Lucky Charm

by Carly Phillips

  It was difficult to force a smile when he was worried about Gabrielle going home alone. Still, whoever had a grudge against her obviously wanted her gone from Stewart. They’d have no reason to bother her in Boston.

  “Uncle Mike can look after her in Boston, right? He kicks bad guys’ butts all the time!”

  Derek shot her a warning look, but he let her get away with the comment. Because for an eleven-year-old, she was smarter than her dad. “Yeah. Uncle Mike can keep an eye on her.”

  Derek might not like the distance between them, but he had to admit she was safer in Boston than she would have been here.

  GABRIELLE PLANNED TO GO home, get some sleep, wake up and be back in Stewart the following morning. Life and routine got in the way.

  She awoke, showered, made herself a cup of coffee and called her mother, just as she did every day. She’d spoken to Juliette while she was in Stewart, but now that she was home, her mother had plans for them.

  “So I thought we’d have an early lunch at Le Petit Croissant and then we could go shopping at Neiman’s at Copley. Your father is teaching summer classes and so he won’t be joining us.”

  “I won’t be able to make it, either, Maman. I have interviews I have to do back in Stewart.” Gabrielle tucked the phone between her ear and her shoulder, wrapping her hands around a big mug of coffee as she spoke.

  “Then we can have breakfast early and you go do your interviews later in the day. I miss you,” her mother said.

  Gabrielle smiled. “And I miss you, too. I’ll meet you in an hour.” Breakfast with her mother turned into a two-hour chat fest centered around Derek.

  The small café was a favorite of her mother’s. Even when Gabrielle was a little girl, they’d often come into Boston and stop here on their shopping trips. Now that her parents lived in the city, her mother frequented the quaint café almost daily.

  Juliette reached across the table and placed her hand over Gabrielle’s. “He hurt you badly,” her mother said, concerned.

  She didn’t need the reminder. She’d lived it. “Not because he didn’t love me. I know what I’m dealing with now.” At least she hoped she did.

  “Well, I always liked him. Derek was a nice boy. He treated you well while you were together. He made you happy and that is what counted then,” she mused. “But now? I want for you what your papa and I have.”

  Gabrielle smiled. Her parents had a happy marriage. They understood each other. It was exactly what she wanted for her own life, Gabrielle thought.

  Just as their brunch ended, her father called and invited his favorite women to dinner, which Gabrielle ended up accepting. She was an independent woman who lived her own life, but when her parents invited her, she always felt compelled to go. As if she didn’t want to miss out on any time with them.

  But spending time with her parents didn’t mean she’d forget about Derek. And she certainly didn’t intend to let him forget about her.

  Her first night home, she climbed into bed and called him before falling asleep.

  The phone rang and rang. She was about to hang up when she heard his voice. “Hey, there,” she said.

  “Hi, yourself.” His voice sounded huskier than usual.

  “Did I wake you?” she asked.

  “Not really.”

  Gabrielle grinned. He never used to admit she’d woken him in the past, either. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to go to bed without hearing your voice,” she said honestly.

  “I’m glad you called.”

  She curled on her side and snuggled into her pillow, the phone cradled against her ear. “And why’s that?”

  “Your voice will be the last thing I hear before I go to sleep.” His deep tone rumbled through her.

  Closing her eyes, she let herself imagine him lying in his bed, wearing nothing but the boxers he favored. She could almost feel her fingertips gliding through the coarse hair on his chest.

  “Gabby?”

  His voice brought her back to reality. “Hmm?”

  “I asked how your parents are doing. Are you falling asleep on me?”

  She licked her dry lips. “Not a chance,” she murmured. “My mother is fine. We had a nice breakfast. And we talked about you.”

  He let out a groan. “I can only imagine how she feels about me these days.”

  “She remembers you as a nice boy. I assured her that hadn’t changed. And my father is doing well, too. He loves teaching and I think he finds the summer even more challenging because the classes are smaller and his students really want to learn.”

