Midnight Secrets

chapter

FOURTEEN


Dinner with the mayor and his wife held more than one unexpected surprise. Savannah arrived at their home with a bouquet of flowers for Nesta and a first edition of The Great Gatsby for Lamont. She’d spent part of the day in her grandfather’s library packing up books to donate to the local library. When she’d come across the book, she’d immediately thought of Lamont, who loved classic literature.

As soon as she had turned in to the drive, she’d realized that the small, intimate dinner party she had hoped for was something more. Five other cars were parked in the large driveway. Silly not to anticipate a larger crowd; the Kilgores were known for their entertaining. Fortunately she soon realized she knew everyone and there was no need for introductions. Even after all these years, meeting new people could be difficult for her. The shy, insecure Savannah still existed beneath the confident professional. The fact that they had all been friends with her parents made their attendance even more appropriate.

“Savannah, you remember Lisa and Richard Tatum, don’t you?”

Turning away from chatting with Lamont, Savannah greeted the Tatums. Richard had gone to school with her father, and Lisa had been one of her mother’s best friends. “Of course I do.” She leaned forward and hugged the couple. “How are you?”

“Oh, you know us, not much changes here in Midnight. Lisa is still the best cook in town.” He patted his round belly. “And I’m still her number one fan.”

She laughed appropriately, took a sip of her chardonnay, and smiled her way through the conversation. Richard was the talker in the family, often answering for Lisa. Surprisingly his wife didn’t seem to mind, often nodding her head in agreement as if that was what she had planned to say anyway. It would have driven Savannah crazy, but apparently it worked for them. Even now, Lisa was gazing up at her husband as if his words were golden.

Nesta was the kind of hostess Savannah loved. Just when the conversation seemed to be waning and she was about to start scrambling for a new topic, the older woman came to the rescue.

“Savannah, can I steal you away for a moment?”

Trying not to nod too eagerly, Savannah murmured something appropriate to the Tatums and followed Nesta to another couple—Doug and Paula Fisher. Both Doug and Paula had gone to school with her father. With the exception of the Kilgores, she had always felt closer to the Fishers than any other of her parents’ friends.

Though the days following her parents’ deaths were a blur of pain and confusion, she remembered how kind the Fishers had been. One particular memory stood out. On the day of the funerals, she had been trying to find some privacy from all the guests that had congregated at the Wilde house after the service. Instead of going to her bedroom, she had gone outside to escape to the guesthouse behind the mansion. Her grandfather had been living there but had moved his things into the mansion the day before. The house would be empty and she could find the privacy she sought.

On the path that led to the house, she had spotted Paula sitting by herself in the lush flower garden that had been Maggie Wilde’s pride and joy. Paula’s eyes had been focused on something in the distance, and Savannah had known immediately what she’d been gazing at—the giant oak tree where Beckett Wilde had been found hanging.

Savannah had continued on to her destination but the look of anguish on Paula’s face had always made her feel a certain kinship with her—as if the older woman understood her devastation.

Savannah was in the middle of laughing at a story about one of the Fishers’ grandsons when she heard a deep, familiar voice. Startled, she turned and did her best not to show a reaction. Had Zach known she was attending this dinner? Was it merely a coincidence that the Kilgores had invited all married couples, leaving her and Zach as the only singles attending? She glanced over at Nesta and had her answer. The woman’s eyes were twinkling with delight. Savannah mentally shook her head. Heaven save her from well-meaning matchmakers. First Aunt Gibby and now Nesta.

Following Savannah’s gaze, Paula said, “It’s so good to see Chief Tanner in a social setting. Seems like every time we’ve seen him lately, he’s been tied up with those vandalisms.”

“I just don’t understand why he can’t figure out who’s doing them,” Richard said. “Seems like our tax dollars are being wasted if he can’t do his job.”

Savannah turned swiftly back to the couple. Her mouth opened to defend Zach, but then she swallowed her words. Both Richard and Paula were eyeing her in unashamed speculation. Well crap, them too?

More than a little frazzled, she turned back to Zach, who appeared to be the only other surprised person in the room. Savannah couldn’t decide if this was more of a conspiracy or an intervention. Either way, it wasn’t going to work.

Nesta clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Thank you all again for coming. Lamont says the steaks are perfect. So let’s all go in to dinner.”

Savannah stepped back out of the way and watched the couples head into the massive dining room. She looked over at Zach, who had held back, too. The chagrined expression on his face told the tale, and his words confirmed her thoughts. “I think we’ve been set up.”

Disarmed, she laughed and took the arm he held out to her. “Let’s not disappoint them.”

