Derek’s bland office walls surrounded me, threatening to close in around me if I had to sit there much longer waiting for him. He’d ordered me to stay right there while he discussed some issue with another officer, so I had more than enough time to examine the bare beige walls while my mind raced with what he wanted to discuss with me.
Was it my problem with Stephen? My having a feud with one of his cops likely didn’t exactly sit well with him. Or was it my rudeness to his friend Jared, who I personally didn’t think should still be deserving of the title of friend by anyone who claimed to care for me in the slightest.
Or was it that I had continued to investigate with Alex on a case that my father was a prime suspect in when I should have quietly backed away?
As I thought about it, that was probably the reason he had me sitting there like some disobedient child sent to the principal’s office. He intended on reading me the riot act for not knowing my place and endangering Alex’s case unnecessarily.
And I had no excuse. I truly didn’t. Well, other than being stubborn and wanting to protect my father, but that likely wouldn’t work on Derek this time.
That only left charm, which had always worked on him, and I wasn’t above using that to get out of being barked at for upwards of an hour or more. Well, I had one other weapon I could use, but I generally reserved crying for true emotional moments. However, being on Derek’s bad side did make me strangely emotional, so who knew? Maybe the crying would come out. This had been an incredibly taxing case for me.
I heard the door click closed and turned around to see Derek enter his office. Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself for what was to come.
He sat down behind his desk and stared at me with a look I knew was intended to make me understand how upset he was but only made him seem like he was checking me out. Derek had never been very good with pretending to be something he wasn’t. It was one of the things I liked best about him.
“Poppy, we need to talk.”
Uh oh. Those words never preceded anything good. Ever.
“I know what you’re going to say, Derek, and you’re right. I know that.”
My statement surprised him, if how far his eyebrows traveled north into his forehead was any indication. “You do?”
“Of course. I know what this is all about. You’re going to reprimand me for not stepping away from the case. You’re right. I should have. I couldn’t, though. If my father hadn’t been involved, I might have been able to, but I had to do everything in my power to help Alex prove he was innocent. I know you understand that, Derek. Of all the people in this town, you can understand why I did what I did.”
My explanation only made Derek’s job harder. He sighed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose to relieve the stress. “If your father wasn’t involved, Poppy, there wouldn’t have been a reason for you to step away.”
“If I promise to not do it again, will that help?” I asked, genuinely wishing I could make him feel better. Derek was a lot of things, some of them irritating, but he was my friend, first and foremost, and making him unhappy wasn’t something I enjoyed.
He looked up at me and shook his head. “I’d prefer if you didn’t lie to me. I think after all these years of being friends and good friends at that, I think I deserve at least the truth.”
This conversation wasn’t going like our talks usually did. Most of the time, if I promised not to do something again, that was enough to make him happy. Or at least placate him.
But this time something strange had crept in between us as we sat there. What was going on?
“Derek, I don’t lie to you. I know you’re upset with me, and I’m sorry. I wish I wasn’t like I am and could just let someone I care for twist in the wind, but that’s not who I am. You know that. I apologize for how I acted on this case because it’s something that obviously is giving you trouble, but I can’t honestly apologize for trying to show my father isn’t a murderer. He’s my father, Derek. What was I supposed to do?”
He opened his mouth to say something and then simply sighed heavily. “I understand, Poppy. I know this is partly my fault. Maybe I should have never let you get involved in cases in the first place. I spend most of my time worried you’re going to get hurt anyway, so don’t think I haven’t considered that was a mistake.”
I leaned forward toward him and rested my hands on the edge of his desk. “Alex would never let me get hurt, Derek. You know that.”
“I do. I also know that means he has to worry about you in addition to what’s going on with cases, which can’t be good for anyone involved.”
Suddenly, my heart sank. Was Derek stumbling through our conversation because he was trying to find a way to tell me I couldn’t work with Alex anymore?
“Are you about to say I’m not allowed to be Alex’s partner? Is that what this is? If so, I promise I’ll obey your rules from now on. I promise, Derek. Just don’t do this, okay?”
His eyes narrowed to squints, and he looked at me with complete confusion written all over his face. “What are you talking about, Poppy? Did I say anything about you not being able to work cases with Alex anymore? No. So why are you jumping to conclusions?”
“I don’t know. It’s what I do. It’s part of my charm, or so I hear.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “That’s because the person who has to deal with you jumping to conclusions the most is in love with you. For the rest of us, it’s not as charming as you think.”
