Savage Beauty - Peggy Webb Page 0,29
she’d brought home a picture with three stick people labeled Me, Mum & Unca Jak.
He found Christmas paper plates and napkins in the cabinet and put them on the table. “This is such a rare treat it calls for the fine china.” He reached for the cups and placed them on the counter.
“I really didn’t care about looking at the photos,” she confessed. “I think I was just trying to brace myself for whatever you’ve found out about Cee Cee.”
The sorrow etched in her face had Jack replacing the coffee carafe as carefully as if it were a newborn. “Lily, I really wish I had better news…”
“It’s not good? I can’t bear…” Her voice broke, and she looked up at him, stricken. Then suddenly tears were rolling down her cheeks.
“Hey.” He squatted beside her chair and pulled her close. “It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t ever be sorry about showing your emotions with me, Lily.” She crumpled against his shoulder. “Just let it all out. Take your time.” He rubbed her back until she began to relax. “When you’re ready to talk, I’m listening.”
He felt her nod, and the shuddering breaths she took as she pulled herself together. When she drew back, he wanted to reach for her again, to hold her until the world somehow righted itself, until time rolled backward and he was on his way to her apartment taking Hershey bars with almonds to Lily and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to Annie.
Instead he released her and poured two cups of coffee, both with cream, no sugar. She’d already put three of his favorite cream filled doughnuts on his plate and two chocolate covered ones on hers. Then she told him about her days at Allistair Manor since Cee Cee’s disappearance. She told him a horror story. The note that had appeared in her bedroom was chilling enough, but screams in the night, a crazy woman running through the garden, a surly ex-con and a cryptic mother-in-law going in and out of locked rooms?
“I don’t think it’s safe for you and Annie there.”
“I didn’t mean to make it sound so awful. Everything is weird right now, and I had to be a whiney baby and talk it out with you. It’s like suddenly being thrust into the middle of a Technicolor thriller movie after living a quiet life in black and in white. Honestly, Jack, I believe the only danger we’re in is that I might lose my sanity.”
Her attempt at humor didn’t make a dent in the worry he felt for her. “Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
She heaved a dramatic sigh, and the only good thing he could say about that was at least she was no longer crying.
“I just needed to get everything off my chest, that’s all. My fiancé has better security than the city of Ocean Springs. As a precaution I’m not letting Annabelle go anywhere without me or Stephen right now. If I believed we were really in danger, I’d move us into a hotel.”
“You can stay with me. My apartment is big enough for both of you.”
“I couldn’t possibly do that. I can’t just walk out, not on the flimsy notion that I’m scared of a mysterious note and things that go bump in the night. What if Cee Cee comes back? She wouldn’t even know where to find us.” She stopped talking and worried her lower lip.
He knew she was grasping at straws, doing the Lily thing and always trying to make the best of her situation. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong at the Allistair mansion.
“I wish you’d change your mind and stay at my place.” He couldn’t bring himself to say, Until the wedding. He didn’t even want to think about it.
“It’s a very appealing offer, to have my own space again and not worry about anything except finding Cee Cee. But moving out in the middle of the holiday season and a desperate search would invite all kinds of negative press.” She twisted her diamond ring around her finger. “This ring has to mean something. I made a commitment to a man whose family is under constant scrutiny, and I don’t take that lightly.”
“I know you don’t. And I understand.” The situation was impossible, but his hands were tied. “You and Annie be careful, that’s all. I couldn’t bear to lose either of you.”
Lily couldn’t bear to lose him, either. But considering her growing uncertainty about her own feelings, saying so felt