Copper Lake Confidential

chapter 10



Most people had a rest of the story. Macy’s was a worst of the story. What she’d said already had been hard enough. She didn’t know if she had the courage to tell the worst. But the emotions on Stephen’s handsome face were in her favor: sympathy, sadness, sorrow. No sign of dismay that she had been, at one time, mentally defective. No revulsion. No horror. No hint of She was broken once; what if she breaks again?

But that was why the rest of her story was the worst.

She sighed. It was a beautiful sunny day. Foot traffic was picking up a little, along with the cars. Church bells tolled nearby, and she imagined the big broad doors opening, kids spilling out first, followed by mothers who had pot roasts in the slow cooker or hungry folks wanting to reach the restaurants before everybody else.

She and Mark had always been slow to reach the parking lot. He’d greeted everyone he’d felt worthy, exchanging small talk, and she’d said hello to friends and acquaintances and people like Louise Wetherby. It had been part of their routine: Clary dressed like a little angel, Mark in his custom-tailored suits, Macy in dresses or skirts. No pants in church for her ever. They hadn’t had to hurry to dinner because Mark had a standing reservation at the country club—the best table, the best server and tips well worth the inconvenience of holding the table.

She sighed again. It was a beautiful sunny day, and if she couldn’t tell Stephen the worst of the story now, when could she? No one was close enough to listen. Her daughter was in Anamaria’s perfectly responsible care, playing with kids her age and loving it. And Stephen was waiting patiently, not pressing her. She could say, I can’t talk about it, and he would accept it.

She really didn’t know if she could talk about it. Outside of therapy, she’d never tried. But there was a first time for everything.

“Mark’s suicide was a huge shock to everyone. He was happy. He had a very strong sense of entitlement, of ego. He was quite convinced that he truly was one of the reasons all this existed—for his satisfaction, his pleasure.” She indicated the town with a wave of her hand. “But for all that, he was a decent man. People liked him. They were happy to call him their friend. Clary and I adored him.”

Stephen’s expression was open, nonjudgmental, though there was a flash of something at her last sentence that looked like envy. By the time she was done with this story, he would know beyond a doubt that her one-time feelings for Mark were no threat to him.

“His cousin Reece had come to town that October. I never got to meet her until...after. She and Mark were never close. The one summer they’d spent together, he’d tormented her regularly.” Long story that Stephen could learn later, if he was interested. If he was still around. “That day, he took Miss Willa and me to lunch at the country club, then she went to a meeting with me. He was supposed to be playing golf, but instead he went out to Fair Winds, and he—he—”

A customer went into the coffee shop. Two came out. Two more passed on their way down the block. When the sidewalk was clear in every direction, she blurted it out. “He tried to kill Reece and her boyfriend.”

That knocked the calm, studied look right off Stephen’s face. How many people outside law enforcement ever knew a murderer? How many lived next door to one, went to church with him, played golf with him?

How many had babies with him and slept in his bed every night without even the faintest hint of a clue?

“Oh, my God, Macy.” He barely breathed the words.

Her smile trembled, and her vision got blurry. Allergies, with all the newly bloomed flowers around. “You haven’t heard the worst of the story yet.” She checked their surroundings once again, noted Clary and Gloriana seated primly on the gazebo steps with Anamaria while Will and Scooter performed tricks in front of them.

“You see, the reason Reece and Mark were never close was because he’d tried to kill her once before when they were kids. The last time, she and Jones had dug up a bone from a grave on the front lawn at Fair Winds, and Mark had no intention of letting them call the authorities because either Mark or his grandfather had murdered the man. He couldn’t be sure which, since there were more than forty graves on that front lawn. It had been their hobby, the pastime that bonded them. No one knows exactly when Arthur started killing, but Mark was fourteen. He killed one of the two boys who saved Reece from him. The other boy was Jones, now Reece’s husband.”

Now the horror was in Stephen’s eyes. She made her fingers go slack around his so he could pull away if he wanted. She breathed out a sigh because the day was still beautiful and sunny, and she could talk outside of therapy about the evil she’d lived with and slept with and gotten pregnant with.

What would Stephen do now? Flee? Suddenly find excuses to avoid seeing her? Immerse himself in work and his real life and push her into a dark corner of his mind where, thank God, he didn’t often have to go?

