Wedding Bell Blues (22 page)

"Sorry. I just had to get out of here for awhile. Like I told
Colton, I suddenly couldn't sit back any longer and let other people
try to figure out what's going on. Besides, you know how I hate being
told what to do." At least she had the grace to chuckle but not
actually say anything. "And, before you ask, I told Colton what I did
and why. He doesn't approve but -" I shrugged, looking up at him for
help.

"But I understand where she's coming from, Dr. Jones," he took
up.
"However, I've also made it very clear to her that if she does anything
even remotely resembling this afternoon's foolishness, I'll cuff her
and haul her off to jail."

"Good." Mom gave a decisive nod and the subject was closed.
"Now, what can your father and I do, Jessie?"

"First off, where is Dad?"

"He had to go make his afternoon rounds. He'll be back later."

"There really isn't that much you can do right now. I've got
to deal
with the insurance folks tomorrow. They promised to have an adjuster
out, and their investigator should be there as well. Other than that,
I'll probably return to work next week. I'd already put in to take
Thursday and Friday off because of all the wedding activities."

"Which I understand you're now a part of, Colton." Mama smiled
at
him and I heard him swallow hard. I couldn't blame him. She was
watching him exactly like a cat watches the mouse just before pouncing.
Poor Colton. Hell, poor me. Now there'd be no escaping her attempts to
marry me off.

"Yes, ma'am. I guess I need to talk to Brett about the tux and
everything."

"Well, if you two stay for dinner, you can discuss everything
with him then."

"Mama, we can't. Not tonight."

I didn't need to see Colton's
panicked look to know the last thing he wanted was to stay any longer
than we had to. I felt the same way. No, we needed to get out of there,
talk about what happened, what was happening, and figure out what our
next move was going to be. At the same time, he needed to bring me up
to date on the investigation, before I decided to take matters into my
own hands again.

"You have to eat."

"Mama." I smiled and shook my head. "I promise not to do
anything
foolish tonight. Colton and I are going to go back to his apartment and
try to figure out what's going on. And I mean that in the broadest way
possible. We're going to talk about what happened at Manny's, the fire,
and what happened here earlier. Then we're going to talk about what's
happening with us. We can't do that if we stay here."

Beside me, Colton choked, and I reached over to give him a
solid
slap on the back between his shoulder blades. But it was my mother's
expression I watched. She simply nodded and smiled in approval. Then,
to my surprise, she slid the keys to her car across the coffee table in
my direction.

"In case you need them," she said simply.

"Thanks." I got to my feet and dropped the keys into my
pocket. "I'll call you later tonight so you don't worry."

"You take good care of her, Colton," Mama said as she walked
us to
the door a moment later. Then, to his obvious surprise, she reached up
and lightly kissed his cheek before giving me a hug. "And you watch
yourself, baby."

"I will, Mama." I kissed her cheek and then let Colton lead me
outside. One hurdle cleared. How many more to go before this was all
over?

"Jessie," Colton began as we slid into a booth in the back
corner of
Luigis, a small, family-owned Italian restaurant we both enjoyed. "Why
do I have the sinking feeling that your mother's up to something?"

I laughed, my first real laugh of the day, probably of the
last few
days. "Because she is, Colton. You said it yourself earlier when you
told me that she and my sister had come to see you when we broke up ten
years ago. She's always liked you and has long held that I'd made a
mistake back then. I don't know if she's right or if you were. But I do
know I ought to get a medal for not popping Heather and ruining her
expensive new nose. I can't believe she had the audacity to show up,
much less tell my mother what happened."

"Why did she show up, Jess? You never said."

"To be honest, I'm still not really sure." I leaned back,
looking at
our hands, fingers linked, on the table. "She said she'd gotten an
email about what happened and knew she had to come make sure I was all
right. She also said she wanted me to understand what happened that
day. I'll admit I wasn't exactly in the mood to listen - and not just
because someone had just taken pot shots at us."

