Chapter Ten #2
“They’re already talking, and smiling, and laughing,” Blake told her with a grin. “It’s an open secret all over town. The only thing they’re curious about is where we’re being married.”
“I suppose that’s the beauty of small towns,” Violet agreed, smiling back. “There are no real secrets. We’re all family.”
“Exactly,” Blake replied. “Now to the next important issue.” He watched their faces grow attentive. “Who wants Chinese take-out?” he asked, chuckling.
* * *
He went to get the order and brought it back to Mrs. Hardy’s.
She and Violet already had the places set at the table and they were all hungry.
They talked over the potential case against Janet Collins, and the forthcoming wedding.
By the time Blake was ready to leave, Mrs. Hardy was smiling and seemed to have no more misgivings.
Violet walked him out to his car, noticing how bright and clear the night sky was. The stars were brilliant. All around there was the fragrance of the old-fashioned roses Mrs. Hardy grew in her small garden.
Mrs. Hardy had already announced her opinion of living with the newlyweds—and especially Blake’s delinquent Siamese. She said she’d prefer torture. So they’d compromised on having a nurse-companion stay with her. Blake would call an agency and have them send over people for Mrs. Hardy’s approval.
“She’ll be much happier here, I know,” Violet told him on the porch. “She loves puttering in her roses. We can visit her a lot.”
“We’ll come over often and bring supper, too,” he said. “She’ll have someone qualified to look after her, so you don’t have to worry about that.” He looked at her curiously. “See how easily things work out, when they’re meant to happen?”
She nodded. She moved a step closer to him. It was chilly, despite the usually warm spring nights. She looked up at him quietly. “You won’t end up resenting the baby because it forced us into marriage?”
He caught her by the waist and pulled her close.
“If I didn’t care about you, I’d make provisions for you and the baby and we wouldn’t get married,” he said surprisingly.
“I don’t like the idea of divorce. It’s messy and it leaves a trail of sorrow behind it.
You and I have a lot in common. We’re basically the same sort of people.
We have the same attitudes. We both love children and animals.
There’s enough there to start with, and a physical compatibility that I never expected in a million years.
I want to marry you. The baby is going to be a bonus. ”
Tears stung her eyes. “You’ve thought about this a lot.”
“I have. That’s why I’m sorry you overheard me talking to Dr. Lou Coltrain,” he added, identifying his confidant for the first time. “I wasn’t choosing my words, and I was confused. I’m not anymore.”
“You’re sure about that?” she asked gently.
He nodded. He traced a line down her soft cheek. “I’ve been alone for a long time. I’m tired of it. I’ll adjust, and so will you.”
She nodded, but she still looked worried.
“What now?” he asked.
“I’m scared.”
“Of getting married?” he asked with a quizzical smile.
“Of the baby,” she replied. “They don’t come with instruction manuals. They’re so tiny, and so fragile…”
He drew her close, laughing softly. “Everybody’s afraid of being parents,” he said easily. “But babies are tougher than they seem, and there’s always Dr. Lou. She’s had lots of experience with pregnant people, and she knows a very good obstetrician.”
“So I heard.”
“Stop worrying,” he told her. “We’re in this together.”
“I suppose we are, at that,” she conceded. “We’ll have company, too—well, about marriage. Libby and Jordan Powell are getting married.”
He grinned. “That’s no surprise. He’s been in and out of the office several times trying to get her to forgive him.”
“Serves him right that she took her time about it,” she pointed out. “He and Julie Merrill were a venomous pair. Will Julie go to prison for that arson charge, do you think?”
“She’ll probably try to let her employee swing in her place. Don’t worry. Chief Grier has another pending charge, one that she won’t escape so easily.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” she fished.
He chuckled. “Not now.” He bent and kissed her gently, tugging her close into his arms. They were warm and safe against the chill of the evening. She sighed and kissed him back. His mouth felt as warm as his arms. He was perfect to her.
“Go back in,” he said after a minute, running his lean hands over her arms. “You’re freezing out here.”
“It’s supposed to be spring already,” she pointed out, shivering.
“If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes,” he repeated the standing local joke.
“I believe that.” She smiled. “Are we really getting married next week, or was that just to placate Mama?”
