by Jayne Castle
“You were afraid that moving away might not have been enough to protect them from Landry?”
She nodded wordlessly.
Everyone sat down again. Mr. Santana launched into his toast.
“Joshua, I also knew this day was coming from the moment of your birth. Your mother and I worried about it more than you will ever know. But when you introduced us to your beautiful Rachel, we knew that we could relax and rejoice. You have chosen well, my son.”
Celinda and the other women seized more tissues.
At the end of his father’s speech, Josh surprised everyone by rising to his feet and picking up his glass. He smiled straight at Celinda.
“There is one more toast to be made tonight. Celinda, Rachel and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us the gift of a perfect match. We like to think that fate would have brought us together somehow, some way. But the truth is, this is a big city. We might never have found each other if it hadn’t been for your matchmaking talents. Tomorrow we will enter into a Covenant Marriage knowing that we have made the best decision of our lives. We will always be grateful to you.”
Everyone leaped to their feet again. A round of applause went up.
Celinda could hardly see her sister’s smiling face through her tears. She grabbed another tissue.
THE DINNER ENDED A LONG TIME LATER, THE GUESTS drifting away into the hotel bar or upstairs to their rooms. Davis put an arm around Celinda’s waist and guided her toward the door. He could feel the tension that tightened her whole body. She had done a great job of acting during the dinner, even managing to look as if she were enjoying herself. But he could tell that the whole wedding scene was an ordeal for her instead of the happy celebration it should have been. All because of a bastard named Benson Landry.
“Had an interesting conversation with your brother,” he said in an effort to ease her fragile mood. “He’s sure excited about joining one of the jungle teams.”
Before she could respond, Newell and Gloria Ingram stepped directly into their path. Both were smiling, but he could see the implacable determination in their eyes.
“I warned you this wasn’t going to be simple,” Celinda whispered. “Prepare to be grilled.”
“Take it easy,” he said softly. “Just follow my lead.”
“Sorry we haven’t had a chance to chat, Davis,” Gloria said warmly. “Things have been so busy. We’re delighted that you’re here, though. So nice to know that Celinda is making new friends in Cadence.”
“Have a nightcap with us in the bar?” Newell said in a tone that left no room for refusal.
Celinda looked more uneasy than ever. Panicky would not have been too strong a word, Davis thought.
“It’s late,” she said on a tone of false regret. “Big day tomorrow.”
Davis smiled at Newell and Gloria. “Sounds like an excellent idea.”
They took a booth at the back of the dimly lit bar. When the small glasses containing the after-dinner drinks had been served, Gloria looked directly at Davis.
“How did the two of you meet?”
“Luck,” he said. “I was investigating a case involving a stolen artifact. The trail led straight to Celinda’s office.”
Celinda’s fingers froze around her glass.
Newell narrowed his eyes. “You thought Celinda was a suspect?”
“No,” Davis said calmly. “The missing artifact wound up in an antique shop. Celinda happened to purchase it. She didn’t know it was stolen, of course. I offered to buy it back from her and return it to my client. We made a deal.” He paused to smile at Celinda. “The next thing I knew, I was asking her out to dinner. One thing led to another, and here we are.”
Newell seemed satisfied with that. “Just one of those chance meetings, then.”
“Right,” Davis said.
Gloria looked at Celinda. “In other words, you didn’t meet through a matchmaker.”
“Good grief, no, Mom.” Celinda rezzed up a reassuring smile. “Neither of us is looking for a permanent match at the moment. I mean, we’re both so busy with our work. We’re just enjoying each other’s company. Nothing serious.”
She didn’t have to make it sound that casual, Davis thought, irritated.
“I see,” Gloria said. She did not appear greatly relieved, but there was not much she could say.
“Was the relic valuable?” Newell asked with genuine curiosity.
“The shopkeeper only charged me five dollars for it,” Celinda said quickly.
Newell frowned. “Someone hired a private investigator to track down an artifact worth only five bucks?”
“It has a lot of sentimental value to my client,” Davis said smoothly.
Celinda nearly choked on a sip of her drink. She lowered the glass and grabbed a napkin. Davis decided she was probably having a tough time imagining a sentimental Guild boss. He had to admit it was a bit of a stretch.
“How long have you two known each other?” Gloria asked.
“A while,” Davis said before Celinda could speak.
“And you’re not serious about each other,” Gloria said, coolly polite, “yet she brought you to a family wedding.”
“Celinda is the one who said we weren’t serious.” Davis sipped his drink and lowered the glass. “I’m hoping to change her mind.”
On the other side of the table, Celinda’s eyes widened in shock. “No, really,” she got out weakly. “We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, really,” he said. He turned back to Gloria. “Don’t worry, though, I plan to give her plenty of time to get to know me.”
Gloria cleared her throat in a very meaningful way. “If the two of you do get serious, I’m sure you will, of course, consult a marriage consultant.”
It was not a suggestion, Davis thought. More like a parental demand.
“Definitely,” Celinda said, bobbing her head up and down very quickly. “Don’t worry, Mom. You know me; I wouldn’t dream of doing something stupid like getting married without the advice of an expert. Goodness, no one knows more than a marriage consultant just how important it is to get professional help. I’m sure Davis agrees. Don’t you, Davis?”
