Martinez, Mary - Classic Murder: Mr. Romance (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

by Mary Martinez

  “Okay. The place is right next to a flower shop. You can pick some up when you get the soup. I’ll just call ahead so your order will be ready when we get there.”

  “Remind me to give you a raise.”

  “Okay, boss. I’m reminding you. When do I get it?”

  Adam chuckled in response. He paid Brady very well, but then he deserved every penny. Jamie and Brady had been with him from the start of his company. When he was just getting the business off the ground, he hadn’t been able to pay them much. But they had stuck the rough road out, and he was more than happy to reward them for their loyalty.

  * * * *

  Katie sniffled a little. She couldn’t find any medicine in her cabinet to stop her runny nose. She felt like a leaky faucet. She’d decided to wait to watch the movie until later. She hoped Adam would stay and watch a classic romantic comedy with her. Well, a girl could dream, couldn’t she? A knock at the door interrupted her hopeful thoughts. Dragging the blanket with her, she stood and walked to the door, or shuffled, was more appropriate. As she unlocked the numerous locks, she heard her cranky old neighbor bang on the wall. She pulled a face toward the direction of the banging as she opened the door.

  “Do you always stick your tongue out at walls?” Adam asked.

  “No, only when Mrs. Newcomb is pounding.” She opened the door wider so Adam could come in. “Umm…whatever you have in that bag smells heavenly, even with my stuffed up head.” Katie spotted the flowers. He handed them to her and headed toward the kitchen without a word.

  “Adam, these are gorgeous. What are they for?” Katie was glad she had at least cleaned a little. The decorations made her small apartment appear festive, even if she didn’t feel it.

  “I thought they might cheer you up.”

  “Thank you. They do.”

  Katie watched Adam open one cupboard after another, and then he finally turned to her and asked, “Where are your bowls?”

  “The bowls are beneath the stovetop. I know that isn’t convenient, that was one of the things I had planned this weekend, to rearrange my kitchen.” Katie opened the cupboard door for him, and he reached in to get the bowls. “All I got done was a poor cleaning job and my decorations up. Maybe I’ll get the cleaning done when I decorate for Thanksgiving.”

  “Do you decorate for every holiday?” Adam scooped up soup from the container and filled two bowls. Then he bent over to pour the last couple of tablespoons into Oscar’s dish.

  “You’re spoiling him. Stop or he’ll expect me to make him soup all the time.”

  “Oscar, did you hear your mom? This is the only time you’ll be getting hot soup so don’t get used to it.” Adam straightened and turned to Katie, “There. How is that?”

  “Fine, make me the bad guy. Come on, I have some trays in the other room, we can eat in there.” Katie led the way to the couch.

  She put the trays up and then flipped on the DVD player. She decided not to ask if Adam wanted to watch. He could leave if he didn’t want to.

  “Oh, I like this movie. John Wayne is pretty good—for a cowboy, that is,” Adam said.

  “I rented a couple of movies to watch. I have this one, then I thought tomorrow night I’d watch Brigadoon.”

  “Maybe I’ll come by and watch with you. It’s one of my favorites also.” Adam scooped up some of the soup. “Brady was right, this is delicious.”

  “Brady?”

  “Yeah, he told me where to get the soup, and the flowers.”

  “Tell him thanks. I really appreciate the TLC. Although I don’t know what I did to deserve it, and why are you home a day early? You didn’t explain on the phone other than to say you cut your trip short.” Katie paused the DVD, not wanting to miss the movie or the explanation Adam was about to give.

  “Nan is a regular chatterbox. I didn’t want to spend the rest of the weekend in the poky if I popped her in the mouth to shut her up.”

  Adam’s answer was not what she had expected. She raised an eyebrow at him. She’d never heard him even suggest there would be a possibility that he might resort to violence over anything, let alone a woman. “She was that bad?”

  “You have no idea. I had to tell her I was ready to retire at about eight in the evening when we were on the train. It was the only way I could go to my room, or whatever you call the train compartment, for some peace and quiet.”

  “I’m sorry.” Katie tried not to giggle at the image of Adam sitting in the small berth so early with nothing to do. Must have been bad for him to resort to confinement.

  “You don’t need to be so amused. It was so not funny. The next day wasn’t so bad. She loves to shop and the stores took the focus off herself. She chattered away about all the designers and such. A hell of a lot better than listening to ‘I did this,’ or ‘I did that all day.”

  “Adam, I don’t know what to say. The last three trips haven’t turned out at all the way I had planned for you. When I made the reservations, I thought each would be a dream vacation.”

  “None of the poor results was your fault. They just didn’t turn out, that’s all. I’m just burned out on all the travel and different women. I’m not going be asking anyone out for a weekend jaunt in the future.”

  “You’re not?” Katie couldn’t believe her ears. Was the great “Mr. Romance” ready to settle down to one woman? And could that woman be her? Don’t jump ahead of the cart, girlfriend. Just let him take the lead. For all you know, he just wants to be friends.

  “I’m not—you heard right.”

  “The society page editor is not going to like that bit of news at all. She was upset when I called to tell her that you’d be taking a hiatus. Apparently, you are their top column material.”

