by Jessica Berg
Noah glanced at Dominick. “Who’s Carpenter Hottie?”
Dominick scratched at his temple. “Heck if I know.”
“No, Grace, I will not calm down.” Phoebe continued on her tirade. “I found a mouse in my bathtub this morning and just now a spider as big as Mrs. Sloucombe climbed up my leg. And, for the record, I can call Dominick anything I want.”
Noah jabbed an elbow in Dominick’s side. “I guess we found out who Carpenter Hottie is.”
“Shut up.”
A whirlwind with streaming black hair and neon green shorts descended the front steps. Muttering to herself, she bumped into Noah. On the cusp of a creative swear word, she stopped dead still. Her sapphire eyes darted between them.
“I, um, was telling Grace what an amazing job you’ve done, Dominick. And, Noah, I hope I didn’t crush your toes, as I am as large as an ox and as graceful as a water buffalo … or so I’ve been told.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and she ran toward the pond with an occasional arm flailing as if chastising herself.
Dominick gave his friend a push. “Go get her, pal.”
Noah trotted after her and slipped an arm around her waist. Dominick shook his head and walked to his truck. If this house was ever going to get done, he needed to get more supplies. Maybe if he drove slow enough …
***
“Does it hurt bad?”
Grace smiled at Lilly as she prodded her elbow with a pink plastic stethoscope. “It feels much better now, Doctor Lilly.”
The little blonde-haired girl pressed her ear to Grace’s elbow and busied herself with other pieces of her anatomy. An ear, then her fingertip. After having a tree-hug two days ago, she needed a little ray of sunshine. And the ray of sunshine checked her big toe for a heartbeat.
“You are a good patient. Daddy never sits still for me. He says it tickles.” Lilly scrunched her nose. “Daddy is silly.” She stopped wiggling Grace’s little toe and studied her with surprising wisdom. “I told Mommy I was coming here to fix you.”
“And I’m glad you did come to fix me.”
“Mommy said it was okay. Sometimes I wish I could fix my Mommy too.” Lilly crawled into her lap when Grace opened her arms.
She held the little girl who had captured her heart. Would it have been like this if I’d had a child? She ignored the negative thoughts and held Lilly, soaking in the little girl scent of dirt and summer, bubblegum and sunshine. Lilly snuggled deeper into her embrace. Grace rested her head on the downy blonde head and sang the songs her father had sung to her.
***
That’s how Dominick found them. His heart skipped a beat at Grace holding his little girl. Both had fallen asleep on Grace’s bed. Lilly’s head, tucked under Grace’s chin, belonged there. While part of his heart still mourned for Carmen and always would, he knew the woman holding his child would make the perfect mother for Lilly and the perfect wife for him.
He knelt beside the bed, couldn’t take his eyes off Grace. Her auburn hair hung in rivulets, framing her oval face. One of Lilly’s hands had snagged a piece of it and had fallen asleep, still clutching the soft tresses. He hoped one day he could do the same. His eyes took in the bruises and scratches on her face, but those wounds did not mar her beauty.
Tiny freckles dotted the top of her nose and under her eyes. He wanted to kiss every single one of them. And her lips. He’d taken his fill of them enough to know he couldn’t go without. At the memory of her pinned under the tree and hail pummeling her, his heart twisted in his chest. He could have lost her as well. He risked touching a curl that had escaped and cascaded past her right eye.
Her eyes opened. He withdrew his hand and whispered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
Her wistful gaze on Lilly broke Dominick’s heart. “That’s okay,” Grace whispered back. Her right hand lightly caressed Lilly’s hair. “It’s like silk.”
“Her mother’s hair was like that.” Dominick swallowed around a lump in this throat. “In fact, if you want to know what Carmen looked like, all you need to do is look at her daughter.”
“Carmen was gorgeous.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she was.” Dominick blinked tears back. “How are you holding up?”
“My leg hurts, and my face feels like someone mistook it for a punching bag.”
