Someone Perfect for Mr. Moore (9 page)

Lucy got into a routine at the house.  She spent her
mornings with Stan, and each afternoon she met Reggie and Nicole in the garden,
and lastly she would visit Jasper.  He had started to whinny at her when she
came into the stable.  He seemed so happy when she was there.  He would sniff
at her pockets until she revealed his treat.  A few packages of the mints had
mysteriously showed up on her dresser.  She wondered who had put them there,
she had no way to go and get any, so she was glad that someone had taken the
time to get them for her.

Her nights were spent with Dean.  Sometimes they had dinner
in his room or out on the balcony, and then they would spend the rest of the
night together.  They had watched a movie one night in his room.  She had no
idea what it was about, he had kept her distracted through the whole thing.  He
had worn a pair of soft leather gloves and teased her through the movie.  She
was a puddle by the time he finally made love to her, her first orgasm had hit
her as he entered her, she had never been so ready for him.  They slept in his
bed, and then he would wake her with more great sex.  He had shown her the
connecting door to her room.  She had pretended to be mad about it at first,
but at this point in time, what did it really matter?

Last night he had spanked her while wearing one soft glove,
she wondered how he knew she would respond to him the way she did.  Even now,
just thinking about him made her belly clench.  This morning he woke her with
kisses on her neck as he fondled her breasts.  Once he realized she was awake
her pinched her nipples and stroked her belly.  He spooned her to him and
slowly fed his shaft into her willing body.  She was slick with her arousal;
she had been ready before she was even fully awake.  He had been so gentle with
her this morning.  She had just barely held back the tears that had come to her
eyes.  How would she ever be able to leave him?

Lucy showered and then dressed for the day.  She preferred
the sun dresses that Stella had gotten her.  The one she chose today was
backless and had little green flowers embroidered into the blue fabric.  She
had gotten used to wearing heels while she was here too.  She pulled her hair
up off her neck with a clip, it was supposed to be warm today and she looked
forward to her afternoon in the garden.  She made her way to Stan’s room and
after she knocked on the door she was greeted with silence.  She quietly opened
the door in case he was still sleeping, but the room was empty and the bed had
been made.  Both Stan and Jeff were gone. 

Lucy felt a little confused and turned to make her way
downstairs, maybe they were having breakfast in the garden today.  She turned
the corner at the end of the hall that led to the staircase and bumped into
Alcide.

“Good morning Lucy.”  He said pleasantly.

Lucy looked up at him a little surprised; he had barely
spoken to her since she had arrived.  “Uh…good morning,” she gave him a
hesitant smile.  “Have you seen Stan and Jeff?”

“They are outside eating breakfast.  Can I talk to you for a
second?” He must have known she would refuse, because he grabbed her arm and pulled
her back into the empty hall.

What the hell?  Lucy thought he was pushy; he hadn’t even
given her a chance to answer him.  She tried to pull her arm from his grasp and
move away, but he was too strong for her.  “Let me go!”

Alcide quickly placed a hand over her throat cutting off her
air as he pinned her to the wall.  “Don’t scream and I will let you breathe,”
he said menacingly.  He released the pressure a tiny bit; just enough so she
could drag in some much needed oxygen, but enough to let her know he meant to
hurt her if she didn’t cooperate.  “Now just a dam minute, you bitch, you’ve
been fucking Dean since you got here and you’re not going to give me any?” He
smiled nastily as he noticed her eyes widen.  “You’re just a fucking tease
aren’t you?” He pulled her close to sneer in her face and then he shoved her
back and slapped her face.  He grabbed her hair and tugged viciously, her hair
clip breaking into pieces as he crushed it with his hand.  “You like it rough
don’t you honey,” he said as he smiled cruelly.

Lucy stood stunned for a second; no one had ever struck her
before. She touched her hand against her face and closed her eyes briefly.  She
could see stars for a second, she couldn’t pass out.  She had to get away from
him.

