Nearly Departed (Spring Cleaning Mysteries) (29 page)

"
You don't need an invitation," I admitted grudgingly. "Mom has an open door policy. Anyone can just show up."

"
Good, then it's settled. We'll take the van. It's probably not the best idea to leave it here unattended after the whole tire thing."

"
Are you going to do that all evening?" I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

"
Do what?"

"
Tell me what to do. First you tell me to bring you to dinner. Now you're telling me I've got to take the van."

Smoke frowned.
"You are just itching for a fight aren't you?"

"
I'm tired, and I really just want to be alone," I said.

"
I won't tell you what to do," Smoke declared solemnly. "And I'll do my best not to piss you off during dinner."

True to his word, Smoke was on his best behavior, funny, charming, and deflecting all of my mom
's annoying questions, all through dinner. He didn't ask for clarification when Grandma called me Maureen and Mom testily corrected her. He even managed to pretend that Grandma's outrageous flirting was flattering. I found myself having a better time than I'd anticipated. He really was a charming dinner companion.

It was dessert when things went to hell.

As my father eyed the fat-free oatmeal cookies Mom had brought to the table, he said to Smoke, "We're so happy that Vicky has found her niche in life. For a while there we were worried she'd never find her way."

"
Her niche?" Smoked asked.

Something in his tone made the bottom of my stomach drop out.

Dad nodded enthusiastically. "She's found her life's work with Spring Cleaning."

Raising his eyebrows, Smoke swiveled in his seat so that he was facing me.
"Is that so?"

I swallowed hard. This was my chance. I could come clean about how much I despised the business. I took a deep breath.

"After all that's happened," Mom interjected, "it's so nice to have her at a stable place in her life."

Stuck was more like it.

"
We were worried about her when she broke up with her fiancee and quit her last job. We were so very fond of Raymond. Did I tell you we ran into him yesterday?" Mom put a pair of cookies on a plate and handed it to me

I shook my head, not trusting myself to answer aloud
. I'd decided long ago not to tell them the truth about their former almost-son-in-law. My hand trembled slightly as I took the plate.

"
He asked after you," Mom continued, oblivious of my distress.

I could feel Smoke watching me. I kept my eyes on my plate.

"He's running for Councilman you know," Dad interjected.

"
Raymond Kerr?" Smoke asked quietly.

"
Yes," Mom confirmed. "Do you know him?"

"
We've met." Smoke's tone was flat.

I snuck a quick glance in his direction, which was a mistake. His blue, probing gaz
e was locked on me. I looked away, picked up a cookie, and bit it. It tasted like sawdust. I closed my eyes.

"
He even asked if we thought you'd like to work for him," Dad continued, oblivious of the chill that settled in the room. "But I assured him you were too busy making Jerry's dream a thriving reality."

I couldn
't tell them the truth about Raymond or the business. It would break their hearts.

I opened my eyes just in time to see the displeasure in Smoke
's.

I knew he was disappointed, but he managed not to voice it until we were back in the van, and had pulled out of my parents
' driveway.

"
I can't believe you didn't tell them," Smoke said. "I gave you the perfect opening. All you had to say was, 'I gave it a try, and it's not for me.' You could have walked away from the job you hate."

"
It's not that simple."

"
Why not? Do you really think they're more interested in the legacy of their son, who's probably dead, than the well-being of their daughter?"

I slammed on the brakes so hard that the tires burned, enveloping the van in a cloud of acrid, melted-rubber smoke.
"Don't say that! Don't you ever say that!"

"
What? That chances are your brother is dead? Why? You think it's healthy to go around pretending he's going to pop up, and everything will be back to being the way it was?"

I jumped out of the van, not caring which house I left it in front of and stalked away.

Smoke caught up immediately, practically nipping at my heels like a little yappy dog.

I spun around, causing him to come up short to keep from barreling into me.

"I know he's probably dead." I poked a finger into his chest to emphasize my point. "Despite what you seem to think, I've accepted that, but the last time I tried to broach the subject with my dad, he had a heart attack. So excuse me if I'd rather keep up the macabre charade than have my mother face the loss of the two most important people in the world to her."

W
e stood there in the middle of a quiet suburban street, me practically foaming at the mouth, him watching me with an unnerving stillness. "You're just as important to her as they are. If she knew—"

I turned away from him, an ache crushing my chest.

"Is that why you didn't tell them about Kerr? Because you were afraid they couldn't handle it?" Smoke asked softly. He walked around me so that he could see my face.

Refusing to meet his eyes, I stared at a distant streetlight.
"I don't know what you're talking about."

"
Liar. Just the mention of his name frightened you."

Shaking my head, I clamped my lips together to stop their trembling.

"What did he do to hurt you so badly?"

"
Nothing." Nothing I'd shared with another living soul.

"
You broke up with the guy and quit your job over nothing?"

"
It would have been awkward to continue working together."

"
Yeah," Smoke said, disgust dripping from every syllable. "That sounds just like the kind of story Kerr would spin."

