Ring Around the Rosy (19 page)

“Well, well, well, what have we
here?” The man walked toward her, followed by Dave. “Who is this beauty? Surely
she couldn’t be with you?”

His quick, easy wit, and his grin,
as contagious as Dave’s, put her at ease. When she accepted his outstretched
hand, he raised her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her
fingertips.

Whoa, she thought, what’s this?
Where Dave had irritated her at first, his brother put her completely at ease.
Not that the compliment hurt. Of course, she met them under different
circumstances.

“Hey!” Dave yelled, grinning from
ear to ear. “That’s my girl. Hands off.” He pushed his brother away and took
Susan’s hand. “Susan, this half wit is my brother, Rudy. Obviously, he has no
manners and doesn’t know any better.”

Dave called her his girl. She
couldn’t help but smile. His girl, she liked the sound of it. She had never
been anyone’s girl before, even in high school or college. Sure, she dated, but
never anyone steady.

“Look who’s calling the kettle
black. Talk about no manners. I sure wouldn’t have had the bad taste to leave
such a beauty standing there by herself.” Rudy extended his hand again. She
accepted, and this time he shook it.

Their quick, easy banter relaxed
Susan. If all of the family acted as friendly and accepting, she had nothing to
worry about.

“So tell me about Mom,” Dave said.

“She had a heart attack. Right
now, she’s listed in serious condition. The doc even mentioned surgery.”

Susan hoped her visit wouldn’t
intrude on a private family moment. But she had appreciated Dave’s presence
when her father was in the hospital.
 
A
smile sneaked onto her lips, when Dave tightened his arm around her, pulling
her closer. She had tried to sit in the back seat, but Dave insisted she sit
next to him in the front.

Rudy laughed, slapped Dave on the
back, and mumbled something sounding like, ‘damn, about time,’ Susan couldn’t
quite hear, but Dave grinned and said, “Yeah, it is”.

* * *

Dave relaxed. He’d made the right
decision bringing Susan with him. Besides getting her away from that maniac
running around, he liked having her around, and he wanted his family to meet
her. No doubt in his mind, they’d like her, and it was important to him that
they accept her.

Why, he wasn’t sure. He still
didn’t want a serious relationship. Too many marriages with cops failed, and he
didn’t want to become a statistic. His own brother, Michael, was divorced.
Nope, no marriage for him; he’d seen too much hurt. But still, Susan was
important to him, and the thought of leaving her behind didn’t set well with
him, especially with the new investigation.

Greenwood would do a thorough
investigation, and he’d be fair. There was nothing to tie Susan to the murders.
Dave knew it as well as he knew his name. Greenwood would come to the same
conclusion.

He’d still like to know how Hill
found out about the bracelet. That made two things that had leaked under his watch,
and he didn’t like it. He still didn’t know who told Dunsmore about the phone
calls, either. Someone was leaking information, and he’d love to know who. Only
person he could think was Greenwood, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t him. He
was his partner. Partners didn’t leak information.

Hell, he had to quit thinking
about the case. He had other things to worry about, his mother, for one.

Rudy proved him right when he
introduced Susan. His family had been waiting for years for him to find the
right woman. It was the topic of all the family get-togethers. “When are you
going to settle down, Dave? I have someone I’d like you to meet Dave.” They all
meant well, but until Susan, no one even came close to being someone he wanted
to spend any time with, let alone a lifetime.

In this short time, Susan had
worked her way into his head and his heart. He had always said he wouldn’t
marry, and he hadn’t changed his mind. He couldn’t, wouldn’t take that big a
step. Right now he wanted her near, wanted to keep her safe. Hell, he wanted to
spend some time with her on a personal basis.

Before he knew it, Rudy eased the
car into the hospital parking lot and found the closest spot.

