Over the years Dizzy had changed, become the person she wanted to be instead of who her parents were. All that time while she was growing up they’d cloaked their efforts by acting like they were teaching her to think for herself and not follow the crowd. But in reality, they’d wanted her to be like them.
And they had succeeded in teaching her to be an individual and think for herself, but that lesson had consequences. She wasn’t going to be what they thought was right either. She’d decided to be something different. Not quite what others would call normal but not quite outlandish either. She was somewhere comfortably in the middle – happy with who she’d grown into.
Could Easton meet her somewhere in this land in between? Did he even want to?
Chapter Twenty-Nine
‡
Easton’s heart was in his throat when Dizzy walked into his office, right behind Zach. He’d been pacing the floor waiting for her to arrive but now that she was there he didn’t have a clue as to what to say or do. It wasn’t his style to start a personal conversation with other people in the room and he damn well didn’t need their input. He already knew their feelings about this topic. He needed to talk to Dizzy alone. Perhaps he could finagle a way after the call from the police about their questioning Trip.
Carter sidled up to Easton and leaned down to speak into his ear. “Damn, Dizzy looks good.”
She did look stunning. She’d dressed for the business environment in a slim black skirt and simple white blouse. Her hair had been coiled up on top of her head but a few strands had escaped and they had the privilege of caressing her creamy pink cheeks.
“I swear to God I will beat the ever-loving shit out of you if you ask her out,” Easton said between gritted teeth. “Stay away from her.”
Chuckling, Carter spread his hands wide and grinned. “The question is can she stay away from me? After all, look at me.”
Easton growled at his younger brother, thoroughly frustrated and pissed off. He hadn’t slept well last night without Dizzy in his bed. “I’m looking at the biggest fool in the Anderson family. Now sit the hell down and shut up.”
To his surprise Carter did just that, right after snagging a coffee from the cart that his assistant had wheeled into the office. Dizzy and Leann were quietly chatting in one corner while Zach and Jason talked in another. Easton was the odd man out in this group. From the hostile waves coming off of Leann, he had a feeling he was barely being tolerated.
Walking around his desk, Jason refilled his coffee and then moved to stand by Easton.
“Are you going to apologize to Dizzy?”
“What exactly would I be apologizing for, cousin?”
“Being an asshole,” Jason shot back with a smile. “In general. Seriously, just say you’re sorry. I’m sure you both said things you regret.”
“So I should be the one to apologize? Is that what you do? Just roll over and play dead when Brinley’s pissed off?”
“If you apologize I guarantee she’ll apologize as well. But if you’re stubborn and want her to do it first, then you might be waiting for awhile. Or worse, you might find that she moves on to someone who doesn’t need everything their way. Take some advice from an old married man…being together is more important than keeping score as to who was right and who was wrong. Keeping count is good in business but in relationships? It’s petty and spiteful. Are you planning to keep track of how many kisses she gives you compared to what you give her? Are you planning to count orgasms? Hugs? Gifts? Where’s the line?”
Easton didn’t answer but he was already trying to digest Jason’s advice. When described that way it did sound petty and nasty. But…Easton hadn’t been wrong. Her parents did hate him and the Anderson family and as far as he knew that hadn’t changed in the last twenty-four hours. There was also that fact that he and Dizzy were different. Of course, one of the reasons he loved being with her so much was because she wasn’t a carbon copy of himself or the other women he’d dated. Leann had been right. He’d been bored with them. He needed something that so far only Dizzy had been able to give him.
All he’d asked for was a break. Was that so terrible? Was he the bad guy here?
The phone ringing had everyone whirling around to face the desk. Easton pressed a button as the group gathered around, anxious to hear any news. They were lucky that West was the mayor and that the name Anderson had influence in Tremont.
As a former law enforcement officer, Jason was taking the lead on this. “This is Jason Anderson.”
“Anderson?” A male voice came over the speaker. “This is Detective Harry Larkin, West’s former partner.”
