Reflection Point: An Eternity Springs Novel (17 page)

His wife elbowed him in the ribs. “Stop flirting with my friend and go get the pound cake out of the car.”

“Didn’t your son already drop off a pound cake?” Savannah asked as Ali and Mac Timberlake followed the Murphys inside. Devin Murphy had brought boxes of desserts around four o’clock, and Savannah knew a lemon pound cake had been one of them, because she’d snatched a piece.

“I decided we needed extras,” Sarah said after Savannah welcomed the newcomers.

Ali added, “I talked to Cat and she said she only received one invitation decline. It’s going to be a packed house. I have extra canapés in the warming oven at the restaurant. Mac said he’d go get them when we need them.”

Savannah’s stomach rolled over with nervousness.
This is going to cost a fortune
. “Sarah, Ali. Thank you so much. About your bill …”

“What bill?” Ali asked. “This open house is on the house.”

“But—”

“Don’t argue,” Sarah added. “We coerced you into having this party. I can pop for a few cupcakes. Consider the refreshments a welcome gift from me and Ali.
After all, Sage did your design work as a gift. That made us look bad.”

“You guys are wonderful.”

“We know.” Sarah flashed an impish smile and changed the subject. “Before everybody gets here … I’ve got gossip about Zach.”

Oh, dear
. Savannah’s smile dimmed, and when the doorbell signaled another early arrival, she was glad for the distraction.

“Actually, not so much about Zach as about his new deputy. Have you guys met her?”

Savannah opened the door to the subject currently under discussion. “It’s Gabi Romano,” she said, raising her voice so that Sarah would take care with her words.

It proved to be a wasted effort, because Sarah turned and went full gossip on Gabi. “Gabi Romano! I was just talking about you. I’ve been dying to meet you. Sage and Nic and I are fangirls of Coach Romano. He was the object of our sexual fantasies—”

“Sarah!” Cam protested, scowling, as he walked through the room carrying a pound cake.

“Let me finish.” She turned back to Gabi, gave an impish wink, and added, “Until we met the loves of our lives. We were Colorado fans, of course, so we knew about Anthony. Gabe was the one who told us he had a twin who also coached basketball. We all felt so terrible for him when that team bus accident happened.

“Now tell us what it was like growing up with male gods. Two of them. Actually, I heard a rumor that you have a third brother who’s no slouch, either.”

Gabi snorted. “Don’t even get me started. I’m the only girl in my family, and growing up was like living in a gym—sweaty jocks everywhere you turned, literally and figuratively. Not to mention all the panties that ended up in my lingerie drawer. Panties that weren’t mine, mind you, but somehow ended up in the family wash.
Women have been throwing their underwear at the Romano men for a long time.”

“Gotta admire that quality in a man,” Cam said.

Gabi wrinkled her nose. “It makes me question the intelligence of a legion of females.”

“A legion?” Cam asked. “Really?”

“I can understand it,” Nic said. “The coaches Romano are hawt.”

“Stop it,” Gabe interjected. “You’re giving me a complex. Didn’t we come early to help Savannah? Shouldn’t we get started?”

Savannah went along with the teasing. “That’s okay. I don’t mind hearing stories about Gabi’s sexy brothers.”

Gabi’s mouth twisted in a grin Savannah couldn’t quite read. “I could shock you, believe me. Better it wait for another time, I think. So, what can I do to help?”

Before Savannah knew it, Heavenscents was overflowing with people, conversation, and laughter. Jack Davenport kept champagne glasses filled from bottles he’d furnished from his wine cellar, while Mac Timberlake played waiter, passing around hors d’oeuvres. Nic Callahan and Sage Rafferty conducted a sales competition, though Celeste’s efforts put them both to shame. Savannah spent so much time answering questions and accepting praise that Sarah shooed her away from the cash register and took control of the financial end of the evening.

