Peril in Paperback (34 page)

Maybe it was Derek’s British accent or the fact that he pulled the British Intelligence card, but the detectives retreated quickly with a promise to return the next day.

“Wait just a minute,” Stephen Fowler demanded. “I refuse to stay in this hellhole one more minute. I’ll follow you back to the station and give my statement. Then I’m going home.”

Detective Pentley watched the entire room burst into applause, which caused Fowler’s face to turn red with rage. He used every vile word in his vocabulary, damning us all to Hades before finally storming out of the room.

“Good riddance,” Ruth said.

Grace sighed. “I’m going to need a new lawyer.”

The party was back in full swing shortly after that. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and I turned to Derek. “We need to talk.”

He skimmed my hair off my cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Yes, we do.”

I caught his hand in mine and, oh, it felt good to have him beside me again. Still, I had to ask. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Derek, but what are you doing here?”

He gave a swift glance around the room. “I came here to save your life, as usual.”

I stared at him, unable to look away. “You’re late.”

His lips twisted in a half smile. “I got here as quickly as I could.”

“But why?”

He sighed and ran his hands up and down my arms, causing goose bumps to rise everywhere he touched.

“I know Thomasina answered my phone when you called,” he said, watching my reaction. “She confessed to it after I had her arrested.”

“Seems a little harsh to have her arrested just for being a snarky bitch. I mean, it’s not like she actually lied. She just made me feel like crap.”

He smiled. “Darling, she was arrested for being in cahoots with her own stalker. They were trying to embezzle money out of her financier father.”

“More embezzlers?” I shook my head. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

He raised one eyebrow. “I never kid.”

“No, you don’t,” I murmured. “But it’s still shocking.”

“I assure you it’s true. I saw that you had called, but I thought you had merely let it ring, then hung up. I had no idea she had answered the phone and given you cause to worry.”

“Oh, I wasn’t worried,” I said breezily. “Why would I worry?”

“Why indeed?” He took hold of my arm and walked
me over to a bay window that looked out on the lake. “It’s beautiful here.”

“Yes, it is,” I said lightly. “I’ve been having a marvelous time.”

He gazed down at me. “The truth is, once I realized what Thomasina had done to you and then traced the rest of her lies, I went a little berserk. I couldn’t get home fast enough. And you weren’t there. I’d forgotten you were coming here for the week, but remembered as soon as I walked into our home and called out your name. So I tried your cell but you weren’t answering your phone and I thought…well, never mind what I thought.”

“The phones must have been out because of the storm.” A warm curl of delight started in the pit of my stomach and spread out, head to toe.
Derek
had been worried about
me.
Always nice to know.

“Right,” he said, shoving one hand through his perfect hair. “But that wasn’t my first thought. I figured I’d angered you so much that you weren’t taking my calls. Then I realized you were in the mountains and the lines might be down. I raced here, drove as far as I could get by car. They were only allowing SUVs and trucks through the pass, so I rented a Jet Ski and came by land the rest of the way.”

“You got here by Jet Ski?”
My hero,
I thought with a happy sigh.

“And where do I find you?” he asked, and laughed. “In the middle of a murder scene. Naturally.” He shook his head, laughed again, pulled me into his arms, and held me there. “Damn it, Brooklyn. I missed you. I was beside myself trying to get here to tell you…”

“To tell me what?”

“That I’ll never stop trying to prove how much I love you.”

“Oh.” And there went the tears again.
Gee whiz. Is there some kind of surgical procedure to get rid of the damn things?

“Darling Brooklyn, look at me,” he said. Tilting his head, he saw my wet face. “Ah, you’re sweet.”

“I’m a sap,” I muttered.

He ignored that. “After turning Thomasina over to the authorities and while racing back to you like a man possessed, it occurred to me that I’d never really made a clear commitment to you.”

“Commitment? Of course you have. You—”

He pressed his finger over my lips. “No, don’t say anything. Let me speak. When I came back to town a while ago to open my new offices, you were there for me. You were always there for me. You took me into your home and shared your life and your family with me.”

“Well, of course,” I said, gazing at him, unsure where he was going with this.