I sat back in my seat, unsure what we were talking about now. “So are you reprimanding me for my behavior on this case and telling me I can or cannot work with Alex from now on?”
“I’m officially reprimanding you and putting you on notice that if you ever disobey your partner like that again, you won’t be allowed to work with him.”
His pronouncement sounded like something a principal would say right before they sentenced a student to detention. I waited for the other shoe to drop, but oddly enough, nothing more came.
But the uncomfortable look that remained on Derek’s face told me we weren’t done talking.
“Okay. I promise I won’t do it again. Did you want to discuss anything else?” I asked, uncertain what else he could want to talk about.
He hesitated for a moment and then finally said, “I’m sorry about what Jared did.”
Relief washed over me. So Derek wanted to talk about my ex. I could do that. A few minutes of bitching about Jared might even feel good this morning.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me, although I guess I never thought he’d be so nasty to my father. I thought his mistreatment of the McGuire family began and ended with me. I certainly hope he gets into some kind of trouble for giving a false statement.”
I knew how unlikely that would be, especially since he and Derek were still close friends. With his return to town, they’d picked up right where they left off when Jared fled with that grocery store tart.
“Poppy, I’m not talking about what Jared did now. I’m talking about what happened when he left you for Cicely right before your wedding.”
His words struck me right in my heart. Derek had never said anything about what his friend did. We’d never talked about it until this very moment, even though I suspected he likely knew about Jared cheating on me even before I did. In some way, not knowing that for sure had helped me stay friends with Derek.
Now it made me wonder just how close we were.
“Oh that. Well, it’s water under the bridge. All in the past. You know, that kind of thing. Forgive and forget. Well, not forgive. I won’t be forgiving. But the forget part is still worth something, don’t you think?”
I’d officially begun rambling. It happened a lot in my mind when I thought of Jared and all the things I wanted to say to him, but usually when I opened my mouth, I kept some kind of control over myself. Clearly, that wasn’t the case now, though.
Derek’s eyes filled with sadness. “I’m sorry, Poppy.”
With as much bravado as I could muster, I forced a smile and waved away his concerns. “No need to be. That was then, and this is now. I’m fine, so no need to worry.”
But the sad look remained.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t do what a friend should have back then. I wasn’t a champion for you against him when you needed me to be, and I’m sorry for that. I never meant to hurt you by trying to stay neutral. I thought that’s what I had to do because I was friends with both of you, but now I see that was wrong.”
Derek’s confession surprised me, and I quietly said, “It did hurt, but I understand loyalty.”
Frowning, he shook his head. “I’m sorry for being loyal to someone who never grew up out of high school. You were too good for him back then, and the idea that he thought he could come back and just convince you to go back to him now is ridiculous. I told him that when he started bragging about giving you a second chance to have him. I think that’s when I realized I’d been wrong all these years.”
Although I appreciated the sentiment, I desperately wanted to change the subject, so I smiled and asked, “So who is this new girlfriend I’ve been hearing about all over town?”
“All over town? If the people around here spent time talking about my private life, I’d be stunned,” he said with a chuckle.
“If they spent time talking about your private life, they’d never have time to talk about anything else, Derek. You go through women like I go through coffee. So who’s the flavor of the week?”
A sheepish look settled into his face. “I don’t know if I should tell you. We just had a nice moment there. I don’t want to ruin it.”
Confused, I stared at him trying to figure out what he meant. “Why? What could you say that would ruin anything?”
And then it dawned on me. “Oh my God! You hooked up with the grocery store tart who ran off with my ex! Is that it?”
Derek shook his head. “No, no! Cicely ran off with some guy she met when Jared took her skiing one day over the winter.”
Even though this conversation had definitely taken a turn into total confusion, I liked hearing that. “Good. It couldn’t happen to a nicer person. But if you aren’t dating the Savings King tart who stole my fiancé, then why won’t you tell me?”
After a pregnant pause, he finally said her name. “Solange. Her sister.”
“Oh,” I said, sort of stunned by the news. “I didn’t know she had a sister.”
All I knew about Cicely was she had been a grocery store clerk and had run off with my fiancé knowing full well he was engaged to be married to me when they met. I hadn’t bothered to get the details on her family tree when I found out about her.
“I know you’re probably still holding a grudge, and I can see why, but Solange isn’t like her sister.”
“I still hate Cicely, but I can’t rightfully hold that grudge against her relatives, and if you’re happy, that’s all that counts, Derek.”
My answer clearly relieved him, and he smiled broadly. “Good. I’m happy to hear that.”
