by B. L. Mooney
“Nothing is wrong, but I kind of messed up.”
She nodded her head. “Yep, go with the vibrator.”
“I think it’s going to take more than that to get past this.”
All joking stopped and she looked at me. “What happened?”
“I handcuffed her to the bed.”
“Okay. There has to be more to it than that unless you haven’t let her go yet.”
“She didn’t know I was going to do it.”
She came around the counter and stood in front of me. “You did let her go, right?”
“Yes! Come on. I wouldn’t—”
She slapped the back of my head. “She’s terrified about being arrested again and you fucking handcuff her as a surprise?” She shook her head and started cleaning up the lobby. “I really can’t believe you, Mick.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “I know. I just wanted to prove she could trust me.”
“Oh, yeah. I’d so trust you after that move. What happened?”
“Well, I didn’t need a vibrator to satisfy her.”
She stopped straightening the magazines and looked at me. “She went through with the sex?”
“Yes. She fought the handcuffs at first, but I don’t know.” I sat down and leaned forward to put my face in my hands. “It sounds so bad when I say it out loud.”
She sighed and sat next to me. “Is she talking to you?”
“Kind of. She didn’t at first, but I went over there last night and spent the evening with her and her niece, Amy.”
“If she’s talking to you, then just keep talking. It’s a good sign.”
“I want to ask her to marry me.”
She shoved me and stood up to do it again. “Get out!” She flung her arms around me and squeezed me tightly.
It was muffled, but I managed to speak. “So, you approve?”
“Approve? Of course, I approve.” She squeezed me once more and stood up. “I just don’t know if now would be the right time to do it.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m not sure if she’s ready for it, but at the same time, I want her to know she’s who I want for the rest of my life no matter what happens with the case.”
“I think with Deb you should start out smaller.”
“What do you mean?”
“Give her real estate in your apartment.”
“Sign over my apartment? But it’s part of the building.”
“No, dumbass. Clean out a couple drawers and make some room in the closet. Get your shit out of the bathroom and let her put tampons and makeup stuff in there.”
“Oh.” I liked the idea of it. I could do without the tampons under the sink, but if it meant Deb felt more secure, I could live with it.
“You’re freaked about the tampons, aren’t you?”
“Well, it isn’t something I’m very comfortable with, but I’ll deal with it.”
She shook her head and went back behind the counter. “You guys are unbelievable.”
“Mick?”
Shit. I had the contents of my entire underwear drawer in my arms. I shut the drawer and ran to the bed and dropped it all just as she walked in. I tried to act casual. “Hey.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and looked at the bed. “Did I interrupt something? The door was open and you weren’t downstairs working with the guys.”
“Nope. I really should do my laundry more often.”
She shook her head and went back to the living room. “I just thought we could talk.”
I followed. “Okay. Where’s Amy?”
“She’s with my parents. They’re like her grandparents now and they both love it.” She plopped on the sofa.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” I put my hands in my pockets.
“Of course it is. I didn’t mean it like that.”
I sat next to her but didn’t touch her. I wanted to, but she seemed to need her space. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Trust.” She sat up and turned her body to face me, putting more distance between us. “I’m not sure what the deal is, Mick. I don’t know why you felt the need to do that.”
“You don’t tell me anything. How do I know you trust me if you keep me out?”
“I’ve been on my own for my entire life. I’m not used to leaning on someone. I’m not used to sharing my thoughts or feelings.” She looked down to her hands in her lap. “I’m not used to caring about what people think of me.”
“I think you’re pretty wonderful.”
She blushed a little. “I’m not used to hearing things like that, either.” She looked up and caught my eyes.
The hurt she held in her eyes was like a punch to my gut, especially because I was part of that hurt. I never wanted to hurt her again. “I’ll spend the rest of my life telling you how amazing you are and making up for the colossal mistake I made.”
She stood up and looked out the window. “I’m used to people promising me things to get what they want. I just haven’t figured out what you want yet. My parents wanted a babysitter so they could continue to live their lives. My ex-husband wanted a business partner. Craig, well, he wanted a bitch to do with as he pleased.”
She turned to me with tears in her eyes and crossed her arms. “I don’t know what you want yet. I’m not sure what your angle is.”
I stood. “Angle?” I walked over to her but took my time. I didn’t want to scare her. “I love you, not some angle. I want to live the rest of my life with you. I want to make you happy.” I reached out and pulled her close when she didn’t back away. “I want to have our own Amy someday. The only thing that would’ve made last night perfect is if Amy had been ours.”
She cried in my arms. It was hard to hear, but it sounded more like relief than pain. Her grip on my shirt was tight. I bent down and picked her up to carry her to the sofa. She let go of my shirt to wrap her arms around me.
I wasn’t sure how long we sat there holding each other, but it wasn’t long enough. I never wanted to let her go. If the only place she felt loved was in my arms, they’d have to pry me off her to separate us.