Lucy opened her mouth to scream but it was cut off as his
mouth came crushing down on hers.  He pinned her arms behind her when she tried
to hit him.  She tried to bite him, but he just squeezed her throat as he moved
his open mouth along her jaw.  He laughed as he squeezed her breasts painfully
and ground his erection into her belly.  He spun her around making her dizzy and
he thrust his hand under her dress grabbing her ass and down between her legs. 
She fought him in earnest but he was just too strong, she relaxed a bit and as
he let his guard down she brought her heel down on his toes and elbowed him in
the ribs.  He released her with a grunt of surprise giving her the seconds that
she needed to escape, and then she bolted down the hall.  She ran like demons
were chasing her, she flew around the corner and held onto the railing as she
took the stairs two at a time.  She heard him growl and curse viciously behind
her.  She made the turn in the stairs that opened to the foyer and she kept on,
too frightened to see if he was following her. 

She turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs and ran
into Dean and Henry.  He grabbed her arm and she fought him, he shook her and
said her name, and then she finally realized that she was safe.

“Jesus Lucy, what’s wrong?”

She burst into tears as the adrenaline rush she had wiped
her reserves.  She sagged against him unable to speak.  He looked up the
stairs, but didn’t see anything.  He looked at Henry with a raised brow, what
the hell was going on?

“Take her into your study Dean.  I need to talk to you and
after Lucy calms down I need to speak to her too.”  Henry said.  He was very concerned
for Lucy, had someone found out what she had asked him to do?

Dean picked Lucy up into his arms; he spoke softly to her as
she sobbed uncontrollably.  “I am supposed to meet Jason too.”  He walked in
through the study doorway and went to sit on the couch.  He pulled some hair
from Lucy’s face as he looked into her eyes, she was still terrified, who had
done this to her?

Jason stood up as they entered the room and watched Henry
close the study doors.  “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.  As soon as I asked her she started crying.”
Dean looked up at him helplessly.

Jason turned Lucy’s head towards him.  “Lucy, honey, who hit
you?” he said gently.  He looked at Dean when he noticed how tense he had
gotten.  Did he have feelings for her?  He watched as he tried to console her,
he’d never seen him be so gentle with a woman before; it was obvious now that
he loved her.  Did he even know that he did?

“Alcide,” she managed to get out between gasps of air.  She
stuck her nose into Dean’s neck as she shuddered again, clinging to him anew.

“Alcide? What the hell is going on?”  Dean said.

“Dean I have something to tell you.”  Henry said.

There was a quick knock on the door and Max walked in, he
seemed harried, obviously he was late for their meeting, and he was shocked to
see the scene that lay before him.

Henry took a deep breath as he looked down at Dean.  “I
think someone tried to kill your father.  I have to contact the authorities,
but I wanted to talk to you first.”

Dean blinked at him in shock; he didn’t know that he was
squeezing Lucy until she squeaked at him.  He released her; he had a sick
feeling in his gut.  Someone had tried to kill his father.

“I ran some other tests after Lucy and I had talked the
other day.  I had no idea just how bad your father was, until I had talked to
her.  When she described his symptoms to me I decided to test for heavy metal
poisoning.  Lucy had said he was near death when she first saw him.  He’s
better now, but gets tired easily, it just didn’t make sense.”  Henry said.  He
looked sad that he was the barer of such bad news.  “Your father had been
slowly being poisoned over the last few months.  From the hair samples we
tested he had gotten a lethal dose a few weeks ago, it coincides with his
hospital admission, if he hadn’t called the ambulance that night he would have
died.”

Jason stood and looked at Henry as he told them his news. 
He ran his hands through his hair, he had a bad feeling he knew who was behind
this, but would Dean ever believe it?  “They may reopen your sister’s
accident.”

“She said it was Alcide’s fault.”  Lucy whispered as she
looked up at him.  She slowly pried Dean’s hands off her hips.  “Dean please,
you’re hurting me.”  He instantly let her go and she slipped off his lap as he
looked at her in shock.