Zach couldn’t believe how easily Savannah was taking to being set up. He figured she would accuse him of being in on it and was relieved she’d seen through the ruse. This wasn’t the first time the people of Midnight had tried their matchmaking on him. It was, however, the first time he was pleased with their efforts. There was no one he’d rather spend the evening with than Savannah.

She looked beautiful. Her sleeveless lavender sweater showed her slender, toned arms and golden skin to perfection. And her skirt hit just below mid-thigh, revealing a delicious amount of her long, lean legs. He was pleased to see that the shadows beneath her eyes had disappeared and the tense set to her luscious mouth had eased. He also noted that she wore her hair loose and flowing the way he had always preferred it. Since she hadn’t known he would be here, he wasn’t stupid enough to think she wore it that way for him.

Zach pulled out one of the two empty chairs remaining at the table for her and then sat beside her. He could have sworn that just about everyone at the table grinned in approval at them.

“Chief Tanner?” Margie Atkins, Lamont’s elderly aunt, interrupted Zach’s musings. “Do you have any suggestions for getting Earline Barton to stop letting her dog Posey come over and use my yard as his own private toilet?”

It was often frustrating and sometimes weird, but he couldn’t say being chief of police here was ever boring.

“Have you talked to her about it, Mrs. Atkins?”

“Several times. She just keeps saying that she’ll have a talk with the dog. Now, I ask you, how’s that going to help? I’ve got brown spots all over my yard where Posey has piddled. I know you’re busy, what with the vandalisms and all, but I do think she’d do something if you talked to her.”

The beautiful woman beside him issued a noise that sounded like a cross between a snort and a snicker. He shot a quick glance at Savannah, who had the look of an innocent lamb; the twinkling in her eyes belied the innocence. She was getting a kick out of his Posey-peeing dilemma. Deciding to turn the tables, he said, “Savannah’s been studying law much longer than I have. Do you have a suggestion for Mrs. Atkins?”

Shooting him a “Touché” look, she surprised him and began to make some suggestions. As he watched her, he wondered about the kind of life she led in Nashville. She was obviously successful. The confidence she exuded was so different from ten years ago. The shyness he remembered seemed to be gone, and in its place was a woman sure of herself and her place in the world. He had loved the shy, sometimes awkward Savannah, but couldn’t deny that the new, more confident Savannah was just as enticing.

Did she have someone significant in her life? Their conversation last night had been all about the vandalisms. Things were too uneasy between them to share personal information. Although if she had asked him anything personal, he would have answered her questions. Even if she’d come out and bluntly asked him why he had left town so abruptly ten years ago, he would have spilled everything. But she hadn’t asked. Maybe she didn’t want to know. He’d tried twice last night to bring it up, and each time she’d shot him down. And despite the civil conversations they’d had the last couple of days, hurt and cool detachment lingered in her eyes. She hadn’t bothered to hide her animosity the first time she saw him. Hell, maybe he was living in a fool’s paradise. What if that’s all they had left—hurt and anger?

Odd, but Savannah immediately detected a change in Zach. Even without looking at him, she felt a tension in him that hadn’t been there seconds before. Chancing a quick glance at his profile confirmed her thoughts. The grim set of his mouth told her something had upset him. What could it have been? From what she could tell, the conversations around them had been innocuously pleasant.

“You okay?” she whispered softly.

“Yeah. Fine.”

The terse reply was a surprise. She didn’t know this Zach. This was a harsher, more austere version of the man she’d seen over the last few days. Not sure how to handle him and the ridiculous shiver of arousal that this new Zach gave her, she turned to the man seated to her left. Kyle Ingram had been one of her father’s friends. Out of all the people at the party, she knew the least about him and his wife, Noreen. While everyone else had been a frequent visitor before and after her parents’ deaths, the Ingrams had been scarce.

Before she could come up with some bland comment about the weather, Kyle surprised her and said, “You look almost identical to your mama.”

“Thank you, that’s a lovely compliment.”

“You know, I went out with Maggie when we were teenagers.”

“You did?” Her mother had been from Mobile and had met her father in college. “So did you go to college with Mama and Daddy?”

His craggy face had always looked a little sad to her. Her question made him appear even more melancholy. “No, I knew your mama when she was growing up. Her family and mine were real close.”

That was a surprise to Savannah. Other than knowing that her mother’s parents had died in a car accident when Maggie was still in college, she knew little of her mother’s side of the family.

Hearing about her mother like this was a special treat. “What was she like?”

A gentle albeit sad smile curved his mouth. “Delightful. She had such a sunny disposition and the most wonderful laugh.”

