Lucky Streak

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MIKE LEFT the station and drove directly to his father’s house, looking forward to seeing Amber more than was prudent. But prudence had never played a role in this impulsive relationship, which, he admitted, was what had him so on guard, off-kilter-and exhilarated all at the same time.

His cell phone rang. A quick glance told him Dan was calling and he pushed the speaker button to keep it hands free. “Talk to me,” Mike said.

“You had a phone call at the station. A P.I. in Texas,” his partner said.

Elvin Rogers, the man Mike had hired to investigate King Bobby Boyd, Mike thought, and his heart rate kicked up a notch. Maybe he’d finally get the information he needed on the stupidly named man so Amber could feel safe.

“Thanks for letting me know,” he said to his partner.

“No problem. What case are you working in Texas that I don’t know about? Are you holding out on me?” Dan asked.

Mike laughed. Sometimes his partner could be such a baby, constantly needing reassurance. “It’s not a case, it’s personal.”

“And you’re not going to fill me in,” Dan said.

Mike heard the rebuke in the other man’s voice. “Maybe someday.” When he could look at himself in the mirror and not feel like such a tool. “I’ve got to go,” Mike said.

“Fine. Just remember what we talked about the other day. Enjoy your wife the way I’m enjoying mine,” Dan said.

“Thanks for the advice, Dear Abby. Talk to you later.”

Mike hung up and called the P.I., only to get his answering machine informing callers Elvin Rogers, private investigator extraordinaire was on the case.

Mike groaned. What was with these Texas yahoos giving themselves nicknames and pats on the back? He left a message for the other man to call him as soon as possible and once again left his cell phone number, which Elvin hadn’t bothered to use.

As Mike settled in for the rest of the drive to Stewart, it wasn’t thoughts of King Bobby that filled his mind, but his partner’s words. Enjoy your wife, echoed in Mike’s head. It wasn’t the first time his partner had given Mike that advice. The last time, Mike had gone home intending to do just that. Then her news destroyed his intent and ruined his mood.

Not Amber’s. She’d been able to put their argument behind her and make love not war. She easily seduced him into doing the same. As he eagerly drove to see her, he had to ask himself, why was he fighting it?

He already knew they were incompatible long-term, but when they were together, they were almost combustible. They both knew he’d succumb to her charm anyway, so why not enjoy the time he had with her?

He couldn’t think of one good reason. His mind made up, and his mood lightened, Mike allowed himself to look forward to seeing his wife.

MIKE ARRIVED at his father’s house to find Amber had parked his car around back, a smart move for which he credited his cousin. Outside was quiet and the front door unlocked, something he’d have to discuss with his father, at least for as long as Amber stayed here. When Edward was alone, Mike figured nobody had the nerve to bother him.

Mike let himself inside. “Hello?” he called.

No answer.

He figured his father was down by the lake. As for Amber…With a shrug, he headed down the short hall to the guest bedroom. It had been Mike’s room when he was a child, but when his mother moved out, and Edward showed no interest in redecorating, Mike had renovated it. This way he could stay over if the need arose, in a queen-size bedroom with a decent TV.

Amber’s voice carried into the hall. She was on her cell phone, he realized as he stopped in the doorway. He was about to turn around and walk away, giving her privacy, when her gaze caught his.

A wide smile brightened her face and she waved him inside.

She was glad to see him, and like a teenager who hadn’t seen his girlfriend in too long, his gut churned and his heart kicked into high gear.

He settled beside her on the bed and waited for her to finish her conversation.

“I understand, Nanette. I know he had a rough morning, but I’d hoped he’d feel better this afternoon.” She gripped the receiver tighter in her hand.

Obviously she was talking to someone at the nursing home and her father wasn’t doing well.

“Thanks. I’ll call in the morning,” she said, then hit the off button, placing the phone on the nightstand.

“Your father?” Mike asked.

Amber nodded. “He’s more out of it today than usual. The good news is he doesn’t know I’m not around to visit him.” Her voice cracked with the admission.

Her pain touched him and he reached out to pull her close. “He can’t tell you, but somewhere deep inside your father, he knows that you love him, that you’re caring for him the best way you can,” he said gruffly.

She tilted her head back and studied him. “Do you believe that?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

Mike knew she was asking far more than whether her father, in his Alzheimer’s-induced state, sensed her caring. What she wanted to know as whether Mike now believed she had done the best, the only thing she could do back in Vegas for her only parent.

