by Gina Dartt
Snowflakes were starting to fall as she came out of the diner. She looked up, appreciating the sensation of them feathering softly over her face, and it actually took her a few seconds to realize her feet had turned toward the bookstore, rather than her apartment building.
Ruefully, she discovered that if she didn’t see Kate at least once before she went home, her day simply wasn’t complete. What that meant for the future, she didn’t know, but for now, it filled her with a warm bubble that seemed to expand as she waited for Kate to answer the door.
Chapter Nine
As Kate neatly placed the newest arrivals on the shelf, she was aware of Sheila lingering near the end of the aisle. Curious, Kate looked up, wondering what she wanted. Sheila wasn’t tall and carried more weight than she should for her age, but having a job had done wonders for her personality. Achingly withdrawn when she first applied for the position at her teacher’s urging, she had blossomed because of working with the public, and Kate had even managed to slip some hints to her about her appearance, which had brought out some unexpected qualities.
To Kate, hiring a different high school student every year wasn’t just a matter of having some extra help around the store. She considered it an opportunity to teach each one some necessary social skills, which is why she tended to choose the more awkward and insular applicants. She had made that arrangement with her friend Lydia Fennell, who taught Grade 12 History at the school, and it had resulted in some very positive experiences for all concerned, not just the students.
“Mrs. Shannon?”
“Yes, Sheila?”
“I was wondering...” she began, hesitated, then finished in a rush. “Could I possibly get next Friday night off? Billy Wallace asked me to the Valentine’s Day dance and, well...”
Kate stifled a sigh. That was the other side to providing the young girls with some confidence and style. Suddenly, boys discovered them, just as they discovered boys, and the next thing Kate knew, she was losing her part-time help.
She took her time to consider the question carefully, aware of Sheila’s hopeful gaze. On one hand, Kate didn’t want to discourage what was obviously a very exciting event for the girl, but on the other, should she allow Sheila to abdicate her responsibility simply by requesting it?
Kate shrugged mentally. At that age, priorities were a trifle different, and Sheila would find herself caught up in the burden of life soon enough. Certainly, being dedicated to business hadn’t helped Kate’s social life. Why make it any more difficult for the girl? Besides, if she phrased her permission properly, Sheila would realize that Kate was not just granting the request because she had asked for it, but because she had earned it.
“You’ve managed to make it to the store every day since I hired you last September, even during the snow storms, Sheila. And you’ve done extremely good work. I think that deserves a night off, particularly for such an important event.”
Sheila beamed. “Thank you, Mrs. Shannon. I’ll work any extra hours you want to make up for it.”
“I might take you up on that. Some in-service or snow day, when I want the afternoon off.”
“Anytime. I’ll be here.”
Sheila returned to the counter, almost wiggling in her pleasure, and Kate turned back to her task, wondering if she had ever been that young, when things were new and fresh, and every emotion didn’t just happen, it exploded within you. But she couldn’t remember feeling that way for another person—at least not until she had met Nikki. Though if that wasn’t enough to give her pause, she thought uncomfortably, she wasn’t sure what was.
She certainly hadn’t felt that way about David. David had been…well, comfortable…a good friend and a kind boyfriend who had subsequently became a kind, if perplexed, husband. She wondered if they’d still be bumbling along with each other if the issue of children hadn’t diverted them. David had wanted desperately to be a father, while Kate had never felt any desire to be a mother. It had been one thing to get married under what she now realized were false pretenses, but she refused to allow innocent children to be dragged into the mix.
As a result, they had shed a few tears, exchanged a few heated words, but ultimately parted as amicably as possible under the circumstances, neither of them contesting the divorce. She suspected that David was far happier in his new life, which now included two little boys who were the center of his existence. Whenever she ran into him, he absolutely beamed with pride and didn’t hesitate to show her his newest batch of pictures.
Kate finished shelving and rose, dusting off her knees. Glancing around, she detected three customers in the store, about average for a Friday afternoon. Later, after dinner, the downtown would become a little busier, and she would garner some sales, particularly since one of the more popular authors she carried had just released a mass-market paperback of his latest. Checking the time and realizing it was past five, she decided to go upstairs for dinner before tackling some paperwork for a charity, one of her volunteer tasks.
Halfway up the staircase, she heard the chime of the back door, and she grumbled a bit under her breath as she turned to go back down. When she saw Nikki on the back steps, her irritation vanished instantly, and her heart executed an excited little flip. Her cheeks grew distinctly warm, and she hoped her unfamiliar and unusual feelings weren’t as apparent on the outside as they were on the inside.
“Hi,” Nikki said, gazing at her with those lovely blue eyes. “I’m really sorry if I’m bothering you. I know you don’t normally work Friday nights, so I took a chance you’d be home. I know I should have called first.”
Kate lifted a brow, noting that Nikki kept track of her schedule. Was that a recent thing, or had she just noticed in passing? “You’re not bothering me at all. I’m on my way upstairs for supper. Would you care to join me?”
Nikki looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I’ve already had dinner. I’ll pop by tomorrow. It’s not important.”
“Please.” Kate reached out, took Nikki’s arm, and drew her inside the warmth of the landing before she realized what she was doing. “I’d love the company…unless you’d be bored watching me eat?”
