Lucia in Love Read online

  And disbelief, she thought resentfully.

  “Ryan, if the police came, my aunts and uncles would surely see them, and everyone would be concerned, and we’d destroy a vacation that everyone waited for for a very long time. I’m all right.”

  “All right, then. I’ll leave. You two lock up. And remember, if you need me, I’m only a phone call away.”

  Dina followed Lucia as she walked Ryan to the door. There was no way to say anything more. Dina stood right behind Lucia, hugging her arms around her chest. Ryan cleared his throat, but Dina didn’t seem to notice.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Ryan told Lucia softly.

  “What?”

  “Let’s take a long ride tomorrow. We’ll drive down to the Boone Plantation and take a walk around the grounds, then head south to Charleston for the day.”

  “I…” She hesitated. Dina was right behind her. “Maybe we’re getting a little bit too involved here,” Lucia said. She knotted her fingers behind her back. She was mad. She must be losing her mind. There had been a corpse in her bathtub, and she was already worrying about her relationship with Ryan Dandridge again.

  Ryan…who had fought with the corpse when the corpse had still been a living man.

  Ryan…with whom she would love to go to Charleston. To spend the day strolling on the battery, sampling seafood, admiring old houses.

  He touched her cheek. “Give me this, Lucia. Give me the little bit of time we have here.”

  Her fingers trembled behind her. “Charleston,” she murmured.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Sure. I’m a Southerner. I love the South. If a Yankee suggests a day in Charleston, how can I refuse?”

  He smiled and pulled her close, then remembered Dina. “Excuse me,” he told her, and then he kissed Lucia. He kissed her full on the mouth, slowly, tenderly. He parted her lips and gently teased the sweet inner recesses of her mouth, then released her. His eyes were warm as they met hers. “Good night, Dina,” he said, still looking at Lucia.

  For once Dina was silent. She barely waved when he left, and she didn’t have a single thing to say about the kiss.

  “Lopez,” she murmured as Lucia locked the door. “Both bolts, Lucia.”

  “I’ve got both bolts.”

  “Maybe I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “Why don’t we both sleep in your room?”

  Dina shivered. “Sounds good to me. Only change into something else, okay? I’ll feel really strange sleeping next to you if you come to bed in those gar-ters.”

  Lucia managed to laugh. “I’ll get something floor length in flannel, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Ten minutes later they were both dressed in long night-gowns. They had decided that they would leave the lights on in the condo, even though it would be daylight soon enough.

  When they stretched out in bed, they were both silent for a long time. Lucia knew Dina wasn’t sleeping, though. She could see her cousin staring at the ceiling.

  “I shouldn’t have told you,” Lucia said.

  “Yes, you should have. I knew something was wrong. And since you seemed to be doing okay with Ryan…”

  “Dina…”

  “I should be jealous, you know. I did see him first.”

  Lucia hesitated. She couldn’t bring herself to tell her cousin about the past. Not then.

  “I’m not really jealous. I’m only teasing. But tell me—is he just fabulous?”

  “Er, yes, just fabulous.” So much so that she was asking to be crushed all over again, Lucia thought.

  Dina sighed. Then she shivered suddenly and rolled over. “Lucia, seriously, you don’t think—”

  “No, I don’t think.”

  “But Dad was fighting with Lopez just the other day.”

  “Everyone fights with Lopez. He’s that kind of man.”

  “I suppose.”

  “Dina, I know that our family is innocent.”

  “Yes, so do I. But, Lucia, your folks aren’t here.”

  “I know your dad, Dina. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

  “But they’re so close. All of them, the aunts and uncles. What if Lopez was threatening one of them? That’s the way we are. You know, we can say or think things ourselves, but if anyone else threatens, we all jump into the fray. We just don’t allow others to hurt us. You don’t think—”

  “No. I don’t think!” Lucia said firmly. Then she said it again, with even more conviction. “No, I don’t think! Because no one in the family would have put that corpse in my bathtub! No one would want to frighten me.”

