Knowing You (25 page)

“Really?” Okay, here was a surprise. “But you just started back to work and I thought you were all focused on that.”

Sheepishly Beth shrugged, let go of Stevie, and leaned back against the fence. “Yeah, I know. Stupid, huh? But I guess what was
really
important to me was the fact that I
could
work if I wanted to.”

“Ah.… ”

Beth laughed and shoved Stevie. “Oh, don't give me
that sage sound like you understand what I'm saying. Even I don't understand me half the time.”

“Okay, fine. I think you're nuts. Happy?”

“Delirious.” She shifted her gaze to her husband, and Stevie watched the woman practically salivate.

What must it be like to have that? To love and be loved and be so secure in it that you could undress your man with your eyes and not give a damn who saw you? A pang of envy whispered through her, but she let it go again. Heck, if she couldn't have that kind of happiness, she was at least glad her friends did.

“Yeah,” Stevie said. “Tony's a cutie.”

“Hmm?” Beth turned, looked at her, then grinned. “Sorry, was I daydreaming again?”

“Looked like it was a good one.”

“Oh,” the woman said, “it's
always
a good one.” Then her smile faded a little when she looked back at Tony. “Although this week's been a little slow, what with Mrs. Zenovsky and everything—”

“What?” Stevie straightened up a little at the mention of the town gripe. Ada Zenovsky would complain to God about the color of the sunset if she could just find a telephone that would dial heaven. Everything irritated the old bat, and she made sure she irritated as many people as possible in return. The woman had to be a hundred and ten years old—and mean went straight from her wrinkled face right into her bones. “What's she been up to now?”

Beth sighed. “She complained to the city council that Tony wasn't patrolling her part of town enough.” As Beth shot a sidelong glance at Stevie, a smile quirked her lips and she added, “It seems the local kids
have taken to moving her mailbox and hiding it every night. She found it in the bushes, on the roof, in her garden … somewhere different every night.”

“And she blames Tony?” Incredulous, Stevie just looked at her. “That's been going on for years. I remember when we—”

Beth's eyebrows lifted and wiggled. “Yeah, I remember, too. My favorite place to put it was under her car. You remember that old Cadillac she used to drive?”

“Remember it?” Stevie shuddered. “I swear she used to aim it at me.” The only thing saving the kids of Chandler these days was the fact that the mean old woman had shrunk so much she couldn't see over the steering wheel anymore.

“You and every other kid in town.” Beth sighed again. “Anyway, now she's decided to make a complaint every time it happens and she blames Tony for not stopping it.”

“Is it going to hurt him—I mean, his job?”

“Nah.” Beth shook her head and then reached up to pluck a long strand of auburn hair out of her eyes. “The council loves him. Besides, if they tried to get rid of Tony, they'd have to hire somebody else and he'd probably demand more money.”

“True. But still … the old bat.”

“Yeah, I know. And Mama is really pissed.”

“Really?”

“You know Mama,” Beth said with a resigned sigh. “She wants to go after Ada and rip the old biddy's lips off. Hurt one of her kids and Mama'll hunt you to the ends of the earth, just to make you pay.”

“That's Mama,” Stevie said, and shifted her gaze to
the older woman. Mama took Reese's face between her hands and gave her a loud, smacking kiss to the forehead, then spent the next few minutes rubbing a dark red lipstick print off the child's skin. As Stevie watched, Mama walked over to Nick, whispered something to him, then smacked him on the back of the head.

Whether it was the smack or the words, Stevie didn't know, but Nick got up and joined the party. Then Mama headed for Paul, and when she reached his side, she wrapped her thick arms around his waist and squeezed.

Stevie shivered. Family was everything to Mama. Her kids and her grandkids were her world. And just like Beth had said, there was nothing Mama wouldn't do to protect them. Just as she would never forgive someone who hurt one of those she loved.

A sinking sensation opened up inside Stevie and a draft of cold shot through the resulting darkness within. The thought of being on Mama's hit list was enough to make her cringe inwardly. Her gaze shifted slightly, locking with Paul's.

