Always & Forever (36 page)

“That’s fine.” She stood in the middle of the room, seeming confused and scared.

“Honey, why don’t you pack your clothes?” he asked gently.

She glanced over at him. Her lashes hid the fear Zach knew lurked in her eyes.

“Will you come with me?”

She was afraid in her own home. It was a good thing she wasn’t going to live here any longer.

“Let’s hurry so we can get out of here,” he said.

He led the way. Once in her bedroom, he grabbed her empty laundry hamper and stuffed the clothes out of her dresser into it.

Lilly sat on the bed watching him, seeming unable to summon the energy to help. “Are you sure you still want me to live with you?”

Zach dropped the last pair of panties into the hamper and closed the lid. Turning to her, he tried to be patient. It was only natural she would be uncertain of things. Every time the damn stalker said anything, she was likely to get into a mood like this. She would probably question Zach’s intentions each time.

He crossed the room and took her face in his hands, moving slowly in order to telegraph every movement in case she wanted to dodge out of the way. He looked deep into her eyes and slowly bent to kiss her. “I told you last night, Lilly, I love you. No matter how you feel about me, I’m not leaving you here alone.”

“You meant that?” Her body softened against his, and she pressed her cheek against his chest. “I thought maybe you were dreaming and didn’t know what you said.”

He buried his nose into the top of her hair, inhaling her sweet aroma. “I meant it. Sorry if I’m rushing things, but I’m in love with you. I can’t help it.”

She sniffled against his chest. “I love you too, so much.”

The world stopped for a moment. Those sweet words he had been longing to hear, finally coming from this incredible woman. Lilly had been through so much, had endured more than he could imagine. Yet, she loved him.

She tilted her head up and leaned toward him, pulling on his neck to bring him in range for another kiss. Zach own tears mingled with hers across their cheeks, but he couldn’t stop himself from crying.

“Thank you for that,” he said. “We’ll get through this together.”

“Please, say it again,” she whispered. “I’ve waited such a long time.”

She was so like him. He kissed her once more. “I love you, Lilly Price. So much so, that I think I’m going to go crazy sometimes. I can’t stand the thought of being without you for more than a few minutes. I
love
you.”

“I love you, too.” She touched his face, clearing the tears from his cheeks, and then smiled. “Let’s get my things and go home.”

Home—home with the woman he loved. It had a nice ring to it.

The ringing of her phone pulled Lilly from sleep. Zach lurched out of bed and fumbled to snatch it off the dresser.

“Lilly Price’s phone.”

Lilly looked across the darkened room. The glow of her phone faintly illuminated the air around Zach.

“You realize it’s four-thirty in the morning?” Zach asked. “What could be so important that you have to talk to her right now?”

A tingle of alarm thrilled through her. News at four-thirty was never good.

“Fine. Hang on.” Zach came back to bed and set the phone in Lilly’s hand. “It’s Detective Spalding from New York, honey.”

A shiver coursed through her. “Hello, Detective. Can I help you?”

“Where are you right now, Miss Price?” Spalding’s stark voice crashed over the line, setting off her already-fragile nerves.

The phone shook in her hand, and Lilly cleared her throat. “I’m at a friend’s house in Serenity. What’s happened?”

“When did you last talk to your father?”

“My father?” Lilly paused as dread descended into the very marrow of her bones. “What’s wrong with my father?”

“Answer the question please.”

“I talked to him last week. I called to warn him about...” she trailed off, not wanting to go into the details.

“About what?” Spalding asked.

Lilly sighed, deciding she had to tell him. “I’ve had a little trouble out here with a stalker. I thought if that person learned I gave Daddy my money, he might be in danger. Daddy blew me off and told me to stay out his life.” She paused, not really wanting to know the answer to her next question, but having to ask. “Is he okay?”

“No, he’s not.” Spalding’s voice held no emotion. “He was found dead in his house this morning.”

“Dead? How did he...I mean.” Lilly took a deep breath. “What happened?”

“It appears he was stabbed to death yesterday afternoon. The staff had the day off and found him this morning.”

Lilly squeezed her eyes shut to hold back her tears, and Zach placed an arm around her. “Do you have any leads?”

“Not yet,” Spalding responded. “When were you last in New York?”

“I guess around seven months ago,” she answered automatically.

“And what are you doing for money these days?” he asked.

“I have a job.” Why was Spalding asking these questions? She couldn’t think, didn’t know how to feel.

“But, you gave your fortune to Mr. Price?” Spalding asked. “Have things been difficult since then?”

Lilly sucked in a sharp breath. The tone in Spalding’s voice was reminiscent of how he sounded when questioning her about Charles’ murder. “What are you really asking here?”

“The valet overheard the conversation last week. He said it sounded like you really needed money. Did you do something to get it back?”

Tears burned behind Lilly’s eyes, but she refused to cry while talking to this bastard. “I didn’t want the money.”

“The valet claims you two fought about it.”

Lilly’s temper flared, burning away the sadness. “That’s what you’re basing your accusations on? The word of a valet who heard half a conversation? Daddy assumed I called about money, because that’s all that matters to
him
. That’s not why I called. You should look for my stalker—he’s the one making threats. Call Officer McMann to get that information for your so-called investigation.”

Lilly chucked her phone across the room before dissolving into tears. Zach rocked her back and forth. He didn’t ask questions, just allowed her to rage against him.

Eventually, her anger subsided. A terrible emptiness took its place. “My father’s dead. I have no family now, not even the horrible kind he was.”

