Spontaneous (8 page)

“S
O, HOW DID YOU AND
Kim meet?”

Duan smiled down at Aunt Gert, who appeared to be in her early sixties. Kim had warned him that her aunt would ask a lot of questions. And she was right.

Breakfast had become a Saturday-morning brunch outside on the terrace. Wynona and Aunt Gert had done most of the cooking, and Duan had to agree the women were great cooks. He couldn’t help noticing that Edward had avoided him most of the morning, but was in Kim’s face every chance he got.

“Kim and I met when her best friend Sherri, whom I’m sure you know, became engaged to my brother Terrence,” he answered truthfully.

“So, was it love at first sight?” Aunt Gert asked with a hopeful look on her face.

He was inclined to agree with her on that. “Let’s just say there were a lot of things about Kim that drew me to her. Things I definitely liked and admired.” He
took a sip of iced tea. Kim had said her Aunt Gert was a die-hard romantic and she was right. The woman was really taking this all in.

He glanced across the room at Kim. She was talk ing to a man she had introduced earlier as her mother’s neighbor, Benjamin Sanders, whom she fondly called Mr. Bennie.

Duan suddenly realized just how true the statement was that he’d made to Aunt Gert. There had been a number of things he’d liked about Kim right off the bat. Her looks headed the list, of course. But it didn’t take long to discover that she was a very intelligent woman who had a profound sense of caring for others, and he hadn’t been surprised to learn she was a nurse. Another thing he liked about her was her spunk.

“Well, I’m just glad she finally got serious about a man. For a while, I was concerned about her.”

“Concerned?” he asked.

“Yes, concerned.”

Duan chuckled at the elderly woman’s words. “You were concerned that she hadn’t gotten serious about a man?”

“Yes, after all, she’s twenty-seven.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“In today’s society, if a woman her age doesn’t have a man, people start to think things,” Aunt Gert said.

“Is that why you sent her résumé to that television show—because you were concerned whether she even
liked
men?” he asked incredulously, having caught on to what Aunt Gert was insinuating.

She met his gaze. “Yes.”

At that moment he would have thought unkindly of the woman if he hadn’t seen all the love she felt for Kim radiating in her face. “Trust me, no one has to wonder about Kim. She’s all the woman any man would ever want or need.” And he knew all the way to the base of his groin that statement was true.

The woman’s face lit up in a smile. “I’m glad to hear it. And I like that ring you’ve put on her finger. It looks just like it belongs there.”

Duan couldn’t help but smile himself. “Yes, I think so, as well. So rest assured, Aunt Gert. My woman is doing just fine.”

He took a slow sip of his lemonade.
My woman.
His thoughts floated back to that morning. She had indeed been
his
woman. He hadn’t expected her to join him in the shower, but once she’d found out the little boy was recovering from the snake bite, she had. Together they had given the word
steam
a whole new meaning. One that made sensations stir from his chest to his groin just thinking about it.

His gaze sought Kim out across the room. Someone had placed a baby in her arms, one of her cousins’ babies, he assumed. She looked like a natural holding it, and then he recalled that she’d told him she wanted
children one day, but didn’t intend to marry. He continued to look at her and doubted if his own mother had ever had such a look on her face while holding him, Terrence or Olivia.

“Well, I’ve consumed enough of your time, Duan. Wynona is hoping that everyone will hang around for dinner because she’s fixing a feast. I’ll go see if she needs help with anything in the kitchen.”

When she walked off, he felt someone looking at him and met Edward Villarosas’s gaze. He was standing with a group of men but his attention was on Duan. Deciding the man had avoided him long enough that day, Duan crossed the room when the men Edward had been talking to walked off.

“So, Edward, how are things going?” Duan asked.

Edward smoothed his hand over his bald head. “Fine.

I see that you’re fitting in rather nicely.”

Duan chuckled. “I’m trying to. Tell me,” he said, meeting Edward’s gaze, “was it easy for you?”

“To do what?”

“Fit in.”

“Oh, sure. Wynona has nice relatives.” Edward hesitated a moment then said, “So, you were a cop in Atlanta. I lived in Atlanta for a while. For ten years.”

