“You stop that, right now.” Lindsey stooped below the counter to grab the ten-key and started adding the amounts on each check. “You are not a freak. You’re a brave, beautiful woman. Don’t let them get you down.”
Instead of responding to that, Madeline counted the cash, writing the amount on the deposit sheet and stuffing the money into the bank bag.
“Look on the bright side. You have Donovan.”
Madeline sighed. “There is that.”
Lindsey’s eyebrows rose. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Everything’s perfect...mostly.” Did Lindsey really want to talk about her ex? Then again, now that she dated Brandon, perhaps Lindsey had healed from the hurt Donovan caused her. “Do you really want to hear about this?”
Lindsey nodded. “Even though I had my reservations about him in the beginning, I want you to be happy. What’s up?”
“It’s kind of stupid.” Madeline shrugged and looked away from Lindsey, wondering for the umpteenth time whether she was being unreasonable. She should be happy with her life, not longing for more. “He said we would talk about marriage when we weren’t forced into it. Now we’re living together, the charges against him have been dropped, and we’re both working. It seems like the perfect time to talk about marriage.”
“But he hasn’t brought it up?”
“Nope.”
Lindsey wrote the totals for the checks and credit card slips on the deposit sheet. “You got him to live with you, which is more than any other woman has accomplished.” She shook her head. “Maybe Donovan really is incapable of marriage. If you want to be with him, you might need to be content with a less formal relationship.”
She knew what Lindsey said was true. She should count her blessings instead of chasing trouble, but she wanted to be married. It was important to have the security that implied, at least to her. “I’m not sure that’s enough for me.”
“Have you asked him his plans?”
“I’m afraid too,” Madeline admitted. “What if he’s changed his mind about marriage and I bring it up? I’m afraid he might leave me.”
Lindsey nodded. “I pushed Donovan toward marriage, thinking I knew what was best for him. It sent him running.” She zipped the bank bag closed and headed for the coat closet, grabbing their purses out and handing Madeline’s to her. “I know now we weren’t meant for each other, and he never really wanted to be with me. Things are different between you two, though. I really think he loves you, but he’s just not the marrying type.”
Someone knocked on the front door. They looked through the glass to see Brandon standing on the other side, waving and smiling.
“I’m happy for you and Brandon,” Madeline said. “I tried to tell him a while ago he was chasing the wrong woman. It was always obvious he loved you.”
Lindsey cheeks turned pink and she grinned. “We’re taking things slow, but it’s been nice to have a man in my life again. He and I want the same things. In the end, that’s all that really matters.”
Madeline fished in her purse for her keys as Lindsey set the alarm. Will Donovan ever give me what I want, or do we want different things?
***
When she entered the apartment, a delicious aroma greeted her. Madeline locked the door and set her purse on the back of the couch as she walked to the kitchen. “Donovan? Are you cooking something?”
The kitchen was empty, but Madeline looked through to the dining room to see Donovan lighting candles at the table. It was set with her good china and a mix of wild flowers in a vase provided the centerpiece.
“What’s all this for?”
Donovan looked at her and a smile broke across his face. He took a step forward to grab her in his arms, dipping her back and planting a passionate kiss against her lips.
Despite her hesitations about whether they headed for anything permanent, Madeline couldn’t mask her response to him. As his tongue slipped into her mouth, she ran her hands up his back, digging at the firm muscles there.
He groaned before standing her back up, holding her close. “I’ve wanted to do that all day.”
Her heart fluttered and she took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing pulse. “And I’ve wanted you to do that all day.”
Donovan led her to the table and pulled out her chair, helping her into the seat. After walking back to the kitchen area, he picked up hot pads and grabbed a pan out of the oven. He brought it into the dining room and set it on the backside of the table, behind the flowers.
Madeline noticed breadsticks and serving spoons already laid out, and Donovan took a bottle of white wine from an ice bucket and filled each of their glasses.
“I hope you like Chicken Alfredo,” he said, picking up her plate and dishing fettuccini onto it. He finished it off with a breadstick and set it in front of her.
She watched as he loaded his own plate with food. “I didn’t know you could cook. From now on, you’re in charge of the bacon situation.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I wish I could take the credit, but I ordered this from The Carriage House. I just put it in the pan and set it to warm in the oven. Didn’t want it ruined before you got home.”
She dipped her breadstick into the Alfredo sauce and took a bite, setting the bread back on her plate. The rich sauce blended with the warm bread perfectly. “I suppose that means you expect me to learn how to cook better. I’d hoped you were a closet chef, just coming out to me now.”
Donovan smiled and took her hand in his, kissing the tips of her fingers and sucking the garlic butter off them. “I’ll love you forever, even if that means eating burnt bacon the rest of my life.”
Her heart danced with joy. Promising the rest of his life sounded good. “Is tonight some sort of special occasion?” she asked.
“Today’s been a great day. I have something wonderful to talk to you about.”
