by Marlie May
And nothing else.
Definitely getting ahead of myself.
Finishing up, I returned my tools to my leather bag and dropped it beside the front door. I’d lug everything out after we got back. “Do you mind stopping by my place so I can shower and change again?”
She ran her fingertip along my bristly jawline. “I guess you probably want to shave, too.”
I hadn’t taken time this morning. “Which do you prefer? Beard or no beard?”
Tapping her lips, she studied my face. “Have to admit I do enjoy a close shave most of the time, but the look you’re sporting right now—a little scruffy because you’ve spent almost twenty-fours making sure I’m safe? It’s sexy on you.”
Maybe I wouldn’t shave again ever.
After locking up Mia’s house, we went to my place. Mia puttered around in my living room while I got ready. When I emerged from the hall, I found her studying the photos on display across my mantel.
“This must be Ginny,” she said, pointing to a picture of my sister. “She’s pretty. She looks like the woman standing beside her who I assume must be your mom because your eyes are the same.”
Just seeing my sis and mother brought a smile to my face. The picture had been taken a few years ago when Ginny was home in between trips overseas. Formerly a traveling photographer, she’d returned to Maine after someone kidnapped her. She’d had a tough time of it, but was beyond happy now with Cooper, planning a wedding and a future together.
“No pictures of your dad?” Her gaze spanned the frames again.
“Don’t have any.”
Her fingers trembled over her lips. “I’m sorry. Is he dead?”
Turning, I strode into the middle of my living room. “Might as well be.”
She studied my agitated movements while nibbling on her lower lip. “I’m sorry.”
“He bailed on us when I was eight.” And I’d thrown away every photo I had of him when I was ten, because he hadn’t called, hadn’t visited, hadn’t done a damn thing to show he cared. That familiar sense of abandonment rose inside me again, but I squashed it like a pesky fly and shrugged. “It’s okay. I barely remember him.”
Not true, but now was not the time to share. Who wanted to drag down a fun moment with talk about lost promises?
“Oh.” Mia waved toward my kitchen. “You got a delivery while you were in the shower.”
My heart stopped. “You went to the door?”
“Sure. It rang.” Pausing, she frowned. “Shouldn’t I have answered it? You’re here.”
“I wasn’t beside you.”
“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“I agree, but I’m squirrelly after what happened.” I strode toward the kitchen. “What was delivered?”
“A treat from your grandfather. One of those cupcakes with a note.”
My steps stalled, and my skin flashed with fire. “My grandfather’s in a nursing home and no longer remembers who I am.”
9
Mia
Eli bolted into his kitchen.
His harsh swear pulled me into the room behind him. I hit the doorway in time to see him stuffing the white box holding the cupcake into the trash.
“Did you touch it?” he asked, spinning around to face me.
“No. I just peeked inside the box.”
His breath rushed out. “Good. No way to know what’s in it, if anything.” He shook his head. “My grandfather has Alzheimer’s. Gran died of cancer a few years ago and Dad grew up in foster care. I don’t even know if his foster parents are still alive.”
After shoving the note that had come with the box into his pocket, he strode over to me and lifted and squeezed my hands. The anguish on his face—no, the horror in his eyes—made my breath catch.
“What did the note say?” I asked.
“Nothing.” But he wouldn’t meet my eye.
I sighed. “People don’t deliver cupcakes with notes containing nothing.”
Releasing my hands, he dialed his phone and spoke when someone answered, “I need to find out who sent a cupcake that was recently delivered to me.” A pause. “Yes, a cupcake. Chocolate? I didn’t look closely. There was a note. Delivered to me, Eli Bradley.” He rattled off his address. “I see.” After hanging up, he tucked away his phone. His sigh slipped from his chest. “Someone came in and ordered it, paying cash. A man, average build, but the owner doesn’t remember any other details.”
“What did the note say?”
He tucked his chin, and his hair flopped forward, onto his face.
“Please. Eli. We’re…” I lifted my chin. “We’re in this together, right?”
The lines of worry on his face smoothed, and he took my hands again. He tugged me into his arms and held me against his chest where his heart beat too fast. “You…” His chin rested on the top of my head. “I just want to keep you safe.”
“Tell me.”
Stepping back, he tugged the note from his pocket and handed it to me.
She’ll never be yours.
While the world crashed around me, the piece of paper slipped from my limp fingers and fell to the floor. “What does this mean?” My skin flashed cold. “Russell. It has to be him. How…”
“He’s in jail, right?”
Pleading came through in my voice as I tried to make some sense of this. “My lawyer would tell me if he got out early.” The sense of calm I’d rebuilt since finding the number on my mirror snapped in two. I staggered, but Eli caught and held me up. “She promised. But he has friends. Some blamed me for him going to jail.” It was nearly impossible to speak through my tight throat. “One of them would’ve been happy to send this.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll call my lawyer right now.” Because, if Russell was out…He’d come after me and it wouldn’t just be with cute cupcakes and notes. Those might be a warning but only the start of something more. Something terrible. My hands shook as I yanked my phone from my pocket, but I found the strength to speak with a controlled voice.
Unfortunately, I only reached her answering machine. Out of the office. Please leave a message, which I did.
