Passion's Price (9 page)

“I can try.”

She raised her arms to him, and, in that second, before he touched her, she committed to him. Her lips trembled when they met his. And as if he sensed that she was totally vulnerable, his hands stroked her body gently, tenderly, while his lips cherished her mouth.

“Go to bed, baby, while I can still let you go.”

“You’re spoiling me, Maggie,” Mike said at breakfast the next morning. He leaned against the straight-backed kitchen chair and drank his coffee. “I could eat a breakfast like this twice a day.”

“Only the first one would be breakfast,” Darlene said, reaching up and tweaking his nose.

“That’s one thing you two can’t argue ’bout,” Maggie said, “and I bet you’ll try. This weather looks pretty bad. I don’t think you ought to go out in this storm.”

“I thought I’d make some calls to report back what I’ve found out about Albert Frank.”

She glared at him. He held his hands up as if to surrender. “You know I’m still a detective, honey. That means I have to report anything that might have some bearing on my case.”

White heat radiated from Darlene, and she seemed to
fume until he thought she’d explode. “How dare you?” she said, her voice trembling and her body shaking.

The doorbell rang, and neither of them moved, but sat staring at each other. Maggie got up. “Try not to kill each other before I get back.” He couldn’t remember a time in their relationship when Darlene had been so angry at him.

“I was on my way to Boonsboro and stopped to make sure that Darlene and Maggie were okay,” Clark said. “Looks as if I barely beat the storm. We’d better shore up this place.”

Mike stood and greeted Clark. “I’ll help you. What can we expect?”

“Hurricane-strength wind, and it’s heading here with nearly eighty-mile-an-hour winds.”

After securing the storm windows and doors, the four of them repaired to the basement, where Maggie knitted and the others played pinochle.

The howling wind grew louder and louder. Through the cracks of light visible from the boarded-up basement window, they could see that the sky had darkened to night. Sounds of metal crashing and objects being tossed about sent chills through all of them. Mike looked at Darlene, her shoulders shivered in fright.

Suddenly, everything went black and the house shook violently. Mike sprang up, grabbed Darlene, rushed her under the pool table and covered her with his body. “I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered, “no matter what. You’re my only love, everything to me.”

She had barely breathed, but he felt her relax then
and slip her arms around him. “I know you care for me, and I’m not going to be angry with you. I do need you. I’m just frustrated.”

“It’s all right. We’ll deal with that after the storm passes.”

Nature’s fury abated as suddenly as it began. Mike pulled himself and Darlene from under the pool table and held her for a few seconds, not caring about the eyes that watched him cherish her.

“Let’s check out the damage, Clark. I hope it’s only minor.”

D
arlene went to the living room, sat down and attempted to collect her thoughts and retrieve her emotional balance. Maggie strolled to the kitchen casually, as if the storm had been just a calm, southern breeze. Darlene didn’t care about what Clark and Mike would discover as they went through the house and searched outside it. Mike had shocked her more than the storm had. He’d showed her in the presence of her family that, if need be, he would protect her with his life. And then, he’d told her that he loved her. She tried to internalize it, to make sense of his feelings and hers.

“I’ll have someone remove the tree limbs and replace the garage door. That’s about it,” she heard Clark say to Maggie when he and Mike came inside.

Maggie came into the living room with coffee and cake. “I thought for sure the wind was gonna take the roof off this house. Hmm, y’all sure are quiet.”

Clark hugged Maggie and Darlene, finished his coffee and cake and stood. “I’d better get on to Boonsboro. It’s been good to see you, Mike.”

Maggie walked over to where Mike and Darlene sat together and refreshed their coffee cups. “I’ve been thinking ’bout how you’d feel if one of you had gotten hurt or worse during that storm. Life never guarantees you anything. You have a blessing in each other. So cherish it. If you don’t stop arguing about unimportant things, you’ll destroy God’s gift.”

Darlene loved Maggie, but she did not want a lecture, not on any topic. “I’ve had enough for today, Maggie.”

Mike took her hand. “Let’s walk outside for a while. Sometimes being in the open air clears the head.” With his arm around her, they walked down the street for nearly half a block, seeing more evidence of nature’s rage.

“What’s that?” Darlene asked with a sound of terror in her voice.

“Some kind of… It could be a tornado. I don’t like it. We’d better head back.”

She had never associated fear with him, but she heard it in his voice. Knowing that he wanted to shield her from harm, she made herself smile as they walked faster and faster. Inside the house, he cradled her in his arms.

“I love you, Darlene, and I want us to pull together. I’ll always be here for you, no matter what or where. Let’s see if we can build a life together.”

“I want that, too, Mike.”

“But?”

“There aren’t any buts. Promise me you will remember that as long as I practice law with Myrtle and Coppersmith, I’m a lawyer, and I’m required to consult with my partners on certain decisions. That doesn’t mean I won’t need your help sometimes. I will, but let me ask you for it when I need it.”

“That makes sense.”

