Shadows of Doubt (24 page)

Max thought for a moment he had caught her looking at him, then thought of course she was. She was looking at the ass that couldn’t swing a club for the life of him. This time it was Max swearing under his breath as he got in the cart and Joe drove them up the path. When they got up there, he saw how close Lou and his balls were to one another and resumed swearing. Not so much under his breath this time. It was inevitable. He simply could not avoid talking to her any longer. Since her ball was further away, he let her walk ahead of him to take her shot. He stood behind her and watched as she addressed the ball. Taking her time to line up her shot. She had a good solid stance, he noticed. Elegant and strong arms with a perfect slight bend to the knees. Christ she was adorable, even with the scowl on her face. He took in the curve of her body, the petite little ears and the way she bit her lower lip when she concentrated. He was so engrossed with taking her in that he hadn’t noticed her head turn and look at him. She was staring.

“What?!” She barked.

“Uh...” Good God he couldn’t think of anything to say.

She stopped and walked towards him. “You were staring at me so let’s have it. What?” She was sick of feeling like an idiot. This was going to stop now before she gave up golf forever.

So this was it, he thought. She’s throwing down the gauntlet. “You know our paths have crossed before.” There, he put it out there. The elephant in the room, so to speak.

At first she was shocked that he had noticed her at all, let alone remembered. “So you do recognize me, then?” Then it occurred to her that the bastard was enjoying watching her squirm this whole time.

“Of course I do.” Recognize her? She was practically all he had been able to think about ever since.

She cocked her head and considered. “Why didn’t you say something?” It was a risky question. She wasn’t really certain she wanted an actual answer.

It never ceased to amaze him, the feisty spirit he kept discovering as he observed her. “Well now, how would that have gone I wonder? Hello, so good to meet you after crossing paths over dead bodies once or twice.” For effect he did a little gentlemanly bow and a flourish with his hand.

“Aha!” She stepped up and pointed in his face. “Once or Twice! So it was you at the crime scene!”

Bloody hell, he didn’t mean to let that slip. “Take your shot before the marshal comes and kicks us off the course for holding up play.” A good solid tactic he thought. When cornered, redirect and deflect.

She glowered at him, whirled around and went to make her shot.

Shevaun and Joe watched the two from the cart path while they shared a bottle of water. Joe got a little nervous when he saw Lou storm up to Max and get right up into his face. However, his nerves were quickly settled and he nearly spit out his water laughing when Max did his bow and hand flourish.

“Oh dear! He’s definitely got his hands full with her.” Joe shook his head and passed his wife the bottle of water as they waited for the two to take their shots.

“I wonder what he did to get her all riled like that.” Shevaun took a sip of the water then stuffed the bottle back in her bag. “Not that it matters, he better learn quick and get used to it.”

Joe looked at his wife thoughtfully. “So you like him then?”

Shevaun smiled as she watched her daughter and Max from across the sprawling green grass. ”I do. There is something strong and wise about him. He has a great sense of humor and a good deal of patience, obviously. I don’t really know him still but my first impressions aren’t usually wrong.”

Taking his wife’s hand, he kissed her knuckles tenderly and then gazed into her eyes. “He’s a good man. If they survive this part of it, there is no one I could approve of more for our daughter.”

“Well that’s high praise coming from you.” She cupped his cheek. “We’ll hope for the best then, shall we?”

Joe simply smiled and felt his heart pang. If she only knew how hard he was hoping for the best already. This development with Lou and Max could either kill or cure the whole dilemma so he just prayed they made it through the rest of the day without the two of them wrapping clubs around each others necks.

Lou took her shot, in spite of him, and it was a beauty. Her ball caught a bounce and landed four feet from the cup. She twirled her club and spun around to gloat at Max, feeling more herself again.

“Your turn, big guy.” She sauntered back to her cart with her nose slightly upturned at him.