She waited, feeling oddly calm. She’d told the worst of the story, and she’d survived the telling. Her palms were sweaty. Her chest was tight. But she hadn’t cried. She hadn’t shattered into a million pieces. She hadn’t lost control. And she felt...

Freer. Cleaner. Less tainted.

Seconds ticked past. Ten, fifteen, twenty. He was shell-shocked. Apparently, he didn’t know what to say or what to do, and so he said nothing, did nothing. Somewhere after thirty seconds, he released her hand, and her gut tightened. Disappointment tasted raw and sour in her stomach, rising up her throat.

Then he stood, pulled her from the chair, wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. His cheek rested against her hair and his soft words hovered over her ear. “You’re an amazing woman, Macy.”

It was the same day as thirty minutes, thirty seconds, ago, but somehow it seemed more beautiful, the sun brighter and warmer and full of healing light. For the first time since finding out she’d married a psychopathic killer, surely for the first time since she’d lost the baby she carried, she knew she was a lucky woman.

Because everything was going to be all right.

* * *

Stephen had been speechless plenty of times in his life—practically any interaction involving nongeeks when he was a teenager—but usually he recovered his ability of speech quickly enough. Beyond those five words, though, he had trouble settling his mind on any single aspect of Macy’s tale.

She’d been married to a serial killer.

Spent months in a hospital to treat severe vegetative depression.

Had a daughter with and been pregnant again by a man who killed to let off steam.

A serial killer who, along with his partner, had killed more than forty victims.

And Macy and baby Clary had had no clue.

God, no wonder she didn’t want to move back to Copper Lake.

No wonder being in the house freaked her out.

No wonder she had difficulty trusting.

But she’d trusted him. She’d trusted him enough to tell him everything. To tell him nightmares she’d never shared outside of her family and the hospital where she’d been committed.

Committed.

God, he still couldn’t completely grasp it. These sorts of things just didn’t happen to normal people, and those were the only kind of people he knew. Everyday normal, worked for a living, loved their families, worried about jobs and crime and keeping their kids out of trouble. Those were the kind of people he dealt with.

But he was falling in love with a woman who was as different as they came.

Not true, he immediately denied. Macy loved her family. She worried about her daughter. So she had money, didn’t need a job, had no concerns on that angle. She’d been married to a serial killer so crime had struck closer to home for her than most.

She was as everyday normal as anyone could be.

And she felt so damned good in his arms.

Barely audible over the mingled sounds of their breathing, she whispered, “If you want to walk away and forget you ever met me, I’ll understand.”

She would regret it, the quick tightening of her hands against his back suggested, but she would understand.

“Hey,” he said gently. “I’m a geek. I’m fashion-challenged. I’m a vet. I’m a midlist fantasy author. Obviously, I’m not easily deterred.”

Her hands tightened again, and she rested her cheek against his chest. After a moment of simply breathing, she finally lifted her head. “I suppose we should reclaim my child from Anamaria before she begs to go home with them. She’s a sucker for birthday cake.”

“So am I.” Releasing her, he took the coffee mugs and cloth napkins inside, then came back. She automatically tucked her hand inside his, and they crossed the street to the square.

“Mama, guess what?” Clary jumped up to meet them. “It’s Gloriana and Will’s daddy’s birthday. Isn’t that cool?” Without pause, she scrunched up her face. “I don’t have a daddy. But that’s okay. I got a grandpa and an Uncle Brent and Dr. Stephen.”

The kid knew how to wrap her little fingers around a man’s heart. He felt as if he’d been bestowed a great honor.

Macy reached for Anamaria’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.”

Anamaria might be psychic, but she hadn’t expected the touch. The surprise showed in her dark eyes and the deep relief of her smile. “You’re welcome. We’d love to have Clary over for a playdate this week. When my two get tired of playing with each other, it becomes more like combat. ‘Oops, I didn’t mean to hit you with the bat.’ ‘Sorry I tore your doll’s head off, and oh, gosh, there goes her leg.’ They would be thrilled with the distraction of Clary.”

“That sounds wonderful. She’s been here less than two days and already she’s booored.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Anamaria said. She rose gracefully from the steps, the very essence of beauty and serenity, and called to her kids. Before walking away, though, she faced Macy head-on. “Remember what I told you your first day back?”

