Taming Theresa (35 page)

“I want to see you, but I'm so busy with
work, I don't know when I'll be able to get up there,” Diane
mimicked. Yeah sure. He's no more interested in a relationship with
me than any of the other losers who’ve passed through my life.
“Men! They’re all alike.” Dismissing him from her mind, she picked
up her phone and called Sandy.

Agent Owen knocked softly on the open door to
the office and smiling, his boss looked up from his computer. “Have
a seat, Chris. I’ll be right with you.”

The grey on grey room was crowded with
Government Issue furniture and an array of humming electronics.
Jumbles of wires ran off tables and disappeared underneath.

Chris pulled up a stiff office chair,
obviously designed with form, not function in mind, across from his
boss. Rodriguez slipped in the room behind Owen and reached for the
seat next to him, until she saw the dark scowl he shot her. She
quickly moved to the seat alongside her boss. They waited for him
to finish scrolling through data on his computer.

He turned and gave his agents an appraising
look. They were an odd couple. Owen did things by the book and was
easy going, polite and mild mannered. That, along with his Nordic
features, blond hair and bright blue eyes, tended to put people at
ease.

Slender and dark, Rodriguez was intense and
all business. Her brow furrowed and she shifted in her chair as he
scrutinized her. There were rumors that her method of dealing with
suspects could be a bit unorthodox. Good cop, bad cop. That’s what
makes them a good team.

"Thank you for coming in this afternoon," he
said, leaning back in his big office chair. "You guys are a couple
of my favorite field agents. You did a great job with that Tony
DePalma case.”

"Thank you," said Chris shooting his partner
a cool glance. What a mess she'd caused with her poor judgment and
bad temper. It had taken some fast talking and groveling on his
part to convince Fred Douglas not to press charges against them for
her bullying and unwarranted use of force on Diane. Add that to the
mess they'd made of the farmhouse by letting DePalma out of their
sight.

“You guys even managed to recover the missing
money. It was very good work on both your parts."

"Thank you," said the two agents in
unison.

"In my report to the regional director I gave
you high marks and of course, the credit for solving the case and
wrapping up all the loose ends. Should result in nice letters of
commendation in your personnel folders."

"Thank you," they said again.

The boss returned to the computer on his
desktop, clicked the mouse a few times before he leaned back and
removed his reading glasses. Staring at the ceiling, he mulled
things over, forgetting for a moment that he was keeping his agents
waiting.

Less than a year before I can retire and get
away from this desk. Maybe this’ll be the last major dog of a case.
Owen can do the job, but the Rodriguez woman? I’m not too sure
about her. Too unpredictable. But, what the hell. At this point, I
don’t really care much. I’m looking forward to that beach house on
Long Island and buying my new fishing boat. He knew exactly the
make and model, and could picture the new boat, cresting the
Atlantic waves off Montauk Point.

A phone rang outside, somewhere down the hall
and he sat up abruptly. “Thanks again for coming in,” he said
dismissing them. He rose and opened the door. Rodriguez slipped
out, but he rested a hand on Owens shoulder, stopping him, and
waited until the woman was out of sight.

"Okay Chris, now here's something else. The
DePalma creep sang like a canary. He gave up names, dates, places,
everything. We figured he would. One of the head guys in their
organization's got wind of it and has gone underground. We need to
find him and that's where you come into the picture."

Owen looked calmly at his boss, waiting for
him to continue.

"Chris, don't you have a vacation home down
in Virginia somewhere?"

"Not exactly. I’m building a place there.
Doing most of the work myself during vacations. It's a long
process."

"Yeah, nice. Where is it?"

"Little place called Floyd, in the Blue Ridge
Mountains."

The boss jabbed his chest with an index
finger. "Bingo. That's what I thought. Bit of a coincidence here.
This guy we want, the one who went into hiding, we think he’s in,
or near Floyd County, Virginia. You'd have the perfect cover for
going down there. I'll bet you're already familiar with the area
too."

"Sure, but I was going to take some time
off," said Chris warily. Shit. Diane’s never going to believe
another excuse about being too busy with work.

