About the Boy (9 page)

So what was Lucas hiding?

And more importantly, why?

Katie mentally shook her head. She didn’t know, but as a mother, she knew she had a responsibility to find out.

“Katie, for goodness sakes,” he finally said. “I’m the police chief. Not some stranger Rusty hustled in off the street. Do you have any idea the kind of vetting process I had to go through to become chief? Do you have any idea what kind of background check I had to go through just to get a gun permit in this state? If I had any deep, dark secrets or a criminal record, I’d never have made it past the first interview for this job. I can give you as many professional character witnesses as you want or need to feel comfortable if that’s the road you want to go, but believe me when I tell you, your son will always be safe with me.” His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched. “I will always guard your son’s life as if it were my own. You have my word on it.” His gaze pleaded with her to understand, and she wanted to, but she simply couldn’t.

“Lucas,” she began carefully. “I wish I could say I understand why you won’t allow an interview, but I don’t. However,” she continued when his face darkened a bit, “maybe I don’t have to understand it. It’s really not my business. You’re entitled to keep your private life just that—private. But I think it’s important for you to know and understand that I do
totally and completely believe you
when you say Rusty will always be safe with you. The thought that he’d be anything else never crossed my mind.”

“Good.” Lucas finally smiled at her. “Thank you, Katie, that means a lot to me.”

“And even though I might not like or understand your reasons for not wanting to discuss your private life with the managing editor of the newspaper, I promise that I will do my best not to let my feelings about that interfere in any way with any personal relationship you have with my son. Or with me. I hardly think you’d be an effective buddy if Rusty’s mother threw rocks at you every time you came near the house,” she said, trying to make him smile, and grateful when she finally succeeded. “Even though Rusty will tell you I throw like a girl, and I can’t see two feet in front of me without my glasses, who knows, I might get a lucky toss in and then where would we be?” She could see the tension ease out of him, see his shoulders relax, his jaw unclench.

But she also saw something else, something that nibbled away at her far more than her curiosity—she saw pain in Lucas’s eyes.

It made her heart ache in a way it hadn’t in a very long time to know that something or someone had caused that terrible pain she saw in his eyes.

It made her want to just wrap her arms around him and hold him close, to soothe and comfort in a way she hadn’t done with a man in a very long time. And until this moment, until she’d been face-to-face with the naked, raw pain in Lucas’s face, she hadn’t realized she’d wanted to comfort a man again.

But she did.

And she hadn’t a clue what to do with those feelings.

“Thank you, Katie.” Slowly, he lifted her hand again and gently brushed a kiss across every fingertip, making her pulse hammer and her heart seem to skip a beat. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Because her pulse was scampering, Katie glanced up and saw the time. “Oh my goodness, Lucas!” She jumped to her feet. “It’s after twelve, I’ve got to go. I’ve got a million things to do today.” She began gathering her files and folders up.

“And if I don’t hustle I’m going to be late for my date with your mother.”

Katie froze. “My mother?” she repeated, turning to look at him. “You have a
date
with my mother?”

He chuckled, bending to pick up a few papers she’d dropped from her folders. “Well, that’s what she called it this morning when she called and invited me to lunch.” The sadness had lifted from his eyes and now mischief once again danced freely. “Apparently someone tattled and told her that last night you were seen fighting with the police chief in front of the whole town.” Slowly, Lucas shook his head. “Imagine that?” he said, trying to keep a straight face as she groaned.

“Remind me to strangle Patience Pettibone when I see her,” Katie muttered in annoyance. He laughed, dropping an arm around her shoulder as she started walking toward the door. The warmth of him pressed the entire length of her and she felt that odd yearning deep inside again.

“Uh…maybe I’d better remind you that you’re talking to a duly sworn officer of the law.”

“Details, details,” she muttered.

“By the way, when you see Rusty’s mother—”

“Rusty’s mother?” Katie repeated, glancing up at him in confusion. Then she saw his smile, and got it. Rusty’s buddy wanted to talk to Rusty’s mom. “Okay. When I see Rusty’s mother…what?”

“Tell her that she probably shouldn’t rush home tonight since Rusty’s planning a little surprise for her.”

“Surprise?”

Lucas nodded, and the look on his face made her immediately suspicious.

“Does this surprise have anything to do with spitting contests or anything else gross like that?”

Lucas burst out laughing. “Not a thing. Scout’s honor,” he said, crossing his heart with his free hand.

“Okay. But I have a message for Rusty’s buddy as well.”

“And what would that message be?”

