Dixie Rebel (The Carolina Magnolia Series, Book 1)

by Patricia Rice

  A tree was promise.

  Tears welled, then spilled as Maya clutched her paintbrush and watched the lovely maple tucked into the ground and mulched. Axell was incapable of expressing emotion in any verbal manner. She was starting to understand that.

  That didn't mean Axell couldn't feel emotion.

  Maya stood transfixed in front of the window until the very last particle of dirt was tapped down and every last needle of pine mulch was in place. The maple rustled its fat green leaves in contentment as the trucks drove away.

  She wanted to fly to Axell's side, fling her arms around his marvelous shoulders, and scream "I love you!" to the world while covering him in kisses. She would embarrass him to death if she did.

  Excitement zipping through her soul but brain shouting "Whoa!," Maya dithered in indecision. Slipping outside and turning on the garden hose, she stood beneath shady leaves and welcomed the tree with water. Her wilting flowers had already perked up by the time she turned the hose on them. Maybe she could tuck some more around the tree.

  She was doing it again: swimming back and forth rather than striking out in a determined direction. Maya shut off the hose and advanced into the house. Maybe the tree wasn't a declaration of love. Maybe Axell's practical streak had recognized the need for shade and he'd just dialed the phone and ordered the tree plunked down. Maybe he had ordered it months ago, even before they'd met.

  Or maybe he'd just said he loved her, and she was dithering rather than responding.

  Racing into the house, Maya came to a screeching halt as she turned down the wrong hallway. She didn't have her own room any more. Sandra had it.

  Stalking down the hall past her husband's playthings, Maya ground her teeth. She was Axell's wife. She had no room, no house, no life of her own except as an extension of his. What had she been thinking?

  She hadn't, as usual. She'd just jumped right in and gone with the flow because it was easiest.

  Well, she'd damned well better stop and think now. She could love Axell and even trust him—and Lord knew, she did, with every fiber of her being. Her heart ached with the depth of it, and she wanted to explode with the joy of knowing a man as steady and trustworthy and intelligent and sexy as Axell could conceivably want someone as unwantable as her.

  But life happened. It had happened to her one too many times, and she was never prepared. This time, she couldn't afford to go with the flow. She had Alexa to consider. If—when—Axell realized life with her was too impossible to go on, she had to be able to walk away.

  The phone rang.

  Staring gloomily at the rumpled bed she'd shared with Axell last night, Maya ignored the intrusion. Axell had left her sleeping this morning, or this room would never look like this. Axell didn't leave beds unmade or clothes hanging on chairs. Remembering the round of lovemaking that had left her satiated and curled in a cocoon of contentment, she grimaced. It was too damned easy to make babies and she was too damned careless.

  The phone rang again.

  She picked up the clothes they'd scattered in haste last night. She'd have to get Sandra out of here so she could move back to her old room before this became habit. If she just thought of herself as a boarder...

  She grabbed the phone on the third ring rather than follow that thought. The city council had a meeting tonight. If it was one of Axell's damned constituents, she'd personally ram the receiver down their throats. Axell better believe she'd make a lousy mayor's wife.

  "Miss Alyssum?" the voice inquired on the other end.

  "Alyssum-Holm," she corrected determinedly. She hadn't bothered changing the name on her legal documents. She'd better start considering how much of her identity she wanted to sacrifice.

  "Mrs. Holm," the deep voice continued with more assurance. "This is Philip MacGregor with MacGregor and Blythe in Raleigh."

  Lawyers. Mr. Pfeiffer's lawyers. Maya remembered them well. She wrinkled her nose and wondered why they weren't calling Selene. She remembered they were supposed to. Panic immediately ripped through her. What if they were calling to say the lease was invalid?

  The lawyer had continued talking while her thoughts spun out of control. She'd missed the first part of his spiel. Frantically, she tried to tune in now.

  "We've filed the will with the court here in Raleigh. As executors, we're free to begin proceedings on the deed transfers. If you prefer, we can send someone down there with the documents. We're having the property appraised for estate-tax purposes. The appraisal value will be your basis at the time of transfer, so you may wish your attorney or accountant..."

