Authors: Sherryl Woods
Grady heard the serious concern in her voice and nodded. “I do.” He leaned down and confided, “Don’t tell her, though. She’s a little skittish.”
“Tell me about it.”
Grady resisted the urge to bring up Evan. It would blow tonight’s cover for his visit and he might never get Dani to trust him. “Since you look as if you’re a little busy at the moment, should I walk on in or ring the bell?”
“Go on in. Mom’s in the kitchen. Don’t worry though, she didn’t cook. Dinner will be edible.”
Grady laughed again, but when he stepped inside he had to pause to gather his composure. Now that he’d met Dani and been entranced by her exuberance and sense of humor, the thought of Evan Carter harming her infuriated him almost as deeply as it did her dad. He wanted to believe that a girl capable of such teasing couldn’t possibly have such a dark secret, but experience had taught him otherwise. Knowing she was the same age Megan would have been made it even worse. He knew that from now on, the two girls would somehow be inextricably linked in his mind. It was going to make staying impartial and clear-eyed about Evan Carter that much more difficult.
He was still standing in the foyer, when Emily came out of the kitchen and gave him a quizzical look. “I thought I heard your voice. Everything okay?”
“Sure,” he said, shaking off his mood. “Your daughter’s a real handful, isn’t she?”
“You have no idea,” she said. “Why do you say that, though? What did she do?”
“Let’s just say that she’s charmingly direct and that she apparently bought into the whole date ruse, hook, line and sinker.”
Color bloomed in Emily’s cheeks. “I am so sorry.”
“Not a problem for me. I’m used to tough interrogations.”
“But you’re usually on the other side of them,” she said.
“True, but I think I held up okay with this one. You need any help with dinner?”
“It’s under control. Just lasagna, which I didn’t make, by the way, and a salad, which I did.”
“So eat the lasagna and avoid the salad,” he teased. “Is that what you’re suggesting?”
“I see Dani had something to say about my culinary skills, too,” she said, her tone resigned.
“Actually you warned me off yourself when we spoke earlier,” he said. “Is Josh here yet? Maybe he and I should chat before dinner, get the talk about Evan out of the way before Dani joins us.”
She shook her head. “He just called. He’s on his way. Why don’t we get something to drink and sit in the kitchen? I’d suggest going out by the pool, but I’m not sure it would be a good idea.”
“Too visible to the Carters,” he concluded.
She looked relieved that he understood. “Exactly. What would you like to drink? I have iced tea, sodas, coffee, wine. There might even be a beer in there.”
“You don’t strike me as a beer drinker.”
“No, but I was away over the weekend and I’m sure some of Josh’s friends stopped by. A few of them are old enough to buy it.”
He heard a rueful note in her voice. “You don’t sound too upset about that.”
“He’s in college. I’m not blind or naive. The house was cleaner when I got home than it was when I left, proof positive that something went on here. Since none of the neighbors have called to complain about the noise and my son’s not in jail, I have to assume it was kept under control.”
Grady chuckled. “You’d make a good detective.”
“Nope. Just a mom who knows her kids. Now, what can I get you?”
“What are you having?”
“Tea, I think. I need a clear head.”
“I’ll take a beer, if there is one.”
He followed her into the cozy kitchen. He was right behind her at the refrigerator, prepared to accept the beer she was retrieving, when she turned unexpectedly. They were face-to-face, her eyes wide with surprise, her lips parted. It was too tempting to ignore, so Grady brushed a quick kiss across her mouth. When she didn’t jerk away or bolt, he dipped his head again and stole another kiss, this time lingering long enough to taste her, to satisfy the curiosity that had been taunting him since they’d met. Knowing they could easily be interrupted by her kids, though, he backed away.
She regarded him with a dazed expression. “Why’d you do that?”
“I could say it was all part of the charade that this is a date,” he said, “but it wasn’t. I just needed to do it. I’ve wanted to for a while now. You mad?”
She shook her head, looking more rattled than annoyed.
“Want to do it again?” he teased. “I’m willing. And Dani has given me a tentative stamp of approval.”
