The House on Main Street

by Shirlee McCoy

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We have a lead in the missing angel case.”

  “What?”

  “A few days ago, a witness said she observed Zimmerman Beck leaving This-N-That on Sunday afternoon. He admitted to being here.”

  “Sunday? The store was closed. We were at the hospital.”

  “I know. Did you lock the door when you left? Set the alarm?”

  “Probably not. I was in a hurry, and I didn’t think about doing either.”

  “Then Zim would have had easy access.”

  “Sure, but why would he want it? That doesn’t sound anything like Zim. He’s been avoiding us like the plague since . . .”

  The tea.

  Up until then, he’d been vocal, standing on his front porch and trading barbs with Gertrude every time he saw her. After the tea, he’d gone quiet. As a matter of fact, Tess couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him.

  “What are you thinking, Tess?” Cade prodded.

  “That he’s been awfully quiet since the angel disappeared.”

  “That’s what a few other people have said. I’ve been checking around. He’s one often people who were at the tea and disappeared around the time the angel went missing.”

  “You don’t think he could really have taken it? And if he did, why come into the house while we were gone? I can’t imagine that there’s anything in here that he’s desperate to have.”

  “You have a lot of nice antiques, Tess. Maybe he took a few. Would you have noticed if he did?”

  “Probably not. I haven’t finished cataloging everything.” She carefully folded the wedding dress and set it in the trunk with the quilts, uneasy with the story Cade was telling. Zim was a pain in the ass, but she couldn’t, even in her wildest imagination, picture him stealing. “Why would he steal from us, Cade? Everyone knows he’s got money. Wasn’t he in real estate or something before he retired?”

  “He’s had it in for your family for years. Maybe this is his way of getting back at you.” Cade rubbed his neck, and she thought that he looked weary, as if naming Zim prime suspect bothered him as much as hearing him do it bothered Tess. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve arrested good people who did really stupid things.”

  “I’m sorry, Cade.”

  “It’s not your fault. Or your family’s. If Zim took the angel, if he came into This-N-That to take something else, it has nothing to do with any of you and everything to do with him.”

  “So, what are you going to do? Arrest him?”

  “I need proof first. I think I have enough evidence to convince him to confess. I’m going to bring him in for questioning tonight. I wanted to let you know what was happening, so you’d be prepared if the story starts circulating.”

  “It will. Poor Zim.” She sighed, lifting a second dress from the trunk.

  “If Zim is guilty, he doesn’t deserve your sympathy, Tess.”

  “I don’t know. Living next to my family would drive anyone to desperation.” She unfolded the dress, letting deep violet fabric ripple to the ground. An evening dress with a low neckline edged with creamy lace, it had belonged to someone with money, the velvet rich and luxurious, the bodice sparkling with crystals and beads.

  “Wow!” Cade said. “Is that what you’re wearing to the dance?”

  “Maybe.” She held it up, trying to measure the waist against hers. The skirt was several layers. Velvet over a silk lining and netting. Beautiful, but heavy. “It might be too small. Whoever wore it had a tiny waist.”

  “You have a tiny waist, too.” He took the dress from her hands, set it on the trunk. “You know what I’ve been thinking, Tess?” he said quietly.

  No, and I don’t want to, because if I did, I could not be responsible for my actions. Most of which would involve stripping every bit of clothes off your body.

  Thank God, he couldn’t hear her thoughts.

  “I’ve been thinking that I made a mistake when we were kids,” he murmured, his palms sweeping across her shoulders and down her arms until their hands were linked. “And I’m not going to make another one. This time around, I’m not going to miss what’s right in front of my face.”

  “Cade—”

  He brushed her lips with a kiss so light she barely felt it, but her heart thundered, her pulse racing so fast, she felt breathless. Dizzy with need.

  “I’ll stop if you want me to,” he murmured, but she didn’t want him to, and she dragged his head down for a kiss that she hoped would leave him as breathless as she was.

