Bounty (Walk the Right Road) (10 page)

He even opened her door and set the grocery bag behind her seat. As he helped her in, she couldn’t shake her feeling of happiness at being cared for by a man who saw her as a woman. She realized then, as she glimpsed her boyishly short hair, that she’d been doing everything she could for so long to resemble a boy, to hide everything about herself with a few extra pounds and plain clothes, diverting people’s attention from anything feminine. Even though she was no longer that scared, controlled kid, some things would always stick with her, and resembling a woman, soft and feminine, made her feel weak.

Zac started his truck and backed out. “You okay? You kind of went somewhere for a minute, there. Did I do something that took you back to that place in your head?” He weaved out into traffic, and Diane leaned back into the cloth seat, wondering how much to say to him.

“I’ve never tried to look like a girl. I’ve done everything I could to hide, you know? The first thing I did when my dad, Jack, took me home with him, was cut off all my hair. I never wore a dress again. I don’t know how to explain it, Zac.”

He glanced over at her with just a hint of a smile on his lips. Obviously, he didn’t think she was being silly, and that was nice, having that feeling from him. “I get it more than you think, but you’re still a woman, Diane. And you’re your own woman. You need to be comfortable in your own skin as the strong and capable, smart and desirable woman that you are.”

Diane’s heart zinged with what felt like electricity shooting through her, rooting her to the spot. No one had ever, not once, said she was desirable.

“Wow, look at you!” Diane hugged Marcie and then patted her rounded belly. She looked so tired, and Diane could see the strain between her and Sam. “How far along are you?”

“Oh, about five months,” Marcie said and placed both hands over her rounded belly. She was lovely in her long pink maxi skirt, cream tank top, and sweater. Her long brown hair almost reached her waist and was mixed with the highlights of someone who’d spent a lot of time in the sun.

“Didn’t I just see you last month?” Diane couldn’t figure out why Marcie hadn’t said she was pregnant. They’d talked often by phone, so why hadn’t she told Diane?

“No
, it was a couple months ago,” Marcie replied, sounding kind of distant.

Diane gave Sam a look, and he shrugged. What was his problem?
Just found out she’s pregnant, my ass.
He gave Kyla all his attention. She had a curly brown mop and was all smiles, patting Sam’s cheeks.

“Diane, I’m going to take in the groceries, start lunch,” Zac said, carrying both bags and walking away.

“Zac, sorry. This is Marcie, Sam’s…ah, significant other.” Damn, she’d almost said “wife.” Now that Sam had told her, she found it awkward, and even Marcie flinched beside her.

Zac reached over and shook Marcie’s hand. “Marcie, very nice to meet you.”

Marcie was hesitant to take his hand, but her expression changed to one of interest as she glanced at Diane with a question in her bright blue eyes, one she thankfully didn’t ask out loud.

“Zac’s going to make us all lunch. You’re hungry, right, Marcie?” Diane draped her arm around her shoulder and walked her into the house behind Zac, who had already opened her door.

Marcie nodded, her eyes widening as she caught on to the implication of Zac’s familiarity with Diane’s place. “Well, this is a treat,” she said. “Zac, I’m starving and really looking forward to someone cooking for me.”

“Marcie, Kyla needs changing,” Sam said right behind them.

Marcie started to take Kyla from Sam. Diane could see the instant she’d gone from semi-relaxed to completely tense. There was no happy honeymoon between them, though Diane remembered a time when they couldn’t have kept their hands off one another.

“Sam, maybe Marcie is tired. Besides, I’d like to catch up with her,” Diane said. “Why don’t you change Kyla, since you’re taking off in a few hours with us. Give Marcie a break.”

Sam’s expression changed to something resembling irritation. With the spark he flashed at Diane, well, he was apparently mad at her now, too. He said nothing as he strode down Diane’s hall with the diaper bag over his shoulder.

Marcie held her jaw at an angle, and for a minute Diane thought she was going to cry. She was blinking rather hard but then forced a pathetic half smile to her lips.

