my period.”

He went absolutely still. Then, without a word, he turned and pulled her into his lap. “I know I should be relieved, but I’m actually sorry. I was kind of hoping the pregnancy test was wrong.”

“Me, too.” She kissed him. “Things have changed over the past couple weeks or so.” She leaned her forehead against his. “At least now I can go on the pill and we can get rid of the condoms.”

“For now,” he said. But he didn’t look very happy about it.

Which, for whatever reason, lifted Mandy’s spirits much higher than they’d been.

CHAPTER 13

One week later …

Marc checked his phone when he heard it buzzing on the kitchen table, saw who it was, and flipped it on speaker. “Jake! Are you back in town? When did you get in?”

“About an hour ago. Kaz and I are going to sleep for a few hours. Just wanted to let you know we were here, and you can expect Ben and Lola by late afternoon.”

“You sure? I haven’t heard from them.”

“We had a long layover in New York so I called him to check in. He said the prosecution got what they wanted to prepare their case, and that, barring any airline fuck-ups—Ben’s words, not mine—he and Lola would be home in time for dinner. Their flight’s due in at three twenty.”

“Perfect! You and Kaz get some rest and then come over for dinner, too. We have to get together—I’ve missed you guys.”

“Same here. We’re anxious to know what the hell’s going on with your dad.”

“As far as I know, he’s still in a Tijuana jail. He can stay there and rot for all I care.”

Jake laughed. “Oh, and Kaz wants to know what’s going on with you and Mandy.”

This time the laughter was all Marc’s. “We’ll catch up tonight. Later.”

“Later.”

“Who was that?”

He glanced up as Mandy wandered into the kitchen in her fuzzy green bathrobe with her hair standing out in all directions. It was after eight and she was just now waking up. Totally unlike his early-bird girl. Marc pulled her into his arms for a kiss. “Good morning, sleepyhead. I was going to come in and see if you were still breathing. Have you ever slept this late before?”

She rolled her forehead back and forth against his chest. “No, but I’ve never worked like an indentured servant before, either. I have a very demanding boss. It was a long week.”

“Poor baby…” One handed, Marc grabbed a cup off the counter and filled it full of coffee. He’d gotten the staples out of his back just yesterday afternoon, though the doctor had used strips of bandage to continue holding the edges of the healing wound together, but that arm was currently wrapped around Mandy. She took the cup without opening her eyes. Marc led her past the kitchen table and out to the couch in the front room. He took the cup out of her hand and set it on the coffee table, sat on the couch, and pulled Mandy into his lap.

She snuggled against him like a fuzzy green kitten. He grabbed her coffee cup and handed it to her. “That was Jake I was talking to,” he said. “He and Kaz got in from Italy this morning, and Ben and Lola will be home before dinner, barring any airline issues. They’re all going to be here for dinner. Do you think we should ask Theo and Ted to join us?”

Mandy took a sip of her coffee and then laughed. “Are you cooking?”

“No, but I know an excellent restaurant that will deliver a fully cooked prime rib dinner for eight. It sounds a lot easier.”

“That it does.” She pushed her arms against his chest and leaned back, making eye contact. “Have you thought about where everyone’s going to sit? Our table was maxed out at six, and really tight when we added Ted. You might want to think about that. With Theo and Ted coming, that’s eight people, five of whom are not small men.”

Marc stood and pulled Mandy back to her feet. “I was going to ask you what all was on the schedule for today. Looks like we add shopping for a bigger table to the list. Let’s get measurements to see how big we can go in the kitchen without making it too crowded. One good thing about these older houses. They’ve got big kitchens.”

He led Mandy into the kitchen and dug through the junk drawer for the tape measure. With Mandy on one end and him on the other, they figured what size table the room could easily accommodate. Which reminded him …

“We need to work on the design for the coffee shop. I’m having Theo handle the permits and all of that, but we should decide how it’s going to look. Have you thought about that at all?”

“One thing at a time.” She jotted down the table measurements and then took another swallow of her coffee. “Okay. I’ve got the numbers for the table. No multitasking until the caffeine starts working, so give me a few minutes on the coffee shop stuff. She took another big swallow, set her cup down and stood. “Be right back.” Then she kissed him before sashaying out of the room like she was headed onto a stage.

He waited. Walked back to the front room and sat on the couch, realized he heard the shower running, waited some more. It was a good fifteen minutes later when Mandy walked back out wearing an old cotton maxi dress and carrying a binder. She kept it with her as she went back to the kitchen for a refill of coffee, but when she returned, she sat next to him on the couch and set the binder on the coffee table.

