The House on Main Street

by Shirlee McCoy

  “You kept me company, too,” she pointed out, shoving the basket back into the foyer.

  “I can think of a way you can thank me for that, if you’re of a mind to do it,” he responded, tugging her around so they were face-to-face, his gaze dropping to her lips. Her knees went weak, and it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms.

  “I’m not sure that would be appropriate while you’re on duty,” she protested halfheartedly, because she really wasn’t sure she cared about appropriate.

  “A cup of coffee, Red. That’s all I was going to ask for.” He laughed, and she lightly slapped his arm.

  “You’re a rat, you know that?”

  “But a helpful one.” He grinned.

  “True. So, I guess I’ll get you that coffee as soon as I get this sofa inside.”

  “We get it inside,” he corrected her, helping as she maneuvered the sofa into the foyer.

  “Good enough,” she panted. “I can crate it up tomorrow morning, and the shipper will pick it up before noon. Come on in the kitchen, and I’ll get you that coffee.”

  “Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I have to wait outside. If Zim slips out of his house under my radar, my deputies will never let me live it down.”

  He walked down the porch steps, eyeing Zim’s house.

  From where Tess was standing, it looked silent and dark. Was Zim really biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to rid himself of the evidence?

  The angel.

  It seemed inconceivable, but then, three weeks ago, the idea of returning to Apple Valley had been inconceivable.

  And here she was. In Apple Valley.

  It wasn’t nearly as awful as she’d thought.

  As a matter of fact, she might even say the little town was growing on her.

  She made Cade a cup of coffee, bringing it out onto the porch and watching as he walked to his cruiser with it. If the wind hadn’t picked up and the temperature hadn’t been hovering near zero, she probably would have stood there and watched him drink it, too.

  She waved good-night, stepping back into the silent house and turning on the alarm. She walked through the lower level, flicking off lights as she went. No more cluttered front room. No more peeling wallpaper. No more piles and piles of junk. After countless hours of work, the place had finally been transformed. Sure, there were things that still needed to be done, but those things didn’t distract from the beauty and charm of the Victorian architecture. This-N-That would reopen Monday. Tess could finish up the smaller projects as time permitted.

  A posh little antique store in the middle of a picturesque town would be the perfect place for people to shop. She’d used some of her savings to pay the back taxes on the house and had called a dozen creditors to ask for payment plans. She’d been fortunate. Everyone had been understanding, but she still needed to dig out of the debt Emily and Dave had left her.

  “I’ll make it work, Emily,” she whispered to the Christmas tree, because her sister wasn’t around to talk to. “Don’t worry.”

  The wind buffeted the windows and made the chimes on the back deck ring. They weren’t the answer Tess wanted. What she wanted was to hear Emily say that she never worried, because Tess always made things work.

  Even more than that, she wanted to go back in time. She wanted to work a little harder, try a little more to rebuild their broken relationship before it was too late.

  “I’m sorry, Em,” she whispered to the tree and the silent house, her throat tight, her eyes dry and hot.

  She turned off the light and walked up to her room. She didn’t bother changing, just pulled off her sweatshirt and dropped onto the bed in her jeans and cami. The old grandmother clock ticked away the seconds, and Tessa closed her eyes. She wanted to sleep. Her body was heavy with fatigue, but all she could hear was the stupid clock.

  The windowpane rattled, and Tess gave up sleeping. She didn’t turn on the light, just walked across the cold wood floor and pulled back the curtains. Snow fell from the gray-black sky, the flakes fluffy and light.

  Across the street, Cade’s sheriff’s car was dusted with a light layer of snow, the interior light off, exhaust puffing from the back. Behind the car, Charlotte’s house was dark. So were the houses on either side of it. Everyone asleep except for Tess and Cade.

  She leaned close to the glass, knowing he couldn’t see her through the gloom. She was such an idiot to want to go outside and bring him another cup of coffee and maybe one of the cookies a blue-haired lady had dropped by. She knew she’d probably be sorry. She knew that eventually she’d probably get hurt. Cade was a man, after all, and every man she’d ever dated had been a loser.

