“Jay will ask too many questions if I’m not home when he wakes up.” At three AM he said that to her, exhausted and unwilling to drag himself from her side.
“Not to mention the ones Sid and Iris would come up with,” she’d joked, inching toward him on the bed they’d finally ended up in.
It took three tries and twice as many kisses before he could stand up, put his pants back on and walk out the door.
Hands clasped behind his head, images of love warmed skin and an irresistible come-hither gaze teased and taunted. Sweat broke out across his chest. Now he needed a cold shower. His cell rang to momentarily spare him. Bumping the lamp on the nightstand, he fumbled to pick it up.
“Good morning.”
As the familiar voice washed over him, he closed his eyes and smiled. “Morning.”
“You got home okay and slept well?”
“Slept fine.” Flat on his back, he glanced down at the way the sheet tented over his hips. “And woke up missing you.”
Her warm chuckle spread straight to his heart. “Anything I can do to help you miss me more, I mean less?”
“That depends.” Rolling to his side, he brought the receiver closer to his mouth. “What are you wearing right now?”
“A towel.”
He nearly dropped the phone. “What size?”
Fresh laughter trickled over the connection, low and sultry like the night before. With her head rested on his chest and every inch of her body warm, welcome, and aligned with every inch of his he’d felt her joy. Right now he merely heard it.
“I’ll make you breakfast if you want to come over.”
Phone angled between his shoulder and ear, he sat up and reached for the cargo shorts hanging on the chair. “Just me though, right? Jay’s still sleeping.”
More laughter came forward to make its way inside him. “Okay then. Just you.”
“I should take a shower.”
“You can shower here.”
A huge ration of blood immediately shot downward. For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
“How do you like your eggs?”
“We can talk about that when I get there.”
“At least tell me if you prefer ham, bacon, or sausage, links or patties.”
“Does it matter? Whatever you have is fine with me.”
“That’s sweet, but I have to make a quick trip to the grocery store anyway. I’m out of just about everything.”
For an instant, he thought about offering to take her out for breakfast. Talk about defeating the purpose. “You decide the menu,” he said then smiled into the phone. “I’m easy to get along with.”
“Yes. You are.”
The smile grew. “See you soon.”
He verified Jay really was still sleeping as he walked by his bedroom. He didn’t lie about that. eHeWearing brand new big truck pajamas, he lay on his stomach arms sprawled on either side of his body. Bare feet stuck out from under the sheet that covered his legs, and Eric paused to thank God he and his son were finally able to move on with their lives.
Arriving in the kitchen for his shoes left by the back door, he verified something else. His parents weren’t sleeping. They sat, one at each end of the table with identical coffee cups and different sections of the paper in front of them.
At least they can tell Jay his father came home last night.
Without looking up his dad grunted what sounded like “morning.”
His mother did look up. “Good morning, dear. Don’t you look well rested. Did you have a good time last night?”
“I did. I really did.” He cleared his throat, lowered his gaze and headed for his shoes.
“That’s nice. What would you like for breakfast? Your father suggested pancakes a minute ago.”
“With blueberries.” He set down his section of the paper to stand. “I’ll get the griddle started.”
“Jay loves blueberry pancakes,” Eric noted. “But, you know that. I’m going out. Elyse invited me over for breakfast.”
“Must have been some date.” His father looked over his shoulder and pointedly eyed his wife. “If she’s willing to cook for you.”
“Just because I have a uterus doesn’t automatically mean I like to cook,” Iris replied. “You’re as capable of cooking as I am. What did you and Elyse decide to do last night, Eric?”
“We had a good time.” Taken by surprise, he blurted the declaration. “Talked quite a bit.”
When I wasn’t occupied making love to her.
Another throat clearing would reveal too much, so he swallowed instead. “Got to know each other better. Which is what you suggested, Ma. A while ago.”
“I remember. I’m glad to see you took me up on my suggestion.” If she had any idea her oldest son was having impure thoughts, she didn’t let on. “How long will you be?”
Eric nearly snapped a shoelace. “What?”
“What shall I tell Jay? When do you plan to be home?”
