Cold Hearts
Page 23
“There you are,” he said, and leaned down to give her a quick kiss. “Mmm, you taste like cookies.”
“Open wide,” she said, and when he did, she poked the rest of her cookie in his mouth. “Some of Frieda Sanford’s cookies,” she said. “I was starving, so I got a casserole out of the freezer and put it in the oven. It should be ready in about an hour or so.”
He got a bottle of pop from the refrigerator and then sat down at the table with her.
“I talked to Pastor Farley while you were asleep. I’ve set Dad’s memorial service for Wednesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. When they finally release his body, we’ll do a graveside burial without a need for ceremony.”
Lissa circled the table, sat down in his lap and kissed him.
“It’s a little daunting to know you’re in the world without another soul who shares your blood, isn’t it?”
He nuzzled a spot behind her ear and then hugged her, taking care not to squeeze too tight.
“It would be hell except for you. We are family, Melissa, even though the ceremony has yet to happen. We belong—you to me and me to you.”
“And the babies to come,” she added.
He was still smiling, but there were tears in his voice when he said, “Yes...and the babies to come.”
* * *
The next morning dawned damp and cold, and they were both trying to find comfortable clothes for the day. Mack was digging through the clothes he’d brought with him from home, looking for something to wear that would still be comfortable on his shoulder and arm, when he realized tomorrow was the memorial service and everything he needed was at his house in Summerton.
“Well, hell,” he muttered, as he shoved a dresser drawer shut.
Lissa had on a pair of jeans and a sweater, and was looking for a clean pair of socks to wear with her boots, when she heard him slam the drawer shut with a curse.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tomorrow is the memorial service, and the clothes I need are back at my house in Summerton.”
“Oh, you’re right! Mine aren’t here, either, but at least my house is closer than yours. I don’t think Louis...er, Reece or...whoever...got to that part of my closet, although he did tear up a lot of stuff.”
Mack frowned. “We’ll go check at your house first, and if you can’t find anything you want, we can go shopping in Summerton.”
“I’m sure I can find something. My winter clothes were actually still packed away in another room, so he didn’t even get to them. I’ll be fine.” Then she eyed the frown on his face. “Are you up to driving that far? We could probably get someone to take us if—”
“No, of course I can do it,” he said. “Do you feel like riding that far?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine. Besides, I want to see your home.”
“Soon to be our home,” he said.
“Then, why the frown?” she asked, as she traced a finger down the line between his eyebrows.
“I dread the service. I have to drop the eulogy off at the church. Getting the right clothes together is one more thing. It’s not an issue. I just made it a roadblock when it didn’t need to be.”
Lissa slid her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against the middle of his chest. The steady thump of his heartbeat always had the power to center her world, and today was no different.
“It will be okay because we’ll do it together, remember?”
He exhaled slowly as he pulled her close. “God, I am so grateful for you. I hope one day you realize how much I love you.”
She cupped his face. “You always were my hero, even before you saved my life.”
And just like that, all the tension he was feeling faded.
“So, my sweet lady, are you ready to go see your new home?”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Lissa said. “But first I need shoes.”
She moved out of his arms to finish dressing, leaving him with a slight, but heartfelt, smile on his face.
A short while later they pulled into her driveway.
Lissa shivered. “I haven’t been back since the...”
Mack frowned. “That’s over, Lissa. Don’t let that part of your life color how you feel about the house you grew up in.”
“Right,” she said, and she got out with purpose in her step.
Mack thought he was following for moral support, but even so, the hair stood up on the back of his neck when he walked into the house. Bad things had gone down in here. This house needed people and laughter in it again to heal the energy.
“Oh, my teacher friends did such a great job,” Lissa said, as she went into the kitchen.
The last time she’d been here, Mack had been bloody and unconscious. She traced the caulking on the new window glass with a finger, then moved out of the kitchen and down the hall to her bedroom with Mack right behind her.
“Here goes nothing,” she said, and walked in.
The chaos she’d seen the night of the attack might never have happened. The broken glass, the torn clothing, even the broken night-light that had been the last link to her childhood...all gone.
“Oh, wow,” she said softly, moving to the closet and turning on the light.
Her clothes were back on hangers, her shoes back on the rack.
She opened the drawers in the dresser at the far end of the closet and sighed at the sight of everything clean, folded and back in place.
“They put everything back together again.”
Mack walked up behind her and took her by the shoulders. “Good friends are worth their weight in gold, right, honey?”
“Yes, they are,” she said. “Now give me a few minutes to find something suitable and we’ll be out of here.”
Mack gave her a quick pat on the butt and then sat down on the side of the bed to watch. She flipped through the hangers for a couple of minutes before she zeroed in on one outfit, and promptly took it out of the closet and slipped it into a garment bag. Then she chose shoes to go with it.
“I’m ready,” she said just as Mack took everything out of her hands.
“You lead the way and lock the door behind us. I’ve got this.”
After dropping off the eulogy at the church, they were finally on their way to Summerton.