“Rusty forgot that the first basketball practice is today. So he’s going to be an hour later for everything than he’d originally planned.”

“That’s right,” Lucas said as he paused in the doorway, his arms still around Katie’s shoulder. “I forgot about that.” He grinned at her confusion. “I volunteered to help out the coach with the team. I guess I’d better start checking that planner my assistant keeps writing things down in.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” She glanced up at him and immediately thought about last night and the kiss they shared. If she stood just on her tiptoes she could brush her lips across his.

Right. All she needed was to have someone report
that
to her mother!

“I better go,” she finally stammered, realizing she’d better step away from him before she did something to embarrass both of them. “I’ll…uh…see you later.” Katie bolted toward the elevator, stepping in and then turning to watch Lucas, their gazes meeting and holding until the doors slowly closed.

Sixty minutes later Katie was in her office, desperately trying to proofread the final blue lines—those were the final, typeset pages that, when printed, would become the actual newspaper.

The printer sent over the blue lines two days before the newspaper was actually printed and she had exactly eight hours to correct any errors before delivering them back to the printer before 8:00 p.m. the same day. Any errors she didn’t find would end up in the newspaper and she’d hear about them from everyone in town for a full week, until next week’s edition came out.

At the rate she was going today, running behind since she woke up, she was going to have a difficult time making her deadline.

And if she didn’t make her deadline, the printer wouldn’t have the newspaper ready for distribution on Friday afternoon. Something that had never happened in the history of Cooper’s Cove, something she wasn’t about to let happen today.

She
had
to make that deadline.

So she tried to put all thoughts of Lucas out of her mind and simply concentrate on what she was doing. But when she found herself reading the same paragraph for the fourth time, and still not knowing what it said, she realized she needed a break.

Her curiosity had been aroused by all the things Lucas refused to tell her about his private life, all the things that her mind was imagining. And now she simply couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Or Lucas.

What on earth could have happened in his past that he was so adamant about protecting? Or hiding?

She didn’t know, but she did know that she couldn’t betray the fledgling trust they’d developed, a trust that was absolutely paramount to Lucas’s relationship with Rusty.

She couldn’t do anything that would jeopardize her son’s relationship with Lucas, or Rusty would never forgive her. And, she thought with a sigh, she wouldn’t blame him because if that happened, knowing how much Rusty was looking forward to having Lucas as his buddy, she’d never be able to forgive herself, either.

So for now, she’d have to simply stem her own personal and professional curiosity and just let it go.

With her research and reporting skills, it wouldn’t take her more than a day to put out enough feelers to find out anything she wanted about Lucas, but somehow that smacked of dishonesty.

And would indeed confirm his fears about reporter’s snooping. Something she was determined never to stoop to.

If Lucas wanted her to know something, he’d tell her once he trusted her enough, and that was the key—trust.

If he didn’t tell her, or didn’t want to tell her, she had no business digging into his personal life and background simply out of curiosity. He’d tell her what he wanted to know in his own good time, and until then she could wonder all she wanted—but she wasn’t going to do anything about that wondering, at least for now.

Rubbing the tension gathered at the back of her neck, Katie walked to the credenza in her office and poured herself a cup of coffee, trying to clear her mind.

“Katherine?” Lindsey yelled from her desk and Katie almost winced, wishing Lindsey would just get up and walk to her office to talk to her.

“What?” she yelled back.

“Can I uh…ask you a personal question?”

Katie smiled. “Why not, everyone else in town does.” She sighed. “My life is apparently an open book.”

“When you were out this morning, did you by any chance get into more trouble?”

“Trouble?” Katie repeated, sipping her coffee. “No, why?”

“Because the police chief just pulled up in front of our office.”

“That’s impossible,” Katie said, not even bothering to look. “The police chief is on a date with my mother.” She wondered why the mere thought that Lucas would agree to a “date” with her mother tickled her to no end. She had to admit if the man thought her mother and her aunt were a bit strange he certainly didn’t show it.

“No,” Lindsey corrected. “The chief is coming through our front door.”

Katie set her coffee down, almost sloshing it over the rim as she went to her office door. “Lucas, what are you doing here?” she asked with a concerned frown as he pushed through the front door, looking just a bit frazzled. “I thought you were having lunch with my mother.”

“So did I,” he said a bit sheepishly, nodding a greeting to Lindsey. “You haven’t by any chance…uh…seen or heard from your mother, in the last hour or so have you?”

“No, why?” Katie asked suspiciously.

“Now, Katie I don’t want you to get upset,” Lucas said, crossing the office in two steps and gently lying his hands on her shoulders.

