Chapter 21
I’m about to freak out and tell Desi to turn around and hightail it out of there when the floating candle approaches a window and I see Hurley’s face behind it. Belatedly, I look around and see his car parked over near Izzy’s garage.
The kids are out of the car in a flash, intrigued by the chance to peruse my new digs and eager to look for Rubbish. I climb out after them, not sure if I am glad to see Hurley or mad as hell that he is prowling around inside my cottage. Was that why he left me in the clutches of that policewoman? So he could come and search my house?
Feeling confused and betrayed, I stomp up the stairs to my porch and prepare for yet another confrontation. But as soon as I open the door my anger is gone. On the floor in front of the couch is a damp and bedraggled- looking Rubbish, contentedly lapping at a bowl of milk.
“Oh, thank God!” I say. I look over at Hurley. “He came home?”
“Hmph! Hardly. He was up in a tree about halfway between here and your ex’s house. Wasn’t too hard to find him; he was squalling like the storm itself. And he wouldn’t come down either. I had to climb up there and get him.”
Erika and Ethan surge toward the kitten, settling on the floor beside him, stroking, petting, oohing, and aahing. I, meanwhile, stand stunned as I consider what Hurley has just told me. Not two days earlier he was standing in my bedroom looking petrified at the thought of just being in the same room with the kitten. Now he’s telling me he went out during one of the worst storms of the year and not only looked for the cat, but climbed a tree to rescue him and carried him back to my house.
“I thought you hated my cat.”
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t like cats in general. And this one certainly hasn’t given me any reason to think differently.”
“Then why did you come back and look for him?”
Hurley shrugs. “I knew you were worried. So I thought I’d come back while you were at the ER to see if I could find him.”
With this revelation I begin to think I might be totally, completely, head-over-heels in love with this man.
“Thank you so much,” I tell him, giving him a warm smile. “You didn’t have to do that but I’m certainly glad you did.” I glance over at Desi, seeking confirmation that this is really happening, that I’m not simply dreaming. And then I realize that I haven’t made any introductions.
“I’m sorry. Steve Hurley, this is my sister, Des—”
“Desiree Colter,” Hurley says before I can finish. “Pleasure to meet you. And I assume those two are Erika and Ethan,” he adds, nodding toward the kids.
“Have you met before?” I ask, looking at Desi, who shakes her head and shrugs.
Hurley says, “You know how small towns are. Everyone knows everyone else.”
I narrow my eyes at him and he flashes me a cockeyed grin.
“I need to be going,” he says then. “But I’d like a word with you first, if you don’t mind.” He gestures toward the porch and I understand that he wants to speak with me alone, though if I know Desi, she’ll find a way to hear every word. Despite the disparity in our looks, we do have a few things in common, nosiness being one of them.
I follow Hurley out to the porch, pulling the front door closed behind me.
“Here,” he says, and he hands me back my driver’s license.
“Oh, thanks. I’d forgotten about it.” I shove it into the pocket of my jeans, a stalling move while I muster up the courage to say what’s on my mind. “You didn’t know who Desi was because this is a small town. You’ve been investigating me, haven’t you?”
“It’s my job,” he says with no hesitation and no hint of apology. “I have a murder to solve. You are someone who knew the victim and you have a motive. Plus you have no alibi for when she was killed.”
My hackles rear up immediately and now I know how David must feel whenever I question his innocence. Assuming, of course, that he is innocent.
“Am I still a suspect?”
“Technically, yes. At least until I can prove otherwise. But—”
“Oh, that’s just great,” I snap, not waiting to hear what his “but” might be. The realization that he considers me a potential killer not only pisses me off, it puts a definite damper on the romantic designs I have on him. “I guess my word carries no weight whatsoever with you.”
“Pardon me, but your
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you calling me a liar?” I get up in his face, forcing him to look me in the eye when he answers.
“If the shoe fits,” he comes back, not retreating an inch.
“What bullshit!”
“Oh, really? Did you not lie to me about what you did and what you saw the night of the murder?”
“I didn’t lie, I just didn’t tell you everything right away. I didn’t think it was important.”
“Oh, okay,” he says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “You didn’t think it was important for me to know that you witnessed your ex and the dead woman together just hours before she was killed. And you didn’t think it was important for me to know that they were fighting, or that you were spying on them at the time.”
“I told you before, I wasn’t spying. I was just trying to see who was there before I went inside.”
“Then why didn’t you go in? Were you afraid of Karen Owenby?”
“No, I wasn’t afraid of her. What a ridiculous suggestion.”
“Then it was your husband you were afraid of, perhaps?”
“No, not that either.”
Hurley shakes his head in disgust. “Face it, Mattie. Honesty isn’t your strongest suit.”
“That’s not true! I’m a very honest person.”
“Oh, really? Then how come your driver’s license says you weigh 130?” He steps back, eyeing me from head to toe. “Are you going to tell me
I gasp with shock before I can stop myself. Actually, 150 is a gift, but I’m sure as hell not going to let him know that.
“That’s a low blow, Hurley. There isn’t a woman alive who has her real weight on her driver’s license. And I can’t believe you’re wasting your time investigating me while the real killer is running around loose. If the rest of the police force is as swift as you are, heaven help the citizens of Sorenson.”
“I didn’t hear you complaining when I rescued you from your ex earlier.”
“I didn’t need rescuing, you Neanderthal. It wasn’t what you thought. We were having an argument. That’s all. Nothing else. I hate to strip you of your armor, white knight, but all you did was butt into a minor squabble and jump to a bunch of wrong conclusions.”
“That’s not how it looked to me. But then, maybe I did misinterpret things. Maybe you were just having a little fun, eh? Maybe you like it rough and you and your ex were just reliving old times. Was that it? Did I interrupt the grand reconciliation?”
“I was not…we were not…Christ! I give up!” I don’t believe in physical violence, but I’ve never wanted to slap someone so badly in my life. Unless you count the time Desi told Greg Johnsen right before our first date that I never went on a second date unless the guy showed me his penis at the end of the evening.
“Damn it, Hurley. You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Do I? Big fancy house. Handsome and talented husband. Must be hard to give all that up after seven years together. You wouldn’t be the first woman to trade fidelity for some creature comforts and a cushy lifestyle.”
I stutter with fury for a few seconds before I manage to spit out, “You’re a pig, Hurley.” I turn away from him to go back inside.
“Mattie, wait. Please.”