Jason handed her a box of Kleenex, after she wiped her eyes
and nose, he spoke to her. “Who told you that?”

“Nicole did.”  Lucy said as she discreetly blew her nose. 
She took a deep breath; she looked at her shaking hands. 

“That’s impossible,” Dean said as he looked at her
incredulously.

Lucy looked up at him with a frown, what was going on now? 
“Reggie introduced me to her in the garden the other day, just before we went
to the stable.”

“Lucy you must be mistaken.”  Jason said as he took her hands,
he looked over at Dean, he looked angry.

“You’re a liar just like the rest of them aren’t you? 
You’re just after my money.”  Dean said to her.

Lucy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish for a second as
she fought fresh tears.  She stood up to get away from him.  He couldn’t have
hurt her more right now if he’d have struck her.  “I never wanted your money.” 
She said in a small voice.

She walked to the windows and then turned to look at Jason
and Henry when they followed her, she tried her best not to look at Dean.  He
had just cut her heart out.  Now she felt numb, but she had to tell them what
she knew.  She’d tell them everything and then she was leaving.  “Nicole told
me that Alcide had come on to her a few times.  She of course, denied his
advances.  She had said she was out riding one day and Alcide jumped out from
behind a bush waving a blanket or something.  Jasper got spooked and he reared
up and bolted.  She fell off and she said she couldn’t move, she could feel
blood on the back of her head and she was pretty sure her arm was broken. 
Alcide left her like that, she said her only comfort was that Jasper came back
and stood by her till she blacked out.  That was all she remembered.”

“Lucy, who told you that,” Jason asked her quietly.  It was
eerie how she described it; no one else knew the extent of her injuries.

Lucy let out a disgruntled breath. “I told you, Nicole did. 
I asked her why Dean and Stan didn’t talk and she told me about her accident. 
I believe her for one, especially after he just attacked me in the hall.”  She
looked at Jason with a new found determination.  “I want to press charges
against him.”

Jason nodded as he moved closer to her.  “I understand Lucy,
but there is something you need to know first.”  He waited for her nod.  “You
couldn’t have talked to Nicole,” he paused for a second.  “She died in that
accident.”

Lucy looked at him in shock, she could feel the blood
draining from her face as the room began to spin and everything went black. 
Jason caught her just before she hit the floor.

Dean let out a disgusted snort, “boy, she’s a good actress
isn’t she?”

“She’s not faking this Dean, she truly believes it.”  Henry
patted her hand.  “Jason take her to her room, I’ll examine her there.”

Dean watching impassively as they left the room, he couldn’t
believe he had feelings for her.  He was going to ask her to stay with him, but
she had lied from the beginning.  Somehow she got to his dad and then she sunk
her teeth into him too.

Max stood silently for a minute, should he tell him about
the mints.  Other than him only Dean knew that Nicole gave them to Jasper. 
There was no way Lucy could have known they were his favorite treat.  “Dean”,
he said hesitantly.

“Just get out Max; I can’t talk to anyone right now.”  Dean
said coldly as he closed himself off again.

Lucy came to and found Henry taking her blood pressure.

“You passed out Lucy.” Henry told her.

“So I’m crazy then,” Lucy said as she looked at Jason and
Henry’s concerned faces.  “The only one that’s seen her besides me is Reggie. 
Dean will never believe me.”  Lucy rubbed her face as she sat up.  “Jason I
don’t care how you do it, but you have to get me out of here today.  I can’t stay
here anymore.”  She stood up and pulled her suitcases from the closet and
started pulling her things from the dresser, completely ignoring the clothes
that Stella had gotten for her, well some of it.

“Lucy wait, you don’t have to leave.”  Jason said.

“Yes I do, you heard what he said.  Please, I just want to
go home.”  Even to her own ears she sounded defeated.