Even from across the yard, she felt the power of his stare slam into her. Her body lit up with that steady regard from those warm brown eyes. Yet even as her blood thickened and heartbeat accelerated, Mama straightened up and away from Paul and gave Stevie a wide smile.

And in that instant, Stevie realized anew just how precious that woman was to her. The thought of losing her was unimaginable.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Y
OU STARE AT HER
any harder and you're gonna burn your eyeballs out.”

Nick, sprawled in a lawn chair, tipped his head back to look up at his older brother. “Butt out, Tony.”

“Happy to,” he said, and followed Nick's gaze to Stevie, standing on the opposite side of the lawn, talking to Beth.

Stevie looked tired, sad, and, despite the smile on her face, just a little detached from what was going on around her. Tony didn't know what was going on with her, but he didn't have to know specifics to know that she was going through a hard time right now. So she sure as hell didn't need her old boyfriend giving her grief.

And as not only Nick's big brother, but also the town sheriff, Tony figured it was time to put in his two cents' worth. “I'll butt out as soon as you stop making a damn fool of yourself.”

Nick pushed himself to his feet. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Tony gave a quick glance around to make sure the family was far enough away that he could talk. He moved, putting himself between Nick and the others. Then keeping his voice low, he said, “You know exactly what I mean. Back off Stevie.”

“Since when do you tell me what to do?”

“Since you've been acting like you
need
it.”

“Well, I don't.”

Nick started past him, but Tony wasn't going to be put off. He'd been watching his brother for weeks now. Watching him slide into an alcoholic stupor, then climb out of the bottle only to throw himself the longest-running pity party this town had ever seen. But it was time that party ended.

His grip on Nick's upper arm tightened when the other man tried to pull away. “You keep this up and you're gonna move from pitiful ex-boyfriend into the stalker zone.”

Nick's eyes bugged out. “Stalker? I'm not stalking anybody.”

One black eyebrow arched. “I notice you didn't argue the ‘pitiful' part.”

Nick's mouth tightened, and beneath his hand, Tony felt his brother's muscles bunch, then slowly relax again.

“I just want her back. Is that so bad?”

Sympathy for his brother warred with impatience, and this time, impatience won. “Depends on
why
,” Tony said, bringing his nose to within an inch of Nick's. “If you're only looking for her to pull you out of trouble like she used to … then yeah. That's bad. If you really
love
her, that's something else.” He paused
and watched Nick's eyes as he asked, “So. Do you love her, Nick?”

Nick's gaze dropped. The fight slumped out of him and Tony let him go. Nick shoved both hands into his pockets, looked past his brother to the woman across the yard, and admitted, “I don't know.”

Shaking his head, Tony pointed out, “See, that should tell you something. If you loved her, you'd
know
.”

Nick scraped one hand across his face. “Hell, I don't know anything anymore.”

“That's a start,” Tony told him, and turned around to watch his family. His daughter, so beautiful it terrified him to think of her growing up and dating. His new niece, laughing and chattering away as if she hadn't been frozen in silence only a short month ago. Mama, in her element, bustling around the yard, force-feeding everyone. Beth. Tony smiled. The love of his life looked at him and gave him a slow wink that told him once everyone left, she was going to make him an even happier man than he was at the moment.

And Paul and Stevie. Tony frowned to himself as he realized that the two friends were studiously avoiding being anywhere near each other. When Paul went one way, Stevie went the other. It was as if they couldn't stand to be close. Or, he thought, as he noted the expression on Paul's face … maybe they just didn't trust each other to be close.

Tony shot Nick a quick look. The other man hadn't noticed a thing. Not surprising, since lately, all of Nick's time was devoted to himself. But maybe, Tony thought, as interest hummed inside him, that was a
good thing. If Nick actually did come out of his own narcissistic existence long enough to notice that his twin was moving in on Stevie … well, it wouldn't be pretty.

But it just might be the best thing for everyone all around.

Slapping Nick on the back hard enough to make the other man stagger, Tony moved off toward his wife. He needed to get the female reaction to what he thought he might have maybe noticed.

