Murders & Romance, page 6
“Is it working?”
Bree was laid back on the chaise lounge, watching the show.
“Of course, it is. ’Cause Daddy’s got the magic touch, and she loves it when he raps for her.”
He crossed the room and slowly lowered the baby down into the bassinet situated next to the chaise lounge, and covered her up. Then he carefully slid onto the chaise next to his gorgeous wife.
“Did you ever think that maybe she goes to sleep when you start rapping just so that she can get away from it?”
Adam shot her a look that he hoped was a blend of surprise and hurt. He poured it on thick.
Bree giggled.
“Wow,” Adam said. “That was harsh, babe.”
All amusement left Bree’s face, replaced by shock and regret.
He had her.
“No, I’m just kidding. That was a really bad joke, honey. Isla loves it when her daddy raps to her.”
“She really does!” Adam insisted. “She loves it.”
“I know she does.” Bree grinned and patted his leg. “She loves her daddy.”
Adam smirked at her.
“Yeah, you better be nice to me. Otherwise, I might decide not to give you this.”
He pulled a small, square, Tiffany’s box from his pocket and Bree gasped.
“Adam! What is this?”
He handed it to her, and shrugged a shoulder as if it were no big deal.
“Just something I wanted the mother of my child to have.”
Bree looked at him with a wry grin.
“A push present? Really?” She made a face and said, “Are we those people?”
“Not so much a push present. More like a ‘you-are-the-most-amazing-woman-in-the-world-and-I’m-so-damn-lucky-you-love-me’ present.”
He watched tears spring to her eyes, and it startled him.
“Oh, Adam.”
“Those are good tears I hope.”
He wiped an escaped one from her cheek with his thumb.
She smiled at him. “Yes!”
“Good. Open it.”
She opened the box and softly gasped once more. The platinum and diamond bangle bracelet twinkled right on cue. Adam took the box from her and lifted the bracelet out.
“Are those charms?”
She reached out and studied them — a platinum heart, and a single perfect pearl.
Adam fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
“Yes. The heart is engraved with Isla’s name on the front and her birthdate on the back. See? And the other one, the pearl? Well, that’s her birthstone. I figure we can add more charms as Isla’s siblings come along.”
Bree laughed through her tears.
“Whoa. Slow down there, cowboy! Let my body recover from this one first, okay?”
“No pressure. Just sharing the plan, that’s all.”
Bree held out her arm, admiring the bracelet from all angles. Then she brought it to her chest, hugging it.
“Adam, it’s so beautiful! I love it; and I love you.”
“Woman, you got no idea how much I love you.”
He leaned in and kissed her. What was meant to be a sweet expression of his affection quickly became a blistering inferno as the kiss deepened and morphed into something near X-rated.
“How much longer are we supposed to wait?” he asked against her lips before kissing her again.
“You know the answer to that, doctor. Four more weeks.”
Her voice was throaty and sexy as hell, and Adam groaned.
“I’m not going to make it.”
“Well, maybe I can make things a little easier on you.”
He felt Bree’s hand run over the bulge in his pants, and he shuddered.
“Oh, my God. Don’t tease me.”
“Would I do that to you?”
She kissed his chin and unlatched the button of his jeans, reaching into his pants.
His cellphone rang just as she took hold of him.
“Aw, shit!”
Bree giggled, and then she pushed him away.
“Oh, make it stop before it wakes her!”
Adam grabbed his cellphone and silenced it. Then he looked at the screen and wanted to throttle the caller. He hit the answer button.
“You are seriously messing with my game, mutant! This better be good.”
“Well, hello to you too.”
Isaac couldn’t help the testy pitch in his tone, but that greeting hadn’t exactly been friendly.
“I’m sorry, but you have really lousy timing, bro,” Adam said.
“I can call back at a better time if that’d be more convenient for you.”
He knew his voice was dripping with annoyance, but he couldn’t help it. Then he sighed and backed down.
“Never mind. Just… I’m sorry. And sorry for interrupting. Go back to what you were doing.”
“No. Ike, wait!”
Now Adam sounded annoyed. And a little worried.
“What’s going on, man? You and Sidney okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
That sounded convincing, didn’t it? He took a breath and tried again.
“I just… you know what, it wasn’t important. Really.”
“Ike. Talk to me. You sound… I don’t know. Troubled. Where are you?”
Isaac huffed out a soft breath, and grinned.
“Don’t worry. I’m not planted on a bar stool, Adam. I’m sitting in my car in the PD’s parking lot, getting ready to head home.”
“And? How’s Sid doing?”
Isaac heard the concern in his big brother’s voice, and he appreciated it.
“She went back to work today.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it’s probably good for her to jump back into her routine, you know?”
“Yeah, that’s what she said too. But the sadness clings to her like a bad stench, and I don’t know what to do about it.”
He could hear Adam’s deep sigh over the phone.