  He moaned, pulling her closer, his hand sliding under her shirt, his hand hot on her cool skin.

  She wanted this. Wanted it more than she wanted her next breath. Wanted him, because he was her childhood dream, her best friend. Because it had been too long since she’d been skin to skin, heartbeat to heartbeat with someone.

  He deepened the kiss, his hand sliding up her ribs and down to her hips, his restlessness matching her own.

  She barely noticed when he lifted her, didn’t care when he laid her on the old dusty sofa. His fingers brushed her collarbone, and he pressed a kiss to the tender flesh there.

  “Tessa! Did you find anything?” Gertrude called, her voice a splash of ice water that brought Tessa back to her senses.

  Almost.

  She lay still, staring into Cade’s eyes, both of them breathing heavily.

  “You should answer her,” he said, his voice gruff and gritty with desire.

  “I know.” She ran her palm along his jaw, loving the bristles of his five o’clock shadow.

  He shuddered, pressing her hand to his jaw, stilling the movement. “Now, before I completely lose control, and your aunt comes up here and sees more than any of us want her to.”

  She kind of liked the idea of him losing control.

  She wasn’t so keen on having her aunt there when it happened.

  “Tess? What’s going on up there?” Gertrude yelled, her crutches tapping the floor below the stairs.

  “Just trying to decide which dress to bring down,” she responded, hoping Gertrude couldn’t hear the wanton lust in her voice.

  “Bring what you have down here. I want to help you choose. And tell that boy to get his hands off you. I don’t want another of my nieces pregnant and unwed.”

  “Good grief,” Tess muttered.

  Cade chuckled, standing up and pulling her to her feet. “She’s a piece of work.”

  “She’s a pain in the ass. Now I have to find another dress. Otherwise she’ll be sure we were up here making out.”

  “Weren’t we?”

  “Yes,” she said, blushing. “But that doesn’t mean I want my aunt to know.” She lifted another dress from the trunk, her heart still beating too fast. She didn’t dare look at Cade. If she did, she was afraid she’d throw herself into his arms again. “This one will be fine.”

  “What is it?”

  His question was enough to make her look at the thin silky material. An ivory negligee with a low neck and low back. Not from the same time period as the dress. More like the 1930s. She refolded it and placed it into the trunk.

  “Too bad,” Cade murmured. “That would have been my choice.”

  “If I showed up in that, you’d have to arrest me.” She pulled out two other dresses. One a wool day dress with buttons down the front and a skirt that fell straight to the floor. The other a dark blue ball gown from the Edwardian era, the neckline matching back to front, the cap sleeves jeweled and sweet.

  “Okay. We’re good.” She lifted all three of her finds, avoiding contact with any part of Cade’s body because she could not be held responsible for her actions if they touched again.

  “Let me,” he offered, taking the dresses from her arms, his knuckles brushing her abdomen. Her breath caught, and he smirked.

  “Bastard,” she muttered, and he laughed, gesturing for her to precede him down the stairs.

  Gertrude was waiting at the bottom, her lined face set in a scowl so deep her mouth
was nearly lost in it.

  “It’s about time,” she snapped, the crutches under her arms nearly slipping as she pivoted and headed out of the tiny entryway. “What’d you find? Anything that will fit an old lady like me?”

  “I didn’t get a chance to go through everything.” Because I got distracted by the very hot sheriff. She shot a look in Cade’s direction, and he offered a slow, easy grin that made a thousand butterflies take flight in her stomach. “I can go back up and look for something for you, though.”

  “Don’t bother. I guess it would be a little hard for me to go to the party with my leg in a cast.” Gertrude sighed. “Besides, I really need to be here with Alex. A baby-sitter isn’t going to cut it. If he got outside again that would be it. What with the curse and all, we just can’t take a chance.” She shook her head, her hair puffing wildly around her head.

  “Curse?” Cade asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

  “It’s a long story.” Gertrude sighed dramatically, plopping down on the chaise lounge and settling in for what looked like a long stay.

