by Robin Caroll
“Possibly.” He smiled, wanting so much to pull her into his arms and kiss those lips of hers. “At least, that’s what I believe.”
“Interesting. I never thought about it that way. I’ve been trying to forgive because Scripture tells me to, but never able to get over my grief and anger.”
“Have you ever prayed for God to put the ability to forgive in your heart?”
She shook her head.
“Before you do, examine yourself and make sure you truly do want to forgive, that you aren’t just playing lip service because you think it’s what God wants to hear.”
“Because He already knows what’s in my heart.” She nodded. “Thanks. You really helped me. I appreciate it.”
He ducked his head as heat slid up the back of his neck again. “Glad to help. I enjoy talking with you.” More and more, as time went on. “So much so, why don’t I take you to lunch today?” Where had that come from? She’d just gotten out of the hospital, for pity’s sake. She didn’t want to go anywhere.
But she smiled, the slow grin that made his heart respond. “I’d like that. I think getting out would be awesome.” Then her face fell. “But Maddie came all this way to see me, so I can’t just bail on her.”
“I understand.” He stood and helped her stand.
“But”—Riley looked up at him from beneath her lowered lashes—“I’m sure she’ll be leaving this evening since she has to teach at Sunday school tomorrow.”
“So, how about going out to supper with me?”
“I’d love to.”
“Where would you like to go?”
The world tilted with the light in her eyes. “Surprise me.”
Oh, surprise her he would.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.”
1 KINGS 3:28
Hayden had slipped into the office so he didn’t act like a wuss. He sure didn’t want Riley see him mooning around the house, killing time until their date tonight.
He flipped through all the reports on his desk—nothing new since he’d checked late last night. Weekends were the worst: Labs and units ran on skeleton crews, and officers couldn’t do a lot of the legwork. It made everyone antsy.
The sticky note he’d written to remind him to call Angola’s warden sat on the edge of the desk. He’d intended to do a little research on Jasmine’s dad but other things cropped up. Maybe if he could recall why Armand Wilson’s name sounded familiar, he could help Riley in some way.
Accessing his computer, he logged into the proper database, then typed in Armand’s full name and waited.
The computer beeped, pulling his attention to the report loaded on the monitor. Horror filled him as he read the details. Why the name sounded familiar rushed over him. Like yesterday, he recalled even the details not listed.
Private collectors who’d been acquaintances for some time each owned priceless artifacts from the Confederacy during the Civil War. Being members of a private and by-invitation-only group, they banded items of their personal collections together for special exhibits.
His buddy Lewis Pine had been a member of the group. Lewis had, over the years, told the story of his family’s famous heirloom—a sword owned by General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard of the Confederate Army. The sword was, Lewis claimed, passed down from father to son, generation to generation, until current day. Apparently Lewis was a direct descendant of the notorious general.
Lewis had allowed the sword of Beauregard to be included in the special collection on display at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge to commemorate the anniversary of the start of the War between the States. The sword had been stolen along with other artifacts, but it had never surfaced. While the sword had been insured for over fifty thousand dollars, the sentimental and personal value to the Pine family was priceless.
Hayden stared at the screen, willing the Armand Wilson listed as one of the robbers to not be the same Armand Wilson who Riley had determined was innocent. No matter how he read the report or prayed the letters would reshuffle, the men were one and the same.
How could he help Riley now? Lewis was his friend and he’d been the victim of a crime. Surely Riley would understand his position. Especially after receiving the devastating news about Lancaster being awarded his parole.
Yet Hayden knew Riley wouldn’t accept that. She’d proclaim Wilson’s innocence. So to defend his friend’s loss, Hayden needed to do a little investigating on his own.
He called his old friend, asked if he could come over, and received the okay from an eager Lewis.
The midday sun beat down on the hood of the cruiser. Hayden slipped on his sunglasses against the glare that contrasted against the brisk chill of the April air. A nice reprieve from the storms of late, but also a change from the usually higher temperatures for the time of year. Could that be an indication of a milder summer? He sure hoped so.
Lewis answered the door with a smile. “Hey there. It’s been way too long.”
“I know.” Hayden gripped his hand and shook. “We need to get back to fishing more often.”
“I hear ya, man.” He waved Hayden inside. “Come on in. I have to admit, you’ve got my curiosity up.” He shut the door and gestured to the comfortable leather couch in the middle of the living room.
Like Hayden, Lewis hadn’t married. His living space was similar to that of most bachelors: comfortable, if ugly, furniture; table only used to set plates and glasses on; large flat screen; and kickin’ surround-sound system.
Hayden sank into the soft leather. It absorbed him, wrapping around him like a comfortable blanket. “Sorry I haven’t called more often. Things have been more than a little crazy.” He shook his head. While true, it wasn’t the reason he hadn’t called in a while. Truth was, he hadn’t been up to hanging out with buddies.