This could be it. Maybe he went to this trouble of a romantic dinner to propose. She smiled and twirled a piece of fettuccini onto her fork. “I’ve been waiting for this talk,” she said, bringing the fork to Donovan’s mouth and delicately feeding him. “Lindsey said it might never happen, but I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”
Donovan’s eyes narrowed and he chewed quickly, wiping his face with the back of his hand. “What are you talking about, Maddie?”
“Us. This. That fact that you are going to—” She stopped. The confusion on his face told her she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion. He wasn’t proposing. Her heart dropped a little. “—to tell me what was so great about today.”
He grinned. “It’s been the best day. Brice and Eric found some stuff out about Suzie, and they forced the issue to question her. It’s great news. It looks like she really is the one responsible for all the murders. We don’t have to worry anymore. You’re safe!”
That was so far away from what Madeline wanted to hear, she struggled to place a pleased expression on her face. “That’s good news.”
“I knew you’d be happy about it.”
She nodded, blinking back tears that threatened to fall. It was stupid to be upset and feel let down. He’d never implied this was a proposal. She’d just wanted it to be one so badly.
“So they have all the evidence they need? It’s finally over?” Her voice sounded too cheery, fake in her own ears. She was trying her best, damn it.
It wasn’t lost on Donovan. “Is everything okay? You don’t seem as excited as I thought you’d be.”
Madeline shrugged and took a bite of food. She couldn’t tell him the truth. “It was a long day. I had to deal with Mrs. Duncan getting an eyeful of my face for over an hour before she decided to ask me about it.”
Donovan took her cheeks in his hands, stroking his thumbs down her scars on either side of her face. It still felt odd when the pad of his thumb moved from the ruined skin to the normal skin.
“Don’t worry about that old windbag,” he said. “I love you, Maddie. Isn’t that what really matters?” He leaned in and kissed her light
ly.
She kissed him stiffly and then backed away, forking up a bite of food. “Thanks. I’ll try not to worry about her anymore.”
Donovan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he settled back into his chair. “Anyway, about Suzie’s confession...you did know she used to be married to a guy with a lot of money, didn’t you?”
By his quick change of subject, she wondered if she’d somehow hurt his feelings. Maybe she should have kissed him more deeply or something. She didn’t know what it was he wanted from her. The thing that scared her most was, for the last few days, he’d seemed increasingly unhappy whenever they talked. He’d tell her he loved her, but then seem upset right after. She was so afraid he had begun to regret the decision to live with her. If that was the case, he’d never want to get married.
She knew she couldn’t just ask him about it. It used to piss Cameron off any time she asked questions about his feelings, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to hear about hers. She quickly learned men didn’t discuss those things.
Would Donovan laugh at her, like Cameron used to, if she told him how much she loved him and that she wanted to marry him? Would he leave her or, worse, sleep with someone else if she confided her true feelings?
She couldn’t risk that.
“I’d heard her husband left her a bundle,” Madeline answered, deciding Suzie was a safer topic. “Why does that matter?”
“During his investigation, Brice found out she has a house in Eureka we didn’t know about, one still in her husband’s name.”
Comprehension dawned on her. “What did they find in it?”
“They haven’t searched it yet. Eric’s up there, trying to obtain a search warrant and working with their local police.”
“But I thought you said they have evidence to totally exonerate you.”
“Patience, Maddie.” Donovan smiled. “Brice has faith they’ll find what they need in that house. Eric questioned her earlier today and she confessed to everything.”
“Can that be held against her? She’s in a psych ward, after all. I thought that’s why they hadn’t questioned her for so long.”
“Mostly, that was Stone blocking efforts to get to her. I think he feared she’d say something to incriminate herself.” He stroked his fingertips across the top of her hand and stared into her eyes. “And she did. Suzie’s going to spend the rest of her life in a hospital. It really is where she belongs.” Donovan shook his head. “She told Eric she did it all for me, that we’re soul mates and it was a wedding gift to me.”
“Wedding gift? I’m confused.”
He sighed. “I shouldn’t have dated her. I guess she’s been obsessed with me since her husband died, convinced I was in love with her but going out with other women to make her jealous.”
“That’s sad, but I don’t understand how she went from loving you to killing people.”
“It was like I thought all along.” Donovan took a small sip from his wine glass. “She’d been stalking me, watching everything I did. She broke into her father’s office and looked over my file. She figured out how much I hate abusive men.”
“And decided to kill one?” She’s crazier than I thought.
Donovan’s blue eyes met hers and the sadness in them broke Madeline’s heart. “That’s what she meant by it being a wedding gift to me. Apparently she planned to kill Frank and pin it on someone else, but reveal to me what she had done.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I guess thinking I would admire her for it and be grateful. She thought it would make me want to marry her.”
“So, it was her I saw that day on the beach? How’d she overpower Frank? He was a large guy.”
“You were right about the police baton. She stole one from the station and snuck up behind Frank. He didn’t hear her over the sound of the waves and she knocked him out.” Donovan toyed with the food on his plate and closed his eyes. “She said it didn’t take long to strangle him.”
Something wasn’t adding up. “Why did she call him from your phone? If she wanted to marry you, it wouldn’t make sense to frame you.”