Ignoring him, the boss continued
thoughtfully, "Don't know what Rodriguez’s cover would be though,
in a place like that."

Owen's chin shot up, alarmed. “No way! Come
on. I’ve talked to you about that. I can’t take another assignment
with that woman. She’s a loose cannon! Let someone else have her
for a change.”

"Yeah, sure. I guess," he said noncommittally
and shrugged. “Maybe you go down first, look around a little and
then we send you a partner. I don't like to have an agent hanging
out there without backup. You know that's not a good idea, but
we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

“Yeah, but not her. You said I could have
Dave back as my partner. Besides, she’d never blend in. People are
laid-back down there."

"All right then.” His boss soothed. “You go
on down to Virginia. Gather a little more intelligence on this
creep. This could take some time.”

Owen gave him a cool stare. “My vacation?
Remember, I was going to take time off? There’s a girl I want to
spend some time with.”

“There’s always a girl.” His boss waved away
his protest. "Listen, I guarantee they’ll be one just like her down
in Virginia."

“All right,” he sighed. Would sending flowers
to Diane help? Maybe I should send some flowers.

"Go down like usual. Take it easy. Establish
your cover. Make like you’re going to work on that house. After a
while, we’ll smoke this guy out.” The boss looked pleased with
himself. “When it’s over, you go on vacation for real. I promise.
This will be the last assignment for a while.”

Chris wasn’t convinced. "I'm holding you to
that promise." He turned to leave and changed his mind turning
back. “Have you ever heard the expression, ‘You don’t shit where
you eat’? I like it there. Floyd is a nice little town where
everybody knows everybody else. I don’t want to mess things
up.”

“Sure, sure. You going to retire down
there?”

“Sure, when I’m ready. Got a few years
yet.”

“Me, I’m going to Long Island. I’m counting
the days. You ever go fishing? No?” He sat down at his desk, leaned
back, and continued, “This Floyd place, I imagine it's at the ass
end of nowhere. Bunch of rednecks, hicks, and moonshiners? Banjo
country?"

"No," said Owen. "It's rural for sure, and
there’s plenty of that, but you'd be surprised at the diversity of
folks there. It is unusual. Not what you’d expect."

“Then this won’t be such a bad assignment.
Right?”

Chris sighed, resigned to the unavoidable.
“Okay. Just leave Rodriguez out of it.”

“Hey, she’s young, smart, attractive. How bad
could it be?”

“You have no idea.”

Heads bent against the wind, John and Theresa
laughed together as they trudged up Main Street. No matter how bad
the weather, no matter how cold and cruel the wind, nothing could
dampen their spirits today.

John had everything he could possibly want in
life, now that he had Theresa. This beautiful woman had agreed to
marry him. He grinned down at her as she walked in step beside him,
his arms holding her close as she pressed her body to his.

They'd just left Fred Douglas’s law office
where they had witnessed the closing on the sale of Paulding's Rest
to The Buonadies Corporation that morning. Ralph had graciously
given Theresa many of the recipes that made the tavern famous.
Hugging the big man good-bye, she promised to send him some of
their recipes in return.

The Van Wart Fidelity Medallion, awarded to
his ancestor by George Washington himself, had been recovered in
the basement of Paulding's Rest. In addition, they'd discovered a
magnificent brace of silver pistols, a personal gift from the
General to Isaac. Ralph had insisted that John and Theresa accept
the pieces, restoring them to the Van Wart Family. They planned to
display them in a small museum in the tavern after it underwent
renovations.

A favorite with the Buonadies, Dominick and
Rose had invited them for brunch at the Scarlett Pippin. Denny and
Danny were now serving meals other than breakfast during their slow
winter season.

As they neared the bright red doors of the B
& B, John realized, "We haven't seen the guys around town for a
couple of months."

Theresa responded, "Guess everybody tends to
hibernate during a bad winter. Let's get inside, I'm freezing."

They mounted the steps and he pushed open the
front door so Theresa could slip inside. "Hey, I've got an idea."
John said as he followed her in and gave her a hug.

