About That Man

by Sherryl Woods

  “Oh, go to hell,” she snapped. “This is all your fault.”

  “You’ll have to explain that one to me.”

  “It just is.”

  Walker bit back a grin. “Now there’s a rational bit of logic. How very female.”

  She slammed on the brakes so hard, he almost banged his head on the windshield. When he’d recovered, he turned to find her staring straight ahead with what might have been tears glistening on her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” she said so softly he almost didn’t hear her.

  “What? I thought I heard you apologizing.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” she retorted.

  “Maybe we ought to start over. I don’t think we understand each other’s point of view here.”

  “Probably not,” she conceded with a sigh. “It’s just that Tommy means a lot to me. I don’t want to see him hurt.”

  “Believe it or not, Ms. Spencer, neither do I.”

  She finally turned to face him. “Since it looks like it’s going to be a long night, maybe you ought to call me Daisy.”

  Walker chuckled. “I always prefer to be on a first-name basis when I’m spending the night with a woman.”

  “Yes, I imagine you do.”

  He was pretty sure he saw a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. It wouldn’t do to focus on that, though. He had the feeling that thinking about those lips could get him into a whole lot of trouble.

  “How well do you know Tommy?” he asked instead.

  “Better the last few days, but even before that, he and I had a certain rapport. He was in my Sunday school class. He has an irreverent attitude that reminds me of the way I always longed to be when I was his age. Because of that I let him get away with quite a lot.” A full-fledged smile spread across her face. “I suppose this is payback for that leniency.”

  Walker seized on the hint of wistfulness in her voice when she talked about yearning to rebel. “Somehow I can’t envision you ever having a rebellious streak.”

  “You’d have to talk to my brothers and my father, then. They could tell you. Especially Tucker. He knows exactly how many times I came really, really close to trying to break free of my father.”

  “But you never did it?”

  “Not until now,” she confessed with obvious regret. “Well, my moving into town put his nerves on edge, but he got over that.”

  “And what have you done recently?”

  “I took in Tommy. Believe me, it has my father in an uproar, though he hasn’t shown his face around here himself. He’s sent everybody else to do his dirty work. I’m sure Tucker and Bobby showing up tonight was no accident. That pie they were carrying came straight from my father’s kitchen. They were probably here with yet another lecture on how I’m trying to ruin my life.”

  “By taking in a little boy?”

  “A little boy who tried to steal my jewelry,” she said.

  This was the first Walker had heard about any jewelry being taken. His gut clenched at the thought. “Tommy tried to steal your jewelry?”

  Her expression fell. “Damn, me and my big mouth. Yes, he tried to take it. He intended to sell it to get money for food in case I wouldn’t let him stay.”

  “But you caught him?”

  “Actually, Tucker caught him. It was incredibly inconvenient since it only added fuel to the fire, but I managed to assure them both that it would not, under any circumstances, happen again. I think Tommy got the message.”

  Walker sighed. “I hope you’re right,” he said, envisioning his nephew well on his way to a life of crime.

  “Tommy is not a thief,” Daisy said, as if she’d read his mind.

  “What would you call it?”

  “He’s scared and he’s acting out.”

  “Stealing is stealing, no matter the reason. Don’t make excuses for him.”

  “Spoken like a true cop.”

  “I am a cop.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can’t make allowances for circumstances.”

  “Making allowances is the reason petty thieves turn into career criminals.”

  “Tommy doesn’t need a hard-liner in his life. He needs someone with a little compassion.”

  Walker shook his head. Daisy’s soft-hearted, do-gooder nature had just come out into the open. The woman was too naive for her own good. He’d met a hundred others just like her, always eager to defend the juvenile offender as being “just a kid.”

  He was tempted to enlighten her with a few stories of kids who’d been let off too easy by the courts, only to turn right around and commit the kind of serious crimes that gave the justice system a bad name. She wouldn’t get it, though. She wouldn’t give a hoot about those kids, when they were talking about Tommy.

  “Maybe we should just concentrate on finding my nephew,” he said finally. “And agree to disagree about the rest of it.”

  “Maybe we should,” she concurred, though she looked oddly disappointed.

  He studied her speculatively. “Unless you’d rather argue about it some more.”

  She grinned. “And waste my breath? I don’t think so.”

  “So, where do you think Tommy might be hiding?”

  “Could be anywhere,” she said with a shrug. “Just about every house in this area has some kind of garage or toolshed in back. And a lot of them have docks on the river with boats tied up. Tommy’s fascinated with boats.”

  “Would he steal one?”

  She looked taken aback, but she considered the question before shaking her head. “I don’t think so. Not with night coming on, anyway.”

  “Okay, then, what about those cliffs Mrs. Jackson mentioned? Are they dangerous?”

  “They’re clay and they’re slippery, but I doubt Tommy would be anywhere near them. Frances just said that to get all of us moving.”

  “Why don’t you think he’s headed in that direction?”

  “Because the cliffs are at the state park miles away from here. Trinity Harbor has nice sandy beaches. The only danger to Tommy there would be catching a chill if he were foolish enough to go in the river.”

  “You’re not really worried about him, are you?” he guessed.

