Thwarting Cupid (24 page)

Hutch frowned. “Court date? For what? For not drinking and driving? Since when is that against the law?” He flipped on the interior light of the car to read the ticket.

“Please watch your tone,” Hank warned. “This is Koala Springs, not Hutchin Town. You’re not above the law over here.”

Hutch worked to decipher the officer’s scrawl.

“C’mon Hank,” Trudy cajoled. “Give us a break–”

“Public indecency? Lewd acts? You’re citing us with sex crimes?” Hutch interrupted Trudy’s pleas. “What exactly do you think we were doing? Wait. I know what you think we were doing, but I don’t know why. We were just sitting here having a conversation.”

“Oh. That reminds me. Parking on this shoulder in a non-emergency situation is also a misdemeanor.” The officer started writing another ticket.

Hutch was fed up. This was beyond ridiculous. He opened his car door a crack to get out, but the officer’s body was blocking the way.

“Stay in the car, sir.”

“But these charges are ridiculous,” Hutch protested. “We were not doing anything.”

“Only because I interrupted before you could.” The officer thrust the second ticket at him. “Sign here.”

“I’m not signing anything.” Hutch refused to even take the paper from the officer’s hand.

“Either sign it or go to jail.”

“Just sign the stupid thing so we can get out of here,” Trudy urged.

Hutch looked at her, amazed. This whole thing was her fault. She was the one who’d insisted on taking Jolene home. She was the one who had started fondling him, causing him to pull over. He glared at her.

“No. I am not signing anything admitting I did a darn thing when none of it is even remotely true.”

Hank opened his door all the way. “Please step out of the car. You’re under arrest.”

“You have got to be kidding.”

“I assure you I’m not.”

“Jim, just sign the stupid ticket. We can work this out later.”

Hutch glared at Trudy. He was sick to death of her. Moving slowly, he pulled the keys from the ignition and stuck them in his pocket before getting out of the car.

“What are you doing?” Trudy leaned across the seat.

Hutch slammed the door. “Arrest me then.”

The officer put his ticket book away and pushed Hutch against the side of the car. He reached in Hutch’s coat pocket and pulled out the keys. Trudy got out of the car and hurried over to them.

“Trudy can take your car on home.”

“If you give her those keys I will report you both for grand theft auto. Tow it.”

“That’s absurd, Jimmy. I’m a good driver,” Trudy protested.

“How is she supposed to get home?”

“You’re the one arresting her ride. Figure it out.” Hutch bit his lip when Hank yanked his injured arm behind his back and snapped a cuff around his wrist. He held in a grimace when his other arm joined the first and Hank escorted him back to the cruiser.

“Jimmy, please. Just sign the paper. This is ridiculous and you can put a stop to it.”

Hutch climbed in the back of the cruiser and tried not to think about his stitches popping free. The last thing he needed to deal with at the moment was blood. He focused instead on how furious he was with Trudy.

Hank opened the front passenger side door and she climbed in. The officer hurried around and got behind the wheel. Trudy turned around to look at Hutch.

“I can’t believe you’re being so unreasonable, Jimmy,” Trudy huffed. “And now you’re dragging me in to this, too”

“I’m dragging you into this? Are you kidding? I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me this weekend no matter how silly or poorly planned.”

“Poorly planned? I worked my butt off planning the logistics!”

“Oh, so it was logical for me to have run the length of the parade route multiple times to ride with all the mayors? Did you think of maybe putting all of us in one vehicle? Or have another car to drive me back? Wouldn’t that be more logical?”

“I don’t know what happened–”

“Of course you don’t. You were too busy trying to rush me off to the next thing.”

“To which you were late. Carissa promised she’d bring you right to the venue. I should’ve known I couldn’t trust her. She just wanted you all to herself.”

“And why shouldn’t she? It’s her birthday and we’re a couple.”

Trudy snorted and turned around to stare out the windshield. “We all know how long that’s going to last.”

Hutch frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? That’s the second time you’ve said that.”

She whirled around to face him. “It means that I’m sick of waiting for you to grow up and get past this bachelor lifestyle of yours and start acting like a responsible adult.”

Hutch raised his missing eyebrows. “I don’t recall ever asking you to wait for anything. And for the record, you have no idea how I live my life nor is it any of your business. But just so we’re clear, Carissa is not just some random girl I brought home on the spur of the moment. If she’s still talking to me after being abandoned tonight, I’m going to marry her.” Hutch leaned forward to get in Trudy’s face. “How’s that for grown up?”

Despite the fact he was handcuffed in the back of a police car on his way to jail, Hutch enjoyed the shocked look on her face.

Chapter 22

Carissa hunkered down under the covers in Sarah’s room. She’d given up on trying not to cry hours ago. She couldn’t believe Hutch had abandoned her like he had. At first, she’d tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d just been handling his Founder’s Family duties. He wasn’t ignoring her on purpose. Except every time she’d caught a glimpse of him, he’d been laughing it up with the other guests and Trudy had been looking real comfortable on his arm.

She couldn’t believe she’d fallen for this ‘we’ stuff. Then there were all the comments from people who’d known him all his life. They all seemed to be convinced he and Trudy were destined to be together. Outside of their abbreviated dance earlier in the evening, Carissa couldn’t say with any certainty that they weren’t right. The more time that passed without being able to confront Hutch with her suspicions, the more convinced she became that she was a blind idiot.

Carissa fingered the necklace he’d given her. He sure went out of his way to make her feel otherwise. Why would he give her such an expensive necklace if he wasn’t somewhat serious about having a relationship? Then there was the way he’d cared for her after the accident. Could he be that good of a friend without wanting something more? She rolled over on her back to stare at the ceiling in the dark. She needed to talk to Hutch. She was driving herself crazy with all this speculation.

