The Bride Takes a Powder (10 page)

"I know you wanted the results
as soon as possible. I'm happy for you."

"Thanks so much. Now I can
move on without that problem hanging over my head."

"Yes, well, good luck, Ms.
Ballard. Call me if you need to. Goodbye."

She took another shaky breath.
Damn.
Her heart still raced with
leftover dread, but the truth was she was now free and, even better, finally
finished with Garrett. She'd mourn her beautiful wedding and glamorous
honeymoon but was grateful to have discovered the real Garrett before marrying
him. Yes, she could have divorced him, but avoiding that trauma to begin with
was better.

She dialed her mother at home to
tell her about the clean bill of health.

"Oh, thank God, honey. I didn't
even think of that."

"Yeah, well, who knows what he
was doing all this time." She had no intention of hiding her bitterness. "I
also want to let you know where I am, but you have to promise not to tell
Garrett."

"I won't, honey, but he's
spitting mad."

"You know, that's just tough.
I don't give a damn what he thinks. Was there any more on the news or the
papers about his little debacle at the strip club?"

"It's off the front page, but
we've been getting a lot of phone calls. You know, you'll have to come back
sometime and deal with returning gifts and writing notes. And what are you
going to do about the law firm? They've been calling too."

"I plan to come back, of
course, but not just yet. I had a month vacation scheduled. I like this town
and want to stay here a while."

"Where are you? I wish you'd
tell me."

"Mom, I'll tell you, but you
have to promise on a stack of Bibles you won't tell Garrett," she
repeated.

"I can tell your dad, can't I?"

"As long as he keeps his mouth
shut. I know he likes Garrett a lot…"

"Not anymore," her mom
interrupted. "Dad's not too happy with the scandal Garrett caused."

"Well, he shouldn't be,"
Norah fumed.

"I'm just glad you're okay.
Dad and I are worried about you."

"I caught a train, fell asleep,
and woke up in Birchwood Falls, Iowa. It's the quintessential small town,
lovely and with lovely people."

"Where are you staying? Do
they have a hotel?"

"Yes, but I have the top floor
apartment of a gorgeous English bungalow right downtown, close to the river and
the action, what little there is of it." She chuckled.

"Sounds nice. I miss you,
honey. I understand why you did what you did and am so sorry it happened that
way."

"I appreciate your support,
Mom."

"Do you think you'll ever get
back together with Garrett? He's sorry for what he did."

"Oh my God, don't even talk
like that," Norah exclaimed. "No, I'm through with him. I'm not sure
I ever really loved him." She rubbed her forehead, thoughts spinning. "I
just thought I'd be able to control our lives."

"Life has a way of changing
things."

"I was so sure of everything."

"Well, sweetie, your dad and I
liked him well enough, but we sensed it wasn't a true romance. We wanted more
for you, but you seemed to be happy with him. Thank God you learned the truth
about him before the wedding."

"Yeah. Too bad it was
right
before the wedding. Like
minutes
before," she muttered after
hanging up. "Okay, that's done."

Celebrate!
How should she celebrate? The rain still poured heavily, and even the rolling
thunder didn't alarm her. Now decidedly famished and needing to savor her
freedom in the great wide outdoors, she put on a warm sweater and took her coffee,
muffin, and book down to the front porch. But she couldn't read.

Mike.
What was he doing? How was he faring? Her mind spun with thoughts and more
questions. Being free of disease was the best news, but now what should she do
with her life? Of course she'd go back to Chicago and pick up her career. That
wasn't in question. Was it? Every morning she'd awakened excited to go to work,
but now she was strangely indifferent.

Mike.
What was he doing?
Back to that, huh?

The
Herald
had mentioned there'd be a school board meeting at noon.
This was none of her business, but it seemed to have
become
her business. So she took a seat at the back of the room.
You could take the woman out of the legal field but apparently couldn't take
interest in the law out of the woman.

Mike sat between his parents
looking very handsome and very tense. Her heart went out to him. She knew it
had to be killing him to have this hanging over his head. Being falsely accused
of something was, at the very least, frustrating and at the most, devastating.

