Found: His Perfect Wife Page 10

  It sounded to her as if she already had the job. “Don’t you want to hear my qualifications?”

  “Sure.” He was getting ahead of himself, but he had been trying so hard for so long to find someone, he could hardly believe it was finally going to happen. “But your main qualification is willingness.”

  “Well, I have that.”

  Shayne listened with only half an ear as Alison recited the name of her school, which fields she had more experience in and what she hoped to achieve in the future. The fact that her goal was to become a nurse-practitioner made her an absolute bonanza for him. When she paused for breath, he ventured in. “How soon can you start?”

  Well, that certainly had been easy, she thought. “How soon do you need me?”

  “Last year. No, make that two years ago.”

  She laughed softly. He certainly made her feel wanted. “Then I guess I’d better go pack.”

  “Really? Wonderful.” Shayne sounded like a man who couldn’t believe his good fortune. “Put Luc back on, please.”

  Alison held out the receiver to Luc. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Her eyes were sparkling, he thought, taking the receiver. The sight mesmerized him. “Shayne?”

  “I don’t know how you did it, Luc, or what you told her, but the next baby we have, we’re naming after you.”

  This was the most excited he ever remembered hearing Shayne, except for the time when he’d announced to the entire clientele of the Salty Saloon that he was marrying Sydney. And then the words he’d just heard hit him.

  “Next baby? Does that mean that Sydney’s—?”

  “Yes!” The affirmation was just as enthusiastic as it had been in answer to Luc’s first question. “Listen, call me back with her flight number when she makes the arrangements and I’ll be there to meet the plane.”

  “Deal. And I’m holding you to that name thing, you know,” he warned his friend. He saw Alison looking at him curiously. “Girl or boy.”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Shayne rang off.

  The whole matter had been settled within five minutes. Less. Alison looked at Luc, her heart hammering like the mallets of a percussion soloist. After all this time of endless planning, setting goals, it was all coming together. She was finally going to get her wish and start making a difference.

  She couldn’t wait.

  Alison pressed a hand to her stomach at the sudden onslaught of butterflies. “He sounds very nice.”

  “What he sounds like,” Luc said, moving the telephone back to the center of the table, “is overjoyed.” Ordinarily Shayne was a man of even fewer words than he was.

  She grinned. “I kind of got the same impression.” It occurred to her that, besides her beloved CD collection, she didn’t know what to pack. She’d never been away from home before, other than sleepovers as a teenager. Alison threaded her arm through his. “C’mon, you can tell me all about Hades over breakfast. We’re going out for breakfast and I’m buying.”

  It was a simple, small place without the complexities of a large city. “I could probably do an adequate job over coffee.”

  “I’ll eat fast,” she promised. Reaching for her purse, she had all but ushered him to the front door when the telephone rang. She knew she could always let the answering machine get it, but it drove her crazy to ignore a call while she was anywhere within the vicinity.

  Making a quick dash back, she reached for the telephone. “Hope that isn’t your doctor friend, changing his mind.”

  He laughed. Not likely. “More chance of the end of the world coming in the next three minutes.” Pausing, he waited by the front door as she picked up the receiver.

  “Miss Quintano?”

  She didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes?”

  “This is Detective Donnelley. I wasn’t sure where to call, since we don’t have any telephone number, or a local address, for Mr. LeBlanc—”

  “He’s right here with me.” Alison stopped abruptly, conscious of the silent inquiry in Luc’s eyes. He crossed the room, coming to her side. “How do you know his last name?”

  “Someone turned his wallet into the precinct. It’s empty, of course. No money, no credit cards, nothing except for his license, but at least we know who he is.”

  “So does he.” Shifting her eyes, she looked up at Luc and smiled. “His memory returned yesterday morning. Any leads?”

  There was a stony silence before the detective admitted, “No.”

  She hadn’t really expected any other answer. Crimes like hers went unsolved every day. Even with the partial description of the two men that she had given the detective, there was nothing to really set them apart.

  “We’ll be right there to pick it up,” she promised.

  “I’ll be here.”

  Pleased and frustrated at the same time, Alison hung up the telephone. “Pick what up?” Luc asked the second it sounded as if she’d broken the connection.

  “Your wallet. Someone turned it in.” Impulsively she hugged him, then stepped back. “Looks like things are picking up for you.”

  “Yeah, sure does.” In more ways than one, he thought, following her out.

  Kevin sat in his chair, quietly looking at Alison. Outside the small office, the noises of a thriving taxi business continued. Matt was busy putting on new brake shoes on Car 3, and two of the regulars were off to the side, playing cards until the cabs they were assigned to came in.

  But none of that penetrated his office. There was an eerie silence within the small enclosure. Alison had just come by to tell him her news. Luc was outside, giving them their privacy.

  Kevin appreciated the gesture.

  He wished Luc had never come into their lives.

  Kevin sighed, running his hand through his dark, curling hair. He’d always felt very protective of Alison. To a greater or lesser degree, that feeling extended to all his siblings. But it was more intense with Alison. She had always struck him as the one most in need of him.