Ah, that’s how this was happening. The detective in charge of the case was West’s former partner. That’s how it worked in a small town. There were only five or six detectives at any given time in Tremont so this wasn’t a shock.
“Hi, Harry. Did you speak to Stanford this morning?”
Jason glanced at his watch and Easton followed suit. The conversation hadn’t taken long.
“You know I shouldn’t be commenting on an ongoing investigation.”
Smiling, Jason nodded, although the man on the other side of the phone couldn’t see him.
“I know and I appreciate your help on this. We’re not planning on going to the newspaper with any of this. We just want to know if you learned anything today. I have Dizzy Foster under twenty-four-hour guard right now so I think I have a vested interest in this case. We don’t want any more dead bodies in Tremont, now do we?”
“We certainly don’t.” The voice had a grim tone. “Listen, Stanford came in with a lawyer and refused to answer any questions on advice from counsel. We got nothing from him except now he’s aroused my suspicions since he won’t talk. If he’s got nothing to hide, why did he lawyer up? Anyway, he was calm and nice but he wouldn’t answer anything. We did warn him to stay away from Miss Foster and his lawyer said that he would.”
Easton didn’t trust Stanford or his attorney to leave Dizzy alone. From the expression on Jason’s face it appeared his cousin agreed with that sentiment. Zach didn’t look convinced either.
And Dizzy looked like she might cry. She’d had so much hope that this might move the case forward and those hopes had been crushed. Easton had to stop himself from putting his arms around her in comfort. She wouldn’t welcome that.
“I appreciate that, Harry. What’s your next move? We’re still going to keep Miss Foster under guard here.”
“We’re working on getting a warrant to search Stanford’s home and vehicle. Actually, you might be able to help us, Anderson. We’d like to search his office too but we’d need permission from someone at Anderson Industries. He has no expectation of privacy at his workplace.”
Easton didn’t hesitate for a moment. “Permission granted. How soon can you be here? I’ll escort you personally.”
“Wait.” Leann held her hand up. “Just because he says our employees have no expectation of privacy doesn’t mean that’s the actual case. We need to check what’s in writing at Anderson Industries.”
“The law would trump our corporate policy,” Easton argued, happy to see that Jason was also nodding in agreement.
“I’m not arguing about the law,” Leann said. “I’m arguing that our employees have a level of trust with management. We can’t just allow the police to search someone’s office if we’ve said that is something that we wouldn’t allow. If we don’t have a policy regarding this or we say that they have no expectations, then fine. But if we do…I think we need to have a warrant before we allow them in. I know this is personal for us but we have to look at the bigger picture.”
“I don’t want you to do anything that’s unethical,” Dizzy declared, nervously tugging at the strap on her handbag. Funny how after only a few weeks he knew her well enough to notice her little gestures. “I don’t want Trip to be able to get off on a technicality either.”
Giving in gracefully, Easton shrugged. “Then we’ll have to get back to you, Harry.
Give me an hour and I’ll go through our employee handbook with a fine tooth comb.”
Although it looked like Leann was already on it, tapping furiously into her phone.
Jason bid the detective goodbye and hung up. “Well, I can’t say that I’m shocked that Stanford lawyered up. If he were stupid he would have already been caught. At least Harry is now suspicious. Hopefully they can get that warrant.”
“And if they can’t?” Dizzy asked, her expression stormy. This had to be the hardest on her. She was still in danger and Easton didn’t know what to say or do to make it all better. He’d only made it worse.
“Then they’ll find another way,” Zach replied, confidence in his tone. “He’ll mess up eventually. They all do.”
The meeting broke up and Zach pulled Easton aside in the hallway. “I just wanted to let you know that Jason and I talked about this morning and we’re going to put a twenty-four-hour guard outside of Dizzy’s house as well as me staying there. I’m going to stay put in Tremont until we get some resolution on this.”