Amusement danced in her blue eyes. “I warned you she’s a romantic. Watch yourself.”
“Oh, I think I can hold my own with your daughter,” he said. “It’s you I’m a little worried about.”
“Aren’t you forgetting that this date thing is supposed to be just for Dani’s benefit?”
“Didn’t I mention that I tend to throw myself wholeheartedly into whatever I do?” he responded.
She adopted a tolerant expression. “A convenient lapse of memory, I’m sure.”
Grady was still feeling the heat of that kiss. To offset it, he took the beer she continued to clutch and popped the top off the bottle. He noted that Emily couldn’t seem to look away as he tilted the bottle for a long, slow drink of the cold beverage. It slaked his thirst, but not the heat.
Emily looked away at last and when she turned back, her regard was steady. “Maybe we shouldn’t go too far with this whole make-believe date. I don’t want to give either of my kids false expectations.”
“You so sure they’d be false?”
She swallowed hard, then blinked and shook her head. “Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” he asked innocently.
“Trying to rattle me.”
“I’m not doing it on purpose,” he swore. “But when there’s something between two people, it’s hard to keep it in check.”
“Well, try,” she said with exasperation, then whirled around. “I need to make sure the lasagna’s okay.”
Grady had a hunch he could use a few minutes to remind himself that this evening wasn’t all about his growing attraction to Emily. He walked over to the sliding glass door and looked toward the Carters’ house. For the first time, he noticed the gap in the hedge, a sure sign of the bond between these two families.
“How long has there been a path between your house and the Carters’?” he asked Emily.
“Practically since the Carters moved to the neighborhood. Josh cut it, so he and Evan wouldn’t have to run all the way around the block. When the girls were old enough, it became their shortcut, too. Marcie and I have always taken advantage of it, as well.”
“Your husbands?”
“They never got along well enough to need easy access,” she said candidly. “I used to think that Ken looked up to Derek, but maybe it was more about his tendency to suck up to anyone he thought might be in a position to help him. Derek barely tolerated Ken. From the beginning, he saw through the charm and knew exactly the kind of man he was. Still, for the sake of harmony between the families, he did his best to get along with Ken.”
“Then you all spent a lot of time together?”
“Every holiday, birthdays, even a few day trips, though those didn’t go so well till we started leaving Ken and Derek at home. Marcie, the kids and I had a better time without the tension of having them scowling at each other half the time.” She studied him curiously. “How long were you married?”
“Eight years.”
“Whose idea was the divorce?”
“Kathleen’s,” he admitted. “I didn’t contest it. She had grounds.”
Her expression turned cautious. “Were you cheating on her?”
He shook his head. “No, it was never anything like that. I loved her, at least as much as I was able to love anyone. I just loved my job more.” He was skirting the
whole truth by a mile, but it was all he was willing to admit to.
“You still do, don’t you?”
“Sure, but not as obsessively. I’d like to think that I’ve learned something about balance. Did it the hard way, unfortunately. I had to lose the most important people in my life before I got the message.”
Emily gave him an odd look. “People?”
Grady never talked about Megan, not even with his own family. Luis mentioned her name from time to time at his own peril, but his parents never uttered it. Still, he knew if he was ever going to have any kind of relationship with this woman, she deserved to know everything, including all the mistakes he’d made, all the regrets that would haunt him till his dying day.
“I’ll explain,” he said quietly. “Just not tonight, okay?”
She hid whatever disappointment she might be feeling and nodded. “Whenever you’re ready,” she said easily. Then to his surprise, she gave his hand an understanding squeeze, as if she somehow sensed that whatever he was withholding had damaged his heart so deeply, talking about it simply wasn’t bearable.
Ten years earlier
Grady was hoping for the kind of deep, drugging sleep that only came when he was on the verge of sheer exhaustion. He’d worked yet another series of double shifts, determined to get the one last bit of cash he and Kathleen needed so they could buy that car for her without going into debt for it. His body craved rest, not the backyard barbecue that Kathleen wanted to have that evening. He knew she was annoyed with him over his
lack of enthusiasm, but tonight he couldn’t muster up the energy to appease her.
