Deadly Proposal(74)
“Let me check,” James said, placing his gun on the floor and running his hands over Mandy’s torso. When he couldn’t find a wound, he practically cried out in relief. “You weren’t hit. You’re okay.”
“I am?”
James pulled her into his arms, tugging her off of Sheryl’s lifeless body. “You’re okay, baby. God, you’re okay.”
Mandy sank into his arms, her sobs overtaking her, wracking her small body with tiny convulsions as he wrapped his love around her. “It was Sheryl.”
“Something we should have considered from the beginning,” James said, tangling his hand in her blonde tresses. “This is my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” Ally said, Jake’s arm still wrapped around your shoulder. “It’s that crazy woman’s fault.”
James glanced at his sister. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good,” James said. “Because I’m going to bring your what-harm-could-come-from-going-to-the-salon argument up to you every time you argue with me from now until eternity.”
Ally rolled her eyes. “Bring it on.”
James pressed his lips to Mandy’s forehead. “The cops will be here any second.”
“Well, great,” Ally said. “I can’t wait.”
Terror made her belligerent, James realized. She was just masking now. Later tonight, when she was alone in her bed, that would be the time she let herself feel the events of the day. For now, he let her be.
“Is Mandy okay?” Ally asked.
“Mandy is just fine,” James said, rubbing her back. “We’re just fine. Everyone is going to be just fine.”
Twenty-Seven
Three days later, James found Mandy sobbing on the couch. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her face was buried into the space between her knees and her torso.
He’d been expecting this. After the initial shock had worn off, and the police had questioned them for hours, she’d cried herself to sleep that night. He couldn’t do anything but hold her, so that’s what he did.
The next morning, she’d been dull and lifeless, slowly returning to herself as the days passed. She’d seemed fine when he left a few hours ago. Well, fine was an exaggeration. She’d seemed resigned and relieved.
“What’s wrong, baby?” James slid onto the couch next to her, pulling her to him. “Are you thinking about Sheryl?”
Mandy lifted her tear-streaked face up. “I killed Sheryl.”
“No,” James said. “You protected yourself. Sheryl killed herself.”
“She’s still dead.”
“I’d rather her be dead than you,” James said. “I’m not going to apologize for that.”
Mandy sniffed.
“Things are going to get better now,” James promised. “Everything is going to be better.”
“I heard back from Tanya,” Mandy said. “The house is gone. Someone made an offer to the owner before we got a chance. We lost it.”
James stilled, running a hand over her shoulders. “Wait a second, are you crying about Sheryl or the house?”
Mandy’s sad eyes tore at his heart, but the rueful expression on her face was almost comical. “I should probably say Sheryl.”
“But?”
“But I really wanted that house,” Mandy said. “I had all these dreams. Ally calls it angels dancing on the head of a pin. I shouldn’t have let myself dream about it. I should have listened to you and not gotten my hopes up.”
James leaned back, pulling Mandy with him. “Tell me about the dreams.”
“Why? We’ve lost them.”
“You can never lose dreams,” James said, smoothing down her hair. “Tell me about them.”
“You’ll think they’re stupid.”
“No, I won’t.”
“It’s just … I imagined us doing stuff there.”
“Like?”
“Like I thought we could use those two connecting rooms at the far end of the second floor as our offices,” she said. “I thought we could peek in and talk to each other when we were working. You know, just check in during the day.”
“That sounds … corny,” James said. “Cute, but corny. What else?”
“I pictured us skinny-dipping in the pool,” Mandy said.
“Now, this is what I’m talking about,” James said. “What happened then?”
“Then we’d get into the hot tub and steam things up together there,” Mandy said. “I thought our summers would be spent making love in really hot water and never wearing a bathing suit.”