The Spirit Tree (19 page)

“Oh no.” Two extra cars sat in the driveway. “No, no, no.”

“What’s wrong?” Bryson hit the “Lock” button to keep me from climbing out of the car before it stopped.

“That’s my mother’s, I mean, Darlene’s car, and Aaron is here.” I grabbed his arm. “Let’s go. I don’t want to do this now.”

“Tessa, we have to get the journal. It will be fine.” Bryson took my hand.

“Yeah, well, you don’t know Darlene.” I sat back in the seat, pouting. Bryson got out of the car and scanned the far side of the railroad tracks and the yard. I sprang from the car the moment he opened the door and burst through the front door with Bryson following.

“My, my, look what the cat dragged in.” Darlene smiled from the kitchen table, where she sat with Aaron and Mae. “We were just talking about you.”

Bryson set his hand on my shoulder. He kept me upright and prevented me from launching myself at Darlene.

“I didn’t realize you weren’t staying here anymore. I stopped by to thank you for your help,” Aaron said, clearing his throat.

I could only imagine what Darlene had said to him.

“Yes, Aaron was telling me how you two met.” Darlene slurred his name until it sounded almost singsong.

“Maybe you should call before you stop in?” I didn’t mean to sound gruff, but he should have called.

“I tried several times.” Aaron stood, and Darlene grabbed his hand, tugging him back down.

“Tessa Marie, that is no way to speak to a fine, upstanding member of the law.” Darlene feigned horror.

Bryson stepped forward and extended his hand. “I’m Bryson. You must be Darlene.”

I moved past him into my bedroom. Before I closed the door, I caught a glimpse of Darlene. She stared at Bryson like he was the tastiest cupcake in the case.

Wasting no time, I ignored the voices in the other room and stuffed the cedar box into my pillowcase. Mae would ask too many questions if she saw me taking the box out of the house.

I went back out. “Aaron,” I said, “it was nice to see you, but Bryson and I have to go. Maybe we can meet up later?” I hugged the pillow, pressing the edges of the box into my chest.

“Sure, yeah. I have to get back to work anyway.” He stood again, shooting Bryson and me a quizzical look.

“I’ll walk you out.” I smiled and blew Mae a kiss. As I turned for the door, Mae stood.

“Tessa Marie, why are you off in such a hurry?” Her tone made me feel eight years old.

“Bryson needs to be in Geneva in forty-five minutes. He’s going to be late if we don’t hotfoot it out of here.”

Mae pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, knowing full well I’d lied. “All right, then, you better scoot. I expect you two for dinner at six. No arguments.”

“Oh, I just love a family dinner,” Darlene chimed in with her saccharin-sweet smile.

“This isn’t a family dinner. I need to speak with Miss Tessa Marie.” Mae’s chin rose, and she nodded, telling me I had darned well better be there at six.

Darlene grinned, making no move to leave. “I better go. I don’t know what’s going on here, but someone is in trouble.” No doubt she planned to stay and fish for information.

“Yes, ma’am.” I frowned at Bryson and stepped outside. I needed some fresh air after dealing with Darlene.

Aaron on one side, Bryson on the other, I walked to my car. “Sorry about that.”

“Man, you really can’t lie.” Aaron chuckled. “I thought she was going to send you to the corner.”

I bit back my words to keep from taking my frustration out on him. This was, after all, his fault. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Aaron stepped in the way before I could shut the door.

“Hey, sorry. I was only teasing.” He smiled. “I have news on the case. Do you have time to hear it?”

Bryson stuck the key into the ignition but didn’t turn it over. I shrugged and fastened my seat belt. “Sure.”

Aaron gave me the same curious look he had inside. “You’re in a hurry. I’ll catch you up over drinks tonight. That is, if your bodyguard will let me have you all to myself.”

I nodded, thinking this situation could not possibly be more awkward. “Sounds like a plan. Call me later.”

Aaron leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head in the nick of time. His lips landed on my cheek. The situation had become even more awkward. Bryson started the car before I could think of anything to say. Aaron narrowed his eyes at the other man. “Bye, Tessa.”

“Bye, Aaron.” I smiled as he closed my door and slapped the top of the car.

“Well, that sucked.” I pulled the box from the pillowcase.

Bryson remained stoic, his eyes on the road. “Are you going out with him tonight?”