This wasn’t the right time to explain the place he was going, rather the person awaiting him there, felt like his real home. “Noon.”
His father turned to raise an eyebrow. “Sounds like that’s gonna be some breakfast.”
“That’s fine, Sweetheart. Take all the time you need.”
“Oh, I will.”
I can promise that.
When he started to stand, he decided it might be more prudent to remain sitting for a moment. “What do you two have planned for today?”
“Not a lot,” his mother answered. “We’ll see what Jay wants to do when he gets up.”
“Don’t wait for me,” he began, then took a breath. “If you guys want to go somewhere.”
“If you’re not in too much of a rush.” The pat of butter his father placed on the griddle began to sizzle. “Check out that pine tree when you go by.”
Figuring it was safe to do so, Eric stood. “Jay showed me. The mourning dove has rebuilt its nest.” Hand on the doorknob, he turned around. “Good for her.”
By the time he got into his car he was glad he’d worn slightly baggier cargo shorts. Right now he needed all the extra room down there he could get.
Shifting into a more comfortable position, he settled behind the wheel and cranked up the ignition.
Chapter Ten
Elyse had just put a checkered blouse on over her tank top when the music of her cell floated up and into the bedroom.
“I’m surprised you’re not here yet.”
Sitting on the side of her bed, she waited for the security of Eric’s voice to come back at her. She heard her sister’s instead.
“And just who were you expecting to call? Or I should say come over. Obviously not me.”
“Oh, hi.”
“I wondered how your date went with Eric.”
She couldn’t help the smile that glided across her face. “He’s coming over for breakfast.”
“You mean he didn’t spend the night?” Angela said then immediately laughed. “Just kidding. That would be—I mean, I know you two wouldn’t move that fast.” She paused at the soft chuckle from Elyse before going on. “So how did it go?”
“We had a good time.”
“What did you do?”
She gave into another smile but held back a second chuckle. That would reveal too much. She so wanted to keep Eric and memories of what they shared to herself. If only for the rest of the day.
“Went to dinner. Talked. You know. The typical first date.”
“Judging from your voice, last night’s first date as you call it was anything but typical. You sound,” There was another pause. “Different. But in a good way. Pleased with yourself. No. Happy. You sound very happy.”
“Do I?” Elyse replied then laughed out loud. “We had a good time.”
“You’re repeating yourself. You said that. How good?”
She flopped back on the bed with an even heartier laugh. “I seem to have beaten the odds we talked about.”
“Really?”
At her sister’s shriek, she pulled the receiver some distance from her ear. “Yes. Who knew one in a million could happen twice. And in the same families.”
“That is fantastic! I’m coming right over to give you a huge hug. No wait! You said Eric was on his way. You two probably want to be alone.”
Elyse sat up then tossed her head back to release a long hard belly laugh that erupted from her toes. The joyful sensation felt—wonderful as it shot upward. “Where ever did you get that idea?”
Angela let out a laugh to rival her sister’s. “I haven’t heard you so cheerful since—well—since never.” Her tone lowered as tears choked her voice. “The sound is fabulous.”
“And feels even better,” Elyse assured her.
“Oooooooh! I feel another wedding coming on.”
“That’s a little hasty. Eric and I have only been on one real date. But I feel as if I’ve known him for a lifetime.”
“Well, there you go. Lucky I picked out the veil you wanted.”
“The veil
we
wanted.”
“And I promise to take very good care of it for you,” Angela added.
“Just don’t get any lipstick on the blusher,” Elyse joked. “I have a feeling that would be a bugger to get clean.”
She walked to the alarm panel as she spoke, raised a finger to neutralize the signal, and smiled again. After Eric left, she hadn’t bothered to turn it on.
That was when she also noticed her entire body felt—to use Angela’s word—fabulous, too. Her shoulders weren’t hunched in fear and anger. The weight of grief that usually hung like an unwelcome amulet around her heart was nowhere to be found. And the rest of her, what she’d shared with Eric was—
“Oh. There’s something else I needed to tell you about.” The eagerness in Angela’s voice put an end to the brief self-assessment. “Ginger has made appointments for us, you, me, Iris and the other bridesmaids at Spa Unique. Beginning at nine the day of the wedding.”
