“Change it how?” Rose asked curiously.
“Daniel and I have a little surprise planned for after dinner,” Olivia replied.
“A surprise? Tell me, Mommy. Tell me the surprise.” Lily jumped up and down.
Olivia laughed and shook her head. “Nope. My lips are sealed. It won’t be a surprise if I tell you now.”
Lily immediately turned her attention to Daniel. She sidled up next to him and gazed up at him with innocent green eyes that could melt the hardest of hearts.
“Deputy, you can tell me the secret,” she said in the sweetest of voices. “It’s okay. You can whisper it in my ear.”
He laughed and also shook his head. “No way, my little peanut. Your mother would kill me. Besides, if you just be patient and eat a good dinner, then it will be time for the secret and you’ll know it.”
Lily heaved a dramatic sigh. “Nanny, is it time to eat? We have to eat fast tonight.”
“I’ll have it on the table in just a jiffy,” Rose replied. “Everyone go ahead and sit while I finish things up.”
The three of them sat as Rose sliced the meat loaf and set a platter in the center of the table. She added a big bowl of green beans and a large crock dish of creamy-looking mac and cheese.
The food was delicious, but it was the company that filled Daniel’s soul and made him realize just how much he was going to miss not only Olivia, but her family as well when they all returned to their life in Natchez.
“I’ll tell you the secret once the kitchen is all cleaned,” Olivia said as they finished eating.
Rose had never had so much help clearing dishes from the table and loading the dishwasher. Both Lily and Daniel scrambled to finish the cleanup in record time.
Olivia fought a burst of giggles as the two of them bumped into each other several times in their haste to finish up. Finally the work was done and Lily climbed up on Olivia’s lap and placed her hands on either side of her mother’s face.
“It’s time for the secret,” she said.
“Okay. Daniel and I thought it would be nice if we’d all take a trip into town to an ice cream parlor,” Olivia said.
Lily’s eyes widened and she clapped her hands together and quickly scampered off Olivia’s lap. “That’s a great surprise. So, let’s go!”
It took several minutes for them to actually get out the door. Rose went into her bedroom to freshen up and grab her purse, and Olivia grabbed her gun belt and pulled her gun from her holster and placed it in her purse.
It was a grim reminder that this wasn’t just a simple social outing without the potential for danger. Danger could come at them wearing any face, cloaked in any body shape and size. She only hoped she wasn’t putting her two most precious people in her life at risk. She hoped Daniel was right when he’d doubted that the perp would make a move on her in a public place. Surely he wouldn’t want any witnesses around.
Besides, between her and Daniel they could manage to have an ice cream parlor experience without trouble. She didn’t even want to think about last night, when she’d slept in his arms and wished on a star that things could be different.
She didn’t want to focus on how neatly he fit into her little family without any ripples. Rose and Lily both adored him, and he appeared to be as taken with them. Fantasy. She couldn’t dwell in fantasies.
Daniel drove with Olivia riding shotgun and Rose and Lily in the backseat. As he hit Main Street, he pointed out stores and other places he thought would interest Rose and Lily.
Rose was particularly interested in Mama Baptiste’s shop when Daniel told her Mama sold all kinds of herbs and spices in addition to her secret rubs and potions for ailments.
He also pointed out The Pirate’s Inn, but instead of talking about ghosts and hauntings that might have scared Lily, he talked about the pirates who had once used Lost Lagoon as a land base.
Charlie’s Ice Cream Parlor was located across the street from Jimmy’s Place and was a throwback to the past with pink-and-white umbrella tables dotting a patio area in front and a matching awning.
Several couples were seated at the tables as Olivia, Daniel, Rose and Lily went inside to get their cold goodies. Charlie Berk, proud owner of the place, introduced himself. He stood behind a refrigerated counter that appeared to stretch forever.
Round barrels of various flavors of ice cream were tucked inside the glass-topped counter, and on top of the counter were a variety of syrups, sprinkles and other candies to add to the sinfulness of the ice cream. The syrups were controlled by Charlie, but the sprinkles and candy containers held scoopers for customers to help themselves.
“Sprinkles!” Lily exclaimed in delight. “I love sprinkles!”
“I’m thinking a banana split sounds good,” Daniel said.
“And I’m thinking a waffle cone of peanut butter ice cream with chocolate chips on top,” Olivia said.
“And I’m still thinking,” Rose replied as she walked up and down the counter as if overwhelmed by the many choices.
“What about you, munchkin?” Daniel asked Lily. Olivia already knew what her daughter’s answer would be.
“A waffle cone with chocolate ice cream and lots and lots of sprinkles,” Lily replied.
Rose finally decided on a bowl of strawberry shortcake ice cream with fresh strawberries and whipped cream topping. Orders were placed and delivered and then the four of them moved outside to one of the empty umbrella tables.
Once again Olivia was struck by the fact that they looked like the perfect family. She and Daniel had made sweet love the night before and shared dinner together and now they had their daughter and Olivia’s mother out for ice cream.
