Bright Eyes (36 page)

Natalie shivered and leaned closer to Zeke. “Just like that? How can anyone take the life of another person and live with himself?”

Monroe just shook his head. “There’s no understanding human nature most times, Mrs. Patterson. I’ve spent three quarters of my career wondering what goes wrong inside people’s heads. On the outside looking in, it’s hard to figure how anyone can commit murder over money. But it happens. People get desperate, and they can’t see any way out. The first thing they know, they’ve got blood on their hands.”

“Why did Salisbury want Natalie dead?” Zeke asked.

Monroe flipped to another page, then closed the notebook. “He was terrified that she knew his name and might go to the police when she finally made the connection. The man’s wife is terminally ill with leukemia. Being a Realtor with a sporadic income, he couldn’t afford health insurance, and when she got sick, her medical expenses almost ruined him. Lost his car several months back and had to buy a junker, and now he’s on the verge of losing his house. Backed into a corner financially, he saw the land deal with Patterson as his only chance to pay off some of the bills and give his wife the care she deserved during the last days of her life.”

Natalie recalled that terrifying moment when she’d stared through the windshield at the back of a slow-moving cattle truck. Her kids had almost died over a land deal. A part of her could understand Salisbury’s rage at Robert, but her sympathy for him ended there. Chad and Rosie had never harmed anyone.

Monroe looked directly at Natalie as he continued. “Salisbury had been under incredible pressure, and when Patterson tried to cheat him, he snapped. Unfortunately, you happened along at the worst possible moment and almost caught Salisbury red-handed. According to him, after carrying Mr. Patterson out to the garage, he left without remembering to get the contract that he and your ex had drawn up. He’d just reentered the house to collect it when you walked in. He dove into a closet, hoping you’d leave. He’d parked on the next street over. There was nothing to tie him to the murder but that contract.”

“And when Natalie went into the study, Salisbury thought she’d seen it,” Naomi inserted hollowly.

Monroe nodded. “Fear of getting caught drove him straight over the edge. I’ve seen it happen more times than I like to count. A law-abiding citizen commits one crime, and then, to avoid prosecution, he finds himself doing things he never dreamed possible. He didn’t want to be arrested and have to leave his sick wife. His answer was to try and make sure that Mrs. Patterson didn’t remember the contract and go to the police.”

“Thank God he botched all the attempts on her life,” Valerie murmured.

“I’ll say,” Gramps seconded. “Was he the one who cut the eyebolts at the club?”

Monroe nodded and glanced regretfully at Zeke. “That was a brilliant move, actually, very clever for an amateur. If the platform had fallen on Mrs. Patterson, chances are good that it would have been ruled an accident.”

“I told you the bolts had been cut,” Zeke said, his voice a low growl.

The detective nodded again. “I apologize for not taking you seriously.” He lifted his shoulders in a weary shrug. “I’m just thankful that Mrs. Patterson wasn’t hurt and her kids are okay. Looking back on it, it’s a miracle that Salisbury wasn’t successful in at least one of the attempts.” He smiled sadly at Natalie. “I’ve heard of people having guardian angels. Yours must have been working overtime.”

Natalie shivered, remembering that horrible moment when she’d seen Frank buried under debris. Even with the piano to protect him, he’d been seriously injured. If not for Zeke’s quick reaction, she would have been killed. Perhaps she did have a guardian angel, she decided.

“How did Salisbury know which bedroom was Natalie’s?” Pete asked. “He could have just as easily climbed through Valerie’s window.”

“The night that Salisbury sabotaged Mrs. Patterson’s car, she ran to her window when she heard the gander honking,” Monroe explained. “Salisbury says he heard her call out and got a clear look at her in the moonlight, so he knew where she slept.” The detective sighed and shrugged again. “All his attempts to kill her and make it look like an accident had failed. In frustration and panic, he finally resorted to a personal attack to get the job done.”

Natalie closed her eyes and touched her throat, grateful that Zeke had arrived in time to stop the man from suffocating her.