Jason stood helplessly as Lucy pleaded with him.  “Does he
know that you love him?”  He watched as she shook her head, her eyes glittering
with unshed tears.  “Okay, I’ll take you as soon as you are ready.”  He would
stall her somehow from leaving the city; someone had to knock some sense into
Dean before it was too late.  He would never find anyone like her again.

“Henry, can you tell Stan goodbye for me please? I can’t go
and see him right now.”

“Of course dear,” Henry patted her hand and kissed her cheek
before he left the room.  This family had been through a lot, especially Stan;
he had a feeling that Lucy’s presence had changed things for them.  Now that
she was leaving, he feared that things would go back to the way they were before. 

“Lucy I booked a hotel room for you in the city for
tonight.  I will arrange for you to fly home tomorrow.”  He looked at her
hesitantly.  “Do you need any money Lucy?”

“No I have some.  Thank you for your help Jason.”  Lucy sat
silently in the front seat of his car as he drove through the gates.  She had
no intention of being there when he came in the morning.

When he pulled up in front of a lavish hotel in the city
Lucy let the bellboy take her suitcases for her.  She slung her bag over her
shoulder and thrust her hand out to Jason.  “Jason I want to thank you for all
your help.  You don’t need to come in with me, I’m sure you are anxious to get
home to Rose and the baby.”  She gave him a small smile when he hesitated. 
“Really, it’s okay, I’ll be alright.”

“You’re sure Lucy?  You could stay at my house with me and
Rose for a few days if you’d like.”

“Oh, no thank you.  I’ll be fine.”   She waved to him as she
walked inside.  She waited for him to leave and then she approached the desk. 
“Excuse me.”  She said to the young lady behind the counter.  “My plans have
changed; I’ll no longer be staying. Can you call a cab for me please?”  Lucy
nervously wiped her sweaty palms on her worn jeans.  Man, she certainly didn’t
belong here.

“Yes of course Mam.”  She gave Lucy a polite smile and shook
her head at the bell boys.

Once her cab arrived the attendant placed her bags in the
trunk.  She gave the bell boy a tip and thanked him for his help.  As she got
inside the cab she asked the driver to take her to the bus station. 

When she arrived at the terminal she approached the
counter.  “Do you have any buses scheduled to leave for Ann Arbor?”

“We have one leaving in a few hours with a few seats still
available, one way or round trip?”

“One ticket please, one way.”  Lucy sat down with her ticket
in her hand; she set her bags down at her feet and texted Will.  She would have
him pick her up at the bus terminal.  She could visit with him for a few days
and then rent a car to get home.  She calculated a quick inventory of her
savings; she could afford a hotel for a few nights and a rental car.  She would
have to get back to work right away though; there was no way she could afford
to be off for long.  Whatever bills Jason had paid for her at home she would
reimburse him for.  She got a text back from Will almost immediately; he was
excited that she was coming to see him.  She just needed to let him know when
she arrived and he would pick her up. 

She felt her mind go numb.  What had happened?  Her day had
started out so well.  Dean had been almost loving today, God, she loved him so
much.  But after what he had said to her today, there was no way she could stay
with him anymore.  Being so close to him would tear her apart.  What must he
think of her?  He had thrown her away like a piece of trash.  She had never had
anyone treat her so cruelly, first Alcide physically hurting her, and then
Dean, tearing her heart out and punishing her emotionally.  She sighed heavily;
she couldn’t wait to get out of Kentucky.

Her phone rang and she saw Jason’s number.  He must have
realized that she was gone.  She declined the call and turned the ringer off. 
Within seconds it buzzed with a text.  ‘Lucy where are you? I’m worried.’

Lucy sighed as she texted him back. ‘I’m going home Jason,
please just leave me be.’

