“Something like that, yes. And I appreciate you keeping the source of the questions quiet. I don’t need to cause any family discord, just—”
“Protecting your own. I completely understand, I’d do the same. You’re a stand-up guy.” He chuckled. “And your taste in women is certainly not in question, either. Both your sister and your significant other. What do you all drink out there in the hills anyway?”
“It’s the clean air. Listen, if I can ever return the favor—”
Roger laughed. “Just win that race and get us up in that clean air in that sweet ride of yours, and I’ll be a perfectly happy man.”
Jake grinned. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will. That’s why we’re a team. I’ll be in touch.”
Jake hung up the phone and checked the clock. He had one last lesson that afternoon, but that wasn’t for another hour. He started to gather the stack of papers, then remembered that last little story. It was about the fire out at Arlen’s place, the one that had burned his house down. Jake was pretty sure Lauren had snagged the issue because of the big article on the business page about Arlen trying to push through zoning that would enable the resort to extend its commercial properties, which it in fact had, and the town had gone on to benefit pretty handsomely. Nothing really earth shattering, but part of the pattern that the articles continued to prove over the years.
He flipped the paper in half and read the small blurb in the local news column about the house burning down. It had apparently happened several weeks before this issue had come out and was mostly just a follow up to what had probably been a much bigger story in a previous issue. This was just a tiny side note saying that the fire marshal hadn’t been able to determine conclusively what had started the fire.
Jake leaned back in his chair. He was certain Arlen had said it was started by a lightning strike. Jake didn’t know a lot about fire investigations, but he didn’t think that one would be all that hard to prove, but maybe he was wrong. Arlen seemed certain enough of it. He read through the short column again, but there wasn’t even a mention of lightning even being suspected.
Jake started to flip the paper shut, then stood and made a copy of the article for Lauren first before gathering all the papers into a stack. A quick check of the clock showed he had plenty of time to get the papers back to the library before his next lesson. Time enough to look back a few issues and see what had been said when the fire had actually occurred. Not that it mattered, really, but…all the same, he was curious now.
He ducked into the library, relieved in this case to see that Becky wasn’t on duty. He could avoid making small talk and explaining why he needed to sift through more back issues. It was old Mrs. Peabody instead. She was somewhere between eighty and a hundred, had been head librarian in Cedar Springs as long as Jake had been alive, but now just worked weekends. She’d always favored Jake and Ruby Jean since their parents had died. “Blessed orphans” she’d always called them. Disconcerting when he’d been a child, but oddly comforting since he’d grown up. As he’d explained to Ruby Jean at the time, more people looking out for them was never a bad thing.
“Hello, Mrs. Peabody,” he said, raising his voice above the strict library whisper because she was hard of hearing. “You’re looking very nice today. New hairstyle? I’m just returning some papers I borrowed from the back room. I’ll put them back for you, not to worry.” He kept on moving, smiling as he passed by the front desk.
“Why, it’s Jake McKenna,” she said in her warbling voice, patting her hair and smiling faintly as he went by. “I thought perhaps you no longer took time to read. I haven’t seen you in here in ages. Your sister, now, she comes by all the time. Blessed angel, that girl.”
“Yes, she is definitely that.” He kept on moving. “I won’t take long.”
“Keep things orderly, young man,” she directed to his back, still sporting quite the commanding edge to her wavery tone.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, smiling to himself, comforted by the routine of it all. It was nice that some things never changed.
He already had the stack Lauren checked out in chronological order, so he worked from newest to oldest, sliding the issues back where they’d come from. When he got to the final one, he pulled out the entire hanging folder and starting thumbing through them, assuming a fire taking out the mayor’s home would make the front page. “Bingo,” he murmured, sliding an issue dated two weeks prior to the one Lauren had checked out. He skimmed the article, looking for any mention of an electrical storm or lightning, but it was something else entirely that caught his attention.