What would happen if she told Daniel the truth? He talked the talk of a confirmed bachelor, but his actions said otherwise. It was obvious he was quite charmed by Lily. Would he really be so horrified to discover that he was Lily’s father? Would he be angry that she hadn’t told him before?
Despite the fact that she’d lain in his arms the night before and he was laughing at Lily’s antics as she tried to capture the drips of her quickly melting cone, he had given her no indication that he wanted anything with her expect what they now shared...a temporary relationship while she was here.
He hadn’t awakened this morning after making such passionate love with her last night and suddenly spouted words of everlasting love for her.
Nothing had really changed to make her believe he would welcome the news that he had a daughter. In the end, it was a secret she knew she wouldn’t divulge to him.
For all intents and purposes, her husband, Phil, had been Lily’s father. He had changed her diapers and walked the floors with her when she’d been colicky in the middle of the night. He was the man who had celebrated her first step and her first word.
Unfortunately, Lily had few memories of the big man with the big heart who had married Olivia because he’d loved her desperately and wanted to take care of her and her unborn child.
They were almost finished with their treats when she saw Jimmy Tambor approaching from across the street. “Hey, guys,” he said with a friendly smile as he spied them at their table and paused.
“Hi, Jimmy. Aren’t you in the middle of dinner rush?” Daniel asked.
Jimmy waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, but they can handle if for a while without me. I had a craving for Charlie’s raspberry chocolate chip ice cream and decided to sneak away for a few minutes. I’ve got great staff and things run pretty much on their own, so nobody really misses me when I’m gone.”
He crouched down next to Lily. “And you must be the little girl who likes my mozzarella sticks.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “You make them?”
“I sure do,” Jimmy replied.
“I love them, almost as much as ice cream,” Lily replied.
Jimmy laughed and straightened up. “I haven’t heard any more about the investigation. Things still on track for an arrest?”
“We’re just crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s,” Olivia replied. How she wished that was the case. She was beginning to believe that the murder wouldn’t be solved before she’d be called back to Natchez. She’d spent most of the day putting her last touches on the report she would send to the attorney general about her internal investigation.
“Well, enjoy the last of your ice cream,” Jimmy said and then with another of his friendly smiles he left their table and disappeared into the shop.
Olivia watched him go, her brain suddenly firing off in all directions. Jimmy Tambor hadn’t made the list of suspects and yet he’d been here at the time of the murder. He had probably had a close relationship to Shelly because of his close friendship with Bo.
The steak knife that had been found next to her when she’d been attacked in the station parking lot had come from the restaurant he pretended to own, and he seemed particularly interested in keeping track of where they were in the investigation.
“Earth to Olivia.” Daniel’s deep voice brought her back to the here and now.
Lily giggled. “Earth to Mommy,” she repeated.
“I’m here. Sorry, I just got lost in my head for a minute,” she replied. Surely, she was just grasping at desperate straws in even considering Jimmy as a suspect.
“I asked if we were ready to go,” Daniel said.
“Ready,” she replied. They got up from the table and she made sure all the napkins were placed in the nearby trash receptacle and then they were back in Daniel’s car and headed back to the house.
“We should have surprises more often,” Lily said. “Like maybe every day.”
Daniel laughed and Olivia watched him shoot an affectionate glance into his rearview mirror. “If you had a surprise every day then they wouldn’t be special anymore. Personally, I think this surprise was very special.”
“Me, too,” Lily replied. “And I’m ’specially happy that you got to eat ice cream with us, Deputy.”
By that time they were home. As Rose and Lily headed inside, Olivia touched Daniel’s arm and lingered on the front porch. “Thanks for the great idea. It’s been fun.”
“It has been fun,” he agreed. “But you seemed a bit distracted there for a few minutes.”
“Jimmy distracted me. I found myself wondering why he isn’t a serious suspect on our list.”
Daniel frowned. “I guess he didn’t make the short list because he and Bo have always been so close. It’s hard to believe he’d have anything to do with killing his best friend’s girlfriend.”
“Do you remember where he was on the night of Shelly’s murder?” she asked.
“I’d have to look back in the files to be sure, but I think he was working at Bo’s Place that night,” he replied.
“I’d like to double-check that again and maybe have another chat with Bo tomorrow,” she said thoughtfully. “I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, but no stone left unturned, right?”
“Okay, whatever you want,” he agreed. He held her gaze for a long moment. “Do we need to talk about last night?”
Heat instantly fired in her cheeks. “The only thing to talk about is the fact that it shouldn’t happen again. It won’t happen again,” she corrected herself.
“But I already want it to.” He reached out and ran his fingers through a strand of her hair, then caressed his fingers down the side of her face.
She stepped away from him. Damn him. His very touch set off a yearning inside her that she had to ignore, that she somehow had to cast out.
“Daniel, I can’t make love to you again because I refuse to leave here with my heart broken. We don’t want the same things from life. We’re wrong for each other on so many levels, and yet I’ve allowed myself to get emotionally involved with you and it has to stop now.”