“No, I’ll tell him I have a headache when he calls.” I turned my face toward the window.

“You better learn to lie between now and then.” He downshifted as he pulled onto the highway.

“Are you angry with me?”

“Nope. Contrary to popular belief, we are not engaged. Hell, we aren’t even dating.”

I opened the box and stared at the picture of Charlie and me. What I wouldn’t give to be four again, when he was the only man in my life. “We may need Aaron to find Marvin. I don’t want to burn that bridge yet.”

“True.” Bryson nodded in my direction. “I don’t have anything against him. He’s a good guy, but the longer you string him along, the harder it is going to be to walk away.”

“What if I don’t walk away? What if we remain friends?”

“I know you have feelings for him. Can you do that?”

“I have male friends I don’t sleep with.”

“I’m not talking about sex. Can you keep him at arm’s length and maintain a friendship?”

Could I?
I didn’t know.

“You know he wants more than that from you.”

“I know.” I turned back to the window.

The entire afternoon turned into an exercise in patience. Marvin Hicks had disconnected his cell phone. He hadn’t returned to work, and the university hadn’t heard from him. Bryson followed up on a few leads and hit a wall every time. To make matters worse, he grew quiet and withdrawn, while I wanted to scream.

“I think I should call Aaron and ask him to run the plates. Do you think he can check Marvin’s credit-card activity? He couldn’t have vanished off the face of the earth.” I paced, while Bryson banged on the keyboard.

“Sure.” He leaned closer to the screen.

I threw my hands up and marched to the bedroom. I took a moment to calm down before dialing Aaron’s number.

“Hey, Tessa, I was about to call you.” Aaron sounded as chipper as ever.

“I thought I would call and firm up plans,” I said. How many more lies would I tell before this was over?

“I should get off work by eight. Will that give you enough time to finish dinner with Mae?” He laughed.

He’d better not be laughing at
me
. I sweetened my voice. You get more flies with honey than with vinegar, and I needed a few flies. “I hope so. If not, you might have to call for backup to get me out of there. Let’s say eight at Fitzpatrick’s in Winter Park. Do you know the place?”

“Irish bar, near Rollins, right?”

“Yes, sir, that’s the place.” I swallowed back bile. Tonight I would give him the “It’s not you it’s me” conversation.

“Okay, see you then.”

“Aaron, I have a huge favor to ask. Do you remember Dr. Hicks?”

“Yeah, he was there when you got shot.”

“He’s missing. He hasn’t shown up for work, and no one can reach him. Is there any way you can check up on his credit cards or license plate—whatever it is you guys do to find people?”

“Sure, but someone should file a missing-person’s report.”

“I know, but we haven’t reached any of his family. Dottie had only one number for him, and it’s disconnected. It would ease our minds if we knew he was all right. With everything going on . . .” I laid it on thick, praying it would work.

“I’m on it. Marvin Hicks from UF. Anything else?”

“That’s it. Thank you, Aaron.” I sighed in relief. Aaron would find him. “See you at eight.”

Bryson watched me as I came out of the bedroom. He turned and wrote something on a sheet of paper. The tension between us was driving me nuts. I thought we’d drawn a truce after our recent night out, but the tension returned.

“He’s going to try to find Dr. Hicks. I’m meeting him at eight. I plan to tell him I need some time to deal with my loss before I jump into a relationship.” I sat on the couch as Bryson pulled his boots on.

“Is that what you want?” He met my eyes.

“It’s what I need to do. Hailey was right when she told me to take my time.”

“Fair enough.” He picked up my keys and Charlie’s book. “We need to go or we’ll be late for dinner.”

“Why are you so angry with me?” I’d had enough tiptoeing around. If he wouldn’t talk on his own, then I’d pick a fight to get him talking.

“I’m not upset with you.” Bryson folded his arms across his chest, watching me as if I were a puzzle to solve.

“Fair enough.” I stood, grabbing my purse off the table.

“I’m nervous, okay?” he said.

“About what? We
will
find Marvin.” If he doubted our ability to find Marvin, we were in serious trouble.

“Yes, we will.”

“Then why are you nervous?”

“Mae. She was pretty quiet today. I don’t know her well, but that can’t be good.”