Duan widened his eyes as if he were surprised by the statement. “That’s a long time. Why did you leave?”

Edward shrugged. “After my divorces there was nothing there for me anymore. I wanted a fresh start so I moved here.” After taking a sip of his lemonade he asked, “How long were you a cop?”

“Seven years,” Duan said.

“Were you always on the beat?” Edward asked.

Duan shook his head. “No, I made detective after my second year. After doing detective work for a number of years, I decided to get my own private investigative firm. I’m proud to say I’m doing well with it.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“What about you? What did you do for a living while in Atlanta?”

“I was a mechanic for a long time and had my own shop, mostly working on antique cars.”

“Really?” Duan said, as if he hadn’t known that fact. “What was the name of it?”

“Villarosas Auto Shop. It was located in College Park.”

The man glanced around the room. “Excuse me, Duan, but I need to go see Wynona for a second.” Duan watched him head outside to the patio.

“How are things going?”

He glanced up and saw that Kim had approached. “Okay. What about with you?”

“Edward is asking a lot of questions.”

“About what?”

“You. And I hope I gave him all the right answers.”

Duan frowned. “What sort of questions?”

“Questions I’d assume a father would ask when his daughter brought a guy to the house for their first date. How long were you a cop? Are you a detective, and if so, how long? Where did you live in Atlanta and for how long? Those sorts of questions.”

Duan nodded. “And what did you tell him?”

“What we agreed that I would.”

“Good. I might add you to my P.I. firm yet,” he teased, leaning toward her and placing a kiss on her lips. Anyone looking at them would assume they were sharing a loving moment.

She chuckled. “No, thank you. I’ll stick to the medical field. Anyway, I think I surprised him when I finally told him that considering he was going to marry my mom, the two of you should get to know each other. And that if he wanted to know anything else about you, he needed to ask you himself.”

Duan smiled. “He did, but I’m sure more questions are coming later.”

He placed his arm around her shoulder and tried to downplay the tingle he felt in his gut from touching her. No matter where she’d been in the room all morning, he’d been aware of her.

“How did things go with you and Aunt Gert?” she asked.

“I think she likes me.”

“H
OW WAS THE REST
of your day with Edward?” Duan asked. “I couldn’t help noticing a few times he had you
stuck in a corner all to himself.” It was later that evening and they were heading back toward the hotel, momentarily stuck in traffic as a train passed.

Kim glanced over and gave him a faint smile. Everyone had hung around for dinner and afterward several people played a game of cards. Duan was right. Edward had participated in one or two games, but most of the time he’d cornered her. She wasn’t surprised Duan had noticed. In fact, she had picked up on him watching her a lot that day. And knowing his gaze was on her had given her sensuous shivers. The thought that he had that effect on her no longer came as a surprise.

“Yes, I did everything you’d suggested and kept him talking. He didn’t say a lot about his marriages, but he did tell me he didn’t have any kids and that was his one regret in life. So, he’s looking forward to becoming my stepfather.” She sighed. “That’s basically it. And he did talk about how happy he plans on making Mom. So, what did you find out?”

“Not a whole lot. He likes playing golf and going fishing. He suggested we do both while I’m here. Of course I didn’t turn down the opportunity to spend more time with him. I also got him to talk about his past life in Atlanta. But other than telling me about the auto mechanic shop he used to own in College Park, he was rather tight-lipped.”

“That doesn’t tell us a lot, does it?” Kim asked.

“No. However, as days go on—”

“But that’s just it, Duan. Instead of spending time getting to know the man my mother is marrying for the right reasons, I’m questioning him for all the wrong ones, only because—”

“I know what you’re about to say, Kim, and I understand. But—”

“Does there have to be a
but,
Duan?”

“In this case, yes. Now tell me about your mom’s neighbor.”

She glanced over at him in surprise. “Who? Mr. Bennie?”

“Yes.”

“Why would you want to know anything about him?”

“He seems to like your mom.”