  “Right,” Dina agreed. “Right!” She was quiet for several seconds. “Unless…”

  “Unless what?”

  “Unless they just didn’t have any other place to put it.”

  “Oh, Dina!” Lucia wailed. “Let’s just try to get some sleep.”

  “That’s right, you’re going to Charleston tomorrow.” She giggled. “Today.” Dina hesitated again for a minute. “Oh, no!”

  “What?”

  “You won’t be back until late.”

  “So?”

  “I’m not coming in here alone tomorrow night.”

  “You can stay up at Ryan’s place, I’m sure.”

  “Oh.” Dina thought about it for a moment. “Okay, just so long as I don’t have to come in here alone!”

  “Let’s go to sleep.”

  “Fine.”

  They both closed their eyes. Suddenly there was a loud tapping on the door. Dina screamed. Lucia jumped out of the bed, her eyes wide.

  “Lucia, Dina! Are you two up?” Aunt Faith called.

  “Oh, my Lord, it’s just my mother!” Dina sighed.

  Lucia started to laugh, walking toward the door.

  Dina moaned, pulling the covers over her head. “Ignore her and she might go away.”

  “Hey, do any of the Three Graces ever just go away?” Lucia demanded. “They just weren’t bred to give up. I’ll let her in.”

  “And act innocent.”

  “You bet,” Lucia agreed.

  They didn’t have to do much acting. Aunt Faith was full of enthusiasm. She had found a good restaurant where they were all going to go to dinner the next night. And Uncle Mario was headed off to the golf course, if anyone wanted to join him. It was a beautiful day, and the kids were already down at the beach. Faith cheerfully kissed them both, never imagining that they hadn’t slept all night, and wished them a good day. She was going to go shopping with Hope and Charity. They were going to make a day of it.

  When she was gone, Dina and Lucia sank into chairs, looked at one another and started smiling, then laughing.

  “We have to be crazy,” Dina said.

  “Have to be,” Lucia agreed.

  “Well, at least you get to go to Charleston.”

  “I should invite you, huh?”

  “Not on your life. I wouldn’t want to get into the middle of this. I’ll go down to the beach. Maybe I can get some sleep there.”

  “Go grab a shower. Then I can get started.”

  “You’re going to have a great date, falling asleep on Ryan all day.”

  “I won’t fall asleep.”

  Dina showered and dressed in a bikini, then assured Lucia she wouldn’t leave the condo until Lucia was ready, too. Lucia showered, using cold water, hoping it might wake her up. It seemed to do the trick.

  She dressed in white shorts and sneakers and a light cotton blouse, then decided to throw a knit dress into a bag and bring a pair of high-heeled sandals in case they decided to stop somewhere for dinner. She and Dina left the condo together, locking the door carefully behind them. They went up to Ryan’s together—Dina wanted a key to his penthouse.

  Ryan was awake and expecting them. He was dressed in a casual cotton shirt and white shorts, which made his tan look marvelous. Despite a night without sleep he seemed amazingly rested and handsome. He said he would be glad to lend Dina his penthouse for the day, and that she should make herself at home. He
gave her a key, and then he and Lucia were on their way.

  “Tired?” he asked her once they were in the white Mercedes and heading south.

  “No, not really,” she said, flashing him a quick smile.

  “You can lay your head on my lap, you know.”

  Yes, she knew. It would be easy to rest against him, easy to find comfort in his arms. Too easy.

  “I’m all right,” she said.

  But she wasn’t. She stared at the road for a while, then felt herself growing cross-eyed. She blinked, but the road didn’t seem to straighten out.

  Ryan set his hand on her nape and threaded his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Her eyes closed again. “Lie down,” he encouraged her softly.

  “Just for a minute…”

  She laid her head on his lap while he drove and wondered just how many times she had ridden with him this way. She wondered why they had ever fought….

  Then she didn’t wonder about anything anymore, because she fell asleep.