Easton appreciated what Zach was doing but the truth was he wanted to be the one helping and protecting Dizzy. They needed to talk about things and now would be a good time for that. Maybe he could take her out for a cup of coffee and a Danish.
“Thanks, Zach. I know that you’re doing your best and I appreciate the extra manpower. Hopefully once Dizzy and I sit down and talk I’ll be back and able to give you a hand.”
“It’s good news that you’re going to work things out.”
“I’m planning to ask her for coffee.” Easton looked back into the office but it was empty. “I didn’t see her leave.”
Shifting on his feet, Zach tugged at the collar of his buttoned-down shirt. “She and Leann walked right past us when we came out here. I think they left.”
Okay, he couldn’t ask her for coffee. Time to go to Plan B. Whatever that was.
Chapter Thirty
‡
Dizzy swung out of the passenger side of Leann’s car. During the drive, she’d bounced back and forth between angry and happy while Leann tried to be the voice of reason. The problem was Dizzy didn’t want to be reasonable; she wanted to be mad or glad. Dammit, she was so confused she didn’t know what she wanted other than chocolate and lots of it.
She was frustrated that Trip had lawyered up.
Relieved that the police were finally taking her seriously.
Angry that Easton had looked so calm and cool.
Happy that she’d managed to keep her dignity in front of him.
“Thank you for driving me home. I do appreciate it. I made some chocolate chip cookies. How about a couple and a cup of coffee? Or do you need to get back to the office?”
“I would never turn one of your baked goods down. Anderson can do without me for a little while.”
They entered the house and dropped their purses on the kitchen table. The back door was wide open so Tami and Louis must have been in the backyard enjoying the day. It was a bit chilly but the sun made the weather quite comfortable.
Dizzy headed straight for the coffee pot. “I’ll get the coffee going–”
Leann’s gasp had her whirling around to see what had shocked her friend so badly that she was standing in the doorway, her face white as a sheet.
“What’s wrong?” Dizzy looked out the back door and groaned, wanting to dig a hole in the backyard and bury herself, never to be seen again. Her parents had two yoga mats on the back lawn.
They were doing yoga.
In the nude.
Currently they were in Downward Facing Dog.
Dizzy was pretty sure Leann would never do yoga again. If she didn’t gouge out her eyes out on the spot.
“I’m going to have to move,” Dizzy muttered under her breath, making a beeline for Tami and Louis. What were they thinking? This was the suburbs, not their former old house in the boonies. There were laws about indecent exposure.
“Tami! Louis! You can’t do that out here!” Dizzy grabbed their robes hung on the porch railing on her way. “For heaven’s sake, cover up before my neighbors call the police.”
Tami and Louis rose to their feet and didn’t look a bit repentant. They also didn’t put on their robes.
“We were just letting go of our stress,” Tami explained. “It’s therapy.”
“You’re naked,” Dizzy shot back. “This is a family neighborhood and you can’t walk around naked in it. People don’t like that. I’m serious about this. You need to go out somewhere deserted for that.”
“People should mind their own business,” Louis said with a huff. “If they don’t like what they see, they can turn away.”
People were going to need a bottle of eye bleach and a therapist.
“The human body is a work of art,” Tami argued, finally shrugging into the robe that Dizzy was holding out for her. “It’s meant to be displayed, not hidden. We taught you not to be ashamed of your body.”
“And I’m not, but other people don’t have the same ideas, and we have to respect the way other people think and believe, right? You can do yoga inside the house.”
Preferably when Dizzy wasn’t at home. The human body was a beautiful work of art but it was a little weird to see her parents naked. She’d never been comfortable with it even when she was younger and didn’t realize nudity was a thing.
“Society is so judgmental,” her mother said, shaking her head in disappointment. “And now our daughter is too. This is a sad day.”