  “They’ll just have to find someone else to hound. I don’t want to talk about me anymore. I hate to admit this, but I’m going to be sitting on pins and needles for the next week waiting to hear if any disaster falls on Ms. Thomas. If there is one more murder of someone I’ve been with, there is no other conclusion than to believe somehow they’re connected to me.”

  “I don’t think Ms. Westwood and Ms Beeman’s murders had anything to do with you. I think it was just an awful coincidence that you happened to be out with them the previous weekend.”

  “I hope you’re right, especially for Ms. Thomas’ sake. If something happens to her, I can only assume the two detectives will be back on my doorstep and I don’t think they will leave me alone until the find out how I’m connected to the murders.”

  “But they won’t find anything, because you aren’t,” Katie said.

  “Now, I can say that. But if something, God forbid, happens to Nan, then I’m afraid there has to be a connection somewhere. Maybe someone hates me enough to try to frame me for the murders. Or…I don’t know. I can’t think of any other reason.”

  “Except that you were with both women, no other evidence points to you.”

  “True, I think that’s the only reason Novak and Jones have stopped hounding me.”

  “Well, let’s not borrow trouble. Ms. Thomas will be fine.”

  “You’re right. Do you have any wine around here? I forgot to stop and pick up a bottle,” Adam said.

  “Yes, there is one in the wine holder above the fridge. I’ll go get it.” Katie started to stand, but Adam waved her back and went to the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later, bottle and glasses in hand.

  “Turn back on the movie and let’s watch Sean drag Mary Kate up the hill with the town cheering along,” Adam said, referring to John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara’s characters in the film.

  * * * *

  The movie ended, but Adam didn’t want to disturb Katie. She had fallen asleep with her head against his shoulder about halfway through. Sharing an evening with her had felt so natural, almost as if they’d been spending them together for years. Again, his thoughts turned to the possibility of a relationship with his efficient assistant. He sighed. He would stick to his original plan to wait until the detectives solved
the murders before he started a campaign to win Katie’s affections.

  His sigh must have been loud because Katie stirred, sitting up and stretching. She yawned and looked around as if she were confused about sitting on the couch with Adam. After blinking a couple of times at him, she grinned.

  “I fell asleep before my favorite part,” Katie said.

  “I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

  “That’s okay. That’s the glory of five-day rentals. I’m always home with Oscar in the evenings. I’ll just watch that part again before I take the DVD back.”

  “It’s getting late, I better let you get some rest so you can feel better. We can’t have you missing work, can we?”

  “Heaven forbid. Who would keep you in line?”

  “No, the question is, who would protect me from Mrs. Oakman?” Adam asked with a shiver.

  “What?” Katie was bewildered. The older woman was such a sweetheart.

  “She winks at me like she’s trying to flirt with me or something. Creeps me out!” Adam exclaimed.

  “No way. Maybe she just has a nervous twitch.” Katie tried to remember if she’d ever seen a twitch, but couldn’t recall.

  “I know the difference between a twitch and a wink.”

  “Oh, whatever. The woman’s old enough to be your grandmother. Now you better get going—it’s late.” Katie wished she had the nerve to ask him back the next day, after all he said he liked the movie she was going to watch and sort of said he’d come back. Oh get some backbone, Katie, ask the man. She straightened up, took a deep breath, and asked before she lost her courage. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow evening and watch Brigadoon with me? I’ll fix something for dinner.”

  “You sure you feel well enough to do that?”

  “Maybe not tonight, but I’ll be better tomorrow. I’m already feeling a lot better than I did when I got out of bed this morning.”

  “What time?”

  Katie felt butterflies in her stomach start to bat their little wings. He was going to accept her invitation. “About six-ish—that too early?” That would give her time to go to the store and prepare. She wanted to sleep in a little the next morning so she’d get over this cold or flu.

  “Perfect. I’ll bring the wine. White or red?”

  “I haven’t even thought about what to make. It’s sort of an impromptu invite. So you make a choice, and I’m sure whatever you choose will be fine.”

  “Okay, see you then.” Adam stood to leave. As if it were a natural occurrence, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. He didn’t look back as he let himself out of her apartment.

  Katie placed her hand over the spot and tingles raced through her body. Just maybe something may develop between herself and the handsome “Mr. Romance.” Maybe she shouldn’t worry about things and see if they progressed naturally.

  * * * *

  Katie woke with a start. The sun shined in her room, raising the temperature above normal. She looked at the clock, then did a double take. Her first glance had read the time right. It was noon. She hadn’t sent the alarm the previous evening because she had wanted to get as much rest as possible. Noon was past the time she had wanted to rise, however. Throwing the covers off, she jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom for her morning, or afternoon, shower. She’d have to hurry to get everything ready before Adam arrived. The one good thing about her late start was the extra rest seemed to have done the trick. She felt almost like her old self.

  Several hours later, the delicious aromas from dinner swirled around her apartment. She had marinated steaks with her secret special recipe before placing them in the oven to broil, then had sliced mushrooms sautéing on the stove and she was chopping vegetables for the salad. If she had timed everything right, which she thought she had, dinner would be done shortly after Adam arrived.

