Free Spirits

by Linda Wisdom

  “It’s also a dairy product, which is very important for one’s health,” Alex added piously.

  Michael burst out laughing. He pulled her into his arms for a hug. “That’s the best one yet, Alex.”

  She felt her temperature rise the moment her body brushed against his. Even though they’d made love when they’d woken up, she felt the need again. The need to know they were more one person than two. Funny, she’d never felt that intense need with anyone else. This slow-smiling, soft-spoken doctor only had to look at her and her knees buckled. Judging from the glitter in his eyes, he easily read her thoughts.

  “Did you mean what you said, about falling in love with me?” she whispered.

  Any time for lighthearted words and teasing was past. “Yes.”

  Her face glowed. “Then you wouldn’t be averse to having that love returned.”

  He had been afraid to hope from the beginning. “Not one bit.”

  Alex ducked her head. “I’m still nervous about all this. I mean, it’s so fast after Jason.” She stopped abruptly. “I guess I’m just afraid to trust my own judgment.”

  He combed his fingers through her hair. “That’s understandable, Alex, but I’m not Jason and I don’t see you as Andrea. That should be more than enough for us to realize what we share is something very special and what I feel could be lasting, if we’re willing to work for it.”

  She licked her lips. “I’m willing.”

  He grazed her lips with his. “Then I suggest we should seal the deal.”

  “Deals are usually sealed with a handshake,” she whispered, moving closer into his embrace.

  “Yes, but most deals aren’t like ours.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alex never liked being interviewed, and when the interviewer tried to infer a story that wasn’t there, she liked it even less. She was glad Simon was present during the interview as she politely explained that she and Jason Palmer were nothing more than good friends. Why hadn’t she allowed him to handle her investment portfolio? Because she used the same broker her father had dealt with for many years. Fair enough? As if that wasn’t bad enough, she arrived home to discover the police had called and asked if she could come down to the station to answer a few questions. Just wanting it all over with, she called and arranged an afternoon appointment with the detective in charge of the case.

  “Once upon a time, I had a nice sane life,” she sighed, after setting up her appointment at the police station.

  “Knew he was a crook the first time I met him,” Patrick announced.

  They’re back! Alex’s mind sang out. “Correction, you thought he was wrapped a little too tight,” she said out loud. “There’s a big difference.”

  Patrick’s eyes narrowed. “Why’d you go over to his place?”

  “So Michael wouldn’t have to listen to you snore,” she told him sweetly.

  “I don’t snore.”

  “Yes, you do. Dad, there were nights I wondered if Amtrak was coming through the house.”

  He pulled himself up. “I don’t snore anymore.”

  She looked interested. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  Marian nodded. “It took death to stop his snoring. Ignore his inquisition, dear. He’s just trying to act the part of the heavy-handed father.” She looked eager. “Have you and Michael come to any decisions?”

  “Mom, it hasn’t been all that long since I broke up with Jason! I’ve only been seeing Michael a few weeks.” She could tell right away that they weren’t listening.

  “If he’s done anything improper, he’ll have to marry you,” Patrick said darkly.

  Alex had to laugh. “Sure, Dad, and you’ll be right there at the altar carrying a shotgun, won’t you?” she teased. “Believe me, he did nothing improper.” A streak of wickedness made her add, “Of course, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t more than a little improper. Who knows, perhaps his father might be coming after me with a shotgun.”

  Patrick shook his head. “She’s your daughter,” he told Marian.

  “Better they find out if they’re sexually compatible now than be disappointed later,” she replied.

  “Whatever happened to the good old days?” he sighed.

  “Dad, you’re acting like a typical father,” Alex said. “And that’s part of the good old days I don’t mind. Probably because I know he can’t see or hear you. I’m going to run some errands before I stop by the police station. Stay out of trouble, okay?” She picked up her purse and slung the strap over her shoulder.