Happiness looked good on him. He tended to date women for such a short time that the gossips barely had time to learn the current girlfriend’s name before he moved on to the next, but something in the way he looked at me now said maybe this time was different.
“So, is it serious? I know for you that means something completely opposite from what it does for most of us in this world, but you look like this could be serious.”
For what may have been the first time in all the years I’d known Derek, he blushed. With a smile, he shook his head. “I don’t know about serious. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I have a reputation to uphold in this town.”
I threw my head back and laughed. He certainly did. “Well, if you’re happy, I’m happy. I hope whatever this is, it’s exactly what you deserve, which is the best, Derek. I hope you know that.”
“Okay, okay. We don’t have to make this all touchy-feely. I’m guessing your partner is waiting for you out there, so promise me you’re going to follow the rules and we can be done here.”
Convinced I’d hit a nerve, I relented on the touchy-feely talk and promised I’d do what I was told from now on. That I likely wouldn’t was sort of an unspoken truth between us.
I stood to leave and stopped just as I reached for the doorknob. “Thanks for being my friend above everything else, Derek. I know my father would say the same thing. You’re a good egg.”
Rolling his eyes again, he pointed toward the door. “There goes my reputation again. How about we keep this good egg business to ourselves, okay?”
“Got it, Chief. Talk to you later!”
I hurried to Alex’s office where he sat waiting for me dressed in his street clothes. Even though he had the day off, he insisted on being at the station while I went to my meeting with Derek. I had a feeling he had plans to come riding in on his white horse if his boss even hinted at putting an end to our working together.
That’s why I loved Alex. Well, one reason among a thousand more.
Stepping into his office, I cleared my throat and he looked up from his laptop with knitted eyebrows and concern in his eyes. Since my meeting had gone so well, I felt like teasing him a little.
I sighed heavily and slumped down into the chair in front of his desk as I avoided meeting his gaze. “Well, that wasn’t horrible, I guess.”
“What happened? I can’t believe Derek would come down hard on you, Poppy. You’re like the little sister he never had and isn’t sure he ever wanted.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked defensively, forgetting all about playing my trick on him.
Alex leaned back in his chair and grinned. “I hear the meeting went well. Did you think you were going to fool me into thinking he said we can’t work together anymore?”
Deflated, I admitted the truth. “Yeah, but how did you know? Do you have your chief’s office bugged?”
He held up his cell to show me a text Derek had sent that said All good. “He messaged you that quickly? Why?”
“I assume because he knew if he didn’t and I thought you had been told you couldn’t be my partner anymore that I’d come into his office guns blazing and you know how much he hates that,” Alex explained with a little too much smugness for my liking.
“Well, thank you to him and you for ruining my fun,” I said, pretending to be glum about his one-upping me.
“Well, here’s something that might cheer you up. The DA called and said he got a full confession from Angela Touring. I guess they made a deal and she sang like a canary about poisoning Gerald. And how about this? She poisoned him not once but twice.”
“In the hospital too? Oh, she’s the devil behind all of this. But why did she do it? That’s what I want to know.”
Alex shrugged. “I think she wanted to be with Frank after all.”
“I told you those two were in this together. Oh, my prophetic soul!” I said with a grin.
“Yes, you did,” Alex admitted, although I sensed a touch of reluctance in his tone. “She didn’t get what she wanted, but maybe when they both get out in twenty-five years they can pick up where they left off.”
The thought of those two together at any time made my skin crawl. “Yuck. Well, at least Gerald should recover, right?”
“Yeah, and then he’ll go on trial for his part in Marcus Tyne’s murder. Part of me wonders if he doesn’t wish that antifreeze hadn’t done what Angela intended.”
I shook my head, refusing to believe that. “No way. We were part of saving his life, and I say life is always worth it, even if it’s life behind bars.”
He came around the desk and held out his hand. “Let’s get out of here. I have the day off, and I think we deserve to kick back and relax.”
“Are we hanging out at your house or mine tonight? Do you work tomorrow?” I asked as I took his hand and stood to leave.
With a smile and a wink, he said, “Your choice, and no, I’m not scheduled tomorrow, so we can sleep in, assuming your boss doesn’t get angry about you working from home.”
Howard likely would be upset that I’d be out of the office once again, but I fully intended on talking up the case and convincing him I’d be spending my time working on beefing up next week’s police blotter. What I planned to be doing with Alex wasn’t anything close to that, but Howard didn’t need to know that.