Dominick tenderly clasped Grace’s free hand. “No, Grace. I’m not talking about that. How are you? ”
Dominick smudged a tear from her cheek. Her closed eyes didn’t stop the tears. He wiped away each one. He knew the shadows on her face. He had seen it in the mirror a hundred times. Regret, fear, loneliness.
“Sorry. You don’t want some blubbering woman to deal with.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He clutched her hand. “I want to help you. Know you. Please.”
Lilly squirmed in Grace’s arms but didn’t wake. She snuggled deeper into Grace and entwined both hands in Grace’s hair. The mere trickle of tears avalanched into a waterfall.
“I never wanted to be a trophy wife.” She gasped as if the words stung. “All I ever wanted was to be loved and to have someone love me. Is that too much to ask?” She whispered hoarsely. “I can’t explain the emotions that came over me when I saw Kevin, my ex, lace my yogurt with birth control pills. To me, we were on the same page. I went through a series of emotions. Betrayal, disbelief, and hatred. Hatred at Kevin. Hatred at God. Hatred at myself for becoming a mindless bimbo.”
She swatted at her tears. “My mother didn’t think it was such a bad deal. I was supposed to live it up. And children did put a hamper on one’s social life. My father, God rest his soul, would have punched Kevin in the gonads if he’d known.” A smile flickered on her face. “Phoebe is the only thing I have in this entire world.” She glanced at the tiny fist in her hair. “Pretty pitiful life story.”
He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. “Do you know what I see when I look at you? I see a confident, independent woman who is forging a life for herself and who’s not afraid to get a little elbow grease on herself along the way. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. And when the time is right, you will make a great mother.”
Sweat beaded on his forehead. If any time was right, it was now. But Fear slithered around his stomach like a boa constrictor and squeezed. He had seen enough of those hideous snakes to know the damage they could wreak. The same would happen to him if he didn’t confess to the woman before him. He took in her green eyes, full of care, and dare he say it, love? To earn that right, he had a confession to make.
He took the plunge. “Grace, I need to tell you something… about me.”
“Okay.” Her smile, kind and understanding, settled his nerves.
“I … um … kind of left some essential information out of my little bio I gave you.” Her lips slipped slightly. “Remember that night at Reed’s Diner when you accused me of being a mercenary?”
“I never ‘accused,’ I simply guessed.” She smoothed Lilly’s hair.
“Well, you weren’t quite on the mark, but you were close.” He took a deep breath. Here it goes. “I have killed before.”
Her smile disappeared.
Dominick clasped her hands in his. “I was a Marine. Special forces. Part of my job, at times, to take out the enemy. And I did. My enemy took my wife. I watched him kill my wife, my life, my joy. She died protecting Lilly. I couldn’t save her.” He released her hands and gently twirled a piece of Lilly’s hair around his calloused index finger. “I wanted to tell you before we … well … I just needed you to tell you.”
She placed her hand on his cheek and tentatively traced his scar. He closed his eyes as she ran her finger over the fine line. “Is this where you got this?”
“Yes.” He met her gaze. “Do you hate me now?”
“Hate?” Tears pooled in her eyes. “No. I could never hate you. Ever. I’m sorry you had to witness your wife’s death. I’m sorry you couldn’t save her.”
“Me too. Her death crushed me. Almost killed me. If it weren�
�t for little Lilly, I’d have become an alcoholic, suicidal.” His heart raced, and heat slammed into him as she traced her finger over his scar again.
“I’m glad you had Lilly. She’s truly a precious gift.” She tilted her head slightly and pressed a soft kiss to his daughter’s hair.
He wished she’d do the same for him. He stopped her roving fingers over his scar and held them to his heart. “Thank you for understanding, for not turning your back on me. I can barely stand to look at myself in the mirror some days. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d—”
“You served this country, Dominick. You had a job to do, and you did it. I’m not saying killing is right, but every kill you made was a righteous one. I love another man who also had that burden to bear as well.”
“Your father.”
“Yes, my father. Roy Muldoon was not his first.” She tapped her finger on his chest. “What you have inside of you is much more powerful and important than the targets you were ordered to take out. I’m not a naïve child. Some terrible jobs have to be done, and there are only a select few men and women who are gifted with the resolve and bravery to do them.”
