Thirty-One and a Half Regrets (36 page)

“See, Rose? You don’t want to shoot me.” He was four feet in front of me now, reaching out his hand. “Just give me the gun.”

“Don’t listen to him, Rose,” Mason grunted. “No one will ever press charges.”

Changing tactics, Dimler dropped to his knees and put Mason in a chokehold, positioning his body behind Mason’s. “Put down the gun or I’ll strangle him.”

My hands shook.

“Just put it down and we’ll have a reasonable discussion.”

Mason’s face was turning red.

“You’d kill your own friend?” I asked in disbelief.

“He’s the one who turned his back on me.” Jeff cocked his head to look at me. “I’m guessing you’re not a good enough shot to make sure you miss Mason.”

“No,” Joe said, his words slurred. “But I am.”

A gunshot rang out and Dimler slumped to the ground with a groan, blood seeping from his right shoulder.

Mason hunched forward, gasping for air.

My gaze turned to Joe, who was propped up on his left elbow, the gun in his right hand still pointed at the deputy.

I ran to Mason first, setting my gun on the floor beside him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” His voice was hoarse. “Check on Joe and call the state police with his cell phone.” He picked up my gun and pointed it at the still-moving chief deputy.

I rushed over to Joe and sat next to him, fear washing over me at the sight of his bloody and swollen face. “Joe.” I choked down tears. “Are you okay?”

He forced open a swollen eye and pushed himself into a sitting position, grunting in the process. “Never been better, darlin’.” His familiar term of endearment made me cry harder. “Hey.” He covered my hand with his, exposing his bloody and swollen knuckles. “Don’t cry. I’ve been worse.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Help me get up, and I’ll go outside and call the state police. I’ll get better reception out there.” Joe glanced at Mason, who had scooted back toward the kitchen.

Mason nodded at him. “I’ll keep an eye on these two, although I don’t think Crocker is going anywhere.”

Crocker lay sprawled on the floor, his shirt soaked with blood. His eyes were open, his face expressionless.

“I killed him,” I said, my body swaying with the realization.

“Get her out of here.” Mason barked.

Joe climbed unsteadily to his feet and reached a hand toward me. “Come on, darlin’. Let’s get you some fresh air.”

I took his hand, being careful of his knuckles, and he pulled me out the door and into the front yard. He led me to a wrought iron and wood slat bench under a tree. “Head between your knees,” he said after I sat. “Just like the night we first met.”

I lowered my head and took in deep gulps of air.

He sat down next to me, rubbing my back in slow, soft circles. “You didn’t have a choice, Rose. You saved my life. Thank you.”

I sat up, tears streaming down my face. “I couldn’t let him kill you.”

He winked—or tried to with his swollen eye. “I appreciate that.”

I took a deep breath.

“Can you get my cell phone out of my pants pocket?” he said. “I’d get it myself but…” He held up his bloody hand.

I nodded.

He stood and moved in front of me. I reached into his right pocket and pulled his phone out. The familiarity of knowing which pocket he kept his cell phone in made me uncomfortable, as well as the intimate contact. I held it out to him without comment.

Joe sat down and called Brian, his good friend in the state police department, filling him in on what had happened.

When he hung up, he handed me the phone and I held it in my lap.

We sat in silence for several moments.

“You came,” I whispered. “Even when I was ugly and told you not to.”

“Of course I did, Rose,” he said, his voice husky. “How could I not? I don’t care where you are or who you’re with. I’ll always come if you ever need me.”

“Thank you.” I started crying again.

His stared into my eyes and lifted a hand to my cheek. “I love you, Rose. And I always will.”

While I knew he meant it, I couldn’t trust him to stay. Hilary had sunk her claws in too deeply years before we ever met. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t do this now. Especially after everything I’d shared with Mason. “Joe. Don’t.”

Sirens blared in the distance.

“I have to.” His hand slipped into my hair, pulling my face closer to his until only a foot separated us. “I’m going to figure out a way to prove my father’s evidence is falsified, and I’m going to quit the senate race. You mean more to me than anything in my entire life ever has.”

