Chandler’s directions were easy to follow. She went through the Holland Tunnel and found the marina with no trouble. The boat, Easy Money, was bobbing at anchor in the correct slip number, but Lafferty was nowhere to be seen. Alicia checked the boat and its environs, then was dusting off a deck chair to sit and wait when she saw him coming down the dock with a coil of rope in his hands. He was already sporting an early-spring tan, and his forearms were deeply sunburned.
He stopped short when he saw her.
“Not expecting company?” she said.
“No.”
“I hope I’m a pleasant surprise,” she said lightly.
“How did you find me?”
“Charlie told me where you were.”
Lafferty nodded wearily. “It figures.” He knelt to fasten a piece of canvas that had come loose from the hold.
“Don’t blame him. I beat it out of him.”
“I wish I could have seen that.”
“It wasn’t pretty.”
Lafferty dropped the rope on the deck and turned to face her. He was wearing jeans with a navy T-shirt and leather boat shoes.
He looked delicious.
“So,” he said. He looked apprehensive, as if he wasn’t sure what she was going to say.
“Mike, if you want out of this, just say so,” Alicia said without preliminary. “I will understand. A relationship has to be mutual. But if you love me, don’t run away. You gave me time, I used it well. I’ve made my decision. I love you.”
He swallowed. “I love you, too.”
Alicia walked over to him and put her arms around his waist. He embraced her, and she inhaled deeply, feeling surrounded by his masculine scent and muscular protection.
“Then what are we waiting for?” she whispered. “Is there a bunk down inside that cabin?”
“There is,” he said huskily, already pulling her blouse out of her jeans. He bent his knees and swept her up into his arms.
“Look out below,” he said, and carried her down the stairs.
“Is anyone down there?” Alicia asked.
“Charlie’s cat. Let’s see if we can shock him.” Lafferty drew open the curtain to the sleeping area and revealed a recessed bunk under the stern. It had a tiny window out to the dock and a foam mattress covered with material matching the miniature curtain, as well as a shelf containing a small television.
“A doll’s den,” Alicia murmured. “Is this where you’ve been sleeping?”
“This is where I’ve been lying awake and missing you,” Lafferty replied, sliding her onto the bed and then flinging himself down next to her. The activity flushed the cat down from the shelf, where he had been hiding behind the TV.
“There he is, that rascal,” Lafferty said. “He’ll run outside and terrorize the local birds.”
“I guess he feels you’re invading his territory,” Alicia said, as Lafferty began to unbutton her blouse.
“He has no territory, he’s a nomad, a gypsy, passed around by Charlie’s relatives like a tin pot. Charlie left him here with me, and we’ve been staying out of each other’s way.”
Alicia smiled. “So you don’t feed him?”
“He’s a scavenger.”
“So who’s been eating the Li’l Friskies?” Alicia asked airily, pointing to the box on the counter across from them. “Have you developed a taste for tuna-flavored snacks?”
“May we please concentrate on what’s important here?” Lafferty asked uncomfortably, unzipping her fly.
“Certainly. Far be it from me to point out what a pushover you are,” Alicia said, and then fell silent as he kissed her. He had not said much since she arrived, but now his mouth moved everywhere urgently, telling her without words how much he had missed her. Alicia clutched him, her hands at his waist, then at the back of his head, caressing his hair. He pulled off her jeans and panties and tossed them on the bunk as she clung to him, inhaling his unique fragrance of soap, sun and sweat. When he sat up to strip she let him go reluctantly, watching him pull the shirt over his head, the muscles in his arms working with the effort. Then he bent to peel off her bra and lifted her bodily onto him.
“I can’t wait,” he said huskily into her ear as she wound herself around him. “It’s been too long.”
Alicia closed her eyes slowly as she was impaled blissfully as he entered her; she moaned aloud and let her head fall to his shoulder.
“I missed you so much,” he said hoarsely.
Alicia kissed the satiny expanse of skin next to her cheek.
She would make sure he never missed her again.
“So whose idea was this little separation?” Lafferty asked drowsily, and Alicia smiled. They were curled together on the bunk, the sound of the water lapping at the boat a counterpoint to their less rapid breathing.
“I believe it was yours, Detective. ‘She has too much money, she’ll never stay with me when she no longer needs me for her court case.”’
He opened one eye and looked down at her. “Worst idea I ever had,” he observed. “But I don’t think I was entirely alone. Who was worried that her kids would never accept me?”
“We’re working on that. I hope you’ll be part of it and participate in the counseling.”
Lafferty traced the slope of her nose with a large forefinger. “I will do anything for you, Alicia. Anything. But I can’t convince Claire of my undying devotion to her mother if she refuses to see it.”
“One step at a time. Claire will eventually understand that I’m allowed to be happy. I don’t expect miracles, but I have faith in her basic goodness and generosity of spirit. She loves me, and she will come to see that I need you.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t know what I’ll do if she sets up a situation in which you have to choose.”
Alicia put her hand over his mouth. “Both of my children will one day love you, as I do.”
He kissed the fingers which sealed his lips but did not reply.
“Still worried?” Alicia asked him.
“A little.”
