'He thinks he has a thing for me. But given the right encouragement, he'll realize Annie Laurie is the only woman for him.' Deborah nuzzled the side of Ashe's neck with her nose. 'Besides, Annie Laurie's so in love with Neil she can't see straight. A man would have to be a complete fool to reject that kind of love.'
The moment she said the words, she wished them back. She tensed in Ashe's arms.
Taking her chin in one hand, he tilted her face. 'It's all right, honey. I know you were talking about Neil, but the shoe certainly fit me once, too, didn't it?' He kissed her. Quick. Hard. Passionate. With his forehead resting on hers, he held her close. 'I know what a fool I was eleven years ago. I didn't appreciate what I had. I was too young to know what I wanted or needed.'
And now? she wanted to ask. Did he know what he wanted and needed now? 'We can't change the past. Either of us.'
'We aren't a couple of kids anymore, are we, Deborah? We can handle a love affair without either of us getting hurt this time.'
'Yes, of course, we can.' She nudged him with her hip. 'I'm starving. Let's go eat.'
Neil arrived at six-thirty, late and haggard, fuming about the workmen Deborah had hired to clear away the rubble from the office and fussing at the price their contractor was charging them to repair the damage.
Deborah tried to soothe his ruffled tail feathers, but he calmed very little, even after Deborah assured him their insurance would cover most of the costs.
She finally shooed Neil and Annie Laurie out of the house, suggesting the perfect restaurant for their dinner. When she and Ashe turned to close the front door, they realized Neil couldn't get his car started.
Getting out of his car, Neil walked back toward the house, leaving Annie Laurie waiting patiently in the car.
'I've been having trouble with the darn thing for weeks now, but haven't had time to take it in for a check- up.'
'Leave it here.' Deborah and Ashe met Neil on the porch steps. 'Take my Caddy and you two go on for dinner. Keep it for the night. We'll call the garage in the morning and have them come get your car.'
'I couldn't possible take your Cadillac.'
'I insist. I'll go get the keys.'
When she turned to go inside, Ashe grabbed her by the wrist. 'I've got the extra set of keys you gave me.' He pulled the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Neil, who caught them, then almost dropped them from his shaky hand.
'I appreciate this,' Neil said. 'I'll drive safely.'
Ashe and Deborah waved goodbye. Arm in arm, they returned inside to spend the evening with Allen, Miss Carol and Roarke, both of them counting the minutes until bedtime when they could meet at the pool house and make love.
Although the company was pleasant, Ashe wished the time would pass more quickly. He had wanted to drag Deborah off to some secluded spot all day. As the minutes ticked away, he grew more and more restless.
Deborah only partially heard most of what was said during and after dinner, her mind was so completely consumed with Ashe. All she could think about was being alone with him, loving and being loved.
There was no other man like Ashe—not for her. She had always been fascinated by him, even when she'd been a young girl. Indeed, she wondered if his years as a Green Beret hadn't enhanced the very basic male drives that had been born a part of him.
They watched each other, their eyes speaking the words they dared not utter in the presence of others. Deborah had no idea a man could make love to a woman without touching her. Ashe McLaughlin could. And did.
She felt herself growing moist and hot, her body responding to his every glance. She checked her watch for the hundredth time, wishing her mother and Allen would go to bed early. Roarke had excused himself thirty minutes earlier to take a walk around the block as he did each night.
The phone call came three hours after dinner. Ashe took the call, saying very little, but Deborah immediately knew something was terribly wrong.
Ashe replaced the receiver, a solemn expression on his face. His gaze met Deborah's; terror seized her.
'What happened?' she asked.
'There's been an accident,' he said.
'What sort of accident?' Carol Vaughn glanced at Allen, who had stopped watching television and looked straight at Ashe.
'A car accident. Neil and Annie Laurie. They've been taken to the hospital in Florence.' Ashe's gut instincts told him the car wreck had been no accident. Neil had been driving Deborah's car.
'Oh, dear Lord, no!' Miss Carol clutched her hands together.
'They're both alive. That's all I know.' Ashe looked at Deborah. 'I think we should go to the hospital immediately.'
'Yes, of course we should,' she said.
'I'll let Roarke know we're leaving.' He turned to Carol. 'We'll go by and get Mama Mattie. Pray for them, Miss Carol. Pray for all of us.'
Carol nodded, then placed her arm around Allen's shoulders when he started after Ashe and Deborah. 'Did somebody do something to Deborah's car? Were they trying to hurt her?' Allen asked.
Ashe halted in the doorway. Deborah rushed over to Allen, pulling him into her arms.
'No, darling, of course not,' Deborah kissed Allen's cheek. 'Please don't worry about me.'
'We don't know what happened,' Ashe said. 'I'll talk to the police and find out. But Deborah's right. Don't worry about her. I'll take care of her.'
Allen hugged Deborah, then released her, waving goodbye as she and Ashe left.
No one, not even Ashe McLaughlin, could make Neil Posey leave Annie Laurie's side, and the doctors allowed him to stay when he told them he was Annie Laurie's fiance.
When Deborah, Ashe and Mattie Trotter had first arrived at the hospital, Neil had been incoherent, his eyes glazed with tears as he sat holding Annie Laurie's hand. Neil had suffered a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. Annie Laurie was unconscious. A concussion, they'd been told. If she came around soon, there should be nothing to worry about; however, if she remained unconscious…
Hour after hour passed without any change in Annie Laurie. Mattie Trotter dozed in the big chair in the corner of the room. Still holding Annie Laurie's hand in his, Neil had laid his head on the side of her bed.
Easing open the door, Ashe glanced around the room, saw his grandmother and Neil sleeping and Deborah looking out the window, watching the sunrise. He set the cardboard carton containing disposable coffee cups on the meal tray, removed the lids from two cups, picked them up and walked over to Deborah.
'Thanks.' Deborah took the coffee. 'A few more minutes and you would have found me in the other chair over there asleep, too.'
'Why the hell doesn't she wake up?' Ashe squeezed the cup he held, pressing a bit of the dark liquid over the edge and onto his hand. 'Damn! Good thing this stuff isn't very hot.'
'I wish we knew exactly what caused the wreck. I can't believe a careful driver like Neil would have simply lost control of the car.' Deborah sipped her coffee.
'Thank God they were both wearing their seat belts. If that pole hadn't crashed through the windshield and sideswiped Annie Laurie on the side of her head, she'd be okay.' Ashe drank half his cup of coffee, then set the container down on the windowsill.
'I keep wondering what caused the accident. Neil is such a careful driver. He said the brakes didn't work, that coming off the hill on Court Street, he realized he couldn't slow down, couldn't stop.'
'I think he probably panicked,' Ashe said. 'He realized he was going to slam into the back end of the car in front of him and possibly cause a pileup, so he tried to take the car off the road.'
'I have my car serviced often. There's no reason the brakes shouldn't have worked.' Deborah clutched her coffee cup in both hands.
'We both know there's a good chance someone tampered with your Caddy.' Ashe balled his hands into fists. All night he had fought the desire to smash heads together, to run out of the hospital and hunt down Buck Stansell.
