The Ashford Place Page 9

  I’m king of the world, Belle typed back, along with, Thanks for asking and for putting me to bed on the sofa. You’re sweet. She punctuated it with a heart emoji.

  Happy to oblige, ma’am , Ally replied.

  It’s comforting to know my property-tax dollars are going to good use.

  We take our role as public servants seriously up here.

  I’m almost tempted to stay here and be the next Ashford generation to die in this house.

  LMAO!!! You’re bad. I have to admit I love your sense of humor.

  Belle reveled in scoring a point or two with her dark humor. I’m bad. Don’t encourage me. My mom would kill me if she heard me talking like that.

  In my line of work, occasional gallows humor doesn’t go unnoticed…or unappreciated.

  Ha-ha. Let me know as soon as you hear anything, ok?

  You got it. Then a second text came through. Let me know if you need anything. Or if you just want to talk.

  Did she mean as a friend? A law-enforcement officer? Or something more? Without the use of emojis, how was she supposed to know?

  She placed her phone screen down and walked away.

  She had to stop reading into things.

  Chapter Seven

  After scarfing down a combo order of delivered Szechuan chicken, Belle sat in a warm coconut-oil bath, listening to the rain as she googled various names and phrases relating to Danville, Connecticut.

  Nothing new came up that she hadn’t already learned her first week there. When she’d previously referred to it as Snoresville, that was no misnomer.

  Sheriff Bob had kept a vigil over the town for forty years, the fifteen before that as deputy, and was as decorated as a law-enforcement officer could hope to be. For most of his tenure, Ethel had been running her Quiet Corner café, which by now had become legendary, an official must-see Northeastern Connecticut tourist stop, according to travel brochures. Aside from the storied strawberry festival and the Connecticut Magazine award years earlier, Danville was about as eventful as a minister’s wife’s funeral.

  Except for the mysterious dead baby in a backyard tomb and a sex offender that had once prowled their happy little hamlet.

  After the bath, she settled in bed to catch up on some articles of interest in her academic journals. Red was asleep, stretched out along the length of her legs as they both relished the cool of the A/C.

  Her phone vibrated, and she grinned when she saw the text bar from Ally. She must be checking up on her again. She was certainly thoughtful…unless she considered that part of her job.

  I’m fine, Belle typed back. Surely you must have something more exciting to do tonight than keep tabs on me.

  Not really, Ally replied with a smiley face.

  Ha-ha. I’m sorry to hear that. But thank you for the text.

  Even if I did have something exciting to do tonight, I still would’ve texted.

  Belle gasped. No cute emoji, no “lol.” She was being sincere. And if Belle knew her verbal foreplay, so coming on to her. She scrunched her face as she thought of how to respond. Should she play hard-to-get? Coyly clueless? Or full-on flirt?

  I feel so special, she typed, and punctuated it with a kiss emoji—not the plain one, the one with the heart. Yup, full-on flirt. As if there was any doubt.

  You are special. Ally added the same kiss emoji.

  Belle’s actual heart was pounding now. I am???

  Totally! You’ve brought more excitement to my job in the last few weeks than I’ve seen in all my twelve years here.

  “Your job? Seriously?” Belle said out loud. She had a good mind to leave her hanging in unanswered-text purgatory for that one, but she wasn’t about to let her off the hook so easily.

  That’s all that’s special about me?

  Belle smiled expectantly at the blank screen. Nothing. Maybe she’d pushed it too far by sending off a loaded question. She was about to save face with a “just kidding,” when Ally’s text popped up.

  Definitely not, but I can’t say what else in a text. You could use it against me if I ever run for public office. Wink emoji.

  That brought the smile back to Belle’s face. “Oooh, you’re good, Deputy,” she said out loud again. Red lifted his sleepy head up as if she were talking to him.

  Why? Is it dirty??? Top that, smart-ass.

  Lmao!! Ally wrote. First you have to tell me if that kiss emoji you used before was an offer??