  Derek chuckled. “I do remember him trying to engage me in academic debates. I wasn’t much good against him.”

  “Don’t feel bad. Nobody is. Anyway, they both said to say hi,” she said, fudging the truth.

  In reality both of her parents were wary about her getting involved again with the man who’d broken her heart years ago. It didn’t help that he now had a child. An eleven-year-old child who only reinforced their opinion that he’d moved on and she hadn’t. Since Gabrielle wasn’t about to get into personal issues—or curses—with her academic-oriented parents, she decided to let it go. They’d been critical of the beliefs most of the people in town had even back when they’d lived in Stewart. She wasn’t about to assume their feelings had changed.

  She’d just have to let time and Derek prove them wrong. Or so she hoped.

  “Tell them I say hello, too.”

  “I will.”

  “When are you coming back?” he asked.

  A touch of longing sounded in his tone. It matched the way she felt, too. She missed him. His laugh, his smile. His touch.

  “Tomorrow. I’d like to conduct some interviews for my book.” And she hoped by stirring the pot, she’d smoke out whoever was after her.

  He cleared his throat. “With whom?” he asked gruffly.

  She curled her hand into a tight fist as she answered, knowing he wouldn’t like her reply. “I called Mary Perkins’s office today to make an appointment. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, answered the phone. She said the mayor was out of the office and she didn’t have access to her appointment book.” But Gabrielle didn’t believe it for a minute. Elizabeth was totally anal, Gabrielle doubted the mayor could breathe without the younger woman knowing about it. Gabrielle knew she was being stonewalled and she’d decided to just show up tomorrow and wait until the mayor made the time to speak with her.

  Derek expelled a harsh breath. “Why would you bother with her? She’s an old, bitter woman with an unreasonable hatred for my family and an unbelievable need for power.”

  “That’s exactly why. She masquerades as a politician who wants the best for her town and constituents, but the more people I talk to, the more I learn that she’s almost universally disliked. She uses her family name to manipulate people. It’s part of the ramifications of believing in curses. I want to get into her psyche,” Gabrielle said.

  “What you’re going to end up doing is upsetting whatever nutcase ransacked your room.” His voice rose in frustration.

  “Shh! You’re going to wake Holly,” she said, hoping to calm him.

  She pulled herself into a half-sitting position in bed, leaning against the headboard and pillows. “You knew I was going to interview people affected by the curse. I can handle myself. I promise.”

  “I’m not sure I can handle you,” he muttered.

  She smiled, knowing he’d given in. He might not like her choices, but his tone indicated he wasn’t going to fight them.

  More relaxed, she eased back down into the bed. “I think you can handle me just fine.”

  More important, he obviously still wanted to.

  “How’s Holly?” she asked.

  “Fine. I kept her busy planning her birthday party. Since her school friends are in New York, it’ll mostly be family, but she seems happy with it.”

  “When is her mother coming back?”

  “Two weeks.”

  Gabrielle nodd
ed. She understood how important this summer with his daughter was for Derek. “I’m happy for you.”

  “Thanks. I’m pretty happy myself, considering things were so different this time last year.”

  “Tell Holly I haven’t forgotten about our shopping trip.”

  “Even if you had, she wouldn’t hesitate to remind you,” he said, chuckling.

  Unable to control herself, Gabrielle let out a yawn. Her eyes were growing heavier with each passing minute.

  “You should go get some sleep,” he said.

  “No. I’m fine.” She wasn’t ready to let go of him just yet.

  “Call me when you get to town tomorrow, okay?”

  “’Kay,” she said sleepily.

  “And remember if you have any problems, call my cousin Mike. You have the number I gave you?”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “Gabby?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Remember when we used to talk like this back in high school?”

  She smiled at the memory. “We’d argue over who was more tired. Neither of us wanted to hang up first.”