Macy nodded.

“That hasn’t changed.” Moving away from her, Anamaria patted Stephen’s arm reassuringly. “It’s good to see you.”

After Anamaria and her children crossed the street, Stephen glanced at Macy, who was watching them. “What did she tell you?”

She looked at him and smiled. “Just something that I really needed to hear. And now something that I really need to say—it’s time to head home. We’ve left Brent and Anne to work long enough.”

“Mama!” Clary stomped one foot and somehow managed to collapse in on herself while remaining standing, then huffed and straightened. “Oh, all right. I wish Grandma and Grandpa weren’t off on that stupid trip. I bet Grandpa would take me to the beach, and then to a movie, and he’d buy me a giant popcorn and pop and would read me stories when we got home. He wouldn’t just put stupid things in stupid boxes...”

Tuning out the rest, Stephen met Macy’s gaze and at the same time they rolled their eyes.

When they returned to the big house that, knowing what he now knew, kind of freaked out Stephen, too, Brent and Anne were working in the library. About a third of the shelves had been emptied, and a small mountain of book-packing cartons were stacked in the hallway. They were both pink-cheeked and looked in need of a break.

Stephen picked up a leather-bound volume and turned it carefully. “You do have an inventory of all these titles, don’t you?”

Anne’s eyes doubled in size. “We were supposed to be inventorying them?” With a pointed look at the boxes already sealed, she sank into a chair.

“I’m sure there’s one...somewhere.” Macy didn’t say more, but Stephen figured they all understood where: in Mark’s office. “Besides, I don’t need an inventory to give them away.”

“What about the tax deduction?” Brent asked.

“Don’t care.” Dismissively she assembled a box on one of the tables and taped the bottom seam with a loud rip of the dispenser.

Exchanging shrugs, Brent and Anne went back to work, and Stephen did what he did best: began moving the boxes from the hallway to the garage. Any library in the country would be thrilled to receive this donation, but particularly one in the South, given the number of Southern histories and biographies he’d seen on his first time in the room. The collection was probably worth a not-so-small fortune, but Macy couldn’t wait to see the last of it.

Now he understood why.

Clary was fussy by the time he finished moving the boxes, so he led her to the table holding the jade figurines. “Would you like to help me wrap these in a box so your mom can send them to your...”

“To Grandmother Lorna,” Macy supplied from her position on a ladder handing books down to Brent.

“Are we gonna wrap them like presents?” Clary’s eyes lit up. “Like birthday presents?”

“Well, sort of, but in plain paper.”

“Okay.”

He gave her two of the carvings to carry, cautioning her to be careful, then filled his hands, and they went into the kitchen. After two more trips, he lifted Clary onto a stool at the island, assembled a box and got a new package of paper from the garage.

“Are these toys, Dr. Stephen?” she asked, clutching one in her pudgy fingers and looking at it from all angles.

“No, honey. They’re just carvings for people to look at.” He laid out a few sheets of paper, showed her where to place the piece in one corner, then rolled it into a chunky package.

“I’d rather have toys. Who are they a present for?”

“Your mother’s sending them to your grandmother. They used to belong to your grandfather.”

“I don’t know them,” she said casually. “Do you have a daddy?”

“You bet. His name is Dave, and he lives in California.”

“Are you divorced from him? We learned about divorce in preschool. That’s why some kids don’t have daddies. Grandma says my daddy is just gone, and Grandpa says good riddance, and Mama says he’s dead.”

Stephen watched as she picked up a piece of jade that might have been a dragon or a tree with flowing branches. It was hard to say. “Do you know what dead means, Clary?”

She shrugged, a strand of brown hair sticking to her cheek. “Uncle Brent says it means he’s not here, and AnAnne says that’s okay.”

It wasn’t his place to try to explain an inexplicable concept like death to a three-year-old, so he changed the subject instead. “My dad lives near Disneyland.”

“Wow. Really? That’s cool.” Eyes wide with awe, she asked, “What’s that?”

Stephen laughed. His skills with little girls needed brushing up, but she still counted him among the important men in her life. Did that say something good about him? Or sad about her?

After lunch—sandwiches delivered from the Sammie Shop—Stephen had to beg off on moving boxes for the afternoon. He’d missed his word count for the week and needed a few hours to add to it. He let Clary talk him into leaving Scooter behind and lured Macy out into the driveway with him, sliding his arms around her middle. “You realize as long as my dog is here, I will be back.”

