Rekindled

by Jen Talty

  Blaine wanted to say “no shit,” but instead he said, “I meant in this house.”

  “I bought it about two years ago. It’s taken me that long to furnish it.” She smiled proudly, offering them a seat.

  “It’s very nice,” Dave said dryly. “I saw a piece like this in Mr. Mead’s house.”

  “Ruth…Mr. Mead did purchase a few items from me recently.” Rachael sat down and fiddled with her fingers in her lap.

  “Do you have a delivery company?” Blaine asked.

  “Many customers pick up their own pieces, but I can deliver. I either do it myself or hire a trucking company. Why do you ask? Do you see something you like? Everything in here is in my shop.”

  Blaine wanted to laugh out loud, but chose not to. “Did you deliver Mr. Mead’s pieces?” Rutherford had been notorious for not liking change, which included new cars, new help, and even new furniture.

  Rachael’s forced smile turned to a frown. “I’d have to look at my records, and those are at the shop.”

  “You don’t remember?” Dave asked.

  “I wouldn’t want to give you inaccurate information. I do know he purchased more than one piece, and at different times.”

  “I would think you would remember delivering something to an old friend’s father or having someone else do it,” Blaine added.

  “You know, you could be right.” Her fake smile returned, and she tapped her finger on her forehead. “My mother might have helped me with one, but the other pieces were pretty large and wouldn’t have fit in my truck. I’m sure it was delivered, but I’d have to check. May I ask what this is all about?”

  “What kind of relationship did you have with Mr. Mead?” Blaine asked, watching the blood drain from her face.

  “He’s one of my father’s best friends, you know that.”

  “‘We want to know about your relationship with him,” Blaine said.

  “I didn’t have a relationship with Mr. Mead.”

  Dave lifted the top of the shoebox and held up a plastic bag. “These pictures indicate otherwise.”

  “Oh, my…where did you get those?” Rachael’s soft and helpful demeanor was replaced by fear. “Those are personal, and none of your business.”

  “When a man is murdered, his personal life and those around him become my business,” Dave said, dropping the pictures back in the box. “We found a note indicating that you might use these pictures against him.”

  “Oh, Christ.” Rachael stood and began to pace. “Those pictures were taken while I was in college, and well, the note…let’s just say I was young and stupid.”

  “What do you have to hold over his head?” Blaine asked.

  “That I was a young, impressionable girl and my father wouldn’t have approved. It would’ve destroyed their friendship.”

  “Is that why their relationship was strained?” Something didn’t fit, so Blaine took the bag and opened it to get a better look at the pictures.

  “Hey!” she shouted. “Do you mind?”

  Blaine ignored her and put a couple of pictures together. “How long did the affair go on?”

  “Not long.”

  “From when to when?” Dave asked.

  “Started the summer after my freshman year and ended that Christmas.”

  “You’re lying.” Blaine showed Dave a couple of pictures.

  “How dare you.” She reached for the pictures. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

  “A cop who needs answers in a murder investigation,” Blaine said. “We can do it here or we can take you to the station.”

  “For what? Sleeping with an older man?”

  “For questioning, regarding Rutherford Mead’s death,” Dave said.

  “You think I killed Rutherford? Oh, please.”

  “Were you having an affair with him when he died?” Blaine asked, holding up what he believed to be a more recent picture.

  “No.” She gave him a level stare, then plopped back down in the chair. “I wasn’t lying when I said it was short-lived while I was in college, but when he loaned me the money to start my business, well…we kind of started seeing each other again. There. Are you happy? This is going to kill Kaylee.”

  Blaine ignored the comment and continued. “Do you owe him money now?”

  “Not really.” She stared at Blaine. “He loaned me the money without a contract. I’ve been paying him back here and there and with some new furnishings. He was the one holding those pictures over my head.”

  “Why?” Blaine held the pictures up. “To keep you or threaten you?”

