They got to her house before Rachel was ready. She didn’t want Nate to leave and yet at the same time she wanted to be alone. How could she explain the way his mother made her feel? If she tried, Nate would assume she was being paranoid and childish.
Nate parked his car at the curb and turned to smile at her. The look in his eyes told her he wasn’t ready for the evening to end, either.
“Would you like to come in and talk for a bit?” Rachel asked. There was nothing to do at the moment but put tonight’s dinner behind her. Later, when she’d had time to assimilate the evening’s events, she’d be able to make some decisions.
“I would love a cup of coffee,” Nate said and gently kissed her. His kisses had always been her downfall. The first time they’d kissed, Rachel had felt her world crumble at her feet. That hadn’t changed in the months they’d been seeing each other; if anything the physical attraction between them had grown stronger.
Nate helped her out of the car and when they’d walked up to her front door, he took the keys from her hand and unlocked it for her. He observed these small courtesies, old-fashioned courtesies, which he’d obviously grown up with. The contrast between Nate and Bruce when it came to these details of courtship was striking. Not that she was dating Bruce. The fact that he’d even enter her mind at a time like this was an irritation she could do without.
“Thanks,” she said when Nate gave her back the key ring. The living room was dark and she switched on a lamp on her way into the kitchen. Although she wasn’t really interested in coffee, preparing a pot gave her something to do while she collected her thoughts.
“It looks like you’ve got a message on your answering machine,” Nate commented as he pulled out a kitchen chair.
Without thinking, Rachel pushed the button. Almost immediately she heard Jolene’s sweet voice. “Hi, Rachel.” She sounded disappointed not to find Rachel at home. “I wish you were there. I was hoping we could go to a movie together. Dad says the one I want to see is a chick flick and I should ask you.” She gave an exasperated sigh that made Rachel laugh. “You know men. Call me back soon, okay?”
Suddenly she saw that Nate was frowning. “They take a lot for granted, don’t they?” he murmured.
“Not really.” Now Rachel frowned, finding herself oddly defensive of Bruce and Jolene.
“I have news,” Nate said. He’d waited until after she’d poured him a mug of coffee.
“Good news, I hope,” she said as she joined him at the table. She stirred a teaspoon of sugar into her coffee.
“Rachel.” He reached across the table, stilling her hand. “The John F. Reynolds has been transferred to San Diego.”
It took longer than it should have to understand what that meant. “You’re leaving Cedar Cove?” she asked.
He nodded. “I wanted to say something sooner, but with my parents in town and you so busy most of the time…”
“I haven’t been that busy at work,” she countered. “Not since Teri got back.” But she knew what he’d say. Twice in the last month, he’d wanted to go out and she’d had to turn him down because of previous commitments to Jolene.
“You’re always doing something with that girl.”
“She has a name, Nate. It’s Jolene, and she’s my friend.”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure it’s healthy for you to spend so much time with her.”
The anger Rachel experienced was hot and immediate, but she forced it back. This wasn’t the time to discuss her relationship with Jolene. There were other pressing matters at hand. It had only begun to sink in that Nate would be leaving Cedar Cove. “You…you should’ve said you were being transferred,” she said. “You should’ve told me earlier.”
“I know.” He covered her hands and gazed into her eyes. “I hate to tell you like this,” he said quietly, “especially since we’re heading out so soon.”
“When?” she asked in a strained voice.
“Next week.”
She gasped. “No…”
He nodded. “I’m sorry.”
“I…” She didn’t know how to react to this shocking news. The evening and the uncomfortable dinner were the least of her worries now. Nate had been transferred. Within a week, this man she loved would be gone.
Her mouth went dry. “What will that mean for us?” she managed to ask.
“It means,” Nate said, exhaling deeply, “that you and I need to make a decision. A very important decision.”
Her stomach tensed, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
He paused as if to gauge her response to his announcement. “You know how I feel about you.”
“Yes…” She felt the same way about him. Although he was a few years younger and the son of a wealthy and powerful politician, he’d managed to steal her heart. During the six months he’d been at sea, they’d written each other long letters, then later e-mailed on a daily basis, and in the process had grown close. When she’d first learned about his family, she’d wanted to end their relationship, but he’d persuaded her not to. Now the navy was taking him away from her.
“What about the others?” She’d become good friends with several of the navy wives, especially Cecilia Randall. Since Aaron’s birth, she hadn’t seen as much of Cecilia, and now Rachel understood why. Cecilia was adjusting to more than her newborn son, more than her move to Grace Harding’s house on Rosewood Lane. She was packing up for San Diego.
“They’re all moving, too,” he said, “Almost everyone associated with the John F. Reynolds has been transferred.”
“Oh.” She hoped there’d be an opportunity to say goodbye to her friends and to exchange addresses and promises to keep in touch.
“I want you to think about something,” Nate continued. “I want you to go there, too.”
He couldn’t be serious! Did he expect her to pack up her own life and become a camp follower?
“With your job you could work anywhere, right?”