Nikki smiled. “I can’t imagine anything you do ever boring me.”
Kate withdrew her hand. That hadn’t quite been the response she anticipated, and she wondered what exactly she had been expecting as she led the way up the stairs. Was it possible that Nikki was actually attracted to her?
Nikki hung her own jacket in the closet, which made Kate feel warm inside, as if Nikki felt she somehow belonged in these rooms, no longer a mere visitor. Something was seriously going on for her to react so strongly to every little thing Nikki did.
Was this attraction? This physical, lustful, emotional yearning, this needing-to-be-with-Nikki-beyond-reason feeling that filled her every waking moment? Kate was totally at sea. She had never experienced anything like this before, so she had nothing to compare it with. All she knew was that the more contact she had with Nikki, the more she wanted. How far did she intend to pursue this situation?
“What are you having?”
Kate jumped slightly. “What?”
Nikki looked at her with a bit of a frown, and Kate knew she was behaving oddly enough for Nikki to have noticed. Taking a deep breath, she drew on her formidable composure. “I think I’ll have some soup and a sandwich.”
Nikki’s eyes brightened. “That’s what I had,” she said with a lilt in her voice, as if the coincidence was significant in some way. “Down at the diner.”
Her visitor perched on the stool she had sat on the day before as Kate began to prepare her meal. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
Nikki shook her head. “No, I had pie for dessert. I’m stuffed.”
“What kind?”
“Chocolate cream.”
“Obviously, you’re one of the fortunate ones who doesn’t have to be concerned with weight,” Kate said lightly. “You have an absolutely spectacular figure.” She wanted to snatch the words bac
k as soon as they left her mouth. It was an incredibly personal and presumptuous thing to say and completely inappropriate.
The pink rose in Nikki’s cheeks. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Kate said, concentrating hard on her hands as she placed some cheese, ham, and lettuce on a steak sandwich bun, hoping that the moment would just disappear. The microwave chirped cheerfully, indicating the soup was finished, and she snatched at it with relief.
“Uh, actually, I had an ulterior motive for eating out this afternoon,” Nikki said after a few moments while Kate carried her meal out to the dining room. She sat in the chair midway down the large table, separating herself from Kate with another chair. “I was hoping to pick up some more information on the fire.”
“Did you?” Kate asked, glad for the change in topic.
“Maybe.” Nikki told her all that she had learned at the diner.
Kate listened intently as she ate her soup and sandwich, not really tasting them. “So this might actually be financial rather than a crime of passion.”
“If what I heard about Sam was correct, he was in a lot of trouble money-wise. Furthermore, so was Katherine Rushton, if her having to sell her home at a big loss is any indication. It sounds as if some deal they made went bad, and they were both going under.”
“Assuming they were in it together.” Kate held up a cautioning finger. “We’re placing a lot of emphasis on a card that may or may not link them.”
Nikki nodded, looking serious. “You’re right, but if it really does connect them, we’re the only ones who know. From what I heard, no one has a clue who might have had it in for him or might have visited him that night. The coincidences are starting to add up.” She stopped as if struck by a sudden thought. “‘We?’”
Kate inhaled slowly. “You bought the book from me. We watched the fire together. We’ve been sharing information. I think that makes it ‘our’ case.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Kate wondered if it was the word “case” she liked or the use of “our.” She wasn’t sure she dared find out at the moment.
“So where do we go from here?”
“I’m not sure,” Kate said. “A lot of the information we would require is confidential, and we have no authority to be digging around in it.”
Nikki waved that technicality aside. “Probably, but you’d be amazed at how much you can pick up just from gossip. The whole town knew the Ames boy was the one behind the break-ins at the lake cottages long before he was ever arrested.”
Kate winced. She knew the boy’s parents, and they had been devastated to discover he had been feeding a drug habit by burglarizing the vacation homes in the area. But it was true that the story had gotten around quickly and, in fact, it was possibly the reason he was finally apprehended. If he had been a little smarter, he would have taken note of the various rumors and backed off, because until Rick Johnson caught him in the beam of his flashlight during a routine patrol, the police didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. He ended up being tried as an adult and wasn’t due for parole for another two years. “You may have a point,” she said. “It’s a small town. But it’s one thing to follow leads like this for a theft. It’s quite another when we’re talking about arson and murder.”
“They haven’t declared it a murder, yet,” Nikki pointed out. “It might have been suicide.”
“No, I didn’t date Sam, but I’ve known him for a long time. He just wasn’t the type.”
“That’s been said a lot,” Nikki said in an oddly flat tone. “Particularly after someone’s killed himself.”
Kate inhaled slowly. Nikki sounded as if she was speaking from personal experience and, disturbed, she eyed her covertly. Nikki shook her head slightly, as if pushing away some unpleasant memory. For a moment, Kate wondered if she should pursue the subject, but then decided not to. Whatever it was, she suspected Nikki would tell her in her own time. Meanwhile, she drew herself back to the topic at hand. “Suicide doesn’t explain the car that drove away. It was parked in front of the insurance office. Somebody was with him that night and only left when the fire had started.”