  “Both,” she sighed. “He’d threatened to tell my father if I didn’t keep sharing his bed. It wasn’t what I wanted.”

  “What did you want?” Dave asked.

  “I want a family…he didn’t. I ended the affair, and he’d constantly try to get me to come back by threatening me.”

  Blaine rubbed his face. “So you decided to take matters into your own hands?”

  “I didn’t kill him,” she said. “I told my parents about us, and they sort of flipped out on me and then on Rutherford.” Rachael’s eyes darted to the floor. “And that’s why Rutherford took my parents out of the will.”

  “You realize you’re not helping your parents much right now.” Dave tucked the pictures back into the box.

  “My father couldn’t hurt a fly, and my mother just thinks Rutherford’s a dirty old man.” Rachael ran her hands through her hair.

  “Years ago, you claimed to know who Kaylee’s biological father was,” Blaine said.

  “Could be half the men in this town. If she wasn’t so blonde, it could have been your father.” She stared at Blaine. “But I had only heard a rumor.”

  “And?” Blaine glared at her.

  “My mom said Mr. Danks had it bad for Mrs. Mead in high school, and he blamed Rutherford for her illness.”

  “What about your father?” Blaine asked.

  “Give it up, Blaine. My father would never cheat on his wife, much less turn his back on God like that, especially with a woman as sick as Mrs. Mead.”

  “Do you plan on leaving town any time soon?” Blaine asked, tired of rumors and speculation. He needed facts, and fast.

  “I’m a suspect?”

  “Just don’t leave town without checking with us.” Dave added and headed toward the door. “Thanks for your time.”

  Blaine followed Dave to his patrol car. “You thinking the same thing I am?”

  “That Rachael’s hiding something or protecting someone.” Dave nodded. “Go get some sleep. We’ll pay a visit to the Reverend and Mrs. Hicks tomorrow at church.” Dave disappeared into his truck.

  The streets were dark, but the large snowbanks glowed in the moonlight. The drive up the gravel road to the Mead house reminded him of the night he’d parked his motorcycle down by the gate and met Kaylee by the bunkhouse near the lake.

  She’d snuck out in her white nightie and glided like a fallen angel just to be with him. He parked his patrol car and looked around half expecting to see her, but saw Toby instead.

  Blaine made his way up onto the porch with a heavy heart. Kaylee had been dealt a shitty hand in life, and it didn’t seem to be getting any better.

  “How’s the neighborhood bitch?” Toby offered him a beer.

  “You slept with her, not me.”

  “Trust me, you didn’t miss much. Hell, I honestly don’t remember it.” Toby took a slow sip of his beer.

  “Any movement around here?” Blaine asked.

  “Haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary.”

  “Where are the girls?” Blaine asked.

  “They both mentioned something about washing their hair. I can only hope they’re in the same bathroom.”

  Blaine thought about that for a minute. “Damn,” he muttered, lifting the beer to his lips. “That paints quite a vivid picture.”

  “Don’t it though?”

  Blaine looked out over the half-frozen lake with the moon dancing across the b
roken ice. “Amazing view.”

  “How do you feel about being a best man?”

  Blaine patted his heart. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

  “As a heart attack.”

  Blaine glanced at Toby. A slight glimmer flicked in his eyes. “You cryin’, man?”

  “Screw you, asshole.”

  “You shouldn’t talk to your best man like that.”

  “Jerk,” Toby muttered, tossing back his beer.

  Blaine couldn’t help himself, he had to laugh. The only emotion Toby had ever shown, other than when his mother had died, was anger. Toby had a short fuse and flew off the handle frequently, but over the last few months, Blaine had noticed a big change in his best friend—one for the better. “Emma is a good woman.”

  “Stay the hell away from her,” Toby said.

  “Won’t be a problem.” Blaine finished his beer. “I’d better get a few hours’ sleep. I’ve got to relieve your dad at three.”

  “That sucks.”

