“Good. I’m gonna need you patrolling again tonight, trading off with Sly. These hours are a killer, yeah, but that's because we're trying to beat a killer. We can't let her win.”
Her. It might have been a slip. He doubted that very much. Caitlin still believed Tess was involved in her husband’s death. Wonderful. More than ever, Mason thought he made the right decision in keeping the threatening riddle from the sheriff. She would only find some way to pin it on Tess.
Tess didn't deserve that. Caitlin wasn't there. She hadn't seen how badly shook Tess was. He was a deputy, more than eight years under his belt on the job. If that woman was faking, he'd turn in his gun and his badge.
He itched to get back to her, to make sure she was okay. And he hated the idea that the doc might manage to do so before he could.
No approved personal. He got that. But what about—
Mason cleared his threat. “Sheriff, I was just wondering. Tomorrow night is my scheduled off time—”
“There is no scheduled off time either when we have an open investigation. You know that. No pretty face or sob story should turn your head so much that you forget who you are and what you've sworn to do. Hamlet is your home, Deputy. And it's your priority.”
Mason took her slap at him with a wince and a gulp before he straightened, his hands folded behind his back.
“You're right, Sheriff. I'm sorry. Forget I brought it up.”
Caitlin studied her deputy, ramrod straight as he stood at attention. Lord help her, she could almost swear she saw the little hearts fluttering over his head. Mason had it bad. As much as she hated to admit it, there was a slight chance Sullivan's wife was innocent. If she ended up proving it, what did it hurt to let Mason work this little crush out of his system?
And, she realized, if the outsider hooked up with Mason, that left Lucas wide open for her.
“Okay. Fine.” She threw her hands up in the air, making a show of giving in. “Take tomorrow night for yourself. Just make sure to keep your radio on in case I need you.”
“I always do,” he promised. Then, deciding to make his escape before she changed her mind, he added, “Good luck with the internet.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Mason started to back out of the office, paused as if remembering something, and hesitated. Hands in his pockets he turned to face Caitlin again.
“Hey, Sheriff? Quick question. You… you, uh, don't still think that Tess killed her husband? Right?”
Tess again, Caitlin thought. Someone ought to warn the kid not to wear his heart on his sleeve. It was a dangerous place to keep it. She knew that better than anyone. Lucas broke hers so many times over the years, all she had left were shards.
She drank her coffee, taking a second to compose herself so that she didn't snap out her answer—or a warning.
“Mase, I have to follow that lead all the way to the end.”
“But… why?”
“Because once I'm done looking at Tessa Sullivan, I’ll have to start looking for one of us.”
On the way to his office that morning, Lucas purposely made a right instead of a left when he hit the main fork in the road. He was supposed to go to work. He didn't. His Mustang brought him back to Ophelia instead.
As he let himself into his sister’s house, he flashed back to the night before. It had spooked him to get a buzz from Maria so late, and he almost lost it when she admitted that someone had snuck into the bed and breakfast last night to terrorize her guest. The only thing that kept him from insisting she shut Ophelia down again was that Maria hadn’t been in any danger—and, if she had been, she still slept with her trusty bat underneath her bed.
It worried him that Tessa Sullivan seemed to be a target, though. And that, when she was in danger, Mason Walsh had been there to take care of her. If it wasn’t for Maria catching the look on his face and telling Walsh no, the deputy would’ve booked a room at Ophelia to keep his eye on the outsider.
He couldn't have that.
Telling himself that, as the doctor, it was up to him to follow up with his new patient, Lucas decided to make a house call to the bed and breakfast rather than returning to his office to catch up on his patients and reports. A house call still counted as work. He wouldn't let anyone tell him otherwise.
He checked in on his sister, finding her in her bedroom. He told her his plan, trying not let it embarrass him too much when Maria squealed in excitement and rushed him out of her room so that he could go see Tessa. Her girlish advice ringing in his ears—or maybe that was her high-pitched shrieks—Lucas headed for the Lavender Room. He rapped his knuckles gently against the door, then pressed in close.
The rustle of sheets, the soft shuffle of dainty steps across the carpet, and then, “Yes? Hello?”
“It’s me. Lucas.”
It was already after ten; the outer locks had been disengaged three hours ago. He heard the click as Tessa unlocked the door on her side.
A moment later, she swung the door inward. Wearing a plush pink robe and a pair of muddy slippers, Tessa kept her hand on the door handle. She made no move to invite him in.
Her hair was sleep-tousled in a most appealing way. It made Lucas wonder what it would be like to see those soft curls spilled across his own pillow.
Tessa looked up at him in honest confusion. Her expression seemed softer this morning, more open and far less wary. She lost some of the pinched look of fear she’d worn when Lucas brought over the medication last night.
Good.
“Morning, Tessa.”
With her free hand, she anxiously tightened the belt on her robe. “Um—hi.”
“I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, no. I was already up.” She couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “Is there something I can do for you?”
Lucas offered her a rakish grin, bowing his head so that she had no choice but to look at him. Tess could feel her cheeks heat up. “Since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I would stop in and check up on you. How are you feeling? Did you take the pills I brought you?”