Sitting outside by the tiny backyard pool that they’d mortgaged themselves to the hilt to have, he took a few sips of beer and his eyes drifted shut. Two or three times he tried to jerk himself awake so he could help Kathleen get the hamburgers on the grill for dinner, but his eyelids were just too heavy, the allure of sleep too tempting. He gave up and sank into it.
A scream jerked him awake. It could have been seconds later or an hour. He had no way of telling, but adrenaline was suddenly pumping through his body as if an alarm had gone off.
“What?” he said, on his feet, looking around, still slightly dazed.
Kathleen’s keening wails were coming from the shadowed end of the pool. “Oh, God, no,” she kept saying, her sobs finally snapping him back to reality.
“What happened?” he asked, racing toward her, his heart thundering in his chest. “Are you hurt?”
Only when he was practically beside her did he see the inert body of his little girl in her arms. He’d always thought it an exaggeration or an impossibility when someone said their heart stood still, but now he knew otherwise.
On his knees beside them in an instant, his training kicked in. He took Megan from Kathleen and shifted into crisis mode. He started CPR, even as he began automatically snapping out directions at his wife, who was clearly in a state of shock. For the first time, he realized she was soaking wet and shivering in the cool evening breeze.
“Have you called nine-one-one?” he asked.
She shook her head, unable to tear her attention away from their child. “I just found her in the deep end of the pool. She…” She swallowed hard. “She must have hit her head. There was blood in the water. I jumped in and pulled her out,” she said. “She wasn’t breathing, Grady.” She covered her face with her hands. “I didn’t know what to do. How could we have a pool when I never learned CPR? All those years of swimming and being around water, and I never learned how to do CPR. What was wrong with me? I counted on you knowing.”
She stared at him with such hate that Grady had to look away. “I thought you were watching her,” she said. “I told you she was coming outside, that she wanted to go in the water and you needed to go in with her. She’s only had a couple of swimming lessons. She still needs supervision. You know that!”
Grady remembered none of that and he was too focused on performing CPR to respond. “Call nine-one-one,” he repeated between attempts to breathe life back into his daughter. “Do it, Kathleen. Do it now!”
She finally ran for the portable phone. He could hear her barely coherent plea for help, but he already knew it was too late. Megan wasn’t responding. Her body was limp and she had yet to draw in a breath on her own. Her color was changing, too, and her eyes—staring accusingly at him, he thought—were lifeless.
Still, he wouldn’t give up. When the EMTs arrived and tried to do what he’d been unable to do, he stood hovering over them. “Breathe, baby,” he whispered again and again. “You can do it, sweetheart. I know you can.”
When the young man who was working on Megan looked up at him and shook his head, Grady felt as if his
world had crashed to a stop. Beside him, Kathleen’s sobs had dwindled to nothing.
“No,” she protested, her voice almost unrecognizable in its anguish. She turned and started beating on his chest. “This is your fault. You let this happen. You let our baby die.”
As harsh as the words were, as filled with anger and hate, they were nothing compared to the loathing Grady turned on himself.
After that awful night, no matter how many times anyone told him that it had been an accident, he reeled from guilt. No matter who reminded him that he’d been asleep when Kathleen had allowed Megan to come outside so that she shared at least some of the blame, Grady heaped it all on himself. He wouldn’t allow anyone to direct the blame—not even a portion of it—toward his wife.
They tried for a while to get their marriage back on solid ground—at least he did—but it was a lost cause. Kathleen couldn’t forgive or forget.
A few months later, when she finally said she could no longer bear the sight of him or live in the house because of the painful memories of that night, he watched her walk away from their marriage and did absolutely nothing to stop her. Her leaving was just part of the penance he felt he owed for letting his daughter die.
E
mily was a nervous wreck. Tonight suddenly felt a whole lot more like an actual date than she’d intended. The kiss had been totally unexpected, but not nearly as unwelcome as it should have been. Grady was the first man she’d kissed other than her husband in more than two decades. She’d forgotten the power and hint of mystery that a first kiss could pack. She’d forgotten its ability to awaken the senses and kick all sorts of cravings into high gear.