“It’s only been a couple of days, Ike. Just give her some time. Bree and I haven’t been through it, but I’ve heard enough about miscarriage — both from the medical side and the civilian side — to know that it just takes time to get over. She’ll bounce back. You’ll see.”
“I know she will, Adam. It’s just hard to see her so down. I want to do something to put a smile back on her face. Only I’ve got no clue what that should be. And I guess I was just calling to ask for your advice is all.”
A long silence hung over the phone line between them.
“I’m honored you want my advice, bro.”
Adam sounded touched, and Isaac wondered why.
“Well, what the hell do I know about making a woman happy?”
Isaac rolled his eyes at that sad truth. Because of his huge freakdom — the hypersensitive psychic thing that plagued him with major touch issues — Sidney was the one and only woman he’d ever had in his life.
“Of course, I want your advice. She means everything to me, Adam. I don’t want to screw this up.”
“That woman loves you, Ike. You can’t mess this up. Just let her know that you’re there, and that she can come to you.”
Isaac’s gaze rolled up and over the header of his car. “She already knows that.”
“Of course, she does. But tell her again. Tell her every day. Show her.”
“Show her?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“By being there. By doing what you’re already doing, man. Making her feel special. Letting her know that you love her, and that she means the world to you. It’s like I already said, Ike. Sidney loves you. You’ve got this.”
Isaac sighed, but he didn’t respond. He didn’t think Adam was fully understanding his plight.
“You’ve got this,” Adam repeated, more forcefully.
“Yeah. Thanks for the pep talk, man.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Kiss my niece for me, will ya?”
“I’ll do that.”
Isaac ended the call and sighed. Again. Adam didn’t get it.
His Sidney was light and sunshine. Only now that light inside her had gone out, and Isaac was desperate to get it back.
He started up the car and slowly pulled out of the parking lot, thinking about his conversation with Adam. His big brother hadn’t really given him any advice he could use. Nothing helpful anyway.
“Show her!” Adam’s voice seemed to scream at him.
Hmm. Show her.
Show her what? Show her how?
His brain rolled those questions over and over in his mind.
Maybe Adam’s advice hadn’t been completely useless.
He drove home thinking up all the different ways that he could show Sidney how special she was to him.
By the time he got home, Isaac had a solid plan of attack.
Or, at least, he had sort of a plan. Do things to make her smile and show her how much she means to him.
Would that cheer her up? Maybe. Maybe not. But at least she would know how much he loved her.
He let himself into the house and was surprised when no kitten came to greet him at the door. In fact, the house was quiet.
“Sidney?”
“In here.”
He headed down the hall and found her in the home office at the computer, where the growing kitten sat on her lap pawing at the keyboard.
“Hey, darlin’.”
“Hi, baby.”
He bent down and kissed the top of her head.
“How was your day?”
“It was okay. Uneventful.”
“Yeah? I see you got some help at the keyboard there.”
Sidney grinned and scratched the kitten’s head.
“Yeah, I think he’s having fun.”
Isaac glanced at the screen and saw what looked like elementary level math problems.
“Whatcha doing?”
“One of the new residents at Hope House has a third-grader who needs some extra help with her math. So, I’m just looking for appropriate worksheets I can download to tutor her.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize tutoring the residents’ kids was part of your job description.”
“Well, it’s not really. I just offered to help. Might be fun.” She looked up at him. “What about you? How was your day?”
Isaac grunted. “A little disjointed. That 4 am call out had me yawning all day long.”
“I didn’t realize you’d gone that early. I didn’t even hear your phone ring. Guess I finally wore myself out crying.”
Her voice was soft, and she turned back to the computer.
Isaac ran the back of his finger down her cheek.
“Yeah, you did.”
Sidney clicked the mouse and the printer started up. When she stood, Alfred Hitchcock jumped from her lap and trotted away. She stepped closer to Isaac.
“Thank you.”
“For?”
“For holding me and letting me cry.”
Isaac wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “You’re welcome.” He planted a soft kiss on her lips.
“Dinner is in the oven. Should be just a few more minutes.”
“Okay.”
He kissed her forehead and then left the room. He put away his gun and changed out of his work clothes and into a pair of old sweats and a ratty old Cleveland Indians t-shirt that had definitely seen better days. Then he joined her in the kitchen.
“Want to set the table while I throw together a salad?”
“Sure.”
He carried plates and flatware to the dining table, and when they finally sat down to eat Isaac looked at the dish she’d placed in the center of the table.
“I don’t know what that is, but it smells delicious.”
Sidney grinned at him.
“It’s a homemade chicken pot pie. Well, semi-homemade. I didn’t have time to make my own crust. Don’t tell Bree! It’s her recipe.”
Isaac chuckled. He and Adam loved how close the two women had gotten.
“Well, it looks good to me, so I won’t tell her a thing.”
He dished up his plate with an overly generous portion and took a bite.
“Mm, mmm. Wow. That’s really good.”
Sidney smiled and took a bite.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, and Isaac wondered how to set his plan in motion.