“Whoa, you two really are having problems. What gives, Marcie?” Diane asked where they lingered outside the front door.

Marcie turned away and sat on the top step, wrapping her arms around her knees.

Diane peeked in the house. She could hear Zac in the kitchen, emptying groceries, opening drawers. “Marcie, can I get you some water, tea, anything?”

Marcie glanced up. “A glass of water would be nice, if you don’t mind.”

Diane headed into the kitchen. Zac looked up, and his expression said it all as he glanced up the hallway and toward the front door. “So are you trying to fix a problem, here?”

Diane lifted a glass from the cupboard. “There’s some trouble. Not sure what’s going on. I’m going to talk with Marcie out front. Is that all right, or do you need my help?”

He shook his head. “No, go. I’ll set up lunch.”

She touched his arm. His expression was warm and open as she stepped closer to him. His energy made her feel so young and alive, excited for something.

“Go talk to your friend,” he said. “You all right?”

“Yeah.” Diane filled a glass with water from the fridge dispenser. She paused right beside Zac again as he rinsed the tomatoes. “Zac, in case I didn’t say it, thank you.”

He turned off the tap and set the tomatoes down. The expression on his face kicked up the beat of Diane’s heart. “You’re welcome.”

Diane heard Sam coming down the hall, and he stepped into the kitchen with Kyla, who was rubbing her eyes. “Diane, do you have that playpen still?” Sam lingered in the doorway.

“I shoved it back in the closet of the guestroom,” she said. “You’ll have to set it up.”

Sam seemed really irritated, which was so unlike him. Diane glanced back at Zac because what she really wanted to do was take each of them aside, Sam and then Marcie, and have a good, long talk.

“I’ll give Sam a hand,” Zac said.

“Great,” Diane said and scooted past Sam. “Zac will help you. I’m taking this water out to Marcie.”

She could hear Zac ask Sam, “So, how old is your daughter?”

She didn’t hear what Sam said as she shut the front door behind her. “Here, Marcie.” She handed her the tall glass and sat beside her on the wooden step.

Marcie sipped and then set both hands around the tall glass. “Thank you, Diane.”

“You’re welcome. Enough with the pleasantry. What’s going on between you and Sam?”

Marcie lowered her head, her hair swept down like a curtain, hiding her face. She pushed it back with one hand as she lifted her head and gave one of those tough smiles that was absolutely plastic. “It’s that obvious?”

Diane watched the pain on her friend’s face. “Yeah, it’s uncomfortable to watch. What happened?”

“Well, you know, we kind of drifted. I don’t think he trusts me,” she said, and Diane could tell she was holding something back because she hesitated and took a breath, which sounded more like she was fighting to hold it together.

“Sam told me he asked you to marry him and you said no.”

Marcie seemed to freeze, and then, ever so slowly, she lifted the glass to her lips and took a long swallow of water as if considering what she was going to say. “He did? Well, how about that. I guess he would see it that way.” Marcie let out a sad, pitiful laugh. When she glanced at Diane, tears glossed over her heavenly blue eyes. Marcie appeared so lost and hurt, at the end of her rope.

“What the…? Marcie, what are you doing? Why would you say something like that? You make it sound as if…” She stopped because she couldn’t figure out where her friend’s head was.

“He only asked me after I told him I was pregnant again. He’d been so distant for a while, keeping me at arm’s length. He didn’t mean it,” she said.

“Marcie, I don’t mean to pry….”

Marcie shot her a look.

“Okay, so I do,” Diane admitted. “You two need to talk. Maybe it’s not such a good thing that Sam is coming with us to help with the investigation. Maybe you two need one-on-one time. I can take Kyla for a few days when I get back, after I close this case.”

“No.” Marcie patted her leg. “Sam needs to go with you. Although…” She glanced over her shoulder at the closed door. “Zac seems…how long were you going to keep him a secret? Diane, I didn’t know you were involved with anyone.”

“Well, we’re not really involved,” Diane said, and Marcie frowned.