A hint of surprise shone from his eyes and then was gone. He released a deep sigh and raked a hand through his hair. “You’re almost finished here, aren’t you?”
She nodded. “I finished the report on the internal investigation today. Once I send it in, it should just be a matter of days before a special election is set and once a new sheriff is elected, I’ll for sure be gone.”
A hollowness filled her at her own words. If things were different she wouldn’t have minded calling Lost Lagoon home. If Daniel loved her, if he wanted a family...but that was her fantasy and not his.
“The most important thing now is that we close out the Sinclair case before I leave,” she continued, desperately needing to get the conversation back on a professional level.
“Then we go to talk to Bo in the morning and see what he can tell us about his friend, Jimmy.” His green eyes were darker than usual and impossible to read.
“Good. I’ll be ready to get to the office by seven,” she said.
He nodded. “Then I’ll be out here around that time to follow you in.”
She placed a hand on his arm, unable to stop herself. “Thank you for tonight and for everything you’ve done to support and protect me.” She dropped her arm back to her side. “But we need to keep things strictly professional from here on out.” Her heart clenched. “I don’t want you getting any closer to my family, especially Lily. It will just make it harder for her, for all of us, when we leave here.”
“Olivia, it sounds like you’re telling me goodbye and you aren’t leaving yet.”
“I just wanted you to understand that last night was a one-time thing that won’t be repeated.”
“Message received,” he replied, his eyes still darker than usual. “And on that note I’ll just say good-night and I’ll see you in the morning.”
She watched from the porch as he walked to his car, got inside and then finally disappeared from her sight. What he didn’t realize was that she had been saying goodbye...goodbye to any fantasy she might have entertained about them all becoming a family. A farewell to any dreams she might have entertained about him becoming more than just the biological father to Lily.
She was in love with him and more than anything, she had to say goodbye to that particular emotion.
Chapter Eleven
The ice cream session definitely hadn’t ended the way Daniel had imagined. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it hadn’t been her confessing to him that she’d become emotionally involved with him and giving him a premature goodbye.
The next morning as he sat outside her house waiting for her to emerge, he played and replayed their conversation in his head.
She’d said she didn’t want to leave here with a broken heart, which implied she was falling in love with him. It was probably good that she’d put a brake on things, because he was getting way too into her and the company of her family.
Footloose and fancy-free, that was how he’d always envisioned himself. He’d never wanted to make the same mistakes his parents had made. He had never wanted the ugliness he’d lived through when they had divorced.
But he had become increasingly aware in the last couple of months of how love had added richness to the lives of those around him and that what he’d gone through in his childhood was caused by two selfish, dysfunctional people.
For the past couple of days he’d been at war with himself, discovering that his attraction to Olivia was far deeper than mere lust and yet afraid of changing his chosen solitary path through life.
He was thirty-three years old and since the time that he was eighteen, he’d opted for comfort and ease. He didn’t need or want anyone in his life on a permanent basis. He was happy being alone, he told himself.
He breathed a sigh of relief as she appeared on the porch and pulled him from his troubling thoughts. She was all business today, with her hair pulled back in a grim bun and
clad in the khaki uniform of her station.
She gave him a small wave and then got into her car. He followed her to the station where they both parked and he fell into step next to her as they headed for the building.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“To be honest, I didn’t sleep well,” she replied.
“That futon can’t be the most comfortable place to sleep.”
“It’s not, but I couldn’t find a three-bedroom place to rent when we needed to be here. Besides, it wasn’t the futon that kept me tossing and turning all night. Shelly’s murder has a hold on me like few cases I’ve ever worked in the past.”
“Trust me, it’s been a stab in my heart every time it’s crossed my mind. I just wish we could have done a complete investigation when it happened.”
“Your hands were tied by your boss.”
“Yeah, but I should have done more.” He opened the back door that led into the building and followed behind her inside.
“You’re doing the best you can now, and hopefully Bo will give us some information about Jimmy Tambor to get him out of my head as a potential suspect.” She frowned. “I know my job here wasn’t to solve murder cases, but I’d really like to close this one out before I’m called back to Natchez.”
They entered the squad room where several of the other deputies sat at their desks. “What time are we going to talk to Bo?”
“I’m going to call him and see if he’s available around ten. I’ll let you know what I set up with him.” With a curt nod of dismissal, she entered her office and closed the door behind her.
Cool and professional, she was definitely setting a new tone between them. He’d follow her lead because he didn’t want to make things difficult for her. He cared about her too much to pursue a deeper relationship with her that would only create pain and heartache for her and for sweet Lily when they left.
He sat at his desk and checked the notes left by James Rockfield, the deputy who worked the shift before him. Just because he and the small task force had been focused on solving Shelly’s murder didn’t mean that all other crime in town had stopped.
Scene of the Crime: Who Killed Shelly Sinclair? Page 13
