“You did. And it wasn't the first time. Seems like that’s all you do, saying the word sorry over and over again.”
Tessa took another sip. If it was a nervous tactic to stall the conversation, it didn’t work. Lucas watched her closely, waiting for her answer. He didn’t say anything. The silence eventually forced her to continue.
“It’s still really hard for me to get it, to get that he’s gone. I mean, I know I signed that form for the cremation. I didn’t want any ceremony and maybe that was a mistake. Without seeing it, there wasn’t any closure for me. Then again, I think I saw enough in that hotel room, right? I don’t know. I guess it didn’t hit me that he was… that he was actually murdered until I got that note last night.
“I was so stupid, too. I mean, what was I thinking? Running out into the night like that, nearly getting myself killed, all because somebody thought it would be funny to mess with the… what do you guys call it?”
His lip curled. The smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Outsider.”
“Right. I’m an outsider who brought death to Hamlet, whether I meant to or not. Of course they would want me gone. The note, while over the top, almost did the job.” Her laugh was forced. “I don’t think I’ve ever ran so fast in my life, and all because someone tried to turn my own husband’s murder against me.”
Lucas had come to the same conclusions himself. Nobody ever locked their doors in Hamlet which was what had gotten his sister into so much trouble last year. That was why he insisted so strongly on the dual system on the rooms in Ophelia. The front door might be open. The rest of them wouldn’t be.
Except the note had appeared in the Lavender Room before Ophelia’s lockdown. That meant that anyone could have snuck into the bed and breakfast and left the note—if, in fact, there was a note.
No, he decided. There had to be one. Tessa was too good, too sweet. She would never lie to him.
“You don’t think they meant it?” he asked her. “The threat?”
She shook her head. “Looking back, I know that it had to be a prank. Some sick person’s idea of a joke. I only wish you and Maria and the deputy didn’t have to see me fall apart like that last night. I feel like such an idiot. Just because Jack’s gone, it doesn’t mean I’m next.”
He wasn’t sure if she really believed what she was saying, or if she was trying to convince herself that it was a joke so that she didn’t have to be afraid. Taking a sip of his coffee, he studied her over the rim of his mug. That was what was missing today, he realized. She didn’t seem so afraid.
“I didn’t want to say anything before but, now that you say that, there's something different about you now.” Lucas set his mug down, absently rearranged the cutlery so that the fork and knife were parallel to the mug’s handle. “That must be why. I told you. It had to get worse before it got better. I never expected someone to play such a mean-spirited prank, it's not what we do here, but maybe it helped a little if it made you accept Sullivan’s death at last. Twisted closure, yeah, is closure all the same.”
“Yeah. I guess. Hey, thanks,” she said to the young waitress as Sally refilled her empty mug.
Sally wordlessly offered the carafe to Lucas. He shook his head and she moved on to her next table.
Three creamers, three sugars. He took three pink packets from the ceramic holder, palmed three half & half containers from the chilled bowl, and slid them across the table to Tessa. She beamed at him. With a gracious nod, she prepared her second cup of coffee with all the precision of a chemist working at her station.
Lucas leaned back in his seat, taking the time to really observe her. The sleeping pills were a big help. The dark circles under her eyes no longer looked like puffy purple bruises. A soft smile lingered on her lips more often than the sad frown he’d become accustomed to seeing. There was steel in her spine. Her husband’s death had bent her, tied this woman in all sorts of knots, but it hadn’t broken her.
“It’s something else,” he observed.
Tessa stopped, her mug halfway to her lips. “Excuse me?”
“It’s not just because someone tried to scare you.”
“Try nothing,” she muttered darkly. “They sure as hell succeeded. I about convinced myself that I was going to die in the woods behind your sister’s house.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows. “And then Deputy Walsh rode in and saved the day.”
“Yes, well…” Tess let her sentence trail to a close. She filled the silence by taking a big gulp of her coffee. The creamers hadn’t cooled it entirely. As the heat scalded her tongue and the back of her throat, she choked and forced it down.