“Men don’t normally take over your kitchen and cook for you and your friends. Might I point out he seems quite comfortable in your kitchen, too? Don’t think I didn’t notice what a fine piece of man you’ve snagged in there.”

Diane couldn’t keep her face from warming. “I just met him. I don’t really know him.”

Marcie didn’t turn away to allow Diane time to compose herself. “Wow, Diane Larsen, you are absolutely smitten.”

Diane pressed her hands to her cheeks. “I like him. He seems to understand me.”

Marcie was now sporting a goofy grin. “Good. I’m happy for you. I always hoped you’d find someone. Don’t shut the door on him. Let yourself have some fun.”

Diane cleared her throat because she was picturing fun with Zac in ways she wasn’t about to share with anyone. “Okay, enough about me. Marcie, I want to ask you something.”

“Okay. Depends, really. Are you prying again?” This time, she didn’t sound so defensive.

“Totally. Sam mentioned something to me: He thinks you’re keeping something from him, said it was a feeling he’s had for a while.” She watched as Marcie turned her head away, but not before her expression betrayed her. “Marcie, are you hiding something?”

She faced Diane. “Sometimes, Diane, there’re things you shouldn’t share.” She paused. “I did something.”

Oh, she had done something, all right. Her friend was looking as guilty as the last kid Diane had picked up with a joint in his pocket, and she remembered his face as he tried to tell her it wasn’t his. She wanted to grab Marcie and shake her, but then she glanced at the door behind her and wondered if Marcie’s secret was about Dan and what Sam suspected, whether she still had feelings for him. Sometimes it was next to impossible for women to get that kind of poison out of themselves. Diane had seen it too many times. She had lived it.

“Marcie, maybe you should tell someone. I don’t know what it is, but secrets can rip you apart and can tear up this good thing that you and Sam have. You two are so good together; you have a baby. Do you still have feelings for Dan?”

From the look of horror on Marcie’s face, Diane knew that whatever Sam was picking up on, that wasn’t it, not by a long shot. “Are you kidding me? Dan McKenzie, after what he did to us, to me? I thank God every day that he’s out of me and gone from my life. To hear that he was killed, when Richard was accused of his murder and set up, I felt guilty because I had wished him dead, and for a moment I was happy. It rocked my world, but not in the way you think. Before we heard he had been murdered, I kept asking, why is this guy still around, getting away with screwing people the way he does over and over? What happened to karma? From where I was sitting, it didn’t look as if he was reaping anything bad. I thought, why does he still have the ability to go in again and again and fuck with people’s lives? Why wouldn’t he just go away?

“Then, when they couldn’t find his body, just all that blood and an altered surveillance video, I had this off feeling that something wasn’t right. I knew Richard would never do anything to Dan, as he was so wrapped up in Maggie. Even though you guys found him the best lawyer around, Richard was going to go down for a murder he didn’t commit, and I kept asking myself, is Dan even dead? I knew I had to do something because it seemed as if it had become a witch hunt. Remember, even Child Services stepped in with that Mickey Mouse show, trying to prove that Maggie was an unfit mother? I had to do something.” She stopped and shook her head. When she looked Diane in the eye, Diane felt as if someone had slammed a fist in her gut.

“You know, Marcie, I always thought it was awfully convenient how Sam and I found Jane so easily and she confessed just like that, after she’d gone to ground and all but disappeared,” Diane said hesitantly. “Then the case against Maggie in family court was dismissed. Even the court-appointed guardian never finished her investigation—that report on Maggie and her relationship with Ryley. The way it was going with everything, Ryley was going to be removed from Maggie’s care, and Richard was going to prison. Every brick wall Sam and I came up against suddenly dissolved as if someone had stepped in and made everything go away.” She watched her friend, who couldn’t lie if her life depended on it. Marcie flinched as if she had been caught doing something she shouldn’t. “What did you do?” Diane asked, and she waited while Marcie appeared to be thinking of what to say.

“I called Lance Silver and went to see him,” she finally said. “I asked him to make it go away for Richard and Maggie, to help my friends and find the 911 caller, find out what really happened to Dan.”