“I promise to never test you again. I guess that’s what I was doing, but I didn’t realize it. I’m so sorry, Deb.”
She kissed me. “I know. Just don’t do it again.”
“I won’t. I won’t handcuff you, either.”
“Well . . .” She smiled. “Let’s think of something to use other than handcuffs.”
My eyes got wide and I smiled. “Really?” I nuzzled her neck.
She laughed and pushed me away. “What are you really doing with your underwear? Carl hasn’t talked you into going commando, has he?”
“Uh, no. That’s a little more than I wanted to learn about Carl.”
Hearing her laughter helped me believe she was going to be okay. I’d make sure of it. “Me, too, but if I know something, you’re going to know it now.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t as carefree as I wanted to feel. I still had one more secret. I cleared my throat.
She sat up and looked at me. “You’re not picturing him naked, are you?”
“I wasn’t, but now . . .” I shook my head. “I have to tell you something.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not. Kelly’s a plant.”
She tried to suppress her smile, but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “Oh?”
“Do you understand what I mean? She’s a cop. She’s someone who answered your ad for help at the direction of my father.”
“I already know.” She got off my lap and stretched. “What’s funny is the word ‘plant’ in a floral shop.” She walked to the bedroom.
“Wait, how did you know?”
She started folding my underwear and shrugged at my question. “Are you going to tell me why you bother to wait until you wear every last pair before you wash them?”
“I’ll tell you the truth about my underwear if you tell me how you knew Kelly was working for my dad.”
S
he sighed and looked at me. “Kelly’s boyfriend came over to the shop once. Only, he didn’t wear street clothes. I came in the back and panicked until I saw them kiss. I realized he was there for her, not me. I’m getting better with the cop thing, but it’s going to take time.”
“What about that gave Kelly up? Just because her boyfriend is a cop, doesn’t mean she is.”
“That’s true, but he asked about the nut job she had to babysit and she defended me.” She smiled. “She made him buy her a big bouquet and take it home.”
I shrugged one shoulder. “That sounds like Kelly. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to get her in trouble. I think she’s kind of new to undercover.”
I nodded. “She is, but she’s great with detail, and that’s what my father wanted. He needed her attention to detail.”
She picked up a pair of underwear and threw it at me. “So, what’s the story here?”
“Well.” As I started to explain that I wanted her to feel comfortable to move some of her items in, I got extremely nervous. It wasn’t what I had planned, but honestly, I hadn’t planned anything. I didn’t even know how to ask it.
“Seriously, what’s going on?”
“I was clearing out a drawer for you.”
She looked at the pile of underwear on the bed and walked over to the empty drawer. She opened it and looked at me. “You want me to bring stuff over here?”
“If you want to. I even cleaned out the bathroom to make room for your . . . stuff.”
“My stuff, huh?”
“Yeah, your woman things.” I smiled.
She raised her eyebrow. “Woman stuff?” She laughed and wrapped her arms around me. “I love you.”
I grabbed her arms and held her away from me to look at her. “You what?” I smiled. “Say it again.”
She smiled and looked down. Whether it was a slip of the tongue or not, I never thought I’d hear her say those words. I longed to hear them. I dreamt of hearing them. I just wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to say it.
She looked at me and smiled even bigger. “I love you.”
I picked her up and spun her around the room. Eventually, I stopped spinning but still held her in my arms and kissed her. I walked toward the bed, but she backed her head away before I laid her down.
“I’ve got to work the shop. Kelly needs the afternoon off.”
“Damn.”
“I know, but I’ll come back after I close up.”
“No, you won’t.”
She gave me a puzzled look. “I won’t?”
“Not if you still have Amy tonight.”
“Damn.” She shrugged. “I guess you’ll have to wait for tomorrow night.” She smiled and walked out.
I was a little antsy not having anyone to talk to. Telling Mick I loved him was an accident. I did love him, but I hadn’t planned on saying it like that the first time. I wanted to talk to Rachael, but she was on a romantic weekend with Carl. I wanted to talk to Drew, but she was on her honeymoon with my brother.
The phone rang and startled me. I shook my head. “Deb’s Dew Drops. How may I help you?” I picked up the mail as I answered the phone.
“Say it again?”
I laughed when I realized it was Mick. “Deb’s Dew—”
“No, no, no. You know what I mean.” He started laughing. “Say it.”
“This is the last time! I have work to do.” I made him wait a little longer.
“Come on!”
I couldn’t help the smile spreading across my face. “I love you, Mick. Even though you’re crazy and completely a bad influence on me, I do love you very much.”
“So, when you say love . . .” He was behind me and wrapped his arms around me.
I put the phone down and hugged his arms. “I mean I’m completely in love with you.” I turned and kissed him.
He backed me up against the counter. “I don’t think we’ve had sex in here yet.”
“No, but we aren’t going to start today.” I kissed him again.