Okay, she decided. That was enough for now.
Something warned her against allowing Lucas to bring Mason into their discussion. She cast around for an idea of something else to talk about before settling on the truth. Besides, she didn’t think he would let her get away with anything less. She couldn’t understand how, but he was far too good at reading her.
“I’ve been thinking about Jack a lot,” she admitted.
“That’s not a surprise. You lost your husband suddenly in a very brutal way.”
“Yes, but…” Tess exhaled roughly. The confession was a hard one, but if there was one person in Hamlet who wouldn’t judge her for it, she was betting that would be the doctor. “I guess I’m kind of glad he’s gone. Is that terrible of me?”
“I can’t say.”
She felt compelled to explain. “He wasn’t a bad man. He just wasn’t the man I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him, but I think I stopped being in love with him a long time ago. I still tried to make it work, though. He was so good to me in the beginning, but he could tell… we just drifted apart. There never was that sort of ah-ha moment. I didn’t love him one day, then resent him the next. It's just… he kept me caged, Dr. De Angelis. The pretty little bird expected to sing on command. And all I wanted was to be free. Maybe not the way it happened, but I can spread my wings now, can’t I? And because I’m happy, it makes me feel even worse that I am.”
Lucas reached out, placing one of his hands over her slender one. “Some beauties were meant to fly,” he told her. “I would never clip your wings.”
No, he thought. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t want to clasp a chain around her ankle and keep her close.
That was dangerous. To imagine owning this woman. He tensed slightly, caressing the top of her hand with his palm before pulling his arm back to his side of the table. Busying himself, he picked up his mug and took a deep drink.
Tessa seemed to remember herself at the same moment. Clearing her throat, she looked around the busy coffeehouse, staring at anything and everything except the flash of lust and heat of desire in his icy blue eyes.
He was sure she recognized it all the same.
When Lucas drove her back to Ophelia an hour later, there were two cars parked nearby. One was a mint green two-door coupe that had Maria written all over it. She had parked it in the driveway rather than the garage which made Tess wonder if she had taken another market trip or something else while Tess was at brunch with her brother.
The other was parked on the opposite side of the street, directly across from the bed and breakfast.
It was a police cruiser.
Of course, it was.
“The sheriff?” she asked when she saw it. Great. Just great. After their discussion at the coffee shop, Caitlin De Angelis was the last person she wanted to see.
Lucas shook his head. “No, that’s not Caity.”
And then he said, “It’s Walsh,” and Tess found herself sinking into her seat. She should've expected this and been more prepared.
Jesus. That guy was never going to take a hint.
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate everything he did for her last night. She did. Mason was a lifesaver. He'd been right there, willing to lend a helping hand ever since he pulled her over. Which was why, when Lucas raised an eyebrow at her, wordlessly asking if she wanted him to continue driving ri
ght past the house, she shook her head.
“You sure?”
Tess nodded. “He’s probably just taking the time to come and check up on me after last night. I know I acted like a moron. He’s like you, pulling the good guy routine because you feel bad for me. Don’t worry. I think I can handle him.”
“Oh?” His eyebrow rose infinitesimally higher. “Like you handled me?”
A small smile was her only reply as she unsnapped her seatbelt.
Lucas reached over her to pop open the door for Tess. His hand brushed against her thigh as he drew his arm back slowly. “I’m heading down to my office to do some work. If you need me for any reason at all, get Maria. She knows how to get in touch with me.”
“Thanks for brunch,” she said, climbing easily out of the car.
“My pleasure. Oh,” he added as she closed the door behind her and stepped away from the Mustang, “and Tessa?”
She paused, turning to look at him through the open window. He still had his arm slung around the headrest where she’d been sitting, leaning in so that she could hear him without him having to raise his voice.
“Walsh isn’t anything like me.”
