Shadows of Doubt

Shadows of Doubt Page 23

by Corcoran, Mell

  When Max got out of the golf cart and said his farewell to the golf director, he was relieved that it was only Joe there to greet him. Max had spent half the night getting in the proper frame of mind to deal with this first face-to-face with his detective. Unfortunately the closer and closer he got to it actually happening, the more nervous he became. It was utterly ridiculous for a man of his stature and considerable age to be flustered like this. He used that anger with himself to take the edge off his panic.

  “My Dom.” Joe held out a hand to Max and smiled warmly. “I hope everything went well after I left yesterday?”

  Max scanned the area looking for Lou and her mother. He could only spot Shevaun inside the pro shop, waving to him as she apparently finished with a purchase. “Richelieu seemed to handle things well. Frank said that Caroline took the Oath but things are tenuous pending how things go with Lou. She is adamant about not lying to her best friend. He’s sticking to her like glue to keep her in check for the time being.”

  Joe nodded, knowing this would be a deal breaker. “Well, I have a good feeling about all of this. It’s going to work out, I just know it.” Joe shut up as soon as he saw his wife exiting the shop.

  “Max!” Shevaun gushed, something she never did. “I am so glad you could make it!”

  He took Shevaun’s hands and kissed her cheek. “So am I. Fortunately things are going according to plan so I was able to steal away for a while.”

  Just then Lou emerged from the pro shop and came towards them. Shevaun was not a stupid woman and she knew her daughter inside and out. Something was definitely up. She noticed Lou had actually primped while she was gone, with fresh lip gloss, her hair fluffed and not a strand amiss. Her daughter never ever primped, for anyone.

  “Tallulah, come and meet Max.” Shevaun watched her daughter’s reaction to him very carefully. “Max Julian, this is our daughter, Lou.”

  Max held his breath as his detective came closer, he simply couldn’t help it. Reaching out his hand, he smiled at her with a smile he had only once before been able to give. “I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you.” It wasn’t a lie at all.

  Lou extended her hand to take his while she repeated to herself in her head ‘He’s just another guy. He’s just another guy’. But when that smile spread across those perfect lips of his, she felt like she would melt into a puddle on the spot. “Er...um...” She blushed. “... I wish I could say the same. I only learned of you joining us a few minutes ago. Forgive my surprise.” Christ she was a blathering idiot. Now he was going to think she was annoyed he was joining them.

  “Oh?” He felt his heart crack a little at her disappointed tone. “I’m sorry if I am intruding, would you pref...”

  “No!” She blurted, then realized she was not only still holding his hand, but was squeezing the life out of it. Quickly she released her hold and stuffed her hands in her pockets in an attempt to look casual. “I mean, no. Its perfectly fine. Lovely in fact.” Lovely? She thought to herself. What the hell is that? Was she going to ask him for a spot of tea next? “Uh...” She had to recover quickly. “We can play girls against the boys.”

  Shevaun tried hard not to bounce up and down as she clearly saw her daughter flustering over Max. There was something absolutely there, finally! She had almost given up hope of her daughter showing an interest in anyone again. “Oh! That’s an excellent idea!” She stepped in quickly to cover up her daughter’s tripping over her own tongue. “You boys can ride together.”

  Once it was agreed and everything was settled, Shevaun and her daughter pulled away in their cart while Joe and Max followed to the first tee. Joe couldn’t be certain but standing on the patio he thought he sensed something from Max towards Lou. He decided he needed to pay very close attention throughout the day. Shevaun, on the other hand, saw it all plain as day. Her daughter’s out of character fluster. The twinkle in Max’s eye. She knew within the first five minutes that it was going to be a wonderful day.

  The day was turning out to be a disaster, or so Max felt. By the time they reached the fourth tee he had two bogies, a par and a double bogie. It was his worst round of golf so far in about twenty years. To make matters worse, he had barely spoken to Lou and when he had, he was about as smooth and charming as a fork stuck in a garbage disposal. He was furious with himself.

  “A little off you’re game today ?” Joe asked after Max had driven the ball into the left rough.

  “A little?” Max wanted desperately to hurl his driver into the lake, but walked to the cart and stuffed it forcefully into his bag instead, avoiding eye contact with Lou at all costs.

  Lou hurried to the tee to make her drive while Max wasn’t looking and to her horror it landed five inches behind his ball. Shevaun simply couldn’t stand it and started laughing.

  “Real nice, Momma.” Lou scowled at her mother. “The damn wind is pulling everything to the left.” Lou swore under her breath and headed for her cart.

  Shevaun was eventually able to stop laughing when her husband approached. “What is so damn funny?” He asked her quietly.

  “Oh Joe, can’t you see?” She was grinning from ear to ear.

  “See what?” Joe had felt something was amiss but honestly he was so rapt with worry about the situation with Caroline, the rogue and the big plan that he wasn’t paying as close attention to the golf game as he would have liked.

  Shevaun leaned in close to her husband, laying a hand on his chest. “Those two are absolutely smitten with each other! I would bet the farm that Lou has crossed paths with Max before. She is so flustered, and so is he! It’s just hilarious to watch!”

