“Tell him.”
“Tell him what?”
“Love him. Yes?”
“Yes, I love him, the big dope. But apparently he doesn’t love me. If he did, he wouldn’t be acting—”
“Tell him. Love him.” “You think I should tell him I love him?”
“Yes.”
“And what if I just wind up making a fool of myself?”
Jazzy laughed.
Reve leaned down and kissed her sister’s cheek. “Stop worrying about me and Jacob. You go to Nashville and get well. I’ll drive up often to visit. And in the meantime, if you’ll promise not to worry about me, I’ll take your advice and make sure Jacob Butler knows that I love him.”
“Good. Tell him. Soon.”
“I will. I promise.”
That night at Jazzy’s Joint, while she tried to get some paperwork done, all she could think about was Jacob and her promise to her sister. Why don’t you call him and ask him to come over? Or better yet, you know where he lives. Go to him. And don’t put it off. Do it tonight. If he rejects you, you’ll find a way to deal with it. But at least you’ll know where you stand.
“Reve, come on out to the bar right now.” Lacy Fallon stood in the open office doorway.
“What’s wrong?”
“Jacob just walked in and guess who jumped him the minute he came through the door—Mindy Harper.”
“Oh, she did, did she?” Reve jumped up and came flying around the desk. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to go out there and tell her to keep her hands off my man.”
“You are? Hot damn!” Lacy followed Reve out of the office and down the hall.
After they reached the bar, Reve stopped and surveyed the joint. When she saw Jacob on the dance floor with Mindy Harper, she growled.
“If I’d known you were going to forget you were a lady tonight, I’d have brought my video camera,” Lacy said. “After all, you and Jacob might like to have this on tape to show your kids someday.”
“That’s okay,” Reve said. “I’m sure every minute of this night will be recorded in my memory and in Jacob’s.”
Reve marched out onto the dance floor and straight up to Jacob and Mindy. She tapped on Mindy’s shoulder and said, “I’m cutting in.”
Jacob halted and stared at Reve. Mindy whirled around and said, “The hell you are.”
“Look, sister, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up.” Reve planted her hands on her hips. “Take your damn hands off my man and do it right now.”
“And if I don’t?” Mindy glared up at Reve, who was several inches taller and outweighed her by more pounds than Reve wanted to admit.
“Take a good look at me. I’m twice your size and I’m mad as hell. You want to tangle with me, then bring it on.” Reve motioned to Mindy.
Mindy stared at Reve for a couple of minutes, then turned back to Jacob. “Is she right—do you belong to her?”
Jacob shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
Huffing loudly, Mindy turned and pranced off toward the bar.
When Reve thought for sure Jacob would welcome her with open arms, he turned and walked away. She stood there on the dance floor, surrounded by couples as the song on the jukebox ended. Before she had a chance to feel like a total fool, she realized Jacob was punching in a number on the juke box. She waited, holding her breath and praying. Then the uniquely beautiful voice of Pasty Cline filled Jazzy’s Joint. Reve’s heart went wild. Butterflies fluttered maddeningly in her stomach. He came toward her, slowly, taking his time. And suddenly the whole world exploded in a frenzy of happiness as he took her in his arms. They moved languidly to the rhythm of the old country ballad, “He Called Me Baby.”
“You kind of staked your claim tonight, didn’t you?” Jacob whispered in her ear.
“I guess I did.”
“I guess I was wrong when I figured you wanted me to give you some space because you were having second thoughts about us.”
“You were wrong,” she told him. “And just so there’s no more misunderstandings—” She stopped, reached up and cupped his face between her hands. “I love you. Do you hear me? I love you like crazy, you big country hick, Apache chief wannabe, and I want to marry you and have your babies and spend the rest of my life in your arms.”
“Ah, baby, baby . . .”
“Let’s get out of here.” She took his hand in hers. “Take me upstairs and call me baby, baby, all night long.”
He tugged on her hand, yanked her back and into his arms, then leaned down until his lips touched hers. “I’m crazy in love with you, too, Miss High and Mighty.”
And then he kissed her. A loud, joyous roar nearly lifted the roof off Jazzy’s Joint when the other patrons cheered Jazzy’s sister and the man she’d laid claim to tonight.