She barely had time to wonder what he meant before he peeled away from the curb. Giving her head a shake, she started for the walkway that led up to Ophelia. She believed Lucas when he said that the cruiser belonged to Mason. How could anyone else expect her to know that? If she got lucky, she could slip inside her borrowed sanctuary without having to talk to him at all—
The slam of a car door. Heavy boots falling in a steady rhythm as someone jogged up to her. She didn’t need to turn around to know it was the deputy.
“Hey, Tess. I was hoping to catch you.”
Pasting a pleasantly fake smile on her face, she turned to greet him. “Mason, I didn’t see you there. How are you?”
“I’m doing alright.” Mason pulled his thumb in the direction Lucas had just gone. His expression was carefully blank. “Was that the doc?”
“Oh. Yes. He was kind enough to offer me a ride back to the bed and breakfast.” Which reminded her. She still needed her car and here was the one person who might know where it was. “So, um, do you think—”
“Why were you with the doc?” he interrupted. It wasn’t a casual question, either. It was a demand. “Where were you?”
Tess was so surprised by the venom in his voice, she stopped mid-sentence. The car could damn well wait. She had a much bigger problem standing right in front of her to worry about.
A six foot tall, blond-haired, brown-eyed problem.
“We went to get something to eat. Why?”
His jaw ticked. “We? You went with him?”
She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. Shaking her head royally, she asked, “Why not? I thought it was nice of him to offer.”
“If you need something, you come to me. Not him.”
Tess was so tired of letting everyone walk all over her. Jack had, and she hated it, but they’d dated for many years before they got married. After all that time together, he knew how to manage her and she… well, she just gave up a long time ago.
Talking to Lucas at the coffeehouse had been a revelation for Tess. Now that she was free from him at last, she wasn’t about to let anyone put her down again.
“You’re the one who called the doctor over last night. I didn’t need him seeing me like that. You told me he would help. Why are you so mad that I let him?”
Mason’s scowl was a flash across his handsome features, there and gone again as he struggled to maintain his control. “Maria is the one who buzzed the doc,” he told Tess. “I didn’t want him coming around you. Seems like I was right.”
“Mason, I don’t belong to you. We just met, for god’s sake.”
That didn’t seem to faze him. “Lucas De Angelis belongs to the sheriff. He always has, and he always will. Remember that. You’re wasting your time with him.”
“It was just breakfast—”
“With him.” Mason lashed out, striking like a snake. He had his hand wrapped around her slender wrist, yanking her until they were nearly nose to nose. “I would’ve taken you anywhere you wanted to go. You didn’t have to go to Lucas.”
Tess struggled against his hold. She never expected him to grab her and it spooked her, how fast he had turned on her like that. But the more she struggled and tried to pull away, the tighter his clasp became until it was a vice clamped around her wrist. Fingers digging into her skin, his hand squeezing so tightly it was like he was mashing her bones together.
It hurt.
Panting softly, she tried one more time to break free. When it didn’t work, she whimpered. “Deputy, please. You’re hurting me.”
Mason blinked. The dark look in his eyes disappeared from one second to the next, almost as if he had been in a trance and only now realized what he was doing. With a sharp breath, he let go of Tess’s hand so quickly, you would’ve thought he was burned.
“Ah, jeez. I’m sorry.” He took one step away from her, and another. He held up his hand, staring at it as if it wasn’t his. “Tess, I didn’t mean to—”
He was moving away from her. That’s all she wanted. If she managed to put enough space between them, she could bolt for the door and, if she was lucky, she might even make it before he overpowered her.
“It’s fine,” she lied. “Just… let’s forget it happened, okay?”
Tess wasn't stupid. Mason was a member of the law enforcement team in a town that wasn’t too keen on the idea of outsiders. Even if she wanted to complain about his sudden mood swing, she didn’t think it would do any good. When it was his word against hers, she knew damn well who Sheriff De Angelis would believe. That woman was looking for one tiny excuse to toss Tess in the cells again and, this time, she would throw away the key.