“She’ll get back to me,” I said in a rough voice. “She’ll tell me Russell is still locked behind bars. She’ll tell me what to do about…this.” The last word grated out of me. I lifted the note from the floor, though I didn’t need to read it again. The words were embedded in my mind. “She’ll never be yours,” I grated out. Typewritten, which meant the handwriting couldn’t be traced. I crumpled it, stormed to the trash, and threw it away. “I’d say that’s my decision, wouldn’t you?”
He linked his arms on his chest and leaned his hip against the fridge, which hummed softly. “Always will be.”
“I’m sorry you’re mixed up in this.” Wilted, I propped myself against the counter. Would I always feel insecure, vulnerable? Alone?
“I’m not sorry,” he said with complete certainty. “I want to be here for you in any way you need me. I said it already, and I’ll keep on saying it until I’m sure you truly believe my words.”
The walls around my heart—flimsy already—crumpled. How could I keep a barrier in place between us?
I swallowed, overcome with the realization that this was the right time.
The right man.
“I’ll notify the sheriff,” Eli said.
“You think this is related to someone entering my house last night?” How far would Russell go to find revenge?
Eli shrugged as he dialed his phone. “Feels as if things are heating up, though this was mostly directed at me.”
The sheriff asked him to bring the note and cupcake to the station, which Eli said he’d do.
“The fish,” I said after he’d finished relating the sheriff’s request.
He frowned. “Fish?”
“Someone dumped a bucket of bait on my car windshield yesterday. I thought it was just a sick joke, which it could be. Last night could’ve been a simple robbery attempt, r
ight?” I wanted so much for all this to be random events, but did I dare consider it an option? Probably not. “Someone might’ve entered my house solely to steal from me. When I got up, they fled. Maybe I’m mistaken and the mark on my mirror wasn’t a one.”
“It was a one. We’re going to be extra careful with you from now on.”
“You can’t stay with me around the clock.”
He raked his fingers through his hair, mussing it. “As far as Flint’s concerned, you’re my sole project. But you’re not an assignment. To me, keeping you safe is more important to me than myself.”
“You’re…” I shook my head. “Thank you.” There was no way to express the relief I felt that I wouldn’t face whatever this was alone. “As you said, the cupcake threat was directed at you.”
“Us.”
“True.” I curled my lips upward as my anxiety fled like a storm on a summer’s day. Because… “You know what I think we should do?”
He shook his head but studied my face as if trying to read my intent.
“I think we need to go on our date.”
His smile rose to join with mine and he strode right up to me, placing his palms on either side of my waist, bracing them on the counter. Not pinning me in place as much as protecting me like a treasure in his arms. “Date, huh?”
I bit my lip. “That’s okay to say, isn’t it?”
“Hell, yeah.” His head dropped close to my ear where he breathed. Tingles spread through me and heat centered below my belly. Barely touching me, he could set me aflame with a few simple words. His arms wrapped around the back of my waist. “Mia, Mia, Mia. What am I going to do with you?” He pressed a soft kiss where my neck and shoulder met and I shivered with desire.
“Educate me?” I said with plenty of sass in my tone.
He chuckled. “One of these days, you are so going to get it.”
There wasn’t anything I wanted more.
My senses were filled with his scent: warm and clean with a hint of spice. Unshaven, I ached to feel his roughness on my skin.
Now that I’d realized I wanted more, how did I tell him?
He dropped his chin onto my head, the position we were settling into as if it was ours.
“Eli?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“I know I said I wanted to take things slowly.”
“You set the pace. Always.”
“I’m ready for more. Not sure how much yet, but I don’t want to hold myself away from you any longer.”
Easing back in our embrace, he stared down at me with what looked like the world in his eyes. “Then let’s get started.” Leaning close again, he whispered by my ear, “Time to be educated.” Stepping back, he took my hand and tugged me out to his Jeep where he held the door while I climbed inside.
He put the top down. In no time, he’d backed down the drive and headed out onto the road. We traveled to the western side of town, an area I’d yet to explore fully.
“Woo!” I flung my arms up into the air, fingering the warm breeze. Because it was hot, I’d worn a lime green t-shirt and pale blue jeans shorts. My hair streamed behind me.
I couldn’t remember when I’d felt this happy. This relaxed. Despite someone being inside my house the night before, I wanted to laugh until tears streamed down my face.
With a quick smile my way, Eli caught a band of my hair and ran it between his fingers. “Silky flames shot full of sunshine.”
I leaned into his palm when he caressed my cheek. “What a poet you are.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “Wait until you get to know me better, then you’ll be introduced to all my charms. There’s a lot more to me than an excellent singing voice and slick dance moves.” Teasing came through in his voice.
I couldn’t wait to get to know him better.
We pulled into a large parking lot and cruised around until he luckily found a spot only a few rows back from the main entrance, where he shut off the engine.
I took a final sip from my water bottle and tucked the drink underneath the seat where it would stay cooler than in full sunlight and caught my first view of our destination.