  Oh, he knew she tried hard not to be, to display a confident, tough exterior to the world, but he wasn’t fooled. He knew better. He was her big brother. Underneath all that bravado, that verve and zest, there was a scared little girl.

  The same little girl he’d found cowering on the floor of the closet of her room, crying her eyes out all those years ago, right after their father had died. Crying and refusing to tell him why. It had taken hours of patience, of simply holding her, talking to her and waiting for her to trust him enough to tell him what had affected her so badly.

  He’d thought it was because she missed their father. But that hadn’t turned out to be the case.

  It had taken two of his friends to physically restrain him and keep him from killing the man with his bare hands when he’d found out. A man who had professed to be a family friend all those years, who’d come to help them get over their tragedy in their time of need. And who had, instead, compounded that tragedy.

  And now she was going off on her own, hundreds of miles away where he couldn’t take care of her any longer. He realized it was inevitable and even for the good. At least he knew that was what he was supposed to believe. But he didn’t have to like it any.

  Kevin made up his mind then and there not to have any kids of his own. This kind of thing hurt too much.

  He studied her face. She looked determined. More than that, she looked eager. “Are you sure about this, kid?”

  “Very sure.” She could talk to Kevin the way she couldn’t to the others. Talk in fragments and knew he’d understand. “I’m scared and excited and happy, all at the same time.”

  Happy was all he wanted for her. “How soon are you leaving?”

  “Well, school’s over and I seem to have lost my part-time job.” She smiled at the face he made at her. She knew he meant well, even when he was restricting her. Kevin always worried about her and she loved him for it. Most of the time. She paused, knowing that he wasn’t going to like this part. “Day after tomorrow.”


  “Day after tomorrow—” Stunned, Kevin stared at her. It didn’t even give him time to catch his breath. He supposed it might even be better that way. Like a quick injection instead of a long, drawn-out inoculation. “That fast?”

  She nodded. “The doctor up there really needs someone.” Her tempo increased with each word, as if the faster she talked, the easier it would be to convince him. “I’ll be the only nurse. It’ll be a great experience and I’ll finally get to matter.”

  He rose then, looking at her. “You’ve always mattered.”

  She swatted a hand at him, muting the sentiment shimmering between them. “You know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, tough guy, I know what you mean.” Her mind was made up, he could see that. He didn’t mind admitting, in his heart, that he had hoped that she could find someplace close by to carry out her vocation. He knew all about her desire to go to out-of-the-way places, knew all about the letters that were coming in from the four corners of the world, vying for her, but he’d still gone on hoping. “We’ll have to throw you a goodbye party at Lily’s.”

  He’d never know what his silent approval meant to her. “I’d like that.” Relieved that was over, she turned to leave.

  “Consider it done. And, Aly?”

  She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Yes?”

  His words came slowly, measured, each with its own field of emotion. “While you’re up there in this godforsaken place on a stick, if you ever find yourself needing anything, I mean anything, just pick up that telephone and call me. I’ll be on the next flight.”

  She pressed her lips together. “I know you will. And I appreciate it, big brother.”

  Turning, and throwing her arms around Kevin’s neck, Alison hugged him, blinking back tears. She didn’t raise her head to look at him, not because she didn’t want him to see her cry, but because she knew he didn’t want her to see him doing the same.

  Chapter Eight

  Holding two glasses aloft, Luc made his way out from behind the four-sided bar in the center of Lily’s main dining area. It took a little maneuvering not to bump into anyone.

  The doors had been closed for this private party. It was almost as crowded within the small, upscale restaurant as it had been at the trendy club Kevin and Jimmy had taken him to three nights ago. But, unlike the club, here the noise was genial, almost soothing. There was a warmth generated by these people who had come to see Alison and the stranger who was taking her off with him on a brand-new adventure, to a little town not one of them had heard of before today.

  He knew none of these people, had only met Alison’s sister, Lily, when he had arrived with Alison earlier, yet for the space of the evening, they had all accepted him into their wide circle. They were treating him like a friend, one of their own.

  It made him think of the Salty and Hades, where everyone, whether they knew one another to only nod at, or to carry on a daily relationship with, was invisibly and irrevocably linked to everyone else.

  The pang went right through him. Sharp, deep, sweet. He was homesick, he realized. It felt good to have somewhere to miss. To remember missing somewhere. And someone. But this time, it was family and friends he missed. Not like the other time, when Janice had left him.

  He’d even given a ring to Janice. Nothing fancy, but it had been his mother’s and there was a world of sentiment attached to the small, antique gold band. He’d found it, along with a note, on his dresser after the wedding was to have taken place. His best man had left everything in his wake, taking his intended instead. Janice had left, she wrote, with Jacob, because he was a man who had vision. The news had hit him with the force of a tsunami, completely flattening him. Flooding him with hurt and anger, and a gut-wrenching feeling the depth of which he had never even vaguely admitted to, not even to Ike, although he had a feeling the latter had suspected.

  The anger had been the first to leave. In time he had grown to miss Janice less, to be less hurt. And in the place of all those feelings had come a wariness, a sense that he could never care again in that way, would never care again in that way. The interlude with Janice had created invisible bars around his heart, dedicated to preserving his pride, his dignity and his feelings.

