Snapped (23 page)

He picked up the phone and dialed
Information for the number of the nearest florist. He wished he knew what sort
of flowers she liked and her favorite color.

He put the phone down. She'd probably
throw them in the trash once she knew they were from him.

He placed his head in his hands and
moaned. God, he wished he didn't feel so lousy. Unrequited love sucked. It was
like being hit in the stomach by a punch thrown by a massive biker. Worse,
because it affected his heart as well.

What was he meant to do now? Just forget
about her? Beg?

***

He really was trying very hard, Lucy had
to give him that. Richard hadn't changed much in twenty years. A few more
wrinkles, a little thicker around the middle and a lot less hair. He had the
same eyes as her, something she'd never noticed before. He was nice too. Really
trying to make an effort. Lunch was his treat, he said, the least he could do
for the two women in his life. He'd beamed at her mother then, and she'd beamed
back.

Lucy had the sneaking suspicion there was
something going on between them. She'd have to have a word to her mother later.

"So what does that nice friend of
yours do, Lucy?" her mother asked, forking lettuce between bright red
lips.

"Who?"

"Don't be coy, Darling. Nick
something-or-other. The fellow who called me yesterday looking for you. He
sounded lovely. You can always tell what a man's like from the sound of his
voice."

"Really?" Richard looked at her
mother and laughed. She nudged him with her shoulder and laughed back.

So far the conversation had hovered
around safe topics like Lucy's schooling and career, her hobbies. She hadn't
asked Richard what he'd been doing the last twenty years, or why he left. She
wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

"Nick Dante," Lucy muttered,
slicing a piece of Cajun Chicken. "He's a cop. Detective. Fraud
Squad."

Her parents stared at her, forks poised.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No! Nothing, Darling."

"Nothing at all," said Richard.
He was shorter than Lucy remembered but just as handsome. No wonder her mother
still fawned over him like he was her latest conquest. Maybe he was. "Very
honorable profession."

Lucy snorted. "Yeah, sure. I was a
cop once, I know what they're like."

"But you're not now," said
Richard, "and your PI business doesn't put people behind bars."

"So you're an item, then?" This
from her smiling mother.

"No."

"Why not? If he's a nice man—"

"Mom, don't."

"Your mother's just looking out for
you."

"Dad, I—" She forgot what she
wanted to say. She hadn't called anyone that in so long, and yet it had just
tumbled out of her mouth like it was right.

Richard and her mother were smiling at
her again. It was irritating that two people could be so happy when she felt
miserable.

The waiter cleared away their empty
plates and took their coffee orders. Lucy pretended to watch the other diners
so she didn't have to look at either parent's smug face.

"Since it's the business end of the
lunch," Richard said, "there's something I need to tell you,
Lucy."

She turned slowly to look at him. He
chewed his lip and studied the torn napkin in his fingers.

She should make it easier for him, but
she didn't feel like it. "Like why you left and never called?"

He flinched and she regretted her tone. Her
mother glared but Lucy shrugged and lifted her chin. No way was she going to
make this easy. He was the one who'd walked away, the one who deserved to feel
guilty.

"Yeah," Richard said quietly. He
lifted his eyes and looked at her. "You see, I was in jail."

"Jail!" Lucy stared then burst
out laughing but neither parent joined in so she covered her mouth. He seemed
completely serious. "For twenty years?"

"No, for ten. The last ten years
I've been trying to get my life back on track. I didn't want to see you until I
had something to show for myself again. When I got out, I went north and got a
job on a building site. Just laboring jobs. I saved some money and bought a
rundown old place. Fixed it up, sold it and invested the profits in a couple
more houses. Fixed them up, sold them and well, it just kept growing. Now I own
a pre-fab housing company. Employ about twenty permanent staff and another
twenty casual laborers. I'm doing okay."

Lucy sat, stunned. "Let's re-wind. Why
did you go to jail?"

"Fraud." He shrugged. "I'm
not proud of it, but I did some major swindling at the banking firm where I
worked at the time. I paid for it." He looked lovingly at her mother. "I
learned my lesson."

Fraud. And now he was in the construction
industry. She nearly laughed out loud at the irony. Nick would find it
hilarious.

Except Nick would never know. She
wouldn't be sharing her life with him. She rubbed her stomach where the Cajun
Chicken was reacting with the glass of wine she'd drunk too fast. Coupled with
the ever-present weight still pressing down on her chest, she wanted to throw
up.

"So why come back now?" she
asked. "After all these years. Surely you've got another family by now. What
would they—?"

"No. There was never anyone except
you and Lizzie." He closed her mother's hand in his own and she beamed at
him. "I just didn't want to come back until I'd made everything all right
again. Of course, I've sent your mother every penny since I got out."

Lucy gaped at Richard then her mother. This
was totally surreal. Her father was an ex-con, her mother was acting like a
doe-eyed teenager and Lucy hadn't been abandoned as a ten year old. Not
technically anyway. Although she wasn't sure how much of Richard's story she
believed, her mother seemed prepared to accept him again so Lucy at least
needed to get used to the idea that he was back.

"I think I need to go home and lie
down," she said. "This is a little overwhelming."

"I know, Darling, but you'll get
used to it." Her mother patted her hand. "Once you've had time to
think about everything you'll feel a lot better."

Lucy wasn't so sure about that. She felt
like the room was spinning out of control and she was about to lose her footing
and fall on her ass.

Her father stood. "I'll pay the bill
at the counter."

"Do you think we should watch
him," Lucy said softly when he walked off, "make sure he doesn't run away
with the money?"