  What??? And Belle thought she was pushing it?

  You used it too, she replied.

  But I asked you first.

  Ally was unbearable at this. But Belle was loving it. She got up and began pacing to work off the escalating nervous energy.

  Ok, since you keep insisting…yes, if you were here, it would be an offer. She hit the kiss emoji like five times.

  So it’s a limited-time-offer thing? Ally wrote.

  ’Fraid so. Matter of fact, it expires in three minutes.

  Belle smiled and bit at her cuticles as she awaited Ally’s reply. She wandered out into the hall and paced the landing, keeping her eyes fixed to the message for the three wavering dots, but they weren’t popping up. Ally must’ve been responding to a call—somebody’s chickens went missing or something.

  Her battery almost drained, Belle went down into the kitchen and plugged the phone into a charger she kept in the wall above the counter. She caught herself grinning as she poured a glass of water and squeezed in a lemon wedge.

  Why did Ally have to be so much fun and sweet on top of being so damn physically attractive? It was as though the universe was intentionally trying to complicate matters for her. First those haunting scrolls of writings, then the bones, and now a woman who seemed to possess every quality Belle had always desired in one but wasn’t nearly delusional enough to believe she’d ever find. All she’d set out for was an easy-breezy, carefree summer fixing up an old house, making a healthy profit, and then being all “Peace out, back-woods bitches!”

  Was that so much to ask?

  Clearly.

  Red began barking, preceding a knock at the front door.

  “Oh, crap,” Belle said, hoping it wasn’t Mary. She’d ignored several texts from her over the last few days and wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d elected to take a more proactive approach.

  She fastened the chain lock on the door and opened it a crack in the event it was Mary or a machete-wielding psychopath. Six of one…

  “Did I make it in time?” Ally stood on the porch grinning as she pretended to consult her wristwatch, her tan shoulders glistening with raindrops.

  Belle whipped the chain off the lock and flung open the door. “What took you so long?”

  Ally cupped Belle’s face in her hands and pulled her in for a long, slow, sensual kiss that scorched her to the bone.

  She threw her arms around Ally’s neck as her knees came close to buckling under her, but Ally was already leading her toward the couch.

  They collapsed together into a heap of arms and legs and dewy kisses.

  For a moment Belle secretly debated whether to make this mistake, but as Ally’s tongue made its way into her mouth, she stopped caring and surrendered to the pleasure about to apprehend her.

  She allowed her hands to roam over Ally’s back, down the curves of her narrow sides, stopping to squeeze her firm ass.

  Ally groaned. “I may not be able to keep it casual after this.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping,” Belle replied in a breathy whisper.

  They ground into each other as their skin grew damp with sweat. Belle could hardly contain her desire as she stroked Ally’s smooth, muscular arms.

  “Let’s go upstairs,” Belle said. “I need more room to properly devour you.”

  “If you have second thoughts on the way up, I’ll understand.” Ally tugged her to her feet, never letting their lips disengage.

  “Way past that happening.” Belle grabbed Ally’s hand and towed her up the staircase.

  Once in the room,
Belle stopped at the dresser to light a scented candle as Ally caressed her arms from behind and gently kissed the back of her neck. When she turned around, Ally staring back at her in the candlelight was surreal—her bronze skin, strong jawline, heavy eyes full of desire made Belle tremble, left her hungering for Ally’s body against hers.

  She unbuttoned Ally’s jeans as she guided her to the bed. Ally had her out of her comfy loungewear before they’d made it into the missionary position.

  The way Ally took her time kissing her chin and throat, exploring her body with her lips left Belle writhing with anticipation. How exquisite to have Ally’s strong hands around her breasts, her tongue tantalizing her in a style in which no one else had ever seemed proficient.

  As her lips brushed across Belle’s lower stomach, Belle gripped the slats in the headboard in an attempt to control herself under Ally’s charge.