Oh yes indeed, she had definitely thrown down the gauntlet. Suddenly all the insecurity that Max had been feeling melted away and the competition had begun. When he finally took his shot, he turned and grinned right back at her as it landed a foot closer to the cup than hers. He twirled his club and sauntered back to his cart exactly the same way she had done only moments before. The game was on now.

By the seventeenth hole the match was a dead heat. Both Lou and Max had found their game again and were bringing it fiercely. Shevaun had managed to casually feed her daughter all the information she knew of Max without her daughter actually having to ask and Joe had somewhat done the same about Lou. It had been at the ninth tee when Lou had actually started making Max laugh out loud with her ribbing and shortly after she started laughing at Max’s clever retorts. The two had relaxed considerably, enjoying the battle of wits and golf. Forgetting themselves and just being in the moment. It was only after Max had teed off at the eighteenth hole that things sunk in with them both. His drive was perfect, landing over the large pond and just a yard or two below the green. Shevaun and Joe both applauded and he turned and took a bow with a smile on his face. He didn’t miss for a second that Lou was grinning.

“Alright, I’ll admit it. That was a beauty.” She didn’t find saying it as bitter as she thought it would be.

It was at that moment Max let his guard down and spoke his thoughts without really thinking. “Well it’s only natural for one beauty to recognize another.” It was a blatant, overt flirt and he said it while staring her dead in the eye so that there was no mistaking the feeling behind it. He watched her fluster and saw her pull her guard back up immediately. “I meant the shot of course...” He tried to recover but it was too late. He had gone too far.

“I know what you meant.” She looked down, avoiding eye contact. “Move so I can take my shot.” Lou didn’t say it with the witty sarcasm he was growing accustomed too. She was backing away from him and he knew they were right back at square one. Shevaun and Joe saw it too, and Shevaun sighed with disappointment. Joe put his arm around his wife as if to console her. Lou made her drive and it landed in the pond. She moved quickly back to the cart without so much as a mutter of a curse.

Shevaun could see the defeated look in Max’s eyes and went to him, placing her hand on his as he leaned on his club and blew out a breath.

“Be patient with her. She’s suffered greatly in matters of the heart. She’s just afraid of her own feelings.” Lou’s mother smiled at him when he looked at her aghast. It was a rare occurrence that someone could see through him so easily. Had he been so obvious all day? His heart on his sleeve? But then he realized that Shevaun’s words were encouraging him not to give up and that meant that she wasn’t upset over him having eyes for her daughter. He took her hand and squeezed. A smile of thanks in his eyes. Finally someone knew what he was feeling and it was alright with them. More importantly it was Lou’s mother. The one person in the world who meant the most to Lou. It was a relief he couldn’t have imagined.

Shevaun said nothing as they drove the cart up the path. She let Lou take her drop, and her lumps, waiting it out until they drove up to the green for the last strokes. When Lou parked the cart and walked around, her mother stepped in her way and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I didn’t raise my only daughter to be afraid, and up until now she never has been without good reason.” She moved her hand from Lou’s shoulder to her cheek. “I’ve let you be afraid for about six years too long now. Don’t let the possibility of joy with your soul-mate slip by because you let old wounds poison your heart.” She didn’t wait for her daughter to respond. Shevaun turned from her daughter and walked to the green to take her last shot with the boys.

Lou watched her mother walk up to the green where Joe and Max already were evaluating their shots. It had been a good day, all in all, despite her foolishness, her nerves and fear. The truth of it was that Max had lived up to her own hype. Besides being drop dead gorgeous and a fantastic dresser, he was charming and witty, matching her ribbing tit for tat. She truly enjoyed that part of discovering him. He gave as good as he got and was still a gentleman about it. Her parents liked him too, which was so rare. Even as she watched them up there on the velvet green grass, they smiled and laughed. She could so get used to days like this. But she had decided to try for that once before, many years ago, and was betrayed by the man she thought she loved when he slept with one of her best friends. That was long before Caroline, though. Then after a couple years of licking her wounds she took another chance and almost died twice for it. In many ways she was much stronger for it all, braver in many aspects. But when it came to her heart and even cracking the door to it, Lou was flat terrified. Her mother saw that in her and it shamed Lou that she was disappointed with her. It didn’t really matter now anyway because Max had probably written Lou off as one of those chihuahua people she loathed. Skittish, irrational and way too high maintenance emotionally. Lou sighed, grabbed her putter and headed up to the green.