  “Not especially. Trinity Harbor is a safe place. Tucker sees to it.”

  “Then why the ruckus back at your house?”

  “I think my brothers and Frances just wanted to get us out from underfoot so they could decide what’s best for Tommy without our input.”

  “And we’re supposed to live with whatever they decide?” Walker asked incredulously.

  “Not me,” Daisy said at once. “I’m rebelling, remember?”

  Walker chuckled. “And doing a darn fine job of it, I might add.”

  “Thank you.” She slanted a look his way. “I really do love Tommy, you know.”

  “I know,” Walker said. “And I just want the chance to get to know my sister’s son. I don’t have any idea what’s best or how this is going to work out.”

  “You’ll keep an open mind, then?” she asked.

  Her eyes were shining with what he guessed to be hope, though he couldn’t begin to interpret exactly what she was wishing for or why. “If you will,” he agreed.

  She nodded slowly. “I can do that.”

  Walker held out his hand. “Then we have a deal.”

  But Daisy evidently wasn’t satisfied with a handshake. She stopped the car and, before he realized what she intended, slid across the seat and gave him a fierce hug.

  Walker froze at the feel of her soft curves pressing into him, at the whisper of her breath against his cheek. The latter meant those incredibly tempting lips of hers were too close to be ignored. He turned and without taking the time to think about what was smart or right or anything else, he kissed her.

  And realized belatedly that he’d just slammed smack into more danger than he ever had on the streets of D.C.

  5

  “Maybe we’d better go back,” Daisy whispered, when she could finally unscramble
her thoughts after Walker had ended that totally unexpected, mind-boggling kiss. Nobody had ever kissed sensible Daisy Spencer with such total abandon, such wicked hunger. She was too stunned to even contemplate lecturing him on the inappropriateness of his behavior. In fact, she was wondering if she could get him to kiss her again.

  Bad idea, her remaining functioning brain cell announced. “We definitely need to go back,” she said more emphatically. “Besides, we’ve been driving around for two solid hours, and there hasn’t been a sign of Tommy. Maybe the others are having better luck.”

  “Yeah, good idea,” he said, barely sparing her a glance.

  To Daisy he sounded a little too eager. She found it vaguely insulting. Not that she intended to let him see it. She wasn’t going to let him think for a second that she was some inexperienced country girl who could be shaken by a simple kiss.

  “Well?” he prodded when she still hadn’t started the engine. “Are we going back or not? My gut’s starting to tell me that if Tommy felt safe with you, then he didn’t wander that far off. He’s probably hiding close by.”

  “Probably.”

  She was very proud that she managed to get the response out without sounding breathless. Obviously they weren’t going to talk about the kiss, she concluded with a sigh. She certainly didn’t want to focus on it. At least he hadn’t apologized and listed a litany of regrets, even if his expression indicated he wasn’t at all pleased with the turn of events between them. She could leave it alone, too. She could pretend that nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

  Or at least she thought she could. The fact that she hadn’t risked touching the keys for fear he’d see how badly her hands were shaking indicated she wasn’t as cool and calm as she wanted Walker to believe. And the longer they sat there, the worse it got. Darkness had fallen, making the atmosphere in the car just a little too cozy, a little too intimate. The tension sizzling between them wasn’t going to go away, which meant it needed to be addressed.

  She took a deep breath, then blurted out, “Look, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I mean, it was just a kiss. No big deal, right?”

  “Right,” he said flatly.

  Clearing the air apparently wasn’t going to be the snap she’d hoped. Her nerves were still jumpy; his expression was still insultingly grim. She plunged in one more time. “I’ve been kissed before. I’m sure you have been, too. And I suppose I started it with that hug. I was just so relieved that you were willing to meet me halfway on this.”

  He turned then and scowled at her. “Daisy, will you please let it drop? Maybe it shouldn’t have, but it happened. It’s over. Forget about it.”

  She blinked rapidly at the irritation in his voice. “Of course, yes, I can do that,” she said. With a great deal of concentration, she managed to keep her hand steady as she started the car.

  In fact, she even kept her mouth shut until they turned the corner to her block. Then she decided that she couldn’t go the rest of the way home without trying one more time to address the ridiculous tension between them. If they walked into the house like this, her brothers would know in an instant that something had happened. For men, they were way more intuitive than they should have been. She’d learned early never to hint by so much as a down-turned mouth that a date had gone badly. Otherwise Tucker and Bobby would threaten to take on the boy who’d hurt her. Billy Inscoe was practically the only boy she’d known that they hadn’t scared off. Maybe that was why she’d thought herself in love with him, because he hadn’t been intimidated by her brothers.

  At any rate, fearing Tucker and Bobby might not have outgrown the habit, she slammed to a stop and cut the lights and the engine, then turned and glowered at Walker.

  “That kiss was an impulse, Detective. Nothing more. I’m sure you regret it. So do I. It won’t happen again.”

  “I know that,” he said emphatically, frowning right back at her. He gestured toward her house. “Why don’t we just get back there and see if anyone else has had any luck finding Tommy?”

  “You don’t deal well with your emotions, do you?” she asked irritably. “I noticed that earlier when we were talking about your sister. You got all stiff and uncomfortable, just the way you are now.”