He frowned. “That’s…interesting.” He wasn’t sure it was anything more than that, but it got his attention. It was just a few lines in the story. A mention that the fire was an unfortunate tragedy coming at a difficult time for the mayor, who had just recently finalized a divorce with his second wife. Jake hadn’t remembered that, but then he’d been too young at the time for those kinds of things to matter. It went on to mention that Paula Thompson had resided in the home after their separation, but had recently relocated out of state. No details had been released regarding where she’d moved, other than a repeat of her formal statement asking that her privacy be respected.
Jake skimmed through the article again, but there was nothing else of interest other than the standard line that the source of the fire was unknown and a quote from the fire marshal assuring that he would be looking into it. Jake wondered what kind of insurance Arlen had had on the house and assumed it was the fire marshal’s inability to determine an exact cause that led to the insurance payout, which, in turn, had financed the rebuild. He pulled out the other paper again, but there was no mention of where the mayor was temporarily residing, any insurance issues, or whether he planned to rebuild.
Jake sifted through the papers published for the seven days following the fire, but, other than a comment Arlen made thanking the citizens of Cedar Springs for their support during a speech given at an awards banquet for the local high school sports teams, he couldn’t find anything. He checked his watch, swore under his breath, then did a quick search back through another month of articles, not having much time to do more than skim the front pages. He found two articles regarding the mayor’s divorce. Without questioning the instinct, he slipped those issues, along with the one containing the story on the fire, into the tote.
He wanted to show them to Lauren, but first he wanted to run the subject by his sister. She’d been far too young to really remember anything about the fire or divorce back when it had happened, but Ruby Jean had an interest in town lore and a knack for recalling an almost disturbing quantity of details on even the most arcane of town topics. Couldn’t hurt to pick her brain over anything she might have gleaned about the town’s view on both events in the mayor’s life.
He glanced at his watch and quickly slid everything back where it belonged. He debated on explaining to Mrs. Peabody that he was borrowing a few additional back issues of the local paper and risk being late for his next lesson, but when he emerged from the back, he found her in conversation with Arlen’s secretary, Melissa, who was heaving a stuffed tote bag onto the return counter.
He gave them both a smile and a nod. “Thank you, Mrs. Peabody.”
“Surprised to see you here. I thought Ruby Jean was the big reader in the family,” Melissa said, turning so he had no choice but to slow down.
“I was just saying the very same thing,” Mrs. Peabody offered.
Jake forced a smile. Melissa had moved to Cedar Springs several years before. She was around RJ’s age, but that hadn’t stopped his sister from trying to fix them up. After all, Melissa was single with a pulse. She seemed like a perfectly nice woman, was attractive enough, and had made it clear on more than one occasion that his interest would likely be returned, but he’d never pursued it. He’d told himself it was because she worked with his sister, but the truth was, she simply wasn’t his type. Which he couldn’t have described…until r
ecently.
“Well, I’d read more, but between the two of you, it appears there isn’t much selection left.” He nodded toward the bulging bag.
Melissa laughed. “Oh, those are donations. The mayor donates back issues of his magazines and has urged the local businesses to do the same. Just doing my bimonthly collection run.” Her smile brightened. “I don’t suppose you could be talked out of copies of Aviation Monthly?”
“Those are sacred, I’m afraid. Sorry to run off, but I have a lesson waiting. A pleasure seeing you again, Mrs. Peabody. Keep doing that thing with the hair. Very flattering.”
Mrs. Peabody’s papery smooth cheeks flushed and Melissa laughed. “Now I understand why I could never turn your head. You prefer a more mature woman.”
Jake kept smiling and heading out the door, but almost stumbled over his own feet when he heard Mrs. Peabody reply, “Oh, his head has been turned all right, but not by my thin blue hair.”
Jake opted not to listen in on where that particular conversation was headed. He had no problem with Mrs. Peabody spreading the word that he was otherwise involved, especially to Melissa. It just felt somehow…naughty that the octogenarian he’d known since prepuberty had any knowledge of his very adult social life. “Bad images,” he muttered with a little shudder, and immediately turned his mind to other things.