The sun appeared, and with no evidence of another approaching storm, Darlene relaxed. “Now that I’ve completed my report, I’m going to drop it by the office, since it was due yesterday. I suspect Sam is there. Will you come with me? It won’t take more than five minutes.”

“Thank you for asking. Of course I will.”

“Well, well,” Sam said when he met them in the hallway. “That was some storm.”

“Yes, it was. You remember Detective Raines?” The two men shook hands. “I thought I’d drop by and put the report on your desk.”

She handed it to Sam, but it annoyed her that he began reading it while standing there. “Come on in the office.” She followed Sam, but she held Mike’s hand to let him know that she wanted him with her. “This is what we need, Darlene. I’ve begun to trust your judgment. I’ve
defended clients who I suspected were guilty, but not one whose guilt I was certain of.”

“I’m not going to defend him,” Darlene said, her tone sharp.

“I agree. I have a case for you that you’ll love.” From her peripheral vision, she saw Mike sit forward. Alert. But whatever he wanted to say, he withheld his comments.

“What is it about?”

“A man who walked off the job because of unsafe working conditions. He got fired. The unions are behind him.”

“That’s for me,” she said. “Thanks, Sam. I’ll see you Monday. The day is half over, and Mike and I have a lot to do.”

Mike shook hands with Sam Myrtle and left the office with her arm in arm.

“That case sounds a lot more interesting,” he said. “If I were in your place, I’d consider it a real opportunity.”

“Isn’t it? I’m so glad it worked out this way. How would you like to visit some of our local wineries? Or, say, do you like antiques? We have some wonderful antique dealers. And Gettysburg is only thirty-three miles from here. What would you like to do?”

“If you want the truth, I’d love a shaded park bench, a hot dog and a cup of coffee.”

“I know just the places for both.” He didn’t intervene during her talk with Sam, she mused, but he was there for her, and she didn’t need more.

After consuming hot dogs and coffee, they sat
beneath a shading tree for nearly an hour, holding hands and hardly talking. “This past hour has meant far more to me than any sightseeing,” he told her. “We need moments like this when we’re comfortable with each other, just being together.”

“Are you going back to Memphis tomorrow without making love to me?” She wanted to bite her tongue, but it was out there, and, with no one else near, she couldn’t claim that it wasn’t she who had said it. His quiet had begun to irritate her, and then he starting laughing. “Let me in on what’s funny, will you?”

He threw back his head and whooped. “There I was thinking about the peace and contentment of being with you, and damned if you weren’t thinking about sex.”

“Well, I never wanted it at all till you did your thing. Now I get it in dribbles. What do you want from me? If you teach a rabbit to enjoy lettuce, dammit, he wants lettuce.” Mike shook with laughter until he began to hiccup, stood and fought to get his breath. “Serves you right,” she said, pounding him in the back.

A passing cyclist stopped. “You all right, buddy?”

“Thanks, man,” Mike said with effort. “I’m okay.” He reached for her hand. “Come on, baby, and let’s go home. I don’t want to
do
anything. I just want us to be together.”

After dinner, they played pinochle with Maggie until she announced that she was sleepy. “I’m going to bed,” she said. “Nobody gon’ tell me y’all can’t find somethin’ to do other than play cards with me. Waffles at eight in the morning, Mike. Good night.”

“Even she knows we ought to be doing something else,” Darlene said. “So I don’t see why you think celibacy is the way to go when you’re in Frederick.”

“Since when have you been able to read my thoughts? Where is Maggie’s room?”

“On the back side of the house over the garden, the southwest corner. We’re on the northeast side. Why?”

“I wouldn’t like your family to think that I don’t value you, and I want Maggie to respect me. If you think I’ve enjoyed being saintly, I haven’t, but what you and I need will have to wait until you come to Memphis. Suppose you visit me next weekend.”

She seemed hesitant, and he couldn’t understand why. “Would you have invited me to visit you even if we did make love before you leave here?”

What a question! From time to time he glimpsed in her a lack of self-confidence where he was concerned, but at other times she could be strident with him. He attempted to put her at ease. “Sweetheart, it’s been in my mind that each weekend, I would either be here or you’d be in Memphis, and whether we made love has nothing to do with it.”

She went over to him and sat on his knee. “I told you that I’m no match for you, Mike. I’m not sophisticated, and I don’t know how to be cool with men. I’ll visit you next weekend, because I’m happy when we’re together, and I…I’m at loose ends when you’re there and I’m here.”

“Get this straight, sweetheart. I want you right
now just as badly as I want to continue breathing, and controlling it is not easy. But you and I need to experience each other in ways other than sexually if we’re going anywhere.”

She jumped up. “Come on, let’s check the door, douse the lights and go to bed before I change my mind and ravish you.”

“Girl after my own heart.”

He walked into his elegant condominium apartment at five o’clock Sunday afternoon, dropped his bag and went to the kitchen for a bottle of beer. But once there, he realized that he didn’t want any beer. He wanted Darlene. Out of sorts and unwilling to try not to succumb to the mood, Mike got into his car and drove to Boyd’s house. He didn’t have a buddy, because his job made it difficult to cultivate close personal relationships. Boyd neither asked nor expected anything of him, merely accepted such measures of friendship as he offered.