“Joe.” I shook my head sadly. “We’re done.”

“No!” He became more insistent. “We’re
not
. We only broke up because of my father. If I fix this, then he won’t be an issue. Everything will be fixed.”

“No, it
won’t
. Everything won’t be fixed. There will always be Hilary.”

“I’ll break up with her!”

“How many times have you broken up with her? Every single time you go back. We’ve been broken up for just over a month and you ran back to her after two weeks or less.”

“That’s not fair, Rose. You’re with Mason now!”

“The key difference is that Hilary is toxic and Mason is anything but.” I swallowed. “Mason encourages me to grow and face my past. He believes I can face the hard things. He respects me and my opinions and treats me as an equal.”

“Are you saying I don’t?”

“Joe—” I turned to face him “—you see me as the innocent naïve woman you met months ago. Mason sees me for the person I am now.”

He started to protest.

“No.” I curled my hand around his neck, the act itself feeling intimate and familiar. “You can’t help it. You were always upset by how Violet wanted to protect me from the world, but
you
tried to protect me from it too. You always put limits on what you thought I could do. Mason doesn’t do that. He encourages me to try things myself.”

“Do you really expect me to be okay with you dating him?” he asked in disbelief.

I didn’t point out that he’d moved on first. Instead, I swallowed the new lump in my throat and lowered my voice. “Part of me will always love you, Joe. But we’re done. I’ve moved on. I just hope that you’ll stop running back to Hilary someday. You deserve better.” I stood. “I hope you have a happy life, Joe. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

I started to walk away, but he snagged my wrist and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his cheek to my abdomen. “You’re what I’m looking for, what I’ve always been looking for.”

My fingers threaded through his hair out of instinct. I pulled them out and cupped his head, trying to keep from sobbing. “Then I hope you find something else.”

Police and sheriff cars pulled up in front of the house, and officers started to pour out of their cars. Several ambulances followed behind, their sirens on and lights flashing.

Joe stood and turned to look at me, tears in his eyes. “I’ll figure out a way to fix this.” Then he left to tell the officers what had happened.

I went back inside the house. Mason’s eyes filled with worry when he saw me. “Rose, go back outside.”

Several state policemen pushed past me and one of them grabbed my arm. “Miss, you need to wait outside. This is a crime scene.”

Yeah, this was
my
crime scene.

But Mason nodded and motioned for me to leave.

I went outside and sat back down on the bench, watching the commotion in a daze. A state police officer sat down and began to take my statement. Part way through, the paramedics rolled the chief deputy’s gurney out and lifted it into the first ambulance. Several minutes later, another paramedic came out with Mason’s. I jumped up and ran over to him, grabbing his hand as they wheeled him to the ambulance.

“Mason, I’m coming with you.”

The paramedic at the head of his gurney shook her head. “I’m sorry. Only the patient is allowed in the back.”

Mason’s grip tightened on mine and he glanced up at the woman and said, “Maggie, either she comes with me in the back or I’m getting off this gurney.”

“Mr. Deveraux,” Maggie protested, shooting me a glare. “You need medical attention.”

“Then let Rose ride with me.”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me. “It goes against protocol.”

Mason reached for the buckle of the strap securing him to the bed. “Then stop and let me off.”

The paramedics stopped and Maggie tried to push Mason back down. “You can’t even walk on that leg.”

“If you think I’m getting in this ambulance without her, you’ve got another think coming. It will be days before I let her out of my sight.”

Maggie moved to the side of the gurney, glaring at me. “If you cared anything about him at all, you wouldn’t interfere with his medical care.”

The other paramedic motioned Maggie to the side and they got into a heated conversation.

I glanced over my shoulder at them and then back to Mason. “Another member of the Mrs. Mason Deveraux hopefuls?”

He grimaced.

“Why do I think that dating you is going to make me the enemy of half the Fenton County female population?”

Mason winked. “Since when did you back down from a challenge?”

“You’re not really going to refuse to ride in the ambulance if I can’t come with you, are you?”

He grinned. “You’re damn right I am. I almost always get my way.”