Where had that come from? He liked his friends. Enjoyed hunting and fishing and watching sports with them. But now that he let the thought enter his conscious, he realized it was true. While entertaining for a spell, hanging out with buddies wasn’t something he really wanted anymore. If full disclosure rang true, he’d admit that after seeing Remington and Rafe’s happiness together, he wanted that for himself.
Someone who he got and who got him. Someone who listened and shared. Someone to lift him when he needed it and let him do the same for her. Someone to call his own.
Someone he could trust.
The image of Riley slammed into the forefront of his mind. Somehow, someway, she’d slipped under his defenses. Under his skin. Into his heart.
“Hayden?” Lewis snapped his fingers in front of his face. “Where’d you go?”
Heat flamed up the back of his neck as he offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Lost in thought.”
“Obviously.” Lewis leaned back into the worn couch. “So, tell me what’s up.”
“It’s about your family’s sword.”
“Beauregard’s sabre.” Lewis’s eyes lit up. “Have you found it, after all these years?”
Hayden shook his head. “I’m sorry, no.”
“Then what’s this about?”
“I need you to tell me everything you can remember about the robbery. What the sheriff and prosecutor’s office told you. I need to know.”
“Why?”
Here was the booger-bear. “A friend of mine is looking into the case and she’s asked me for help.”
“She?”
“Yes, a lady friend.”
“Ah, I see.” Lewis chuckled.
“No, it’s not like that.” Well, he had taken her out once and was taking her out again tonight. “Not exactly.”
His friend laughed even more. “Man, you’re
really tied up over this chick, aren’t you?”
He shrugged. “Too early to tell. So, will you help me?”
“Help-you-help-her kind of thing?” He snorted. “Starting to sound like some cheesy nineties movie.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Hayden threw a mock punch at Lewis’s arm. “Just help me out, will ya?”
Lewis stared at him. “Okay. Let me give you a little background. About ten years ago, me and some others who had Confederate artifacts kept running into each other at certain events. We exchanged contact information and kept each other in the loop about upcoming events, auctions, displays . . . stuff like that. After several months, we realized we could combine our individual holdings and create a really unique display.”
“Who were they?”
“Sarah Nance, Judith Osborn, Darryl Thayer, and me.” Lewis waited until Hayden finished writing before he continued. “Anyway, we called around and found that quite a few museums and galleries were interested in hosting our collection.”
“Were y’all going to get paid for that?”
Lewis gave him an incredulous look. “What do you think, man? This was a quick-and-easy way to combine what we all loved with a way of making a little side money.”
Made sense. “Go on.”
“So, we printed up some advertising flyers and sent them out. Within a couple of months, we ended up having so many bookings that both Sarah and Judith quit their part-time jobs. Their husbands were mighty glad at that. The money was good and we enjoyed ourselves.”
“Sounds like heaven.”
“For us, it truly was. In six years, we had over five hundred amazing showings.” Lewis pointed at the seventy-inch flat screen mounted on the wall. “Paid for all the little extras my job didn’t allow for, like that baby.”
“Sweet deal.”
“It was. The arrangement was pretty awesome too. The four of us split the cost of our own security, which we hired in each location since our exhibit crossed several state lines and each state has its own laws regarding security personnel. We took turns traveling with the collection, so the expenses were pretty much even. We each had to carry our own insurance on our items.”
“So everyone had good policies?”
“You’re jumping ahead, Hayden.”
“Sorry.” He grinned, twirling his pencil. “Please, proceed.”
“Five hundred showings and never once did we have any problems. Not even so much as the packing company we hired having an incident.”
“That’s amazing.”
“Yep.” Lewis nodded. “Until the state museum exhibit.”
Hayden hunched over, gripping the pencil tighter. “Tell me about that.”
“As if I wasn’t? She must be some dame.” Lewis grinned and propped his feet up on the battered ottoman. “We all like the museum showing because it’s local so we can all attend. It’d been the first time we would all be together at an exhibit in over two years.”
Hayden scribbled as fast as he could as Lewis continued.
“Because of that and the remembrance ceremony of the start of the War between the States, there was quite a bit of publicity. That, and we had decided to take a break from showings. Sarah was pregnant, so she needed to be pulled out of the travel loop. Darryl was engaged and his wife-to-be wasn’t too keen on him being committed to traveling away from her so much. And me and Judith were just a little tired of the constant scheduling and such that goes into making sure everything goes off without a hitch.”
“Six years is a bit long.”
Lewis shrugged. “We weren’t quitting, understand, just taking a break. We’d all discussed that probably Judith and I would work out some kind of schedule for us to take over all the traveling, with us getting more of the showing fees.”
“So, the Louisiana State Museum exhibit would be the last, at least for a while, right?”
“Yeah. They planned a big dinner and fund-raiser for the museum, using the exhibit as the main attraction. And it worked. They told me they received over two hundred thousand that night in donations.” Lewis gave a wry smile. “I shoulda asked for a percentage of the donations instead of a flat fee.”
Hayden nodded.