“Aw, and here I thought it was the complete uncomplicatedness of me that was bringing you back.”

He liked that she could tease with him. That she seemed more at ease now, not just with him but with everything. Sometimes she’d hidden her anxiety well, other times not so much, but right now she looked like a woman with nothing more important on her mind than the job she had to do and the people she got to do it with.

“That, too. Sometimes us simple guys are just naturally drawn to you complicated girls.” He leaned closer, kissed her and was just starting to feel the effects of oxygen deprivation when a car door slammed a few yards away. He took a step back and forced a smile while whispering, “It’s your lucky day. The great white land shark is circling.”

“Quick, can we run back inside and pretend we’re not home?”

In a white suit with killer heels, stalking up the driveway, Louise Wetherby had a predatory look about her. Stephen gave Macy’s hand a squeeze. “Sorry to abandon you, but I’ve got dragons of my own to slay. I’ll call you.”

Halfway down the slope, he grinned broadly. “Hey, Miz Wetherby.”

Despite being inches shorter, she gave him a look down her pointed nose. “Dr. Noble, can you not manage to comb your hair just once in your life?”

He dragged his fingers through it, well aware it would spring back at odd angles. “I was born this way. Sorry.”

She made a hmph sound, and he picked up his pace. Macy might be having a tough time, but she could handle Louise. That was more than he could say for himself.

* * *

Louise looked past Macy to the neatly stacked boxes in the garage, now filling more than half of the three-car bay, and for a moment greed shone in her eyes. The only family treasures decorating her mansion a few blocks over were purchased from other families that had died out or were more in need of cash than sentimental objects. On her rare visits to the house for meetings with Mark, she’d coveted more than a few paintings, art pieces and dishes. Macy was somewhat surprised that she didn’t try to buy some of them cheap. To save you the hassle of appraisals, packing and such.

“I’ve come to discuss the papers with you. Let’s take this inside. A glass of tea will be nice, to say nothing of air-conditioning.”

Louise was halfway to the utility room door when Macy spoke. “I’d rather not go inside. My family is working, and I don’t want to disturb them.”

So used to getting what she wanted, Louise seemed to hover there for a minute, her mind clearly intending to go into the house, her feet seemingly stuck to the concrete. She looked as if she might issue a command anyway, but apparently remembered that she wanted something from Macy. A lot.

On her ridiculously high heels, she came back to stand in front of Macy. “So. You’ve had a chance to go over the contract and showed it to that Calloway boy. The sooner we get your signature, the sooner we can get to work on saving Fair Winds—”

“I went out there last week. There’s nothing to save it from. Everything is in excellent shape.”

Only the glint in Louise’s eyes showed her surprise. “On the surface, perhaps, but a house of that age—”

Macy could probably count on one hand the number of times she’d interrupted one of Mark’s friends or associates. She did it again. “Louise, I’m not giving the house to you.”

Splotches of pink appeared in the older woman’s cheeks. “Not to me, of course, but—”

“Not to you, not to your preservation group, not to anyone at this point. I realize something must be done with it, but it’s not in the top ten of my list of things to deal with right now. Robbie Calloway has made sure that the house has been protected and maintained for the past eighteen months. He’ll continue doing so until I’m ready to deal with it. I’m sure you’re disappointed, but you have to understand that this is Clary’s inheritance. Her legacy. As her mother, I’ve got to consider what’s in her best interests. Now I appreciate your coming out on such a hot afternoon, but I have to get back to work.”

Without waiting for a response, Macy walked past the woman and into the utility room, closing the door and leaning against it. She wouldn’t put it past Louise to barge in, trying to use sheer will to force Macy into the decision she wanted.

But there was no shove on the door, no imperious knock. Faintly she heard the thud of the car door, followed by the sound of the engine. Louise was retreating. For the moment.

“That was one scary woman.” Anne came around the corner with a box cradled against her, and Macy obligingly moved aside and opened the door. While Anne placed it with the other books, Macy closed the garage door. If Louise did come back, or anyone else, for that matter, she could pretend she wasn’t home.

Macy told her what Louise had wanted.