Monroe went on talking, but his voice seemed distant, and the words no longer registered in Natalie’s mind. That was fine. She’d heard enough. It was over. Now she just wanted to put all the ugliness behind her.

Moments later, her parents escorted Detective Monroe to the door and bade him good night. When they returned to the kitchen, the room fell absolutely silent. Everyone sat around the table, staring off at nothing. For once, even Gramps seemed to be at a loss for words.

Valerie finally broke the silence. “How can a perfectly normal guy who’s never broken the law go off the deep end like that and murder someone? Even worse, how could he bring himself to try to kill Natalie, who’d never done a thing to him?”

“It sounds as if the man’s been under an incredible amount of stress for a long period of time,” Zeke said softly. “Losing someone you love isn’t easy. Add in financial problems and getting cheated out of the money you need to recover, and a lot of people might lose it.”

Naomi propped her elbows on the table. “My mother died of cancer. I saw what it did to my father.” She looked sadly at Natalie. “Over a period of time, he lost everything he’d worked for all his life, just trying to give her proper medical care. It changed him so. He’d always been a jovial, carefree man, and suddenly he yelled about nothing and never laughed anymore. One night I got a call from the police station, telling me he’d been picked up for shoplifting. I couldn’t believe it. My dad was honest to a fault. He’d never stolen anything in his life.” Naomi’s eyes went bright with tears. “Come to find out, he’d stolen some Maalox to settle Mama’s stomach.”

Pete nodded. “I remember that. When we brought him home, he sat on the sofa and cried like a baby. Everything he was, everything he’d ever prided himself on being, had been stripped away.” Pete waved his hand. “He never would have killed someone, though. That’s totally over the edge.”

“Totally,” Valerie agreed. “Monroe can say what he wants, but in my opinion, anyone who can be driven to commit murder probably always had the propensity.”

Gramps agreed with that theory, and everyone spent a few minutes rehashing the events of the evening. Finally Natalie passed a hand over her eyes and said in a taut voice, “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to discuss this anymore. Okay, guys? It happened, it’s over, and now I just need to move forward.”

“Amen,” Gramps said.

Naomi went to make tea. Valerie hopped up to put some cookies on a plate. Pete unearthed his stash of bourbon and poured everyone a shot. Conversation turned to mundane matters—the weather, a hinge on a cupboard that needed to be replaced, and a farming equipment exhibition scheduled for the following week. Natalie deeply appreciated everyone’s attempt to act normal when nerves were still raw and emotions ran high.

Thirty minutes later, she walked Zeke outside. Once on the back stoop, he held her gently in his arms—nothing more, just a wonderful hug that seemed to have no beginning and no end. Natalie could have leaned into his warmth and strength all night.

“You’re exhausted,” he finally whispered against her hair. “Maybe I should just stay home and see you tomorrow.”

She curled her fingers into fists to clasp his shirt. “I need you tonight.”

He ran a big hand up her back, his thumb doing fabulous things to the knots in her muscles. “If I come, will you promise to sleep? Nothing more. You’re so shaky it scares me.”

Natalie smoothed her hands over his shoulders, loving the power she felt beneath her palms. It was true; shock and exhaustion had her trembling. And the fact that he realized it and wanted nothing from her because of it nearly brought tears to her eyes. “Oh, Zeke, I love you so.”

His lips found the sensitive hollow beneath her ear. In a whisper that seemed to penetrate to her very bone marrow, he said, “Go upstairs, Bright Eyes. I’ll meet you there.”

“Why not go up with me like a normal person? Everyone knows we’re getting married. Pop won’t mind. Really. I think he knows that you come.”

“What he suspects and what he knows are two different things.” He leaned back to cup her face between her hands. “If you were any other woman on earth, I’d probably say yes. But you aren’t.” He gave her a slow, sheepish grin. “Don’t hang me for being old-fashioned. All right?”