“That’s exactly what Rusty says every time he has to tell me something that he
knows
is going to upset me. He says, ‘now don’t get upset, Ma, but’ and then he tells me something that upsets me.” Steeling herself, and trying not to panic, Katie took a deep breath. “Okay, I won’t get upset,” she lied, swallowing hard and looking up at Lucas as she laid her hands on his chest for additional support. Fear had a grip and he hadn’t even told her what was wrong yet. “Just tell me, Lucas. Fast,” she specified, clinging to his shirt. “Fast is always better,” she said and he nodded.

“Katie, I’m sorry, but I think your mother’s missing.”

Chapter Six

“M
issing,” Katie repeated, not certain she fully understood and frowning as she tried to prevent full blown panic from getting a hold until she did. “Missing in that she forgot to meet you at the diner? Missing that she’s late? Exactly what do you mean
missing, Lucas?
”

“She never made it to the diner, Katie,” he said softly. “I got there about two minutes late, because I had to stop home and pick up one of the puppies. When I got there, I was afraid your mother had already been there and left, but Patience said she hadn’t seen her all morning.”

“She’s probably with the mayor, I know they’ve been sparring lately, but—”

“Katie.” The look on his face stopped her cold. “The mayor was having lunch with the fire chief when I got to the diner and Mayor Hannity said he hasn’t seen your mother for almost two days.” Lucas buried a smile. “Mayor Hannity says she’s not speaking to him.”

Katie nodded. Her mother stopped speaking to the mayor on average of once a week.

“She probably just forgot, Lucas,” Katie said more for her own benefit than his. “She’s probably at home still putting her makeup on—”

“Katie, I just came from your mother’s house. No one’s there. I checked everywhere I thought she could be. I went to the market, the beauty salon, the barbershop, the library and even the bank, but no one has seen your mother. I also went to the pharmacy, Dr. Robsen’s office and I stopped by the new dentist’s office.” Lucas shook his head. “Katie, as far as I know, no one in town has seen her today.”

Katie’s heart went into double time as fear engulfed her. Suddenly cold, she wrapped her arms around her stomach. This was one of the things she’d feared most since her mother’s stroke; that maybe one day Louella might simply forget who she was or where she was and just wander off.

In spite of Katie’s fears, the doctor had told her she couldn’t hover over her mother. She had to simply let Louella live her life and get back to her routine, which he promised in the end would help her mother recover her memory.

“Well, she doesn’t drive anymore and the town is a full nine miles long. I doubt she could have walked out of town, so she has to be somewhere
in
town.” Katie’s voice was rising in spite of her resolve not to get upset.

“Katie, I think you’re getting upset here,” Lucas said, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes. She’d gone pale and her eyes were a bit glassy. Knowing how close she was to her mother and how worried she had to be tugged at something deep in his heart.

“Listen to me,” he said quietly, but firmly. “I’m sure your mother’s fine and there’s probably a perfectly logical explanation—”

“Lucas,” Katie all but moaned. “This is my mother we’re talking about. No one’s ever used the word logical and my mother in the same sentence before, and with good reason. Logic is really not her strong suit.”

“Katie, I’m sure everything is fine. She’s probably just running a bit late. Maybe she was delayed at her store—”

“The store.” Katie brightened. “Aunt Gracie will know where my mother is. She never goes anywhere without telling Aunt Gracie.” Katie didn’t even bother to wait for his response, she simply headed toward the front door.

“You want to take my car?” Lucas asked, following right on her heels.

“No, we can walk to the Astrology Parlor just as quick as we can drive and at least we won’t have to waste time parking.”

“Katie, you want me to call your uncle at the cabin and tell him you’ve got an emergency and ask him to come in and handle the blue lines for you?” Lindsey asked, a concerned frown on her face.

“No!” Katie said, panic lacing her words as she raised both her hands in the air to stop Lindsey. The last thing she needed was to have to have her uncle come in and bail her out the first week she took over. That would hardly bode well for his confidence in her taking over the paper.

“No, thanks, Lindsey,” Katie said, softening her voice and flashing the woman a strained smile. “I’ll be right back and I promise I’ll get those blue lines done and returned in plenty of time if I have to stay up all night to do them.”

“Whatever you say,” Lindsey said as Katie yanked open the door and strode through it with Lucas following her.

As she all but sprinted down the block, Katie’s gaze scanned all the familiar stores and shops. But there was no sign of her mother.

“Lucas, what time were you supposed to meet my mother?”