The meeting was called to order,
and the prosecuting attorney's office was asked to begin. Moira Logan opened
with a recitation of what would likely become the text of an indictment. She
didn't name names, though, saying that no individuals had been charged yet.

Then
why had teachers been suspended?

Ollie Banning stood up and posed
that very question. "Why was my son suspended then if no one has been
formally charged with anything? He's not involved in this, and it's not right
to heap suspicion on him!"

Moira nodded toward the principal. "Mr.
Franks can answer that."

"Why hasn't he been suspended?"
Ollie continued. "His name was mentioned as a participant."

Franks scowled and muttered, "Something
had to be done to keep control of the school."

"But suspending teachers
without any kind of a hearing is wrong. You should have suspended yourself!"

There was a smattering of applause
but an equal number of dark looks aimed at Ollie.

Sheriff Marc Rahn came to his feet
and addressed Moira. "Ms. Logan, what evidence do you have against an
individual teacher?"

"There's a whistleblower,"
she said quietly.

That got everyone's attention. The
accused have a right to face their accuser. The whistleblower's name would have
to come out. People whispered to one another and suddenly turned their heads to
look at Norah. She didn't know, other than Mike, if any other teachers were
even at this meeting.

"I have a list of dates where
teachers got together in cheating parties. I'll individually interview each
teacher about their whereabouts on those dates. So, if any of you—" Moira
gazed around the room. "—can provide witnesses putting you somewhere else,
I'd appreciate knowing that."

Various cries went up. "What're
the dates?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

And the most important one, "Who's
the whistleblower?" That got a lot of people out of their chairs onto
their feet with fists raised.

"Our children were cheated."

"We want answers."

Mike Banning just sat there,
impassive. Norah gave a slight smile. That's the way to play it. Don't show
your anxiety. Well, good for him. Along with his parents, she believed in him.

Moira interrupted the outpouring of
questions. "Tomorrow morning I'll start my interviews. I'd like the
suspended teachers to arrive at my office by nine."

"What're the dates you're
looking for?" someone shouted.

"I'll talk to the teachers
about that tomorrow. This is still an open investigation. People are innocent
until proven guilty. Suspensions were unfortunate—" She snared the
principal with a pointed look. "But the rest of you should not rush to
judgment. The truth will come out."

"Norah." Mike caught up
with her as she headed down the front steps of City Hall. "What are you
doing here?"

Throughout the hearing, he'd kept
his expression and demeanor calm and unemotional—he hoped. That was his
exterior. On the inside, his guts churned and his heart ached. All his life he'd
gone the straight and narrow way. Yeah sure, when he was underage he'd had a
beer or a smoke a time or two, but he wasn't a liar, and he wasn't a cheater.
To be accused of this was killing him. And to be suspended hurt like hell.

He was so happy for his parents'
support, proud that his dad stood up for him in the meeting. His close friends,
Marc and Phoebe, Davy, and even Moira, knew he'd done nothing wrong. What broke
his heart was that teachers he'd thought were friends had falsely implicated
him. And he didn't know who they were so now he couldn't trust
anyone
. He hated to live like that.

As quiet as he'd been, as still as
he'd been during the meeting, he'd known Norah was in the chamber. It wasn't as
if she'd offered to represent him so did that mean she cared?

Norah shook her head. "What a
zoo. Where's the proof of all this? How're you supposed to have witnesses to
your whereabouts when you won't know the dates until tomorrow?"

"I don't know, but our bar is
a pretty good alibi for me. I'm there almost every day after school."

She let out a bark of laughter. "Only
in a small town is being in a bar after school a good excuse."

"Thank you for being there for
me." As they sauntered through the courthouse park he slid his arm around
her shoulders ostensibly to keep her warm. The rain had let up, but the air was
still cool and damp. The truth was that he just wanted to be close to her.
After their Sunday kisses, he wanted to do a whole hell of a lot more. He
couldn't know how long she'd be here, but he had a gut feeling about her. Since
he was a pretty pragmatic guy, as well as probably dull, this feeling was
unusual. He'd kind of gotten used to casual dates or no dates in his small
town. Norah reminded him he was a young healthy male with young healthy male
desires. Desires he was building up in his mind and that might explode pretty
soon.