Boyd, who was still under police protection until the trial, opened the door. His faced lit up with a warm smile. “How are you, Mike. If I’d known you were coming, I would have ordered some food for you. You brought dinner last time.”

“Don’t let that bother you. I just dropped by to see how you are.”

“Never been better. Say, do you play chess? If you don’t, I can teach you.”

Mike’s eyebrows shot up. It was an opportunity that he’d been waiting for. “Right, friend. I’d love a game.”

After Boyd’s first several moves, Mike looked hard at the man. “When I took the job of protecting you, I was told that your family might want to harm you. But I’ve never believed it. What’s going on, Boyd?”

“You’re being careful, because you don’t want to upset me. Until I testify, my family stands to profit from those who don’t want me to testify. They don’t know that I’m on to them.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. The way you made those chess moves a minute ago, I figured you weren’t as naive as I thought.”

“How’s Darlene?”

“We’re getting along.”

“Getting along? Considering where you were when she left here, by now you ought to be more than just getting along. You young fellows move at snail’s pace. Don’t you pussyfoot around and let Darlene get away. She’s a wonderful person, and she cares a lot for you. Besides, she’s beautiful.”

“I know all that, Boyd. She’s also got a short fuse.”

“This is true, and yours is shorter.”

“Yeah. That’s what she says.”

Boyd took a cell phone out of his shirt pocket. “I want a club-steak dinner and apple pie à la mode for desert. What do you want?”

Mike couldn’t help shaking his head in amazement. “You’re a load of surprises, Boyd. When did you get that fancy phone?”

Boyd allowed himself an elaborate shrug. “A couple
of days after they went on sale. I had it when we met. What should I order for you?”

Mike told him and added, “If you’ve got any more surprises, let me know them now.”

Boyd’s left eye closed in a meaningful wink. “There’s more, friend, and you’ll learn it in due time.”

When she saw Mike waiting for her at the baggage carousel in Memphis International Airport, Darlene grabbed her chest in an effort to slow the pounding of her heart and quickened her stride. He didn’t see her, and she sneaked up behind him and eased her arms around his waist.

“Whoever you’re waiting for is out of luck, handsome. You’re coming with me,” she said.

He whirled around to face her, and a smile seemed to burst out of him. “You bet I am,” he said, leaned down and flicked his tongue over the seams of her lips. “You’re one fresh woman. I’ll deal with you later.” He lifted her bag from the carousel, took her hand and headed for his car.

“I reserved a room for you at the Peabody, but you may stay with me if you like. I have a guest room. It’s up to you.”

She had assumed that she’d stay with him, but at the moment she saw the disadvantage in that. Yet she didn’t want him to feel as if she had rejected him. “I’ll stay with you,” she said, “and if you make me mad, I’ll go stay with Boyd. Have you seen him recently?”

He put her bag into the trunk of his sedan, opened
the passenger door for her and failed to smother the grin that spread over his face. “Try not to lull me into complacency, sweetheart. Are you sure I met the right woman?”

“What does that mean?” She didn’t try to control the iciness in her voice.

“This is the first time you’ve waited patiently until I got here to open the door for you.” When her chin went up, he laughed, and she knew he expected her to try and have the last word. She didn’t disappoint him.

“Maybe this is the first time you didn’t take all day to get around here.”

He reached over and tweaked her nose. “Now I know I’ve got my Darlene.”

She eased down and rested her head against the back of the leather seat. “Did you tell Boyd I’d be here this weekend?”

“Actually, I didn’t. After his lecture about not letting you get away from me, I decided he’d know when he saw you.”

“He’ll get a surprise. I brought him a harmonica.”

“Why do you think he can play it?”

“I saw one in his house, but it was a cheap one. I bought him a Hohner Super 64 Chromonica harmonica. It’s a really nice one, and I hope he likes it.”

He pulled down the sun visor and turned the car onto Shelby Drive. “Darlene, I’m thirty-four years old, healthy and vigorous, and I will not let myself become
jealous of a seventy-two-year-old man who lives alone and seems to enjoy it. What did you bring
me?
”

Her laughter had the sound of bells chiming in a soft breeze. “Silly. I brought you me.”

He was not going to touch that one. “And what a gift. How’s Maggie? Did she have anything to say about your spending a weekend with me?”

She seemed a little uneasy, and that perplexed him. He’d thought Maggie was in his camp. “Did you tell her?”

“Of course I did. She said that in matters such as these, chances are that the more a woman gives, the less she gets. Then she told me that it’s always best to be honest and truthful.”

“Hmm. I hope you’ve learned that I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“I sure have. And I told Maggie that you’re the one who’s Saint Celibacy, not me.”

He pulled over to the shoulder of Shelby Drive and gave in to the amusement that bubbled up and threatened to envelop him. Life with Darlene would definitely not be boring. “I can imagine her response to that.”

“No, you can’t. She said a man has a right to defend himself.”

His cell phone rang before he could answer her. “Raines speaking.”