You're Busting My Nuptials (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 2) (24 page)

“If we’re lucky, they’ll find something,” Ridge said. “Bubba, in the morning I want you to talk to the guy in charge of the clown convention. Jinx and I will pay a visit to Double D’s. Once you’re done, you can meet us at the strip club.”

~~*~~

A few hours later back home, Ridge angled his car into the drive and Jinx parked his bike behind him. Bubba and Ridge unbuckled, got out and Bubba said, “That sedan mid-way down the block was in the same place this morning. I need to run the plates.”

“Don’t bother,” Ridge said. “Tizzy employed a security company. They’re watching the house and tailing us.”

“You’re kidding,” Bubba said.

“No, but don’t say anything. She thinks I’m clueless.”

Jinx laughed. “You’re learning how to handle her, aren’t you?”

“I like to think so. Unfortunately, she’s pretty damn good at handling me.” Ridge inhaled a deep breath. “I do believe my bride is cooking.” He pushed open the door. Jinx and Bubba followed him in and took seats next to Rayann and Synola on the sofa.

“Hey, Darlin’,” Ridge called out. “Something smells delicious.”

Tizzy spun around and smiled at him. “Coconut cake. I’ve been craving it.”

“Is that all we’re having for supper?”

“No, silly. We’ve got apple, dill, and rosemary pork loin, green bean bundles, only I didn’t bundle them, and corn casserole.”

Ridge walked around the counter, wrapped Tizzy in his arms and kissed her.

She pushed away from him. “I know. You love me the most when I’m cooking.”

“I love you all the time,” he said and kissed her again. “You got enough for everybody?”

“I invited them, but they have plans.”

“Where’s Gracie?”

“She’s in her room.”

“GRACE ANN!” Ridge called as he walked down the hall. “YOUR DADDY’S HOME.”

Gracie bolted from her door and flew into Ridge’s open arms. “Hey Chunky-Monkey. You know the drill.”

She reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. “Hmmm, butterscotch.” She pressed the golden cellophane to her nose and inhaled. “I love this kind.”

“Save it until after supper or Momma will get mad at us. Okay?”

Gracie nodded. “Guess what, Daddy?”

“What?”

“Today at Pattiecake’s, Cuddles ran away. But we chased her and when we catched her, we put her back in the house. Pattiecake said she was a naughty cat.”

“Where is she now?”

“Pattiecake locked her in the garage cause two more cats came to play and Pattiecake didn’t want them to.”

Ridge glanced at Tizzy and smiled. “Do we need an appointment with the vet to keep Cuddles’ playmates away?”

Tizzy rolled her eyes. “I think we’re too late.”

Bubba, Rayann, Jinx, and Synola got up from the sofa and walked to the front door. Ridge put Gracie down and turned to face them. “Thanks for helping today.”

“Sure. We’ll see you in the morning at the station, about eight,” Bubba said.

“Will do,” Ridge said.

Once they were gone, Ridge turned to Tizzy. “I’ll go wash up and then set the table.”

In the bedroom, a box sitting on the floor caught his eye. He walked over and read the label on the end.
Infant monitor—humidifier—lamp.
Strange, he thought. Maybe someone was borrowing baby things.

He went into their bathroom, splashed his face with warm water and washed his hands. He glanced down at the waste basket and noticed the package. When he lifted it out, he swallowed hard.
A pregnancy test.
He sat down on the toilet, dug through the trash trying to find the stick. There wasn’t one.
Could Tizzy be pregnant?
First Cuddles, and now her? He shook his head to clear the thought, then remembered her words.
I’ve been craving coconut cake. Damn.

“Okay, Cooper,” he said to no one. “If she’s pregnant, she’s pregnant.” The truth was he wanted children with Tizzy, but not this soon. He wanted her all to himself for a while. He took a deep breath.
Stop being selfish. She seems happy. So, if she’s happy, I’ll be happy.

“Ridge? Are you okay?”

Her voice knocked the thought from his head. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said and opened the door. He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you.”

She pushed away. “Sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Long day, that’s all. Let’s eat.”

Ridge walked to the fridge and got a beer. He turned to Tizzy. “Do you want a glass of wine?”

“No, thanks.”

What am I thinking? She can
’t drink alcohol.
“Did you girls get a chance to check out the video footage?”

“We did and found something interesting on the First Federal disc. You’re going to be surprised.”

He didn’t know how many more surprises he could take.

“Ridge? Did you hear me? I said Ramona picked up Gwynn.”

“Huh? What?
Ramona?
The crazy sister? Damn, that adds a new twist I hadn’t considered.”

“Poor Ramona. She’d do anything for Gwynn,” Tizzy said.

“Speaking of Ramona, the address you gave us wasn’t any good. It was just a vacant lot. Are you sure you understood where she wanted to go?”

“That’s strange. I wrote the address she told me on a piece of paper and gave it to the cab driver.”

“Do you remember the company?”

“ABC Taxi Company.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll check with them to see where they took her.”

~~*~~

After supper, Ridge helped with the dishes, read Gracie a story, and called it a day.

He rolled to face Tizzy. She slept peacefully, but as hard as he tried, he couldn’t sleep. The case was enough to deal with and now he worried about becoming a father only nine months after his marriage
.

He flopped onto his back and stared at the ceiling. All the signs were there: the box of baby things, craving coconut cake, the pregnancy test, refusal of alcohol. Knowing Tizzy, she probably planned some big surprise reveal.