“Sounds fancy. Is this your gift to your attendants?”
“Could be. You’re the one who said we could afford that type of thing,” Angela reminded her.
“I did, didn’t I?”
“I’m kidding. I’m, rather, we’re not paying for all of it. Ginger insisted we go Dutch.”
Lifting her purse from the foot of her bed, Elyse slipped into bead-studded sandals then headed toward the hallway. “How about I treat? I’ll call the spa and make the arrangements.”
“That’s nice of you but—”
“It’s what I want to do,” she insisted, descending the stairs. “Ginger wouldn’t let me help pay for your shower. Iris has done so much for us.”
Giving birth to Eric being up top of my list.
“It’s settled.”
Opening the front door, she was greeted by a gentle blast of sunshine and her already jubilant mood grew.
“Oh. Hey. I’m holding you up, aren’t I?” Angela didn’t wait for an answer. “I’m sure you want to get ready for Eric’s arrival. Do your hair. Makeup.”
“Not really.” Elyse chuckled low in her throat. “As it turns out, Eric accepts me just the way I am.”
Her sister’s tone sobered. “I am so happy for you.”
Not half as happy as I am for myself.
“I know that. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Enjoy your day. Tell Eric I said hi.”
Her response was another girlish giggle as she depressed the end button and dropped the cell into her purse.
Walking out to the car a few minutes later another pleasant thought struck her and held.
Angela was right. She really hadn’t been this happy since—never.
Life had never felt so good.
Chapter Eleven
Eric hadn’t traveled more than a half mile from his parents when his cell went off again. With the receiver now linked to the speaker of his car radio, he pressed the necessary button to engage the call.
“Are you that anxious to see me?” He asked then waited for Elyse to respond.
“Say again? This is county dispatch.”
At the abrupt male voice, he bolted straight up.
Shit! His work phone was linked to the car as primary.
“Oh. Sorry. I was—Matthews here. What’s—” He shook his head. “Matthews.”
“Report to County Road 202 north of Parmeter. Single vehicle accident. One PI. Condition serious. Transported by air flight. Officers currently on scene.”
“Got it. Uh. Copy.”
Taking a sharp right, he listened to a description of the vehicle involved and license plate information. The blood drained out of him so fast, he was surprised a gallon or so hadn’t pooled at his feet. Eyes trained full ahead, he coughed then gasped. For a second, he’d quit breathing.
“Copy,” he said again and ended the call.
He didn’t feel anything when he pulled in beside the lone cop car. With the gear shift snapped into park, he killed the ignition and pocketed the key. Exiting the vehicle, he hardly saw the lights flashing a kaleidoscope of red, white, and blue. Didn’t register the rumbling of the diesel engine from a nearby tow truck.
After the information he was given over the phone, he’d long ago gone numb. Fully prepared to go through the motions of what he had to do, he raised his eyes to make a silent utterance to God and decided to keep those thoughts to himself. Above all, he had to remain alert and in control. Keep his head clear, his mind focused. And let his heart fend for itself.
Then he saw the car involved in the hit-and-run, the one that got the worst of it, crushed and mangled against the tree. A newly fractured heart ricocheted against his ribs and ice water took the place of warm blood coursing through his veins.
The windshield was shattered and collapsed inward on the driver’s side, the door there all but obliterated. And Elyse’s crystal angel spun and whirled at the mercy of an early morning breeze, picking up the rays of sunlight it winked back at him.
“Jaws of life,” someone said as they passed by. Someone who must have noticed him stock still and staring.
He jerked into action like a motorized robot whose on switch had just been engaged. “Yeah, I can tell.”
The immediate area had been cordoned off with the usual yellow tape with
POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS
in black lettering. Teeth clenched, ready to burst with the wild rant of obscenities pounding at the back of his throat, Eric calmly raised a section of tape to duck underneath.
Diagrams, reports, angles, trajectory. He purposely filled his head with the cold and unfeeling terminology to crowd out everything else. Forensic documentation, kinematics, occupant motion analysis.