No, she amended. The sheriff would drag Tess out of Hamlet by the hair and throw her into the county lock-up the next town over just so she would never have to look at her again.
Glancing down, she saw the red ring forming around her wrist. Compared to her pale skin, the blemish was extremely noticeable.
Mason saw it the same time she did. He reached for her. “Your wrist—”
Tess moved her hand out of his grasp, tucking it behind her back so that he couldn’t touch her again. “Is fine,” she repeated. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it? I hurt you, Tess! I never should’ve—”
Mason’s radio buzzed.
“I can’t ignore that.” He looked pained. “I’m still on duty.”
Tess never believed in the old adage “saved by the bell” more than at that moment. She was desperate to get out of this conversation, no matter what. Taking the opportunity to continue to back away from Mason, she gestured at his belt. “Go on. Answer your radio.”
He picked up on her retreat. “Don’t go anywhere yet. Please, Tess. We’re not done.”
Oh, yes, they were. She took another step away, sliding her hand to cover the red mark on her wrist. Maybe, if he didn’t see it, he would forget and go.
Engaging his radio, Mason said, “This is Deputy Walsh.”
Static, followed by Willie’s pleasant voice. “Mase, sug, I need you to take a spin out to North Woodbridge, gulleyside. I’ve got those two neighbors fighting over that damn rosebush again. Sheriff’s going out of Hamlet and Sly’s just gone off duty after pulling another double. I need you to break it up before Jerry turns the hose on Christopher again.”
“Got it, Wil. Don’t worry. I’ll threaten Chris with his wife. That usually stops his complaining. I’ll check in when I got it under control.”
“Thanks, sugar.”
Clipping his radio back to his belt, Mason offered Tess a crooked half smile that was wavering. Despite her wishes, he obviously hadn’t forgotten their discussion. “See, that’s what crime in Hamlet is usually like, two old coots fighting over a rosebush. Murders make us all jumpy. It’s no excuse…”
“I do,” he admitted, “but I promise I’ll come back to see you as soon as I can.” The worry and apology that had been in his expression transformed into sudden certainty, as if he’d had an epiphany. His jaw set, a cutting edge as he gritted his teeth together and pointed at her. “Tomorrow.”
“What?” Her nerves got the better of her. The one word came out like a screech.
“Tomorrow,” he said again. “It’s my night off. Sheriff said. Let me make it up to you. I’ll show you Hamlet. The doc took you to brunch, right? Coffee? Give me a chance. I can take you to dinner, show you what I have to offer. It’s only fair.”
Fair? What was he thinking? This wasn’t a contest, and she wasn’t a prize. There weren’t any rules. What the hell did he mean, fair? Just because Lucas showed up to take her to the coffeehouse, it didn’t mean that she had to agree to go out with Mason. She was only a few days removed from being married to Jack Sullivan— why was she the only one who remembered that her husband had just been killed?
Regardless of her confession to Lucas earlier, that didn’t change the truth. She wasn’t even sure she’d really understood what his murder meant. She certainly wasn’t looking to replace him.
Especially not with a man who thought it was okay to grab her arm like she was his property.
“I don’t know—”
He clasped his hands together. “Please, Tess. Please.”
If Mason wasn’t begging, it was close enough to make Tess feel like she had to give in. He’d been nothing but kind before his jealousy took over. She’d done her best not to lead him on, knowing that there was no way she could give him what he was obviously after, but she also wasn’t cruel. Mason had been considerate and thoughtful and kind to a stranger in need. Now he was inviting her out. Maybe she was reading too much into it. She doubted it, but maybe.
And, well, if she turned him down, it would be like kicking a puppy in his face. She just couldn’t do it.
“I guess so.”
“Great.” He moved toward her as if he was going to touch her again. Tess froze in place, expecting another rough grab. Either he caught her reaction or he thought better of it, because Mason suddenly pulled back. He pointed at her, repeated solemnly, “Tomorrow,” then moved to return to his cruiser.
Don't Trust Me (Hamlet Book 1) Page 16