Laughing, I shook my head, then leaned down to kiss him, letting my lips linger on his. “Well, then you’ve met your match, mister.”

The paramedics wandered back and Maggie didn’t look at all happy. “We’ll bend the rules this time for you, Mr. Deveraux.”

Mason shot me an
I told you so
grin before they rolled his cart into the ambulance. I climbed in after him, shaking my head. For the whole ride, Maggie fussed over him, pretending I wasn’t there and that we weren’t holding hands, flirting up a storm.

After we arrived at the hospital, the staff got Mason settled into an exam room in the ER, and I took the seat next to his bed, shaking my head. “I remember this happening a little over a month ago. Only I was the one in the bed.”

The corners of his mouth tilted up. “We shouldn’t make a habit of this.”

“Deal.”

I laid my head against his arm.

“Joe still loves you,” Mason whispered in my ear.

“I know,” I whispered back.

He was quiet for a moment. “You know that I want you to be happy, Rose.”

My head popped up. “What does that mean?”

“It means I don’t want you to feel obligated to be with me. I know you didn’t want to break up with him.”

I leaned down to kiss him. He reached behind my head, holding me in place as he kissed me back more thoroughly.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily. I’m exactly where I want to be, Mason.” I looked around and rolled my eyes. “Well, maybe not in this room, but with you.”

His serious eyes searched mine. “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

He kissed me for several minutes more, until a nurse cleared her throat. “Okay, love birds. There are enough rumors flying around about you without adding fuel to the fire.”

I lifted my head, blushing.

“And what rumors would those be?” Mason asked good-naturedly.

“That you’re madly in love.”

“That was fast,” I joked and turned to look at Mason. But the expression on his face told me it was true. Mason was in love with me. He probably had been for months.

Mason’s arm tightened around my waist.

“Well, you two will have to live without each other for a few minutes while I take Mr. Deveraux to x-ray.” She headed for the door. “And I take it he’ll be going home with you, Ms. Gardner?”

Mason looked uncomfortable, but I smiled softly at him. “Yes.”

The nurse left and Mason grabbed my hand. “Rose, that’s not necessary. I’m sure my mom will come and help.”

“Good. Do you think she’d mind helping us move into the farmhouse?”

“What?”

“I meant what I said earlier. I’ve decided to move into the farmhouse. And since you don’t have anywhere to live, I want you to stay with me.”

His mouth opened and he hesitated.

“It doesn’t have to be permanent, Mason. You can come and stay while you’re recovering, or until you get a new place to live. But I want you to come with me. It feels right with you there. Like home.”

“Rose… I don’t know what to say.”

“Then just say yes.”

He smiled, happiness radiating from his face. “Yes.”

Then I kissed him to seal the deal.

Two weeks later, I parked my truck behind Bruce Wayne’s beat-up Pinto in front of Mary Louise’s house. I climbed out and cinched the belt on my coat as I picked my way across the yard in heeled boots.

Bruce Wayne was in the backyard, bent over his shovel as he started to dig Mary Louise’s new garden pond. The oval shape was spray-painted in the grass and he tossed a scoop of dirt onto the canvas tarp next to it.

“How’s it goin’?” I asked.

Bruce Wayne looked up. “I thought you were going by the hospital, Miss Rose.”

“I am, but I wanted to stop and check on you first.”

He stopped digging and leaned on his shovel, giving me a sheepish grin. “I already promised I wouldn’t run off again. You don’t need to keep checking on me twice a day.”

“Yeah, well, you promised me that once before and you up and did it again.”

His gaze shifted to the dirt pile as he shuffled his feet. “I already told you that I did it for you.”

“I know. And thank you.” I spanned the distance between us and pulled him into a hug. He remained stiff for a second then his back softened a bit.

“It was nothin’,” he murmured as he pushed me away.

“Going undercover on your own to spy on Daniel Crocker to protect me? I wouldn’t call that
nothin’
. You put yourself in danger, Bruce Wayne.”

He looked into my eyes. It was one of the rare instances of direct eye contact I’d experienced with him. “Friends look out for each other.” He looked away and swallowed. “You taught me that.”