Mike cupped her cheek in one hand and stroked her cheek. “I believe you thought you were doing the best thing you could.”

She let out a tremulous breath and treated him to a sweet smile. “Well, that’s a start.”

He didn’t reply. He couldn’t. Her skin was soft, her hair curling gently around her face, and he was entranced. Then, when she moistened her lips with her delicate tongue, his body went up in flames.

“I missed you last night,” she said. Her fingers idly stroked the bed, making him realize how badly he needed her to stroke him.

It had been like this from first sight, Mike thought, this unique yearning for her.

Only her.

“I missed you, too.” The admission cost him a chunk of pride, yet he didn’t care.

“What did you say?” She cocked her head to the side, a twinkle in her eyes. “Are you really admitting that you missed me?” she asked, obviously pleased. Her genuine pleasure at their connection was a tangible thing.

He’d made her happy and he was glad. But she didn’t need to know he’d lost his inner battle. It was up to him to come to terms with wanting her despite their differences, and with accepting what she offered, only for as long as she was his wife. Those were his burdens to bear.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and turned his attention to the woman in front of him. “Yes, I missed you. I admit it. I hope now that you’ve gotten what you wanted out of me, you’re not complaining?” He shifted his touch from her face and ran his hand along the back of her hair, savoring the feel of the long strands against his skin.

Amber shook her head and grinned. “Far from it. Want to know just how glad?”

He nodded and she looped her arms around his neck, pulling him close until his lips closed over hers. He kissed her with all the longing and pent-up desire that had been building ever since she’d left Boston. Kissed her with the same passion she exhibited and then some.

He eased her backward until she lay on the bed, their mouths never breaking the sensual connection. He pulled her shirt up and slid his hand beneath the soft cotton, moving upward until he reached her breast, covered by a sheer slip of a bra. Ignoring the material, he cupped her in his palm and moved his hand in deliberate circles until her nipple peaked against him. Then he moved to the other breast, arousing her the same way.

Beneath him, her hips rotated in a rhythm that begged him for so much more than he was giving her, and he reveled in her soft whimpers. He slid his mouth from her lips, across her cheek, and began nibbling on her earlobe. His tongue trailed a path down her neck, pausing only in places he knew would make her writhe in need.

Ignoring his own desires in favor of hers wasn’t easy. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in her soft heat and slake the yearning, if only for a little while. Because with Amber, the need for her always returned, fast and with more intensity than before.

She reached for him, obviously intending to lift his shirt, but he held her hands at her sides. “Your turn first,” he whispered in her ear.

He reached for her, about to lift the hem of her shirt, wanting to replace his hands with his mouth and give her even more pleasure.

The sound of yelling suddenly intruded on their desire-filled haze. His father’s yelling. From outside.

Mike closed his eyes, wanting to push reality away, but he couldn’t.

Amber shot backward against the pillows, readjusting her clothes as she moved. “Something’s wrong!”

He rose and shifted the waistband on his jeans. His body still hadn’t absorbed that it wasn’t going to happen and he tried to find some comfort before heading outside to see what had upset his father.

Amber stood.

“Are you okay?” He touched her pink, flushed cheek.

“No,” she said shakily. “But it doesn’t matter. Let’s go see what’s going on.”

He nodded. The immediate connection had been broken, but the heat they’d generated left the promise of more to come.

Together they ran, heading out the front door.

“What’s wrong?” Mike asked, running up to his father.

“Some stranger’s takin’ my jujus off the trees out front!” Edward yelled, storming up to the house.

A car slowly pulled up the graveled driveway, seeming to follow him. Mike didn’t recognize the automobile and from the way Amber perched her hands on her hips, and squinted as she glanced over, neither did she.

“Where were you?” Mike asked his father.

“Out doing my daily check of the property. Once in the morning, once in the evening. And it’s a good thing I stick to routine because I found a trespasser!”

Mike ran a hand through his hair. “This has to stop,” he muttered, glancing at his agitated father.

Amber placed a calming hand on Mike’s back. She couldn’t talk to him now, but Gabrielle was right. They did need to discuss Edward’s mental health and the possibility of having the older man see a doctor.

The car came to a stop and to Amber’s surprise, Clara Deveaux stepped out from the driver’s seat, Edward’s beloved jujus in her hand. Between her own father’s health and Mike’s return, Amber had forgotten all about Clara’s possible visit.