Epilogue
Jazzy Talbot walked down the aisle at the Congregationalist church on the first Saturday evening in December, a little over a year after being brutally attacked by Veda MacKinnon. In the year that had passed, Veda had committed suicide at the state mental institution where she’d been committed, and the FBI and state and local authorities had closed the books on the Redhead Killer’s case, burying the past with Brian MacKinnon. And Farlan MacKinnon had spent the past year trying his best to make amends to his twin daughters. Although the three of them had a way to go yet, the fact that Farlan was walking his daughter down the aisle tonight made a statement to everyone in attendance. Half the county had been invited to the biggest, most elabor ate wedding ceremony in the history of Cherokee Pointe, paid for by the bride’s father.
Reve stood beside Genny, the two of them acting as Jazzy’s matrons of honor. And on the other side of the minister, Jacob stood beside Dallas, the two of them serving as Caleb’s best man. Reve glanced at her beautiful sister as she entered the sanctuary and thanked God that nine months of physical therapy had restored Jazzy to her former good health. Jazzy and Caleb had returned to Cherokee Pointe four months ago, and Miss Reba had immediately begun planning what she called an unforgettable wedding. It had been nothing short of amazing to see Reba Upton happily working with Jazzy to make sure every detail of Jazzy’s wedding would be perfect. Perhaps the fact that she was a new bride herself made Miss Reba so genuinely caring. This past summer, Big Jim and she had flown to Reno and acquired a quick divorce, dissolving their long and unhappy union. Miss Reba had flown home and straight into Dodd Keefer’s waiting arms, and the two were married in a quiet, private ceremony only two months ago. But Big Jim hadn’t waited even one day before marrying his long-time mistress, Erin Mercer, in a Las Vegas chapel, before they spent their honeymoon in one of the most expensive suites in Sin City.
As Reve glanced at family and friends seated in the first few rows, she smiled at Sally Talbot and Ludie, both decked out in floor-length gowns, with hairdos compliments of a local beauty salon. Lacy Fallon had her hands full keeping Madoc Sloan pacified because Genny and Dallas’s squirming, six-month-old, blond-haired baby boy had his big brown eyes wide open and was taking in the evening’s big event.
When Farlan paused before the altar, he leaned down and kissed Jazzy’s cheek, then glanced over and smiled at Reve. She returned her father’s smile, knowing that he was remembering walking her down the aisle this past June, on the day she became Jacob’s wife.
As the ceremony began, Reve’s gaze connected with her husband’s, the man she loved with all her heart, the man who made her happy on a daily basis. Instinctively, her hand rested on her rounded belly in a motherly, protective gesture. Only this past week, she’d gotten her first sonogram. Jacob had been at her side, holding her hand, when they saw their daughter for the first time. In approximately four months, little Miss Dinah Butler would make her debut. And unless she missed her guess, Reve figured this old world would never be the same again.
If you enjoyed If Looks Could Kill, check out these other great Beverly Barton titles.
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With every kill, his strength increases. But this time is different. This time he has found his perfect fifth victim... Deep in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, the victim lies, sacrificed on a makeshift altar — the gruesome work of a killer who has evaded the authorities across the country. FBI agent Dallas Sloan knows the scene all too well — just as he knows the killings won’t stop. Not until there are four more bodies...
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Whether you run or whether you hide, he’ll find you. And then he’ll kill you... The game is simple–he is the Hunter. They are the prey. And they’re both entangled in a terrifying game of hide and seek... Private investigator Griffin Powell and FBI agent Nicole Baxter know a lot about serial killers — they took one down together. But this new killer is as sadistic as they’ve ever seen. He likes his little games, and he especially likes forcing Nicole and Griff to play along.
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Jordan Price doesn’t look like your typical serial killer...Young and beautiful, she exudes innocence and vulnerability. But after her latest husband dies in mysterious circumstances, Rick Carson is forced to consider her capable of cold–blooded murder.
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When the clock strikes twelve, it’s time to die... One by one, random victims are stalked and shot at close range. Only the killer knows their sins, and who will be the next to die at midnight... Since her fall from Hollywood, actress Lorie Hammonds has returned to her hometown of Alabama and built a new life for herself. When the first death threat arrives, she assumes it’s a joke. But as the notes become more personal, Lorie is running scared.
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About the Author
An avid reader since childhood, Beverly Barton wrote her first book at the age of nine. Since then, she has gone on to write well over sixty novels and is a New York Times bestselling author.
Also by Beverly Barton
Close Enough to Kill
Amnesia
The Dying Game
The Murder Game
Coldhearted
The Fifth Victim
Beg To Die
Time Of Death
About the Publisher
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United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
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United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
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New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
If Looks Could Kill Page 36