Like getting through this next lesson so he could see Lauren.
“Definitely better images.” He slid his phone out as he climbed into Xavier’s borrowed truck and punched the number for his sister. He wanted to get her take on things before talking to Lauren. Plus he wanted to persuade her that bringing Lauren in wouldn’t jeopardize anything.
Ruby Jean didn’t answer, so he left a quick message, then got a beep telling him there was a message waiting. It turned out to be a voice mail from Roger. Who, as it turned out, had some interesting information of his own. He clicked off after listening and tried Ruby Jean again. They definitely needed to talk. The sooner the better. It went straight to her voice mail. “Call me, RJ,” he said, “we need to talk. It’s four now. I’ll be teaching for the next hour. Better yet, be waiting for me when I touch down. It’s about…the matter we discussed the other day.”
He clicked off, tossed his phone on the passenger seat, and slid on his sunglasses. All traces of good humor gone.
Chapter 22
“I hope you don’t mind my barging over like this without calling first, but—I’ve been dying to meet you!”
Ruby Jean was a bundle of beautiful blond ringlets bouncing around a face that belonged on a forties’ pinup calendar, complete with rose bud lips and sparkling blue eyes. Her smile was bright, her laugh infectious, and she was basically impossible not to like on sight. Which made the whole phone call thing a bit more challenging to confront.
“No, no, not at all,” Lauren said, scrambling to figure out just how she wanted this surprise meeting to go. What to say, what to reveal. Maybe it was best to focus on meeting her as Jake’s sister, first, then see how things progressed from there. “Come on in.”
“Oh,” Ruby Jean said, noting the computer bag on her shoulder. “You were just heading out, weren’t you?”
“I—” Lauren looked at her bag and slid it from her shoulder. “Nothing pressing, really.” She propped the bag next to the sliding closet door. “I wish I had something to offer you, but—”
“No, not necessary.” She laughed. “I’d ask you out to have a drink and a bite, but then we’d be on the six o’clock news.”
“You have a local news station?”
Ruby Jean laid her hand on Lauren’s arms and squeezed as she laughed again. “No, no, I was just kidding. But, wow, you should have seen your face just now. Have we truly been that awful?”
It was really, really hard not to like her. In fact, had they met under any other circumstances, despite the obvious difference in their ages, Lauren would have bonded with her instantly. “Well…” She let the word trail off, but smiled herself—it was impossible not to—and shrugged.
“I’m really sorry. I officially apologize for every man, woman, and dog in Cedar Springs. Twice for the women, because they’re the ones probably talking the most. We’re really not that bad.” She sighed. “Okay, we’re totally that bad. Worse, probably. But to know us is to love us…warts, gossip mongering, and all. We’re not close minded, and if it makes you feel any better, everything I’ve heard about you has been positive. Well, except perhaps for a few of the singles who were holding out hope that Jake might still look in their direction.”
“Ruby Jean, I—”
“Don’t you even think about apologizing for snatching my brother from the jaws of bachelorhood. If they could have pulled that off, they’d have done it by now.”
Lauren smiled. “I’m glad you feel that way, because I wasn’t going to say I’m sorry. He’s about the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was going to say I hope you can get used to him dating an outsider, since I’m pretty sure neither one of us is interested in stopping.” Her smile grew to a grin. “And I’d hate to come between a guy and his sister.”
Ruby Jean took a step back and sized her up and down. “Damn, but I like you. Thank God my blind brother finally opened his eyes. I guess now that I’ve met you I can see why he’s waited all this time.”
Lauren breathed a sigh of relief. “And I’m really glad you’re okay with it, because he loves you more than anything and I’m pretty sure nothing is ever going to come between that bond. Nor should it.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she said, a considering note still in her tone but approval still on her face. “Hopefully we won’t ever have to find out.”
