Last First Kiss (3 page)

“You want to talk to Wade one last time before I take you to the holding cells?” he heard Albright ask her when they were done.

Albright signaled for him to walk over to them
again
.

“I thought I was going home now,” said Emily.

“No, it’s not how this works,” said Wade. He saw what he thought was the beginning of a tear forming in her left eye. He wanted to hug her but knew they’d
already been more than lenient
in letting
him
be with her in the booking area
,
so physical contact was probably a no-no.

“Now don’t you worry. W
e’ll get you out on bail
,
and
then
we can sort everything out,” said Wade.

“Can I hire
you? I mean as my private eye?”

“Sure, I’m already on the job
,
and it’s on the house.”

“No, I have to pay you. You have a living to make just like everyone
else
.”

Wade knew Emily would argue with him because she’
d
always believed in fairness.

“How about I give you my
family and friends
’
discount?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Is there an attorney I should call
,
because you’re going to need on
e for your arraignment hearing?”

“Richard Martin’s handled everything connected to the legal side of Mountainview
,
and I’ve always been pleased with his work.”

He knew him well. In fact, Wade had
been in the same class as Richard’s son
,
Aaron.

“He’s a start
,
but you’re going
to need a criminal lawyer.
Richard might know of a good one
. How about I give him a call as soon as I leave here?”

“
Good
idea. Oh, and there is something else you can do for me.”

“You name it.”

“Sophie, would you call her?
In fact, I have her cell phone number on my desk at Mountainview
. That’s
the best way to reach her these days. Could you let her know what’s happening
?
In fact,
I think it best she come home to run the B and B while I’m gone.”

“Will do
.”
It was the only two words that would come out of his mo
uth after Sophie’s name was
mentioned.

He walked out of the police station and got back into his vehicle and sat looking out. His heart beat faster just thinking about Sophie. He’d offered to help out Emil
y
,
and that meant calling Sophie
.
S
eeing Sophie.

She’d be back in town.

Wade rested his head back and took a deep breath.
She was the reason he’d left
town and gone to
Cheyenne
.
Greenville
held too m
any memories of her and memories of them being together
. He’d thought it would be safe to come back to town,
start over, begin dating a woman like Cathy Moran and put the past behind him.

He s
at up and started the ignition
knowing he had to head to Mountainview to get her cell phone
number
. Wade pulled out of the lot and headed back on the main road. He hadn’t seen Sophie since
she’d broken his heart.

Chapter Two

“So the bottom line is you
can’t deliver
any of
the furniture until
late tomorrow afternoon,” said
Sophie
,
doodling on her notepad.

She’d been put on
hold fifteen minutes and two seconds ago when she’d
been informed that her clients
wouldn’t be getting the
sofa and two loveseats
like
they’d been promised
. She sat down at the kitchen table. She’d b
een
recommended to
the Roberts
by another designer
,
and
she didn’t want to let anyone down
. They lived in the Queen Anne neighborhood of
Seattle
, and Sophie knew one good recommendation about her design services could mean big things and lots of
referrals for her
business.

The man on the other end of the phone was rattling on about why they couldn’t get the furniture out today
,
but Sophie didn’t really ca
re about his logistic problems. Her clients
were all that mattered
.

She heard a b
eep and hoped it wasn’t Jane or
Bob Rob
e
rts asking for an update. Not that it was her fault
,
but nevertheless she didn’t want to disappoint them
.

“Could you hold on one minute because
I have another call coming in
?”
she said, hoping it wasn’t more bad news about the other items that were supposed to be delivered by 5 p.m. that evening.

Sophie pressed one o
f the buttons on her cell phone
and then held it to her ear
.

“Hello, Sophie Richardson speaking.”

“Sophie, it’s good
to hear your voice again.”

Sophie took the phone from her ear, looked at it and squinted. Maybe she was dreaming. Yes, that was it. She was having a dream about the furniture not arriving on time. It was completely unders
tandable because she’d been pent up
a
bout this particula
r job for days
,
and she hadn’t slept well the night before. It wasn’t too surprising because a lot was resting on her pulling off the perfect redesign job for the Roberts. For
some strange reason
,
and after all these years
,
she
was imaging
that Wade Linley was calling her.
Guess she really was stressed out.