He thought about pouting because he really wanted her back in his lap, but instead she opened the binder and started flipping through pages. Many pages, filled with photos of coffee shops from all over the country.

“None of these look exactly like what I want, but there’s at least a little bit of every single one that feels right.”

She’d definitely done her research. “I like this. The colors you’ve got in every one of these are really comfortable.” He laughed and glanced sideways at her. “Sort of like Alden’s office.”

She titled her head and gazed at him with a frown puckering her brows. “There are a few extra things that I think are important, but they’ll add to the cost.”

“Okay. What?”

“Bulletproof glass for the front windows, a safe room for employees, but big enough for customers if necessary, a way to lock the front door from behind the counter, and security cameras. Everywhere.”

“You don’t think that’s overkill?”

She shook her head. “Women who go to a shelter are generally there because they’ve been abused. Some of these men are nuts, and way too many of them have guns. If we’re going to provide daycare for the kids and a job for the moms, we have to make the place as safe as we can. That means a panic button that goes straight to Ben and Ted, even Theo. The women need to feel safe here while they’re working.”

“I agree.” He leaned back against the couch and wrapped his arm around Mandy. There was only a slight tenderness in his left shoulder when he hugged her close. “Since we’ve been working on this project, I keep thinking … what if my mother had known there was a safe place she could go and take me? Would she have left him? Or was she too deeply involved to even consider getting away?”

“You’ll probably never know, Marc. He could have threatened her with any number of things. Maybe even said he’d take you away from her. She was all alone once her grandmother died. No family anywhere, and maybe no money, at least not until she turned thirty. Plus, the laws then weren’t as protective of women. It was legal to beat your wife in this country until 1920, but it wasn’t until fifty years later that courts actually began to take it seriously, so in 1984, she might not have had much recourse if he was abusive. There are so many possibilities, but from everything your dreams and memories have told you, it seems the most important thing to her was your safety. My feeling is, she was holding out until she turned thirty and could access her inheritance, but she didn’t make it.”

He thought about what Mandy had said long after their conversation had ended, after they’d had breakfast and gone back to work with the photos and ideas for the floor plan. Finally, when it was almost lunchtime, he stood and grabbed her hand. “You okay going out in that dress, or is that a ‘house only’ outfit?”

She laughed. “Definitely house only. Give me a minute.” She headed down the hallway to her bedroom, but called out, “Where are we going?”

He followed her. There was no point in missing the chance to see Mandy changing clothes. “Well, we need to buy a table we can have delivered today, so let’s do that first. Then I want to see the coffee shop in person with your ideas in mind,” he said. “Let’s take the binder with us, see what might work best.”

He was too late. She already had her jeans on and her bra. The shirt went over her head as he walked into the room.

“Sounds good, but only if I get lunch along the way. I’m starving.”

“How do you women stay so thin when you eat as much as you do?”

Laughing, she stopped on her way out the door and gave him a big kiss. “It’s all that sex. Burns calories.”

*   *   *

Ted and Theo were the last to arrive for dinner. When Marc teased them, Theo draped his arm over Ted’s shoulders and said, “You do realize we’re the only two who actually work around here.”

“On a Saturday?” Marc glanced at Mandy and they both shook their heads.

“Yes, boss. On a Saturday.” The guys shook hands all around. Ted even got a few hugs.

Mandy squeezed Marc’s arm and whispered. Loudly. “I told you I felt like an indentured servant.”

“Poor baby.” Marc leaned close and kissed her, but then he stood back and watched while the teasing commenced. There was no way in hell he’d be able to wipe the smile off his face—not with this crowd. Jake had his arm around Kaz, and Ben hadn’t let go of Lola’s hand, except when she’d hugged Ted and planted a kiss on Theo. At which point, Ted pulled the, “What am I? Chopped liver?” line and she’d kissed him as well.

Marc couldn’t remember feeling this good about anything, ever. Not of his financial success, not over any of the many material things he’d accumulated, not the businesses he’d added to his portfolio. He tightened his hold on Mandy, just enough to let her know he’d not forgotten her, and sort of basked in the sense of well being, the knowledge he was surrounded by people he thought of as his family.

Raising his head, he caught Jake grinning right back at him. When Jake raised his hand and gave him a thumbs up signal, Marc knew his longtime best friend understood exactly what Marc was feeling at this moment. This was the family both of them used to talk about, one of both blood relationships and friendships, old and new.