  “I knew we did the right thing getting them together,” Marian could be heard to say as Alex left.

  Her mother’s words nagged at her during her drive downtown.

  “What did they do to get us together?” she asked herself, pulling into a covered parking structure next to the shopping mall. “The more I say this, the more I don’t like it.”

  All the time Alex did her shopping, picking up new makeup and skin-cleansing products, the words stayed with her—and the same niggling question. Could her parents have waved a ghostly wand and performed a little magic to cause her to be attracted to Michael? Except attracted was a little too tame a word to describe what she felt for him. She was too uneasy to even think about that four-letter word that began with an L Pushing it firmly out of her mind, she entered one store after another, shopping with mad abandon, something she wasn’t known for. By the time she staggered to her car loaded down with packages, she was considerably poorer but no lighter in spirit.

  Her afternoon at the police station turned out to be less than pleasant. The detective, a Rob Carson, seemed to believe Alex knew much more than she let on.

  “You’ve said that you’ve had dinner with Mr. Palmer and some of his clients. Surely you remembered what was discussed,” he went on.

  “For the twenty-millionth time, I was there to occupy the wife while the men discussed business,” she snapped at him coldly. “I did not listen to their conversation.”

  He doodled on a sheet of paper. “Did Palmer ever leave any papers with you, computer disks, anything he asked you to keep safe?”

  She looked him square in the eye. “No, now that I look back on that time, he considered me nothing more than a distraction for the wives.”

  “You’re not making this easy for us, Ms. Cassidy.”

  “Detective, I came down here of my own free will and am answering your ridiculous questions to the best of my knowledge. If you try to infer I had something to do with Jason’s illegal business dealings, then you’re not a very good sleuth. And if you continue to act like the ‘bad cop’ without a ‘good cop’ around to balance things out, I will insist on having my attorney present during the rest of this questioning,” she coolly informed him.

  The man’s face darkened. “Ms. Cassidy, we’ve got your boyfriend on a mass of charges that will keep him in jail for a very long time. If there are any accomplices, we want to put them away, too.” It was clear who he was talking about

  “I will say this once more and that is it. Jason Palmer and I parted company several weeks ago for personal reasons.”

  “Ms. Cassidy, in this type of crime personal reasons don’t cut it. What happened between the two of you?”

  She barely stopped herself from grinding her teeth. She finally decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell him. “I’m sure when you looked through that fancy burgundy leather DayRunner of his you not only saw his five-year plan but his calendar listing the names of the people he met with after business hours. He came to me not long ago, insisting he wanted to take over my investment portfolio. I refused and he turned a bit heavy-handed. I threw him out and haven’t seen nor heard from him since.”

  Detective Carson’s brow wrinkled. “Burgundy DayRunner? The man had a gray leather Filofax in his briefcase.”

  Alex looked puzzled. “That’s strange, because I gave him the DayRunner for his birthday last year and that’s what I always saw him use.”

  The man slapped the table with his palm
. “That’s how he did it!” He jumped up, then suddenly leaned on the tabletop. “Did he have a safe in his home we would have had trouble finding?”

  Alex shrugged, still trying to piece together what was going on. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in his home.”

  He looked incredulous. “You’ve been dating the guy for more than two years and you were never in his home?”

  “Strange but true. Am I to gather I said something good?”

  “Could be.” He was back to the ‘bad cop’ syndrome.

  She looked at her watch, stunned to see she’d been there for three hours. “Then you’re not going to mind if I leave now?”

  “You won’t mind coming back in to identify the DayRunner when we find it, will you?”

  Taking that as a yes, Alex stood up. “I’ll make it easy for you. Jason’s name is stamped in gold on the front and in the back you’ll find a small card that I gave him when I gave him the book. Thank you for a lovely afternoon, Detective. Have a nice day.” She swept out.

  He was past hearing her sarcasm since he was too busy talking rapidly into the phone.