The other woman made an impressive sight as she strode up the driveway, her long, flowered dress flowing around her as she moved.

“Who is that?” Mike asked.

“What is she doing here?” Edward yelled.

Before Amber could reply, Clara spoke to Amber. “It’s a good thing you asked me to come. This man needs saving worse than I thought if he’s relying on black magic to help him keep the curse away.” Clara waved the juju in the air.

“You invited her here?” Edward turned toward Amber, his face beet-red, his eyes deep and accusing.

“Who is she?” Mike asked once more.

Amber’s invitation, which had seemed like an answer to Edward’s troubles, suddenly seemed ill-advised. Not that she knew why.

But Edward glared at her with a look of betrayal in his eyes. Like father like son. His expression reminded Amber of Mike’s the night she’d confessed.

Lord help her, Amber thought, her stomach clenching because she didn’t know what kind of trouble she might have caused by bringing Clara here. Mike, who stood beside her, was as confused as Amber by his father’s reaction.

She opted for the simple truth. “I met Clara when I was buying your gifts,” she said to Edward. “The dreamcatcher, the tea and candles. You liked them, remember? Clara’s lovely, which you’d see if you just give her a chance.”

“I knew those things reminded me of her!” Edward yelled before darting around Amber, and running for the house.

He returned minutes later, armed. “Git going! Leave!” he shouted at Clara. “I don’t need your help!” He dangled Stinky Pete in front of the woman, like a loaded gun.

“Dad!” Mike shouted. “Put that thing away.”

It was like a scene out of some bizarre comedy. Amber expected Clara to run away screaming.

Instead, the other woman strode up to Edward, getting in his face as if she had the right. “Give me that poor animal. A descented skunk?”

“How did you know it’s descented?” Amber couldn’t begin to imagine.

“It’s obvious.” Clara shook her head as if surprised Amber even had to ask. “Even a crazy man isn’t going to live with that kind of odor around him.”

“Excuse me, but did you just call my father crazy?” Mike stepped forward to defend his parent.

“Pot and kettle,” Edward muttered.

“Just how do you know this woman?” Mike asked.

“Ask her,” Edward said.

Amber turned to Clara. “Well?”

“I’ll explain in a moment,” she said to Mike and Amber. She glanced at Edward. “Now, what in the name of the Goddess were you thinking, making that animal your pet, you crazy old coot!” Clara asked him. “You’re nuttier than you were seven years ago!”

“And you’re bossier,” Edward snapped.

“Age will do that to you.”

Watching the byplay, Amber shook her head in dismay. Clara hadn’t mentioned knowing Edward before. And worse, the mild-mannered Clara Deveaux Amber had met in her shop had been replaced by a strong, take-charge woman with an agenda, leaving Amber feeling betrayed.

“How could you have deceived me that way?” Amber asked Clara. “I invited you here to help him and you used me to…to what?” She splayed her arms in front of her, frustrated and annoyed.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Mike. Beyond his confusion, Amber was sure there was anger simmering below the surface. Anger at Amber for bringing this woman into his father’s already off-kilter world, creating more chaos and causing him obvious pain.

“I should have told you…” Clara stepped toward Amber.

“That’s right, you should have,” Amber said.

Beside her, Amber felt Mike’s curious stare, but he remained quiet. Obviously, he was content to observe and find out just what kind of trouble Amber had caused him now.

“Honey, when you first came into the shop, you were just another customer.” Clara touched Amber’s shoulder.

“And when you realized I was talking about the Corwins?” Chilled, Amber ran her hands up and down her arms, shocked she’d been taken in by this woman.

“You were talking about us to this stranger?” Mike asked, his voice hard.

“I was looking to buy a gift for my father-in-law. I said he believed in curses and I wanted something to show him I respected his beliefs, something that would help him,” Amber said. “She drew the conclusion after I gave her my full name.”

Mike nodded slowly, seeming to accept that explanation, and Amber’s guilt eased a little.

“Edward and I knew each other a lifetime ago-” Clara’s stare drifted toward Edward and lingered, softening.

“One I wish I’d never lived!” the other man shouted at her.

“Oh, be quiet, I’m talking to Amber.” Clara waved a hand, causing her bangles to clink together the way Amber remembered.

Mike blinked. “They’re bickering like some old…couple,” he said to Amber under his breath.