He left her reeling from one shock and then another. “You want me to move, too? Just like that?”
“I know it’s a lot to ask. I know it’s unfair, but I have a reason for asking.”
It didn’t matter. “I can’t, Nate. My life is here in Cedar Cove. My closest friends are here—Teri and Jane and—”
“Jolene,” Nate finished.
“Yes, Jolene,” she confirmed. If Rachel moved, the child would be devastated. She’d lost her mother a few years ago, and Rachel’s leaving would make her feel like she’d been abandoned a second time. Rachel couldn’t do that to her.
Nate brought her hand to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. “Why don’t we give it three months?”
“All right.” Already she missed him. She knew instinctively that this would be different from when he was at sea. “Three months,” she repeated, wondering, Three months until what?
“At the end of three months, we should both know,” Nate said casually.
“Know what?”
“If this is something we can do, live apart like this,” Nate explained, again sounding very casual, as if everything was clear. As if she understood.
She frowned slightly. “And if we decide we can’t, what will that mean?”
“I’m hoping it means you’ll be willing to join me.”
“Join you?”
Nate’s sensual mouth turned upward in a warm, inviting smile. “In other words, Rachel, I’m hoping you’ll consider becoming my wife.”
Forty-Five
Teri took a bite of her taco salad and realized that her appetite just wasn’t what it used to be. Love did that to her. When Ray had first moved in with her, she’d lost ten pounds. Of course, that weight had reappeared, plus five additional pounds once she’d kicked him out, but that was beside the point. This time she was living with the right man and she’d never been happier in her life. In fact, she hadn’t expected to be this happy, ever. Falling in love with a decent man who loved her back didn’t happen to women like her. Only it had, and sh
e thanked God every day for bringing Bobby into her life.
“Are you taking your lunch break now?” Teri said to Rachel, who’d wandered into the lunchroom. Her friend had been depressed all morning. Yesterday, she’d gotten the news that Nate was shipping out, and she was taking it hard.
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Rachel said as she slipped a Lean Cuisine meal into the microwave and punched in four minutes. “The truth is, I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“Me, neither,” Teri moaned. “What’s wrong with us?”
“Men,” Jane said, coming into the room. “That’s usually what it is, anyway.”
Teri laughed. “I miss Bobby,” she admitted. She probably said this a dozen times a day. In order to maintain his ranking, he had to play tournaments all over the world. Teri hoped that in a year or two, he’d be able to slow down this relentless pace.
“Where is he now?” Jane asked, waiting for her turn at the microwave.
“New York City.” She’d talked to him before she left for work. “He wants me to meet him there this weekend.”
“Are you going?”
Teri shrugged indifferently, although she was dying to be with Bobby and to see his Manhattan apartment. She might even talk him into taking her to a real Broadway show. Aw, who was she kidding? When Bobby was in a tournament, chess was his sole focus. With one exception—their honeymoon. They’d had another subject on their minds in Las Vegas, and it didn’t have anything to do with gambling. Just thinking about the hours they’d spent in bed made her miss her husband even more.
“You really love that chess geek, don’t you?” Jane said, watching her closely.
“Bobby isn’t a geek.” He was, but Teri had no intention of admitting it, especially to Jane. “He’s a genius, and he needs me, and yes, I love him.”
“He likes her macaroni and cheese, too,” Rachel teased, smiling at Teri.
“You just wait,” Teri told her friends as the microwave buzzed. “One day you’re going to fall this much in love and then you’ll understand.”
“Rachel is in love, aren’t you?” Jane said, stepping around her to insert her frozen entrée into the microwave.
“Yeah,” Rachel said, “but I didn’t expect love to be this complicated.”
“How so?” Jane asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.
Rachel seemed about to explain, then changed her mind. Sighing, she lifted one shoulder. “It just is.”
“Are you going to follow Nate to San Diego?” Teri asked. She’d hate it if Rachel moved away. Get Nailed wouldn’t be the same without her, although she also wondered how long she’d be able to maintain her own splintered life, with Bobby’s home on the east coast and hers on the west. More and more, she felt that her place was with her husband. They needed each other, although it was an odd feeling to need anyone. Being needed, yes; she was used to that. But needing someone? Having lived her life as independently as possible, Teri found this difficult to grasp.
Still, she didn’t want to leave Cedar Cove. And she didn’t know how these new contradictions in her life could be resolved.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Rachel said.
“Just remember,” Jane told her, “if you marry Nate, you’re married to the United States Navy, too. You go where they tell you and when they tell you, and you do it without complaint.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Rachel teased, saluting Jane. She sat down and dipped her fork in the steaming chicken and rice entrée. “Actually, it isn’t the navy that scares me. I can deal with navy life, but I’m not sure I can cope with Nate’s mother.”
Just then, Denise, the receptionist, came into the break room. “There’s someone here to see you,” she said, directing the comment to Teri.
“I don’t have an appointment until one,” she muttered, eyeing her half-eaten lunch.
“It’s not a customer,” she said. “It’s that tall, skinny driver.”