  “Just like the rest of my life.” Blaine stood and looked at his life-long friend. “Don’t say a damn thing about things looking up.”

  Toby nodded, but didn’t keep his trap shut. “Emma went over those files, and nothing jumped out at her that would put you in trouble, but—”

  “I don’t want to hear this.”

  A firm grip on Blaine’s arm stopped him from entering the house. “Kaylee knows more about De Luca’s illegal operations than she’s let you know about.”

  Blaine yanked his arm away. “I told you—”

  “She going to have to face a grand jury and testify against them. She’s going to need your support.”

  “My support? Come on, man. She needs a good lawyer, and she needs to get her life back on track.”

  “And so do you.”

  “Do we have to have this conversation?”

  “Yes,” Toby said. “You’ve been lost ever since she left. And now she’s back and you’re still lost. Make it right.”

  “It’s not just up to me.” Blaine kicked off his boots. “Kaylee has to want to be back, and I don’t think she does.”

  “She’s afraid for her life,” Toby said. “And she has good reason to be. Don’t mistake her fear for trepidation about you. She still loves you. It’s obvious.”

  It wasn’t that obvious to Blaine.

  12

  Kaylee tossed and turned for about an hour, but sleep eluded her. Even with a few drinks, she couldn’t force her body to rest. She took a quick shower, threw on some sweats, and decided to check out her father’s closet. Maybe she could find something in there that could shed some light on a man she was finding she didn’t really know. The idea her father was sleeping with Rachael made her stomach turn. It wasn’t just the age thing, but Rachael had been her friend.

  Her nostrils were assaulted by a combination of her father’s pine-scented aftershave and that rosy smell. Rachael. Now she knew why that smell seemed familiar. It was the same body spray Rachael wore. Letting out a long breath, Kaylee shuffled through her father’s suits and casual clothes.

  She stood in the large closet with her hands on her hips and looked up at the shelves. “I’ve got to get those down.”

  “I can help.” A dark, sexy drawl came from behind her.

  She jumped. “Damn you, Blaine. Please stop sneaking up on me.”

  “I thought you might be sleeping, considering the condition I left you in.” Blaine reached up and pulled down one of the boxes.

  “Not enough alcohol to put me to sleep.” Kaylee rubbed her temples, but she’d had enough alcohol to give her a mild headache. “Just put it on the bed and then get the rest of them down for me.”

  “You want to go through them all tonight?”

  She climbed up on the bed and tucked her feet up under her butt. “Why not?” She shrugged.

  He plopped a second box down on the floor and joined her on the bed. “I had other thoughts.” His long fingers pushed back the hair that had fallen toward her face.

  She glanced up at him. His eyes were dark but playful. “Let me go through this one box, okay?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  She flipped open the box and pulled out some old pictures of her parents. “Wow, they look so young.”

  “There’s Hadley.” Blaine pointed to a group photo.

  “And Mrs. Hicks?” Kaylee questioned as she took the photo from Blaine. The picture was taken on Thief Lake, and it looked as if Hadley and Linda had been a couple as Hadley’s arm was looped over Mrs. Hicks’ shoulder. She turned the picture over to see if there was a date. “This was taken about three months before my parents married.”

  “How far along was your mother when they got married?”

  “I think about four months or so.” Kaylee hadn’t thought about her paternity since she’d left all those years ago. It bothered her father and back then, she didn’t care. Today, she seemed to care. A lot. “What are you thinking?”

  “We know Hadley and your mom had a thing way back when. Rumors have always been that Hadley got his heart broken. I guess I just assumed it was by your mother.”

  “Are you suggesting Hadley and Rachael’s mother did the wild thing?” Kaylee fumbled through a few more pictures, but whenever she came across Mrs. Hicks, she was with her husband. Life was strange.

  “Hadley said Linda married Jack because she was pregnant. I’ve always thought it was a case of love at first sight.” Blaine rubbed his jaw. “I think I need to call Hadley again.”