It was the most exciting evening Savannah could recall. At one point she looked around and saw Sarah and Ali and Celeste laughing, and she marveled that these women had helped her simply because they were good people and they wanted to do it. It made her feel—

She broke off the thought when Gabi pulled her aside. “Congratulations, Savannah. You’re a hit.”

“I know.” She couldn’t hold back her excitement. “Thank you so much for coming. Tonight has been
just … wow. I don’t have words. It’s more than the money—though that part is wonderful, too—but all this … them …” She waved a hand toward her helpers. “They’ve welcomed me. They’ve made me one of them. I’ve never belonged like this before.”

“I’m glad for you, and I’m glad I could come. You don’t know how badly I wish I didn’t have to go to work now. I’d love nothing more than to sneak back to Nightingale Cottage with a bottle of Jack’s champagne and put one of these bath bombs I bought to good use.”

“Which ones did you buy?”

“I bought the Serenity Sampler, Bubbling Peace, Silver Strike Salts, and Lavender Mountain Melt. I figure that might last me a week.”

Savannah laughed. “From your mouth to my banker’s ears.”

After Gabi left, Savannah enjoyed a nice conversation with Jim Brand and his wife, Marsha, about the likely history of the antique bookcase on loan from Angel’s Rest that she used to display her line of lotions. Despite being engrossed in the conversation, something—some inexplicable change in the room’s atmosphere—caused her to glance over her shoulder.

Zach Turner had just walked into Heavenscents’ open house.

TWELVE
 

Zach couldn’t get Savannah Moore off his mind.

From the moment she’d fled from him and Reflection Point two nights ago, she’d haunted him. After nearly a decade in law enforcement he knew that 98 percent of the time you could count on a guilty person to claim innocence. He could count on one hand the number of times he wondered if the perp might actually be telling the truth.

Crazy at it sounded, he believed Savannah’s story. Was it good intuition or old-fashioned horniness?

Well, horniness certainly was a factor, but either way, he guessed, it didn’t matter. The fact remained that he
did
believe her and he wanted to get to know her better. A lot better. The woman appealed to him like no woman had in a very long time.

She was like a scrappy little terrier, a survivor who didn’t take crap from anyone. He felt sorry for her, and he suspected she’d hate it if she knew it. Betrayed by a lover. Framed by the man for a crime she didn’t commit? He’d like five minutes alone in a room with the son of a bitch.

A son-of-a-bitch cop. That really burned him. Dirty cops held top billing on his shit list.

Kyle Vaughn.
Detective
Kyle Vaughn, Zach had discovered. He’d testified against her at her trial. The sorry bag of crap. Zach didn’t know where this thing he had with Savannah would go, but having a dirtbag ex in the same profession as his own certainly wouldn’t help matters. She obviously held his job against him.
Barney Fife my ass
.

Zach intended to find out more about her case—he’d requested transcripts of the trial, for one thing—but first he thought he’d take the opportunity to investigate this business venture of hers … and score a glass or two of that fancy champagne Jack Davenport was passing around. When Gabi arrived at the sheriff’s office nearly late for her shift and babbling about Savannah’s success, he headed for Heavenscents.

He wanted to see Savannah in her glory. Hell, he wanted to see Savannah, period.

She was talking to the Brands when he walked in, and he enjoyed an unobserved moment of watching her. She looked gorgeous in a clingy red sweater and high-heeled shoes. She looked happy, too, and the light in her countenance put a smile on his face.

“Well, well, well,” Jack Davenport said, offering him a glass of champagne. “I recognize that look. So, you have a thing for our sexy soap maker?”

Zach shrugged. “Let’s just say I’m considering having a thing.”

“Can’t say I’m surprised after watching you at softball that night. I was a little afraid that you’d have to arrest yourself for violating the burn ban.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The two of you sent enough sparks flying around that I thought you might set the field on fire. So … what gives?”

Remembering the collision on the field, Zach gave a
crooked grin. Maybe she sensed the men’s interest, because at that moment Savannah glanced over her shoulder and met his gaze. He lifted his champagne to her in a silent toast. She frowned and returned to her conversation.