“They worked. First real sleep I’ve gotten in days.” And because they knocked her out, she didn’t experience any of the nightmares she’d been afraid to have. Ten hours of dreamless sleep, it was the best gift anyone could’ve given her last night. “I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m the doctor. It’s my responsibility to take care of my patients. And since you’re here, for however long the sheriff wants you to stay, I’ll do my best to take care of you.”
“Oh, wow. I— I don’t know what to say.”
It seemed like Lucas did. “Have you had breakfast yet?” he asked.
That was the last thing she expected from him. Except for when Maria was forcibly reminding her that she had to eat, she didn’t think about food. Her stomach went from queasy to settled to angry, depending on her mood. Her appetite was long gone. She shook her head.
“Great. Tell me you’ll come with me to have some.”
Was he serious? Tess dared to look up at him, her gaze drawn to his chiseled jaw and the way his expression both enticed her and warned her not to refuse.
Oh, yes. He was dead serious.
But why?
“Oh, I… um, I’m sure Maria will be expecting me to eat with her. Your sister’s very kind. She’s been feeding me every chance she gets.”
“She must think you’re too skinny.”
“She might have implied that once or twice,” Tess admitted. “I like her. I don’t want her to waste her work if she’s already started breakfast.”
Lucas waved away her concerns. “I stopped by Maria’s room before I came to check on you. Don’t worry about her. I already told her that we were going to go to the coffeehouse together. She just asked me to bring home one of Addy’s scones. My sister is an amazing cook,” he confided, lowering his voice as he leaned in, “but she can’t bake to save her life.”
The handsome doctor was close. Super close. Tess’s heart skipped a beat. Her m
outh was suddenly as dry as the Sahara. Swallowing roughly, she found herself nodding. “Okay. I’ll go with you. Just let me get changed.”
“I’ll be waiting on the porch. Come outside when you’re ready.”
“Give me five minutes.”
“No rush,” Lucas said, reaching out to tap her nose. She felt that casual touch all the way down to her toes. Even when he backed away, her skin still burned. “I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”
Jack never wanted to wait for her. If she wasn’t ready when he was, he would threaten to leave her behind—and, sometimes, it wasn’t just a threat. She lost count of the times that they went somewhere in separate cars because he couldn’t stand waiting around for her to finish getting dressed. Lucas’s patience was so foreign to her that she stood, stunned, as he walked away, whistling.
Giving her head a quick shake, she shut the door behind him and, stripping as she went, ran right to the bathroom. One year being married to a stickler with time had long since turned her into a quick-change artist when the situation called for it.
So even though Lucas told her that he was content to wait, the two of them were pulling up to another Victorian-style house barely twenty minutes later.
When Lucas said he was taking her to a coffeehouse, she was expecting a Starbucks or maybe a local café. The narrow, spindly house—a house house—was unlike anything she imagined. It had the turrets and the railings like Ophelia, but it was a third of the size with at least one extra floor. And, she felt the need to point out again, it was a house.
“Is this it?”
Lucas killed the engine. Opening his door, he climbed out of the car. “Sort of.”
Sort of? What did that mean? Tess unbuckled her seatbelt, reaching for the door handle.
She saw what he meant a minute later. He guided her around the side of the house, surprising Tess with another building similar in style to the first, only much smaller. It reminded her of a greenhouse, with the same weathered facade as the Victorian in front of it.
Another wooden sign, eerily reminiscent of the sign welcoming visitors to Hamlet, hung over a pale blue door.
In a looping, swirling script, it read: the coffeehouse.
“This is one of Hamlet’s many treasures,” Lucas told her. “Not only does Addy do the best baking in town, but the coffee is to die for. And if Gus is cooking, there’s no better meal. Except for when Maria is in charge of the kitchen,” he added loyally. “They do all the baking and cooking in the main house. The coffeehouse is where you can go to sit with your coffee and just relax.”
Tess didn’t think she remembered how to relax. With Lucas as her breakfast companion, she figured it was worth a try.
Lucas slipped his arm around her shoulder before opening the door for them. “Come with me. There’s a table in the back where we can talk without too many people staring.”
As Tess walked beside the doctor, she couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t kidding. There were at least nine other people being served inside and each one was watching in avid interest as Lucas led her to an empty table against the far wall. She tucked herself close to his side, more than willing to use his bigger body as a shield.
He pulled out her seat, waited for her to take it before he moved to sit opposite of her. The instant his ass hit the chair, the waitress appeared.
She was a perky little thing, all of maybe fourteen years old. On the tall and gangly side, she wore a burgundy apron that slipped off her slim shoulders. Her hair was cut short, her face too feminine for the cut to seem boyish. When she smiled in a warm greeting, Tess saw the most endearing gap between her two front teeth.
“Doctor De Angelis, hi! Mom was just talking about you and here you are. I swear, it’s like she’s psychic or something.”
“Good morning, Sally.”
Cordial yet frosty, Tess decided. He was a local, sure, but one who kept himself on the fringe. She wondered if it had something to do with his being the only doctor in Hamlet.
The teen’s cheeks turned a rosy sort of pink. Tess didn’t blame her. Whenever Lucas turned his stunning good looks in her direction, she felt herself getting warm, too.