That
was
his voice I
just heard, right?

“Sophie, are you there?”

She hadn’t been concentrating so
hadn’t seen her carpet sample book
and design notes
teetering on the edge of the t
able
. They suddenly fell
and
hit her on the left foot.

“O
uch,” she said, hopping around the room.

Do you
usually
feel pain in your dreams?

“Sophie,
are
you okay?”

“Yes, Wade, I’m here
,
and, yes, I’m okay. It’s just I was expecting a call from one of my suppliers. You caught me off guard.”

“I know it’s been a long time since we’ve spoken,” said Wade.

Eight years
,
three months
, four days.
Sophie stopped herself.

“
Grans tells me you came
back from
Cheyenne
.”

Sophie sat on the floor trying to get her notes back i
nto order
,
but it was impossible with Wade on the other end of
the line. While she tried to
scoop them up
she
cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder
,
intrigued by this out of the blue call
. Unless
of course…

“It’s Grans, isn’t it? I know something’s wrong with her. She’s had a heart attack or something
,
hasn’t she?”

“Sophie, no, just calm down
.
There’s
nothing wrong with her health.”

Sophie drew in her breath and then le
t it out. Even if her
grandmother was okay
,
it reminded
her that she needed to visit
Greenville
and
soon. Grans
wa
sn’t getting any younger. However, now that Wade was back things might be difficult
and not to mention awkward
,
too
,
should they run into one another. In a town as small as
Greenville
that was more than likely.

“Sophie?”

“Yes.”

She’d
been daydreaming again.

“This call is about your grandmother.”

Her heart picked up its pace again. She kne
w
something wasn’t right at home.

“I don’t know how to tell you this. Well, I’m not sure if you’ll believe me. I didn’t at first
,
but let me just say I’m not playing a joke on you.”

“You’ve got me all worked u
p
. What’s going on?”

“She’s been arrested.”

“Arrested for what?”

“Are you sitting down?”

“Yes.”

Just what was he about to tell her tha
t might send her into shock?
Maybe Gr
ans had been
arrested for prostitution or lewd behavior!
Now she was being downright silly.

“She’s been arrested for
first degree murder.”

Sophie swallowed twice, and then the phone, without her real
izing it, slipped from her hand
and fell onto the carpet
.

“Sophie, you there
? Are
you okay?”

Her mouth was still wide open as she heard Wade calling to her. She grabbed the phone.

“Grans wouldn’t hurt anyone
. There has to be some mistake,” she said.

“I know
that
,
but the murder victim is a guy from out of town
,
and he was found
at a local motel
with a kitchen knife in his back. It came from your grandmother’s kitchen and had her prints all over it.”

“Of course it would
. It’s
her knife.”

“There’s more. A din
ing room full of people heard her arguing with him
a while back,
and she threatened to kill him.”

Sophie gripped the phone, turning her knuckles white
.

“Is she in jail?”

“Afraid so. I left her about an hour ago. In fact, I’m calling from Mountainview. I came
here to get your number. S
he wanted me to call and ask if you’d come home and run things w
hile this mess gets sorted out.”

Sophie had her business, her clients, but
that didn’t matter now. Grans was her first priority.

“Sure, yes, I’ll be home as soon as
I can get a flight to
Casper
.
I’ll hire a car at the airport.”

“No, you won’t. I’ll come pick you up.”

She almost dropped the phone again.

“That would be great.
I’ll call the airlines
right
now and then call you back with my flight number and arrival time.”

“I’ll be waiting here at the B and B.
And
,
Sophie, don’t worry
about Emily because you know I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.”

“I k
now
,
Wade
,
and thank you for letting me know. I’ll call you right back about my flight, okay.”

Sophie pressed the end call button and held the phone to her chest.

Wade picking me up
at
the airport.

She wondered what he looked like now. If she’d recognize him. What she’d feel lik
e when she set her eyes upon him
.

What’s he going to feel like when he sees me?

She squeezed her eyes shut
and once again suddenly felt
horrible about what she
had done
to him eight years ago. She only hoped he’d forgiven her because he really had been her one and only love.