A knock on the door startled her. Hutch. Good. She had to get to the bottom of this. Carissa climbed out of bed and hurried to the door. She took a moment to wipe away the evidence of her tears then pulled it open. Del stood there. His hand raised to knock again. His expression was beyond grim. She frowned.

“Del? What is it? What’s going on?”

“Trudy just called me. Hutch has been arrested.”

“Arrested? What on earth?”

He held up his hands. “I don’t have details, but it sounds like he’s fine. Just pissed. At Trudy.”

“The cops were here? When was that? I don’t remember seeing them,” Carissa said with a frown.

“Me, neither, but then I ducked out early to get some work done.”

Given the doubts Carissa had going through her own head, she had no trouble understanding the expression that flitted across his face. “You up for a little outing?”

* * * *

Forty-five minutes later, Carissa followed Del into a tiny police station. A blond woman who looked pretty darn amazing considering it was almost three in the morning met them at the door. She extended a hand to Del.

“Thanks for meeting us, Susan,” he greeted her and introduced Carissa to the pretty prosecuting attorney. Carissa wondered why the prosecutor from Koala Springs was so interested in this case that she would show up in the middle of the night. Her question was part way answered in Susan’s next breath.

“I’m running for mayor next year. With your contacts in Washington, I don’t mind having you owe me a favor.”

Del cracked a smile. “Hmm. What’s with this sudden competitive streak?” He and Carissa followed Susan into an even smaller room.

Susan rolled her eyes and closed the door behind them. “Not sudden. Just intensified. Mayor Slotnik is a total lunatic. Which, by the way, is kind of an issue for you right now.”

Carissa frowned. “What do you mean?”

“She’s still ticked Mr. Hutchington snubbed her at the parade yesterday morning. Even though the charges are pretty much bogus…”

Del continued the woman’s sentence. “…She’s determined to make something stick.”

“Just to prove a point,” Susan finished.

“So we’re dealing with a political situation?” Carissa asked, eyeballing the two lawyers who were speaking almost as one. All of sudden she felt like a very obtrusive third wheel. Just like that, the rest of the pieces fell into place. Susan wasn’t there just for Del’s contacts. She was there for Del himself.

“Maybe you should give us the rundown of what happened,” Del suggested to Susan.

Carissa tried to keep her face impassive while she listened to Susan fill them in. More than anything, she wanted to believe the reports were wrong. That Hutch and Trudy hadn’t had their hands all over each other when the officer arrived. That everything was a mistake. And that she wasn’t about to lose Hutch to another woman when she hadn’t been looking.

Just like before.

“So what you need from me is a legal reason to dismiss all the charges so we can forget this ever happened,” Del surmised.

Susan touched her nose. “Got it in one.” She handed him a thin file then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a pearl pendant hanging from the lobe. Carissa glanced at Del. He didn’t appear to notice.

“That’s a pretty earring,” Carissa remarked. “Pearls are always so lovely.” She emphasized the statement trying to get Del’s attention. He frowned at Carissa before checking out Susan’s jewelry.

“Uh…yeah. Thank you. I wear these all the time. I just feel naked without them,” Susan remarked.

Del coughed, but kept his head buried in the file. Carissa sucked on her cheeks to keep from smiling outright. No reason to not have at least one positive thing come out of all this mess. Just because her brief stint into the non-single domain was about to come to an end didn’t mean everyone else had to be alone, too.

“It seems like you two have a lot to discuss. Is it okay if I see Hutch?” Carissa asked. She couldn’t take any more of this discussion. If Hutch wanted to be with Trudy, then she wasn’t going to stand in his way. After all, they could still be friends. She’d survived Tabitha. She could survive Trudy.

Susan hesitated. “Sure. Just don’t talk about what happened until the charges are no longer pending.”

Carissa shot a questioning look at Del. “Why?”

“You’re not his attorney. What he tells you can become evidence later. Besides, the walls around here have big ears.”

After getting Del’s advice, Carissa left him and Susan alone to hammer out the legalese. Despite the circumstances, Carissa liked the woman. She was competent and kind. And more than a match for Del if the legal banter volleying back and forth across the room was any indication.

She closed the door behind her and looked at the empty desks throughout the main office area. She closed her hand around the necklace Hutch had given her less than twenty-four hours ago. She’d been so happy and optimistic that their relationship was moving to a new level. She never could have imagined it would take such a sharp turn in the opposite direction so soon. She couldn’t believe she’d let herself get sucked into his charming ways and thought any of this had been real.

Carissa took a deep, calming breath. If she looked at the big picture, what had she really lost? Nothing. They’d run into each other less than two weeks ago. Far too short of a time for her life to have changed. If she were honest, the biggest change had been a result of those dreams. Not from anything Hutch himself had done. Carissa rubbed her temples. She was a complete idiot. The best thing she could do right now was get in there and let him go.

Carissa found the strength to push her way through a door at the rear of the station, where she saw a cell lining one wall. Trudy was pacing the length of the room talking a mile a minute at Hutch. He was lying on the cot in the cell with his injured arm over his eyes. Her heart went out to him. Was he okay? His arm had to be hurting like mad. His pills were in his room.

Carissa shut down that line of thinking. It was no longer her concern.

Trudy spun around at the end of the room and stopped short, both words and mouth, when she saw Carissa. Even after everything that had happened, the two of them still couldn’t bear to be separated. If she’d needed any more proof that Hutch and Trudy wanted to be together, this was it.

“Great. This night is now complete.” Trudy pouted and folded her arms across her chest. Her hair was turning into a bird’s nest on the top of her head and her makeup had long ago given up the fight. “This doesn’t concern you. Why are you even here?”