Mounds of fake snow glistened in the sun, mountains that looked real enough a kid could climb to the top and slide down the sparkle-encrusted surface. Wire had been strung through the trees and poles, spanning the entrance and extending on both sides, and they’d hung a multitude of fake snowflakes that twisted and spun in the breeze. Evergreen trees festooned with lights and colorful bulbs added to the ambiance.
And music. Let is Snow drifted from the speakers.
Kids danced beside their parents as they streamed toward the entrance.
“Christmastown?” I said in awe.
“Yeah.” His voice came out as a sigh.
Turning in my seat to face him, I smirked. “It’s August.” I tapped his arm. “And you’ve been holding out on me. This isn’t Disney.”
“It’s actually better than Disney.” He unbuckled. “Let’s go!” Like a little kid, he tumbled out of the vehicle and came around to open my door. “Come on. You’re wasting precious time.”
Holding hands, we strolled up to the ticket booth, where Eli paid a guy with a bushy white hair and beard. His tag said, Franklin, Owner.
“You folks have fun, now,” the man said as he secured paper bracelets around our wrists. Round and as jolly as Santa himself in a red tee, black jeans, and a red hat with a white pompom, the man’s pale blue eyes twinkled, and his ho-ho-ho was filled with laughter. I couldn’t imagine how much fun he must have working at a place that brought so many kids joy and fun. He tilted his head toward a box on the counter. “Don’t forget your necklaces.”
“Necklaces,” I said. They looked more like extra-long shoelaces to me, the kind with plastic-coated tips.
“Since I’m a red necklace guy, you okay with green?” Eli asked, lifting two out from the colorful pile.
“Sure. I’ll help you complete the Christmas theme.” What was I getting into here?
Eli secured it loosely around my neck.
“Not the most exciting jewelry I’ve ever received.” I fingered my silver daisy to show him again how much I loved the gift he’d given me for my birthday.
“You just wait,” he said with a grin, taking my hand and pulling me toward the entrance to the park. “The elves are going to give my daisy hot competition.”
“Nothing will give your necklace hot competition,” I said. “And elves?”
“Not tellin’.”
I rolled my eyes.
We exited out into the holiday-themed amusement park. A fake winter wonderland with huge grinning snowmen, icicles hanging everywhere, buildings leaden with fake, glistening snow, and staff dressed in elf suits complete with curled up shoes with dangling bells. From the speakers, Let it Snow had moved on to Walking in a Winter Wonderland. Eli grinned and, spanning one arm around the back of my waist and linking our fingers together with the other, he danced me around in a slow circle while I giggled.
It was surreal to hear holiday tunes while waltzing in eighty-five-degree weather.
Releasing me as the music changed over to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Eli squeezed my hands. “First up on the list is Frisky.”
I snickered. “You’re saying you’re feeling frisky?”
Tugging me close again, he encircled my waist and leaned close to my ear. “Around you, I’m always frisky.”
Just like that, I was on fire once more, eager for his kiss. His touch. Melting faster than a snow cone for reasons other than the late-day heat. I had no idea what frisky thing he planned for me but had to admit, I was beyond eager to find out.
Excited kids and grinning parents streamed around us and squeals filled the air, telling me this was not the place for a make-out session.
Talk about deep regret.
We smiled sheepishly at each other and backed out of our embrace, but we didn’t release each other’s hands.
It wouldn’t be dark for some time yet sinc
e Maine was on daylight savings time, but white, red, and green twinkle lights strung around overhead added to the festive atmosphere. The scent of cinnamon sugar cookies—piped in or for real?—drifted through the air, making my belly perk up and rumble.
If I didn’t know better, it could be December 24.
“How is this like Disney?” I asked Eli.
“Rides, characters, you name it.” His eyes gleamed as he looked around.
“Rides? I am a rollercoaster girl.”
“Then you’ll be able to check the Kringle Kaper off your rollercoaster bucket list.”
“Can’t wait.”
A little girl about six-years-old barreled into me, almost knocking me over, and I steadied her with a laugh. Who could be irritated while Silent Night drifted around you?
“Sorry,” she chirped, looking up at me with pink cheeks, scattered blonde hair, and joy shining from her eyes.
“I’m terribly sorry,” someone said from behind me, and I turned, recognizing his voice. “She’s just excited about Frisky.”
“Mr. Taylor!” I said. “How are you?”
“Now, I told you to call me Jim.” His deeply lined face gleamed with soft humor that fell far too soon. He scratched his thick, salt and pepper hair. “As good as can be expected, I guess. Staying busy, especially with special people like this.” With a soft smile, he stroked the little girl’s head.
She smiled up at him, revealing a gap on the bottom where she’d lost two baby teeth. “Come on, Grampie. I gotta get to Frisky before they’re all gone.” She fingered her shoelace necklace.
“You know there are plenty for everyone, Macy,” Jim said. His pale blue eyes twinkled when he glanced at me. “She loves this place. It just lightens my heart to bring her here. My Stephanie loved it, too.”
Macy tugged on his hand, stretching out his arm. “Please!”
He chuckled. “Okay, okay.” And to me, “Nice seeing you again.” His nod took in Eli. “And your young man.”
Eli’s hand tightened around mine as Jim walked away with his granddaughter. “Friend?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“Why sadly?”