“Ballsy woman,” Anne said with a grunt. She stretched her arms over her head. “I’m gonna need a massage before long.”

“I’ll send you to the best resort in the world when we’re done.”

“You come, too?”

Macy opened her mouth to answer, sure, of course, but nothing came out.

“Aw, you’re gonna be here cuddling up to Dr. Stephen, letting him work out all those kinks.”

Heat spread from her cheeks all the way down through her body. “Stephen and I—”

“That has a nice sound to it, doesn’t it? ‘Stephen and I.’ That’s how I knew I was falling in love with Brent, when saying ‘Brent and I’ gave me warm shivers. You know it’s not just you anymore. You’re part of a couple. There’s someone who will notice when you’re sad or happy or late. Someone who will always be there for you, who puts you first. It’s the coolest feeling in the world.”

Macy didn’t know Anne’s life story, but she did know her sister-in-law’s family wasn’t warm and fuzzy like the Irelands. Parents out of the picture, a brother who died in the war, a sister with more psychiatric diagnoses than an entire team could treat successfully. When she and Brent had met at the resort, she’d been hungry for affection, looking for somewhere to belong. Anne’s family’s loss was Macy’s family’s gain.

Focusing on Anne’s comment, Macy primly said, “Stephen and I aren’t in love.” Though the words gave her a pang.

Anne snorted. “News flash, darlin’—you’re well on your way, and I think he’s already there. He adores you, adores your child, likes your family and couldn’t care less about your money. And he’s not Mark. This one’s a keeper.”

And he had Anamaria’s thumbs-up, too.

Smiling as broadly as a child at Christmas, Macy made a sweeping gesture toward the door. “Let’s get back to work so you can get to that spa sooner. Be thinking what region you want to go to. France, the Bahamas, the South Pacific.”

“You know we’re doing this because we love you. We don’t need bribes.”

“That’s why it’s not a bribe. It’s a thank-you. For everything.” Most especially for loving her. Hell, she’d been a dysfunctional mother locked up in a psych hospital when Anne met her. No one would have blamed her if she’d gone screaming the other way.

Or Stephen.

Back in the library, they ran out of small boxes long before they ran out of books. Hands on her hips, Macy surveyed the room. “The rooms are starting to sound empty.” The high ceilings gave a faint echo back at her.

“Besides the furniture, the lamps and art and the rest of these books, what’s left downstairs?” Brent asked.

“The kitchen. That’ll take an afternoon. The china cabinets in the dining room. A few things in the powder room and laundry room.” She swallowed. “Mark’s office.”

“Have you been in there yet?”

“Once. For a minute.”

Sympathy flashed through her brother’s brown eyes. “Why don’t you let me start that room? You girls can go shopping or cook dinner or jump in the pool.”

“Well...” Part of her wanted to say sure, jump right in. But part of her felt as if she should do the work. Next to Mark’s closet, the office was his most personal space in the house. He’d kept photographs there, souvenirs, all his important papers. The room smelled of him; his presence remained strong.

“I’ll just sort through things, pack it in boxes. Then when you and Clary settle, when you’ve got plenty of time and space, you can go through it yourself.”

“Okay.” She hoped she hadn’t given in too easily, but truth was, she would be clearing out Mark’s other most personal space: his closet. The clothes he wore. The jewelry that had passed down from his father and grandfathers. The suits he’d worn to church, the tuxedo he’d married her in. Wasn’t that up close and personal enough? “I’ll start in our bedroom.”

“If you’re both going to keep working,” Anne said, “tell me what you want for dinner. I want to cook in that kitchen at least once.”

Macy left them to figure that out and began carrying wardrobe boxes upstairs. She planned to donate most of her clothing to Right Track. Some of the more formal clothes wouldn’t be of much use, though maybe they could sell them online. She would offer them first dibs on Mark’s clothes, as well.

“Clary,” she called when she returned downstairs for a second load of boxes.

“We’re in here.” She and Scooter were sprawled on one of Miss Willa’s treasures, a petit-point sofa that predated the Great War, looking at a book Clary had brought with her from Charleston.

“AnAnne’s going to the store, so why don’t you and Scooter come upstairs with me while she’s gone?” There was no telling what they could get into given free run of the house with only two adults inside.

