The Last Bride (DiCarlo Brides #6) (19 page)

It had been bad enough sitting in his mom’s hospital room all night and most of the day feeling completely useless. This wasn’t any better.

Jonquil rose and walked over to him, putting a hand on his arm. “It can’t hurt, can it?”

His hand fisted, then released. “No, it can’t hurt.” All it could do was waste his time, but he had the money, or he was supposed to have the money by the next day, and he hadn’t heard from the kidnappers yet, so all he could do was wait. Talking with the detective was more constructive than staring at the wall, in any case. “Tell him to come over.”

“Great.”

“We’ll have a family meeting at the house afterward,” Sage said.

“Why would you all hold a family meeting for me?” Gage asked. “I’m not your family.”

Sage walked over, her dark gypsy eyes sparkling as she glanced pointedly at Jonquil and then back at him. “That’s what you think.” She moved up to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “I know congratulations are a little premature, but I’ll give them anyway.”

Jonquil crossed her arms over her chest. “Very cute.”

“Are you getting jealous of your older sister now?” Gage teased though he was a little freaked that Sage thought they were going to end up married or something.

“Are you kidding?” Jonquil asked. “If you even looked at Sage with slight interest in your eyes Joel would probably rearrange your entire body. I don’t think you’re that stupid.”

“Not even close,” Gage agreed.

“Good to hear it,” Joel said, deadpan.

Sage just laughed and set her hand on her pregnant belly.

“Call the detective,” Gage said. Sage was a beautiful woman, but she never held a tenth the fascination for him that he felt for Jonquil. And the fact that Joel was a trained Navy SEAL who would do whatever it took to protect his wife would be incentive enough for
any
man to leave her alone.

Detective Carlson had worked on some of the DiCarlo family cases, so Gage knew Joel was familiar with him. Though Gage had lived in town his whole life, he’d never had a reason to get to know him. Now he wished they had been at least passing acquaintances.

Sage joined Jonquil in the kitchen while the men sat in the living room going over everything Gage knew or thought he might know. He answered every question at least three times and felt like he was being interrogated, as if they thought he was responsible for everything. His hands fisted on his lap as he tried to keep his frustration and exhaustion from making him react harshly to the questioning.

“Are you looking to arrest me?” he finally asked when his temper had reached its breaking point.

“No, you’re not a suspect,” the detective said. “We know your alibis are good, I’m just hoping you’ll think of something new if we ask the questions in a different way.”

“Well, it’s not working.” Gage huffed and covered his face with his hands. “Sorry. I’ve had less than four hours of sleep in the past thirty-six. My mom’s in the hospital, my sister is missing and I just need to sleep before I fall over.”

“It’s a stressful time. I know that.” The detective closed his notebook and stood. “You did well, by the way. I’ll call if I have any other questions that come to mind.”

“Thanks. I appreciate your time and attention on this.” Mostly Gage just wanted to fall into bed and forget everything for the rest of the night, but he knew he couldn’t do that with the family meeting ahead of him.

He heard the vacuum turn off but it took him a moment to realize one of the girls had been in his room upstairs. Vacuuming. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten around to that and wondered what else the ladies had been up to.

Joel saw the detective out the door and Gage headed through the sparkling kitchen and up the stairs to the bedroom, which hosted a perfectly made bed, dusted dressers and tables and vacuumed floors. The bathroom shone and even his make-shift office looked good. These women were cleaning demons. He found Sage scrubbing the sink in the spare bath and Jonquil scrubbing out the tub. He watched them for a moment, touched and a little embarrassed.

“You didn’t have to clean my place for me. I mean, thanks, I appreciate it, but you didn’t have to.”

“Of course we didn’t, but when things are stressful, it’s nice to have a clean home to come back to,” Sage said. “And we thought you deserved to have someone take care of you for a change instead of the other way around.”

He blinked for a moment, not knowing what to think. Too tired to process, anyway. “Well, thanks.”

Sage smiled as she took a final swipe across the faucet, making it shine. She moved past him, down the stairs to join her husband as the front door shut.

Gage looked at Jonquil, wondering how he ended up dating someone like her. “You know I don’t expect my girlfriends to cook and clean for me. I’m not complaining, but it’s not why I want you around.”

She straightened, and, holding her wet and soapy arms away from both of them, she leaned in and kissed him. “If it were, I wouldn’t be here taking care of it.”

He set his hands on either shoulder and kissed her back. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She moved off to finish with the tub.

Gage shook his head, wondering how he got so lucky.

Jonquil was exhausted. She’d had only a few hours to rest in the uncomfortable waiting room chair the previous night and she’d kept busy moving and stayed awake since getting to Gage’s house that evening. The family meeting at the house was great for raising her spirits if all you need is a big go-team, but it wasn’t otherwise productive, and left her ready to drop. At least Alex would be there in the morning with most of the money for the ransom, and the rest had been arranged from the local banks.

Beyond ready for bed, Jonquil was grateful when Gage leaned over, nudging her a little. “You look ready to pass out. If you’ve reached your limit and want to get some sleep, that’s okay.”

She had been fighting to keep her eyes open. “That’s probably a good idea. I’m a little worn out.” She stood. “You’ve got to be worse.”