  She always used to fall asleep thinking that she loved him but couldn’t ever say so. He feared the word as much as the men in his family feared the curse. But she hadn’t had to say it. In her heart, she believed Derek had known she loved him back then.

  Just as she loved him now….

  GABRIELLE AWOKE WITH A start as the first rays of sunlight flowed through her bedroom window. She stretched and rolled over, her hip hitting a hard object.

  She reached down to move…the telephone.

  She’d fallen asleep while still on the phone with Derek last night, just as she’d done so often in the past. Smiling, she climbed out of bed, showered, put on her makeup and was getting dressed when her cell phone rang.

  She dug her phone out from her purse and answered. “Hello?”

  “Hi. It’s Sharon.”

  “Where are you? I haven’t heard from you since you left for the conference. You librarians must be heavy-duty partiers,” Gabrielle said, laughing.

  Sharon didn’t laugh. “I’m not at a conference.”

  “Just where are you, then?”

  “At the moment? I’m about half an hour from Stewart. My car broke down at the motel I’m staying at and I need you to come get me. I’ll explain when you get here.”

  Gabrielle grabbed a pen and a pad she kept next to her kitchen telephone. “Give me the address. I’ll be right there.”

  Sharon repeated the name of the motel and then, reluctantly, gave Gabrielle the address—which just happened to be in the same town she and Derek had found Sharon’s ex, Tony.

  Gabrielle expelled a long breath, holding back from chastising her friend until she could do it in person. “Sit tight. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “I knew I could count on you,” Sharon said.

  Almost an hour later thanks to traffic and a miscalculated exit, Gabrielle pulled into the motel parking lot where Sharon’s car had died. Sure enough, Sharon’s sedan was in one of the parking spots.

  Sharon walked out of a side motel entrance. Dressed in dark pants and a black tank top, sunglasses perched on a baseball hat, she joined Gabrielle. “I called AAA and they should be here soon. We can leave after they’ve towed my car.”

  Gabrielle nodded. She seated herself on the curb and waited for Sharon to do the same. “Since we have time, do you want to explain why you look like a cat burglar? And make it good because I’m about to have you committed.” She raised an eyebrow and waited.

  Sharon took a long breath. “I went to stalk Tony,” she said on a rush.

  “You what!” Gabrielle jerked around to stare at her friend.

  “It’s more rational than it sounds, I swear. I just wanted to see what he was up to. What his life is like. If it’s possible he’s reformed, as he claims.”

  Gabrielle opened her eyes wider in disbelief. “Why didn’t you say something? I would have come with you!”

  “That’s why. I had to do this for myself. I had to see for myself.”

  “And?”

  Sharon met her gaze. “He has a wife and a child!”

  “Whoa. He said he lived with his sister. He lied?”

  Sharon nodded. “Apparently so.”

  “Now, that’s a shock. A convicted felon who’s also a liar.” Gabrielle bit the inside of her cheek. Now she understood why he’d stepped outside and hadn’t wanted to let them into the house. “So if he lied about that, what else is he lying about? He obviously didn’t want his family to know what he did to you.”

  Sharon shook her head. “I don’t think so. It’s weird, but I’ve watched him for a couple of days and he’s different. Mellow. More at ease than he ever was before. I actually do think he’s changed.”

  “Or maybe he hasn’t and this life is a cover.” Gabrielle placed her hand over her friend’s.

  “I considered that, too. There’s only one way to find out.”

  “And that is?” Gabrielle was almost afraid to ask.

  Sharon smiled grimly. “I’m going to have to confront him.”

  Before Gabrielle could respond, the tow truck pulled up in front of them. She couldn’t continue this talk now, but once the car situation was settled, Gabrielle had every intention of nixing Sharon’s suicidal idea.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  GABRIELLE PROMISED SHARON she’d drive her back to Stewart right after Gabrielle stopped at her apartment in Boston to pick up some notes regarding her upcoming interview with Mary Perkins. Since Sharon was preoccupied, Gabrielle didn’t mention that her room at the Rhodes Inn had been ransacked and she’d been forced to return home for good. She didn’t want to add to Sharon’s already high stress level.