Alicia sighed. “Claire’s problem is her age as well as her father’s death and how he died. She is on the verge of adolescence and she senses that our relationship is charged with—” She stopped.
“Lust?” he suggested.
“Physical attraction,” Alicia amended. “Of course Claire recognizes that, and at a time when her own sexuality is just budding, seeing her mother so besotted with a handsome man is bound to be difficult for her. But we’ll all work on it together and I have to hope for the best. That’s all I can do.”
“Besotted? I like that,” Lafferty said, smiling. “Are you besotted with me?”
“You know I am,” she said, kissing him.
“Would you care to demonstrate that fact?”
“Certainly.”
And she did.
Epilogue
The living room of Helen’s town house was banked with flowers. Baskets of lilies framed the fireplace, the mantel was draped with fragrant garlands, and the shelf in the bay window was filled with gladioli and flaming hibiscus in large standing vases. A white carpet runner extended from the front hall up the stairs and into the master bedroom, where Alicia was getting dressed. The staircase newel posts were graced with huge satin bows tied with bunches of baby’s breath and golden pots of daisies and ivy stood at the foot of the steps. A caterer’s truck was double-parked in the street below, and the staff was setting up noisily in the kitchen and dining room.
Helen, dressed in a cocktail-length silk dress in pearl gray, came flying in from the pantry and exclaimed, “No, no, no! I told you to put the caviar with the water crackers in the kitchen, then the pâté on the silver platter in the dining room. How many times do I have to say the same thing?”
The caterer’s assistant threw Helen a dirty look but switched the trays.
Helen sighed and bolted up the stairs, moving as fast as her gray kidskin three-inch heels could carry her. She tapped on the bedroom door and then pulled it open
when she heard Alicia’s voice calling, “Come in.”
Helen entered and found Alicia, fully dressed, pinning miniature carnations in Claire’s hair. Claire’s dress was a duplicate of Helen’s, in a slightly darker shade. Matching bouquets of ivory orchids and white roses for the attendants sat on the brocade settee under the window.
“My dears, you both look lovely,” Helen said breathlessly, taking in Alicia’s candlelight satin suit and Claire’s gown, which reflected her own. “Now if I can just refrain from throttling these idiots I hired to do the food, all will be well.”
“Helen, you were shooting the florist this morning,” Alicia said, kissing Claire on the cheek and patting her on the shoulder to indicate that she was ready. Claire smiled and slipped into the adjoining dressing room as Maizie and her four-year-old granddaughter emerged from it. Helen clasped her hands together and squealed with delight.
“Isn’t she the most precious thing you’ve ever seen?” she said, gesturing to the preschooler, who was attired in an ivory brocade dress with a lace-trimmed capelet and matching lace-trimmed shoes.
“Have to go potty,” the child announced
Helen looked at Maizie, who raised her eyebrows. Helen pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Maizie took the child by the hand and led her out of the room.
Alicia glanced at herself in the gilt-edged mirror and was rewarded by a reflection of pure joy. She had never looked happier in all her years, and she knew it. The tea roses and baby’s breath woven into her hair contrasted beautifully with her amber tresses, and the pearls at her ears and around her neck were her mother’s. It was impossible to believe that this episode of her life, which had begun so badly, was about to end so well. And the next phase would be better. Her life with Michael was about to start, and she couldn’t wait.
Alicia turned back to Helen, who was still fussing about details.
“Take it easy,” Alicia said.
“Now the flower girl answers a call of nature. This morning the florist arrived with red roses, not white, and I had to have all the bouquets redone. Then the caterer arrived with the wrong kind of caviar.” She picked up a piece of florist’s paper from the bed and began to fan herself with it.
“Calm down, Helen. Everything is lovely and these little glitches always happen.”
“Little glitch? Red roses at a wedding? I almost had heart failure.”
They both heard Claire humming in the dressing room, and Helen added in a low tone, “How is she doing? I mean, with you getting married and all? We haven’t talked about that for a while.”
Alicia nodded. “She’s fine. I think selling the house and moving helped a lot. A new place and going to the local school meant a different group of kids, putting aside the bad memories.”
“And the counseling?”
“We’re all still going. Mike has been marvelous. It’s taken a while, but I think Claire realizes now that my meeting Mike right after her father died was just a coincidence, not a sinister plot or the end of the world. It was a tough thing for her but a good thing for me, and sometimes life just happens that way. It was a lot of work and a lot of tears but we got through it.”
“She seems to have accepted Mike now.”
“That wasn’t the case in the beginning. Joey was younger, he was easier, but it took a while for Claire to stop throwing dirty looks and making snide remarks.”
Helen nodded. “I remember.”
“She has a little too much of her mother in her to keep her opinions to herself,” Alicia said wryly
Helen grinned. “Good for her.”
“It wasn’t until her own life became happier that she was willing to let me get on with mine.”
“Ain’t that always the way?” Helen said, then paused. “Maizie told me that you saw your sister last week.”
“Yes.”
“How is she doing?”
“As well as can be expected for somebody who will spend the next fifteen years of her life in prison.”
“She was lucky to get that. Thank God she finally listened to you and let Kirby represent her.”