For a few moments neither of us spoke. I nodded in
appreciation as
our waiter poured the wine. I still couldn't make sense of Heather's
sudden appearance. Nor could I figure out who might have emailed her
about what had been going on.

Before I could say anything else, Colton turned slightly in
the
booth so he could look me in the eye. "Jess, we do need to talk about
the case and, as much as I hate to say it, we need to talk about
Heather. But I think we'd better talk about us first."

Ooh, boy. He was right, but that didn't make it any easier.
Especially since I really didn't know if there was an "us" - Who was I
trying to fool? Of course there was an "us". Nothing else would have
let me have sex in my parents' house, with them downstairs where they
could easily guess what was going on. So I simply nodded and reached
for my wineglass.

Still, damn him, he didn't say anything else. So it was up to
me to
start the conversation. Well, fair's fair. I'd ended the relationship,
so I guess I ought to start the conversation that might actually start
a new relationship between us.

"Colton, I don't know what to say. I've been so mad at you
over the
years and so hurt. Now I find out that I overreacted and you didn't do
anything wrong. So I'm feeling guilty and foolish, neither of which I
like very much. Then I get mad all over again because you didn't fight
for us, even though, to be fair, you're probably right that neither of
us was really ready for a lasting relationship back then." Another sip
of wine, and I leaned back. His turn.

"I understand, Jessie, because I've felt basically the same
way.
I'll also admit that I've hated the fact that you didn't come begging
for me to come back. That hurt my ego. What hurt worse was knowing you
were out with other guys. So I dated as well, hoping to make you
jealous. I enjoyed the dating after awhile, but none of the women ever
came close to you."

Wow. I couldn't believe he'd admitted that. Wasn't that a
violation of the guy code or something?

"Colton, I don't know what's going to happen with us now." I
held up
a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. "No, I don't. Neither of us
can know. But I can tell you that it feels good to be with you again,
to hold you and have you hold me. Still, I need to go slow and let this
develop at its own speed."

"Does that mean you're going back to your parents' tonight?"
Disappointment filled his voice.

"Hell, no!' I laughed, leaning into him and lifting my face
for a quick kiss. "It means that we just need to see where it goes.

"Oh,
there's one more thing it means," I added, grinning wickedly up at him.
"It means no more sleeping on the sofa for you, Detective Dougherty."

He chuckled and slid his arm across my shoulders, giving me a
quick
hug. Then he sat back, nodding to the waiter in appreciation as he
served our hors d'oeuvres.

"On one condition," he said once the waiter moved off. "No
more
disappearing acts. Just let me know where you're going. I won't ask you
to stay in the apartment or at your parents' all day long."

"That's fair enough." If I wanted him to give a little, I had
to be
ready to do the same. "Now, you have to promise me something: you'll
keep me informed about the investigation."

"All right." He didn't like it, but he'd keep his word. "Right
now,
I need another glass or three of wine to help me forget that we had sex
at your parents' house and they were there."

"Please, Colton, don't remind me." Seeing how he lifted one
eyebrow
and looked down at me, as if saying "Oh, really?" I sighed softly. "You
know what I mean. The sex was great. It always was with you. But, damn,
we must have both lost our minds to do it with Mama there. She's going
to make it her life's mission now to get us married."

"Then we'll just have to find a way to keep her off-balance.
Now eat up."

That I was more than happy to do. Luigi's antipasto is to die
for.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" Colton
asked
yet again as he parked in the teachers' lot behind the school.

"I am."

Seeing how unhappy he looked, I smiled slightly in
reassurance. No matter how much he wanted to go with me, no matter how
much I wanted him to, I needed to do this on my own. Besides, it wasn't
as though I were spending the day there. I just needed to pick up a
couple of things from my classroom. Well, that and make sure Mrs.
Peterson understood I would be back to work Monday morning, whether she
liked it or not.

"All right. But keep your cell phone turned on and in your
pocket," he said.