He had been in love with her. The glaze of tears in his eyes and quiver of his mouth were a clear indication of his grief. Though she would have loved to chat about her mother more, since he had apparently known her well, Savannah hated to cause him more distress.

As she searched her mind for a different topic, Kyle continued, his eyes taking on a faraway look as if he were in a different time and place. “She was the most popular girl in school, you know. But you never would have guessed it. Not a vain bone in her body. She was a cheerleader, too. Did you know that?”

Yes, she had known that. She’d always believed that was one of the biggest reasons Sammie had pursued the same type of activities. Somehow she felt closer to her mother by trying to be exactly like her.

Savannah nodded. “I’ve seen pictures of her cheer-leading.”

His expression went from the faraway look of before to something dreamy and not a little creepy. “Such a beautiful, talented girl.”

Uncomfortable with the look of stark longing in Kyle’s eyes, Savannah scrambled for something safer. “So if you grew up in Mobile, how did you end up here in Midnight?”

“He followed your mama here.”

She’d been so intent on her conversation with Kyle, Savannah hadn’t realized the woman across the table from them was listening intently also. Noreen Ingram had always made her uncomfortable. Sour and angry at the same time, the woman never seemed to have anything kind to say to anyone. No wonder poor Kyle always looked so sad.

Instead of responding to Noreen, Savannah kept her focus on Kyle. “I’m sure it was a comfort to Mama to have a friend from her hometown so close by.”

Again, before Kyle could answer, Noreen snorted her disgust and said, “More like it drove her crazy. She had her very own stalker.”

“Noreen … please.” Kyle’s voice was just above a whisper but the embarrassment and misery in his tone were easily detectable. Everyone at the table went silent.

“Mrs. Ingram, your roses are looking particularly beautiful this year.”

Zach’s comment to Noreen not only defused a volatile situation, it had an amazing effect on the woman. A smile of delight lifted the sour expression to one of almost prettiness. Amazed at the transformation, Savannah stared at her and didn’t realize for several seconds that Kyle had left the table and was rushing from the room. The glimpse she got of his face showed tears were streaming from his eyes.

Should she follow him? She didn’t know Kyle that well but she hated to see anyone so obviously upset. Somehow she felt responsible for his distress. Torn, Savannah’s quandary was solved when a large, callused hand covered hers under the table. Squeezing gently, Zach whispered, “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Then, as if he’d said nothing to Savannah, he continued to charm Noreen.

Grateful for Zach’s diplomacy and ability to ease the tense atmosphere, Savannah whispered a quiet “Thank you” and tried to pull her hand away. Zach wasn’t having it. Her heart in her throat, she shot a sideways glance at him. Nothing in his face revealed that they were holding hands. She tried once more to pull away. This time, though he didn’t release her hand, she did notice a small smile curve his mouth.

Not wanting to attract attention, she stopped tugging. Everyone had gone back to their meal and their own conversations. Kyle returned; his apology that he’d had something in his eye brought comments about the allergy season but nothing more.

The rest of the meal passed in a blur. She knew she ate and even managed to answer when someone spoke to her, though she wasn’t sure she made sense. Her concentration was shattered by the hand holding hers and by the large masculine thumb that caressed the inside of her palm in slow, erotic circles. She was stunned to realize that each time he completed a circle, she felt a corresponding and answering throb to her sex.

How the hell could one become aroused by a thumb in the middle of dinner surrounded by a tableful of chattering people? And who knew the palm of one’s hand was an erogenous zone?

After a dessert of bananas Foster and coffee, everyone made their way back into the living room. Disturbed beyond bearing, Savannah sat quietly the rest of the evening, smiling and nodding but adding little to the conversation. As soon as the first guest got up to leave, she followed quickly behind them.

Offering her thanks to Lamont and Nesta, she zoomed out of the living room, toward the front door. Zach was on the other side of the room, but his gaze had caught and held hers before she could avoid him. There was no mistaking the message in his eyes.

Savannah practically ran from the house to her car. She started the engine and drove swiftly away, more disturbed than she’d been in years. Her thoughts were a mishmash of emotions and sensory overload, and her entire body felt flushed and unsettled, decidedly needy. The hand that Zach had held tingled as if he’d left an imprint.

She sighed shakily. If a subtle caress of his thumb could create this burning heat inside her, what was she going to do when he tried to do more? No use trying to deny … it would happen. The look in his eyes when she’d left had said it all. Zach not only wanted her, he intended to have her. Perhaps the scariest part of all was, she knew she wouldn’t deny him.