Jason was furious as he drove back to Dean’s estate.  He had
a bad feeling and went back to the hotel, but the desk clerk said she never
checked in, she had in fact called a cab.  Lucy was gone, she was alone in a
city she’d never been in, and to top it all off, Alcide hadn’t been found yet. 
He had thought she’d be safe at the hotel.  God, if anything happened to her,
he’d never forgive himself.  The bell boy said she went to the train station or
something he wasn’t sure.  He had gone looking for her, but he couldn’t find
her.  She wouldn’t answer his calls and had only answered his text with pleas
to leave her alone.

He strode into the house and held his hand up to stop John
from keeping him from Dean’s study, he was going to listen to him by God, if he
didn’t he’d never work for him again.  He found Dean deep in thought behind his
desk.  His monitors were all on, but his eyes were unseeing.  He raised a brow
at him when he slammed the door behind him.

“By all means Jason, please come in.”  Dean said
sarcastically.

Jason stopped in front of his desk and rested his hands on
the edge of his desk.  “Dean, first off you are my friend.  I know you can be
an asshole, but I never thought you were an idiot.”  Jason shouted at him, Dean
only acknowledged him with a scowl.

“Did you ever read the contract you and Lucy signed?  Of
course not, you were only interested in what you could get out of it.”  Jason
threw a copy across the desk at him.  “She had me make an addendum on the plane
on the way here.  She didn’t want the extra money; the only thing she wanted
was her normal wage and the help with her son’s tuition.  I talked her out of
it, I figured the least you could do was pay her something for being away from
her family.  I also paid her bills for her for a month, but that was all she
would let me do.  She also refused the bonus, when her time was up here.  She
said the financial part of the contract really bothered her.  She’s no gold
digger Dean, she had never heard of you before we approached her, and she never
even knew you existed.”

Dean looked up at Jason as he read the addendum and the
notes that Jason had made on the bottom.  He’d been wrong; she had never been
interested in his money.  He threw it back down on the desk.  “It doesn’t
matter, she’s still crazy.”

“Really, how could she have known?  Everyone here was told
not to talk to her about family business.  The few people she’s had contact
with wouldn’t have said anything.  How could she know? The details she gave,
right down to how she was injured.”  Jason paused as he glared at Dean.  “You
just let the best thing you’ll ever have leave; in fact you pushed her out.”

“I did no such thing; she’s still here in the house.  I’ll
have Stella bring her to me, or I’ll go see her later.”

“You think so huh, you’re blind as well as an idiot.  I took
her to a hotel two hours ago, but she’s already gone you ass, she never checked
in.  She’s somewhere in the city all alone.”  Jason stormed out the door and
almost knocked Max over as he passed him.

“Dean.”  Max said as he came into the room.  He held up his
hand when Dean opened his mouth to kick him out. “No, I have to tell you
something, it’s important.  It’s about Jasper.”

“Evidently no one who works for me is listening today.” 
Dean mumbled under his breath.  He rubbed his hands over his face.  “What about
him, Max?”

Max tossed a partial life saver wrapper onto his desk. 
“Lucy has been giving these to Jasper.  I’ve watched her come every day and
give him these.  He is a completely different horse, even Jimmy and another
groomsman took him out for a ride.”  Max put his hands on his hips as he looked
down at Dean holding the scrap of paper in his hands.  “How the hell could she
have found out about the life savers?  I sure as hell didn’t tell her and I
know that you wouldn’t.  The only other person that knew was Nicole.”

“I don’t know.”  Dean said quietly.  Dean stood up and
patted Max on the shoulder as he passed him.  “Thanks Max, I need to go talk to
my father.”

Dean climbed the staircase with a heavy heart, what had he
done?  He had pushed her away, treated her cruelly.  He was such an asshole. 
He walked down to his father’s room and found him sitting in a chair looking
out at the garden.  He noticed the cane that leaned against the wall beside
him.  He looked around the room, it looked like a bedroom again, not the
hospital room it had been.  He noticed he had color in his face, he looked healthy;
thanks to Lucy he was finally able to sit down and talk to his father.

“I heard about what happened Dean, how could you do it?  Why
did you send her away?”  Stan asked.