  “I was always told that the moment Reverend Hicks met his wife, they were madly in love. They up and ran off for a quickie wedding—”

  “Because Linda Hicks was pregnant with Rachael?”

  Kaylee dropped a picture to her lap. “Wait a minute. Then you think Hadley could be Rachael’s father? Gross.”

  “I don’t know what I think, except there was a lot of bed hopping going on with these people.” Blaine dug into the box and pulled out more pictures. They spent the next hour making piles based on the year and who was in it. The only thing that jumped out at her was the possible relationship between Linda Hicks and Hadley, which really had nothing to do with her.

  “My mother never looked happy. Not even when she was pregnant. I loved being pregnant, feeling Deslin move.”

  “It was pretty incredible,” Blaine said, fanning his hand across her middle. “You were beautiful.”

  Covering her hand over his, she locked gazes with him. “You used to complain when I snuggled my belly up against you. You told me you couldn’t sleep, but you never pushed me away.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment. “I liked feeling him move, too. I’d like to go visit his grave with you.”

  “Before I left for Europe, I used to go there for hours, hoping I’d see you there.” She’d wanted to ask for his forgiveness and start over with him. But, he never did. He never tried to call or contact her in any way, not even when she’d filed for divorce. “The divorce was the only stipulation my father had made when he’d offered to support me financially.”

  “I saw you at the grave a few times,” he said softly. “But then you went to Europe and then the divorce papers came, and I just thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore.”

  “I thought maybe it would get your attention,” she admitted, stacking the photos back into the box. “Maybe you’d come fight for me.”

  “It got my attention all right.”

  “I was playing a childish game, and it backfired on me.”

  He shifted his stare from the box to her. “Are you trying to tell me that you filed for divorce to try to get me back?”

  “Pretty stupid, huh?”

  “Stupid doesn’t cover it, babe,” he said dryly. “My mother told me not to sign those papers. She begged me to come home for a visit, and every time she tried to bring up your name, I’d hang up on her.”

  “So, you signed the divorce papers and gave up.”

  “What would you have
done in my shoes?” he asked. “You should have tried to contact me directly.”

  “I didn’t know where you were, and no one would tell me. Your father called me all kinds of names, even Rachael gave me the cold shoulder when she’d come home from college. It was the only way I could think of to get a hold of you.”

  “You could have thought of something less drastic, like a simple note. I did have a lawyer who would’ve forwarded a message just as easily as divorce papers.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I kind of took that as ‘get the hell out of my life.’”

  “I guess I would, too,” she said as she fluffed the pillow. “I listened to all the wrong people. I believed the worst of you.”

  “I can’t say I helped my own cause much.” Blaine sat down on the bed, taking her hand in his. “I wanted you to go to the hospital the day before. You kept having those pains, and I didn’t think it was normal. I just had this gut feeling something was wrong.”

  “The doctor told me that in the seventh month, you could have Braxton-Hicks contractions, and to just be still until the next appointment.”

  “But those weren’t Braxton-Hicks,” Blaine said softly. “I must have made you feel so bad.”

  “When the doctor told us that the placenta had separated from my uterus, I could see the ’I told you so,’ in your eyes.” Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  He lifted her hand, his lips felt warm and tender against her skin. “It was a look of guilt and shame. You almost died because I’d left you alone to go hang out with my buddies.” He pushed the box out of the way and pulled her into his arms. “If I hadn’t left, things might have been different.”

  “Oh, Blaine.” She cupped his face. “There wasn’t anything you could’ve done to prevent what happened.”

  He looked deep into her eyes. “I’m sorry, Kaylee. I should’ve tried harder. I should have followed you to Europe. Hell, I should have talked to you before you left.”

  “We can’t change the past.”

  “No, we can’t.” He took her hands in his and kissed her palms. “We can’t take back what we did to each other, but we can move past it. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too,” she whispered. “But I’m in some serious shit.”