  Maya choked the receiver and stared blankly at the window. Deed? Not lease?

  "Mr. MacGregor," she interrupted tentatively. He'd think her a nutcase. She was a nutcase. She didn't care. "Could you please start all over? I don't understand..."

  "I should have realized this came as a surprise to you," the voice replied soothingly. "Perhaps I should drive down and explain in more detail. Would your sister be available? I'm not certain how to reach her."

  "Cleo's at the shop," she said absently. "I'll call her. I just don't understand..."

  "Mr. Pfeiffer acknowledged you and your sister as his granddaughters in his will, Mrs. Holm. He came to us a few years ago, after his wife's death, to have it drawn up. I think it would be best if I drove down and explained it to you and your sister in person."

  "Yes. Yes, I think that's best."

  Maya sank to the floor and stared into space, dimly aware of Alexa's crying in the background.

  She'd thought there had been no will.

  The lawyer had mentioned deeds.

  Did the school belong to her now?

  November, 1976

  Some rumor-monger has told Dolly of my daughter's existence. I cannot even correspond with my lawyers for fear she will discover what I have been doing without her knowledge. If Dolly should go to the Arnolds to verify this damned story, there will be hell to pay. I'm not as wealthy as they are, but by damn, I'll do what it takes to look after the ones I love.

  Chapter 33

  I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.

  Glancing out his office window, Axell saw the unmarked police car parked in front of the building next door and cursed. He didn't need this now. The police had been all over the bar Saturday night after he'd gone home. One of the local yokels had pulled a knife on a city salesman, and his new manager hadn't realized the seriousness of the situation. He'd been too scared to call Axell.

  So now he had police reports scattered across his desk, lawyers and insurance companies calling about liability, and a curt message from someone at the ABC board to deal with. The damned mayor had made certain they'd heard about it. He didn't need more police at Cleo's shop—his shop. He was a damned partner, thanks to Maya.

  Flinging his pen down and striding out, Axell faced a fleeting regret for the days when a leggy Katherine in her red suit used to greet him in the mornings with nothing more noxious than gossip about the latest backyard panther sighting. Now he had cops and knifings and drugs and a skinny college graduate assistant in too-narrow ties anxiously waiting to be thrown out on his ass. Life had been so much simpler...

  Before Maya.

  Axell rubbed his brow. He couldn't reasonably blame any of this on Maya. True, Katherine had quit because he'd married Maya, but he couldn't blame anyone but Katherine for that. And Maya had nothing to do with the knifing, other than luring him home when he should have been at work. Maya had nothing to do with her sister's drug habits, either. She was completely innocent of everything except existing. Maya just needed to exist to attract trouble like honey draws bees.

  As Axell threw open the Curiosity Shoppe door, evil laughter erupted over his head. Startled, he stopped in the doorway and glanced upward for the chimes he'd personally installed himself. A grinning demon lit from within beamed down on him. Swell, now Cleo was probably into demonology or worse.

  With images of Satanic rituals ballooning in his mind, Axell scanned the int
erior where a plainclothes detective had stopped talking and turned to stare. Cleo, looking rattier and more tired than usual, glared in his direction. So much for the once cheerful atmosphere of the playful shop Maya had created.

  "I haven't done the weekend's receipts yet," Cleo declared, as if Axell normally came in every day and demanded them. "And tell your wife I want my teapot back."

  "You tell her. She's your sister." Determined not to be shoved aside by Cleo's machinations—he knew enough about human nature to know her rudeness had a purpose—Axell nodded at the detective. "Morning, Rick. Anything I can do for you?" Calm and controlled. He could do that. That's how he functioned.

  The detective's expression remained inscrutable. "Morning, Axell. Just having a word with the lady."

  "I'm no lady and never will be," Cleo retorted. "You've had your say. You can find your own way out." She glared at Axell. "That goes for you too."

  It struck Axell that Maya's sister was in need of a good spanking, but that didn't fall in his line of duty. He walked out with the detective.

  "All right, Rick, now tell me what that's all about. That's my building, my wife's sister, and I own half the shop. I've a right to know."