Tears burned at the back of his eyes. He didn’t care. They fell down his face as her words soothed his broken soul and absolved his fears. “You, my dear Spitfire, are a true wonder.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll consider me more than a friend. I —”
Lilly stirred in Grace’s arms, yawned, and rubbed her eyes, giving a toothy grin. “Daddy!” With a squeal, she launched herself out of Grace’s arms and into his waiting arms.
He whispered in Lilly’s ear. She gave a toothy grin and jumped back in Grace’s lap. “Are you coming on Saturday for the 4thof July? That’s …” She counted the days left on her left hand. “One, two. There are two days left ‘til then.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Lilly slid down and gathered up her doctor’s kit. “I need to find Phoebe. She said painting is a pain. She needs fixing too.” She skipped from the room, yodeling Phoebe’s name.
Dominick shuffled his feet, hoping he hadn’t screwed up by asking her to be more than friends. “You are still planning on coming, right?”
“Of course. I never break my promises.”
“Good. Lilly would be disappointed if you couldn’t make it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I’ll let you get back to resting. Take it easy now, and don’t think about a thing.” On impulse, he lowered his lips a breath away from hers. “Except for this.” And he kissed her lightly, enough to get a nibble of her, and left before she could even think about throwing a pillow at his back for stealing a kiss. He rubbed the stubble on his cheek. It was well worth the risk.
Chapter 21
Screams ripped Grace from her dream. Phoebe. She flung herself out of bed, pain ricochetting through her body as her bad leg impacted the floor. Ignoring the pulsating throbs, she grappled for her handgun tucked safely in her nightstand drawer. Another scream pierced the air. She hobbled to her door, inched her head out of her door, and froze.
Two dead raccoons lay in the hall, blood pooling around the carcasses. The words Prepare To Die covered every inch of the beige hallway. Everywhere she looked, the raccoons’ blood dripped her the same message. Her own blood pooled to her feet. Her head, light and airy, wanted to pop right off her neck and skitter across the ceiling. Phoebe’s scream sliced through the fog in her brain, kicking it into overdrive.
Signaling for Phoebe to stay put, she limped to the front door. The alarm keypad told her everything. Someone had disarmed the alarm. There was no evidence of tampering.
She squelched rising panic. “Phoebe, call the police.”
While Phoebe did that, Grace called Dominick. She needed his calm voice, his steady hands. If she were honest with herself, she knew she needed him. All of him. Minutes ticked by and felt like hours. Phoebe’s sniveling punctuated the silence. Grace held her, keeping her own fear and anger in check. For now.
Red and blue lights filtered through the curtains. Crunching gravel a welcome sound. It was only when another sound, the rumbling of a diesel engine, did Grace’s heart jump. She flung himself into Dominick’s arms, not caring about the milling police setting up crime scene tape and gathering evidence. Before too long, Noah ran into the house, his hair askew and his T-shirt on backward. Relegated to the front parlor, they sat, Grace snuggled in Dominick’s arms, Phoebe in Noah’s.
“Think.” Dominick whispered into Grace’s hair. “Who have you given your security code to?”
She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and cradled her head in her hands. He caressed her hair. Breathing in for four counts, out for four counts had always helped her in the past, but now her father’s trick failed her. Phoebe’s screams still echoed in her head, the bloody warnings tattooed in her memory. Her breath caught, wouldn’t exhale or inhale. A hand pushed her head between her knees.
“Breathe,” Dominick commanded.
Her mouth opened to obey, her lungs did not. Panic squeezed her chest.
Dominick’s hand swirled circles on her back. “Grace, listen to me,” he crooned, “you need to let go. You can breathe. Nothing is stopping you from taking a nice deep breath.” He continued whispering to her, his hand working it’s relaxing magic on her fear. She gulped her first breath, her second. “Easy, babe. We don’t want you to hyperventilate.”
She sank against him and sobbed. He kissed her hair, her eyes, wiped away her tears. She promised herself a few minutes tucked against him. Five minutes and two dry tear ducts later, she sniffled and hiccupped. She wanted nothing more than to burrow in Dominick’s arms, but her dignity called, and she had to answer.