"Lucy!" Her mother stood. "He's
a reformed character." She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. "But
do me a favor and don't tell him about the other men I used to date. I'm not a
saint and I was very angry with him."

She wasn't the only one. "I don't
know, Mom," she shook her head, trying to hide her smile, "maybe he
should know. He's come clean about everything to you."

Her mother blanched. "If you keep
quiet then I won't tell Nick about the men in your life."

"Too late," she muttered,
standing. The crushing weight got heavier.

Her father whisked them outside and
produced an umbrella which he held over her mother's head. Lucy huddled under
the porch.

"Well, I've gotta go. See you two
around." She waved but her father caught her arm and pecked her on the
cheek. She squeezed his arm back but didn't feel like she was at the hugging
stage yet. That would come in time, she realized with a jolt.

She ran to her car, getting thoroughly
wet in the process. She switched on her cell phone but no one had called. Staring
at the blank display, she started to cry.

Lucy had just gained a father, her mother
was the happiest she'd seen her in twenty years and her theory about
relationships had just been proven incorrect.

So why did she feel so miserable?

CHAPTER
15

Lucy, desperate for comfort food, stared
at her empty fridge and swore. She needed to go shopping but right now she
wanted to curl up on her couch to watch a chick flick and eat an entire
cheesecake. She hadn't slept a wink all night until dawn, then she'd woken
around lunch time, starving and miserable.

She didn't have a cheesecake or any
movies so she dialed Abbey instead.

Abbey's squeal into the phone was so
high, Lucy had to hold it away from her ear.

"How're things in Stanton?"
Lucy asked, not really wanting to hear how fantastic her friend's life was.

"Wonderful! I'm having a ball. Spencer's
taken me to all his favorite restaurants and last weekend we had a romantic
getaway on his yacht."

"That's great. I'm glad your life
doesn’t suck."

"Oh, Lucy, I'm sorry. Something's
bothering you. Tell me."

"It's nothing, really, I don't want
to spoil your good mood."

"Lucy Hudson, if you don't tell me
I'll catch the next flight down there and make you. Now spill it."

Lucy sighed. "I don't know. I just
feel like crap."

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more
specific. Is this to do with that man who called me the other day looking for
you? I was so worried at first then I figured you'd turn up. You always do. Usually
at someone's house." She giggled but Lucy just felt worse.

"Yeah, it's kind of to do with him. I
guess."

"Ohmygod! You like this one! Wow,
Lucy, spill. What's he like? Is he handsome? Oh, of course he is. Tall? What
does he do? Is he rich? Does he—"

"Slow down." Lucy had to laugh.
Her friend didn't often get excited about her boyfriends. Not surprising since Lucy
rarely showed much interest in them herself. "Yeah, I like him. He's nice.
A good friend."

"Is that all? Just a friend?"

Lucy chewed the inside of her lip. At the
moment, Nick wasn't even a friend. She doubted he'd accept friendship anyway.

"No. Yes." She sighed. "Oh,
I don't know what to do, Abbey. I like him, I really do. I just don't know if I
want it to be permanent."

"Why not? Male friends make great
lifelong partners."

"How would you know?"

Abbey sniffed. "Because Spencer's my
best friend. After you, of course. And I just know I want to spend the rest of
my life with him."

"Sounds...terminal."

"Oh, Lucy, stop thinking like that. Relationships
aren't the end of your life. Married couples still have fun. Just fun with the
same person everyday. And believe me, that can be wonderful. When you know
someone well, lovemaking becomes instinctive and very...intimate. It's amazing,
you don't know what you're missing out on."

Lucy said nothing. How could she when her
mind was filled with images of Nick, naked and horny and making love to her?

"Don't give him up just because
you're afraid of making a commitment."

Lucy laughed. "I'm not afraid of
commitment. What gave you that idea?"

"You, you fool. All those men you
used to date, but you couldn't tell me anything personal about a single one of
them. I blame your father."

"Speaking of Dad, he's back." Lucy
filled Abbey in on her father's reappearance.

"He doesn't sound like the jerk you
always made him out to be. And if your mother's happy..."

"She is." Lucy sighed. "But
I feel like I'm losing her. Or not her exactly, but losing something very
important to me. My entire world has been turned upside down."

"Good. It needed shaking up. Now get
off the phone and go call Nick."

"I can't." Lucy pressed a hand
to her heart. "My body's rejecting him."

"Now this I have to hear."

"There's this pressing weight,
pushing down on me, and every time I speak to him lately, it just gets worse. If
that's not a sign that relationships just aren't for me, then I don't know what
is."

Abbey's laugh rippled down the phone. "You
idiot. That's not your fear of commitment, that's your conscience telling you
you're hurting the man you love. Look, Sweetie, I have to go.
Call
him."
She hung up.

Lucy flopped onto the couch, annoying
Oscar who glared at her before nudging his nose back beneath his paws. She ran
her fingers absently through his gray fur, getting his motor running, and
thought about what Abbey said.

Love. Was she in love with Nick? How
could she tell for sure? Apart from the pressing weight which apparently meant
she felt lousy for rejecting him, she didn't feel any different.

Except for the churning in her stomach,
the erratic beating of her heart and the feeling that she was on the brink of
losing something very important. Not her mother, like she originally thought—she
was
gaining
a father—so that left Nick.

Oh, damn. Maybe Abbey was right. What if
she was in love with Nick, and she'd thrown everything away?

She picked up her backpack and locked the
door. She tumbled down the stairs, got into her car and realized she didn't
have a clue where Nick lived. She fished out his card but it didn't have his
cell phone so she dialed the work number. Someone answered on the seventh ring—not
Nick.