They both looked up as Maizie and her small companion rejoined them.
“You look so pretty, Sara,” Alicia said, addressing the fancily attired little girl.
“Thank you,” she said, and curtsied.
Alicia and Helen burst out laughing.
“My daughter-in-law’s influence.” Maizie sniffed.
“She gives the child airs.”
“Well, you do look scrumptious, cupcake, but not half as delicious as the groom,” Helen said mysteriously, rising.
“Did you see him?” Alicia asked, smiling.
“Of course. Last time I looked he was out on the terrace with his partner, his brother and Joey. Joey had a carnation in his buttonhole and was doing his best to look very adult. Mike’s brother is pretty cute, too.”
“He’s married with four kids,” Alicia replied.
Helen sighed dramatically. “Well, back to older men with large bank accounts for me,” she said wistfully. “Not all of us can have the real thing.” Helen walked over to Alicia and hugged her. “When I think of where you were this time last year...” she whispered.
“Don’t think about it,” Alicia said. “One thing I’ve learned how to do is leave the past where it belongs.”
Helen drew back, and the two women looked at each other.
Helen blinked rapidly and said, “I’d better go fuss over the seating arrangements before I start crying.” She hurried toward the hall.
Alicia followed her and looked over the balcony. Mike, his brother, his partner and her son were all standing in the living room, looking very large and male in the middle of Helen’s gilded antiques and fussy flower arrangements. Mike’s brother resembled Mike but was less handsome—in Alicia’s considered opinion—somewhat shorter and stockier than Mike with lighter hair. Charlie Chandler was wearing his Sunday best and looking a nervous wreck, sipping continuously from a tumbler containing amber liquid and wiping his brow with a crumpled handkerchief. Joey was almost as tall as Chandler and made her heart swell with pride. Alicia shut the door quickly and put her back against it, closing her eyes.
Could she be this lucky, after spending such a long time on the debit side of life? Could it all turn around so completely, due to one police detective?
“Mom, Helen says the minister is here. Are you ready?” Claire asked, entering the room.
Alicia opened her eyes and smiled at her daughter.
She was.
“Maybe we should just stay here for the rest of our lives,” Lafferty said, polishing off the last of the room service dessert. “I could get used to this.”
Alicia rolled over on the bed and took his plate out of his hand. “Oh, so you’re accepting my corrupt offer to lead a life of indolence on inherited money?”
“I’d like to, really, but what would poor Charlie do without me? You know how he depends on my insights and perceptions to solve all his cases.” Lafferty seized her shoulders and pulled her into his lap as the plate fell to the floor and then rolled over onto the flowered carpet.
“Michael, for heaven’s sake, watch what you’re doing!” Alicia protested, laughing.
“Why? Why should I watch what I am doing? This is the honeymoon suite, and we are on our honeymoon, and we had to go through hell and back to get here. If I want to break some plates I am going to break some plates. Champagne?”
Alicia sat up, shaking her head.
“Why not? Come on, dear wife of mine, I’m celebrating alone here.” He handed her a glass. “Hannah looked pleased with herself at the ceremony, didn’t she?”
“So she should. She was trying to fix us up from the moment she met you.” Alicia pulled the glass back as he uncorked the bottle.
“Michael, there’s something I have to tell you.”
Lafferty turned to look at her, his smile wavering at the serious tone of her voice.
“What is it?” he asked. He put
the wine bottle down and tied the belt of his robe. “Is something wrong?”
“No, something is right. At least, I hope you’ll think it is very right.”
Lafferty raised his brows. “I’m not drunk, am I?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Then why aren’t you making any sense?”
“Mike, stop fooling around and listen to me.”
He gazed at her soberly.
“I’m pregnant.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then slowly a delighted smile spread across his face.
“Hot damn,” he said.
“Really?” Alicia said “I mean, I know we talked about having children and we planned on doing it soon, but...this soon? Are you okay with it?”
He put one arm around her and lifted her hair off the back of her neck with his other hand, kissing her nape. “Are you kidding? I’m thrilled. I can’t wait to be a father, I have to make up for lost time. My brother has four kids and my sister has three. I’m a laggard.”
Alicia smiled. “That can’t be said about too many areas of your life.”
He closed his eyes and pulled her head down onto his shoulder. “Now we’ll have everything,” he said.
“I want you to help me tell the children,” she said, her words muffled by the nubby cotton of his robe.
“Sure. How do you think they’ll take it?” he asked.
“I think they’ve accepted that you and I will have a new life together,” she replied, sitting up and gazing at him. “They know that I’m still young enough to have more children and that children can be expected from a new marriage. But I’ll talk to them, and if either one of them has trouble with it we’ll discuss it in counseling.”
“More counseling?” Lafferty said, looking at the ceiling. “I think Dr. Phelps funded her new Mercedes with the income we brought her last year.”
“Michael...”
“Yes, I know. I’ll look upon it as an opportunity to demonstrate, once again, how enlightened I am.”
Alicia threw her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“I should hope so,” he answered, embracing her tightly. “And when is the blessed event?”
An Officer and a Gentle Woman Page 21