  Considering the hour, the last thing Alex wanted to do was fight rush-hour traffic home, and she decided to stop by the hospital in case Michael could take a quick coffee break.

  Traffic on the surface streets was heavy but moving, so it didn’t take her long to reach the hospital. Inside the waiting area she found several people seated in chairs, leafing through magazines or talking quietly. One young girl held a bandaged arm, her face streaked with tears.

  “Hi, Alex,” Beth greeted her. “Don’t tell me you’re back here for treatment?”

  She shook her head. “I thought Michael might sneak away for a cup of coffee, but I see how busy it is.” She started to back her way toward the door.

  “Actually it’s fairly slow and we’ve got Dennis here,” her friend told her. “I was drafted down here a little while ago when all hell broke loose after a school-yard accident brought in a bunch of third-graders. Why don’t you go on to the cafeteria and I’ll send Michael down in a few minutes.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Beth paused. “I saw Jason on the news last night.”

  Alex smiled. “I think a lot of people did. I don’t think he visualized becoming famous that way.”

  “Things are really turning surprising,” she went on with a sly smile. “You breaking up with Jason and ending up with Michael.” Her eyes twinkled with laughter. “The man walks around with the sappiest grin at times, but we don’t have the heart to tease him. He looks too happy. It’s almost like magic,” she brightly concluded, then looked beyond Alex as paramedics rushed in. “Back to work. I’ll tell Michael you’re in the cafeteria,” she threw over her shoulder as she ran back to the examination cubicles with the paramedics.

  It’s almost like magic. The words sounded more and more like a curse to Alex’s ears as she took the elevator downstairs.

  Yep, a curse, she wearily decided when she almost ran into her ex-husband who was leaving the cafeteria just as she arrived.

  “For someone who swore off doctors, you sure did a complete turnaround,” he sneered. “Or is it some kind of pity thing, since the guy doesn’t have good luck with women?”

  “Craig, remember that night I kicked you out?” Her voice was amiable, too amiable.

  He stilled. “I walked out.”

  “Your memory is slipping. I kicked you out, just after I kicked you somewhere else because you tried to weasel your way back into bed with me after I confronted you about your affairs. While Michael has threatened to rearrange your face, I’d prefer to damage parts south.” She noticed with malicious satisfaction that he had started to back away from her. “Good idea. The more I see you, the more I know that my time with you was most definitely caused by temporary insanity. Do us all a favor, Craig, and grow up. A man of forty-two shouldn’t act like this.”

  “I am not forty-two,” he hissed, his handsome features looking ugly under his rage.

  “If I say you’re forty-two, you’re forty-two, and who are people going to believe? You or me?” She bestowed a chilling smile on him and walked off. Alex knew exactly where to strike, and Craig’s ego was the most delicate area. The name he called after her was unflattering, but it didn’t bother her. After the police detective trying his best to find her guilty of nothing, she considered her run-in with Craig a walk in the park. “Still, the creep deserves more,” she murmured, spying a pay telephone on a nearby wall. She quickly snapped her fingers. “Oh yeah, perfect.” She rummaged through her wallet for change and quickly thumbed through the telephone book until she found what she was looking for. It didn’t take her long to accomplish her task. She had a broad smile on her face when she walked into the cafeteria.

  For a half hour Alex sat in a corner table nursing a cup of coffee and vainly trying to hide her grin of satisfaction.

  “Something tells me you’ve been up to no good.” Michael slid into the seat across from her. “Was your interview with the newspaper reporter that bad?” She’d called him earlier to tell him it had been scheduled, and during quiet times he found himself worrying about her.

  “He was a bit of a jerk, but no worse than others I’ve dealt with in the past,” she replied, stirring her coffee even though she hadn’t put anything in it. “Plus there was the interview down at the police station. I would have preferred a root canal, but I gave them something to think about in regards to Jason.”

  Michael took the stirrer out of her hand and placed it on a napkin. He covered her hand with his. “What’s wrong?”