He followed suit. “I’ll just walk you down.”

Jonquil was happy with that suggestion, as she’d love a goodnight kiss. There were still too many of her sisters sitting around to do it in the living room. She said goodnight to everyone else and he helped her down the stairs to her room.

“You look as tired as I feel,” he said.

“I feel as tired as you look.” She smiled and slid her arms around his neck.

He pulled her into a hug. “Thanks for coming with me to Denver, for spending your evening cleaning up and feeding me and just generally taking care of me. I know you had work and everything you had to rearrange.”

She leaned away from him, her heart breaking at the exhaustion on his face. “I’m glad I could be there for you. Try to get some sleep tonight and call me before you leave for Denver tomorrow.”

“You’re
not
coming back with me again,” he said as if he couldn’t believe it. “What about your work?”

She sighed, thinking of everything she still needed to do. “You’re right. I really have to stay for work tomorrow, but call me anyway, okay?” She pressed a soft, lingering kiss on his mouth. “Sleep well.”

“I hope so.” Regretfully, he released her and Jonquil went in to her room. A moment later she heard a chorus of goodbyes and the front door closed.

As Jonquil dressed for bed, she thought about how their relationship had changed from being just friends—or at least
saying
that’s what they were—to something distinctly more in just a few days’ time. He said he wanted no part of dating or marrying her—not that she was ready to jump into marriage anyway—but if he’d changed his mind about dating, could the other part come eventually too? Assuming things continued to go well for them.

She considered what it would do to her if she got even more attached and he didn’t change his mind. Could she convince him that he couldn’t live without her? She didn’t know, but decided to worry about it another time. When her brain was working. She set her alarm to wake her early and drifted off to sleep, knowing the next day would be busy.

Jonquil dragged herself out of bed at six a.m. She could really use an hour in the exercise room across the hall, but made herself take a shower and head into work instead. She had a ton of work to take care of.

She was on her second cup of coffee and her third bouquet when Lana came into the floral center, her baby boy, Ash snuggled over one shoulder. “You’re up? I wasn’t sure you’d make it in before ten.”

“I had too much to do today.” Jonquil yawned and wondered if the coffee would be enough to keep her moving. Seven hours of sleep had not been enough. “I take it Ash rises with the sun?”

“Yeah, he’s better than an alarm clock, and he doesn’t want to be put down.”

Jonquil stood. “Can I snuggle him for a few minutes? I haven’t made it up to your place for a while.” Her nephew was barely a month old and she usually visited for at least a few minutes every day. She loved babies.

When Lana handed her son over, Jonquil snuggled him close, breathing in the fresh scents of baby powder and diaper cream. “I swear he’s grown in the past three days.”

“Not that much, I hope,” Lana said with a laugh.

“Is he letting you get any work done? He seems like a greedy Gus who wants to be held a lot.” Jonquil touched his tiny cheeks and nose with the tip of her finger, smoothing down a wisp of hair and adjusting the blanket around his sleepy form.

“Blake takes him sometimes so I can work, and there seems to be plenty of auntie love to go around.” Lana sat in a chair, looking tired. “Still, nap time is nice.” She brushed the auburn hair from her eyes. “And how are you doing?”

“Are you asking as my boss or as my sister?” Jonquil asked, glad the rest of her crew wasn’t scheduled to come in for another twenty minutes. “It looks like we’re ready for the wedding tomorrow. The supplies are supposed to arrive this morning. I’m working on timecards next so Harrison can get checks cut and the rest of the paperwork can wait until things settle down again.”

“There are only two days to get everything together for the money drop for Natalie. Gage seemed really on edge last night.”

“Can you blame him? If it were just his mom, it would be bad enough, but having Natalie abducted at the same time? Honestly I don’t know how he’s managing to stay in one piece.” It was why Jonquil wished she were going back to the hospital with him again that day. She couldn’t stand the thought of him having to face it alone.

“It helps when you have friends,” Lana said. “Speaking of which, you two seem rather more chummy than I expected.” Her eyebrows curved.

“We’re good chums now.” Jonquil focused all of her attention on Ash, glad for an excuse not to look Lana in the eye. “That often happens when you go climbing together—you have to be able to trust the other person so you develop a friendship.” She would leave the private dinners and the kisses out of it.

“He’s a good guy. Not as extroverted as some of the guys in our group, but I like him.”

Jonquil felt the pressure of Lana’s unspoken question. It wasn’t like anyone missed the way Gage held her hand last night, or the fact that he walked her down to her door. All things considered, she should be grateful her sisters weren’t all standing there demanding a relationship update. They were usually nosy like that. “I like him too.” She smiled when Ash sighed a little in his sleep. “So, what’s the word from corporate? Anything interesting? When is Alex supposed to arrive?”

Lana’s expression turned arch, but she let the change of subject happen. “Alex will be here in a few hours. He sent a text when he got on the plane to say he had the money.”

“Good. Tell him I’ll fill out any necessary paperwork tonight.” Jonquil was grateful for the reprieve and even more glad when Lana left a few minutes later, even though it meant she took her son with her, so Jonquil could get work done before Gage called. Maybe she would even finish the bride’s bouquet.