Letters From Al (4 page)

"I only wish I'd have known sooner about Aunt Madeline. When the letter came, well, I decided to come back myself. It's why I need to see this Leland Lancaster."

"I guess I forgot Miss Madeline was your kin. Sure I can’t show you his office," he offered but she shook her head. It was time to put some space between him and the memories.

“
Thanks. I'm sure I can find it from here, deputy." She hoped he noted the self-assurance more than the sadness in her voice. All these regrets were silly. It was water under the bridge. Looking at that face, hearing that laugh reminded her how important he had been to her once.

"Yes, I should get back on patrol, too. Can I call you Maddy? Better yet, can I just call you?"

Just like a scene out of a movie, and an old one at that. Maddy stood there thrilled but not sure if she should take the chance.
What is wrong with you, Girl?
Her instincts were at war with her self-pity after Larry's betrayal. Did that even matter now? She stared.

Deputy McKay gave her, urged her to take the chance. She didn't care, not when he looked at her like that.

His light hair was still short, wavy against deeply suntanned features with blue eyes that changed hues. Crinkle lines around his eyes from squinting in the sun only made him look more dashing.

"Alec, I'd better take your number since I don't know where I'm staying yet. I forgot my cell phone. This whole trip might have been for nothing. I mean, I don't know if I'll even be here very long. But thanks for the walk down memory lane. I'm glad I did get to see you again."

Flustered, she moved back from his lean, muscular body that seemed to draw her like a magnet. It had been way too long that since she'd been held in his strong arms, or anyone's for that matter. What in the world was wrong with her, why was she fantasizing about a guy who hadn't bothered to keep in touch? Okay, so they were practically strangers now. But, one look at that big Cornhusker and her heart took off again.

His saucy grin was still lopsided as he wrote something on the back of a business card and handed it to her. "Here, my work number and cell are both on it."

She nodded but was thinking about that first kiss

they shared as if it was yesterday. Alec had always been a big guy, he had to bend over just to kiss her. But he had grown into a handsome man, still in good shape. His uniform proved that as it fit tautly over his well-toned body.

She cleared her throat and nodded. "Okay, thanks. I'll call." She walked stiffly forward. How could she get so completely enamored by the mere sight of this guy?

It was a matter of trust, or lack of it. Larry Preston assumed he had control of her life, even throwing a ring her way thinking she'd jump at the chance. And now here came Deputy Sheriff Alec McKay who hadn't done anything to gain her trust, but then, he hadn't done anything to make her distrust him either. Except smile that earth-shattering smile, and look at her with those sexy dark blue eyes.

She paused and caught the deputy writing down her car plates in a small notebook.

"Very observant, deputy. I can see the streets of Nielsen will be safe tonight. But then, you always were quick to pick up the obvious." She teased and wagged a finger at him.

He walked slowly towards her with a sheepish grin.

"I'm sorry but I just had to see if your hair is as soft as I remembered." His finger touched the red-gold tresses, "and you used to wear it longer, down to here." He touched her chin and followed the line of her jaw until she slowly pulled away from his warm touch. "You said you hated that color because it always made you stand out in a crowd."

Amazingly he had done exactly what she had dreamed of him doing. "I said that?" Her soft breath teased his skin as if she'd kissed him. "If I did, I've changed my mind. I love the color. Do you?" Her hand rested on his chest and she could feel the muscles tighten at being so close. She hadn't meant to challenge him so soon. The feeling of being this close was her test and she was afraid she was about to fail.

"I've always loved this color. So, let's get together and talk about it. Please, tell me this is only 'see you later' and not good by," he said with a voice that was low and seductive. He held her, as if refusing to release her until she agreed to meet later.

"Why, Sheriff, am I irritating you?" she began, teasing him by using the wrong title again. His thumb rubbed her forearm gently and she couldn't hide the smile this time.

"My title is deputy, Maddy, and you know it. It's spelled d-e-p-u-t-y. D also stands for dope. I sure was one when I let you slip through my fingers. You'll call me, right? I need a chance to redeem my self for my lackluster writing skills. I will make it up to you if you'll let me."

"I'll call you, but I can't make any promises on how long I may be here until after I meet with Mr. Lancaster."

His hands loosened their grip in reply and gently moved up and down her arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I'll call later, deputy. After that we'll just have to see." Maddy wished she had her cell phone now. But, making him wait might be good. She smiled as he slowly drove by her on the street in his patrol car. Silently he kept up with her for a while before giving her a wave and speeding off. She just kept walking. A warm feeling surrounded her and her smile refused to fade. This was going to be an interesting trip after all.

The Lancaster Realty sign was partially hidden by landscaping and Maddy almost walked by it. Reaching for the door handle, she nearly collided with a large man in a stylish, grey pinstripe suit.

"I beg your pardon, Miss. May I help you?" The portly man with piercing dark eyes loomed over her. He wiped his brow with a large handkerchief, an expensive briefcase in the other hand. His black hair was tinged with gray and a neat mustache decorated his upper lip. He was quite a distinguished contrast to Deputy McKay.

What made her think such a thing? She needed to get her mind back to business at hand.

"If you're Leland Lancaster, you can. I'm Madeline Morris. I'm here about my great aunt's estate."

Mr. Lancaster's face registered surprise and he glanced at his watch. "It's nearly five Miss Morris, I wish you'd called."

"I did, Mr. Lancaster, a young lady said she'd tell you I'd be here this afternoon I am a bit late, however." Thanks to Deputy McKay, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"She did? I didn't get any message. Oh, she did give me a note while I was on a conference call." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry. Of course, you are Madeline O'Keefe's niece."