“I like how you think, Officer Montero. I think a nice night out at your house might be good. Any chance I can get you to cook for me, or is that asking too much? You know how much I love your cooking.”
Alex raised his eyebrows and looked down at me. “You don’t have to charm the man who loves you, Poppy. You can save that for people like Derek.”
Before I could answer, he turned and walked away. As I hurried to catch up to him, I said, “You think that was charm? Oh, that was just me being honest. I can turn on the charm, though. Just say the word.”
He held the front door to the police station open for me and grinned as I passed. “Later, Miss McGuire. For now, we have somewhere we need to go.”
* * *
We walked into McGuire’s to find the bar empty except for one older man sitting at the end of the bar nursing a glass of ginger ale and regaling my father with his tales of how he’d been part of the town council when some streaker made his appearance at one of their monthly meetings back in the late seventies to protest the town’s decision to not allow a famous fast food restaurant in Sunset Ridge. Instantly my heart sank. What I had feared all along with this case had come true.
My father’s business had been ruined.
“Poppy! Alex! I’m so happy to see you two!” my father said as he came toward me with his arms open ready to take me into them for a hug.
“Dad, I’m so sorry. It’s happy hour and nobody’s here. This is so unfair.”
He kissed me on the cheek, ignoring my comments, and then turned to shake Alex’s hand. “How are you, Alex? What can I get you two? We need to make a toast to you solving the case.”
“I’ll take a scotch on the rocks, Joe,” Alex said as he sat down on a barstool near the door.
“Make that two, Dad. Do you want me to get them?” I asked as I inched my way toward behind the bar.
My father put his hand up to stop me. “No. Get back out there and sit down. You two are the honored guests tonight. I’m even going to have a drink to celebrate.”
He poured our drinks and placed them in front of us. Lifting his own glass of scotch, he smiled. “To Alex and Poppy for solving the case and clearing my name.”
The three of us took sips of our drinks, but I couldn’t help think that we hadn’t done enough or done it soon enough. Looking around at the empty bar, I said, “But Dad, there’s no one here. It’s dead.”
“Don’t worry, honey. The people of Sunset Ridge will return and this place will once again be bustling in no time.”
Alex raised his glass to make a toast. “To that happening just as soon as possible.”
We drank to my father’s bar becoming a success again, and then my father had to answer the phone so he left us sitting alone. Alex turned to me and shook his head.
“I can’t help but admire how much Joe still believes in the goodness of small town people. You have to give him that. He’s a true believer.”
“That’s all my father can do, but he does believe with all his heart that the people of Sunset Ridge are good. He always has.”
The big city past in Alex made it hard for him to understand how my father could think that way. “No matter how many of them I can point to who aren’t.”
I gently elbowed him in the side and joked, “What is it they say about a few bad apples? So Sunset Ridge has a couple rotten ones.”
His face serious, he said, “Poppy, a few bad apples can rot an entire barrel.”
“You and the other cops on the Sunset Ridge police are what stops the town from becoming a rotting barrel of apples.”
He leaned in and kissed me sweetly on the lips. “You too. You’re part of that effort.”
I smiled and kissed him back. “So now that the case is over, let’s talk about our vacation that’s less than two months away.”
With a look that was entirely too sexy, he said, “I think we might need to practice that whole tub thing before then. What do you say to going home and doing that tonight?”
I loved how serious Alex could be and then how sexy he became when it was just the two of us like this. “A practice makes perfect kind of thing?” I asked with a smile as I thought about how delightful it was going to be to practice that.
“In a way, although I think what we have going on right now is perfect. I just don’t want to see you end up having to go to the ER on our vacation.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at his teasing me about my almost complete lack of physical fitness. He worked out every day, but it had been since sometime last year when pumpkins were all the decorating rage in the fall since I’d stepped on my treadmill, which had unofficially become an extension of my closet in that time.
Cradling his face, I kissed him and whispered, “I’m amazingly limber for someone who doesn’t work out much. I think you know that.”
“That I do. I’m always impressed at how flexible you are, Poppy. So maybe we don’t need to practice?”
“Well, I don’t want to be hasty about things. A little practice never hurt anyone,” I teased back.
Tipping his glass to his mouth, Alex downed what remained of his drink and pushed the glass away. With that look in his eyes that never failed to make me melt, he said, “Then I think it’s time we took this celebration home. Are you with me?”
As he took hold of my hand, I smiled at how sure my answer to that question was.
“Always.”
Poppy and Alex return in The Witching Hour:
A Poppy McGuire Mystery (Poppy McGuire Mysteries #6)