"What?" She turned to smile at him, cheeks
rosy with the cold

"Why don't we just stay here tonight in that
room with the big soaking tub?" he suggested. I keep remembering
how hot you looked under those bubbles." He nibbled his way down
her soft skin and licked the nape of her neck.

"Oh my god. John, don't do that," she moaned
easing her arms under his jacket so she could stroke his back.

"I'll get some wine and cheese or something
for later. What do you say?" His mouth closed slowly on hers in a
deep kiss.

She lifted her head to look at him. "That
would be awesome, but aren't my parents going to be here?"

"No, they're leaving after lunch," he said
and he kissed her again.

"Ooh, John, I can't wait. Go reserve the room
now, before they come downstairs."

"All right." He nuzzled her ear and teased,
"Are you in a hurry?"

"John! Stop."

"Okay. There's no rush. Let's go tell the
boys our good news and then have lunch with your parents. After
that, it's just you and me and the soaking tub."

Denny was sitting behind the front desk
frowning at his computer screen when he turned to see who had come
in. It took him a moment to recognize John and Theresa, bundled up
as they were, but when he did, a broad smile spread over the little
man's face. He clasped his hands and pressed them to his pink
cheek.

"Mr. Van Wart! Miss Buonadies! It's so good
to see you. What can I do for you? Need a room for the night?" he
teased.

"Denny, this beautiful girl has agreed to
make me the happiest man in the world." He pulled Theresa into his
arms. "We're getting married."

"Wonderful! Congratulations, John!" He jumped
up and gave them a hug. "Theresa, I wish you every happiness. Let
me see the ring."

Theresa held her hand out to display the
ring.

"Such a beautiful stone and I love the
vintage setting." There were tears in his eyes as he hugged them
again. "I know Danny will be thrilled for you. I can't wait to tell
him." He dabbed at his eyes and blew his nose. "So when is the
happy event?"

"June first. Rose is making all the plans and
insisted on a June wedding." He gave Theresa a squeeze, holding her
to him.

"I'm sure you two will be deliriously happy.
I don't know where I'd be without my love. We've been together
since college."

They heard footsteps on the stairs and turned
to see a stunning woman with flowing red hair enter the lobby.
Lithe and trim, her sparkling blue eyes smiled at Denny. She walked
swiftly into the lobby and called out, "Darling, I'm sorry I took
so long. The girls called just as I finished dressing and was
leaving the room."

John stared open mouthed, as the beautiful
woman went over to the little man and gave Denny a long
affectionate kiss, slipped her arm around his waist, and then
looked at the young couple with interest.

"Jennifer, I want to introduce you to my
friends," said Denny, beaming at the woman. He nodded towards John.
"This is Mr. Van Wart. He has the Shell Station around the corner,
and guess what? He just told me he's getting married to this lovely
lady, Miss Theresa Buonadies. This is my wife, Jenny. My better
half."

"How wonderful! I still remember when Dennis
proposed to me." She smiled at her husband and said, "We were
college sweethearts. He was so romantic."

There were more footsteps and another even
lovelier lady rounded the corner. She was also middle aged, but
lovely with a remarkable figure. In contrast to Jennifer's red hair
and fair skin, her wavy hair was dark, with delicate features and
almond eyes.

He turned to John. "That's Danny's wife. The
ladies haven't made the move up here yet. They both still have
their regular nine to five day jobs, but they come up every chance
they get now that the kids are gone. I'm sure you can imagine Danny
and I just miss them to death.

"Good morning, Beth. Darling, why don't you
two go on in and get some brunch? I'll be in shortly."

"Okay, but hurry, Darling." Jennifer smiled
at them before starting for the breakfast room with her friend.

John stared open mouthed at the women as they
strolled into the dining room and sat at one of the skirted tables
just inside the door.

Denny nudged him. Giving John a knowing look
he whispered, "We keep them up late when they're here, so they
sleep in."

John smiled.

"Oh, I just remembered something," said
Theresa. "You had the most wonderful Maple Pecan Granola when we
were here after the wedding last fall. Would you be willing to
share the recipe with me? It was really very good."