  Joe looked over at Max and then Lou and watched with his new perspective, courtesy of his wife. “I’ll be damned!” He shouted and Shevaun promptly shushed him. He suddenly noticed that both Lou and Max were doing everything possible to avoid looking at each other and had been for the entire morning. His wife was absolutely right.

  “Don’t make a fuss! Let’s just have a little fun with it, shall we?” She patted him on the chest and winked.

  Joe looked at his beautiful Shevaun and grinned from ear to ear. “You are such a wicked woman. Have I mentioned how much I love that about you?” He kissed her quickly then scooted her off to the tee. “Go on darlin’, show them how it’s done.” He cheered her on.

  Lou turned in time to see her mother drive her ball long and straight, smack into the middle of the fairway. It made her furious, even if she was on her team. When her father followed suit, she could hear Max grumbling behind her and she wondered if he was feeling the same. That was when she decided things were becoming utterly ridiculous. Almost in an act of defiance, Lou turned and finally looked at him. God he was handsome as hell. His hair had loosened from its previously immaculate style and was falling gently into his face. She wanted to run her fingers through it, combing back the rich, glossy, sable strands. He turned suddenly toward her and caught her gaze. She jerked to avoid eye contact and nearly knocked herself out with her own three iron. Rubbing her forehead to dull the sting, she climbed into the cart and yelled for her mother to hurry up.

  Max thought for a moment he had caught her looking at him, then thought of course she was. She was looking at the ass that couldn’t swing a club for the life of him. This time it was Max swearing under his breath as he got in the cart and Joe drove them up the path. When they got up there, he saw how close Lou and his balls were to one another and resumed swearing. Not so much under his breath this time. It was inevitable. He simply could not avoid talking to her any longer. Since her ball was further away
, he let her walk ahead of him to take her shot. He stood behind her and watched as she addressed the ball. Taking her time to line up her shot. She had a good solid stance, he noticed. Elegant and strong arms with a perfect slight bend to the knees. Christ she was adorable, even with the scowl on her face. He took in the curve of her body, the petite little ears and the way she bit her lower lip when she concentrated. He was so engrossed with taking her in that he hadn’t noticed her head turn and look at him. She was staring.

  “What?!” She barked.

  “Uh...” Good God he couldn’t think of anything to say.

  She stopped and walked towards him. “You were staring at me so let’s have it. What?” She was sick of feeling like an idiot. This was going to stop now before she gave up golf forever.

  So this was it, he thought. She’s throwing down the gauntlet. “You know our paths have crossed before.” There, he put it out there. The elephant in the room, so to speak.

  At first she was shocked that he had noticed her at all, let alone remembered. “So you do recognize me, then?” Then it occurred to her that the bastard was enjoying watching her squirm this whole time.

  “Of course I do.” Recognize her? She was practically all he had been able to think about ever since.

  She cocked her head and considered. “Why didn’t you say something?” It was a risky question. She wasn’t really certain she wanted an actual answer.

  It never ceased to amaze him, the feisty spirit he kept discovering as he observed her. “Well now, how would that have gone I wonder? Hello, so good to meet you after crossing paths over dead bodies once or twice.” For effect he did a little gentlemanly bow and a flourish with his hand.

  “Aha!” She stepped up and pointed in his face. “Once or Twice! So it was you at the crime scene!”

  Bloody hell, he didn’t mean to let that slip. “Take your shot before the marshal comes and kicks us off the course for holding up play.” A good solid tactic he thought. When cornered, redirect and deflect.

  She glowered at him, whirled around and went to make her shot.

  Shevaun and Joe watched the two from the cart path while they shared a bottle of water. Joe got a little nervous when he saw Lou storm up to Max and get right up into his face. However, his nerves were quickly settled and he nearly spit out his water laughing when Max did his bow and hand flourish.

  “Oh dear! He’s definitely got his hands full with her.” Joe shook his head and passed his wife the bottle of water as they waited for the two to take their shots.

  “I wonder what he did to get her all riled like that.” Shevaun took a sip of the water then stuffed the bottle back in her bag. “Not that it matters, he better learn quick and get used to it.”

  Joe looked at his wife thoughtfully. “So you like him then?”

  Shevaun smiled as she watched her daughter and Max from across the sprawling green grass. ”I do. There is something strong and wise about him. He has a great sense of humor and a good deal of patience, obviously. I don’t really know him still but my first impressions aren’t usually wrong.”

  Taking his wife’s hand, he kissed her knuckles tenderly and then gazed into her eyes. “He’s a good man. If they survive this part of it, there is no one I could approve of more for our daughter.”

  “Well that’s high praise coming from you.” She cupped his cheek. “We’ll hope for the best then, shall we?”

  Joe simply smiled and felt his heart pang. If she only knew how hard he was hoping for the best already. This development with Lou and Max could either kill or cure the whole dilemma so he just prayed they made it through the rest of the day without the two of them wrapping clubs around each others necks.