Lucas wanted to return his attention back to his lovely brunch companion—but he knew he couldn’t. Not yet. Even as he smiled up at the local girl, he was aware that nearly every other villager was watching their table in open interest.
It was a calculated risk. He wanted to take Tessa out, even though he knew they’d be on full display. In fact, he was almost counting on it.
He offered Sally one of his professional grins. His I’m the doctor and you can trust me smile.
“What can I do for your lovely mother?”
Sally giggled. “Well, she was only just wondering this morning if you’re gonna be opening up your office soon for seeing patients. She’s got that patch thing going on with her foot again. I know she wants you to check it out but Aunt Cait says you've been busy with sheriff stuff.”
Sally’s mother, Adrianna, was a close friend of Caitlin’s, close enough that Sally referred to the sheriff as her aunt. Addy was also, with her husband Gus, the owner of the coffeehouse.
Originally called The Danish Coffee & Cake Shop—because most shop owners in town took pride in Hamlet and it showed—nearly all of the locals simply referred to their shop as the coffeehouse. The only nod to the original name was the small DC&C stamps printed on the coffee mugs. Even Addy eventually gave up the fight and had Maria paint her a new sign to overhang the front door.
“You tell her that anytime she needs me, give me a buzz. I’ll be starting regular hours in the next couple of days, but I’m never too busy for her.”
“I’ll tell her, doc. So, what can I get you two? Mom’s got a fresh crumb cake coming out in the next ten minutes.”
“How’s coffee to start?” Tessa nodded, so he told Sally, “Two coffees, please. And is Gus on the grill?”
While Sally was the server and Adrianna did all of the baking, Gus stayed in the main kitchen in their house, preparing any of the hot meals ordered and sending Sally across the grass to deliver them.
Like its original name, the plan that the coffeehouse was only a coffeehouse changed shortly after Addy and Gus opened the place. Hamlet had been in need of a homestyle diner-type joint, with breakfast and lunch served for any of the locals who were tired of the only other two restaurants in town. The coffeehouse filled the void. And despite being a haven for Hamlet locals, it was always crowded.
“Yeah, Dad’s working straight through the lunch rush like usual.”
“Perfect. If you could bring us a list of what he’s cooking up today, that would be great. My guest and I will be having brunch following our coffee. We’ll choose from his specials.”
Even after he gave their order, she didn’t move away from their table. He could tell that it was on the tip of Sally’s tongue to ask about Tessa. Considering how rare it was for outsiders to find their way into Hamlet, especially in such a scandalous way as Tessa had, there was no doubt in his mind that the teen knew exactly who she was. But gossip was currency in such a small village. By bringing Tessa to the coffeehouse, Lucas had just made Sally rich.
He leaned back into the uncomfortable seat. “Thank you, Sally. The coffee, if you could. We’ll go with the house special. The Danish, please.”
Sally nodded, tucking her pad into her apron. She certainly knew a dismissal when she heard one, immediately retreating from their table.
Lucas had a good idea what she would do—and what she would say to her mother—as soon as she scurried back through the Employees Only door that led into the smaller kitchen.
Lucas watched the teen go, accepting that any peace they would have at brunch would be short-lived. He turned to Tessa, prepared to warn her that even this table hadn’t managed to hide her. He cocked his head, though, when he saw that she was looking at him strangely.
“What?”
16
“Your name is De Angelis.”
“Yes.”
“And the sheriff… that’s her name, too.”
He knew where she was going with this. To be honest, Lucas was surprised it took her this long to say something about it. It wasn’t like he had ever hidden it. “That’s right.”
“Maria is your only sister, but Caitlin has your name. So you two—”
“We were. A long time ago.” It was important to him that she understood that point. “Stupid kids got married before they realized it would be work. We got divorced years ago but she always says that my name is one more thing she got in the divorce.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t worth the argument. You’ve met Caity, you know what she’s like. If she wanted it, she could keep it.”
The young waitress came back with their coffees. Lucas took his black, watching curiously as Tessa dumped in three creamers and two sugars before stirring it all up with the flat of her knife. She took a sip, added one more sugar, then sipped again.
Satisfied, she remarked, “I don’t know why she would bother.”
“Bother what? In keeping my name? I’ve always liked it.”
Tessa grinned. It was about time he finally saw such a light-hearted expression cross her face. Lucas was struck by the simple beauty of it. He knew she was more than seven years younger than he was but, at that moment, she seemed soft. Youthful. Innocent. He found himself grinning back.
She flicked the discarded lid from one of her creamers at him. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…” Her grin lost some of its shine. “It feels so weird to think of myself as Tessa Sullivan now that Jack’s gone.”
“Were you married long?” Lucas tested his coffee. Finding it too hot, he set it to the side.
“Just a year. Actually, this was supposed to be a second honeymoon thing and—I’m sorry. Talking about him seems to help, but then I… I don’t know. Just. Sorry. You probably don't want to hear about him after what happened and… yeah.”
“Don’t apologize.”
Her brow furrowed. “Did I?”
Don't Trust Me (Hamlet Book 1) Page 15