  She couldn’t make herself care, though, because when she was with Cade, she felt happier than she had in a long time. When she looked in his eyes, she was pretty damn sure she saw the future.

  She turned back to the bed, was halfway there when an earsplitting shriek filled the room. She screamed, the sound swallowed up by the high-pitched alarm.

  Alex. He must be trying to get out of the house again!

  She ran toward the door, tripping over an ottoman in her haste. She landed hard, her hands and knees sliding across hardwood as the door flew open. Gertrude stood on the threshold, her hair standing up in a thousand different directions, Alex standing near her elbow.

  “What the hell is going on?” she screamed as Tessa scrambled to her feet.

  “I don’t know. Someone must be trying to get in the house.” She grabbed a silver mirror from the dresser. Not the best weapon but all she could find. “Stay in my room and lock the door,” she hollered.

  “You can’t go down there alone!”

  “Someone needs to stay with Alex, and you have a broken leg. Stay here,” she repeated, nudging Alex into her room. “Call the police, Gertrude.”

  She crept through the apartment, replacing the mirror with a butcher knife as she made her way through the kitchen. She approached the stairs, felt a cold draft of air sweep across her feet. The front door was closed tight, but somewhere a door or window was open.

  Tess wanted to cower on the landing and wait for help to arrive, but Alex and Gertrude were her responsibility, and she had to take control of the situation. Until she got the alarm turned off, there was no way she could hear trouble coming.

  She tiptoed down the stairs, feeling like the dim-witted victim in a horror movie, a monster lurking below while she clutched a puny little knife and pretended she was safe.

  She made it down the stairs without anyone or anything attacking and punched in the code to shut down the alarm. The house fell silent, the wind still blustering outside, everything else dead still.

  Please, don’t let there be anyone here. Please, don’t let anyone be here.

  Please, don’t . . .

  The doorbell rang and Tessa screamed, the knife dropping from her hand.

  God! She really was just like one of those destined-to-die horror-movie ninnies.

  She retrieved the knife, looked out the peephole.

  Cade. Thank goodness.

  And he wasn’t alone.

  She opened the door and looked into Zimmerman Beck’s pale face.

  “What’s going on?” She stepped back, allowing both men to enter.

  “Do you want to tell her, or should I?” Cade asked.

  Zim flushed. “Dave’s parents gave me keys to the house years ago. I . . . used it to get in your back door.”

  “Why?” was all she could think to say.

  “I was looking for that darn angel,” he muttered.

  “Who’s down there, Tess? What’s going on?” Gertrude appeared at the top of the stairs, her housecoat buttoned up to her neck.

  Tess wished she had a housecoat. Better that than a lacy camisole and holey jeans.

  “Everything is fine, Gertrude. You and Alex can go back to bed,” she said, trying to forestall the battle she knew was coming.

  “I decide when I go to bed,” Gertrude huffed, slowly movi
ng down the stairs, her crutches under her arms. Her gaze was on Zim, her eyes flashing ire.

  “What are you doing here, old man?”

  “Gertrude, don’t start.” Tess squeezed the bridge of her nose, praying for all she was worth that her aunt would not start the war of the century.

  “Start what? It’s the middle of the night, and he’s in my house. I think I have the right to know why.”

  “You’re right. You do.” Zim seemed to be growing paler by the minute, all his usual bravado gone. “Like I told the sheriff, I was looking for the angel.”

  “Why in God’s name would you be doing that? It’s our angel and not your problem. Unless you think we took it just to get the town’s sympathy,” Gertrude spat. “It would be just like you to think that, too. You never did like this family, but I can tell you right now, we didn’t take—”

  “I took it,” Zim said quietly.

  Gertrude sputtered to a stop, her eyes wide with surprise. “What did you just say?”

  “I took the angel.”

  “You took it, and then came here looking for it?” Tessa cut in, more surprised by that than Zim’s confession.

  “It’s a long story.” He ran a hand down his jaw, his face grayish and ancient. He’d aged about a dozen years in the past few minutes, and Tess felt a tug of sympathy for the man.