She was so rattled she could barely get dinner on the table, much less look Grady in the eye. Apparently she wasn’t doing a very good job of covering, either, because both Josh and Dani were eyeing her speculatively. Dani, in particular, seemed to be making the connection between Emily’s distraction and Grady, thanks to their pretense that this evening was a date. Josh was clueless about the pretense, but clearly aware that there was some sort of tension between Emily and the detective. Hopefully he was still too young and naive to pin a label on it.
Naturally, Dani was the one who couldn’t ignore it. “So, Mom, did you and Detective Rodriguez talk about
anything interesting before Josh and I came in for dinner?” Dani inquired, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Not really,” Emily replied, casting a pleading look in Grady’s direction for some help. The rat looked almost as amused as her daughter and remained stubbornly silent. To shift the attention away from them, she said, “Why don’t you tell us about the flowers you were planting?”
“I don’t think Detective Rodriguez cares about my impatiens,” Dani replied.
“Why don’t you call me Grady?” he suggested. “And I’d love to hear about the flowers. My yard’s a mess. Maybe you could give me some ideas.”
To Emily’s relief, Dani’s expression brightened with interest, all thoughts of cross-examining the two of them forgotten, right along with whatever nervousness she’d been feeling about the prospect of having the detective sharing their dinner table with them.
“Really?” she asked excitedly. “Could I see it? I’d love to plan a whole yard from scratch. You wouldn’t have to pay me or anything. You’d just have to go with me to pick out the plants and buy them.”
“I’m not sure Detective Rodriguez was committing to anything, sweetie,” Emily said, trying to put the brakes on Dani’s runaway imagination. She’d have his yard looking like a microcosm of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, given the budget and the freedom to indulge her creativity.
“Actually, I’d love to have the help,” he corrected, then turned to Dani. “And if you do the work, you get paid for the work. If it’s okay with your mom, we’ll pick a date and you can look things over.” He cast a questioning look in her direction. “Well, Mom?”
“If you’re sure,” she said. She told herself she was agreeing primarily because it was so wonderful to see Dani excited about something, but the truth was she wasn’t nearly as displeased about the idea of spending more time with Grady as she probably should have been.
“Wow, that is so awesome,” Dani said. “My first landscaping job. How cool is that, Mom?”
“Very cool,” Emily agreed. She glanced at Grady. “Just be sure you give her a budget at the outset. Dani could spend your life’s savings at the nursery.”
“We’ll work it out,” Grady said confidently. “Josh, what are you studying at UM?”
“I started out in business, but I’m thinking of switching my major,” he said, startling Emily.
“Really?” she said. “I didn’t know that.”
“I’ve been thinking about pre-med lately. I asked Dad what he thought, since I’d be in school a lot longer, and he said it was okay with him, if it’s what I really want. I’ll decide before the end of the semester.”
“I think you’d make a wonderful doctor,” Emily told him. “You’re caring and curious, which would make you a good listener and a good diagnostician, two of the traits I value in a physician. What made you start to think about it?”
“Jenny,” he admitted, his cheeks flushing. “She’s pre-med and we have that biology class together. We had to dissect this frog and my incision was way neater than hers. She said I’m a natural. My grades are as good as hers, too. At first I thought she was crazy, but then I got to thinking about it. I wouldn’t want to be a surgeon, no matter how great my incisions are, but I like the idea of helping people stay well or get well. I think I’d like to provide care for people who can’t afford to pay much.”
Emily lifted a brow. “More of Jenny’s influence?”
“Actually it was my idea, but she liked it, too. Who knows, maybe we could open a clinic in some rural area where there’s no decent medical care.”
“What a wonderful idea!” Grady told him. “I’ve read some articles about how difficult it is to get physicians to go into practice in areas like that. There’s a huge demand for doctors willing to do that.”