He widened his eyes and formed his mouth into a perfect O. He straightened his face and started over making the expression bigger this time. If he rehearsed his surprised look enough, maybe he could appear shocked when she broke the news.

First thing in the morning, he’d confront her. With the decision made, he slipped out of bed, pulled on his flannel pajama pants, tee shirt, and went down the hall into his office.

He closed the door, left the light off and turned on the computer. Within a few seconds the screen lit up. He opened Gwynn’s case file and read over his notes, then added the information Jinx garnered from the dealership.

A lot of questions and no answers, but one little break was all he needed for the pieces to fit together. He hoped a clue would come when they interviewed the employees at Double D’s.

He scrolled back through Officer Fisher’s previous interview notes hoping to pick up on something. No luck.

He’d been staring at the computer screen for over an hour and began to get sleepy. Laying his head against the back of his chair, he closed his eyes. The squeak of the office door roused him.

“Ridge, what are you doing?” Tizzy asked.

“Working on the case. I couldn’t sleep. I thought if I read over my notes again something might jump out at me.”

“Come back to bed.”

“I will in a minute.”

She walked to stand in front of him. She looked beautiful, illuminated by the glow of the computer screen. He ran his hand across her stomach and shuddered.
I may have a baby in there.
He leaned forward and kissed her just above her belly button.

“I love you like I’ve never loved anybody,” he whispered against silk fabric and pulled her onto his lap. “I love everything about you. The way you smell.”

She giggled. “That’s because I smell like coconut cake.”

He kissed her soft and sweet. “And the way you giggle—and how you sigh after I kiss you.”

“Ridge,” she whispered.

“I love the way you say my name and how you feel against me,” he said, burying his face between her breasts.

Tizzy stroked his hair. “Why are you talking this way?”

“I don’t want you to think the only time I tell you I love you is to get you naked. I’m the luckiest man in the world because
you
love me.”

“Okay, enough. You’re making me cry.” She buried her face in the hollow of his neck.

“Tizzy, is there anything you want to tell me?”

“Whataya you mean?”

“I won’t be upset if you’ve been keeping a secret. I don’t want you to be afraid to tell me anything.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you sure? I’m an investigator. I notice things and I think you need to confess something.”

“Oh dammit. I should have told you from the beginning.”

Ridge pushed her away and gazed into her eyes. “Why didn’t you?”

Tizzy shrugged. “Because it’s not a big deal.”

“Are you crazy? It’s a huge deal. Especially for me and I’d like to think for you too.”

“Ridge, I know how you are. You’d say you didn’t want or need it.”

Ridge jumped from his chair knocking Tizzy off his lap, but catching her before she hit the floor. “I’d never say that. I know it will be an adjustment, but I definitely want it.” Ridge held on to her. He couldn’t feel his legs.

“Wait a minute. What are you talking about?”

He steadied himself against the desk top, and lowered his voice. “I saw the pregnancy test package and the box of baby things and you were craving coconut cake and you didn’t drink the wine.”

Tizzy flopped down in the chair and doubled over laughing. She wrapped her arms around her belly and rocked back and forth trying to catch her breath.

Dazed, he shook his head in confusion. Clearly she was having some type of hormonal breakdown. He’d heard women got emotional during pregnancy. He wanted to help her, but didn’t have a clue about what to do. “Do I need to get you a glass of water? Do you need a pillow? How about some warm milk? No wait—I think that’s to help you sleep.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m—not—pregnant,” she wheezed out.

He sat down on the desk and tried to regain his composure. “Then what the hell are you talking about?”

“The security guy I hired to tail you.” She wiped tears from her eyes.

His entire body had gone tense, from clenched teeth all the way down to curled toes. He relaxed his fisted hands and placed one over his heart just to make sure it was still beating.

“Then why the test? You thought you were pregnant, but weren’t?”

Tizzy gasped for air. “No—the test—was for—Rayann.”

“Stop laughing. This is not funny. I almost had a heart attack.”

“Oh, this is funny alright,” she said, beginning to get her breath back.

“God, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the gut.”

She moved to him and angled between his legs. “FYI, if and when we get pregnant, you’ll know when I know.”

“I’m sorry. This case has me screwed up. I’m not thinking straight.”

“Gee, I wish I’d known what you were talking about. I could have milked it for all it’s worth and really made you suffer.”

“Don’t worry, I suffered enough, believe me. So, is Rayann pregnant?”

“Nope, and if you’d turned on the light,
Mr. Investigator
, you would’ve seen the stick in the trash can and discovered the negative result.”

Ridge pinched her butt. “You’re milking it anyway, aren’t you?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Now, come to bed.”

“Yeah, after all this I need to lie down,” he said.

“Poor baby. Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have said
baby.
”

“Not funny, Tizzy.”

“Sorry, I had to milk it just one more time.”

Ridge walked around the desk, turned the computer off, then hesitated. “Sonovabitch. That’s it.”

“What’s it?”

“Milking it.” Ridge grabbed her into his arms and hugged her tight. “Darlin’, you’re a genius.”

Ridge woke to the sound of Gracie’s sweet voice. She and Tizzy were in the bathroom and he knew as always, Gracie perched on the counter watching her mother put on make-up.

“Can I have some of that?” Gracie asked.

“No, you’re too beautiful for this. Only grown-up ladies need foundation.”

“Momma, when you get old, will you be my grandmother?”

Ridge smiled at the question.

“No, I’ll always be your mother and Pattiecake will always be your grandmother. But, when
you
have children, I’ll be
their
grandmother.”