She nodded, having caught those same undercurrents. Shocked, Amber merely glanced at Edward, expecting him to balk at being told what to do, but to her surprise, Edward crossed his arms over his chest and heeded Clara’s words. He shut up.

Though Clara spoke to Edward in a no-nonsense tone he understood and respected, there was no mistaking how her whole expression changed, grew softer and more caring when her gaze fell on him.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mike said.

“Beats me,” Amber said. But realizing Clara had genuine feelings for Edward allowed Amber’s feelings of betrayal to let up. But she was still upset she’d been played for a fool.

Much the way Mike must have felt when he realized Amber had lied to him. For the first time, Amber not only knew what she’d done to him, she was able to empathize and feel his pain. She owed him an apology, not just for the omissions, but for getting angry when he hadn’t understood her so-called justification.

For now though, she turned her attention back to Edward and Clara.

“Honey, once you invited me to visit you here, I realized the Goddess had a larger plan at work for me. She’d sent you to my shop for a reason. We had a past-” she gestured between herself and Edward “-and I never lived up to my end of things. You were offering me another chance to right an old wrong,” Clara explained.

“Why didn’t you just tell me you knew Edward after I’d invited you?”

“I was afraid you’d take back the invitation and I’d lose this second chance at our relationship.” Her eyes grew damp and misty at the prospect.

Amber’s heart clenched as she finally accepted the other woman’s reasons.

“We ain’t got no relationship!” Edward insisted before Amber could forgive her.

“We shared a past,” Clara said firmly.

Amber wasn’t sure she wanted to know what kind of past.

“I promised to help you once, Eddie, and I mean to do it now!”

“Eddie?” Amber repeated numbly.

“Eddie?” Mike echoed. “Somebody’s going to have to tell me what exactly went on between you two and when.”

Edward shook his head. “I ain’t telling you nothing about my personal life,” he said before storming off and heading back toward the lake.

“I didn’t know he’d ever had a personal life,” Mike said, confusion and a whole lot more in his expression.

“Why don’t we go inside and I’ll make us some tea,” Amber suggested.

Amber needed to hear Clara’s explanation. And she definitely had to discuss Edward’s mental health with Mike. It was going to be a long night.

MIKE SAT in his father’s kitchen, watching as Amber made herself at home. He’d grown up here, but his childhood memories weren’t the best. He’d lived in an armed camp before his mother had moved out, and the kitchen had never been a place of refuge.

Until now, because Amber was here. Mike didn’t know what had gone on between his father and Clara Deveaux, but clearly something important had transpired. He was glad Amber would be beside him when he found out what.

Amber made tea for Clara and herself, and without asking, she poured Mike a cola, his preferred choice in soft drinks. She knew better than to offer him herbal tea. And though he could use something stronger than soda, he always made sure there was no alcohol in his father’s house. He had a healthy fear of the possibility of alcohol abuse in addition to his father’s other issues. Thank goodness, to his knowledge that had never been a problem. Mike intended to keep it that way.

Once they were all seated, Amber met Clara’s gaze. “I didn’t know about your relationship with Edward when I asked you here. That makes his distress my fault.”

Oddly, Mike didn’t blame Amber for trying to help Edward. But he did need to know everything. “Why don’t we start at the beginning,” Mike said to Clara. “How do you know my father, and what happened between the two of you?” he asked.

Clara sighed. “It was seven years ago. I’d just opened my shop and Edward walked in. He was scruffy and a little grumpy, everything I shouldn’t be attracted to-and yet I was drawn to him.” Clara met Amber’s gaze, probably searching for female understanding.

And maybe forgiveness, Mike realized. After all, as Amber said, she’d met and invited Clara here without knowing about the other woman’s agenda.

“Did Edward…um…look different seven years ago?” Amber asked.

Mike tried not to laugh. He could understand why she’d wonder about Clara’s attraction to the wild-looking man Mike called his father.

Clara smiled. “He looked the same. He’s an attractive man and all that bluster covers a wounded nature.”

Clearly she saw something in Edward that the rest of the world, even his own son, couldn’t. A part of Mike always feared digging too deep because really understanding Edward meant that maybe, Mike wasn’t too far from the madness himself.

Clara took a sip of tea, then said, “Edward came to my shop the first time because he wanted to find ways to ward off the curse, but after a while, he came back just to see me.”

“Edward pursued you?” Amber asked, surprised.