Emily studied her son, wondering why she hadn’t noticed that his new-found maturity went well beyond the way he was handling the situation with Evan. She was more eager than ever to meet the young woman who was likely responsible for it.
“I don’t want to throw a damper on your enthusiasm,” she told Josh, “but it’s a tough program. I know you have the grades for it, but are you sure you have the commitment and dedication it will require?”
“Absolutely,” he said enthusiastically. “I’m up to the challenge, Mom. I really am. Jenny’s real focused. She studies all the time, so she’ll be on my case if I slack off at all.”
“When I met her, I was very impressed with her clear thinking and her ability to remain calm in a crisis,” Grady chimed in. He turned to Emily. “Have you met her yet?”
“No, I’ve encouraged Josh to bring her home sometime. Lauren, too.”
“Who’s she?” Dani asked, sounding miffed that they were talking about someone she’d never even heard of.
“That’s Jenny’s roommate,” Josh said, his expression guarded.
Emily decided now was as good a time as any to ease into the subject of Evan and the accusation against him. “She’s the young woman who filed the charges against
Evan,” she said quietly. “I think she’s incredibly brave and strong.”
“Me, too,” Josh said. “I really admire her.”
Dani’s expression froze. Suddenly she backed away from the table. “Don’t bring her here,” she said adamantly. “How could you even think about bringing her here, either one of you, when Evan lives right behind us? It would be awful.”
Startled by Dani’s vehement reaction, Emily couldn’t help wondering if she was more worried about Lauren running into the man who’d harmed her or if she simply didn’t want his accuser in the house. Of course, there was also the possibility that she didn’t want to meet a young woman who’d had the courage to do what Dani herself had been unable to do: hold Evan accountable for his actions. Emily increasingly feared it was the latter.
“Sweetie,” she began, but Dani was already pushing back from the table as if she couldn’t get away fast enough. Obviously the transition to talking about Evan’s case hadn’t been nearly as smooth as Emily had hoped. She’d thought that the natural flow of conversation from discussing Josh’s girlfriend to mentioning Lauren was subtle, but she’d clearly miscalculated.
“I’m not hungry anymore. I’m going to my room. I’ve got homework to do.”
“Dani, sit down,” Emily ordered, but her daughter ignored the command and ran from the kitchen. She turned to Grady apologetically. “I’m sorry. I thought we could ease into the subject and finally get somewhere. Things seemed to be going so well.”
“Don’t worry about it. I got some good insights into your
daughter tonight.” He turned to Josh. “Maybe it’s for the best that she’s gone upstairs, if you have information for me.”
Josh nodded and reached into his pocket. “I have a few names. It’s not much, but maybe they’ll help.”
“At this point, any leads will help.”
Emily frowned. “Were there girls from the high school who said Evan had raped them?”
Josh shook his head. “None of them went that far, but there were four who said he didn’t know how to take no for an answer, so they’d stopped dating him.” He gave Grady a look filled with regret. “I know that’s not the same thing.”
“It does establish a pattern, though. And maybe if Naomi contacts them, they’ll say just how far he pushed things. They might be more forthcoming with her than they would be with you or with me. Girls in this kind of situation respond well to her.”
“Naomi’s your partner, right?” Josh said. “I saw her talking to Jenny that day you were on campus.”
“Right,” Grady confirmed.
“Jenny likes her. She says she was really, really good with Lauren.”
“I’ll tell her you said that,” Grady said. “It takes a lot of compassion to be able to do what she does.”
Josh gave him a speculative look. “She’s pretty hot, too. Is there anything going on between the two of you? Because if there is…” He glanced meaningfully at Emily, proving he hadn’t been as oblivious to the undercurrents as she had hoped.
“Josh!” she protested, mortified.
Grady grinned. “Message received,” he assured Josh. “Naomi and I are partners. We’re not involved. It would
be too complicated. Besides, she prefers guys who are a whole lot younger and less jaded than I am.”
Emily couldn’t believe her son felt he had the right to meddle in her love life and ask such an intrusive question. Not that she even had a love life with Grady, or any other man, for that matter. Tonight was the first time since the divorce she’d even seriously considered including a man in her future. Up until that kiss, it had been little more than a fantasy.