“Hopefully not, no.”
Now that the pleasantries were out of the way, Lauren wasn’t really sure where to lead the conversation. She’d just gained favor with the person most important to Jake and so it seemed foolish to jeopardize that, but…she had to know eventually, so might as well ask now. “Can I ask you something? And I hope you take it in the spirit it’s intended, which is just pure curiosity.”
Ruby Jean looked intrigued. “Sure, anything.”
“If you love your brother even half as much as he loves you, and I can see the bond is tight both ways, then it makes sense that you’d want to make sure anyone he’s seeing is on the up and up…”
Ruby Jean’s smile faded, but her expression was simply one of open curiosity. “Go on.”
“So…by any chance, have you been doing any, well…background checks on me? Or, you know, just fact-finding kind of stuff?”
Now she frowned. “No. Do you have some reason to think I did?”
Lauren looked at her perfect Kewpie doll face, but wasn’t fooled into thinking there wasn’t a razor-sharp mind behind the blond curls and perfectly applied lip liner. Lauren was a pretty good read on people and, as far as she could tell, Ruby Jean had no idea what she was talking about. “Well, someone has been calling my office and asking questions about me. As I said, I understand, I just—”
“It wasn’t me, but…you know it was someone from Cedar Springs?”
Lauren nodded. “The phone number is local.”
“Do you have the number? I mean, maybe I recognize it.”
“I don’t want to put you in any kind of awkward situation.”
“I can’t see how it would. By the way, I was the one who bugged Jake to take you out on a date. I already knew what I needed to know from what Arlen and your mother told me about you before you got here. Although, I have to say, you’re a bit different than I expected.”
Now it was Lauren’s turn to lift an eyebrow. “Really? How?”
“Don’t worry. Different in a good way. It’s just, Arlen told me who you worked for and your mom told me how dedicated you were to your job, and I guess I sensed that she worried you didn’t take much time off.”
Lauren fought a smile. “And you knew my mom and I were having problems and thought your brother might be able to smooth out
a few of my uptight, Washington woman, workaholic tendencies?”
Ruby Jean flushed a little, but her smile was undaunted. “Something like that.”
Lauren grinned. “Good call.”
Ruby Jean’s rich laughter filled the room and Lauren couldn’t help but join in. “Well, maybe it was the glasses and the tight ponytail, but I thought you might be a bit…”
“Prudish? Stiff?”
“Washington D.C.-ish,” she said. “Which is a lot different than Colorado.”
“That is true.” Lauren leaned in closer. “Can I ask you all what the secret is?”
“Secret?”
“There is enough vitality and energy in this town alone to single-handedly fix the energy crisis if we could find a way to channel it. It’s like you’re all—”
“High?” she said on a laugh.
“No. Well, not loopy high.”
They both laughed again. “I don’t know,” Ruby Jean said. “We have stresses and things we worry about, just like the next person, but the air is cleaner up here, and when you look out on that view every day…”
Lauren sighed a little. “Yeah, I know. It’s already grown on me. And my mother is acting like she’s found the fountain of youth.” She glanced out the big picture window looking out the back of her motel room toward the river and peaks that loomed beyond. “Maybe she has,” she added, more to herself than Ruby Jean.
“I like your mom. She’s really so accomplished and just so…well, graceful and elegant. But down to earth, too. I’m not sure what she sees in Arlen,” she added with a laugh, “but I’m sure glad she did, because we all love her a lot. We’re all glad you came out.”
Lauren turned back to Ruby Jean, wondering if she’d meant that comment about Arlen as the kind of toss-off thing that someone says, being self-deprecating, or if she really meant it. She knew Ruby Jean worked for him, so she had to think before she spoke out of turn. It was one thing for her to be honest with her mother about her feelings, but she didn’t have to make things awkward or difficult for her mother, either, by allowing word to get back to Arlen about her continued concerns.
A Great Kisser Page 33