  She kept her head down. “Michael, I was a bad girl.”

  He leaned forward more. “Good-bad or really bad-bad?”

  She looked up. There was no disguising the light dancing in her eyes. “About as bad as you can get. I’ve always wanted to get even with Craig, and I finally came up with the ideal plan.”

  Michael frowned. “Did he bother you?”

  “Not exactly—more like I reminded him of a few things. Such as I know his real age and I know his weakness.” She burst into laughter. “Michael, I just ruined his perfect office atmosphere.”

  He looked confused. “You’ve lost me.”

  She looked around to make sure no one overheard her. “Remember I said Craig has a homely nurse in his office because he doesn’t want any entanglements there?” She waited for his nod. “Well, in Craig’s name I sent her two dozen roses and a five-pound box of candy with a note of appreciation for all the excellent work she’d done for him.”

  He sat back. “Alex, I don’t see how you can think that’s funny. What if she has a crush on him? When she says something about the candy and roses he’ll say something to hurt her.”

  She burst out laughing. “No way. You see, Matilda thinks he’s the scum of the earth because of the way he treats women. She only stays with him because he pays her so well. When she gets the flowers and candy she’ll either flatten him or threaten to quit, and he can’t afford the latter. If nothing else she’ll get a huge raise out of this. Unless she blackens his eye or something,” she reflected. “I’d sure love to see the fireworks. I just know they’re going to be something else. This woman doesn’t take anything off anyone. Even Craig is a little scared of her.” She giggled.

  “Alex Cassidy, you are an evil woman.”

  She wrinkled her nose at his playful accusation. “Yeah, but it’s so much fun.”

  “And if it backfires in your face?” he pointed out.

  “I don’t like logical men.”

  “I just don’t want you to be the loser in this.”

  “I won’t be,” she assured him. “He’s just going to get what’s coming to him, that’s all. Besides, I didn’t come here to talk about Craig. I came here to see you.”

  He smiled. “The magic words.”

  “Is that how you see us, magic?” she murmured, tracing the rim of her cup with her fingertip.

  He wasn’t sure he caught her meanin
g. “Is there something wrong with that?”

  Alex shrugged. “Just that sometimes magic doesn’t last and reality creeps in.” She looked up. “I just want to know what we have is real.”

  For a fleeting moment, Michael felt real anger. “After all that’s happened, I can’t believe you doubt us.”

  “I married one man who had two separate lives, I almost married another. I don’t think I could go through that kind of shock again,” she said bluntly.

  “Have I ever given you any reason to believe I’m not who you see?” he demanded hotly.

  “No, but neither did they.” Alex knew she was walking on shaky ground and would have to tread cautiously. “For two people who have been burned badly in the past we seem to be rushing things. I don’t want there to be mistakes on either of our sides, Michael.”

  “What do you want?” he gritted.

  “I want both of us to be happy and to feel secure in what we have.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, only then to curse under his breath when his name was paged with a code number after it.

  “As much as I’d like to hash this out now, I’m needed in the ER,” he told her in clipped tones. “I’m a fairly sane adult who knows what he wants and that happens to be you. Maybe you better start thinking about whether I’m what you really want.” With that, he walked away.

  “Damn,” Alex whispered. “I sure know how to mess things up.”

  Alex never thought of herself as one to indulge in tears at the drop of a hat. The next twenty-four hours taught her differently.

  “You’ve done some stupid things in your life, but this has got to be the craziest!” Patrick stormed. “The man told you he loves you and you make it sound like he didn’t know what he was saying!”

  “Hey, for all I know you two had something to do with this, since you and his precious Aunt Chloe seem to think we make the perfect couple!” Alex wailed.

  He drew an exasperated breath. “Can’t you get it through your thick skull that we can’t do anything like that All we wanted you to do was fall in love with a good man! Then, when you do fall in love, you refuse to believe it.”