  “And you are not going to tell it again,” Tess interrupted. “Cade, you can put the dresses in Gertrude’s room. We can look at them there.”

  “Are you trying to distract me?” Gertrude griped.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

  “Well, you’re lucky, because I’m in the mood for a distraction. Let’s go.”

  Gertrude led the way into her cluttered room and pointed to her bed. The one spot that was not covered with stuff. Another item for the to-do list.

  “Lay them out on the bed, Cade. Maybe Tess can do a little fashion show for us.”

  “No.” A thousand times, no! She was not going to slip into Victorian or Edwardian or any kind of clothes and prance around in front of Cade while Gertrude watched!

  “Maybe you should give it a little more thought,” Cade said. “It sounds like fun to me.”

  “Do you know how long it takes to put on dresses like those?”

  “No.” But I’d like to know how long it would take to get you out of one of them, his eyes said.

  She blushed. “A long time.”

  “Too bad. I’m working the night shift and have to be at work in ten minutes. I guess we won’t have time for the fashion show after all.” He spread the dresses out on the bed, smoothing his hand down the bodice of the velvet Victorian.

  Tess shivered.

  “Yeah. Too bad,” she said, her voice husky.

  “Wow! Those are gorgeous, Tess!” Gertrude exclaimed, completely oblivious to the electricity in the air.

  Thank God!

  “There are more up there. Lots more, but these were too beautiful to pass up.”

  “That’s for sure.” Gertrude whistled softly. “Wait until the men of Apple Valley get a load of you wearing this stuff.”

  “Should be interesting,” Cade said. “Seeing as how she’s going with me.”

  “I didn’t mean anything, Cade. It’s just, you and Tess are old friends. That’s all you’ve ever been,” Gertrude said as she touched the rich velvet. “And Tess is getting up there in years. She needs to find herself a man before it’s too late.”

  “What? I’m twenty-eight!”

  “That’s an old maid in most parts of the world,” Gertrude huffed.

  “I hate to interrupt the argument, but I need to head into the office,” Cade cut in. “I’ll give you a call after I talk to Zim, Tess.”

  “Talk to Zim about what?” Gertrude barked, her focus turned from Tessa’s old-maid status to her least favorite neighbor.

  Cade had planned it that way. Tess could see the gleam in his eyes, the smile he wasn’t quite hiding. “Tess will explain.”

  “No, she won’t. She’s about as tight-lipped as a toddler with a penny in his mouth.”

  “What does that even mean?” Tess asked, exasperated and frustrated.

  “You’d know if you’d had any children, but at the rate you’re going your ovaries are going to shrivel—”

  “I think that’s my cue to get out of here. I’ll call later.” Cade walked out of the room.

  Tess followed. Anything to keep from hearing the rest of what Gertrude had to say about her shriveled ovaries.

  “Thanks for stopping by,” she said as Cade opened the front door. Please, come again when we have a little more privacy and a lot more time.

  She managed to keep the thought to herself. Barely.

  He smiled, and she was nearly certain he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  “Do me a favor, Red. Don’t tell Gertrude that Zim was in here Sunday. I don’t want her going over and confronting him.”

  “I won’t.” The last thing she wanted to do was bail her aunt out of prison.

  “And one more thing.” He pulled her close, his lips brushing her temple, his words tickling the fine hair there. “Wear the purple dress. I like the way it feels.”

  He gave her a leisurely kiss that made her toes curl and her heart race, and then he left.

  She stood on the threshold long after he drove away, cold winter air sweeping into the foyer, the leaves rustling in the trees outside; and just below the sound of wind and leaves, a soft sigh of sound that could have been anything, but sounded just exactly like her sister laughing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cade could still smell Tessa’s perfume as he pulled up to the station, and he was half tempted to turn around and go back to her place. He jumped out of the truck to keep himself from doing it. He had to work. Even if he didn’t, he wouldn’t rush things with Tess. He’d been given a second chance, a golden opportunity. He wasn’t going to screw it up.

