Chapter 12
“This is all I have to go on. See what you can come up with. Oh, and I want this kept confidential, understand?”
“Yes, Mrs. Justice. Of course.”
Casey hung up the phone then swiveled her chair until she was gazing out the office windows.
Outside, sunshine beamed down on Ruban Crossing, sweltering the inhabitants with a humidity that left everyone limp and weary.
A flock of seagulls swooped past her vision, then disappeared around the corner of the building.
On their way to the river—on their way to someplace cool.
She told herself what she’d done was for the best, and that no matter what her investigator found out about Ryder, she would love him just the same.
But in the following weeks since they’d first made love, she sensed he was holding something back and it made her nervous.
What if the revelation of his secrets brought an end to their relationship?
She closed her eyes and said a small, quiet prayer.
That just couldn’t happen. She couldn’t give him up.
Not when he’d become the most important thing in her life.
The intercom buzzed. She turned back to her desk.
“Yes?”
“Libertine Delacroix on line two for you.”
Casey picked up the phone. “Libby, it’s been a long time!
” “Yes, darlin’, way too long,” Libertine said.
“I would have called about this sooner, but I thought that with Delaney goin’ ‘an dyin’ on us like he did, and then you gettin’ married and all, well—I just thought I’d give everythin’ time to settle. ”
Casey grinned. Libertine Delacroix’s southern drawl was too thick to be believed, especially when Casey knew for certain that Libertine had been born and raised in Utah.
The only thing south about her upbringing had been the window over her bed.
However, after marrying Winston Delacroix and moving to their family home outside of Jackson, Mississippi, Libertine’s speech had become as rich as southern fried chicken.
“How is that darlin’ husband of yours, anyway?” Libertine asked.
An image of Ryder’s face above hers as he slid into her body flashed through Casey’s mind. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, suddenly weak with longing.
“Why, he’s just fine. Thank you for asking,” Casey said.
“Good. I’m havin’ a little party Saturday night. I want you two to come. You’ll be the guests of honor, of course.”
Casey opened her eyes and sat up straight. Libertine had never had a little party in her life.
“That sounds wonderful,” she said. “But what do you mean by little?”
“Oh, no more than forty or fifty. It’ll be fun! Come in costume of course, and be prepared to be showered with belated wedding gifts as well.”
Casey rolled her eyes. Good grief. A sit-down, costume party, wedding shower dinner? Only Libertine would attempt to pull off such a stunt.
“Thank you, Libby, Ryder and I will be looking forward to it.”
Libertine giggled. “I do declare. I hear he’s just the handsomest thing.
Leave it up to you to pull the coup of the decade.
I wouldn’t have had the nerve, you know—goin’ down in the Delta like that and callin’ Delaney’s bluff.
Oh well, see you Saturday night, sugar. Eightish—costumes—prepare to have fun! ”
Casey winced as Libertine disconnected. Lord have mercy! Costumes. She hadn’t been able to get him in a chauffeur’s uniform. What was he going to say about this?
* * *
A dragonfly darted past Casey’s nose as she leaned on the fender of the Lincoln, watching while Ryder poured oil into the engine. Still in her work clothes, she was careful not to get grime on her suit. It was an original and one of her favorites.
Ryder didn’t seem to have the same set of worries. He was minus a shirt, minus his hat, and as of moments ago when she’d unloaded the news about Libertine’s call, minus his good humor.
“So, you’re going to put me on parade. I was wondering when this might happen.”
Casey winced. “That’s not fair. I’m not the one hosting this party, therefore I am not the one putting you anywhere. Libertine Delacroix is famous for her parties. She was also one of my mother’s closest friends—at least. that’s what Tilly says.”
Ryder tossed the empty oil can into the trash and wiped his hands. “Step back,” he ordered, and slammed the hood shut with a resounding thump.
Casey followed him into the garage. “Her food is always fabulous. She has the best chef in the county, you know.”
“Can’t be better than Tilly’s,” he said shortly.
“They’re giving us a belated wedding shower. I didn’t know how to say no.”
Ryder turned, and there was a light in his eyes she recognized all too well. “Oh, I don’t know about that. You pretty much said a big loud no to the terms of your grandfather’s will.”
She glared. “That’s different.”
He grinned.
“We’re to go in costume.”
The grin slid off of his face. “Like hell.”