* * *

Dave went in to visit his mother
while Susan sat in the small waiting room with Rudy. Only two visitors were
allowed at a time, and Mr. Morgan wouldn’t leave his wife’s side. Susan’s
stomach tumbled at the thought of meeting Dave’s parents. But Rudy was almost
as comfortable to be around as Dave, making small chitchat and putting her completely
at ease when she asked about the family.

“We have another brother and a
sister,” Rudy said. “I’m the youngest. Dave’s next, then our sister, Emily,
eighteen months older, and Michael’s the oldest brother. They’ll all be here
later. Emily with her two kids, Josh and Jake.”

“How old are Josh and Jake?”

“Eight and six.” Rudy answered.
Then he went on as if she hadn’t said anything. “Michael’s divorced, not an
uncommon status for a policeman. I, like Dave, have vowed never to take the
plunge.”

 
So Dave vowed never to marry, then why had he
invited her along? Had she read something into his kisses, his reason for
asking her to come along? Had her imagination been working overtime again? It
certainly appeared so.

Well, she could handle that. She
didn’t want to get married either.

Or did she?

Susan knew she cared for Dave more
than she should. Could she change his mind? Did she want to? Right now, she
wanted to enjoy her time with him. She’d worry about the rest later.

A few minutes later, Dave joined them,
followed by his father, a mature-looking mirror image of Dave. Now she knew
where the sons had gotten their good looks and the silly grin that so often
infuriated her.

Mr. Morgan didn’t wait for
introductions; he hugged her. “I wish we could have met under happier
circumstances.”

Susan smiled and endured the bear
hug. Obviously, these men didn’t know their own strength. She liked his family,
at least the ones she had met so far.

“Ahem,” Dave cleared his throat
and laughed. “Now that introductions are out of the way, Mom wants to meet you,
Susan. We won’t stay long, but she insisted I bring you in to see her.”

“Ah, and a finer medicine we
couldn’t hope to give her,” Mr. Morgan said as Dave and Susan turned to go into
the room.

Mrs. Morgan, a petite, frail-looking
woman with gray-streaked reddish-brown hair, sat up in the dimly lit hospital
room. Her pale complexion blended with the sheets. Susan felt a moment’s unease
as they neared the bed. Maybe she shouldn’t have come.

Mrs. Morgan reached a thin, wrinkled
hand out to her. “I’m so happy to meet you, my dear.” Her weak voice stunned
Susan.

“I do hope you’re planning on
staying with us for a while.” Her smile reached her gray-green eyes.

Susan held the cool hand and
smiled at the warm, sincere welcome. She liked this woman, wanted to get to
know her better.

“I’m happy to meet you, too, Mrs.
Morgan.” What else could she say? That she’d stay as long as Dave wanted her?
That she wanted to stay for a very long time, wanted something permanent. The
thought surprised Susan. Did she want to stay with Dave? Did she want a
permanent relationship? This was all happening too fast.

Mr. Morgan sneaked back in the
room and hid in the folds of the curtain at the head of his wife’s bed and
stoked her forehead.

Susan smiled at the tender, loving
gesture. Mrs. Morgan’s eyes flitted closed. The poor woman looked exhausted.
She nudged Dave and looked at her watch. He took the hint and kissed his mother
goodbye. “We’ll come back in the morning. We need to get settled, and it’s been
a long day. Besides, you need your rest.”

“That’s fine, dear. I understand,”
Mrs. Morgan said.

Rudy drove them to their parents’
small house to pick up his mother’s car, and then Dave drove to a motel. He
booked their rooms, walked Susan to hers, and set her suitcase inside. “I’ll be
right next door. After you freshen up, would you like to get some dinner?”

Susan, reluctant to call it a
night, wasn’t ready to be separated from Dave. “Sounds good. I’m starved.”

“Good. I’ll pick you up in about
fifteen minutes. Is that enough time to freshen up?”

She reached up, boldly kissed him,
and whispered, “It’s more than enough time.”

