Cold Hearts(28)

She nodded. “He also said you had lots of money and would help me get an apartment someplace so I wouldn’t be in your way.”

A muscle jerked at the side of Reece’s right eye as he started walking toward her. If this was anyone but his mother, he would have sworn that she’d mentioned the stalking and the killing so that asking for money next would be a reminder to him of what she knew—and could tell—if he didn’t come through. He wanted to wring Louis’s neck and break hers, but she was blood, and that kept her breathing.

Pinky wasn’t sure whether she should scream or run as he approached because he looked seriously pissed off, and then he took her by the shoulders and pulled her into his arms in a big hug.

“Damn old Louis, but he’s right. I do have money, and I’ll be thrilled to help you past this rough spot.”

Pinky sighed. “Oh, thank you, son.”

Reece was still smiling as he cupped her face, but when he began increasing the pressure, she thought her head was going to pop.

“Stop, Reece! You’re hurting me.”

“It’s a reminder, Mother. A reminder to keep your damn toothless mouth shut, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, and pushed away, refusing to let him know how much he’d scared her.

“Just so we understand each other,” he said. “I’m going to eat a bite, and then I’ll give you a check. Maybe Louis can take you to the bank tomorrow to cash it. After that, you’re free to go wherever you choose.”

“Thank you, Reece.”

“You’re welcome, Mama.”

The dog was scratching at the door to come in.

Reece turned away from her as if she’d just disappeared, and Pinky took advantage of the moment to do just that. She went back into the living room and sat down in the shadows with an eye on the kitchen. She wished Louis would wake up because something had happened to Reece since the last time she’d seen him. She didn’t know what it was, but he scared the crap out of her.





Twelve



Pinky sat without moving, listening to Reece talking to the dog and digging through the refrigerator, as normal sounding as anyone, but he had not denied trying to kill a man.

The longer she sat, the tighter the band of muscles across her chest became. She needed to cry but was afraid to show weakness. In an effort to shift focus from her fear, she turned on the television and then lowered the volume. Over time, she became fixated on the screen while purposefully ignoring his presence in the house.

When he walked back through the room a short while later and paused to hand her a check, she quickly muted the volume and stood up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. When she saw the amount, she was stunned.

“Thank you, son. This is very generous. I’ll cash it tomorrow and be out of your way as soon as possible.”

“Get your teeth fixed, too,” he said.

“I will, oh, I will,” she said. She folded the check and put it in her pocket, then sat back down and resumed her program.

It was time to log some time on the computer, Reece thought, so he left her alone, glad this drama was over. As soon as she had money and a ticket, she would be gone and one less thing for him to worry about. However, he was going to have to talk to Louis. He couldn’t have him telling anyone their business. Not even Mama.

* * *



Lissa had waited to reveal her surprise until it was close to bedtime. The nurses had already made rounds, and it was quieting down as she turned off the television and closed the door to Mack’s room.

He was still finding it hard to believe that she was back in his life, and when she closed the door, he grinned. “Am I about to get lucky?”

“Yes, you are, Mister Man.”

He wanted to get turned on. She was so damn cute, but his shoulder hurt like a big dog. He couldn’t do anything but watch her curls bounce and appreciate the flash of sexy that came and went without reason.

Lissa was flirting on purpose. It was funny how being loved could make a woman feel.

She straightened his covers, made sure there was a pillow behind his head that would take the pressure off the wound on his back, and then slowly raised the head of his bed just enough so he could swallow without choking.

“First surprise!” she said, and dug a large bag of Peanut M&M’s out of the tote bag, tore open the top and put it on the covers where he could easily reach inside.

“Hey, my favorite candy!” he said. He popped a couple into his mouth, enjoying the crunch of the hard candy shell and then the savory taste of the peanut. Meanwhile she poured a glass of water and set it on the table where he could reach it.

She cupped the side of his cheek and then swept a wayward lock of dark hair from his forehead. “Are you comfy, sugar?”

“Yes, I am,” he said.

Next she pulled a book out of the tote bag, climbed up onto the bed beside his knee and cleared her throat. Then, with all the ceremony she could muster, she opened it to the first page.

“The Velveteen Rabbit,” she announced, just as she would have to her students. Then she began to read.

A wave of emotion swept through Mack so fast that there were tears in his eyes before he knew it. This book was one of the few things he remembered from when his mother was still alive, and the fact that Lissa remembered him telling her that and was reading it now touched his heart.

As a child, he’d been obsessed with it, and his mom had read it to him nightly without complaint. After she died, he’d thought he would never want to hear it again, and now here sat Lissa with the same attention to detail and emotion, telling him the story all over again, and he knew he had been wrong. It was, without doubt, the most thoughtful and loving thing anyone had ever done for him.

So he sat, listening to the story and watching the expressions on her face as she read, thinking about the last thing his father had written to him.

Make peace with Melissa.

This was peace, and also love, and the first step in healing the secrets and lies her parents had used to destroy them.

Lissa looked up, saw him watching her and smiled. She paused long enough to shake another candy out of the package for him, waited until he put it in his mouth and then resumed the story.

It occurred to him as she read that if their child had lived, she would already have read this book countless times. But that hadn’t happened, so she was reading it to him.

He took a sip of water to stifle unshed tears, and then leaned back and closed his eyes as her voice pulled him back into the story. For the length of the book, time stilled.

It wasn’t until he heard her say something about being his own bunny that he opened his eyes. It was over. As her voice faded, a sense of peace washed over him. She’d taken the ugliness out of what had happened and for the space of a few minutes brought his mother to his bedside in the only way she could. He reached for her hand.

“I’ll bet you’re a remarkable teacher. I can only imagine how much your children love you.”

Lissa smiled. “I do love my job. I like watching their faces when they ‘get’ something new.”

“Thank you for the story.”

She nodded. “I remembered you telling me once that your mother used to read it to you before you went to bed. I hope—”

“She used to kiss my forehead every night, too,” he said, and tugged her closer.

She laid the book aside, and leaned over and kissed him squarely on the lips.

“Just a reminder that I am not your mother.”

Mack groaned. “Truth is, most of the time I can’t remember what she looked like. I just remember things about her. However, you, my love, have haunted me for years. I remember everything about you, from how you always lick the salt off your fingers when you eat fries to the fact that you like cake hot out of the oven with butter melting on it better than cake with icing. I know kissing the back of your neck turns you on, and that your eyelids flutter when you come. I loved you when I was a boy. I cannot wait for you to let me love you as a man does. All I can do is promise that I will never disappoint you again.”

Lissa was in tears. “We’re really going to do this, aren’t we? We’re going to be together and—”

“Marry me,” he said softly.

It was all she could do to not throw herself into his arms.

“Oh, Mack.”

“If we’re going to pick up where we left off and fill in the blanks later, that’s where we left off.”

She started laughing through her tears. “You are a crazy man.”

“Not too crazy to marry?”

She sighed. “I will marry you because you’ve seen me without a stitch of clothes or any makeup and weren’t turned off...and because I’ve seen you without a stitch of clothes and was so turned on.”

His eyes darkened. Just the thought of coming home to her every day for the rest of his life seemed surreal. He kissed the palm of her hand and ached to take her to bed. That, however, would have to wait.

“At least something good is coming out of this chaos, and that’s you and me.”

A frown darkened her face as she thought about both the murderer and her stalker.

“What if they don’t figure out who killed your dad? What if they don’t identify my stalker?”

He shook his head. “They will. When I get back to the house tomorrow, I’m calling a security company. I’ve used them several times before. You aren’t going to be unprotected anywhere again.”