I giggled, covering my mouth in an effort to hold in my laughter. The mental image of Mae beating Bryson with a rolled-up newspaper played through my head.

Bryson closed the distance between us in two strides, drew me into his arms, and half pulled me to the door. “Laugh it up, but I’m serious.”

The tension in Bryson’s shoulders increased with each mile. I couldn’t help but grin, as he worked himself up over Mae. I didn’t look forward to her lecture, but I’d faced this sort of thing before. We’d live through it. If I were a bigger person, I would have tried to calm him down. Truth be told, I enjoyed watching him squirm.

Bryson swept the yard while I waited in the car. I offered my sweetest smile when he opened my door. “Bryson, relax. She can smell fear like skunk on a dog.”

He gave me a dirty look. Walking to the front door reminded me of walking in front of a firing squad. Although, this firing squad promised to be entertaining and involved food.

“You two get over here and set the table,” Mae said, elbow deep in potato salad.

I winked at Bryson and pulled down four plates. He set out the forks and knives. By the time we’d set the table, Mae had the food on platters and bowls.

“It smells good, Gram,” I told her.

“Of course it does. Now put the chicken on the table, and one of you needs to explain why I was asked to plan a Bride Feast.” Mae dried her hands and looked between us.

“Wait, wait. Don’t tell yet. I want to hear this, too.” Dottie came in with a basket full of tomatoes from the garden. Unlike Mae, Dottie seemed tickled by the newest turn of events.

I decided to let Bryson explain, since every time I opened my mouth, I put my foot in it. He shook his head and took his seat at the table—of all the times for him to be a coward.

“It’s all a big misunderstanding,” I said.

“Tessa Marie, I’m an old woman. I don’t have all night to wait for you to tell me what happened. I
know
it’s a misunderstanding.” Mae sat and passed the food.

I relayed the high points of our conversation with Buck. My life had more drama than one of their soap operas.

“Bryson, would you kindly tell me how old you are?” Mae never took her eyes off me.

“Ma’am?” Bryson set the bowl of carrots on the table.

“You heard me.” Mae slid her eyes in his direction.

Bryson glanced between Dottie and Mae. “A little over a hundred, this August.”

My jaw hit the table. He’d told me he was in his sixties when Dottie and Charlie were married, but I hadn’t done the math. Mae made a disapproving noise. Dottie reached over and took Mae’s hand in hers. I sat back in my chair as my world tilted.

Dottie asked, “How do you feel about this, Bryson?”

“It isn’t my decision, but I do plan to bring Mae gifts once we find the one who caused all of this trouble,” he said with a steady voice.

“Tessa, do you understand what he means?” Mae stared at Bryson.

“No.” I slumped in my chair, trying to make myself as small as I felt.

Bryson took my hand. “It is customary for the man to bring gifts to the woman’s grandmother. Mae must accept my gifts before I can ask you to be my wife. Of course, you must also accept the proposal.”

I yanked my hand away and shook my head.

“Tessa, you have a lot to deal with right now. I’ll wait until you’re ready,” Bryson said.

The defeat in his voice stole my breath. “We barely know each other. I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation. I don’t know when I’ll be ready, or if I’ll
ever
be ready.”

Bryson smiled. “I’m a patient man.”

Mae laughed and said, “Good. You’ll need to be if you’re going to marry my great-granddaughter. Now that we have that settled, eat before it gets cold.”

I sat at the bar admiring the brass railing and shiny bar top. After some negotiation, I convinced Bryson to let me speak to Aaron alone. Despite the risks, if I had any hope of maintaining a friendship with Aaron, I needed to speak to him without a babysitter. I used to come here for happy hour once or twice a week. It felt like it had been years since I’d sat on the worn barstools and chatted with my favorite bartender.

I rehearsed what I would say to Aaron. Preoccupied, I didn’t notice Hailey sidle up next to me.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Hailey leaned over, pressing her shoulder into mine.

I turned and hugged her. “I thought your rate was a hundred and twenty an hour?”

“Friends and family discount.” Hailey glanced at my drink. “What I wouldn’t give for a Hot Irish right about now.”

I slid the drink out of Hailey’s reach. “Where’s Scott?”

“Parking the car. He didn’t think I should walk two blocks in the rain.” Hailey frowned, though I knew she loved the attention. “Are you meeting someone?”

“That detective I told you about.”