I gave him a quick kiss and slid out of the car. As I hurried
inside, I could feel him watching me and, much to my surprise, it felt
good. Whatever else was going on, whatever else had happened this week,
having Colton back in my life seemed to be an inevitable by-product. I
just wished I knew exactly where it would lead.

All right, call me crazy, but I like knowing where my life is
headed, at least for the immediate future.

I'd
just finished making sure Missy Fernandez, the substitute teacher I'd
requested, understood what I wanted her to cover with my classes when I
heard the unmistakable tap-tap-tap of Mamie Peterson's high heels
hurrying down the hallway in the direction of my room. Oh, I had no
doubt my classroom was exactly where she was headed. She'd made it
clear the last time we talked that she expected me to stay away from
the school until "this unpleasantness" was cleared up. Well, she'd
better realize pretty damned quick that "this unpleasantness" might
never be cleared up and I planned to be back to work bright and early
Monday morning.

"Missy, give us a minute," I said when Mrs. Peterson appeared
in the
doorway. Missy, one of my favorite substitutes, nodded and quickly
slipped out of the room. As she did, she sent me a sympathetic look
over Peterson's shoulder. "Good morning, Mrs. Peterson." I smiled and
continued loading assignments in my shoulder bag.

"I was surprised to hear you were in the building, Jessica,"
she
commented, arms folded across her chest, her expression serious. "I
thought we had an agreement."

"Mrs. Peterson, I'm only here to pick up the assignments my
students have done this week."
Do
not pick a fight with her, Jess. Let her be the one to step over the
line
.
"As for returning to work, I'll be back on Monday. By then the bruising
to my face will have faded enough I'll be able to hide it with makeup."

"I'd prefer it if you'd wait until the uproar over what's
happened
to you dies down, Jessica. I'm afraid your presence in the classroom
will be a distraction to your students."

She sounded so reasonable, so concerned. But I knew better.
She'd
been trying to find a way to get rid of me, and a number of other
teachers, since being assigned here at the beginning of the school
year. Now she saw what happened as the leverage she needed to push me
out. Well, I wasn't going to let her.

"Mrs. Peterson, the only distraction will be if I'm not here
and
they have to get ready for their finals, finals that I will be
preparing, without me." I let just a bit of bite creep into my voice.
If she wanted a fight, she'd get one. Especially since she didn't seem
to realize there were several teachers now lingering just outside the
classroom, probably alerted by Missy to what was about to take place.
"I happen to believe that the students will be more distracted by their
questions about what happened to me and by their worry for me, should I
continue to be absent from the classroom, than they will be by a few
bruises they might happen to see."

"And I happen to believe you're wrong. I've already had a
number of
calls from parents expressing concern for the safety of their children
should you return to the classroom."

"Really?" I arched one brow in question. I didn't doubt that
she'd
had calls. But I did doubt they were quite the kind of calls she
purported them to be. "A number of calls? How many would that be?"

"I don't remember the exact number off the top of my head. The
point
is, there's concern over the safety of students should you return to
the classroom." She all but sniffed in superiority. Bitch.

"So, it is my understanding that you would prefer it if I not
return
to the classroom until the police capture and the district attorney
convicts whoever robbed the liquor store and killed the owner and then
set fire to my home. Is that correct?" Let's see how well she liked
having it thrown back in her face in such a way that she either had to
back off or admit to something that would put her in serious trouble
with the district's attorneys and administration for trying to violate
the terms of my contract.

"Precisely. I'm so glad you understand."

God, she was unbelievable. She actually smiled in relief,
apparently
believing I'd just agreed to do as she wanted. Well, I was about to
burst that little bubble of self-delusion.

"Mrs. Peterson, what you want is irrelevant, as far as I'm
concerned, and a violation of my contract with the district. If I
agreed to hide until all those preconditions happened, I might never
return to the classroom. Further, the district would have every reason
to terminate my employment.