Lissa pulled the visor down to use the mirror on the back, looked at her reflection and groaned.
“Just look at me. Black eye, bruise over half my forehead and a busted lip. What on earth are people going to think?”
“That you won the fight?”
She grinned. “Really?”
Mack shook his head. “I am in so much trouble, aren’t I?”
“No. I like you. I won’t ever hurt you, I promise.”
He eyed the little blonde sitting beside him and burst into laughter. “Like I’m scared,” he drawled.
“Well, you’re not and we both know it, but I love you for not minding being seen with a girl with a smashed-up face.”
She flipped the visor back into place, smiled when he winked at her and settled in for the ride.
* * *
After Trey’s interrogation, Betsy Jakes had been feeling less scattered. Maybe it was turning her dream journal over to the police that made the difference, as if she’d given up the responsibility of trying to figure it out to someone else.
Trina’s breakup with Lee Daniels had also helped shift her focus. Trina’s heartache had turned on Betsy’s mother mode. She was still having nightmares, but now she was able to let go of them more easily on waking.
Still, she couldn’t get rid of the feeling that she’d lost a limb and was just pretending she still walked and talked like everyone else, knowing any minute they would see her for the fake she was. And when the reveal finally happened, which she knew was inevitable, she would never get back up again. She’d even come to terms with the fear of dying. After all, Connie had been dead for years. The rest of them had gotten a free pass from that wreck. Despite how this was playing out, maybe it was just God’s way of putting out that final
call.
* * *
The killer was on a mission, reconnoitering. Everything he’d been working toward was almost finished. Only one more to get rid of and he would be home free, with no one the wiser.
According to today’s paper, Paul Jackson’s memorial service was going to be held tomorrow afternoon. Everyone in town would be there, including him. He couldn’t afford to be visibly absent, but he intended to take advantage of everyone being out of place when it was over. It would take a bit of luck, a little finesse and a good aim, but he’d always managed to land on his feet in life and expected nothing less now.
He was almost at the Jakeses’ place now. All he needed was to remind himself of the layout and see if his plan would hold water; if not, he would take care of things somewhere else.
He could see the mailbox in the distance, and of all things, there was Betsy herself getting the mail. If only he’d brought his weapon, everything would be over. But he hadn’t, and maybe there was a reason. As he neared the mailbox she turned and disappeared. That was when he realized how dense that stand of trees was on the north side of the drive. It might be a good place to hide out until he could get inside.
As he drew closer he saw a small blue metal sign fastened to her mailbox post. A security company! Hell, her house was probably wired to the hilt, which entailed a change of plans. He would not be taking her out inside her own home. Then he saw her about twenty yards down the drive and, on a whim, honked and waved. When she turned and waved back, he took it as a sign.
She thought she’d just said hello, but he knew it was goodbye.
* * *
The closer Mack got to Summerton, the more anxious he became. Lissa had been asleep for half an hour, but he was going to wake her up because they would drive right past his lumberyard and he wanted her to see his name on it. He was proud of what he’d accomplished. He wanted her to see his business and his neighborhood and the street where he lived. He wanted Lissa to love his home as much as he did. He wanted her to walk in and feel like she’d lived there forever. He hoped he wasn’t wanting too much.
As soon as he reached the city limits, he reached over and touched her arm. “Lissa, honey? We’re here. We’re in Summerton.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and then she raised her seat back to a sitting position, and began fluffing at her hair and looking around.
“I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been here once since I moved home, although I didn’t really have a need.”
“Well, you’re here now, and I wanted to show you something as we pass.”
She smiled. “Okay. What should I look for?”
He pointed up at a huge warehouse-style building spread out over the entire block, and then to the name over the wide porch at the front door.
“Jackson Lumber Company,” she said, and then gasped. “Oh! Jackson! Your company! Oh, my gosh! Oh, Mack! It’s huge. It’s amazing.”
“Yeah, do you want to see inside? If you don’t feel like it yet I totally understand. We’re a little short on time anyway, so—”
“Yes, I want to see inside. I feel fine. If you don’t mind introducing me looking like this,” she added, and pointed at her face.
“Baby, trust me, they already know I got hurt and why. They already know you nearly died. You’re going to come across as one tough survivor, okay?”
She nodded, already getting nervous as he pulled into the parking area and then drove around back.
“This is where I always park,” he said, and before he even got out, someone had already spotted his SUV and was pointing. “Well, no sneaking in for us. We’ve been made. Are you ready?”
“I feel like I’m about to meet your family for the first time,” she said.
He paused, touched by what she’d said. “In a way, I guess you are.”
He circled the truck to help her out. By the time she had both feet on the ground, at least a dozen men had surrounded them.
“Wow, boss, it’s good to see you up and around,” one man said, and then he grinned at Lissa. “So here’s the little lady who just took Summerton’s most eligible bachelor off the market. She’s sure a pretty thing.”
Lissa grinned. “Most eligible bachelor?”