“Okay, then, see you in a
fifteen.” He grabbed her to him and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. He
pulled away and grinned, then turned and went into his own room, leaving Susan
to stare after him.

Well guess that would teach her to
be so bold. What had come over her, anyway, pulling him to her like that? She
touched her lips and closed the door. But darn, she liked it.

Chapter Sixteen

Conversation during dinner was
comfortable and relaxed. “Tell me about your family. I know you said your
brothers were cops, too. What about your dad, your parents?” Susan asked.

“We come from a long line of cops,
from my great grandfather on down. My dad’s retired now, and my parents have
been wintering in Florida for the past three years. They had only just arrived
when Mom suffered her attack..” Dave relaxed.

“They come to Florida in October,
then come back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas.” Dave leaned back in his
chair and looked at Susan. Never had he wanted anyone to meet his family. Hell,
most of the girls he went out with wouldn’t want to. No ties, no commitments —
that was his rule. No one objected. Not that Susan would, either. In fact, it
surprised him that she agreed to come with him. She’d made it pretty clear her
career came first.

She had even put it ahead of her
emotions when she saw her friends’ bodies. It amazed him how quickly she
recovered from her shock, and the way her journalist side clicked in and took
over.

Dave finished his drink and
continued. “In January, they come back to Florida and stay until April. Mom
doesn’t like being away from her grandchildren too long, but Dad can’t handle
the cold winters anymore. So they compromise. If it were up to Dad, they’d move
down here permanently.”

The waitress came with the check,
and Dave set his credit card inside the folder. “You’ll get to meet Mike,
Emily, and her kids tomorrow. Would you like to take a walk?” Dave said after
he signed the receipt.

* * *

Susan couldn’t wait to meet Dave’s
sister. Somehow, she knew they’d hit it off. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan had raised a
warm, loving family. And from what she had seen so far, they all enjoyed
teasing each other. A sense of humor was a definite necessity in this family.
How would she fit in? Clare was the one with a sense of humor. Everyone accused
Susan of being too sensitive, too serious.

While they walked around the
grounds of the motel, it amazed her that while the temperatures went down to
the mid-thirties at home, the evening here was in the high sixties.

At midnight, she decided to turn
in. Dave kissed her goodnight. “Make sure you lock the chain. Don’t forget I’m
right next door if you need anything.”

Susan hated to let him go. What
would he do if she knocked on his door?

Lord, she had to put those
thoughts out of her mind. She wasn’t ready to take that step with him. She
crawled into bed and stretched. What a great evening, relaxed and comfortable.
She really could get used to this lifestyle. She snuggled under the sheets,
turned over and fell asleep.

Bright sunshine and the ringing
phone woke her the next morning. Forgetting where she was, she put the pillow
over her ears to blot out the sound, and waited for her machine to answer.
Laughing as memory returned, she lunged for the phone. It could only be Dave.

“Hello.” The mood of the previous
night returned.

“Good morning, Starshine.” Dave’s
voice sounded bright and teasing. “I know you’re not a morning person, but we
have a long day, and I’d like to show you some of the sights while we’re here.”

Susan slid out of bed as they
spoke, never feeling more rested and ready to go. “What time is it, anyway?”

“Early,” Dave said and laughed.
“Come on — up and at ‘em. I’ll give you half an hour to get ready. That should
be enough time, even for you.”

Susan giggled and hung up the
phone. She couldn’t wait to spend the day with him, to meet the rest of his
family. After a quick call to her mother, just to check in, she hurried through
her shower, and just finished her makeup when Dave knocked on the door.

The beautiful, tropical day
greeted her as they stepped into the already rising temperatures. She loved the
palms and the moss draped oaks.

Dave explained a little of the history
of Fort Myers. “Known as the City of Palms, it’s the area’s oldest city. After
we visit Mom, I thought maybe we’d take in the Edison-Ford winter estates,
seventeen acres of riverfront land. I think you’ll like it.”