  The detective looked uncomfortable. Axell was a council member and on the police oversight committee. His vote was one of many, but his influence in the town was considerable. Axell didn't normally use his influence for the purpose of intimidation, but he was tired of being on the defensive.

  "She had a known dealer in the shop the instant she hit town." The detective shrugged. "That's all I'm free to say, and I shouldn't have said that. Forget where you heard it."

  Axell waited for the pain to grip his stomach, but miraculously, it only twisted a little. With a nod, he acknowledged the detective's request. "She wants her kid back. She'll stay clean, if she can. We've got to get the dealer off the street."

  "That's what I intend to do." The detective slammed into his car and drove off.

  Axell took a deep breath and prepared to beard the lion in her den. This gladiator intended to rip the lion's damned head off.

  * * *

  "Selene, you've got to be there. You're the only one I can trust. Axell will be furious, absolutely furious. He didn't want anyone to know about our relationship to Pfieffer, and now we're actually heirs... Heirs! Can you imagine? I'm an heiress." Dizzily, Maya paced up and down with the cordless, ramming her hand through her hair and almost giggling at the absurdity, except its implications were too enormous.

  "People will think we murdered that poor old man. You know how they've been whispering about the mayor and Mr. Pfeiffer's nieces and nephews. Now they'll accuse us. I think I'll throw up." She glanced out the window at the new maple for reassurance. If she could only believe it meant love...

  "Hurling is one alternative," Selene said dryly through the phone. "Calling Axell and a lawyer is another. Your choice, girl."

  "I want it all to go away," she whispered, sinking down beside Alexa, who was resting in her infant seat, and stroking her daughter's petal-soft cheek. "I just want to live my life and love my kids and make the world go away."

  "Seems to me, that's why you married Axell. Call him."

  Maya was terrified the world would make Axell go away.

  "What happens if we own the school free and clear?" she whispered.

  "We have a bonfire, whoop war cries, and circle the wagons, 'cause the rednecks will be after us with a vengeance," Selene replied grimly. "You call Axell. I'll call my attorney. And then we'd better consider a security fence and armed guards, or selling out."

  Maya would rather throw up. Hanging up the receiver, she crooned a silly love song to Alexa. Maybe she could call Stephen and he would agree to send her back to California. Maybe she could take Axell's credit cards and book passage to Australia.

  Maybe she could call Axell.

  Cradling Alexa in her arms, changing her diaper and watching her kick with sheer exuberance, Maya remembered the moment Axell had delivered her, the astonishment and wonder on his face as he brought this living, breathing human being into the world for the first time, and she knew she couldn't run any more.

  She'd reached the destination Fate had intended for her. She could let the current carry her away on a slow and lonely journey through life, or she could fight to stay here—in her spawning grounds. She grinned at the reference. Axell had said fish have spawning grounds, not nests. That was probably true. She'd spawn with him any day. But first, she had to find a way to anchor herself.

  * * *

  The demon screamed as Maya opened the shop door. She almost dropped Alexa in surprise, but the furious shouting match at the counter distracted her sufficiently from the demon to keep her grip.

  "I'll not have Maya—"

  "Don't give me that crap, you—"

  "Don't interrupt me!"

  Maya blinked in surprise at this last roar. Axell. Axell never shouted. Axell never raised his voice. Axell looked as if he were about to murder Cleo.

  Both of them ignored the screaming demon and her arrival. Well, she was an heiress now. She expected a little attention.

  Wickedly, she leaned over the counter and plugged in the current to the dragon mobile.

  The multi-hued dragon began to rotate slowly. Small trolls and elves orbited around him. The duo at the counter continued shouting nonsensically. The dragon spun faster and swung in wider arcs.

  Maya hummed a little tune, set Alexa's seat on the counter, and pushed the button wired to the mobile motor.

  The dragon's trap door flew open and his treasure exploded in a bright swirl of glittering confetti, hard candy, and dried rose petals. She hadn't been able to make up her mind about the contents, and she'd never tested the results. The effect was quite as amazing to her as to the others.