“Sorry.” She grabbed a tissue and clumsily swiped at the drool and tear marks staining his grey T-shirt. “I tend to get a little leaky when emotional.”
“She’s right.” Phoebe dabbed at her red-rimmed eyes. “When you two get married, she’ll be a puddle of happiness.”
“Phoebe.”
“Whatever. It’ll happen.” She pushed herself off Noah’s chest. “Those who think crying is for sissies don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. I’ll tell you, whenever I’ve had a good cry, I end up feeling a little stronger and a little meaner afterward. I don’t know about you, sis, but I’m so ticked off right now I could kick a kitten.”
“That won’t be necessary, Phoebe.” Dominick pulled a small notebook from his pocket. “What you two need to do is make a list of everyone you gave the code to.”
“But I haven’t,” Grace argued.
Phoebe dropped her head and messed with the hem of her shorts. “What?” She quit fiddling. “Okay, okay. Jeeze. I only gave it to a couple of men when they forgot something in the house. It’s no big deal, right?”
“Phoebe, who did you give the code to?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I had to give it to Randy the other day because he forgot his cell phone. Steve needed it the other day for his house key. And Andrew.” Phoebe’s words came at a rush, “A few weeks ago I gave him the code so he could get his wallet. I can’t think—”
Grace bolted off the couch and instantly sat in pain. “Andrew.”
“Just because you don’t like him doesn’t make him a criminal.”
Noah leaned toward Grace. “What made you pick Andrew out of the list Phoebe gave you?”
She pulled at her hair. “Ever since he asked us for the job right after we bought the house, I keep getting this uneasy feeling. It could be nothing.”
“No.” Dominick surged to his feet and paced the newly renovated and decorated front parlor room. “We need to look into this. I’m going to talk to the sheriff.” He marched from the room, leaving Grace and Phoebe in Noah’s protection.
***
“Are Grace and Phoebe in danger, Sheriff?” Dominick stood on the front porch next to the man he’d beat in wrestling at the State Championship their senior year. Wouldn’t
know it to look at the guy now. He eyed his old opponent. The buttons on the navy blue button-up hardly contained Sheriff Clarkston’s drooping belly. It was a miracle his toothpick-sized legs could support the man. A pregnant Gumby. Add a gallon-sized white Stetson to the mix and the match would be identical. “First with the dead squirrels and broken window, now the dead raccoons and bloody death threats, what’s going on?”
Sheriff Clarkston removed his Stetson, revealing a receding hairline too large for a man of only thirty. He wiped his brow and tugged his hat back on. His physique had diminished since the glory days, but Dominick knew under that huge hat lay a mind as sharp as a razor. His Grace was in good hands. His? Dominick’s heart thudded in his chest.
He tuned back into Sheriff Clarkston’s plan. “… posted around the house. No one would be stupid enough to try anything right now. But we’ll have to be extra vigilant. You might want to convince the ladies to leave the premises for a while, maybe even leave Beacon ’til all this settles.”
Leave? Dominick swallowed. Yes, she had to. There was no doubt, but the idea of her leaving, if only for a short time, caused his heart to fall to his feet. Now all he had to do was convince her to love the plan. Piece of cake.
“No!” Grace planted her arms across her chest and glared at Dominick five minutes and thirty-two seconds later, give or take a couple of seconds. “I’m not leaving my home.” Her voice hitched at the word “home.” Clearing her throat, she continued, “And you can’t make me.”
“You are not listening to reason, you stubborn woman. You and Phoebe are in danger.”
“Like some loser with a penchant for killing small animals is going to hurt me.” She jutted out her trembling chin. “I will not let some person ruin the only good thing that has ever happened to me. Don’t you understand?” She gestured to the finished foyer with its glistening hardwood floors, polished front desk, ornate floor rugs, and glinting glass windows. “This is the first place I’ve ever been that has felt like home since my father died. This is the first place I’ve ever been able to be myself. I will not leave it.”