“Anyway, the big night was nice. Black tie, the elite of the elite out in sparkle and glitz, the whole deal. Great meal, funny emcee. Plenty of wine flowing. Even had one of those auctioneers auctioning off some tables and chairs that were donated, supposedly from the Confederate era.”
“Sounds like a time.”
“It was. Everything ended around two o’clock on Sunday morning. That was okay because the museum was closed on Sunday and that Monday. We were supposed to take down the exhibit and collect our artifacts Monday morning at eleven.” He shook his head. “The museum was broken into on Sunday night.”
“Was the whole collection stolen?”
“No. My sabre, of course.” Lewis ran a hand over his jeans. “Judith’s revolver. Darryl’s money and button collection. That’s all that was taken. The museum had some of its items taken too.”
“I know some of the items were recovered.”
“Yeah. Judith’s revolver. My sabre and Darryl’s collection weren’t.”
“Both your insurance companies paid?”
Lewis frowned. “Yeah, but don’t get any ideas. We’ll never get exhibit fees again. And I’ve lost a family heirloom.” Lewis plopped his feet to the floor. “My father hasn’t spoken to me since it was stolen. He’d all but demanded I not put it in the collection, but I wouldn’t listen.”
Hayden closed his notebook and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m sorry.”
“Maybe if I wouldn’t have been so greedy, I’d have listened to him. Now, we don’t have that part of our history anymore.” He shook his head. “My grandfather was a genealogist. It’s a good thing he wasn’t alive to learn the sabre was stolen. It would’ve killed him.”
“I have to say, Riley, I agree with Emily. I’ve never seen Hayden so taken with a woman before.” Remington batted her eyes.
Riley’s cheeks burned as if they were on fire. “He’s just taking me out to supper, y’all. It’s just a meal.” But excitement had her stomach spinning like a class-four hurricane.
“I think you should wear something sexy and knock his socks off.” Emily giggled. “Sorry, that’s a bad idea because I know what his feet smell like.” She made retching sounds.
“Gee, thanks for that mental image.” Remington laughed.
“Y’all, stop. I’ll wear jeans and whatever shirt matches this oh-so-becoming sling. My problem is just that most of what I have with me is either extremely dressy or is a pullover T-shirt. Sexy’s not exactly an option at the moment.” Riley couldn’t contain the anticipation spreading in her chest. All this talk made her feel the need to analyze her feelings toward Hayden.
And she really didn’t want to get that in-depth just yet. Not when she would be leaving soon and had no idea if she’d ever see Hayden again.
The thought left her feeling lost, which scared her spitless.
“I can’t believe you’re going on a date just days after getting shot,” Maddie murmured from her seat on the couch.
Riley opened her mouth, then shut it. She loved her sister dearly, but Maddie had always been a bit too serious. Even more so once Mom and Dad died. Maybe because she had to step in as the maternal figure, although Riley had never asked her to do that. Nor had she wanted it.
“I have an amazing blouse that will really make the blue of your eyes pop.” Emily snapped her fingers. “And it’s button down, so it will make the whole sling thing easy.”
“Do you mind me borrowing it?”
“Of course I don’t mind. I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.” Emily stood. “Matter of fact, I don’t think I packed it up when I got my things, so it’s stil
l here in the closet. I’ll be right back.” She left, almost skipping down the hall.
Remington shook her head. “I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised to see you two getting along so well. Especially after the rocky start y’all had.”
Maddie’s protectiveness flared. “What do you mean, rocky start?”
Riley needed to defuse and fast. “Let’s just say Emily had a bite from the green-eyed monster regarding how Ardy and I related to one another. But she and I had a talk and everything’s fine. We’re good.”
No one had time to respond as Emily sprinted back into the living room, carrying a hanger with a beautiful blouse. The shirt’s Caribbean blue shimmered as the light caught the satiny blend.
“It’s a small, so should fit with no problem.” Emily held out the hanger, twisting it to show off the ruffles on the collar.
It was perfect. Absolutely perfect. “Oh, Emily, it’s beautiful. Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing it? It looks brand new.”
“I don’t even remember why I got it, but it’ll look beautiful on you.”
“It will.” Even Maddie had no argument.
“Where’s he taking you?” Remington asked.
Riley shook her head. “I told him to surprise me.”
Emily and Remington both started chuckling.
“What?” Had she done something wrong?
“Girl, you’re apt to get a sandwich and chips from the local sports pub.” Remington wagged her finger.
“Why would you tell a man to surprise you, huh?” Emily crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s just inviting trouble.”
“Maybe you’d better eat before you leave.”
Riley frowned at Remington. “Hey, that’s mean. He took me to Eight Sisters last time. It was wonderful.” Riley had loved that evening . . . if only it hadn’t ended so early. She stared at Emily. If only she was blunt enough to ask Emily about how she’d really gotten the gash. Unfortunately, Maddie had gotten the bluntness gene.
Actually, there was a way to borrow the gene.“Emily, how’s your face feeling?”