“I was wrong Dad, I’ve been wrong for a long time.  Maybe if
I’d have listened to you and Nicole she’d still be alive.” Guilt tore at him as
all the feelings he had suppressed for years came back with a vengeance.

“Dean you can’t blame yourself for what Alcide did.  You
thought he was your friend, I never liked him, but I never had him pegged as a
murderer.”

“Have you seen Nicole Dad?”  Dean held his breath as he
waited for his answer.

“No son, I haven’t. “  Stan said sadly.  “Sometimes I feel
her though, mostly when Reggie is around.  Have you talked to Reggie at all? 
Son I don’t think Lucy lied to you.  She’s a good woman; she cares about
everyone around her.”

Stan looked at him thoughtfully for a minute. “When I was
sick at the hospital, she was taking care of me one night.  She pulled my book
of poems from under my blanket and read to me.  The thing is I never packed
that book.  I looked for it the day I left, but it was gone.  It was on the
shelf here that first night we came back home.  I thought maybe I had imagined
it, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Have they found Alcide yet?”  Stan asked.

“No, his car is still here, but one of the horses is
missing.  They are searching the grounds right now and they’ve already checked
the house.  They figured he won’t get far.”  Dean moved closer to his dad and
took his hand.  “I still can’t believe that I almost lost you too.  I tried to
act like I didn’t care, just like when Nicole died.  Do you think that he
watched her die?”

“I do now; he is a bad man Dean.  I know you think he was
your friend, but I think he only wanted your connections with money and women. 
You know how he is with women; maybe something happened with him and Nicole
that we don’t know about.  Lucy was lucky she got away from him today.   I feel
bad that I got her to come home with me, I almost got her killed.”

“I’m glad that she came here dad.  I have to figure out how
to get her back.”

“Papa, Papa!”  Reggie came running into the room crying. 
“Stella said Lucy is gone.  Why?  She was my friend.”  She pouted at Dean.

Dean watched as she climbed onto his dad’s lap and he held
her close.  Man he had really screwed up, it seemed like everyone hated him. 

“Reggie honey, do you talk to your mama?” Dean asked her.

Reggie looked at him and then back at Stan and nodded.  “She
told me not to tell you, I looked for her today, but she wasn’t in the garden. 
Do you think she left too?”  She started to cry again as Stan held her tight.

“Where do you see her?”  Stan asked.

“The garden, and sometimes with Jasper, but he acts funny
when she talks to him.”

Dean stood and looked at his dad.  If she was hanging around
Jasper it was no wonder they thought he was crazy, obviously he didn’t know what
she was.

“What are you going to do?” Stan asked.

“I have to get her back.” Dean ran his hands through his
hair unconsciously showing his father how frustrated he was.

“Did you tell her you love her yet son?” Stan smiled when
Dean looked at him quickly.

“No.”

“You need to tell her son, she needs to know.”

“You could give her a puppy.”  Reggie said helpfully.  She
gave Dean a grin as she looked up at him. “She likes the one with the floppy
ear, Max knows which one.  She’d never say no if you gave him to her.”

Stan laughed as he hugged Reggie to him.  “It couldn’t hurt
son, it just might give you the edge you need.”

Dean leaned down and kissed his dad’s forehead, he noticed
the tears in his eyes when he stood back up.  “I love you Dad.”

Stan smiled up at him.  “I love you too Son.”

Dean walked out and down to his room, he had to call Jason,
he had something he needed him to do before he left.

Lucy opened her front door to drag her bags inside.  She had
managed to hold it together and spent two days with Will.  She was exhausted,
she hadn’t slept much, and all she saw was Dean’s face when she closed her
eyes.  All she wanted was a hot bath and a glass of wine.  After she started
the tub she opened a bottle of her favorite white wine and emptied her
suitcases.  She had a small smile on her face when she pulled out the
underwear.  Stella had tossed out all of her things, so she had no qualms about
having taken them.  She hadn’t taken any of the clothes though; she had never
considered them hers.