  “Ally, I can’t take much more of this torture,” she said, breathless.

  An evil giggle emanated from Ally’s throat as she slid up to Belle’s lips to give her one last sensual kiss before endeavoring to find her other treasures.

  As they gazed into each other’s eyes for a tender, timeless moment, Belle nearly blurted out she was in love with her. In that moment, she was reasonably sure that if she had, Ally would’ve returned the sentiment.

  After bringing each other to ecstasy numerous times, Belle lay sideways against Ally, a human body pillow to Ally’s warm, lanky frame. She held onto her so tight, she wondered if Ally already knew what she’d wanted to say. Was Ally feeling it, too, and just as hesitant to speak it?

  If she was, she’d kept it to herself as she lay there, her breathing growing slower, shallower, until Belle knew she was asleep.

  As badly as she wanted to say the words and hear them whispered back, she decided to let sleeping deputies lie.

  ***

  The next morning Belle woke early, thanks to a cantankerous squirrel tap-dancing on her air-conditioning window unit. Country living, she thought as she scanned the room for something to pelt the noisy critter with.

  She sat up in bed, stretched, and tried to clear the fog of disorientation from her mind. Ally was gone, and she felt as if the last two days had been a bleary-eyed dream—or a Wes Craven movie come alive in her own back yard. If Wes Craven was still alive and tossed in a little lesbian-porn plot twist.

  After putting on a cup of coffee, she shuffled across the hardwood floor to let Red in—Ally must’ve opened the door for him when she’d slipped out like a burglar. As she sipped the hot coffee, she began negotiating with herself as to how she should feel about this business of Ally bolting on her without so much as a good-bye scrawled in lipstick on her mirror.

  On the one hand, she had every right to be disappointed—even furious with Ally for treating her like the winner at last call. They’d had an amazing night together. Belle felt a genuine connection with her, and from the dreamy look in her eyes, Ally did, too.

  On the other hand, perhaps she’d done the polite thing in ducking out, sparing them a painful morning-after encounter where they would’ve contrived awkward small talk until they finished breakfast or until Ally had scavenged for her clothes scattered over the bedroom before attempting a graceful exit—at which no one in the history of one-night stands had ever succeeded.

  Should she text her? Would a phone call be more appropriate? The fact that she was even contemplating doing either alarmed her. If last night had truly been a no-strings hookup, she wouldn’t care. But it wasn’t just a hookup, not to Belle anyway.

  She wanted what Ally had said in a moment of passion to be true.

  Making love with her left an indelible mark on her, a metaphoric one, in addition to the physical one Ally left near her hip bone. She’d been awake for hardly thirty minutes and was already missing her face, longing to hear her voice, craving her touch.

  If she’d remembered what falling in love felt like, this was it.

  In any event, she’d accomplished little on her to-do list yesterday and was antsy about getting back into her work on the house. Except now she’d also be languishing in excruciating curiosity about what would happen next between them, whether or not they’d find DNA on the bones, and whether a nasty case of second thoughts had precipitated Ally’s hasty exit.

  Whatever. She had better things to do than worry about what Ally was thinking.

  After a quick shower, she made the phone calls she’d neglected the day before, then decided she was hungry for breakfast, an Ethel’s Quiet Corner Café breakfast, to be exact.

  During the bicycle ride into town, she refused to admit she was hoping Ally would be there. When she sauntered in, she headed straight toward the counter. So focused was she on not appearing like she was looking for someone, it had to have been laughably noticeable to the casual observer that was her entire purpose for being there.

  She sat at the counter glancing at the headlines on a used copy of USA Today as she choked down an egg-white, spinach, and goat-cheese omelet.

  How does Ally eat these? She should’ve gone with the bacon-and-cheddar omelet—arteries be damned.

  “More coffee, honey,” Ethel asked while she refilled her cup.

  “Thanks,” Belle said, sipping it black. “Say, has Ally been in?”