Dizzy wasn’t sure of much these days but she was definitely sure that she wasn’t going to take any crap from her parents about being judgmental. Breezing past them, she headed to the kitchen with Leann in tow. “Yes, that’s the problem with society today. We’re judgmental. Except that you’re judging them for judging you.”
Leann quietly took a seat at the kitchen table as Dizzy reached for the box of coffee filters in the cabinet but her countertop didn’t look quite right. It took her a moment to realize that her coffee pot was missing.
It was the last straw.
She’d take their crappy comments about her life and her stress and her friends. But they were not going to take her caffeinated buddy. They’d gone too far this time.
Whirling around, she marched right up to them, anger churning in her gut. Whenever she was mad she cried and she didn’t want to do that this time. Her parents needed to know she was pissed as hell.
She could feel how red her face was by the heat under her skin. She was literally shaking with rage. “Where is my coffeemaker?”
Tami and Louis looked at each other and smiled. Like this was a happy occasion. Fools. Her father stepped forward. “Caffeine is not good for you when you’re under stress, pumpkin. We’ll replace it with a nice juice machine. You can juice fruits and vegetables. Much healthier. We’ll run into town today and buy one.”
She’d heard about people seeing red but she’d never realized that a person actually could indeed see red. Yet, here she was with a red haze in front of her eyes. Too bad she hadn’t had it a few minutes ago when they were naked in her backyard. “Put it back.”
“Now, Dizzy,” Tami began, but Dizzy was having none of it.
“Put it back now,” she hissed. She knew good and well this was about more than the coffee pot, but did they?
Tami frowned and shook her head. “This is why you’re so tense.”
Dizzy’s fingers furled into fists and with all the emotions that she had whirring inside of her frustration was the winner.
“I’m tense because I witnessed my neighbor strangling a woman and hardly anyone in this town believes me.” Dizzy’s voice was rising with every other word. “And do you know why they don’t believe me? Because I’m different and weird. But I learned something since you got here. I’m really not that strange. I’m more like them than I am like you. I bet that doesn’t make you happy, does it?”
That question was said in a whisper after all the yelling. She didn’t know whether she was comi
ng or going anymore. She was just so confused as to how she was supposed to be feeling. She only knew two things for sure. One, that Trip needed to be brought to justice, and two, that she was probably in love with Easton. Everything else was a blur.
Just like that these two people weren’t annoying or troublesome or making her insane. They were her parents and Tami’s arms were open wide. Dizzy flew into them with a sob, letting her mother stroke her hair and whisper soft words of encouragement. Louis, who prided himself on being a male in touch with his feminine side, joined in, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and making silly faces. He used to do that when she was a child and she’d skinned her knee. She’d end up giggling while her mother cleaned the wound and applied a Band-aid.
“Um, I think I better go. I have a meeting I forgot all about.”
Leann had inched her way to the door and looked ready to flee. Dizzy didn’t blame her a bit. The Foster family was in a three-alarm crisis and she was sure she didn’t want to witness or be a part of it.
“Thank you for bringing Dizzy home,” Tami said. “Sorry about the coffee.”
Leann muttered something like no problem and then zipped out of the door.
“Thank you for being nice to Leann,” Dizzy said in between sniffles. Her cheeks were damp from crying and she hated crying. She’d done it far too often lately. “You weren’t nice to Easton.”
“We’re the same that we’ve always been,” Tami said. “You’re the one that’s changed.”
Dizzy opened her mouth to defend herself but her mother shook her head and continued.
“It’s not a bad thing. It’s just different. We’re not disappointed. We love you, Dizzy. We just want you to be happy.”
“Easton makes me happy.”
Her parents exchanged a glance that Dizzy couldn’t decipher but Louis didn’t keep her in suspense. “Then that’s all we need to know. We admit that he isn’t what we pictured, pumpkin, but if he’s what you want then that’s what we want for you.”
That statement couldn’t have been easy for her parents to make and they didn’t look happy about saying it, but they also didn’t look like they were going to argue, either.
Window to Danger Page 18