“Right,” Davis said neutrally, “professional help. It worked so well for me last time. Why wouldn’t I want to repeat the experience?”
Celinda glared at him.
Newell’s brow crinkled. He looked vaguely baffled.
“I beg your pardon?” Gloria said, rounding on Davis in sudden suspicion. “Are you married, Mr. Oakes?”
“No, Mrs. Ingram.” He watched Celinda over the rim of his glass. “Had a close call a while back, though.”
“Davis had a somewhat negative experience with a marriage consultant,” Celinda explained in icy accents. “He employed a matchmaker who evidently did not know what she was doing. Fortunately, he and his fiancée discovered that they were not right for each other before the Covenant Wedding took place, so there was no harm done.”
“No harm done,” Davis repeated thoughtfully. “Now, there’s an interesting way of looking at it. I, however, take a somewhat different view.”
Celinda’s glare grew more stern. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“As far as I’m concerned, my experience with a marriage consultant can pretty much be summed up as nonrefundable,” he said.
Celinda and Gloria were both looking mystified now, but an expression of deep sympathy appeared on Newell’s face.
“Nonrefundable.” Newell shook his head with a grave air. “Not good. Not good at all.”
Celinda and her mother switched their attention to him and then back to Davis.
“What are you two talking about?” Gloria demanded.
“Nonrefundable honeymoon cruise tickets,” Davis said. “Nonrefundable deposits on the caterers’ bills and the rental of the hotel ballroom and a few thousand bucks worth of flowers. Did you know that flowers are not returnable? And then there was the champagne. Didn’t open one damn bottle, but I sti
ll got charged for most of it.”
“Wait a second,” Celinda said, “the cruise tickets I understand. Are you saying you got stuck with the rest of the expenses, too?”
He gave her a steely smile. “My fiancée had always dreamed of a full-blown Covenant Marriage, but her family didn’t have enough money to pay for it. So, thinking I was making a long-term investment, I picked up the tab.”
Celinda winced. “Oh, dear.”
Newell shuddered. “When I think of what I would have been out if Rachel and Josh had called off their marriage at the last minute, I get cold chills down my spine.”
“Nevertheless,” Gloria said, exuding womanly wisdom, “far better to find out that things are not going to work out before a Covenant Marriage takes place than afterward.”
“I won’t argue that point,” Davis said. “I’m just saying it was an expensive lesson about the fallibility of professional matchmakers.”
Celinda fixed him with an air of grim challenge. “Surely you don’t mean that you would rather trust your own judgment than use a professional consultant the next time?”
He shrugged. “I don’t see how I could do any worse.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she shot back, “that’s like me saying I’d rather do my own detective work rather than hire a professional investigator.”
“It’s not the same thing at all.”
“It is, too. There is solid statistical evidence and a number of parapsych studies proving that people who follow the advice of a properly trained matchmaker are far more likely to contract happy, fulfilling marriages than those who don’t use a professional.”
“Sounds like you’re quoting from that book of yours again.”
“Maybe you should read it.” She folded her arms on the table and narrowed her eyes. “The statistics and the citations for the studies are all in the appendix.”
“Wow,” he said, deadpan. “It has an appendix? You know, I’m really going to have to take a look at that book one of these days.”
“If you ever get around to actually buying a copy,” she said, acidly sweet now, “I’d be happy to sign it for you.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Davis saw Newell and Gloria exchange an odd look. Newell slid out of the booth and reached back to help Gloria to her feet.
“If you two don’t mind, we’re going upstairs to our room,” Newell said genially. “Been a long day, and it will be an ever longer, busier one tomorrow.”
Davis got to his feet and shook Newell’s hand. “Thanks for the drink, sir.”
Gloria leaned down and kissed Celinda on the cheek. “Good night, dear. See you in the morning.” She straightened and looked at Davis. Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “I’m so glad we had this little chat, Davis. I feel I know you much better now. See you at the wedding.”
“Good night, Mrs. Ingram.”
Newell and Gloria disappeared into the hotel lobby, heading toward the elevators.
Davis sat down and looked at Celinda.
There was an acute silence.
He cleared his throat. “I think that went well, don’t you?”
Chapter 16
CELINDA WAS TOO STUNNED TO RESPOND. THEN THE ABsurdity of the situation struck her like a flash of ghost light.
She put her head down on her folded arms and started to laugh.
“Damn, are you crying?” Davis slid around the curve of the booth and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s okay. I know trying to pretend that I’m your new boyfriend isn’t easy, but you’re doing just fine.”
She dared not raise her head. She was laughing too hard. Maybe she was sinking into hysteria.
“Your parents didn’t seem too upset when they left,” Davis said, apparently having decided to take an encouraging tack. “Look on the bright side. Whatever they’re thinking right now, it’s a good bet that they don’t have a clue that I’m here as your bodyguard. That was the whole point, remember?”
She managed to get herself under control with an effort of will. She raised her head, aware that her eyes were damp and her face was probably flushed.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. She used a napkin to wipe her eyes. “I don’t know what came over me. Blame it on the stress.”