Mike was glad she was asking the questions. For a cop who specialized in interrogation, he couldn’t bring himself to verbalize anything that might lead to more intimate knowledge of his father.

“He didn’t pursue me directly. But a woman knows when a man is interested. When he cares.”

Amber nodded. “I agree. A woman knows.” Her soft gaze slid to Mike’s and an uncomfortable lump formed in his throat.

“Edward and I had much in common and I promised to help him overcome his fears,” Clara continued. “But he came into my life at a tough time. My father had just arrived in the States from Jamaica. My mother is American and raised me here, but my father arrived with a friend of his, planning to marry me off.”

“You were how old?” Amber asked.

“Forty. Too old to be told what to do. But we’re never too old to want our parents’ approval, now, are we?”

Another telling comment, Mike thought.

“I suppose not,” Amber replied. “So what happened?”

“I did as my father asked and went on a date with this man, but I had no intention of marrying him, so I kept it from Edward.” Clara glanced down.

Mike stiffened. If his father had come out of his shell, extended himself enough to reach out to her and she’d hurt him…He tensed, waiting. “What happened?” he asked, his voice harsh.

“The next morning, the gentleman brought flowers to my shop.”

“And Edward was there,” Amber guessed, shaking her head in disappointment.

Clara nodded. “My father was there, as well, making vocal assumptions about my future.”

A knot formed in Mike’s stomach as he pictured his father’s reaction. Just as he’d taken the first steps to letting go of the curse, fate had knocked him down once more.

“Damn,” Mike muttered.

Amber covered his hand with hers. “Do you remember this time in your father’s life?”

He thought back. His parents had divorced ten years ago. “Seven years ago? I was twenty years old and in college. I didn’t come home often and when I did, I rarely came to Dad’s house,” he admitted, looking away.

Amber squeezed his hand tighter. Mike tried not to blame himself for not wanting to be around his father, but when something like this happened, he felt the kick of guilt strongly. Eventually he’d grown up and accepted his father, failings and all, along with his responsibilities as an only child. He loved Edward and didn’t blame him for not being there for him as a real father.

But clearly, if this woman had broken Edward’s heart, he would have become bitter and angry and even more entrenched in his negative beliefs. And Mike hadn’t been there to help him through it.

“How did Edward handle the situation?” Amber asked, continuing the conversation.

Clara expelled a long breath. “He didn’t say a word. Just walked out and took my heart with him.”

“Did you go after him?” Amber asked.

“I cleared things up with the other gentleman and my father, but then yes, of course I went after him. But he wouldn’t listen. I called. He changed and unlisted his number. I wrote. The letters were returned unanswered.”

“That I remember.” Mike took his first sip of soda, his mouth dry. “My mother wanted to reach him, to tell him about her remarrying, but he’d changed his number. She was upset that she had to drive out here to tell him in person.”

“You need to know, I didn’t give up right away. I gave him some time and dropped by a few times, but he always refused to answer the door. There was no talking to the man.” Clara spread her hands in front of her, expressing her useless feelings.

Amber wasn’t surprised. “So seven years passed.”

Clara nodded. “I never met another man who affected me the same way. And then you walked into my shop and I took it as a sign. It was time.”

Amber pinched the bridge of her nose. This story had been heart wrenching, on so many levels, she thought, glancing at Mike, who was sitting beside her, learning about the reasons for his father’s mental deterioration firsthand.

“You decided it was time to what?” Amber asked Clara.

“I had to right the wrong I did Edward all those years ago. I had to know if we could possibly have a future.”

Her words echoed inside Amber, rendering her unable to stay angry. Suddenly Amber viewed herself and Clara as kindred spirits, two women who wanted the same basic thing from life.

Amber sighed. “I wish you’d told me the truth so I could have prepared him.” Or at least prepared herself. She bit the inside of her cheek before speaking what was on her mind, too aware of the hurt man sitting beside her. “But since I’ve kept a few secrets of my own lately, I can’t hold it against you,” she told Clara.

Without warning, Mike rose from his seat. “I appreciate the explanation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find my father.”

Heart in her throat, Amber watched him go. She glanced at Clara and forced a smile. She and this woman had more in common than she’d first thought. From lies and omissions, to hoping for a future with a good man, to the Corwin men and therefore their curse, Amber and Clara shared a bond.

Time would tell which, if either of them, would triumph.