  “Not for breakfast, but she should be here any time. She called in a lunch order.” Ethel smiled as she wiped down the counter around Belle. “You a friend of hers?”

  “Yeah, I guess I am, even though I’m new here,” Belle said. “I’m renovating the Ashford place.”

  “Oh, yeah. I heard about you. Welcome. Breakfast is on me then.” She grabbed the check from the counter before Belle could react.

  “Ethel, please, that’s not necessary.” She reached for the slip of paper. “Your charm is a warm-enough welcome.”

  “I won’t hear another word about it.” Ethel crumpled up the check and tossed it into the trash.

  “That’s awfully kind of you.” Belle smiled as she lifted the cup of steaming coffee to her lips again.

  “There’s my favorite lady lawman.”

  Ethel’s announcement startled Belle, causing her to singe her lips on the coffee.

  “Hey, Ethel,” Ally said and gave Belle a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Good morning, Belle—what’s left of it.”

  “Is it?” She made a face and turned her head only slightly toward Ally.

  “How’s Bob feeling?” Ethel said, seeming oblivious to the tension between them.

  Ally frowned. “You know Bob. He’ll never admit he feels like crap.”

  Ethel grabbed the bag of takeout and handed it to Ally. “I threw in a cup of chicken soup for him. Make sure he eats it.”

  “I will.” Ally smiled as she handed Ethel the money.

  Belle fumed as Ally stood next to her. Was she really going to act like they were nothing more than casual acquaintances?

  “You have a super day, Deputy,” Belle said, looking straight ahead, her tone crisp enough to ice the hot coffee.

  Ally glanced at Belle’s empty paper placemat. “Walk out with me if you’re done.”

  Walk out with her? Who did she think she was, ordering her around like that?

  “Okay, fine.” Belle sprang from her stool. “Thank you, Ethel. I’ll be back to patronize your lovely establishment again soon.”

  “I hope so,” Ethel said with a wave.

  She trailed Ally outside, her omelet agitating in her stomach.

  “I get the sense you’re not happy about something,” Ally said when they cleared the front of the café.

  “Nothing gets past a crack investigator like you.”

  “Belle, I’m sorry I left without saying good-bye. Honestly, I didn’t know how I should handle the situation, and by the time I’d figured it out, I would’ve been late for work. I was going to call you.”

  “Hey, I get it. You didn’t want me thinking it meant anything more than what it was—a good lay.”

  “That’s no
t true.”

  “So it wasn’t a good lay?”

  “No, Belle, it was great, amazing. Probably the best I’ve ever had. That’s the problem.”

  That remark earned Ally more of Belle’s snarky side-eye. “You and I have a very different definition of the word ‘problem.’”

  Ally wiped the sweat from under the brim of her cap. “Belle, you’re not understanding me. I’m feeling more for you than I think I should, given our individual circumstances. Look, I’m picking Chloe up from camp this weekend. I’m not gonna be the spontaneous, passionate woman you seem drawn to. I’ve had a tough time with her over the last few months.”

  Belle sighed. “If I wasn’t such an empathetic person, I’d be royally pissed at you for assuming I’m so shallow.”

  “I don’t think you’re shallow at all. I know you have a lot going on in your life, too. I can’t imagine how a woman with a crabby twelve-year-old who’s also helping out her dying friend and his wife would fit into your world right now.”

  “Sheriff Morgan is dying?”

  Ally tilted her head for Belle to walk with her back to the station. “He’d kill me if he knew I told anyone, but his lung cancer has metastasized. The tumors aren’t responding to the chemo. He told me he’d only agreed to this last round for Shirley’s sake.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “He and Shirley are like grandparents to Chloe. They watched her a lot for me over the years. And Bob’s been a friend and mentor to me since I came on.”

  Belle’s heart sank. Now she felt childish for jumping to conclusions.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again, taking Ally’s hand. “What’s going on with Chloe?”