“W
ill you be glad to come home day after tomorrow, Lil?” Ozaire Dupre asked. “You’ve been in this hospital long enough, I reckon.”
Lil fussed with the edge of her sheet. “I want to be home,” she said. “You need lookin’ after. Then there’s the rectory. Goodness knows how Father Cyrus is getting by.”
A nurse paused outside the room, she smiled but she also tapped her watch. It was long past time for Ozaire to leave and let Lil sleep.
Lil didn’t want Ozaire to go. He hadn’t arrived until late and she could tell he didn’t want to leave. Thinking about the dear man and how worried he’d been about her warmed a body. When you’d been married a long time, well, the bloom could seem to be a bit off. She’d been wrong about that. Her husband still loved her and more than a little bit.
“I’ll hold on a few more minutes,” he said. “They don’t mind. Bein’ in a proper room’s a whole lot nicer than the emergency.”
“That cubicle felt like a cage in the zoo,” Lil said. “Look at this. My own room, a TV and a phone, and folks comin’ to see me all day. And there isn’t a nurse who comes in and doesn’t say I’ve got more flowers than anyone she’s ever seen.”
“That’s because you’ve got so many friends,” Ozaire said. “And we could have lost you if things had gone worse than they did. I can’t figure why they don’t have the car yet, though.”
Lil could. She had to talk to a few people and set some things straight. She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to do that and every hour she delayed made it worse. She’d tried to tell Ozaire but couldn’t make herself do it.
“It’s too bad you have to all but die to find out how many people care about you,” she said.
“You should have known, Lil. You just never thought about it. Folks look up to you.”
Lil couldn’t remember crying, not for years, but tears prickled in her eyes. “I’ve got to tell you somethin’,” she said. “I should have talked about it before now.”
“Lil,” Ozaire said, looking at his work-roughened hands. She didn’t think he’d heard what she said. “I’ve been tryin’ to give you some news ever since I arrived. It’s why I was late. They needed an extra hand to drive the ambulance and I’m the first on the list.”
“Who was it for?” All jumpy inside, Lil looked into Ozaire’s face. “Who? It’s someone close to us, isn’t it?”
“It was Lee O’Brien,” Ozaire said. “They found her dead at the paper offices.”
Lil’s jaw felt slack. “Lee?” She felt sick, frightened and confused. “How could she be dead?”
“I haven’t heard how it happened yet, but I knew you’d want to know.”
He was wrong there. Lil wished she’d already gone to sleep. She wished she could turn the clock back and change everything. “Poor girl. She was sassy, but that’s because she had a job to do and reporters have to be a bit pushy. Oh, I hate hearing this.”
“Mr. Dupre?” the nurse said from the hall. “I don’t like to sound like a school matron but Mrs. Dupre needs her beauty sleep.” She stepped into the room and straightened Lil’s pillows and sheets.
“That’s okay,” Ozaire said. “I’ll be back sometime tomorrow so you can throw me out again.” He grinned at the nurse. Lil looked at both of them and hoped she wasn’t going to be sick.
Not Lee. How could Lee be dead and why?
Ozaire pecked her forehead and left, popping back one time to give an extra wave.
“He’s a nice man,” the nurse said. “Now you get to sleep. It’ll only be a few hours before you’ll be gotten up for breakfast.”
With the lights out Lil did her best to settle. The bed was comfortable. What people meant when they complained about hospital beds, she’d never know. But it didn’t matter tonight because she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. She’d made terrible mistakes. One of those mistakes could have had something to do with Lee’s death. Oh, she couldn’t be sure, but it was possible. Lil closed her eyes. She would have to tell all of it now—not hold anything back.
The building had that night silence about it. Kind of heavy and a bit lonely. A nurse or doctor going along the corridor outside her room would be the only movement until the place started waking up.
Lil had a lot on her mind. It all kept coming back, much as she tried to shut it out. For a moment she’d convinced herself it was better Ozaire interrupted her before she could tell the truth about her accident. Sometimes you kept your own counsel and it turned out better. Not this time. And sooner or later they would find the car and the questions would start.