  Lou took her shot, in spite of him, and it was a beauty. Her ball caught a bounce and landed four feet from the cup. She twirled her club and spun around to gloat at Max, feeling more herself again.

  “Your turn, big guy.” She sauntered back to her cart with her nose slightly upturned at him.

  Oh yes indeed, she had definitely thrown down the gauntlet. Suddenly all the insecurity that Max had been feeling melted away and the competition had begun. When he finally took his shot, he turned and grinned right back at her as it landed a foot closer to the cup than hers. He twirled his club and sauntered back to his cart exactly the same way she had done only moments before. The game was on now.

  By the seventeenth hole the match was a dead heat. Both Lou and Max had found their game again and were bringing it fiercely. Shevaun had managed to casually feed her daughter all the information she knew of Max without her daughter actually having to ask and Joe had somewhat done the same about Lou. It had been at the ninth tee when Lou had actually started making Max laugh out loud with her ribbing and shortly after she started laughing at Max’s clever retorts. The two had relaxed considerably, enjoying the battle of wits and golf. Forgetting themselves and just being in the moment. It was only after Max had teed off at the eighteenth hole that things sunk in with them both. His drive was perfect, landing over the large pond and just a yard or two below the green. Shevaun and Joe both applauded and he turned and took a bow with a smile on his face. He didn’t miss for a second that Lou was grinning.

  “Alright, I’ll admit it. That was a beauty.” She didn’t find saying it as bitter as she thought it would be.

  It was at that moment Max let his guard down and spoke his thoughts without really thinking. “Well it’s only natural for one beauty to recognize another.” It was a blatant, overt flirt and he said it while staring her dead in the eye so that there was no mistaking the feeling behind it. He watched her fluster and saw her pull her guard back up immediately. “I meant the shot of course...” He tried to recover but it was too late. He had gone too far.

  “I know what you meant.” She looked down, avoiding eye contact. “Move so I can take my shot.” Lou didn’t say it with the witty sarcasm he was growing accustomed too. She was backing away from him and he knew they were right back at square one. Shevaun and Joe saw it too, and Shevaun sighed with disappointment. Joe put his arm around his wife as if to console her. Lou made her drive and it landed in the pond. She moved quickly back to the cart without so much as a mutter of a curse.

  Shevaun could see the defeated look in Max’s eyes and went to him, placing her hand on his as he leaned on his club and blew out a breath.

  “Be patient with her. She’s suffered greatly in matters of the heart. She’s just afraid of her own feelings.” Lou’s mother smiled at him when he looked at her aghast. It was a rare occurrence that someone could see through him so easily. Had he been so obvious all day? His heart on his sleeve? But then he realized that Shevaun’s words were encouraging him not to give up and that meant that she wasn’t upset over him having eyes for her daughter. He took her hand and squeezed. A smile of thanks in his eyes. Finally someone knew what he was feeling and it was alright with them. More importantly it was Lou’s mother. The one person in the world who meant the most to Lou. It was a relief he couldn’t have imagined.

  Shevaun said nothing as they drove the cart up the path. She let Lou take her drop, and her lumps, waiting it out until they drove up to the green for the last strokes. When Lou parked the cart and walked around, her mother stepped in her way and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “I didn’t raise my only daughter to be afraid, and up until now she never has been without good reason.” She moved her hand from Lou’s shoulder to her cheek. “I’ve let you be afraid for about six years too long now. Don’t let the possibility of joy with your soul-mate slip by because you let old wounds poison your heart.” She did
n’t wait for her daughter to respond. Shevaun turned from her daughter and walked to the green to take her last shot with the boys.

  Lou watched her mother walk up to the green where Joe and Max already were evaluating their shots. It had been a good day, all in all, despite her foolishness, her nerves and fear. The truth of it was that Max had lived up to her own hype. Besides being drop dead gorgeous and a fantastic dresser, he was charming and witty, matching her ribbing tit for tat. She truly enjoyed that part of discovering him. He gave as good as he got and was still a gentleman about it. Her parents liked him too, which was so rare. Even as she watched them up there on the velvet green grass, they smiled and laughed. She could so get used to days like this. But she had decided to try for that once before, many years ago, and was betrayed by the man she thought she loved when he slept with one of her best friends. That was long before Caroline, though. Then after a couple years of licking her wounds she took another chance and almost died twice for it. In many ways she was much stronger for it all, braver in many aspects. But when it came to her heart and even cracking the door to it, Lou was flat terrified. Her mother saw that in her and it shamed Lou that she was disappointed with her. It didn’t really matter now anyway because Max had probably written Lou off as one of those chihuahua people she loathed. Skittish, irrational and way too high maintenance emotionally. Lou sighed, grabbed her putter and headed up to the green.

  There wasn’t time for congratulations after the last putt was made because another group was waiting behind them, so Shevaun ran for the cart and suggested they meet up on the patio. Max was very grateful to her for that because for the first time in more decades than he cared to remember, he wasn’t sure how to handle himself. He was grateful to Joe also now for driving slow so he could think.

 

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