“In the beginning, she didn’t intend to frame me. She said she found my phone that day in the hardware store. She planned to use it to trap me into spending time with her when I picked it up. I don’t know why she decided to call Frank with it.” He took a few bites of food, not saying anything further.
Madeline ate some of the chicken, though she no longer had an appetite. Suzie was a very sick woman, obviously, but Madeline didn’t understand what she gained by killing Maria. Unless...
Madeline covered her mouth, nausea roiling in her stomach. “It really is my fault Maria died. Frank was her gift to you. She killed Maria because she thought I would be in the store.”
The corners of his mouth tightened slightly. “Brice didn’t mention Maria. We don’t know for sure why—”
“You’re lying,” she said. “Tell me. I can handle it.”
He sighed and linked his fingers through hers. “Okay. You’re right. She wanted to kill you and Maria got in the way, but you can’t blame yourself.”
“Why not? I’m responsible. If I’d never asked Maria to cover for me...” Madeline didn’t even try to stop the tears that fell. “Poor Jeremy.”
Donovan stood and walked behind her, rubbing her shoulders in his strong hands. “It isn’t your fault, Maddie. It’s mine. I unwittingly played with the emotions of a very sick woman and it sent her over the edge. I put everyone in danger.”
She wanted to tell him he was wrong, wanted to make him feel better, but a part of her couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth of his words. “Neither one of us meant for this to happen,” she finally said, squeezing his hand between her cheek and her shoulder. “It’s no one’s fault.”
He hugged her to his stomach. “Anyway, she told Eric everything went wrong when her father looked at me for the crimes, so she came up with a new plan. She planted the evidence in my apartment and made it look like I did it. She decided she could get an engagement out of me by paying my bail and coming to my rescue that way.”
“And I stood in her way, because you told her you loved me, so she attacked me.”
“You don’t know how I wish I’d never said that. I’m so sorry for placing you in danger.”
“You couldn’t have known.” She shook her head and patted his hand. “What did she plan to do once she’d killed me?”
“She still had some blue rope left. She planned to use it to frame someone else for all the murders, including yours. She’d use her money to buy my freedom, while putting someone else in prison. Then, she and I would live happily ever after.”
“And she told Eric all this?”
The weight of Donovan’s head rested against hers and Madeline felt him nod.
“It’s all on tape and one of the security guards at the hospital also heard the confession. Once they find the remaining rope in her house and any other evidence, it’ll all be over.”
“To think she went through all of that based on a relationship that didn’t even exist.” Madeline reached above her to stroke Donovan’s hair. “She’s completely crazy.”
“At least she’s where she can get help now.”
Madeline shuddered, remembering Suzie’s smile as blood dripped into the woman’s mouth and she sat on top of Madeline with a shard of glass. “I hope she never escapes.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about that. You’re safe now.”
“I suppose so.”
“I know so.” He took a step back from her and caressed the bottom of her chin, causing her to look up at him. “Is there something you want to say to me now? Something about us?”
Madeline took a deep breath and nodded. He was right; they needed to talk. She had to know what he wanted. If she brought this kind of thing up with Cameron, she knew it would have provoked scorn and irritation. She could only hope Donovan calmly accepted what she had to say and agreed to talk.
She chewed on her bottom lip, looking into Do
novan’s clear blue eyes. What if he walks away from me in disgust?
“Is there anything you want to say?” he prompted again.
She just had to say it, get it out there, and hope he understood. “I’m not sure our relationship is headed anywhere,” she blurted. “And I need more.”
“Wow.” Donovan dropped his hand and walked to his side of the table, shaking his head. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
Madeline wished she could snatch her words back, unsay what she’d said. Obviously, Donovan was like Cameron and didn’t want to discuss his feelings. What was I thinking? I can’t beg for forgiveness, though. That pissed Cameron off more than anything.
He picked up his wine glass and tossed back the contents in one gulp, visibly upset. “You need someone who can make you happy, Maddie, someone you love the same way he loves you.”
Madeline watched in shock as he filled the cup and drained it a second time. He rarely drank, and never more than a glass. “I shouldn’t have said anything,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” She tried to hold back tears as she watched him fill the glass a third time.
“It’s not your fault.” He raised it to his lips, but didn’t drink. “I imagined tonight differently, that’s all.” He shrugged, setting the glass on the table. “I thought Suzie admitting what she did might change things somehow. Help us get to where we need to be, but I’m afraid we can’t get there.”
“What is it you want?” She grasped his hand, trying hard to keep the emotion from her voice so she didn’t anger him further. “Talk to me. I’m confused.”
“I’m confused too. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I only want it with the right person.”
Madeline’s breath caught in her throat. It sounded like he was saying she wasn’t the person for him. That’s what she’d feared all along. She shouldn’t pressure him into a stronger commitment. Lindsey was right. “Please, Donovan, don’t make any decisions right now. Let’s just enjoy being together. We don’t have to talk about the future yet.”
He pulled his hand from hers. “I’m going to pour you a bath and light some candles. You’ve had a long day.”
Crime & Passion Page 28