“James?” The only reason James would be in Cedar Cove was if he’d driven Bobby.
“There’s someone else with him, too,” Denise added, curling her lip as if to say she didn’t like his companion. “A big, beefy guy.”
“Is everything all right with Bobby?” Teri asked, instantly concerned. She immediately set aside her salad and got to her feet.
“He didn’t say,” Denise told her.
Pushing back the drape, Teri hurried into the salon foyer. Sure enough, James was there. She didn’t recognize the man with him. Like Denise said, he resembled a wrestler with huge biceps beneath a black suit.
“Teri,” James said. “Come with us.”
“Is Bobby with you?” she asked
“He’s in the car,” the other man answered for him, speaking with a heavy accent. One Teri couldn’t identify.
“He is? Why didn’t you say so?” She started out of the shop, with James and his friend following behind. But when she entered the mall parking lot, she couldn’t see the limo.
“Over there,” James said, pointing.
The other man led the way to a white van, where a third man waited. “James?” she asked, suddenly suspicious. Something wasn’t right.
James avoided her gaze.
“What’s going on?” she asked urgently.
“Just do what he tells you,” Bobby’s driver instructed her in a quiet voice.
“Now, just a minute,” Teri said, standing her ground. She wasn’t about to walk off with this…this gangster, not without a very good reason, anyway. “What’s going on here?” she asked again.
James’s cell phone rang, and he looked at the other man before answering. The wrestler type nodded, and James flipped it open. His gaze shot to Teri.
“She’s with me,” he answered, his voice unnaturally high. “No, no, we haven’t been hurt.”
“Is that Bobby?” Teri asked. She noticed that the big guy was walking away.
James nodded.
“Give me the phone,” she said, and James complied. “Bobby?”
“Did they hurt you?”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Teri said. “What’s all this about? Did they threaten you?” She was tempted to race after the big guy and give him a kick he wouldn’t forget. How dare he frighten Bobby this way! “You don’t have anything to worry about,” she assured her husband. “I can take care of myself.”
Bobby didn’t respond.
“Give me James,” he said a moment later.
Teri handed the cell phone back to his driver. The two spoke for a few minutes and then James closed the phone. He offered her a tentative smile. “Nothing’s going to happen,” he announced, his voice trembling.
“Did those gorillas threaten Bobby?” she demanded.
“No,” James said, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. “They threatened you.”
“Me?” she cried. “I’d like to see them try.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” James said in the same shaky voice. “Trust me, you wouldn’t.”
The outrage was building in her. “Who are they?” she demanded. The first thing she intended to do was inform the sheriff and have them arrested for—she didn’t know what but she’d find out. Uttering threats? Blackmail? They were clearly guilty of something.
“I don’t know exactly who they are.” James seemed on the verge of collapse.
Teri took him back inside the shop and into the break room, which had emptied. Jane and Rachel cast her quizzical looks, but she ignored them both.
“That was just to let Bobby know they could get to you anytime they wanted,” James told her.
If this was supposed to frighten Teri, it didn’t. Perhaps she was being foolish, but she really could take care of herself. Bobby had enough on his mind without worrying about her.
As soon as James was seated, Teri poured him a glass of cold water, which he drank in giant gulps.
“All right,” she said angrily. “How much money did they want?”
James stared at her. �
��They weren’t after money.”
She frowned. What was the point of this charade if it wasn’t money?
“They want Bobby to throw a chess match,” James explained.
That was when Teri started to laugh. “They don’t know, do they?” she said.
“Don’t know what?” James asked.
Teri shook her head. “Don’t they realize how much my husband hates to lose?”
Forty-Six
Justine had arranged to meet Warren Saget at D.D.’s On the Cove. Even now, several days after the shocking revelations, she had difficulty believing he’d set the fire. It tore her up to think he could hurt her like this, and yet in a strange way, it all made sense.
Warren already had a table and was waiting for her when she arrived. He stood as she entered the room and held out a chair for her. This meeting hadn’t been her idea, but she’d agreed to it, although neither Sheriff Davis nor Seth fully understood what they were asking of her.
“I can’t tell you how happy it made me to get your phone call this morning,” Warren said the moment she was seated.
In an effort to hide her uneasiness, Justine reached for the linen napkin and smoothed it across her lap. “I appreciate your willingness to have lunch at the last minute like this.”
“Could I refuse you anything?” Warren asked gallantly. His gaze was warm and appreciative. “I want to be your knight in shining armor—you know that.”
“I do,” she said, and in a flash she understood what had led this man to do the things he’d done. Later, she’d discuss her insight with Seth, but right now she had a role to play.
“What can I do for you?” Warren asked.
Justine mentally reviewed the tips Sheriff Davis had given her to guide the conversation. “I talked with an architect about building the Victorian Tea Room,” she began.
“Fabulous. You do want me to look over the plans, don’t you, and give you a construction bid?”
“That would be wonderful.” She pretended to glance at the menu. “By the way, Seth met with the insurance people this morning, and there’s been an interesting development in the case.”
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