Kim rolled her eyes. “Of course he likes Mom. They’ve lived next door to each other for years and have known each other even longer. They attended school together. The house Mom is living in now used to be my grandparents’ house and the house Mr. Bennie lives in used to be his parents’ house, so he and Mom were neighbors growing up. He’s a few years older than she is.”

She shifted a little in her seat to look at Duan. “When his mother died, Mr. Bennie and his wife and only daughter moved back to Shreveport to take care of his father. But his dad only lived a year after that. And around eight years ago, Mr. Bennie’s wife, Ms. Diana, died of breast cancer.”

Duan nodded, thinking the house Mr. Bennie was living in had experienced a lot of sadness. “Where’s his daughter?”

“Valerie, who is a year older than I am, left for college in New Jersey and met a guy there. Now they’re married with a little girl. I get to see them when I come home for Christmas. She usually comes and spends the holidays with Mr. Bennie like I do with Mom every year.”

“He’s never remarried?”

“No, he never remarried. I like Mr. Bennie. He’s a really nice man who helps Mom out a lot with the yard and by doing odds and ends around the house.”

Kim didn’t say anything for a moment, then asked, “Why do you think he likes Mom
that
way?”

Duan smiled. “There are little things I notice, things I can now recognize as signs. Trust me when I say they went past me with my own father. And they went past Terrence, as well. Olivia pointed them out to us and made us aware that Cathy, our dad’s secretary, had been in love with him for years. We thought Libby was crazy until she told us to pay more attention, so we did. At first we didn’t pick up on anything, but then we noticed the looks Cathy would give Dad when he wasn’t looking and how she would do anything for him.”

“And you saw Mr. Bennie looking at Mom when he thought she wasn’t looking?”

“Yes. And then there’s the way his face lights up whenever she walks into a room. Trust me. I’d say
he’s definitely smitten. And sometimes people have a tendency not to notice someone who’s always there, even if that person’s the best thing for them.”

At that moment, Duan’s cell phone went off. Luckily they were still stalled in traffic, so he lifted his hip to pull the phone from his belt clip.

“Yes, Landon. What’s up?”

“We may have found the guy in question. One of the women recognized him from some of the photos as the same guy Mandy Villarosas flirted with that night.”

Duan nodded. “Did anyone recognize him as a former classmate?”

“No. So now we have a face, but we need a name. Brett is going to provide that.”

Duan chuckled. Brett could do just about anything with a computer. “Let me know when he finds out something.”

He clicked off the phone and glanced over at Kim. “We have a make on the guy that Mandy Villarosas was supposed to have met.”

“So you know who he is?” she asked, not hiding her excitement.

“No, but he was captured in several pictures, so at least that’s a start. We’re not sure if he went there with someone, or if he knew anyone at the club. Remember, this was ten years ago.”

Her hope deflated, Kim sank back into her seat. “So it will be like pulling a needle out of a haystack.”

Duan laughed. “Not really. Especially since Brett is working that end of things.”

“Brett? One of the guys in your firm?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Brett is our computer and technical expert and he’s developed this high-tech network. All he has to do is scan in this guy’s picture and it’ll be distributed to all his databases. It goes to probably every law enforcement agency in the country, as well as the FBI’s database. I’ll give him less than forty-eight hours to find out the identity of the man.”

“But like you said, it’s been ten years,” she reminded him.

“Yes, and the beauty of the equipment Brett has developed is that it can do an age enhancement. If we know what he looked like then, you can be certain we’ll know what he looks like now. Brett has had quite a few successes.”

“Wow.”

Duan chuckled. “Yes, now we’re getting some where.”

He shifted his head to look out the windshield. It was dark and they were on a two-lane road with cars in front and back of them, all at a standstill. “Hell, how long is that train? It seems like we’ve been stopped for a while.”

“Not sure. I told you to go this way because it’s a short cut back to the hotel. I forgot about the train crossing.”

He glanced back over at her and grinned. “Are you anxious to get back to the hotel?”

“Aren’t you?”

Duan leaned back in his seat. “Yes.”

“Why? You can’t be hungry since my mother fed you plenty. What’s the rush?”

The smile on his lips widened. “I’m surprised you have to ask, and it’s probably the same reason as yours,” he said throatily. “You think?”