If she’d told the truth in the first place they would already have picked it up. But she’d been embarrassed to admit what she’d been doing when she crashed. She had explained some of it, about the man running at the car, but the rest would make her look a fool. Why had she set off for Rosebank to apologize to Charlotte for being rude about not getting the job in the kitchens there? It could have waited and the way things turned out, she hadn’t seen Charlotte anyway.
At least Madge’s dog was okay, although Lil still wasn’t sure how she’d gotten home.
For all she knew they already had found her car but they were waiting until she was stronger to get really mad.
She would try to shut everything out and think about it tomorrow. Could be she should tell Father Cyrus and ask his advice. He always knew what was best.
It could wait for tomorrow.
Lil closed her eyes, but they opened again immediately. There was a murderer out there. First Michele Riley, now Lee O’Brien. She, Lil, had a small connection to Lee. Could it be enough to make the killer come after her? Had he already come after her, before he got Lee? She knew he had. She was supposed to have died in the ditch on the night of her “accident,” and there was no reason to think the threat wasn’t still there.
“Y
ou’re staring at me,” Max said.
Annie deliberately looked away. “I didn’t mean to. I think I’m waiting for someone to tell me what to do.” She opened the refrigerator in her kitchen and studied the contents. Irene joined her, purring and apparently surveying possible treats.
“You’re hungry?” Max said.
“We had coffee early this morning and I haven’t eaten since. How about you?”
“Same.”
“Then you’re hungry, too. We’ll have red beans and rice—and jambalaya, sausage jambalaya.”
Max leaned into the kitchen. Longer than usual, his black hair curled forward just above his collar and his intensely blue eyes showed he was tired. “I thought those things took all day to cook.”
“Not when you do the sort of things I do. I’ll have to make the rice, but the rest is cooked and frozen already. I love to cook but it’s hard to get it done just for myself so when I do get in here I make enough for several meals.”
He wasn’t listening. Annie saw his focus wander and he turned away. Moments later she heard him leave a message on someone’s phone, a cryptic message: “Max. Call me.” He didn’t return and he got through to someone else on his phone. “Anything?” Max had walked farther from the kitchen. “No, for God’s sake, of course I don’t think he did. I do think he could be beating himself up over whatever went on at the clinic.” Annie could hardly hear him now. “Sorry. I know. We both are.” He talked longer, or so she presumed, but he had gone into the rooms at the back of the apartment.
An image, fast, there and then gone, turned her stomach. Lee, half on and half off that air mattress, her eyes open.
Annie found Irene a piece of chicken and closed the refrigerator door.
The sound of Max’s footfalls, purposeful, hurrying, unnerved her. She walked out of the kitchen—and met Max. He pulled her against him and held on so tight the pressure hurt.
She stayed quiet.
“Annie, do you know how much you mean to me?” he said
“Max—”
“Just answer me.” His voice rose and he shook her once. “I love you. If anything…I want you with me. Not just now and again but all the time.” He spread a hand over the back of her head and pressed her face to his shoulder.
She didn’t want to cry, darn it. But it was too late not to and her throat clogged. Even if she knew what to say, she couldn’t get a word out.
Annie caught at the sides of his shirt and hung on.
Max loosened his grip enough for her to look at him.
He wiped the tears from her face.
“If I thought I wouldn’t see you again I couldn’t bear it,” she told him in a rush. The tension she felt in him scared her. A kind of desperation showed in the way he looked at her.
“I would never hurt you,” he said.
Annie put her hands on his shoulders. “Do you think I don’t know that? I feel safer with you than I’ve ever felt.”
“You’ve been through too much. I wouldn’t blame you if you were afraid of men.”
“I’m not afraid of you.” She smiled, sniffed—and laughed. “I don’t know how I got lucky enough to have you want me, though.”
He put his face close to hers. “I’m going to teach you to stop saying, or even thinking things like that. I’ve hit gold and you’re it.”
But he wasn’t either a happy or a satisfied man. From childhood she’d been taught not to press for personal information. The thought felt strange but she would have to ask him questions until he told her everything that was on his mind.
He loves me. He said he does.
“If I made the arrangements, would you consider going away for a while?” he said.
Annie stared at him.
“Just until everything settles down here?” he said.
“No,” she said. “I can’t believe you’d ask me.”
“I’m asking because I want you somewhere safe. There’s too much—”
“No.”
