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Shame immediately followed the anger. What if he really was lying hurt and battered somewhere? What if he’d tried to come? What if someone had attacked him, robbed him, left him to die—what kind of beast was she?
The door opened again and both women tensed, but it wasn’t Anthony who walked into the room. Zachary Bishop, Faith’s brother, looked from one anxious face to the other and stopped dead in his tracks. “If this isn’t a good time—”
“Come on in, Zac,” Faith said as she slipped off the bed. His smile of greeting for his sister faded as his gaze sought out and held Olivia’s.
Unlike petite Faith, Zac was tall and rangy, with straight brown hair cut shorter than usual, intense blue eyes and a broken nose that had healed crooked in an interesting way. A faded scar ran diagonally across his chin and another bisected his left eyebrow, both remnants of a drunken brawl he broke up his first year as a Deputy Sheriff back in Westerly.
But he wasn’t a deputy anymore. He was a Seattle cop, a position he had taken while she and Anthony had been on their honeymoon. Still, she’d be willing to bet he was the same old Zac underneath the fancy new suit, a man of swift action and few words.
“How’s the new mother?” he asked, and to her relief, his voice sounded the way it always had. Maybe they could put the past behind them and be friends again.
“The truth? I’m going a little stir-crazy.”
He produced a quartet of pink roses from behind his back and handed them to her.
The simple message of the flowers touched her more than the huge bouquets that lined the shelf, sent by everyone she knew and some people she didn’t. “One for each baby,” she said softly, fingering the blushed petals. Meeting his gaze again, she said, “Thank you, Zac.”
He nodded.
“Have you seen them?”
“Briefly. I had to wave a badge to get into the place. Security is tight. They’re cute but kind of tiny, aren’t they?”
“They’ll grow,” Faith said.
Zac nodded. No one spoke for several seconds. In the past, the three of them had talked over the top of each other half the time. To fill the void, Olivia said, “How do you like your new job?”
“It keeps me busy,” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, jingling keys or loose change.
“How about living in Seattle?”
He shrugged. “It has its moments.”
Faith said, “My brother, the big talker.”
“Well I think it must be very exciting,” Olivia said. “Lots more happening here than in Westerly. Are you on a big case?”
“Actually, things are in flux.”
“What does that mean?” Faith asked.
“It means things are in flux.”
“Zac!”
A fond smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he stared at Faith. “You haven’t changed a bit since you were ten years old.” With a shift of gaze to Olivia, he added, “Neither have you. You’ve both always been too nosey for your own good.”
“You’re one to talk,” Olivia said softly, but he apparently heard her and again their eyes met.
“Touché,” he said. “Okay, you guys win. I’ll talk on the condition that what I say stays in this room for now.”
Zac groaned as Faith mimed zipping her lips. He stared them each in the eye and said, “Sheriff Knotts got caught stealing marijuana from the evidence room.”
Both women blinked before Olivia said, “Our Sheriff Knotts? Bobby Knotts of Westerly?”
“The very one.”
“How does a crooked sheriff in Westerly tie in to your job in Seattle?” Faith demanded.
“Knotts has been asked to resign immediately pending criminal investigation. Half the sheriff’s department is implicated. Since I left some time ago, it’s been decided I’m the one guy who knows the ropes and isn’t tainted by Knotts.”
“Dad is going to be dancing in the streets,” Faith said. “You’re moving back to Westerly!”
Zac nodded.
“That’s great,” Faith gushed.
He held up one hand. “I haven’t accepted yet. I don’t know if I want to be interim sheriff. I’m not sure I want to move back to Westerly.” He glanced at the flowers in Olivia’s hands and turned to his sister. “Would you mind finding a vase for the flowers?”
“You’re getting rid of me. No, I don’t mind. Back in a moment.”
“Don’t forget to steal a wheelchair,” Olivia called after her.
Faith nodded, then cast her brother a quick look. “I need to talk to you before you leave.”
Olivia looked Zac over as he stared after his sister. At thirty-five, he appeared to be in his prime, the boyish mannerisms gone, replaced with easy sophistication. However, under that big-city gray suit she knew beat the heart of a small-town lawman, a man who knew his place in the scheme of the universe. Not for the first time, she wondered what had driven him to leave Westerly.
It couldn’t have been their fight. Something like that wasn’t important enough to drive a man away from his family and friends and his career.
As if attuned to the direction of her thoughts, he looked down at his feet, then into her eyes. “I wanted a minute alone to apologize to you, Olivia.”
No need to ask for what.
“I shouldn’t have spoken to you like I did. I had no right.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said. “And on my wedding day, too, Zac. That was just plain mean.”
“Yeah. Anyway, I’ve always thought of you as a little sister, like Faith, but you aren’t.”
“No, I’m not. You telling me I absolutely could not marry Anthony Capri was totally out of place. Frankly, even if you’d been my brother it would have been going too far.”
“I know that now.”
“You really upset me.”
“I’m sorry. Am I forgiven?”