“She said twelve-fifteen. I’ll admit I was a few minutes late but when I got there, Patience said she hadn’t seen or heard from her all day.”

“Lucas, my mother is forgetful at times. Last year she had a slight stroke and it left her with short-term memory lapses, but she’s never just up and disappeared before.”

“Well we’re not certain she’s disappeared now, Katie. We’ve just…misplaced her at the moment,” he said, reaching for Katie’s hand as they hurried down Main Street.

At the Astrology Parlor, Katie peeked in the window, saw her Aunt Gracie, but no one else, and hurried in.

“Aunt Gracie? Have you seen Mama?”

Her aunt looked up from the tarot cards she’d been reading and smiled. Gracie Collier fit in the Astrology Parlor like a part of the scenery. The entire parlor was decorated in comforting shades of misty blue, eggshell and silver. The ceiling was painted a dark blue with fake silver stars and an almost glowing full moon etched in silver and white against the blue backdrop. At night, a spotlight highlighted the moon so that from outside, it really looked like the moon was shining indoors.

Large silver astrological signs hung from the ceiling on wire and they twirled and whirled with every shift in the air. Comfortable, padded chairs also in shades of striped blue and eggshell lined the perimeter of the parlor, and two tables, one each for Louella and Gracie to work from, dominated the middle of the room. The plateglass window that fronted the parlor allowed the early afternoon sunlight to fill the room with sunny cheer.

“Hello, dear.” Not one to be rushed, and always moving in her own good time, Gracie beamed and set her tarot cards down on the table. “You know if you would have called me I could have told you they were in the second box from the top in the row of boxes closest to the lamp.”

Katie blinked at her aunt. “Excuse me?”

Gracie laughed. “Rusty’s basketball shoes, sweetheart. You were looking for them this morning, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Katie said. “I was.” She rubbed her forehead where a headache had began clustering. “I’m sorry,” she said with a smile, not wanting to alarm her aunt. “I didn’t even think to call you. Next time I will.”

“Good, dear. Now, what was it you asked?” Gracie inquired as she pushed up the sleeves of her flowing blue silk caftan. Before Katie could respond, her aunt’s gaze shifted to Lucas, who was hovering behind Katie. “Good afternoon, Lucas,” Gracie said with a big smile.

“Ma’am,” Lucas returned with a smile of his own.

Gracie Collier was two years younger than her sister, but where Louella had ash blond hair, Gracie had let her hair go pure white. Cut short, it curled around her head in a riot of corkscrews that made her resemble an aging Shirley Temple. Still stunning at nearly seventy, with a sweet, childlike disposition, she wore little makeup except for bright red lipstick, and while Louella’s clothes were more conservative, Gracie was known for her artful, silk caftans, most designed with stars, moons and other symbols of her life’s work. She had them custom made at a shop in Madison and hadn’t changed the style in almost forty years.

Katie moved closer and went down on one knee, taking her aunt’s hands in hers. If she didn’t capture Gracie’s full attention, her aunt wouldn’t be able to concentrate, and Katie knew from experience she’d never get any information from her. “Aunt Gracie?”

“Mmm, yes dear?” Gracie beamed down at her.

“Do you know where Mama is?”

“Why, of course dear. She’s at the diner. She had a date. For lunch.” Gracie smiled again. “She’s at lunch with…Lucas,” she said, her surprised gaze going from Katie to Lucas and back again. Her mouth went into a little O and she frowned slightly. “Lucas, have you and Louella finished your lunch already?”

“No, ma’am,” he said, stepping closer. “Lady Louella never showed up.”

“Well for goodness sake,” Gracie said with a decided frown. “That can’t be right. Are you sure, dear? Louella’s never rude, and standing up a handsome man for a date is certainly rude in my book. I’ll be sure to speak to her about it—”

“Aunt Gracie, she wasn’t—” Katie hung her head and ground her teeth, fear nearly draining her patience. She had to stop to collect herself before she said something she shouldn’t.

She’d learned a long time ago that when it came to her mother and aunt, they did and said things in their own good time, and no amount of nudging or rushing would hurry them along.

“Katie.” Lucas took her gently by the shoulders and helped her up, sensing she was about at the end of her rope. “Let me try,” he said softly, going down on his knee in front of Gracie so he would be eye level with her. “Miss Gracie,” Lucas said with a smile, reaching for her hands the same way Katie had, “I was just wondering if you can think of anywhere, anywhere at all where Lady Louella might be right now?”

“Right now, dear?” Gracie repeated with a frown and Lucas nodded.