“It was to placate me, too,” he replied somberly. “I don’t want people making snide remarks about you, the way they’re talking about Tippy Moore moving in with Chief Grier.”
“She was badly hurt,” she stated. “Nobody sane is going to think anything of it. Besides, Mrs. Jewell is staying there around the clock. So is Tippy’s little brother. There are too many chaperones for much to go on.”
“Still, there’s talk,” he countered. “And they’ll have more ammunition with you than they did with Tippy, even considering her miscarriage. It won’t take long for someone to notice that you had prenatal vitamins filled up in Victoria.”
She gasped. “How did you know that?”
“Lou told me,” he said simply, and he smiled.
“Well, I am a concerned party,” he reminded her.
“It’s my baby, too.” He hesitated, frowning as he looked down at Violet and then at her flat stomach.
He felt…odd. He’d never thought about children, except once, long ago, with Shannon.
Since then, since the fatal poisoning that had claimed her and her unborn child, he’d been belligerent about not wanting children. But now…
“You’re upset,” Violet said softly, moving a step closer. “What is it?”
He looked worried. “You know that I’ve been adamant about never wanting children. I’m not sure you know why.”
She’d forgotten that, and it made her heart sink. She knew he was making the most of a bad situation, but she hadn’t wanted to remember how he felt about children. “Some men just don’t like them,” she began.
He put his forefinger over her mouth. “Shannon was pregnant when she died,” he said bluntly. “It was my child.”
She didn’t look shocked, as he’d expected. He frowned.
“Small towns,” she explained softly. “Everybody knows everything.”
“You knew that?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry it happened that way.”
He drew in a long breath. “Yes. So am I. It was a blow that I never quite got over. Every time I saw Julie Merrill, it brought it all back. She killed another human being for no more reason than she wanted to be class president. She didn’t even seem to be bothered by it.”
“There are people who feel nothing at all,” she replied. “I don’t understand it, either. But someday, she’ll pay for the evil she’s done.”
“The sooner, the better,” he replied.
She reached up and touched his cheek. “Did you know, about the baby?”
His face went taut. “No. I’m not sure she was comfortable telling me about it.
I was more adamant in those days about families than I am now, and that’s saying something.
That made the guilt worse. I wondered if she’d been tormented, thinking I wouldn’t want the child.
As it is,” he added heavily, “it’s a moot point. The baby died with her.”
“Did Julie know?” she wondered.
“I never asked. It would make no difference now. But I’d still love to see her lining up for payback, for the things she’s done. She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.”
“People don’t get away with things, Blake,” she said, sounding much more mature than she was as she looked up at him. “It may take years, even a lifetime. But eventually people who hurt other people get it back, doubled.”
He traced her mouth softly. She made him feel comforted, safe, secure.
He was a tough ex-special forces captain and he really did have the medals to prove it.
But she melted him. He wondered if she had any idea what he felt for her.
It was like what he’d felt for Shannon, years ago.
Shannon. He saw her face, in the casket, white and still, her happy blue eyes closed forever. He felt sick.
It wasn’t Violet’s fault, and when he saw her uncertain stare, he felt worse.
He bent and kissed her tenderly. He was anguished, but he didn’t want her to think she was responsible for it.
He was remembering Shannon, as he’d last seen her, when the light had gone out of the world.
He had to get out of here, to have time to himself to come to terms with the past. “Get some rest. I’ll phone you tomorrow,” he told her.
He’d promised lunch, but she could tell that the discussion about Shannon was wounding him. She only smiled. “I’ll look forward to it,” she said. “Drive carefully.”
He nodded absently, turned, and went to his car. He didn’t look back as he drove away.
Violet hesitated before she went back into the house.
She wasn’t really worried. He wasn’t lying about their physical compatibility, and he did seem to want their child.
But he hadn’t completely settled the past. He needed time, and she was going to give it to him.
She wanted him desperately. But he had to want her just as much.
He had to let go of the memory of Shannon.
Somehow, she knew, he would manage that.
* * *
She and her mother had an early night. She dreamed about the baby, and awoke feeling flushed and excited about the prospect of bringing a new little life into the world. She didn’t care which sex it was. She only wanted a healthy child.