  What finally awakened her was the fact that she couldn’t feel motion anymore. She opened her eyes slowly. She was on Ryan’s lap, and his hand was resting on her hair, and when she first saw his eyes, they were filled with an intensity of emotion that startled her.

  His lashes fell swiftly, and when they lifted again, the emotion was gone. His expression was bright with humor, but some of the tenderness remained.

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi.” She struggled to sit up, automatically smoothing back her hair. “We’re here, huh?”

  “The Boone Plantation. I’m sure you’ve been here before, but it’s a nice place to visit.”

  “I slept the whole way. I’m sorry.”

  “You’re cute when you sleep.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “And, even better, you’re silent.”

  “Hey!”

  “Just kidding.” His knuckles brushed her cheek. “Come on, let’s go.”

  “Wait, wait—”

  “Your hair,” he said, laughing. “Go on, brush it out.”

  She did, and then she slid out of the car and he laced his fingers through hers.

  It was a beautiful day, and there weren’t many tourists around. Ryan paid their entry fee, and they took the tour through the house, listening to the history of the Boone family, the rise and fall of slavery and tobacco and cotton. Lucia had been there before, as had Ryan, but it was fun to come together. Old houses were something they both loved.

  When they were done at the house, they walked down to the water, then around to the front of the house.

  Lucia stared down the long drive and smiled at Ryan. “This is where they filmed parts of Gone With the Wind, you know.” She pointed down the drive, which was flanked on either side by double rows of beautiful oaks. “Twelve Oaks—Ashley’s plantation,” she said.

  “I know,” Ryan told her. He shook his head teasingly. “I wonder what Scarlet ever saw in Ashley.”

  “Tradition, maybe,” Lucia said softly.

  “The concept fares rather poorly in my mind.”

  “You haven’t got a romantic bone in your body.”

  “Every bone in my body is romantic,” he assured her; then he laughed, taking her hand as they passed by the slave quarters and walked along under the oaks. “Scarlet spent eleven years of her life chasing an absurd dream, when she had Rhett right there all the time.”

  Lucia laughed. “She just didn’t know what she wanted.”

  “Do any of us?” Ryan said softly.

  “Yes.”

  “Tradition?” he asked her.

  They paused near the paddocks, where a mare ran by with graceful abandon, followed by her foal. The sun fell through the trees and kept them warm, and Lucia leaned against the fence and stared at him. “Tradition? Yes, it is important to me. My family is important to me.”

  “Then why—” he began, then broke off, shaking his head impatiently.

  “Why what?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Ryan…”

  “Never mind. Let’s drop by the gift shop quickly, then head south, or we won’t have any time in Charleston.”

  He had already turned and walked away. She had little choice but to follow him.

  In the little shop Lucia bought T-shirts for the children, and Ryan bought them all facsimiles of Colonial dish and ball games. Lucia watched him thoughtfully. “You didn’t have to do that,” she told him when they were back in the car.

  “I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”

  “You like children?”

  “Very much.”

  She stared straight ahead. Then, after a moment, she murmured, “When they’re someone else’s children and you get to hand them back when you’re done playing?”

  “Is that how you feel, or are you asking me how I feel?”

  “Pardon?”

  “Is that—”

  “I love children.”

  “So do I. It’s that simple,” Ryan said. “Well, maybe not in herds of a hundred or more, but on any normal level, I love children.”

  Lucia smiled slowly. He reached out his hand, and their fingers joined.

  As soon as he was driving again, the motion made her sleepy. “It’ll be a while till we reach the city. Rest again,” he offered.

  “How can you be so wide-awake?”

  “I’ll pay for it tomorrow. And I went right up and fell asleep on the sofa. I’m willing to bet you and Dina stayed up talking.”

  “We did.”

  “Was she all right?”

  Lucia hesitated. She wondered if she dared to tell him that Dina was afraid, too—not for her own physical wellbeing but that someone they loved might be guilty.