The bell dinged indicating someone had come in and I smiled. My parents called to say they were on their way to bring Amy back to me and I thought it was them who had come in. I could tell it wasn’t when Mick backed up.
“You have a customer. I’m going to check on the progress next door since I haven’t been there much today, but I’ll be back.”
He gave me a quick kiss and headed out the back. I turned to help the customer, only it wasn’t. “Tom?”
“Hello, Deb.” He looked around. “How are you?”
I cleared my throat and wondered how much he saw between Mick and me. “I’m well and you?”
He nodded and looked around more. “I heard you were in business for yourself. I must say I’m not surprised. You always had a brilliant business sense.” He turned back to me.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?”
“I’m getting married again, and I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else.”
“Well, congratulations. I’m not sure what that has to do with me. Unless you want me to make your floral arrangements, but that would be kind of awkward.”
“You really are doing well, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. Why would you think otherwise? Honestly, why are you thinking of me at all?”
“I’ve had some disturbing phone calls lately. I came back for a meeting regarding them. They were about you.”
“Me?” I shook my head. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”
“Detective McCoy was demanding an interview with me about our relationship.”
I closed my eyes. “He’s never going to give up.”
“He will stop contacting me. I told him any further questioning could go through my attorney. He was bordering on harassment.” He shrugged. “Since I was in town for that, I thought I’d stop by and see you. You were my friend before we got married.”
I nodded. “You were mine, too.” I put my hands in my back pockets and looked at him. “How is everything?”
He smiled. “I think everything is just about perfect for both of us. You seem pretty involved with that guy who left.” He looked around the shop. “You’ve started your own business. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
“And you look really good, Deb.” He took a step forward and hesitated before shaking his head and continuing toward me. He surprised me by hugging me. “I’m very happy to see you doing so well. You had me worried for quite some time.”
I hugged him back. “Worried?”
He held me at arm’s length and nodded. “After the divorce, you hated me and the world so much. I wasn’t sure you’d ever climb out of that.” He let go and motioned to my body. “But now you’re looking absolutely stunning. You look as if you have life by the balls and are showing it who’s the boss.”
I laughed. Tom wasn’t a crass type of guy. At least he wasn’t when we were together. “I’ll say it took me longer than it takes most people to find their way, but I do think I’m finding it.”
“I’m incredibly happy for you.”
I heard the back door and turned as Mick walked in. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll wait in the back.”
“No, come here. I want you to meet someone.”
Mick walked up and put his arm around me. I wasn’t sure if it was because he wanted to touch me or because he wanted to stake his claim on me. Either way, I was okay with it.
“Mick, this is my ex-husband Tom. Tom, this is my . . . boyfriend Mick.”
Tom extended his hand to Mick. “It’s nice to meet the man who can make Deb happy.”
Mick shook his hand and nodded. “So, what brings you back? Deb said you lived out of state now.”
“I do. I was asked to come in for a meeting and thought I’d visit while I was here.”
“McCoy summoned him here.”
Mick looked at me and back to Tom. “What did he want?”
“He wante
d to know about our relationship, why we divorced, and if she was ever violent.” He shrugged. “Of course, he didn’t get the answers he was looking for because nothing he asked pertained to our relationship.”
Mick looked at me. “I’ve got to call my dad. He’s up to something.”
I nodded. “Keep me posted.”
He turned to Tom. “My father is a police officer who is trying to help close Deb’s case. He may need to call you for information.”
“Sure, but why is the case still open? I thought it was self-defense.”
“It is, but there’s an asshole who thinks he can get a promotion for this case.”
Tom looked at me. “I’ll be here for whatever you need. If you need an attorney, I still have Dan on retainer.”
“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you to offer Dan, but I’ll be fine.”
“It’s an open offer. You know Dan will take care of it. Just call me if you need me.”
“I will.”
He turned to Mick. “I’m headed back soon, so if your father needs to talk to me, he’d better do it tonight.”
Mick nodded and kissed my cheek before heading out the back again. My parents walked in and stopped when they saw Tom. My father didn’t look pleased.
“Tom, what are you doing here?”
“I came to congratulate your daughter on her wonderful business venture.” He walked up to them, extended his hand to my father then kissed my mother’s cheek. “Dennis, Gloria. It was good to see you.” He turned to me. “I need to head back to the hotel and get some work done, but I’m just a phone call away should you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
My parents waited until he left to give me the third degree, but I stopped them before either got a word out. “He’s getting married and didn’t want me to hear from someone else.
It wasn’t a good enough reason for my father. “Why the hell should you care?”
“He hasn’t really heard of the good things, has he? The last time he heard from me, I was a bitter and hateful woman. What would you do if you were about to marry the woman of your dreams and your psycho ex-wife got upset over the news?”
“Another one?” Amy sounded exasperated. “I can’t believe everyone is getting married!”
I smiled at her dramatics. “Is something wrong with people getting married?”
