Old Flames Never Die (Valentine Mystery) (2 page)

She slid one hand through his hair as
the other slid lower and wrapped around him.

He groaned and dropped his forehead
against hers. “I'm sorry about tonight. I know you made plans.”

“Looks like we simply need to adjust
them. You can see my new purchase from Cezarier's later.”

He let out another groan. “I'm not sure
I deserve you.”

“I'm not sure either, so now is your
chance to prove it to me.”

He grinned. “No pressure.”

“Oh, I think there will be lots of
pressure. Besides, I want you looking sated and well-loved when you see Liv.”

“I'm up for the challenge.”

“Yes, I know.” Her hands slid over and
down.

 “I could call Liv and cancel,” Jack
said, doing all he could to keep from throwing her against the wall and taking
her.

“You could, but under the circumstances,
I think that would be rude.”

“It's not like we're close –” he hissed
as Tess' hands continued to work wonders. “We haven't kept in touch. I'm not
sure why she called.”

“I am,” Tess cooed.

“She's newly widowed. I don't think
she's interested in rekindling a romance.”

“That's not what I meant. If you were as
good to her as you are to me, and she has no friends, who else would she call?”

“I see your point.” He wrapped his arms
around her and lifted her as he stepped towards the shower wall. “Now you can
see my point,” he said as he pressed into her. He took his time to savor the feeling
of being sheathed by her, skin to skin.

“I love you, Tess,” he managed as he
moved with her.

She responded with a moan he took to
mean she loved him too.

“Come with me, Tess,” he said as he
captured her lips with his.

~~~~

 “I can't believe I'm coming with you.”
Tess sat next to Jack in his car as they drove towards the center of Jefferson
Tavern's old district.

“I was surprised you said yes.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “I thought you
were talking about something else.”

Jack turned to her and grinned. He
reached out to take her hand and brought it to his lips. “I'm glad you came.”

“Are you talking about now or earlier?”

“Both.” He kissed her knuckles again. “Seriously
though, I'm glad you're here. Liv is pretty upset. She feels the police are
putting a lot of pressure on her even though she was out of town when it
happened. That, on top of losing her husband, it can't be easy.”

“It's not uncommon to look at the spouse
first,” Tess replied.

“I know. I've told her that. Maybe you
can tell her that too. It might reassure her since you're a lawyer.”

“Sure.” Tess wouldn't describe her
feelings as jealousy, but there was definitely uneasiness at the thought of
meeting Liv. When she first met Jack five years ago, he seemed to have a
preference for leggy blondes whose names ended with
i
like Candi or
Brandi. It still boggled her mind that he loved her. Not that Tess was ugly,
but she wasn't blonde or leggy. She was quite the opposite at barely 5'3” with
brown hair that had curls with a mind of their own. She didn't have a dimple or
a beauty mark or anything that set her apart from other women. And yet, she had
the most gorgeous man ever falling all over her. She wanted to revel in it, but
couldn't help but wonder when the other shoe would drop or the punch line of
this cruel joke would be delivered and he'd be off with the next tall blonde to
come his way. Perhaps this was her now, Tess thought, as a blonde woman with
legs to her armpits approached them.

“Jack,” she said. “Thank you for coming.”

Jack kissed her cheek and gave her arm a
squeeze. “I'm sorry about Charles.”

The woman sniffed. “It was such a shock.
I still can't believe it… it…” She shook her head. “I'm sorry. This is all
surreal.”

“Are you sure you want to be out for
dinner?”

“Yes. I had to get out or go crazy.” The
woman cocked her head towards Tess.

“Liv, this is Tess Madison—”

“You brought your lawyer with you?” Liv
said turning back to Jack. “I know the police seem overly interested in me, but
I don't think I need a lawyer.”

“How'd you know I was a lawyer?” Tess
asked.

“I read about you in the paper. It was
so wonderful what you did for Jack. To think the police thought he'd kill
anyone. Well, it's ludicrous.”

“Tess isn't my lawyer,” Jack explained.

“Oh,” the woman's eyes showed
understanding. “How wonderful.”

“Tess, this is Liv Danforth.”

“It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry for
your loss.” Tess extended her hand, which Liv clasped in a firm but friendly
shake.

“Thank you. And thank you for being
here. I could use all the support I can get.”

Tess acknowledged that she'd gone into
the dinner wanting to dislike Liv, but so far she couldn't find a good reason,
except for the long leg thing. They sat at a table at the back of the
restaurant, allowing them quiet and privacy.  They talked about all the things
old friends would cover to catch up. Liv asked Jack about his business and
reuniting with Tess. She talked about her life, but avoided talking about her
husband until Jack specifically asked her if she needed anything now that he
was gone.

“I have to go in to the police station
tomorrow,” Liv said, sipping her wine at the end of dinner. “I don't know why.
I'll tell them the same thing I've told them twice already.”

“I'm sure it's just routine, right Tess?”

Tess nodded, but a third interview in
two days seemed more than routine to her. Especially since Liv was asked to the
station.

“I mean I wasn't even in town. I was in
New York.”

“Maybe now that some time has passed,
you'll remember something that helps the police,” Jack offered.

“I don't know what. I barely saw him
that morning. He was already up and eating an egg white omelet when I woke. I
left the house by 9:08 and he was still at the breakfast table.”

“9:08?” Tess asked.

Liv nodded. “Yes. Charles had the
weather channel on and it was time for the local weather, which is on the
eights of the hour. Anyway, from there I went to the airport and made it just
in time for the 10:30 flight to New York. I gave the police all my receipts for
parking, the spa, the shopping, the show, the driver—everything.”

“Maybe they just want to know about his
business dealings or other people who might want to hurt him. You're the best
person to ask about that. Isn't that right, Tess?”

Tess nodded again. She felt a hand grab
her knee and knew it wasn't Jack trying to be amorous. “The police will want to
know about his family, friends and work.”

“Oh, well. They'll be disappointed. Except
for the fallout with Bobby Wilson, I don't know much about what Charles' life
was like.”

Tess frowned, but before she could say
anything, she felt another squeeze on her knee.

“You should probably call a lawyer,”
Jack suggested.

“But I've got an alibi—”

“I know. But the police can be tricky.
If it weren't for Tess, I might be in jail today.”

“You're a lawyer, Tess. Can I hire you?”

Tess nearly choked on the wine she was
sipping. She wiped her mouth with her napkin to give her a moment to gather her
thoughts. “Liv, I'd love to, but my practice is closed right now and I haven't
been working. I think you should call someone who specializes in defense law. I
can give you some names if you like.” Tess could feel Jack's confused eyes on
her.

“Do you really think I need to do that? Won't
that make the police more suspicious?”

“I think it's always best to have a
lawyer with you when you talk to the police,” Tess said.

“I guess I'll need those names then.”