  And since Sharon was upset enough, Gabrielle didn’t even chastise her for stalking her ex. There would be time for that during the ride back to Stewart.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked her friend, instead.

  Sharon sighed. “I’m just wondering how much it’s going to cost me to get the car fixed, how I’m going to afford it on top of the blackmail.” She glanced out the window, pressing her forehead against the heavy glass.

  Gabrielle’s heart went out to her friend. “It goes without saying…”

  Sharon cut her off with a sharp wave of her hand. “I appreciate it, but unless I’ve exhausted all my options, I’ll make it work. I just need to vent and think things through,” Sharon said, her tone soft and full of appreciation.

  Gabrielle nodded. She respected her friend’s independent streak.

  Both women knew Gabrielle’s writing provided her with a surplus of income and she could more than afford to help Sharon with both the blackmail money and the repairs. But Sharon had a little too much pride. Her refusal to tell Richard about the blackmail was an example. If she needed help, financial or otherwise, Sharon understood Gabrielle would be there.

  “We’re here.” Gabrielle pulled up to the curb by her brownstone. “Wait here. I’ll run in and get what I need.”

  Sharon shook her head. “I’ll come in with you. I need to use your bathroom before we start the car ride home.”

  Gabrielle left the car in the illegal No Standing zone and the women ran up the flights of stairs to Gabrielle’s unit, a two-bedroom apartment she’d leased upon her return from Florida.

  When they reached the top of the stairs, Gabrielle noticed her door was open and an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu assaulted her.

  “Did you leave this door—”

  “No. Definitely not.” She cut Sharon off and halted in her tracks, not wanting to go any closer.

  “You’re sure? Because sometimes I forget to lock my parents’ house, you know?”

  “I’m positive. I locked it.” After her last night in Stewart, Gabrielle had diligently locked her door whenever she left.

  She met Sharon’s worried gaze. “I guess now’s the time to tell you my room at Mrs. Rhodes’s was broken into and ransacked. The person le
ft a calling card in red lipstick.” Gabrielle tried to swallow but her mouth had grown dry.

  Sharon raised her eyebrows. “Well? What did it say?”

  “You were warned!”

  “Jeez, Gabrielle, you should have told me,” Sharon chided, her voice rising.

  “Shh!” Gabrielle placed a finger to her lips. “We don’t know if anyone is still in there.”

  Eyes wide, Sharon nodded.

  “Follow me.”

  Slowly and quietly they made their way back down the stairs. From the safety of her car, Gabrielle once again called 9-1-1.

  DEREK WAS GETTING TOO OLD for these kinds of scares. Gabrielle had just called and informed him about the break-in at her Boston apartment. This time her computer had been stolen, as well as notes and papers on all her books.

  She’d called 9-1-1, for which he was grateful, but she’d avoided calling his cousin. Derek had a hunch she didn’t want to involve his family and he let it go. As long as she’d brought the police in, he was satisfied.

  It was obvious to Derek that someone wanted to send her a message—and they weren’t going to let a little thing like distance stop them.

  Clearly, she wasn’t safe alone.

  She hadn’t asked Derek for anything, but he knew she had nowhere to stay where she felt safe. She wouldn’t put her parents in danger any more than she would put Sharon and her parents, or Derek and Holly in harm’s way.

  He’d had one helluva time convincing her to move in with him until the person harassing her was found. But eventually she’d gratefully relented.

  He gathered his family together. Uncle Thomas, Hank and Holly sat in his large living room and listened as he explained what had happened to Gabrielle over the past few days.

  “So I’m wondering how you’d feel about bunking with Grandpa and Uncle Thomas for a little while?” Derek leaned down on one knee as he asked his daughter’s opinion.