“Yes, it’s that simple for you. Isn’t it? I value that about you, Brooklyn. I’ve told you that I love you, but I’ve never had to work for your love and affection. You’ve always made it easy for me, accepting me into your life, always trusting me no matter what. Always so loving.”

I swallowed, but couldn’t speak. I really didn’t want to ruin his homage to my trusting nature with tales of how worried I’d been about him and the thieving Thomasina.

He continued. “So when I finally realized that I might have allowed that trust to be broken, I was frantic to see you. I rushed back to assure you that I needed your trust back. Needed it more than I’d ever needed anything in my life. And I needed to let you know that I trusted you completely with my life and with my heart.”

“Oh, Derek, of course I trust you. I missed you. I love you.”

“I missed you enormously. I cherish you and I love you.”

He kissed me then, and all my silly fears melted away. Someday I would regale him with what I’d gone through while I was here and maybe I’d tell him what a psycho girlfriend I’d been, but not today. And probably not tomorrow.
It would take me a while to get to that place, but I would get there.

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Are we good?”

“Oh yeah,” I said with a big smile.

“You guys are the greatest,” Suzie said, wiping away a tear.

“Oh! You have to meet Lily,” I said, taking Derek by the hand and walking him over to Vinnie, who carried the baby close to her chest. I introduced Derek to the little angel and explained everything that had happened.

“Congratulations,” Derek said, and kissed Vinnie’s cheek. “She couldn’t have two more wonderful, generous, loving parents than the two of you.”

“You are such a lovely man,” Vinnie said. “Thank you.”

“Damn it,” Suzie said, wiping away more tears. “What is up with the waterworks?”

“I feel your pain, sister,” I said, and handed her a tissue.

Vinnie touched Derek’s arm. “You have missed quite a bit of excitement this week. Why don’t you two come over for dinner next week and we’ll bring you up to date?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” He glanced at me, then said, “We’ll be there.”

“Would you like to hold the baby?” Vinnie asked.

Derek grinned. “I was hoping you’d let me.”

She passed Lily over to Derek, who laid her on his chest. He closed his eyes and smiled as he rocked slightly on his heels. His hand moved gently up and down the baby’s pink-pajama-clad back.

I could feel my heart breaking, it was such a precious sight. Then he looked at me and smiled. “Pretty special, huh?”

I nodded, unable to speak.

“Oh, my God, Brooklyn,” Suzie whispered. “He needs one of those.”

Oh, boy.
I fumbled for my tissue before I drowned in these darn tears.

Next to me, Kiki sighed. “Isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve seen all day?”

“Pretty much,” I whispered, trying to swallow around the lump in my throat.

“Oh, hey,” Suzie said, and looked at Grace. “You were supposed to make a big announcement tonight.”

Grace rolled her eyes, then wrapped her arm around Ruth’s waist. “My big announcement. Well, I was finally going to come out of the closet in front of my family and friends, but Ruth decided to push me out instead.”

Ruth blushed. “I’ve got a big mouth.”

Everyone laughed and Suzie gave her aunt a tight hug. “Welcome to my side of the closet.”

“You were my inspiration, sweetie,” Grace said softly. “You live your life with no apologies and no excuses, and I admire you more than anyone I’ve ever known.”

“Oh no,” Suzie wailed, and began to cry. “Damn it! There I go again.”

I silently handed her another tissue and she blew her nose.

“You’re such a girl,” Vinnie said to Suzie, and hugged her.

“I think it’s time for birthday cake and ice cream,” Grace announced.

Merrilee was already on it. She ran to open the door for Chef Tang, who walked in pushing a kitchen cart holding a beautifully decorated sheet cake with blazing candles.

We sang “Happy Birthday,” then the chef cut and plated the pieces of cake. Merrilee and Ruth walked around, handing a plate to each guest. I noticed that Grace wasn’t eating any.

“Aren’t you having any cake?” I asked. “It’s delicious.”

“I’ll have some tomorrow,” she said. “But tonight I get my favorite dessert. Once a year Tang bakes me a special treat. It’s an old family recipe his mother and his grandmother used to make. He brought it with him from his remote village in Thailand.”