“Yes, right now.”

“Well, let me think about it a moment.” With that, Gracie closed her eyes, pressed her fingers to her lids, then leaned back against the chair, humming low and slow in her throat.

“Uh…Katie, what’s she doing?” Lucas asked nervously, glancing over his shoulder.

“Thinking.” Katie frowned, taking a step closer to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. “At least, I think she’s thinking,” Katie clarified.

She had to admit that Lucas was handling both her mother and aunt with a dignity and aplomb that most strangers, at least those not from Cooper’s Cove, rarely possessed. And she had to admit it touched her deeply that in spite of how “different” her mom and aunt were, Lucas still treated them both with respect.

Although, considering they’d met when he caught
her
digging up his backyard in the middle of the night, she was probably in no position to talk about being “different.”

“Well for goodness sake, why didn’t Louella just tell someone?” Gracie asked as her eyes popped open and she smiled serenely. “I know where she is.”

“Uh…where?” Lucas asked.

“The diner,” Gracie announced in glee. “Arguing with Patience about having animals in the diner.” Gracie frowned. “Although I didn’t know the diner served animals, did you?”

“Miss Gracie? I…I uh…just came from the diner,” Lucas said. “And Lady Louella wasn’t there.”

“Of course not, dear,” Gracie said with a nod. “She was at the post office caught up in the lunch hour crowd. Then when she was walking to the diner, Mr. Hensen from the butcher’s came out to talk to her. He took her inside to show her some pictures of his grandchildren back in Idaho, or Oklahoma, or some O state like that. That poor man,” Gracie added with a shake of her head. “Ever since his wife died he has no one to talk to.” Gracie brightened suddenly. “Lucas, I think you should give one to Lindsey and have her take it to Mr. Hensen. I think they’d enjoy each other.”

“What?” Lucas asked, totally confused as he glanced back at Katie, whose face mirrored his. She shrugged at him before he turned back to Gracie.

“If you give one of the puppies to Lindsey and ask her to take it to Mr. Hensen, I think you’ll find something very interesting develops between the three of them.” Leaning forward, Gracie patted Lucas’s hand. “I think the two of them are lonely, and would welcome the company and the companionship of someone else.” She shrugged and chuckled. “And who knows what might develop between them.”

“Uh…okay,” Lucas said, realizing maybe this whole psychic-astrology stuff was a bit over his head.

Katie stepped forward as Lucas stood up. “Aunt Gracie, are you sure Mama’s at the diner?”

“Why, I’m positive, sweetheart.” Her eyes widened in dismay. “You don’t think I’d lie to you, do you, Katherine?”

“Of course not,” Katie said with a laugh, leaning over to kiss her aunt’s cheeks. “I was just worried that’s all.”

“Well, sweetheart, no sense worrying. It never stopped or started anything from happening. You have a lot of stress right now, and it’s not good for you to worry so much.”

“May I use your phone, Miss Gracie?” Lucas asked. He’d given up his cell phone when he’d moved to Wisconsin since he didn’t want to talk to anyone, especially reporters, all of whom seemed to have his cell phone on speed dial. He still hadn’t dared replace it.

“Of course, dear. Of course.” Gracie motioned him toward the phone and Lucas quickly dialed the diner as Gracie turned back to her niece. “And Katie, don’t forget to congratulate your mother, dear.”

“For what?” Katie asked in surprise.

“She’s going to run for mayor.”

“No, mama’s
not
running for mayor, Aunt Gracie,” Katie said firmly and Gracie’s face shifted into confusion.

“Why dear, I could have sworn Louella told me she was running.” She blinked at Katie. “Maybe I got it wrong?”

“No, Aunt Gracie, you didn’t get it wrong. Mama just
thinks
she’s running for mayor, but she’s not. She’s just saying that because she’s mad at Mayor Hannity.” A sudden thought occurred to Katie. “Aunt Gracie, do you have any idea why Mama’s so angry with the mayor?”

Maybe if she could get to the bottom of her mother’s anger—and she had no doubt it didn’t have anything to do with the mayor canceling the seniors’ potluck dinner—maybe, just maybe she could quash this wild idea her mother suddenly had to run for office.

Her aunt had the good grace to flush and look away. “Uh…I’m not certain, Katherine, dear.” A faint smile curved her lips. “Perhaps you’d better ask your mother.” Gracie patted her hand and leaned close to whisper. “It’s a woman thing, dear, and I think it best if your mother told her yourself.”

“A woman thing,” Katie repeated, totally confused, and Gracie nodded.