  Katie glanced at the clock and noted it was almost six. The knock on the door sounded the same time as the hand on the clock struck the hour. Katie went to the door and let Adam in. When there wasn’t the accompanying bang on the wall from Mrs. Newcomb. Katie looked toward Adam and raised a brow.

  “Maybe she’s getting used to all the noise,” Adam said.

  “I doubt it. She doesn’t drive, so maybe one of her daughters came to take her out. I swear they only come around once a year or so. It’s pretty sad.”

  “How many children does she have?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think she has one son and at least two daughters that I know of.”

  “Maybe they live out of state,” Adam said.

  “I know one lives in New York. I talked to her one day when one of her daughters had just left. I had been coming home from work, I think. Anyway, she told me that her daughter was in the stock market, and she was very busy and that’s why she didn’t come to visit often.”

  “I can’t imagine not visiting your parents as often as possible. Especially if they live in the same city.”

  “Not everyone is close to their parents,” Katie said.

  “You’re right. Hey, whatever you have cooking smells great. When can we eat?” Adam asked eagerly. “It’s not often I have a home-cooked meal. Sure, my housekeeper leaves things in the fridge for me to heat up when I get home from work. Someone preparing a hot meal for me is a treat.”

  “I hope the dinner lives up to your expectations then. We can eat in just a few minutes. Why don’t you open the wine and I’ll set the table.”

  The timer on the stove sounded before Katie had finished. Adam reached over from where he stood and switched the noise off. At her instructions, he found hot pads and removed the steaks. They smelled tantalizing and he had to force himself to set the broiler pan on the top of the stove to await Katie.

  After placing the steaks on a platter and the mushrooms in a bowl, she put them on the table. The salad was ready and she grabbed that on her way to the table to join Adam. After they scooped up the food and put it on their plates, they ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “This is delicious. How did you do these steaks?” Adam finally asked.

  “It’s a secret recipe of mine. If you’re good, maybe I’ll share my magic potion with you some time.”

  “Okay, I promise I will be. I hope you didn’t prepare any dessert because I took the liberty of picking up some French pastries.”

  Katie went still for a moment. She hadn’t even thought about sweets. Good thing he brought something or they would have had nothing with their after-dinner coffee. She’d picked up some whole beans to grind for the special occasion. Although they weren’t celebrating anything, for Katie the evening was special just having him come to dinner.

  “That will be great with coffee. But I’m stuffed. If you don’t mind, let’s wait until later for dessert?”

  “My thoughts exactly. I don’t think I could eat another bite. Let me help you clean up, and then we can watch the movie.”

  Katie had been about to refuse his help, but then decided to let him. They worked together companionably. The kitchen was cleaned, all dishes in the washer in half the time it would have taken Katie if she’d done it herself. Adam had proved to be very helpful. One more thing he met on her list of the perfect man.

  * * * *

  Nan stood in her entryway going through her mail that had come while she’d been on her trip. She paused for a moment to think back. It had been a fun time, but for some reason Adam hadn’t seemed to have a good time. He had said and done everything right, was the perfect gentleman. But something she couldn’t quite put her finger on had been wrong. Sighing, she decided she’d probably never know. It wasn’t as if he was known to follow up. She’d never hear from him again. Well, have a nice life, Adam. Too bad we couldn’t get to know each other better.

  The jingle of the phone interrupted her thoughts and she went in search of the handset. She never remembered to put the dang thing in the base. She wondered how it stayed charged after being off the charger for days.

  “Hello,” she answered breathle
ssly. After listening a moment, she continued. “Keystone? I can’t believe it. I was just there. Damn, I wish I had taken my cell phone with me.”

  The person on the other end informed her about a disastrous fire near the place she had just left. There were several children left homeless and they needed her expertise to have them placed until they could get everything settled down.

  “I’ll check flights as soon as I hang up. I’ll be there this evening if humanly possible, at the worst tomorrow morning. Where do I go and who is my contact?” Nan found a pen and hurriedly wrote the information down.

  Her company had a standard procedure for emergencies. There were temporary foster care families in the program in most states. There wasn’t time to go through all the red tape to get a child into the long-term foster care system overnight, therefore, the procedure placed them quickly with a trained, temporary family. Safety always took precedence over paper work and regular channels.

  To save taxpayers’ money, Nan always tried to get an airline ticket the normal way. If that failed, she could charter a private jet.

  After a few frustrating minutes of listening to the automated message from the airlines, she was able to talk to an actual person. Once she’d booked a seat on the last flight of the day into Rapid City, she arranged for a rental car. It was a good thing she was already packed from her trip with Adam. Those clothes would just have to do. She barely had time to make it back to the airport before her flight left.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nan went back to the bed and breakfast where she and Adam had stayed the night before. She hoped they weren’t booked for the evening. She had called the agency that had contacted her from the airport, but only got their voicemail. She left a message of where she would hopefully be and said she would contact them again in the morning.

  “Ms. Thomas, what a pleasure to see you again,” the receptionist greeted Nan as she walked to the desk.