Tang walked back into the room, carrying a large parfait glass filled with an elaborate concoction topped with huge swirls of whipped cream.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Mm,” Grace said, licking her lips. “It’s Tang’s specialty. The best tapioca pudding in the world, made completely from scratch.”

I don’t mind admitting that I’m a little obsessed with food. A childhood spent competing with five brothers and sisters at the dinner table will do that to you. I grew up loving good food as much as I love old books, which is saying a lot, since I’m a bookbinder and old books are my life’s blood.

My current food fixation is cheeseburgers, but I’m not picky; I love everything. Last month I was hooked on doughnuts. Before that, it was tamales. Chocolate is a constant, of course. I get happy chills when I see a new building going up in my neighborhood, because it means that food trucks will start showing up every morning to feed the construction crew. I love food trucks.

So, given my deep admiration for all things foodie, it seems like a cruel joke that the universe declined to endow me with even the teensiest smidgen of cooking talent. Damn you, universe! You can be a real bully sometimes. And never was your cosmic cruelty more evident than the day my oddball sister Savannah received her Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. Savannah, a chef? It wasn’t fair!

Let’s break it down. There are two kinds of people in the world: the ones who claim they “forgot to eat lunch” and the ones who have never missed a meal. Savannah
has been skipping meals her entire life. How she wound up in the Wainwright family is a question for the ages. Equally perplexing is how she ended up in charge of a world-class gourmet kitchen. The girl forgets to eat!

Don’t get me wrong—I love Savannah. I love all of my siblings. My peacenik parents always encouraged us kids to treat one another with infinite kindness and unconditional love, even while we were pulling each other’s hair and stealing Barbie dolls and Legos.

So a few months ago, when Savannah returned to Dharma, our hometown in the Sonoma wine country, and opened Arugula, a high-end vegetarian restaurant, I was thrilled for her. I marveled at her innovative menus and wine pairings. I cheered her fabulous reviews. I was in awe of her divine ability to create a chanterelle glaze that could so perfectly complement a heavenly pillow of delicate, hand-shaped ravioli, thus providing the perfect juxtaposition of taste and texture on the tongue.

But come on, universe! What about me? You couldn’t even give me a heads-up on how long to boil macaroni? Because I’m telling you, those instructions on the box are always wrong.

“This shouldn’t be so hard,” I muttered, tossing the empty cardboard pasta box into the trash. I stood alone in my kitchen and stared in disgust at the mushy pasta draining in the colander. I’d been so careful this time, followed the directions to the letter, but once again the universe was out to get me.

I grabbed my wineglass and took a fortifying sip before reaching for yet another test noodle, biting into it and sighing in dismay. Yup, this one was just as soggy as the others. I turned the colander over and tossed the entire batch of pasta down the garbage disposal.

“What a waste.” I was debating whether to cook another package of pasta or just call for a pizza when my doorbell rang. I dried my hands on a dish towel, then
jogged around the kitchen bar, down the hall, and into my workshop, where my front door was located.

Months of strange comings and goings in my building had me checking the peephole before unlocking the door and throwing it open.

“Speak of the devil,” I said by way of greeting Savannah.

“Me? The devil?” She pushed her raincoat hood back as she entered my home.

I blinked. It was still startling to see her smooth, bald head revealed, but I had to admit that the look worked for her. Her facial features were petite and refined, and she seemed to radiate healthy living.

“Yes, you.” I took her damp coat and hung it on the back of one of my tall workshop chairs. “I was just thinking of you as I threw another batch of disgusting, overdone pasta down the drain.”

She wiped away an imaginary tear. “That’s so sweet. I think of you that way, too.”

“Sorry, but I’m frustrated.” I explained as I led the way back to the kitchen. “It’s just not fair that I am completely incapable of boiling water, and then there’s you. I don’t get it.”

“Ah.” She smiled. “Well, look on the bright side. I destroy books.”

“True.” My sisters and I had always been voracious readers, but none of us would read a book after Savannah was finished with it. Not only did she scribble in the margins, but she would mark where she’d left off by dog-earing the page. It was barbaric. She liked to sadistically crack the spine to keep a book splayed open. If you valued a book, you never lent it to Savannah.