“So, how’s Zoe doing?”
“Good,” Sidney nodded. “She seems to have made a full recovery. No lasting ill-effects of her run-in with the butt of that maniac’s gun.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
“She leaned pretty heavy on me today about the reason for my two-day absence.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Sidney nodded.
“Did you tell her?”
She looked down at her plate and silently shook her head.
“I just didn’t want to get into it. It feels so personal right now. Like a piece of my soul. I don’t want to hand that out to just anyone.”
Her voice was soft and so full of pain, and Isaac just wanted to hold her. He reached out and placed his hand over hers.
“Hey. You don’t have to tell anyone ever if you don’t want to. If you feel like you need to protect it, and hide it in your heart forever, then you do that. You don’t owe anybody an explanation. Okay?”
Sidney looked up and met his gaze.
“I love you.”
Isaac brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
“Right back atcha, darlin’.”
They turned back to their dinner, although he noticed that Sidney did more pushing food around her plate than actual eating.
“Did you tell anyone at work?”
Her question surprised him, but part of him was glad that she wanted to talk about it. He nodded and looked at her.
“I had a session with Dr. Newman today over the Lullaby Killer shooting. I mentioned it to him.”
“He’s the department psychotherapist, right?”
“That’s right. I had to meet with him since shooting Jeffery Schiffer in that take down a few weeks ago.”
“Did it help?” Sidney asked, after a small pause. “Talking about the miscarriage?”
Isaac looked into her eyes.
“Actually, I think it did.”
She nodded and looked down at her plate again.
“Darlin’, I’m not suggesting you need to seek out a therapist, or even a grief counselor. But maybe just talking about it with a friend might help. Bree, or Jada. Maybe even talking to your brother, Simon.”
She closed her eyes, saying nothing.
“Just something to consider, okay?” Isaac said softly.
Sidney nodded and took a deep breath. Then she took a sip of her water, and Isaac knew he had to do something to steer this conversation in another direction. A better direction.
“Hey, I’ve been wondering…”
Isaac paused and repositioned in his chair. Why did asking this question make him unreasonably nervous?
“I mean… I don’t want to rush you or anything, but I just thought maybe we could um… well, if you wanted to, I mean…”
“Isaac?” Sidney’s tone was cautious, and she placed a hand on his wrist, making his skin tingle. “Whatever it is, just spit it out.”
Isaac took a breath, buoyed by her touch.
“Well, I was thinking maybe we could, you know, talk about… dates.”
“Dates?”
The confusion in her voice was mirrored in her eyes, and Isaac licked his lips before trying again.
“Yeah. Wedding dates.”
Her eyes lit up, and his nerves throttled back from danger mode.
“Oh! Dates.”
Isaac grinned. “Yeah. Dates.”
“Hmm. Well, you know, I have been thinking about that.”
She ran a single finger over the back of his hand and up his forearm, and that tingle zipped through his body and connected with his dick. He repositioned on his chair once more, for an entirely different reason.
“Really?” It was the only word he could get out.
“Um hmm,” Sidney hummed in response.
Isaac quietly cleared his throat.
“Feel like sharing any of those thoughts with me?”
The question was met with a slender probing foot sliding up his leg beneath the table in a sexy caress. His mind clouded, like fog rolling in off Lake Erie.
Was she purposely trying to get him worked up? Deliberately teasing him when she knew he couldn’t do anything about it?
Her foot rose higher, drifting up his inner thigh. Isaac pushed his empty plate away and leaned in closer, putting his elbows on the table and watching Sidney’s luscious lips as she spoke.
“Well, I was thinking that I don’t really want to wait a long time. I’d rather do it sooner than later.”
“Oh, I like that idea a whole lot.”
“Do you?”
“Hell yes. In fact, I’m all for flying to Vegas this weekend.”
Sidney laughed, and the timbre of it lit up the night for Isaac. He smiled hard, bathing in the richness of the sound.
“That’s a little sooner than I was thinking,” Sidney said with a smile.
“Ah. Can’t blame a man for trying.” Isaac reached out and touched her bouncy curls. “So, when were you thinking?”
“Well, ideally I’d like to say Spring. That would give us enough time to plan. But that’s nearly a year away and I don’t want to wait that long. On the other hand, I don’t need some elaborately planned church wedding with all the trimmings either. I had that the last time, and look how that turned out. There’s a lot to think about. I just don’t know.”
“Hmm.” Isaac could sense her uncertainty and he needed to resume his mission to put a smile on her face and chase away her sadness. He stood and walked over to the radio. “Well, just keep Vegas in mind while you’re deciding, okay?”
He turned on the radio, which was always tuned to their favorite R&B oldies station, and turned up the volume.
“What are you doing?”
Playful suspicion crinkled the corners of her eyes, and Isaac held out his hand to her.
“Asking you to dance.”
She smiled up at him.
“You’re volunteering to dance?”
Isaac grinned and nodded.
“But you don’t like to dance, Ike.”