“You’re just playing devil’s advocate, aren’t you, Kate? Everything I say, you come up with a countering argument.”
Kate tilted her head. “I guess I am, but doesn’t every Sherlock need her Dr. Watson?”
Nikki abruptly offered that breathtaking expression again, and Kate found it difficult to swallow. She looked down at her meal, surprised to see she had finished, unable to remember having consumed any of it. “Well, if we’re being serious about this, we should start soon, before the trail grows cold,” she said as she placed the plates gently into the sink. “What if we use this weekend to track down all the leads we can?”
Kate turned around and started abruptly as she discovered Nikki immediately behind her. She had her head inclined slightly, gazing down into Kate’s eyes, and for a moment, the floor seemed very uncertain beneath her feet.
“That sounds wonderful,” Nikki said, her voice incredibly soft.
Kate could feel the heat of Nikki’s body brush against her, and a trickle of perspiration slipped down the back of her neck. Swallowing hard, she felt almost lost in that blue gaze, mesmerized. “Fine,” she squeaked, and had to pause to clear her throat. “Fine,” she said again, in a stronger tone. “Sheila can cover the store. I’ll take the day off. You and I can do some research.”
Nikki tilted her head, studying her closely. “Why are you doing this?” She sounded baffled.
Kate managed a smile. “Let’s just say that I’ve been feeling a little bored lately. A little adventure may be exactly what I need to figure out what I’m missing in my life.” However, she wasn’t sure if she was talking about playing detective or exploring how far the feelings stirring inside would take her.
Chapter Ten
Nikki opened her eyes and saw the sun casting a narrow beam across the bed from the slit between the blinds and the sill. A small bubble of joy expanded within her chest, and a glance at the clock revealed that she still had an hour before she had to meet Kate behind the store. Part of her wanted to leap from the bed immediately and dress, but another part decided to lounge in the blankets just a little longer in order to appreciate this new sexual tension she had discovered between her and Kate.
It had been so thick the night before it was almost visible. She knew that Kate had felt it too, had seen it in her eyes, though Kate had done her best to hide her responses to Nikki’s physical closeness. Yet, despite what must have been a disturbing sensation to her, Kate didn’t draw away. Instead, she was reaching out even further, planning a whole day that they could spend together, possibly to explore what was rapidly growing between them.
What was growing between them?
The cynical aspect of Nikki’s personality, born of past pain and previous disappointments, refused to allow her to simply enjoy her feelings. After all, she and Anne had experienced plenty of sexual tension between them, but once they had indulged themselves, Anne had soon started looking elsewhere for her next adventure. The fact that Nikki was deeply and completely in love with Anne hadn’t seemed to matter at all. In retrospect, Nikki had recognized that Anne wanted only the novelty, to explore something new and different, and, once sated, she was no longer interested.
She didn’t blame Anne entirely. Nikki had vaulted into her first love affair without reservation, picking up and following Anne into the city where she found a job and took an apartment in the same building just so she could be near her, caught up helplessly in feelings and sensations she had never before experienced. But Anne never once said that she loved her. In fact, she had made it clear on more than one occasion that she didn’t, but Nikki hadn’t wanted to listen, until it was finally clear even to her that Anne felt nothing special for her. Even then, Nikki continued to ache long after the breakup, feeling as if Anne had ripped a part of her soul away, leaving a wound that would never fully heal.
&nb
sp; That’s when she found out who her friends truly were, and, somehow, they got her through the rejection even when Nikki wanted to die because it hurt so badly. She didn’t ever want to experience that type of relationship again, and for a while, it seemed she wouldn’t need to worry. She had met a few other women, become attracted to them, even dated them, but no one had come close to stirring those wild, wonderful, and completely irresistible sensations that falling in love evoked. She had started to think that maybe she would never fall in love again, that Anne would be the only one who made her feel that way. Then she started visiting Kate’s bookstore.
“Oh, God,” she murmured as Powder abruptly landed on the bed, stepping lightly over the blankets to settle on her chest, purring audibly as he tucked his paws under his snowy chest. “What the hell am I getting myself into, Powder? Am I making the same mistake all over again?”
Powder blinked, his large green eyes regarding her intently as he declined to answer.
“Kate was married, for crying out loud,” Nikki muttered, reaching up to scratch his head, inciting a deeper purr. “Even if she is attracted to me, it’s probably just what Kim says—a walk on the wild side because she’s bored. Even Kate said as much last night. She’s only pursuing the investigation with me for the adventure. Maybe that’s all the ‘friendship’ is, too.”
She caught her breath in a sob, feeling tears sting her eyes, the elation she had felt upon waking dissipating immediately under the sharp reality of past experience. “It just feels so good when I’m with her.”
Powder meowed, seeming sympathetic, and rasped his tongue over her chin.
“Damn,” she said, and pushed the cat off her so that she could roll out of bed. She took a quick shower before dressing in the ski pants she had received for Christmas and a new sweater she had never worn. After drawing back her hair in a ponytail, she put in her contacts, which she rarely wore except when going out on a date. When she started eyeing her pitiful supply of makeup, she groaned, realizing how desperate her situation had truly become.