“Okay, Mama.” A smile wreathing her face as if it were the best idea in ages, Clary closed the book and tucked it in the crook of her arm, then spoke to Scooter as if he’d always been hers to command. “Come, Scooter. Upstairs.”

In the master bedroom she sat on the bed and chattered, mostly to the dog, while Macy taped together a half dozen tall cartons and inserted the metal rods for hanging clothes. She didn’t really tune in until Clary spoke her name. “What, sweetie?” she asked absently.

“Whose house is this?”

“It’s ours.”

“But we don’t live here.”

“No.”

“And you’re taking everything out. Why?”

“Because we’re going to find a new house.”

“Why don’t we just stay at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s like we been?”

Macy checked the pockets of a suit coat on the rack, then transferred it to the carton. “Because grown-up mamas don’t usually live with their own mamas and daddies.”

“Can we get a house by Scooter’s?”

Five days ago, two days ago, it had been easier to give an unconditional no to that question. Now... Was Stephen right? Was it only the Howard family that she hated about Copper Lake? It wasn’t a bad town. She knew and respected a lot of people here. Of course, there were plenty she didn’t like—Louise and her cronies came to mind—but that would be true anywhere. She liked the idea of Clary going to school with kids whose families she knew. The weather couldn’t be better nine months out of the year, and she was a Southern girl. She knew how to stay cool those other three months.

The downside to Copper Lake: people knew everything about her.

The upside, Stephen would say, was that people knew everything. There’d be no worrying about when or how to tell her secrets. And she knew small towns: another scandal would come along, another sensational story that would push her and Clary’s return to the back burner, and before long people would forget that they’d ever left.

And the big upside to Copper Lake: Stephen.

“I don’t know exactly where we’ll get a house, babe.”

Clary stroked Scooter’s fuzzy head. “Well, if I can’t live with Grandma and Grandpa, I wanna get a house by Scooter.” A tiny pause. “Did I live in this house, too?”

“Yes, when you were little.”

“Where did I sleep?”

Macy placed another garment in the carton, then faced her daughter. “You want to see your old room?”

Clary bounded off the bed. “Yes!” Scooter looked a little miffed at losing his pillow but stretched out and closed his eyes again.

Macy took her hand and led her down the hall to the first door on the right. She turned on the lights and stepped back to let her daughter enter first. It was painted in primary colors, red, yellow, blue, with an alphabet theme. Macy had thought it busy and overstimulating, but Mark had sided with the designer he’d hired.

Clary stood in the center of the room and turned a slow circle, as if she’d found herself in the spotlight of a circus arena. When she faced Macy again, she giggled. “It’s a baby room, Mama! Look, it’s got a baby bed!”

“Well, you were still pretty much a baby then.” The crib, with each side a different color, was designed to convert into a single bed, but they hadn’t made the change yet. At eighteen months, Clary had been a climber.

“Stuffed bears. Diapers! Binkies!” She shook her head with good-natured dismay. “Wow. I’m glad I don’t have to sleep in here now. It’s like all the colors in the world spilled.”

Macy felt some small satisfaction that her daughter shared her opinion. So much for Mark’s high-dollar designer.

Clary poked around in the toy box, looked at the clothes in the closet and shook her head over the board books, then wandered back into the hall. “What’s that room?” she asked. “And that one?”

“Guest rooms. For when we had company.”

“And that one?”

“Bathroom.” Though the two guest rooms had their own baths, the children were supposed to share. Macy pointed to the next door. “Closet.”

And Clary pointed out the nearest one, its door open. “Is that another baby room? Did you have another baby, Mama?”

Her chest tight, Macy scooped up her daughter and held her tightly enough to feel secure, not enough to make her squirm. “No, honey. I—I fixed the room in case, but...it didn’t happen.”

Clary laid her hands on Macy’s cheeks and stared deep into her eyes. “I’d like to have a little sister like Gloriana. Or a brother like Will only not so bossy. Or maybe a puppy. Yeah, I think I want a puppy. Like Scooter, only littler, since Scooter is really a dog, and a puppy is a little baby dog. When we find a new house, can I have a puppy, Mama?”

Dear God, she loved her daughter. All the shock, all the loss, and still her little girl could make her hopeful. She was such a miracle.

After spinning her in a circle, Macy smooched her belly. “You bet you can have a puppy, sweetie. Maybe even two.”