Maddy licked her lips and continued. "A Mr. Jack Drake wrote me and gave me your name." Fumbling in her purse she pulled out the formal looking letter. She couldn't help but feel she detected a brief shadow of uncertainty cross Mr. Lancaster's face when he heard her name.

The businessman rocked back on his heels, shaking his head. He grinned in embarrassment, or so Maddy thought. But then, her imagination seemed to be running overtime since her arrival in town.

"You were expecting me?"

"Oh, yes, I'm just surprised, is all. You got here so quickly. Yes, indeed. I am Leland Lancaster. Please, come in. It's just that I only notified Mr. Drake a few days ago. I found your name and address among some of your aunt's papers." Stepping back inside the office, Leland Lancaster flipped the lights on. The air conditioner rattled, but Maddy was grateful for the cool respite.

"My secretary is already gone for the day, but we can go in and discuss a few things. Get started on the paperwork and such. I'm sure you have questions."

Relieved, Maddy followed him into a neat office and watched as he closed the blinds hanging over the big plate glass window. A massive, old, oak desk gleamed in the fluorescent light, immediately catching her attention. The walls of the office were done in rich wood paneling.

"What a beautiful desk, Mr. Lancaster. It's from a very interesting period, and so well taken care of." Sliding her finger over the polished wood, she sat back in the leather chair he indicated.

"Well, thank you. Yes, it's an antique. I got it from a client of mind when he sold his estate at auction. You, ah, know your antiques."

"No, not really. I like antiques, is all. I read a lot in my line of work. I'm a librarian." She smiled and tried to relax. "I think I work with the written word so much I absorb things through my pores whether I know it or not." She laughed, but he didn't respond. So much for workplace humor, obvious that he missed the point altogether she thought to herself.

"Yes, I see. Now where in the world did that girl put the file? I don't know what Mr. Drake told you, but we're still looking for some papers your aunt misplaced. A dear, dear old lady, but not very organized, I'm afraid."

"I wouldn't know anything about that. I didn't know my great aunt very well. We only lived in Nielsen a short time when I was younger."

Looking around the office as Leland shuffled papers, Maddy waited patiently while he went through files and other piles of paper.

"Oh, so you really didn't know her and her affairs and such?"

"Your parents are both deceased, then?"

"Yes, killed in a car accident over two years ago. There are a few uncles and cousins left, but no one close to Great Aunt Madeline that I know of." Or, for herself for that matter, she thought sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Part of the problem was in finding you. You were a very difficult young woman to locate." He smiled, wrinkling up his narrow nose. "Your great aunt married a man named O'Keefe. Madeline Morris O'Keefe. We found a marriage certificate and a death certificate, and various other papers saying he was an orphan and had no living relatives. Finally we found a letter with your parent's name and address. I let Mr. Drake, her lawyer, know that I'd found you and he contacted you from there."

"I hardly recall Great Aunt Madeline and I feel bad about that." Maddy spread her hands and then let them fall to her lap, a thousand questions on her mind.

"Well, she probably didn't know about your parents deaths. Miss Madeline was very old and had been ill a long time with cancer. You realize your parents were not named in the will, only ."

"Yes, that's what Mr. Drake's letter said. That's what I don't understand. There weren't any other friends or family members named?"

"No. None that we could find, like I said we had a heck of a time finding you. Evidently her husband died before she settled here, in the war, I believe. You may have not known her but she evidently knew all about you and wished you to have all her worldly possessions. We'll have to continue tomorrow, my secretary must have put the rest of the papers somewhere else. I can't seem to find what I want." He frowned at the stacks of paper now on his neat desk.

"Where are you staying so I can contact you in the morning?"

"Well, I had planned on a motel but they're booked solid clear back to the next town, I checked on my way here. I hate to think of driving around all night looking for a place. Would it be okay if I just stayed at my aunt's house tonight?" Maddy asked hopefully.

Leland rubbed his mustache, his eyes darted side to side, as if he were thinking of a reason to say ‘no’. He wore a nice suit, but his tie was very loud colors in yellow and green. "I guess so.”

"It would be a good place that's close. It's over 25 miles back to the turn off. I don't feel like driving that far tonight."

"Well, of course, the house is yours. Just the formality of reading the will is all. I'll get the key and I can accompany you over there. I just hope it's clean enough." He shrugged, loosening his ugly tie a bit.

"There's no need for you to bother going with me. I'm dead tired and could probably sleep on a picket fence, so this will do nicely."

"I can pick you up for breakfast at eight tomorrow morning. We'll get something to eat and get started on the paperwork."

"Make it nine at least, and you've got a deal."

"It's a date. Sure you don't want company going through the house for the first time?"

Maddy couldn't put her finger on it, but Leland Lancaster didn't appear too anxious for her to stay at the empty house. Of course, she was so tired by this time that she didn't know what, if any motivation he had. Was it really concern for her safety and comfort? Or, was it something else?

Chapter 3

The streetlights flickered on in the soft dusk. Walking back to her car she noticed the crickets chirping and the quiet sounds of a small town winding down for the day.

"Careful, you could really get to like this type of living, Maddy," she said to herself, caught up in the freedom of walking alone at night. She loved to walk and run. Jogging opened her up, relaxed her from all the cares and stresses of the day. Some of her friends like to jog, but they weren't as devoted to it as she was. Rain or shine she picked her routes carefully in the big city, but here she felt she could be safe jogging by herself. This was a whole new world.

She found herself back at the house and her packed car. Grabbing two big bags from the trunk she proceeded up the sidewalk to her home. That realization hit her, too. She hadn't had a real home since her parents died.