Mack couldn’t have wiped the smile off his face if he’d tried. “Just filled in one of my blanks there,” he said. Then he introduced her. “Everyone, this is Melissa Sherman, the girl I should have married ten years ago and didn’t, but that’s about to change. Melissa, these are the best employees in town. The old guy is Mark. The one with the Mohawk is Charlie. The bald guy with the beard is Andy. He grows hair on his face because it won’t grow on his head.”
And so it went as he introduced one after the other, all the men laughing at how he singled them out. By the time he was through, Lissa had forgotten about her face and everything else but how absolutely perfect the rest of her life was going to be.
“It’s great to meet all of you, but I still have one heck of a concussion and just quit seeing double. So if I forget your names next time I see you, I hope you’ll understand.”
And with that admission, she sealed herself as all right with every man there. She’d seen them like Mack saw them—as equals, not the hired help, which was part of why Mack Jackson’s business thrived.
“You guys get back to work,” Mack said then. “I’ve gotta take her in to meet the real boss or I’ll never hear the end of it.”
They all laughed as they went back to their jobs, knowing just who Mack was referring to.
As they walked through the lumber barn, Lissa was properly impressed with the size of the area where the lumber was sorted and stored.
“Are you up for the stairs?” Mack asked, pointing to a flight with a dozen steps that led into the back of the building, where the offices were located and then it opened out into the shopping area up front.
“Yes, if I go slow,” she said.
“I can carry you,” he offered.
“No, you can’t, because the last time you did that it made you bleed, so just give me time and I’ll be fine.”
He grinned at her bossy attitude and followed that sweet little ass all the way up and then inside the building.
“My office is four doors up the hall on the left,” he said. “My secretary’s office is up one from mine.”
“Well, your ‘brothers’ out there were fun, but now I’m meeting ‘Mother’ and it’s making me nervous.”
He took her by the hand. “Honey, no matter what I said out there, I am the boss. I can assure you if I love you, they’ll love you, too.”
They had only gone a few steps when a skinny middle-aged woman came flying out of the office he’d said belonged to his secretary, and when she saw them, she threw up her hands and headed their way.
“It is true! They said you were here, but I didn’t believe them.” She kept talking as she walked, waving her hands and wiping away tears. “Oh, Mack Jackson, it is so good to see you in one piece. When we heard what happened, I can tell you there were some prayers sent up. And this must be Melissa. My sister works at the hospital in Mystic. I already know the whole awful story about what happened to you, and I can’t tell you how thrilled we are that this ridiculously handsome boss of ours is finally going to settle down and get married.”
Lissa laughed. She couldn’t help it. The woman was adorable, and she’d actually made Mack blush, something she’d never seen happen before.
Mack just shook his head. “Melissa, this is Bella Garfield. She’s not just my secretary, she also knows where all the bodies are hidden around here. I couldn’t do this without her. Bella, this is my girl, Melissa Sherman, but everyone calls her Lissa.”
Bella was beaming as she took Lissa’s hand, and patted it over and over. “I’d hug you, but I know you’re hurt. And I know Mack probably wants to show you off to everyone else. It’s a joy to meet you, and I know you’re going to have a long and happy life with our own James Bond.”
Lissa frowned. “James Bond?”
Bella giggled. “Yes! We all think he looks like Daniel Craig. You know, the actor who plays James Bond.”
Mack stifled a snort. “Except I’m taller, not blond or British and my eyes aren’t blue. Except for all that, sure I do,” Mack muttered. “Damned embarrassing, if you ask me.”
“Makes as much sense as you claiming I look like Cindy Crawford,” Lissa said.
Bella stared at Lissa, and then squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh! You do! My goodness, you sure do, with that cute little mole by your lips and all!”
Lissa rolled her eyes. “Oh, sure, except that I don’t have long dark hair, I’m half a foot shorter and the only similarity between my face and hers is a mole.”
“Then, we’re a pair of misfits, girl,” Mack said. “Bella, go back to work. Lissa, come with me. There are people to meet, and we have places to be.”
Bella giggled and flew back to her office, and for the next thirty minutes Lissa was introduced to so many people who blatantly adored Mack that her head was spinning. By the time they were back in the car and on their way to his house, she was exhausted and he was wired.
“After you see the house and I get my clothes, we need to eat some lunch. I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry already,” he said. “If it’s okay with you, we can get takeout and eat on the way back to Mystic.”
Lissa agreed. “That would be wonderful. I think I’m all talked out for now, but this morning has been an eye-opener for me in so many ways. I’ve always believed that everything happens for a reason, and, Mack, if we had gotten married and had a baby ten years ago, there’s no telling how our lives would have turned out. The one sure thing is that we would be two different people than the ones we are now, so just for the record, I admire the man you became without me.”
Mack thought about what she’d said.
“I never thought about it like that, but you’re right. Even if I regret losing those ten years with you, we have so much to be thankful for now. You’re one hell of a woman, Melissa, and however you got to be the warrior woman that you are, I’m grateful you’re mine.”
She was still smiling when he turned a corner and pointed down the street.