“You were laughing,” he said, sounding deeply relieved. “I thought—never mind.”
“I can’t believe we got into that stupid argument in front of my parents.” She felt the odd laughter start to well up inside again and swallowed hard to suppress it. “Probably all the champagne at dinner. What were we thinking?”
“Don’t know about you, but I was thinking that I was getting damned tired of hearing you tell everyone I was just a casual friend.”
She stilled, astonished. “Well, it’s not like there are a lot of useful terms to describe a man in your position. I was doing my best to make our relationship sound normal.”
“But it’s not normal, is it?”
“Listen, you’re the one who said this little charade was going to be simple, remember? ‘Just stick to the truth as much as possible,’ you said. If you will recall, I wanted to discuss our cover story in detail on the drive here, but you insisted on blowing off that plan.”
A suspicious gleam of amusement darkened his eyes. “Are we arguing again?”
She sat back, slouching in the seat. What was wrong with her? It was the stress.
“No. I think I’ve had enough quarreling for one evening,” she said very politely. “It’s time I went to bed. I’m going to be wearing pink tomorrow. I need my sleep.”
DAVIS OPENED THE DOOR OF HER ROOM USING HER KEY A short time later. She switched on the lights. Max and Araminta were sitting side by side on the table looking out at the night through the sliding glass window.
“We’re back,” Celinda announced.
Araminta and Max tumbled down off the desk, rumbling greetings. Celinda reached down, scooped up Araminta, and plopped her on her shoulder. Araminta immediately began making little cooing noises in her ear.
“I think she wants another snack,” Celinda said. Morosely, she eyed the empty dishes on the table. “Looks like she and Max went through everything I ordered from room service for them before we left. I’m going to have to break open the minibar. Do you know how much they charge for the stuff inside a minibar?”
Davis picked up Max. “Keep a record. I’ll put it on the Guild’s tab. Wyatt can afford a few snacks out of a minibar, trust me.”
“I believe you. Problem is, how eager is he going to be to pay for things like minibar snacks if he doesn’t get his relic back?”
“Well, he won’t be thrilled,” Davis said.
She groaned. “You know, I could do without having the head of the Cadence Guild annoyed at me. I’d have to leave town. Again. It was bad enough pulling up roots here in Frequency because I pissed off a para-psycho member of the local Guild.”
His expression hardened. “Regardless of the outcome of this case, you’re not going to be forced to leave Cadence.”
“Hah. Easy for you to say.” She crouched down in front of the minibar and de-rezzed the little seal. “You don’t know what it’s like living in a town after you’ve made a high-ranking Guild person mad, trust me.”
“I do trust you,” he said quietly. “But I think it’s time you tried trusting me.”
Something in his words froze her in place. She looked up at him. It was a long way, given her current position close to the floor. When she finally got to his face, she saw that his features were set in grim, implacable lines.
“Great,” she said evenly. “Now I’ve annoyed you, too.”
“Uh-huh.”
She rose to her feet, chagrined. “Sorry. Things have been a little stressful lately. I really do need a good night’s sleep.”
He inclined his head, coldly polite. “I’ll say good night, in that case.”
He walked to the connecting door. “I’ll open this again after you’re in bed.”
He went into his own room, Max on hi
s shoulder, and shut the door very quietly.
She stood looking at the closed door for a long moment. This was clearly one of the downsides of hanging around with a bodyguard. They were in the habit of giving a lot of orders.
Araminta made encouraging little noises in her ear.
“Right.” Celinda said. She went back down on her knees in front of the minibar again. “First things first. A girl’s gotta eat.”
SOME TIME LATER SHE TURNED OVER IN BED FOR WHAT was probably the thousandth time and finally gave up trying to sleep. She pushed herself up on her elbows and glumly studied the door that connected her room to Davis’s. It was open, but the crack was no more than a couple of inches wide.
It was impossible to see into the other room, but she had been listening for quite some time, and things were awfully silent on the other side of the door. Evidently Davis wasn’t having any trouble sleeping.
At the foot of the bed, Araminta’s blue eyes glittered in the moonlight. She was awake.
“Don’t tell me you’re hungry again,” Celinda whispered.
Araminta scampered across the covers, batted her blue eyes, and made hopeful sounds.
“Okay, all right, I wouldn’t want you to starve.” Celinda got out of bed, pulled on her robe, and padded across the room to reopen the minibar. There was enough green light to illuminate the contents. “What’s it going to be? Cookies or nuts?”
Araminta dithered briefly and then fixed her attention squarely on the nuts.
Celinda plucked the nuts out of the bar, straightened, and tore open the package. She dumped the contents into the dish on the table. Araminta hopped down and began munching daintily.
“At least you’re not out there in the dark running around with Max in a strange city,” Celinda said softly. “What did you do with that stupid relic?”
Araminta ate a nut.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble we’re in?”
Araminta displayed no sign of concern. She selected another nut.
Celinda went to the window and looked out at the view of the night-darkened city. The hotel was located in the heart of the Quarter, which was suffused with the pale glow of Old Frequency.