She interrupted him. “We belong together. You said so. You think I would run and hide while you’re here on your own? I’m not a kid. I know there’s big trouble ahead. I shouldn’t ask but I’m going to. What did you and Reb find out about Lee’s death—the stuff that made you say someone with medical knowledge killed her?”
“My mouth got out of line. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“But you did. And then you and Reb went off with Spike and Guy. You were telling them what you’d discovered.” She couldn’t stop a fine tremor in her limbs. “And now you want me to go away. Tell me why?”
“It’s like a war,” he told her. “But I don’t know anything about the enemy except he knows me and he’s close. It can’t be any other way.”
And he didn’t want to tell her all the details, Max thought. He didn’t want to frighten her more than she already was.
“That means you really need me now, and I need you,” Annie said. “I’ve got to know you’re okay.”
“I’m not afraid for myself,” he said. “It’s others. Already—” Hell, he hadn’t intended to say that.
“I intend to stay safe,” Annie said. “I won’t go anywhere without you.”
She still wore blue, but she’d kicked off her sneakers and her feet were bare. Everything about her pleased him—and turned him on. And this wasn’t the time for that.
“You have the clearest blue eyes,” he told her. “And your mouth is soft.”
She smiled a little and said, “Thank you. You take the blue eyes prize.”
They both laughed but he couldn’t feel anything but her breasts pressing his chest, her hips fitted to his. If she didn’t feel his reaction to her…She felt it, he saw her smile fade and watched her suck her lower lip into her mouth.
“I’m usually pretty controlled,” he said and felt like an ass.
She lowered her gaze, but not fast enough. He’d seen the heat in her eyes.
Annie spun away. She returned to the kitchen, her bare feet smacking the floor rapidly. She opened two upper cupboard doors and stood back to see inside. Standing on tiptoe, she reached in to slide a casserole dish out. Her arms shook with strain.
“Put it down,” Max said, standing behind her.
“I’ve got it.”
He pushed his hands under her soft cotton shirt and swept up to hold her breasts.
“Max.” She moaned. “That’s not fair.”
“You don’t like it?” He threaded his thumbs inside her bra and flicked them back and forth over her nipples.
The dish hit the shelf with a clatter. With her fingertips she gave it small shoves to make sure it was safe. Then she hung onto the shelf.
“You’re a very sexy woman, Annie.”
“You make me feel sexy. You make me want sex. I’ve never been this way with anyone else.”
Max found her ear with his mouth and licked it. He nibbled the lobe. Every instant he held back cost him, but he knew better than to rush her.
Annie released her grip on the shelf. She pulled up her shirt, reached back and undid her bra. Her breasts filled his hands and as he pulled on her nipples, she rubbed her bottom against him.
“I’m not thinking straight, sweetheart, but I like it this way. Yes, push on me. Come on, bounce. Annie, Annie.”
“You’re burnin’ me up,” she said, panting. “I ache. I can hardly stand up.”
“Grab the shelf again, then,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me do the work.”
Shuddering, she did as she was told and Max gritted his teeth, counting the cost of holding back a few more seconds. He couldn’t. The short skirt rose above her waist as if anti-gravity took it. She wore a thong, a testimony to how her trust in him had grown, and he sank to his knees to kiss her. He liked the little crease where her bottom met her thighs, liked it even more when his tongue there caused her to writhe.
Annie tried to face him but he clamped her where she was by her hips, leaned over her so she couldn’t move while he undid his pants. He stripped the panties to her ankles before he urged her even farther forward and nudged at the wet entrance waiting for him.
“Max,” she said, her voice high. “Is this okay?”
“Very okay,” he told her, his head beating in time to the heavy pulse in his loins. “Go with it. You’ll feel more than you ever have.”
Sweat broke on his brow, his back. He drove into her and their rhythm matched instantly. Cradling her breasts, he let any restraint go and pounded into her.
Annie made a sobbing noise and Max pushed one hand in front of her, slid his fingers between her legs and into the slick hair he found.
He couldn’t wait any longer.
With his fingers he chafed harder and faster.
He poured into her, his legs jerking, doing what they needed to do without any help, and Annie cried out. The spasms of her climax clutched at his penis and still they came together, again and again.