There wasn’t time for congratulations after the last putt was made because another group was waiting behind them, so Shevaun ran for the cart and suggested they meet up on the patio. Max was very grateful to her for that because for the first time in more decades than he cared to remember, he wasn’t sure how to handle himself. He was grateful to Joe also now for driving slow so he could think.

“So when was it exactly that you started falling for my daughter?” Joe gave him a half smile as he navigated the cart path.

It shocked Max to hear those words, and not the daughter part of the statement. It was the falling for part that kicked him in the gut. The truth of it was it really didn’t matter who those words came from, they would have overwhelmed him regardless. “Pardon me?”

“With all due respect, my Dom, it may have taken me getting thumped over the head by my wife to see it, but anyone who takes a second can. So may I ask when? From the two of your banter early on this morning, this wasn’t the first time you met. I mean, I know you have been keeping tabs but it’s rather unlike you to take such a hands on approach in matters that are usually reserved for the Council.”

“Christ.” Max blew out a breath. He had already admitted it to Lou so there was no sense in keeping the facts to himself any longer. “We never actually met. We crossed paths in the morgue when I went to see Carpesh and the Talbott woman’s body. Then she spotted me at the Winslow crime scene before I knew who she was. But we never spoke. Hell, I was expecting some old codger with a name like ‘Detective Lou Donovan’!”

Joe pulled off the cart path into a patch of dirt under a tree and set the brake. He turned to Max with a most serious expression. “I am sure you did a thorough check on Lou, but I am not sure how far you went back?”

“Five or six years I believe. Why? Is there something I should know?” Max’s brow furrowed as Joe thought for a moment.

“You need to go back a bit more. I don’t think it’s wise I tell you now, knowing you as I do. But you need to know. Something that I kept from the Sanguinostri but not for any other reason than it was complicated. Involving you would have put too much at risk at the time. Shevaun’s side of the family and the department had it handled once it was done. Perhaps text Frank or Abby so they have it for you when you get back to the hotel.”

“Why can’t you tell me now? I could order you.” Max was seriously concerned now.

“I know you could. But out of respect for my daughter and my family as a whole, I would ask you please to wait and read it on your own. It will explain many things about Lou.” Joe prayed that Max would accept that as enough for now.

“Very well, then.” As Joe started the cart and continued to the patio, Max pulled his cell phone from his pocket and sent Abby a text message to pull the details for the time Joe directed. It worried Max immensely but he truly tried to keep himself in check. Something he obviously had not been doing well for the past week.

When they arrived at the patio, the girls were donning jackets and the sun was setting behind a heap of bruised clouds. The cold bit hard as if to remind everyone winter still had a strong grasp on things. Caddies came to retrieve the bags and one paused to ask Max if he would be storing his clubs with them. Lou tried not to be so relieved when she heard Max answer in the affirmative.

“Well boys, congratulations on kicking our behinds. You won fair and square.” Shevaun offered a good sport handshake.

Grinning, Max took her hand then leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hardly fair, I intruded on a customary game. That’s unsettling and I should have had better manners than that.” He turned to Lou and extended his hand. “Please forgive me.”

Lou smiled at him despite herself then took his hand. “Nothing to forgive. Especially if you give us a rematch.” She held her breath when she felt him squeeze her hand gently.

There was hope. “Best two out of three perhaps?” Now he held his breath as he waited for her answer.

“You buy dinner next time then.” Whoa, did she just say that?

Max breathed again and decided to go for broke, leaning down he kissed her cheek ever so softly, trying not to linger as he inhaled her jasmine and vanilla scent. When he stepped away, releasing her hand, he felt his heart race. Dear God, he was so lost for this woman.