“What happened?”

She shrugged helplessly. “He was murdered in the middle of the night.”

“We’ll call McMann about the detective accusing you. Don’t worry, that man’s just fishing for suspects.” He cuddled her more firmly against him. “We need to make plans for everything.”

“My father’s estate lawyer will handle it. I don’t want to go to New York.”

“Not even for his funeral?” Zach didn’t disguise the shock in his voice.

Lilly hung her head, ashamed. How could she not want to attend the funeral? “You’ll be with me?”

“Every second.”

Waves of emotion flooded through her. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she clung to the shelter and warmth Zach offered. His muscular arms held her, providing silent comfort. They sat there until the sun came up.

Perhaps she and Stewart hadn’t been close, but Lilly always hoped that would change. That would never happen now. The stalker made good on his threat, and her father was dead.

***

Zach eased out of bed around seven-thirty. Lilly finally fell into a fitful sleep a half-hour earlier. He picked her phone up from the floor and put it on the dresser. After using the bathroom, he came out to find Lilly sitting up, staring at the wall.

“Lil? Is there anything I can do for you?”

She shook her head without looking at him.

“I’m going to make coffee. Want some?”

She shook her head again, but climbed out of bed and walked to the breakfast nook. Zach watched as she stared out the window. She looked broken. He had become used to her rages, used to her crying. Now, she seemed to have no feelings at all. He hoped crying before mended some of her hurt, but he knew she had a complicated relationship with her father. She would be long in healing from his murder.

With the coffee brewed, Zach poured two mugs, put sugar in hers, and placed it in front of her. She sipped it automatically, even though she hadn’t wanted any. He held her free hand as he drank his own. He didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know what magic words would erase her pain.

“Guess I’m rich again.” She rubbed her hand across her face. “If Spalding doesn’t send me back to jail on charges of killing my own father, scary men stay away from me, and my stalker doesn’t kill anyone else, my life will be just frickin’
perfect
.”

Her voice held the same edge of hysteria it had the first night the stalker called. Zach wondered about her wanting scary men to stay away from her. Did she mean Curtis Crandall? He still had a feeling that jerk harmed Lilly, but he hadn’t dared bring up the subject again.

Zach soothed Lilly’s hair against her head, wishing he knew how to help her. She needed sleep.

He walked to the bathroom, grabbed some nighttime tablets out of the cupboard, and brought them back to her. Lilly stared out the window, seemingly unaware he even left.

He handed her the pills. “Take these, sweetie, so you can get more sleep.”

She swallowed them without question and limped to the bedroom, crawling on top of the covers. Before she turned to face the wall, Zach saw fresh tears track their way down her cheeks.

He felt so damn helpless. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She rolled toward him and held her arms out. “Hold me until I fall asleep?”

Zach crawled in next to her. “I’ll hold you until we both wake up.”

“I don’t even know why I’m so upset, not really,” she said. “It wasn’t like Daddy and I ever had a good relationship. I was never his little angel or anything like that.”

“But you wanted to be.” Zach grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and handed it to her.

“Yeah, I did.” She broke off in another sob. “I never thought Stewart would die.”

He wiped some of her tears away and kissed her cheek.

“I’m sorry our life has been so out of control, Zach.” She snuggled close to his chest. “I love you so much. Thank you for standing by my side. Surely, things won’t always be like this and we can find some peace.”

“Together, we can face anything.”

She looked at him and smiled faintly. “You’re right. Together we can handle this.” She pressed a kiss against his lips. “I like that.”

Zach stroked her back. Thankfully, the horrible, empty quality had disappeared from her voice. She sighed and her body relaxed as she dropped off to sleep.

They had a lot to organize, but everything could wait.

***

Lilly woke again when Zach crawled out of bed. He pulled on his robe and headed out of the room. She wanted to ask him where he was going, but then heard pounding on the front door.

The clock read a little past eleven. Those pills Zach gave her must’ve knocked her out. She crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom, splashing water on her face. Calmness settled over her, and she felt better than she had since receiving the text message.

Her father was dead; nothing would change that. She’d never experience the relationship with him she’d dreamed of having. She’d never be Daddy’s little girl.

Zach’s head popped around the corner of the doorframe. “It’s my family, baby. They heard what happened from people in town and brought lunch over.”

Gossip sure spread fast. How did other people even know? Spalding must have called Officer McMann, and he spread the tale.

Lilly tried not to let Zach see how exhausting she found the prospect of dealing with his family. “I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

He stripped off his robe and pulled on some fresh clothes. “Take your time, honey. You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to. I’ll send them away.”

Obviously, she wasn’t good at hiding her feelings today. “No, no. Don’t do that. It’s fine. It was nice of them to come. I’ll be right there.”

He shut the door behind him when he left. She found some old denim jeans and pulled on a gray sweater, feeling chilled despite the sun shining through the sliding glass door and windows. She needed more coffee.

In an effort to conceal the dark circles underlying her sunken eyes, she smoothed on some base. It didn’t appear to make a difference. Maybe with the still-yellow bruise across her cheek, no one would notice the bags.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. All heads turned to face her. Sarah, Steven, and Savannah sat at the small table in the breakfast nook. Tommy and Bridget shared the plush chair adjacent to the sectional, and Patricia and James sat with Zach on the couch.

Margaret was ensconced in the remaining chair, and she shook her head when Lilly looked at her. “I’m so sorry, child.”

Lilly shuffled toward Zach, self-conscious of the unwanted attention of his family.