  He’d thought them invincible. He wasn’t a hundred-percent sure of that anymore.

  Approaching the table where he, Alison and her family were sitting, he saw her. And heard her. The sound of Alison’s laughter came to him like a soft, sensual, undulating wave. Reaching him, it began at his toes and moved upward with the unexpected thrust of an incoming tide. Slowly, then quickly, building momentum until it reached its peak.

  He waited until it passed, then continued on his odyssey to the table.

  Would she regret giving all this up? Leaving these people she obviously cared for so much and going off to what amounted to the end of the world? He knew she had said she was looking for somewhere to make a difference, to apply her skills and make them count for something, but he knew there were times that rhetoric and reality were two very different things.

  How homesick would she get?

  Well, he thought, moving around a couple so deeply involved in a conversation they were oblivious to everyone else, it would be something they would both find out in time. With luck, he’d be there to help her over the bumpy parts.

  He finally made his way to their table. “Oh, you did get the drinks.” Smiling at him, Alison reached for hers. “We thought maybe you got lost.”

  “No, it just took a while, that’s all.”

  Lily, a taller, slightly older version of her sister, glanced over her shoulder. For most of the evening, she’d been alert, the consummate hostess, but just these last few minutes she’d allowed herself to be merely Alison’s sister, sharing her on her last night home for who knew how long? The alertness was back in her eyes as she looked toward the bar. “Bill’s not usually so slow.”

  “He’s not. But he looked beat, so I said I’d cover for him for ten minutes while he took a break. I made these.” Luc set his own glass down, then took the vacant chair beside Alison. She’d been holding it for him, he realized. “And a few others, as well.”

  There were seven orders in a “few.” The bar was far fancier than what he was accustomed to at the Salty, but the basic stock was the same. And he’d known his way around a bar ever since he’d been in his midteens and Ike had talked him into working with him for the Salty’s owner. Until eventually they had become the owners. That, too, had been Ike’s idea.

  You always need a fire lit under you. I can’t keep lighting them, or waiting for them to light. I want a man who’s going places, who wants to give me things. That had been part of Janice’s note, too. He’d wanted to give her things, but the kinds of things he’d wanted to give her hadn’t involved money as the bottom line.

  Lily’s brow drew into a reproving frown. “Hey, you’re the guest of honor here along with Aly. You shouldn’t have to be doing any of the work.” Studying the man behind the bar, she realized Luc was right. He did look tired. Probably coming down with something. She hoped it wasn’t catching.

  Lily rose, pushing back her chair. Bill could probably use a longer break. “Duty calls.” She smiled at Luc. The man wasn’t afraid to help out without waiting to be asked. That spoke well of him. Maybe Alison was going to be all right after all.

  Bending, she brushed a quick kiss against his cheek. “Thanks for pitching in. I appreciate it. But you should have called me, or hauled Jimmy over. He knows his way around an order.” Jimmy had worked as a waiter all through medical school and taken his turn behind the bar, as well, when the need arose.

  Luc only grinned. There was no point in going into his own past. “He looked busy.”

  Scanning the crowd, Lily picked Jimmy out. He was on the far side of the room, surrounded by three women. So what else was new?

  “He’s always busy that way.” Her eyes slanted toward Alison and Luc before shifting to Kevin. “Speaking of busy, why don’t you make yourself useful a
nd feed the jukebox some money so these nice people—” she gestured around the room “—will dance instead of eating me out of house and home.”

  Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of change. He deposited the coins on the table, spreading them out in order to pick out the quarters. “Dancing stirs the appetite for some, you know.”

  Lily deliberately avoided looking at either her sister or Luc, but her inference was still clear to Kevin. “Maybe I’m counting on that, too. Start with ‘Moon River.”’

  “‘Moon River’?” Luc repeated, puzzled.

  “Slow number,” Kevin told him. He scooped up the quarters in one hand, dropping the rest of the change into his pocket. “One of Lily’s favorites.” He made eye contact with Luc, leaving. “Alison’s, too.”

  He looked at Alison. It seemed to him that the crowd around them was drawing back. He leaned in closer to her so he didn’t have to raise his voice to be heard. “I didn’t think you were the type to like old music.”

  She lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “I don’t mind it one way or the other. But that particular song reminds me of my dad.”

  He noticed that her eyes grew a little misty as she spoke.

  “He used to play it a lot. Said it was his and Mom’s favorite.” Blinking, she chased away the sadness and kept only the sweetness. “They danced to it at their wedding. When I hear it, I remember sitting on the floor in the den, coloring, while my dad worked on his lesson plan. Kevin said he was a hell of a teacher.” She sighed. “I don’t remember that part of it. I just remember ‘Moon River.”’ The music began to fill the room, reaching her above the pleasant din of voices in the background. Her eyes were stinging again. She looked away. “It always makes me feel a little sad to hear it now.”

  He wasn’t sure what to do, only that he didn’t want to add to her discomfort. “Would you like to dance or just sit this out?”