~~~~

“So what did you think?” Jack asked once
he and Tess were in the car heading home.

“She's nice.”

“Nice? That's it?”

“What do you want me to say?” Tess
asked.

“What did you really think of her?”

“I thought she was beautiful, smart,
charming, and I can't imagine why it didn't work out between you two.” Well,
she could think of one reason, but she wasn't going to share that.

“I was afraid this might happen.”

“What might happen?” Tess asked, not
liking what she thought Jack was about to insinuate.

“That you might not be able to meet her
without thinking about my past relationship with her. Is that why you refused
to help her?”

“No. You know I haven't been working.”

“But you've been talking about it. This
would be the perfect opportunity to get back to work. Instead you acted like
she wasn't worth it, which is what I was afraid would happen if you came.”

“Then why'd you invite me?”

“I wanted you to see that you had
nothing to worry about.”

“Who's worried?” Tess defended herself.
Sure, she was a little unsettled about the idea of meeting one of Jack's old
flames, but not because she thought he’d take up with her again. It was just a
woman's insecurity.

He glanced at her and then the road. “I
thought you'd realize by now that I'm committed to you and our relationship.”

“I do realize it. You think that by not
representing her I'm questioning your love for me?”

“I know you. You're waiting for
something to happen to prove that you shouldn't have let yourself fall in love
with me.”

Waiting wasn't quite right, Tess
thought. Wondering was more like it. “My reason for not working with Liv has nothing
to do with my worrying I might lose you to her. Sure, I compared myself to her.
That's what the new woman and old flame do. I'm sure she did it too. You and
Daniel do it all the time,” she said, referring to the annoying pissing matches
Jack and her friend Daniel got into.

“I'm not jealous of Daniel,” Jack said.

“And I'm not jealous of Liv. I'm going
home with you and she's going home alone. I have no reason to be jealous.”

Jack pulled into the driveway and parked
in front of the house. He sat with his hands on the wheel looking out through
the windshield.

“What's going on?” Tess asked. “You're
acting strange.”

He turned to her, his face etched with
worry. “We need to talk.”

Tess' heart dropped to her feet. She
knew as well as anyone that the words 'We need to talk' were never followed by
anything good. “It sounds like maybe I should have been jealous after all.”

“No. No,” he said again as he reached
out to her. “I love you. But I need to tell you something and I don't think
you're going to like it.”

“So don't tell me.”

“I have to. If this thing between us is
going to work, we need to be honest.”

Tess swallowed. Whatever happened to
ignorance is bliss?

“Let's go inside,” he said.

Tess could feel the wall beginning to
rise. She could see in Jack's eyes that he saw it too.

“I haven't betrayed you,” he said. “I
never will.”

Okay, that was good. So why did he have
doomsday written all over his face?

They went to the kitchen where Jack put
water on for coffee. Tess sat and waited for the shoe to drop. Jack pulled a
chair in front of her and sat. Their knees bumped as he reached forward to take
her hands. Tess allowed it, although she didn't hold his back.

“I met Liv at a party I went to just
after my mother died. I wasn't really in a party mood, but I needed to get out,
get drunk…” He let the rest of his thought hang in the air.

Tess' heart softened. She had only
recently come to understand the toll his mother's loss had taken on him.

“Anyway, Liv struck up a conversation
and it started from there. She listened and comforted. I was living on the edge
then. Drinking too much. Doing crazy things. I didn't care. She kept me
grounded or as grounded as I could be behaving the way I was. I'd probably be a
homeless bum if it weren't for her.”

“I'm glad she was there for you. But you
don't need to explain your relationship with her, Jack. I told you that I'm not
having any fears about it.”

He pulled her hands to his lips and kissed
them. “My mother died two years ago, Tess.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Liv has been married to Charles for six
years.”

Tess sat for a minute wondering what the
two had to do with each other.  Then realization dawned. She could only stare
at him and then, pulling her hands back, she stood and moved away. “She was
married.”

Tess couldn't breathe. On an
intellectual level, she knew her reaction was over the top. After all, he
hadn't betrayed her. But the idea that Jack could be involved in infidelity was
so out of the realm of what she believed about him. He wasn't that type of man.
There had to be an explanation.