But his plan dissolved a minute later when a familiar voice shouted, “Hi, everybody, we're back!”

Carla stood on the back porch, her new husband right behind her and the two of them grinning like idiots. Reese and Abbey, Carla's golden retriever, took off like shots. Racing across the yard, her pigtails flying, Reese threw herself at Carla while Abbey jumped up and planted her front paws on Jackson's chest.

Grabbing her stepdaughter up into a fierce hug, Carla looked over the child's head toward Mama and asked a silent question. Mama smiled, letting her know that everything was fine. And just like that, the family was complete again and the celebration kicked up a notch.

After gifts had been unwrapped and lunch eaten and dessert served, Stevie finally managed to get a minute alone with her best friend.

“You look fabulous,” she said, giving Carla a fierce, tight hug.

“I
feel
fabulous,” Carla told her, and shook back her thick mane of dark curls. “Let me tell you, when you
do it right, marriage is definitely worth the price of the ticket.”

Not something she'd be finding out, Stevie thought, but she grinned anyway as she led the way to a pair of lawn chairs set up a ways from the rest of the family. “So, is Jackson even better now that you're all legal?”

They sat down and Carla shot a glance at her husband, holding on to their six-year-old daughter, Reese. He laughed at his little girl's mile-a-minute chatter and Carla sighed. Abbey settled on the ground beside her and plopped her chin on Carla's foot.

“Oh, yeah.” Carla shifted her gaze back to Stevie, leaned back in her lawn chair, and sighed, “Stevie, Paris was
awesome
.” She smiled and her eyes lit up as if there were twin candles behind them. “Flower stalls everywhere, and the scent of those flowers makes even the air seem thicker, richer.” She took a breath and raced on. “We went on this dinner cruise down the Seine and it was so romantic. Lights from the city dazzled on the water and there were strolling violinists on the boat and the music just drifted along with us, as if it were floating on the air.” She sighed again, closed her eyes, and said, “We had the cutest little hotel, too. The guy who owned it was so excited. He'd just renovated the place and kept insisting that we lean out our window to see our view of ‘zee tower.'” Carla laughed and opened her eyes. “But to see zee tower, you had to lean out so far, you would have plopped onto zee ground.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Stevie said, though it didn't resemble in the slightest the Paris she'd seen as a child.
But then, she'd spent most of her time in a hotel room with a baby-sitter who didn't speak English. Oh, yeah, Joanna had been a terrific mother from the word go.

Another sigh came from Carla as if she was savoring her memories. “We did the museum thing the first day or two, and after that it was just long walks along the river, midnight suppers at sidewalk cafés, and long, sweaty bouts of good old-fashioned sex. God, it was great. The whole trip. Just … great.”

Stevie watched Carla's face, the emotions flickering over her features in a wild dance of happiness and contentment. She damn near vibrated with pleasure, and despite the problems in Stevie's life, she was so glad
somebody
was having a good time. “Well then, guess it's a good thing you didn't use him, then lose him.”

“Yeah,” Carla said, shifting her sparkling gaze back to Stevie. Her lips twitched. “And it's a good thing you didn't actually scoop his heart out of his chest with a garden rake, too.”

Stevie winced, remembering the threat she'd made when she was worried that Jackson Wyatt was going to hurt her best friend. “He told you about that, huh?”

“Yep.” Chuckling, Carla added, “He said, and I quote, ‘Stevie's scary,' end quote.”

Scary? Not anymore. Scared, maybe. No, not really scared. Just worried and confused and sad and … okay, horny.
God
. She dropped her head into her hands and groaned.

“Jesus, Stevie,” Carla said, the teasing note in her voice gone instantly as she scooted in closer to her
friend. Abbey whined and moved with her, not willing to let Carla get away from her again. “What's wrong?”

A muffled, only slightly hysterical chuckle shot from her throat. “How much time do you have?”

“How much do you need?”

Lifting her head, Stevie looked at the other woman and felt her soul get just a little bit lighter. What a gift it was to have someone you could count on like that. No questions asked. Just “How much do you need?” “God, I've missed you.”