  “Tell you what.” Gertrude took his arm. “You come in the kitchen. I’ll make some coffee, and you can explain the whole thing.”

  “Actually, Gertrude,” Cade said, cutting in, “I’m going to have to take Zim to the station. I’ll interview him there and get back to you in the morning.”

  “Take him to the station for what?” Gertrude speared Cade with a hard look, acting for all the world like he was the one who’d caused the trouble.

  “He stole Miriam’s angel. He’s going to have to be charged and booked for that.”

  “He’s an old man. You can’t tell me that you’re going to throw him in jail for this little misstep!”

  “I—”

  Cade looked as confused as Tess felt. Five seconds ago, Gertrude had looked like she wanted to roast Zim alive. Now she wanted to protect him?

  “We won’t press charges, will we, Tess?” Gertrude insisted, her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.

  “He did take the angel, Gertrude,” Tess reminded her.

  “And I put it back. I really did,” Zim blurted out.

  “If you put it back, where is it?” Cade asked reasonably.

  Zim shrugged, his rheumy eyes nearly dripping tears. “I’ll be darned if I know. I put it under the Christmas tree. Wrapped it up in a box and even put a bow on it.”

  “When? The day of Gertrude’s accident?” Cade pressed.

  Zim nodded. “Yes. I’m ashamed to say it, Sheriff, but I took advantage of this kind lady’s misfortune.”

  Kind lady?

  Tess nearly snorted. He had to be kidding. Surely he didn’t actually think that anyone would think he was sincere. Or that Gertrude actually was kind.

  “You weren’t taking advantage of anything. You were trying to right a wrong. That’s pretty damn admirable in my book.” Gertrude patted Zim’s shoulder, nearly knocking him off his feet.

  Tess wanted to press a palm to her head to make sure she wasn’t running a fever.

  Cade must have been thinking the same.

  He smoothed his hair, rubbed his neck, frowned. He finally said, “Tell you what. Let’s all go ahead and have some coffee. Zim can tell us exactly what happened, and you and Tess can decide whether or not you want to press charges.”

  “Coffee would be good,” Zim agreed, a little color in his cheeks.

  “Let’s go, then.” Gertrude led the way down the hall, her crutches tapping briskly. She was a woman with a mission, and everyone followed along behind her. Including Tess.

  It didn’t take long for the coffee to brew. By the time it was done, Zim was halfway through his sordid tale of temptation and criminal activity.

  A momentary lapse of judgment during the tea, and he’d slipped the angel from its case because he didn’t think a family that had made such a mess of Main Street should be celebrated. He hadn’t meant to keep it, he insisted. He’d planned to return it, but doing that had been difficult, what with the entire town whispering about the crime.

  Tess sat across from him—Gertrude on one side of her, Cade on the other—and she could barely hold back laughter. Zim had obviously stepped into a lot more trouble than he’d expected to. From the sound of things, he’d been trying to figure out how to return the angel from the moment he took it.

  “Sunday, after Gertrude fell, I knew I had an opportunity.” He took a deep breath, sipped coffee, grabbed a cookie. Now that it seemed he wouldn’t be arrested, he was relishing recounting the details of the story.

  “I had the keys to the house,” he continued. “Of course, I didn’t need to use them. The door was unlocked.” Zim shot Tess a reproachful look. “I carried the package under my coat so no one would see it, and once I got inside, I just put it right underneath the Christmas tree. I knew one of you would notice it. I kept waiting for an announcement about the angel being found. Never happened.”

  “Did you see a present under the tree, Tess?” Cade asked.

  “No.” She looked at Gertrude. “Did you?”

  “I was too hopped up on those painkillers the doc gave me to notice anything. Are you sure you put it there, Zim?”

  “I’m old, but I’m not senile! Of course I put it there.” He snagged another cookie. “Someone took it. That’s what happened. Some miscreant must have seen my misdeed and decided to take the angel himself.”