Casey groaned. “Ryder, please. Don’t be difficult about this. I love you madly. You can’t blame me for wanting all of my acquaintances to meet you.”
“Yeah, right, and I’m supposed to remember these people the next time I see them when I’ve been introduced to them in costumes? Let’s see, what would I say? Oh, I know. You were the pirate, right? And you—weren’t you that Playboy Bunny?”
She grinned. “I can heartily assure you that there will not be a single Playboy Bunny present.”
He yanked his shirt from a hook and pulled it on with a jerk. “Well hell, you know that refusing you is impossible. However…just remember you’re going to owe me, big time.”
Casey threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
The corner of his mouth tilted as he nuzzled the spot just below her right ear. “You’re very welcome.”
Before their play went beyond a point of no return, Tilly stepped out the back door. “Casey, honey, telephone call for you.”
Casey waved to let Tilly know that she’d heard, then turned back to Ryder. “So, what kind of costume do you want to wear?”
He cursed beneath his breath.
“Ryder, you promised.”
“You don’t worry about what I’ll wear,” he muttered. “I said I’d go, so I’ll dress the part.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but knowing Ryder, it was the best she was going to get.
“Want to go out to dinner?” she asked.
“Want to go to Smoky Joe’s?”
Casey groaned. She knew when she’d been had. “It’s not alligator night.”
He grinned. “I don’t care. I have a hankering to see someone else’s tail get slapped in the mud besides mine.”
She made a face and then ran for the phone.
“Don’t run in those damned heels,” he yelled, but it was too late. She’d already done it. He frowned. One of these days she was going to break her leg pulling a stunt like that.
* * *
Casey leaned over the deck and waved at Miles and Erica as they came out of the main house.
Erica’s white antebellum dress floated just above the ground, billowing out around her and swaying with every step that she took.
Miles looked dashing in black and quite reminiscent of a riverboat gambler.
Eudora was sick with a cold and had declined the invitation with no small amount of regret.
But she couldn’t show up at a party with a box of tissues beneath her arm, no matter what costume she might wear. It just wasn’t done.
“Hurry up!” Miles shouted, pointing toward a long white limousine pulling up in the driveway. “The limo’s here.”
“I’ll be right down!” she called, and ran back into the apartment, closing and locking the patio door behind her.
Without Ryder, the apartment seemed too large and empty. He’d been gone for more than two hours, and although he called over an hour ago, claiming his costume had been undergoing alterations, he still wasn’t back.
“Oh, Ryder, if you let me down at this late date, I’ll never forgive you,” she muttered, as she made a last-minute check through the apartment, making sure she had everything she’d intended to take.
She paused before the mirror then turned, glancing over her shoulder, making sure her own costume was in place, then smiling in satisfaction at the fluffy, white bunny tail right in the middle of her backside.
She turned, ignoring the plunge of fabric barely covering her breasts and readjusted her long white ears.
The black fishnet stockings made her legs look sexy, and her three-inch heels completed the picture.
Yes, she made a darn good Playboy Bunny, even if she did think so herself.
As she started down the stairs to the waiting limo, she made a bet with herself. By the time I get to the bottom of the stairs, Ryder will be driving up. When her foot hit the last one she looked up. The Lincoln was nowhere in sight.
“Damn and double damn,” she mumbled, and started across the courtyard. Okay, by the time I get to the limo, he’ll be home.
When she drew even with the limousine’s back bumper, she lifted her head to gaze down the long empty driveway. Her expression fell. She couldn’t believe it. He’d actually let her down. What was she going to say to Libertine when they arrived?
The driver hurried around the car to where she was standing, then opened the door.
“Watch your ears—and your tail, darlin’. Wouldn’t want either one of them to fall off before you got the chance to shine.”
She looked up, then gasped. “Ryder!”
“Your ride awaits. Now don’t tell me you’re about to change your mind after I went to all this trouble.”
She blinked. It was him. Resplendent in a dark, double-breasted chauffeur’s uniform with more gold braid and buttons than an admiral might wear.
He tipped his cap and held the door ajar. “Ma’am?”
She threw her arms around his neck. “You are going to steal the show.”
He held her close, patting at the fluff of her tail. “I’d a whole lot rather steal me a rabbit.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Miles grumbled from inside the car. “Let’s get a move on or we’re going to be late.”