And, fantasy or reality, she most certainly didn’t want to dwell on it now, not when she was increasingly worried about her daughter’s state of mind.
“Look, I hate to cut this short, but I really need to go upstairs and spend some time with Dani. Josh, do you have any more information for Detective Rodriguez? If not, I’ll show him out on my way upstairs.”
Naturally Grady took note of her suddenly formal tone and the abrupt dismissal and gave her a mocking look. Josh studied the two of them curiously.
“I’ve already told him what I know,” Josh said and drew a rumpled sheet of paper from his pocket. “Here are the names of the girls who answered me, plus their contact information. I really hope it helps.”
“Thanks, Josh. I’m sure it will.” Grady stood up and his amused gaze locked on Emily. “After you.”
Emily led the way to the front door. When she turned back to face him, he was still regarding her with tolerant amusement.
“Can’t get me out of here fast enough, can you? Do I make you nervous?”
“Of course not,” she lied.
He touched a finger to the tip of her nose. “It’s growing, sweetheart. You might want to watch those
little white lies. They add up. Next thing you know you’ll be like Pinnochio with a nose out to here.” He held his hand a foot away from her face.
“Not funny,” she said. “I do need to check on Dani.”
His expression sobered at once. “I know you do, but I would have happily helped your son clean up the kitchen while you talked to her.”
She caught herself smiling. “I think you’re giving my son more credit than he deserves. Any cleaning up that goes on around here, I’ll be doing.”
He frowned at that. “All the more reason to let me stay and help out, maybe encourage him to pitch in.”
She shook her head. “I know you really just want to stick around in case I find out anything from Dani.”
He shrugged. “That, too.”
“There’s another reason?”
His gaze caught hers and held, then drifted to her lips. Only after she was all but sizzling with anticipation did he lean down and press a chaste kiss to her forehead.
“I think you know the reason,” he chided. “Call me, okay?”
Flustered once again, Emily could only stare. “You mean if Dani says something.”
“That would be one reason,” he said, his lips twitching. “Or just to say hello and make my day.”
“You’re a very disconcerting man, Detective.”
“And you’re a very intriguing woman, Emily,” he said just as seriously. Then he winked at her. “Good night. Thanks for dinner and for the company. I like your kids. Tell Dani I’ll call to set up an appointment for our landscaping project.”
“You don’t have to go through with that.”
“If you could see my yard, you’d know that I do.”
Emily stood in the doorway as he walked down the driveway to his car. A very disconcerting man, indeed. She couldn’t quite make up her mind how she felt about that.
On his way home, Grady stopped in Little Havana for some Café Cubano. Sometimes coming to the neighborhood along Eighth Street—
Calle Ocho
—reminded him of what it must have been like for his father and uncle growing up in Havana. The rapid-fire exchanges in Spanish, the businesses catering to Spanish-speaking customers were like a taste of home for the thousands of Cuban exiles who’d fled the island in the sixties and more recently during the Mariel boatlift and other, less organized flights from Castro’s rule. The neighborhood had also proved to be a draw for immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and other countries in Central and South America.
After chatting with some of the elderly men playing dominoes in the park across the street from the coffee shop, Grady found an unoccupied bench and dialed Naomi on his cell phone.
“This better be important, Rodriguez,” she said, sounding breathless.
“Obviously your date is going better than mine did,” he commented dryly. “I’ll try to keep this short. You have a pen and paper?”
“You want me to take notes?” she asked incredulously.
“We both know you don’t have a head for numbers,” Grady retorted. “I have four names, some e-mail addresses and phone numbers for girls who dated Carter in high school and ditched him because he was a little too eager for sex. Interested?”
“Two minutes,” she said tersely.
When she came back on the line, she sounded more composed. Grady tried not to imagine the frustrated young stud she’d abandoned in her bed. Instead he gave her the information as briskly as possible.
“Can you get on this right away?”
“In the next half hour,” she said firmly.