  “Maybe because you were beating the subject to death, just the way you are now.”

  “It’s an interrogation technique,” she said. “Tucker told me. Surely you’re familiar with it.”

  His lips twitched ever so slightly. “I am, which is why it doesn’t work well on me. I get annoyed.”

  “I’ll try to remember that. I just didn’t want Tucker or Bobby to get the idea that you and I have been…” She hesitated, then said, “Arguing. They’re very protective.”

  Walker’s lips twitched. “Your brothers don’t scare me. I think I can take care of myself.”

  “Okay, then,” she said, forcing herself to let the subject drop. An instant later she faced him as another worrisome issue occurred to her. “You’re not going to yell at Tommy for running off, are you?”

  His level gaze met hers. “Are you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then why would you assume I might? I do understand what it’s like to be a kid and to be scared.”

  Daisy was surprised by the admission. “I can’t imagine you being scared of anything.”

  “Because you don’t know me. I wish you’d try to remember that.”

  Daisy doubted she could forget it if she wanted to. The kiss might have been a rare display of intimacy, but he hadn’t let her into his head or into his heart, not for one single second since they’d met.

  Sighing, she put the car into gear and drove the rest of the way down the block, pulling into the driveway next to Tucker’s sport-utility vehicle.

  “Not much sign of activity,” Walker observed as they left the car.

  Just then they heard laughter from the backyard.

  “It sounds more like a party,” Daisy said, leading the way around the side of the house. She stopped abruptly at the sight that greeted her.

  Her brothers, Frances and Tommy were all sprawled in lawn chairs on the deck facing the river, empty pie plates beside them. Tucker was pointing out some of the constellations visible in the velvet-black sky. Their not-a-care-in-the-world demeanor irked her as much as anything that had happened all day, which was saying something.

  “Having fun?” she inquired tartly.

  Four pairs of guilty eyes turned her way.

  “You might have let us know that Tommy was safe,” she said peevishly.

  “You didn’t take your cell phone,” Bobby pointed out mildly. “We had no way to get in touch with you.”

  “Somebody could have gotten in a car and come after us,” she said, regarding Tucker accusingly. “I’m sure someone could have spotted us since the streets around here are practically deserted at this time of night.”

  “The point is that Tommy is back,” Tucker responded quietly, refusing to rise to the bait. He turned to Tommy. “Son, this is your uncle, Walker Ames.”

  The introduction brought on a heavy silence. Daisy watched as the boy warily eyed Walker. Neither of them budged an inch. In fact, Walker looked a little shell-shocked. Finally, after a firm nudge by her elbow, he crossed the deck and hunkered down beside Tommy.

  “You look just like your mother,” he said softly, a hint of wonder and sorrow in his voice. “Same eyes, same hair, same smile. I noticed that in the picture Mrs. Jackson showed me earlier.”

  Tommy’s expression remained sullen. “So?”

  “It’s just that it makes me realize how very much I missed her,” Walker said.

  “Then how come you never came to see us?” Tommy demanded.

  “Because she didn’t tell me where she was and I couldn’t find her.”

  “Like you really tried,” Tommy scoffed.

  “One day, if you like, I’ll show you a file with every single thing I did, every place I searched,” Walker offered. “Your mom was my baby sister. I
never wanted anything bad to happen to her.”

  “Well, something bad did happen,” Tommy shouted, jumping up. “She died! Just like my dad, only I never even knew him. My mom was all I had and she’s dead. Now I got nobody.”

  “That’s not true,” Daisy protested, taking a step toward him.

  Before she could reach him, he scrambled away from Walker, skirted around her and ran into the house, letting the screen door slam closed behind him.

  “I’ll go after him,” she said at once, heartbroken for both of them.

  “No,” Bobby said. “Let me. You stay here with Frances and Walker and work things out. You all have a lot of tough decisions to make.”

  Daisy reluctantly agreed. Her younger brother had a way with kids. Maybe it would be best to let an unbiased third party try to calm Tommy down.

  As Bobby went inside, Tucker stood and gave Walker’s shoulder a squeeze. “How about a beer?”

  His expression numb, Walker nodded. “Sounds great. I’ll come with you.”

  That left Daisy alone with Frances.

  “I’m sorry about accusing you of trying to hide Tommy,” Frances said eventually. “You know how fond I am of you, but I have a job to do.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We were all upset. We all said some things we shouldn’t have,” Daisy conceded. “Where did you find him, by the way?”

  “Tucker found him hiding in Madge Jessup’s toolshed. She said she’d heard noises out there earlier, but thought it was a raccoon. Tommy was sitting on the riding mower eating a peanut butter sandwich when Tucker checked it out. He swore he’d planned to come back as soon as he knew his uncle and I were gone.”

  Daisy sighed. “What a mess. What do we do now?”

  “I’m going to try to convince Walker to stay here for a few more days so that he and Tommy can get to know each other. Then we’ll see. It’s obvious that they can’t be united overnight. Neither of them is ready for that.”

  A few more days might be the reprieve they all needed. “Do you think he’ll agree?” Daisy asked.