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He winked.
Officer Andy cleared his throat, sounding somewhat aggrieved. Over what, I had no idea. Honestly, I'd kind of forgotten he was still there.
"Seeing as the last thing they want is any more attention given to this situation," he said, "they decided to let it go."
I blew out a breath of relief.
"They will, however, be taking restraining orders out against you," said Andy "Restraining orders?" Wow. It almost made me sound dangerous, like some thug or something. Like I roamed the streets of Coeur d'Alene just looking for people to punch in the nose.
"Yes." Andy tucked his thumbs into his police officer Batman-thingy utility belt. "Under no conditions should you try to approach any of the family, or step foot on any of the family's properties, including any and all commercial interests. Understood?"
"It'll be entirely my pleasure to never set sight on those idiots again." And then some. "But what about my things? They're all over at the big house."
"Mrs. Delaney has assured me she'll see to the prompt delivery of your personal effects."
"How kind." My brows descended, my trust for Samantha in the negatives. My options, however, were nonexistent. So currently, I had my bridal lingerie and nothing more. Apart from Vaughan's shirt and goodwill, of course.
"I hate to impose further," I said, reaching up for the tequila to take another sip. "But would it be all right if I crashed on your couch tonight once we're done hanging?"
"Spare room's all yours."
"Thank you."
"And I told Ray he could send any paperwork here until you get something else sorted," said Vaughan, once more taking possession of his own liquor. This time he downed a whole mouthful, no problem. Impressive. Masculine, manly and stuff. He'd probably catch up to me in no time.
"Thank you for talking them down," I said.
Another chin tip.
"If that's all, ma'am, I better get a move on." Over by the table, Officer Andy stood tall, looking totes competent and stuff.
"Are they gone from out front?" Gah, I sounded so timid. "Not that I'm afraid of them. It's just, it's been a long day."
"They're gone." Vaughan handed me back the bottle with a smile. "Took your douche ex-fiance off to the emergency room to get his nose set."
"I broke it?"
"That's my bet." We exchanged grins.
With a deep breath, I relaxed for what seemed like the first time in days, resting my head back against the cabinet. "I have no home or job. But I have my liberty."
"I'll leave you two to celebrate," said Officer Andy.
"Thanks, Andy." The men started clapping each other good and hard on the shoulder as guys do. "Good to see you again."
"You too." He hesitated. "Damn shame about Nell and Pat."
"Yeah." The smile on Vaughan's face faded.
"You, ah, wouldn't know if she's dating again yet, would you?"
A long pause.
The happy on Vaughan's face had disappeared without a trace. So much for cool, calm, and collected. I wondered who Nell and Pat were. Obviously people important to him.
"See you later, Andy," he said in lieu of answering the question.
The message was delivered just fine. "Right. Night."
"Night." I waved. "And thank you."
He didn't respond. The officer got gone while Vaughan watched with eyes distinctly flat and unfriendly. Had it been me, facing his cold front, I'd have run. Instead, I attempted diversion.
"Thanks for not kicking me to the curb." I held out the bottle to him, shaking it gently.
Mouth still grim, he wandered back into the kitchen, sitting on the floor at my side. "You're welcome."
"I'll cook you breakfast."
"There's no food in the house."
"Damn. All right, if Samantha has delivered my purse by morning, I'll buy you breakfast."
"Deal."
We passed the bottle back and forth in silence for a while. My head grew progressively fuzzier, all of the emotion of the day's events softening to a "meh." For now, I was all humiliated, hurt, and raged out. The knuckles on my right hand stung like a bitch and if I started mentally picking apart all of the what-ifs and could-haves again I'd go insane.
The light over the dining table emitted a soft golden glow, leaving the rest of the house in shadow. It seemed even quieter and emptier as the night set in.
"How long has it been since you've been here?" I asked.
"We played at a small festival a few years back. Not since then."
"You're in a band?"
"I was. We broke up a couple of months back." He'd leaned his head against the kitchen cupboards, eyes closed. "We'd been together for ten years, based down in L.A. mostly."
"What instrument do you play?"
"Guitar."
"That's great." I could see it. It made sense. I shook my head in wonder, making the room turn lazy woozy circles, or my brain did. I'm not sure which. "Not about your band breaking up, I mean about you being a musician. Are you going to join another band or--"
He made a noise in his throat. "Been trying to put one together. Bass player from the old one's still on board, but we just haven't had any luck finding the right people."
"That sucks."
"It sure does."
"So that's your drama?"
He opened one eye. "Pretty much. Only came back to town to sell this place to my sister. Need to pay off the mortgage, get a little to live on while we find a new singer and drummer, get things sorted out."
"Your sister, is that Nell who Andy was asking about?"
"Yeah." His gaze darkened. "She split with her husband a little while back. Figure she'll be happy to buy the place, have somewhere of her own to live. She always loved this house."
"It's beautiful."
His face softened, relaxing into a smile. "You do love the old Arts and Crafts bungalows."
"Yes, I do." When he smiled at me like that ... whoa. Let's just say the house wasn't the only thing that was beautiful. "I'm sorry you've got drama."
"I'm sorry you've got drama too."
"And I'm sorry I dragged my drama into your h
ouse."
"I know." He covered my hand with his much larger one. Warm. He was so warm and lovely and stuff. If the shitty day and toxic tequila had left me with an iota more energy I'd run my no-strings-sex-between-new-friends idea past him. As it was, I'd save it up for tomorrow. At least I had my memories of him bare ass naked to keep me happy in the meantime. And trust me, there was real happiness to be had in having seen this man naked. My dreams had better be full of him, or I and my subconscious would be having a serious talk.
"What?" he asked.
"What, what?"
"You're looking at me funny."
"Am I?" My jaw cracked loud and proud on a yawn. What a day. I laid my head against his shoulder, getting comfortable, closing my eyes.
"You planning on crashing right there?" he asked.
"Mm-hmm."
"Okay."
All I could hear was the in and out of his breathing, the occasional sound of the tequila sloshing about in the bottle as he took a drink. All was calm. Peaceful. For now at least.
"You were a beautiful bride, Lydia."
I smiled, too close to sleep to speak.
"Beautiful."
CHAPTER SEVEN
Fucking Samantha. If the woman was on fire, I'd make s'mores.
After so gracefully passing out on the kitchen floor, I'd woken up on a bed in the spare room this morning. Everything hurt. I'd stumbled into the kitchen in search of water and seen the latest disaster through the glass doors. My almost-mother-in-law had been busy. Real busy.
With Vaughan's cool dude aviator sunglasses to guard against the brain-piercing morning glare, I searched the backyard for my belongings. A bra here, a pair of panties there. You never knew what you might find hidden in the long grass.
Why, it was just like a treasure hunt minus the map.
And the fun.
My green silk blouse hung high in a tree and it wasn't alone. God knows how she'd gotten it all up there. Unleashed her flying monkeys, perhaps? Wicked witch was about right.
A box of books and another filled with personal mementos had been dumped straight over the fence as if they were garbage. I didn't have the heart to look inside and see what was broken. Every muscle in my jaw ached. I wanted to scream and rage, to let it all out. Again. Only if I started, I wasn't sure I'd be able to stop.