  He walked into the building, waving to Emma and snagging a cookie from her desk. “Anything I need to know about?”

  “Harrison Sheffield’s prize goose is missing. He said it’s the best he’s ever raised, and he planned on serving it to a party of twenty on Christmas day.”

  “Doesn’t this happen every year?”

  “It does.” She glanced at a printout that lay on her desk. “At least it has every year since 2005.”

  “That was about the time he was diagnosed with dementia, right?” Harrison had been a teacher for forty years. A well-loved member of the community, he’d retired ten years ago but still volunteered as a teacher’s aide at the middle school. Sure, he had moments of forgetfulness, but the kids and staff at the school helped him through it.

  “Right.”

  “Did you talk to his wife?”

  “Not yet. Harrison called it in. He said his wife was in town having dinner with friends. He went to feed the animals and realized the goose was missing from the yard. He’s about ready to go over and accuse Peter Morris of theft.”

  “Poor Pete. The guy has his hands full being Harrison’s neighbor. Send a deputy out. Non-emergency. Have him check the pen in the barn close to Harrison’s house. That’s where he usually puts the goose before he butchers it for Christmas dinner.”

  “Maybe we should just leave the poor thing there. Or, better yet, free it. If he thinks it’s missing anyway—”

  “Emma, you know that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.”

  “It would be right for the poor goose.”

  “Country living. You should be used to it. You grew up on a chicken farm.”

  “Why do you think I became a vegetarian?”

  Cade laughed and grabbed another cookie, eating it as he walked to Max’s office. He knocked once, then opened the door.

  Max looked up from his computer screen. “Way to wait for an invitation,” he said dryly.

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  “Just filing a report on the vandalism at the elementary school yesterday afternoon.”

  “What did the kids’ parents say when you brought them home?”

  “They were very polite and very sorry. Until the doors closed. Then I could hear the hollering from the street.”

  “Good. Maybe they’ll put the fear of God into their
offspring, and we won’t get called out to pick those boys up again.”

  “Seeing as how both the boys were in hysterics when I put them in the backseat of the cruiser, I think it’s safe to say they had plenty of fear put into them,” Max said, typing something into the computer. “Plus, they were using washable marker on the windows. I don’t think they’re hardened criminals just yet. So, what’s up?”

  “I thought we’d take a ride over to Zim’s house. Bring him in and ask him a few questions about that missing angel.”

  “If we arrest him, we can get his prints while we’re at it. I have a feeling we’re going to find a matching set on the display case.” Max stood and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair.

  “If we arrest him, the news will be all over town within an hour. I want to be sure of what he did, before anyone in town gets wind of what we suspect. It will be better for everyone that way. Including us.”

  “Fine by me, but we’d sure as hell have an easier time of things if we had his fingerprints.”

  “We’ll go by the book and ask if he’s willing to be fingerprinted. If he didn’t take the angel, he shouldn’t protest.”

  “Zim protests everything. This morning he was at the diner complaining that his coffee was hot.”

  “It was twenty degrees out this morning.”

  “He doesn’t care what the temperature is, he likes his coffee lukewarm. Now that I and half the town know it, we’ll all make sure that’s what he gets, just to shut him up.” Max grabbed his coat from the back of his chair. “Come on. Let’s go pick the old man up. It’ll keep me awake.”

  “Late night?” Cade asked as they walked into the hall.

  “Date night. A little honey I met in Spokane.” He grinned, leading the way back to the lobby. “I’m seeing her again tomorrow night. Then I’ll have to break it off.”

  “Does she know that?”

  “Not yet.”

  “And you don’t feel just a little guilty about that?”

  “Why should I? We’re having fun together. No promises. No commitment. We both know it, and I’m going to make sure neither of us forgets it.”

  “By dumping her after the second date?”

  “You’re a quick study, Cunningham.”