Dancing with her had been amazing
and sensual. Kissing her had been a hundred times better. His whole life had
been ordinary. Except for playing football in high school, he wasn't a
particularly aggressive man. He loved teaching but didn't want to be principal.
He'd guess he wasn't ambitious or exciting, maybe not intriguing enough for the
sophisticated big city lawyer. What if she was it? The woman he was destined
for?
Does that really happen?

All this shot through his mind in
an instant, heating his blood, sending shards of urgent possessiveness to his
heart…and cock.
Don't let her get away!
"Are you okay?" In worrying about his own problems he'd almost
forgotten about her blood tests. "The blood tests, I mean?"

She let out a big breath ending in
a sigh and nodded. "Yes. The doctor called his morning with the good news."

"I'm really happy for you,
Norah. You didn't deserve to have to agonize about something like that."

"Thanks, Mike. It helped close
a lot of doors for me."

"He's an ass, pardon my
language."

She laughed. "That's the least
of what I've been calling him."

"You wanna do something?"
he asked.
Jesus. Lame. What are you?
Sixteen?
"I guess I don't have school tomorrow, damn it all, so I can
stay out late." He tried to give her a sexy smile and wasn't sure if he
succeeded.

"Are you hungry?"

Food wasn't what he had in mind. He
stopped on the path, turned her to face him and leaned in whispering, "I'd
like to get back to those kisses we had." Slipping his hand around her
neck, he angled her head to fit his lips to hers. Stiff at first, as if surprised,
she quickly met the kiss, her responsive fierce pressure turning the kiss
electrifying. The building heat sizzled the blood in his veins, pooling,
throbbing in his cock. Closing her in his arms, he pulled her tighter along the
length of him.

She was tall, especially in
high-heeled boots, and their bodies fit together wonderfully. Her firm breasts
flattened against his chest sending his blood pressure soaring. He rolled his
hips against the soft cushion of her belly hoping to relieve the ache in his
shaft. It didn't help.

He didn't know what to do with her.
Oh, he knew how to have sex, to fuck. How to make love. But he didn't know this
woman. If he kept acting any longer like a bumbling idiot virgin, she'd
probably turn around and run away. It was time to show her he knew what he was
doing in the sex department.

Deepening the kiss, he brushed his
lips over hers, tasting her, his tongue making little forays across her mouth.
At the small intake of her breath, he gloried knowing she was aroused too, maybe
as much as he was. He cradled her face in his palms, his thumbs skimming the
side of her mouth, and gazed into those gorgeous eyes, pale and delicate. "Thank
you for believing in me."

"Come to my place."

Had he said that? Had he just heard
it out loud? Jesus Christ, it was from her!

He wasted no time in aiming them
toward her house. Thank God it was only a block away. She fumbled the door open,
and he had only the vaguest impression of the apartment before she led him
directly to the bedroom.

Embracing her, he pushed her
against the wall, his hands cupping her head, holding her still. People had
seen them in the park, people who may have become his enemies. He shook away
that thought and anything else that might interfere with what he had planned.
This was Norah Ballard. The unobtainable goddess lusted after by his college
nerd friends. And now he had her for himself. He stiffened. With the slightest
bit of confusion, she watched him, her gaze shifting from his eyes to his
mouth.

Take
control, you idiot. Be suave. This isn't your first rodeo. Make love to her.

Ravage
her.

Foreplay.
She's not Norah Ballard, the college goddess, she's Norah Ballard the woman who
believes in you and is here in your arms.

His libido fought, wanting
everything immediately, knowing she deserved more than a hot quick fuck. "God,
sweetheart, you're beautiful." He traced his tongue along her jaw, down
her neck until he felt the rapid pulse below her ear.
Oh yeah, she wants it.
Unbuttoning her blouse, his knuckles rubbing
her soft inviting breasts, he spread the sides apart urgently needing to see
all of her. Lovely plump breasts pillowed up over a lacy bra.
Jesus. Yellow lace.
He hadn't expected
that.
You didn't know what to expect, so
go with it.
He lifted his gaze to her eyes, wide with arousal.