  “She was…all right.” Ryan grunted, and Lucia stared at him. “You know, you’re awfully calm about all this.”

  “Lucia, I haven’t seen him yet,” he reminded her quietly.

  “You don’t believe me!”

  “I do believe you. I just didn’t find the corpse in my bathtub, that’s all.”

  “All right. But, Ryan, the corpse was on the beach, and it was in my bathtub.”

  “I did call the police the first time, you know. And I would have called them last night.”

  “Um. And they would have laughed. But I warn you, you’re all going to be sorry for not believing me—really believing me. Gino Lopez is dead, and every day that his corpse remains missing is going to make it harder for the police to determine how he became a corpse in the first place.”

  Ryan was silent for a moment. “Isn’t that what you want?”

  “No!”

  “Lucia, I know what you think.”

  You don’t know the full extent of it! she thought. But that wasn’t really true. She couldn’t believe that Ryan was a murderer any more than she could believe that one of her uncles was. It was just that the nagging fear was always there.

  “I don’t think anything,” she lied.

  He squeezed her fingers. “I don’t want you to think anything,” he said. “Not today, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “No past, no future, just today.”

  She looked at him. His eyes were shielded by his thick lashes, but he seemed to be staring at her intently. “Just today,” she said softly.

  Fifteen minutes later Ryan found a parking space right on the Battery, the promenade that looked out on the water, the islands and the old fort. Lucia paused, looking out to sea, as he locked the car. Fort Sumter lay beyond them, in the harbor.

  Ryan came up behind her, placing his hand on her back. He pointed out to the fort. “Did you know that General Beauregard, the Confederate commander who was ordered to fire on Fort Sumter, had once been one of the union’s Major Robert Anderson’s instructors?”

  Lucia turned and smiled at him. She shook her head. He turned again, indicating the beautiful old homes behind the green park. “Imagine everyone decked out in their Sunday best to see the boys in gray blow the damned Yankees from
their native soil. They watched from their roofs and balconies. Major Anderson held out as long as he could, then surrendered when further struggle seemed futile. The only soldier who got killed was a Union boy who was struck by a Union shell within the confines of the fort. And then the Confederates were ordered to honor the Yankees as they evacuated. They were all gentlemen, or so they say.” He lifted Lucia’s hair from her neck and fluffed it around her shoulders. “They believed in tradition. In God and home and honor and family.”

  “They’re good things to believe in,” Lucia said softly.

  He grinned and took her hand. “Come on, let’s explore some houses.”

  In the end they didn’t go into any houses, choosing to avoid the tourist haunts. Together they just walked along the streets on the Battery. Once, right across the street from the water, Ryan paused. “Now that’s a beautiful house,” he said.

  Lucia agreed with him. It was Federal style, with a massive porch and wonderful tall white columns. There was a widow’s walk on the roof, as if the original occupant might once have lived in a New England whaling village and remembered how it felt to stand so high up, looking out to sea and waiting for a lover to come home.

  Ryan glanced at Lucia. “Four bedrooms. Three baths. A library—untouched, I’m certain. There’s a carriage house around back, converted to a garage. What do you think?”

  She laughed and studied the house. “Three big bedrooms. The master bedroom is a suite—during the Civil War, the master kept his books right off his bedroom. He hated to leave his wife to work. She was beautiful, and he was madly in love with her.”

  “Ah. But he went off to war—a navy man—and never came back.”

  “And she paced the widow’s walk for years and years, always believing that her beloved would return to her.”

  “More likely she paced the widow’s walk for about fifteen months, then turned around and married her husband’s best friend.”

  “You’re not romantic at all!” Lucia accused him, and he laughed.

  “I just know women,” he said.

  “Oh, really?”

  “I know what they tell me,” he said pointedly, and she flushed. She lifted her chin in the air.

  “You don’t know women at all, Mr. Dandridge. You just think you do.”

  “Really?” His eyes were speculative.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He gripped her hand suddenly. “Let’s go find out.”