“She’s not sure she likes me.”

“Woman has some sense.”

“Ass.”

Jack sipped his champagne. “She has spirit, too. That always makes a woman more interesting.”

“I agree.”

“I think you should go for it—if only because it would put an end to the matchmaking schemes of my wife and her friends.”

“That would be a good thing. I swear this town gets more like a reality TV show every day.” Zach was distracted by the sight of Ali Timberlake entering the room carrying a platter of chicken kabobs. “Those look good. I haven’t had dinner yet.”

“You should see if she’s got any of the crab cakes left. They’re spectacular.”

Zach filled a plate—including crab cakes—then spent a few minutes looking around Savannah’s shop. He liked what she’d done with this Victorian. Her displays were inviting, and she’d arranged them in such a way as to display a lot of stuff without having the place feel stuffy. But honestly, ten dollars for a ball of soap?

Judging by the way she appeared to be racking up the sales, she must know what she was doing. Gabi had admitted to spending over a hundred dollars tonight. Of course, his new deputy was a badass girly girl, but still, a hundred bucks?

He visited with his friends and fellow citizens, keeping one eye on the clock and the other on the prize. It didn’t escape his notice that she kept track of where
he was, too. Every time he moved closer, she scooted away.

Zach bided his time, and as the crowd thinned, he decided he’d given her enough line and time to run. He picked up two glasses of champagne, then sidled over to her. Seeing her notice him and go tense, Zach made a judgment about which compliment she’d prefer hearing most. “The place looks great, Peach.”

It took her a moment, but she visibly relaxed and actually smiled at him as she accepted the glass of champagne he offered. “Thanks.”

“I like how you’ve named your products with an Eternity Springs theme.”

“Since my primary market for the retail shop is the tourist trade, I thought it would be fun.”

“Looks like you’ve sold a lot to locals tonight, too.”

Her smile brightened with satisfaction. “I have. I completely sold out of Spring Cleaned bubble bars.”

“As sheriff, I appreciate that Eternity Springs can boast of a clean citizenry.” She rewarded him with a laugh, and Zach continued, “Also as sheriff, I like to support local businesses, so why don’t you help me pick out something to buy?”

“I can do that. How about something for Ace?”

“Dog bubble bath?”

“I was thinking about a shampoo.”

“That’ll work.”

Savannah led him to a display called “Suds for Spot,” and as she described the differences in the three dog shampoos she offered, Zach’s attention wandered. Something on the shelf next to the dog stuff smelled great. “I’ll take the green stuff,” Zach told her, then gestured toward the shelf. “What is this scent?”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” She picked up a cellophane bag filled with crystals and untied the ribbon bow that fastened
it closed. She passed it to him to get a better whiff. “It’s something new I put together, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite scent. It’s a combination of oak-moss, bergamot, and …” A rosy blush stained her cheeks as she added, “Peaches.”

“Peaches. No wonder I like it.” He inhaled the spicy, appealing fragrance, then read the label. It was a takeoff on the name of the mountain pass leading into town, Sinner’s Prayer Pass. “Sinners Make a Pass Bubble Beads.”

He had a swift, intense mental picture of a naked Savannah Moore climbing into a bubble bath in a Victorian slipper tub. His voice was a little raspy as he said, “I’ll take this, too.”

Savannah clarified, “It’s bubble bath, Zach.”

“Yeah.” His vision shifted to a naked Savannah sinking into his hot tub at home and crooking her finger at him. “Actually, I’ll take half a dozen bags.”

Savannah gave him a quick once-over. Her voice sounded a little tight as she said, “I have that scent in soap if you’d rather.”

A naked Savannah in his shower. “Yeah. I’ll definitely take some soap, too.”

“Too?”

“Too.” When his fantasy moved to his bed, he distractedly asked, “Does it come in massage oil?”

She closed her eyes and moistened her lips. “No. No. I don’t have a line of massage oils.”

“Maybe that’s something you should consider.”

“I … uh … can I check you out?”