She nodded because she sensed that he needed her to.

“You’re going to be my wife,” he whispered. “I’ve got your reputation to think about.”

As exhausted as she was, Natalie giggled. “My reputation. I see.”

“You’re special.” He kissed her eyebrows and the tip of her nose. “You’re the mother of my children, those already born, and those to come. I never want them to hear stories about their father sampling the milk before he paid for the cow. I want them to believe you’re above reproach.”

Natalie looped her arms around his neck. “Oh, God, I’m marrying a Neanderthal.”

“Actually, it’s been proven that Neanderthals aren’t in our chain.”

“Don’t split hairs. You’re archaic.”

He grinned and lightly kissed her. “You wanna throw me back?”

She tightened her hold on his shirt. “Never, Mr. Coulter. You’re a keeper. I’ll work on your impossibly old-fashioned ideals and get you straightened out.”

He chuckled. “Good luck. They’re ingrained. If my father knew I was sneaking into your room and sleeping with you under your father’s roof, he’d kick my ass all the way to Timbuktu and back again.” His dark brows snapped together. “Come to think of it, he’d kick my ass if he knew I was sleeping with you, period. He’s of the opinion that a man should be so in love with a woman that he’ll leap in with both feet without a trial run.”

Natalie thought about that for a moment. “And you aren’t that deeply in love with me?”

He bent his dark head and gently nipped her bottom lip. “The night I swore I loved tapioca, I made the leap, lady. There was no turning back then, and there’s no turning back now. Not for me.”

Natalie looked up at his shadowy features and loved him so much her heart hurt. The beauty of it was she believed him—absolutely, unequivocally, without any reservations. As long as he drew breath, he’d be there for her. “There’s no turning back for me, either.”

He caught her wrist, drew her hand from his neck, and kissed the ring he’d slipped onto her finger earlier that night. It seemed to Natalie that a century had passed since then. “Forever and for always,” he whispered.

And then he vanished into the darkness.

Natalie just smiled. She suspected that he would be waiting for her upstairs when she got there—Johnny-on-the-spot, as constant and dependable as Old Faithful.

That was such a lovely feeling to hold close to her heart as she went back inside to tell her family good night.

Epilogue

Z
eke grabbed third gear, and Natalie snuggled happily against his side. Man and wife, at last. She was glad to have the ceremony behind them and the rest of their lives ahead of them, especially the next week, which was to be their honeymoon. She couldn’t help but envision their romantic stay at the coast, with beachfront motel rooms equipped with fireplaces, patios that opened onto the ocean, long walks at low tide, and sex without Rosie anywhere nearby.

Not that she didn’t adore her daughter. It was just—well, Rosie did have a way of entering a bedroom at inappropriate times. Zeke laughingly called her a faulty little timer that always went off at the worst possible moment. Natalie couldn’t disagree with the description, even if Rosie was the sweetest interruption on earth.

“I love you,” she said, snuggling closer to Zeke on the front seat and putting as much husky desire into her voice as a woman could possibly muster.

“Prove it,” Zeke replied.

Natalie was thinking of ingenious ways to do that without making him drive into a ditch when her cell phone rang. She stared at the leopard-skin-encased gadget, wishing it would tuck itself into the glove compartment and shut up. This was her honeymoon. Her
first
and
only
honeymoon. She really didn’t want to answer that phone.

“How about if I ignore it?” she asked.

Zeke slanted a laser-blue glance at the ashtray, where she’d deposited the hated device—traveling contact with her crazy family. “Chad could have broken his arm. Better answer it.”

Natalie sighed and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Mom! It’s me.”

Chad.
He didn’t sound mortally wounded, and she’d been gone less than five minutes. Natalie forced herself to say very sweetly, “Hi, honey. What’s up?” She would have gone to the bank on the fact that it was nothing earthshaking—nothing her mother couldn’t handle anyway. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want a Sea Lion Caves T-shirt. I want a hat from Bandon.”