She stared at him a second, then smiled. “Of course you’re forgiven.” She’d missed him. She was ready to let that unfortunate day go. Like Faith, Zac was as good as family, and family had to forgive and forget, otherwise there’d be no one to spend holidays with. “Are you really thinking about taking the sheriff’s job and coming back to Westerly?”
“That depends on you,” he said.
She furrowed her brow. “Me?”
“And Anthony. I wouldn’t want to make either of you uncomfortable.”
She said, “I’ve never told Anthony what you said about him that day, Zac. What would that have accomplished? You take the job if you want, too. I think Westerly is big enough for all three of us.”
He nodded once. “Fair enough. So, do you know what Faith wants to talk to me about?” He glanced around the room before adding, “Where is Anthony, anyway?”
“That’s what she wants to talk to you about,” Olivia said, leaning forward to reach the water glass. She’d pushed the tray too far away, however.
Apparently taking pity on her feeble attempts, Zac handed it over with questions burning in his eyes. She gave him the flowers and he set them on the tray. “Did he leave already?”
She wanted to say, Yes, he left a few minutes ago. He’s the most devoted husband on the planet. You were totally wrong about him.
“He didn’t come,” she admitted, busying herself taking sips of ice water.
“He didn’t come?” Zac repeated, stepping closer. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I don’t know why. I’m worried sick, of course, but he didn’t come or call or…anything.”
“Maybe he’s been in an accident.”
“I thought of that. Faith said we should ask you to do something, but I don’t want to be a bother.”
He took the water glass from her hands and set it back on the tray next to the flowers, then hitched his hands on his waist and stared down at her. “When was the last time you saw him or talked to him?”
“The day before yesterday.”
“And he knew about today’s scheduled births?”
“Yes.”
“Did he plan to be here?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Could he have forgotten?”
“I don’t see how, though I know he’s in the middle of a deal—”
“Like the one he drummed up in Westerly? What was it, a chain of snowboard and ski shops? He talked the Robinson brothers into investing, right?”
“He put in money of his own, too,” she said. “He’s quite wealthy.” She didn’t know why she added that last part, except that Zac looked so smug.
“Must be that Harvard education of his.”
“Or the fact that he invested in Midas Touch Computers before anyone else did. Jealous?”
He held up both hands as though backing off. “Sorry. You have to admit, though, the man is larger than life. Navy pilot, Super Bowl champion…He’s done it all.”
Zac could just not help himself. When it came to Anthony’s exploits, give Zac enough rope and he’d hang himself. Determined to keep the peace of their newly repaired friendship, she said, “Yes, he has.” Actually, after weeks of misgivings and a morning spent cursing his absence, it almost felt good to defend her husband. Oh, God, maybe he really was hurt and she was being a raging, selfish bitch.
“I see,” Zac said, and by the tone of his voice, he saw a lot more than Olivia was comfortable with.
“I know he wanted to be here,” she insisted. Liar. Tell him the truth. Tell him you think what really happened is your husband got cold feet and ran away, that he was willing to risk millions in investment dollars rather than face you and four babies.
Zac said, “I heard you guys are building a house out by the point.”
“Yes.”
“Is that where he’s been living since you started bed rest here?”
“No, he stayed in my old place in town in order to hurry the contractors along so we could take the babies home as soon as possible.”
“When will that be?”
“Not long. The doctor wants them here until they each reach four pounds. Two were born over four pounds and two aren’t far away. But they’ll probably lose a little weight before bulking back up, so it’s kind of a day by day thing.”
“Where did he stay when he wasn’t in Westerly?”
“He has a suite at the Marina Inn here in Seattle.”
“The Marina Inn. Nothing but the best, huh?” He raised a hand again and shook his head. “Sorry.”
“You just can’t help yourself.”
“I’m trying. Okay, that’s enough to start. I’ll drive over to the hotel. Try not to worry, I’m sure something unexpected came up.” He stared deep into her eyes, then he smiled the old familiar Zac smile.
She caught his hand. “You’ll come back? You’ll tell me what’s wrong even if it’s—unpleasant?”
“What do you mean ‘unpleasant’?”
“Like he’s hurt or…I don’t know. Missing, maybe.”
“I’ll tell you whatever I find out.” He stared at her a moment longer, and then he leaned down and brushed her forehead with his lips.
“I’ve always valued our friendship,” she mumbled as their eyes met.
“I know,” he said softly, and then he was gone.
ZAC FOUND FAITH by the nurses station, holding a slender vase in one hand and gripping the countertop with the other. She was talking to a nurse on the other side. The colorful smock the nurse wore looked a lot cheerier than either woman’s expression.
Faith shook her head as he joined her. “It’s no use, rules are rules. Olivia is going to have to wait.”
Zac turned to the nurse. “Have a heart.”
“As I told this lady,” the nurse explained patiently, “we’re waiting for Mrs. Capri’s doctor to give the okay. He’s been called into emergency surgery. When he has time, I’m sure he’ll release her.”