A long silence stretched between us.

He just stood there, watching me. I risked a glance at his face. Pity shimmered in his eyes.

I didn
't need his pity. I didn't need him trying to figure out secrets I hadn't told anyone. I didn't need him telling me what to do. I didn't need him.

"
I don't get why you're protecting him, Victoria."

"
You're fired!" I shouted.

Caught off guard, he blinked at me.

"I told you I'd fire you the next time you called me that. I'll give you a month's pay and a kickass letter of recommendation, but I never want to see you again."

I expected him to get mad. I expected him to argue. Hell, I wanted him to fight with me, to have the excuse to blow off some of the rage at how unfair life was that was churning in my gut, eating me alive.

Instead he raised his hands defensively. "If that's what you want."

I watched in amazement as he turned around and calmly strolled back to the van as though a crazy woman hadn
't just screamed at him like an indignant banshee. He opened the driver's door, reached in, and removed the key from where I'd left it in the ignition.

"
What are you doing?" My voice was shrill enough to shatter glass.

"
I'm going to call Mike and have him drive you home." He turned back to face me, his expression deliberately bland.

"
No, you're not."

As I rushed toward him, he slipped the key into the front pocket of his jeans and leaned back against the van.
"Would you rather I call your…rather I call Ruth and Artie?"

"
I'd rather you not call anybody. Give me my key."

"
You're in no condition to drive."

"
So what?" I knew it was a childish response, but there was no way to take it back, so I just stood there glaring at him with my face burning and my heart thundering in my ears.

He cocked his head to the side.
"I wouldn't want you to get hurt because I upset you."

"
I'm not upset."

He raised his eyebrows.

"Why do you even care about any of this?"

"
Because I know what it's like to be trapped in a life you didn't choose for yourself," he said quietly, pulling his phone out of his other pocket. "Who should it be? Mike or your folks?"

"
Don't you dare!"

"
I'd be happy to call someone else for you. Venus, maybe?"

I made a wild grab for the key.

My fingers had barely skimmed the denim when he caught my wrist and spun me around, so that it was my back against the van. Using his other hand, he cradled the back of my head, making sure it didn't bounce off the metal panel.

I blinked up at him
, surprised and unable to figure out how he'd managed to maneuver me so quickly without causing any pain. I tried to push him away with my free hand, but he didn't budge.

"
What are you doing?" He stood so close his breath tickled my cheek.

It occurred to me that this was the most contact I
'd had with a living person who wasn't a relative or a friend from grammar school in a long time. "I…I'm trying to get my key." I tried to twist my wrist free of his grasp, but it was firm.

"
You don't strike me as the type of woman who makes a habit of going around grabbing at a man."

I looked away, focusing on a house at the end of the street. I couldn
't tell if the rasp in his voice was aggravation or flirting. I hadn't felt like a woman of any kind in a long time, a doting daughter and a worker bee, but not a woman.

Standing so close I was suddenly…uncomfortably aware that I was a woman. My cheeks flushed with prickly heat.

The hand that had been behind my head stroked over my ear, down my cheek and to my chin, where it exerted just enough pressure to force me to look at him.

"
I…I…" I ducked my head to escape the searching blue gaze that seemed to read me as easily as a picture book.

Smoke lowered his head so that his breath caressed my ear.
"Let me drive you home."

Nodding my agreement, my eyes drifted closed
, delighting in the sensation. I'd forgotten how nice it could feel to be so close to someone.

"
Then you'll never have to see me again."

True to his word, Smoke drove me home, got out of the van, and walked out of my life, without so much as a
see you around.

The enormity of what I
'd done hit me the moment he was out of sight. I'd just fired the best employee I'd ever had for no good reason, all because he'd made me uncomfortable by giving a damn about my well-being. I had the urge to chase after him and beg him to come back. Instead, I waded deep into the garage and started tossing supplies around like a madwoman. I didn't care about the mess I was making, I just needed an outlet for my frustration. "I hate this job! I hate it! Hate it! Hate it!"

"
Then why do it?"

The words drifted toward me from the entrance of the garage.

I whirled around to find Smoke standing there, arms folded across the chest, surveying the damage I'd done.

"
What are you doing here?"

"
Forgot my phone in the van."

I stood there, chest heaving from my temper-tantrum, willing him to walk away. He didn
't. He just stood there, watching, waiting.

"
Come out of there before you hurt yourself, Tori."

"
There you go, telling me what to do again," I replied weakly.

A ghost of a smile flit
ted across his lips. "I'm not forcing you to do anything. Your parents aren't forcing you to do a job you hate. It's all—"

"
I don't have a choice!" I interrupted.

"
Sure you do."

"You don't understand," I whispered around the painful lump in my throat that threatened to cut off my air supply. Suddenly devoid of the adrenaline that had fueled my outburst, I swayed unsteadily on my feet. I looked down at the floor to hide the tears threatening to spill down my cheeks.

"
Then explain it to me," He stalked through the garage until he was right in front of me. He cupped his hands around my shoulders. "Please."