  Cleo screamed and dodged ricocheting peppermints. Sparkling metallic confetti drifted, caught in the air currents from the overhead fans, and scattered in rainbow flurries across the contents of the store.

  Axell merely turned and arched a questioning eyebrow in her direction, before gathering up Alexa and stepping out of the hail of destruction.

  "Party pooper," she pouted as Axell caught her elbow and pulled her toward the door where the confetti didn't reach.

  "Too bad there's no way it could shoot out helium balloons," Axell replied reflectively, examining the spinning dragon.

  Looking mildly abashed, Cleo warily stood up, and in wonder, watched the cloud of confetti settle and swirl in dying eddies. She picked up a peppermint and absently unwrapped it as a small tornado of petals pirouetted over the wicker chairs.

  "You're not happy unless you're blowing things up, are you?" she asked.

  Maya smiled and wrapped an auburn curl around her finger. A rose petal drifted to the floor. "I showered you with treasures, Cleo. You never learned to appreciate them."

  Beside her, Axell choked. She couldn't tell if it was from laughter or not. Axell didn't laugh often, but she knew he had a sense of humor.

  "Well, it's more colorful than dust," Cleo acknowledged, blowing purple and red stars off her cash register. "You had a point?"

  "I'm celebrating."

  Axell watched as Maya sailed into the center of the room with all flags flying. He knew that airy look. The ditzier Maya got, the worse the situation. She was swimming so fast downstream right now, she'd be over the falls before she knew it.

  "People commonly do that with champagne. Are you going to enlighten us?"

  He didn't dare approach Maya when she had that dangerous glint in her eye. He didn't know if the tree had been delivered yet. He didn't know if she'd seen it or understood. For all he knew, she considered it an insult, and she was here to smack him in the face.

  Now that she had everyone's attention, she slipped into full Maya mode, curled up in the high-backed chair, and beamed. Axell wouldn't be surprised if rainbows formed over her head. Blissfully stricken by the power of her smile, he didn't even have to look lower to recall eve
ry sensual detail of her bare breast against his palm, her lithe body arching into his. Her siren call...

  "We're heiresses," she announced sweetly.

  Black clouds obliterated any rainbows. Axell groaned and covered his eyes.

  Cleo ignored him and waited patiently for Maya to explain. Instead, Axell had the distinct feeling Maya was waiting for him. It was frightening how easily he read her sometimes, as if there were some unspoken current of understanding between them. He'd never known anything like it before. The responsibility was not only frightening, but overwhelming.

  He could handle responsibility. With a sigh, Axell uncovered his eyes and glared at his wife. She didn't flinch, just waited expectantly. Damn, but he loved the way she did that.

  "Pfeiffer?" he asked wearily.

  She nodded. Cleo turned to Axell for explanation.

  "He named you and Cleo and the relationship?" Axell clarified. At Maya's nod, he pinched the bridge of his nose. "The school?"

  "Don't know," she finally replied. "The lawyer blathered on about deeds. He's driving down this afternoon to explain." She looked a little less certain. "They've already filed the will at the courthouse. There's nothing we can do."

  "A vacation in the Bahamas until this blows over would be nice." Leaning against the counter, Axell covered his face and wished escape was an alternative.

  Idly, Cleo fished another petal from her hair. "Inheriting is good, isn't it? Why the long faces?"

  "Mr. Pfeiffer was murdered," Maya emphasized. "Who do you think are the prime suspects now?"

  Silence.

  Axell looked up. Cleo didn't have to look guilty. He wagered she looked guilty sleeping. He turned to Maya.

  "Cleo got out the day Mr. Pfeiffer died, remember?" she reminded him.

  Axell summoned the unpleasant memory of Cleo walking down the shop stairs on them one morning—the day after the murder. He didn't think prisons let people out in the middle of the night. She must have been released the day of the murder. Shit.

  "I didn't know anything about any damned will," Cleo responded defensively at Axell's look. "He said he'd take care of us, but I figured it was an old man talking. He was my damned landlord," she shouted beneath the force of their stares. "I paid him rent. I figured he gave me a discount because I listened to him talk."