“Hmm. And that’s all?” Natalie heard her parents yelling at each other in the background. “What are Poppy and Grammy fighting about?”

“No big deal. Gramps doesn’t want to put in a dishwasher, and Grammy says she’s leaving again if he won’t.”

Natalie settled back against the seat and smiled. She could almost see her parents squared off over the dirty dishes. Pop would either watch Naomi leave or call Sears. Natalie had her money on Sears. Pete Westfield loved his ex-wife with all his being and, quite simply, couldn’t live happily without her.

“How’s Rosie?” she asked.

“She’s fine. Just don’t forget. Okay, Mom? I want a Bandon hat.”

“I’ll remember,” Natalie said with a twinkling grin at Zeke. “If anything else comes up, you have our number.”

“Love you, Mom.”

Natalie blew kisses into the phone. “I love you, too, sweetie.”

As she broke the connection, she turned to kiss Zeke, only to smack her lips against a large manila envelope. She reared back to stare at it and then at him. “What’s that?”

He grinned and flapped the envelope at her. “Open it and see. It’s a last-minute wedding gift, something to make you remember this moment for the rest of your life.”

Natalie took the envelope from him and stared at the return address on the upper left corner. “Who is Granger Enterprises?”

“Just open it,” he said, smiling with satisfaction.

Natalie worked her thumb under the tape. When she peeked inside, she could decipher nothing from the blur of print and drew out what appeared to be a contract. As she read the top page, she saw the title of her song, “If Only,” midway down the page.

“What is this?” she asked again.

“That,” he said slowly, “is a contract of purchase, Mrs. Coulter. I sent your song off to several agents, and one of them ran with it. You just sold it to a big-time recording artist, Roger Granger.”

Roger Granger was the new phenomenon in country-western music, a male vocalist who had blasted his way to the top of the charts and was holding steady. Natalie sat there, staring at the jumble of print, unable to make sense of it. “I can’t believe it. You’re joking. Right?”

Zeke just shrugged. “Things like this happen when someone writes a dynamite song and puts it to music that rocks. Granger loves it. The agent says he plans to do a duet with a famous female vocalist—a he-said, she-said kind of song, which will require you to do just a little more writing to insert the male viewpoint.”

Natalie had heard songs done that way, and her imagination immediately clicked into gear.
Oh, yes.
The song lent itself perfectly to that. She just couldn’t believe that a famous singer loved the words and the melody. It was, like, the biggest charge of her life—
almost,
anyway.

“You’re on your way.”

Just then the check fell out onto Natalie’s lap. She stared incredulously at the amount. Then she burst out laughing. “This
has
to be a joke.”

Zeke looked over at her. “No, and I’m going to laugh all the way to the bank with my share. You can pay me back for the renovations to the club with that check, darlin’.”

Natalie barely heard him. She was still staring at the amount of the check and recounting the digits.

“That’s after ten percent for the agent. All you have to do is sign, sweetheart, and you’ve not only got representation, you’ve got your first sale. A big one. I’ve learned a few things over the course of this adventure, namely that good songwriters can make a killing.”

“Oh, Zeke.”

He grinned and dipped his head to steal a quick kiss. “I asked you once. I’ll ask you again. What the hell are you doing in a Podunk town like Crystal Falls? You were born for Nashville, darlin’. You’re wasting your time here.”

Looking up at his dark, sun-burnished features and those blue eyes she loved so much, Natalie knew exactly why she was in Crystal Falls—and why she meant to stay. Someone else could go on the road and scrabble to make it big. If she could sell her songs, she’d be happy. The most important success of her life was sitting right beside her, a wonderful, handsome, loyal man who would always love her, even when she burned the eggs, and who would believe in her even when she’d lost faith in herself.

She’d had songs in her heart all her life. This man was the best song of all—a sweet melody that had come to her when she was least expecting it, like all of her really good songs always did. Only she didn’t need to rewrite any of the lines to make him perfect.

He’d come to her that way.