  “Why would anyone do that, Zim?” Cade crossed to the coffeemaker and refilled his cup, his five o’clock shadow giving him a rugged outdoorsy look that matched his sheriff uniform perfectly. Tess wanted to rest her hand on his jaw, weave her fingers through his hair.

  One thing at a time, she reminded herself. Jaw first. Then hair. Then the buttons on his uniform.

  “Pay attention,” Gertrude hissed, elbowing Tess in the ribs.

  She looked away from Cade, but not before she saw the dimple flash in his cheek.

  “Regardless of what happened, you’re responsible for the angel’s disappearance. You know that, right?” Cade asked once Zim finally wound down.

  “My conscience won’t let me deny it.” Zim moaned, his eyes wet again. “But the angel isn’t where I left it, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

  “Let’s check the parlor again,” Gertrude suggested. “Maybe a customer moved it.”

  “The store has been closed, and I’ve redecorated every room in it. If I didn’t find the package, it’s not here,” Tess reminded her aunt, but Gertrude and Zim were already making their way from the kitchen.

  “Let them go,” Cade said. “It’ll make them both feel better. Besides, it’s good to see them on the same side for a change.”

  “Good? More like a miracle. I just wish the angel really was there. Gertrude is still convinced we’re cursed because it’s not in the house.”

  “I didn’t think Gertrude was the superstitious type.”

  “I didn’t either, but you know Gertrude. She gets an idea in her head, and she can’t let it go.”

  “I’m the same way,” he said, snagging her hand and pulling her close. “And I’ve been having a lot of ideas tonight.”

  “Have you?” she asked, her heart beating so fast, she thought it would burst from her chest.

  “Yes.”

  He nipped her lower lip, and her breath caught, her entire body wanting to flow right into his.

  “You’re on duty, remember?”

  “Not as of thirty seconds ago,” he said, his lips so close to hers that the tiniest breath of movement would have brought them together.

  And dear God above, she wanted that! His lips. His chest. His broad, firm back.

  “Really?” She sighed.

  “Really,” he murmured, his hand
s inching along her sides, his fingers skimming the curve of her breasts.

  She was breathless, caught in the moment, and she didn’t care. Not one bit.

  “You can tell me to stop,” he whispered, his gaze dipping to her lips.

  “Why would I?” She slid her hands into his hair, loving the thick, silky feel of it.

  And his lips!

  His lips were like a little taste of heaven.

  He groaned, pulling her tight against him. Every hollow, every ridge, every part of him touching every part of her, and she wanted it to last. Not just for that moment: forever.

  “We didn’t find . . . Whoa!” Gertrude squealed.

  Tess jumped back, nearly falling over a chair in her haste.

  “Careful!” Cade grabbed her shoulder, his eyes dark with passion, and Tess was seriously ready to fall into his arms all over again.

  Gertrude eyed them for a moment, her face set in a deep scowl.

  “It’s hard to believe, Zim,” she finally said. “It really is. After all these years, the hardheaded fool of a boy has finally figured out which one of the Riley girls he’s supposed to be with.”

  “It seems that way.” Zim nodded sagely.

  “He’s not a boy,” Tess pointed out.

  “I’d like to think that I’m not a hardheaded fool, either,” Cade added, flashing a smile that made Tessa’s stomach flip and her heart jump and everything inside her shout for joy.

  “Right,” Tess agreed. “That, either.”

  Zim cleared his throat and stretched his neck like a rooster ready to crow. “Since Tess does not have a father to look out for her, I think it’s best if I step in and ask what your intentions are, Sheriff.”

  “Yeah. What are your intentions, Sheriff?” Gertrude repeated, her eyes narrowing.

  “My intentions?” Cade glanced at Tess, his eyes still smoldering, a half smile still curving his lips.

  Don’t you dare, she tried to say with her eyes, but obviously he wasn’t listening.

  His gaze dropped to her cream-colored cami and his smile broadened. “Well,” he drawled, “if you really want to know, the first thing I plan to do is—”

  “You know what?” she interrupted, “I . . . think I’d better check on Alex.”

  Then she did what any self-respecting woman would do.