Getting Lucky (The Marilyns) (4 page)

“Yes, ma’am.” Earl nodded. “We know—”

“We can’t discuss it.” Jack straightened and turned to his partner. “HIPPA.”

“Yes, sir.” It sounded a lot like “screw you,” and Earl went back to typing.

“What?” HIPPA? What did Dawnie have to do with HIPPA?

“Nothing, ma’am.” Jack continued to listen to Dawnie’s breathing. “Are you the legal guardian?”

“No, I’m a… Well, her babysitter is no longer with us.”

“What in the holy hell happened?” Will sprinted from the side of the house. “The paramedics…”

He saw Dawnie. “Oh my God.” He snatched her up and hugged her to him. “Are you okay?” He turned to Jack. “Is she okay? What happened?”

This was more emotion than she’d ever seen from Will.

“I fell in the pool, and Lorna didn’t help me.”

“I jumped in after her.” Lucky shivered. “Lorna is no longer employed here.”

“I see.” Will’s eyes narrowed. “Does Dawnie need to go to the hospital?”

“No!” Dawnie shook her head violently from side to side. “No! No! No!”

“Okay.” Will patted her back. “Okay, baby. No hospital.”

Tears misted his eyes. She’d never seen Will cry … ever. He loved Dawnie. More than the anger she’d convinced herself she was entitled to, she wanted to see Will’s parenting style. Apparently around the girls, or at least Dawnie, he was a different man.

“Normally, we would insist on taking her in for evaluation, but she doesn’t seem to have been under long. All her vitals are normal, and she appears to be alert. Are you the legal guardian?” Earl glanced at Jack, who looked a little peeved.

“Yes.” Will nodded.

“You’ll need to sign a Refusal of Treatment form. Not taking her to the hospital is against policy, but if you sign the form, there’s nothing we can do.” Jack didn’t sound happy.

Earl handed Will the iPad, and he used his finger to sign.

Jack collected his equipment and packed it back into his duffle. “I guess we will be going.”

Earl tucked the iPad back into his duffle. “Ms. Strickland, it was an honor to meet you, and I’m sorry for your loss. Your husband was a great musician.” He held out his hand.

She took it in her cold and wet one and shook it. “Thank you.”

He held her hand a little too long for it to be casual. “My name is Earl Roberts.”

“Thank you, Mr. Roberts.” She extracted her hand from his. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Call me Earl.” He smiled and stared.

“Call me Lucky.” She smiled back.

He held her gaze a little too long.

Will, with Dawnie wrapped around him, stepped between Earl and Lucky. “Thank you very much. We will be more careful from now on.”

Earl stepped around him to get to Lucky. “Ma’am, call if you need anything.” He held out a business card. “My number is on the back. Call anytime.”

“Thanks, Earl.” She nodded and took the card. “I’ve got your number—9-1-1.”

Will moved to stand behind Lucky and put a possessive hand on her shoulder. It was strange…. Will, possessive of her?

“We’ll call if we need you.” There was iron in his voice, and his face was missing the boyish smile he used on strangers. Unemotional Will had developed some anger issues. Okay, the situation with Dawnie had clearly rattled him, but rudeness, it wasn’t like Will.

To counter his abrupt manner, she said, “I’ll walk you out.” She made to get up, but Will put pressure on her shoulder, holding her down.

“There’s no need. I’m sure these gentlemen can find their way. They probably have another call. We don’t want to hold them up.” Will’s tone was more than harsh.

With a wave over his shoulder, Earl followed Jack around the side of the house.

“Wanna play Barbies?” Dawnie smiled hopefully at Lucky. Clearly, near death couldn’t compete with Barbies.

“I … um…” She looked across the pool to the glittering lights of the house. Unless the Barbies were outside, they would have to go inside to play. Inside the house that she’d shared with a man who hadn’t loved her … inside the house that symbolized the mockery of her marriage … inside the house she hadn’t spent more than twenty minutes at a time in because the memories were too painful. “I don’t think so.”

Dawnie coughed and turned huge, pitiful eyes on Lucky. “Please?”

Will patted Dawnie’s back. “That’s my little drama queen.”

Dawnie coughed again. “I almost drownded.” Her eyes were bottomless pits of despair that only Barbies could cure.

There wasn’t a woman alive who could withstand this kind of torture.

“Learned the art of manipulation from her father.” It was out before Lucky had time to think. “Wow, I didn’t mean to say that.”

“You and Lucky need to get cleaned up first.” Will held out his hand to help Lucky up from the chair. “Then we’ll talk Barbies.”

Lucky took Will’s warm, strong hand and stood. Will continued to hold her hand as they walked to the back of the house.

Braving the house was like facing down Ricky and his lies. She stiffened her shoulders. Will was right, she was no coward. Four hours ago, if anyone had told her she’d be walking into her old house to play Barbies with Ricky’s youngest daughter, she’d have laughed her ass off. Now, it didn’t seem all that outrageous.

Will couldn’t believe Lucky was actually here. He dropped her two duffle bags on the floor of the master suite. Lucky hadn’t batted an eye when he’d asked which room she’d be taking. It must hurt her terribly to be in the room she’d shared so many years with the man she’d loved. But she’d just walked in like it was any other day, slogged into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.

The shower … with both heads streaming hot water down her luscious body and all nine of the body sprays raining down delicious warmth on all those curves. And those mile-long legs. Years ago, he’d taken to calling her “Legs” in his head. The nickname had come to him about two seconds after he’d first laid eyes on her.

He leaned against the massive marble four-poster bed. Soapy, sudsy Lucky. Tunneling his fingers through his hair, he concentrated on lowering his blood pressure. Everything he’d ever wanted stood on the other side of that door, blissfully unaware of him.

Well, she was here, and that was something.

Step one—get her here—was complete. He’d revel in that small victory later, because step two—admitting the truth—weighed heavily on him.

She needed to know everything about her financial state. With any luck, that would keep her here until she fell in love with the children, hopefully with him, and they all lived happily ever after.

It was a fairy tale on crack.

He was anything but a king, Lucky would kill him for even thinking of her as a queen, but they did have three little princesses desperately in need of a happy ending.

The shower stopped, and the glass shower doors clicked open. She’d be stepping out onto the white bath mat right now, water dripping from her body. He stumbled to the sitting area where white leather sofas were positioned in front of the white marble fireplace and sat down.

Everything in this room was white per Ricky’s instructions. He’d needed the “creative energy” of the rainbow, so every room was a different color. When Lucky had explained that white wasn’t actually a color in the rainbow, he’d insisted. Since it had been pointless to argue with him, both white and black were added to the color spectrum. At least the master wasn’t the black room, because that room was depression with four walls and a ceiling.

Will took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Next she would walk out in nothing but a towel, looking for some dry clothes. He should leave. It was the right thing to do. Not so much as a muscle twitched.

The bathroom door opened, and he promised himself he would keep his eyes on the white carpet.

“Good, my bags.” Her feet sank into the rich, thick carpet.

“There were only the two bags in the trunk, along with Ricky’s missing bronze hand.” He smiled to himself. “I knew it was you.”

She was a fighter. He loved that about her.

“I was going for the head, but it didn’t wish to be parted from his body.” She stood right in front of him. “Where’s my car?”

“The garage with all of your other cars.” He shrugged. “Only way to get you here. Your timing couldn’t have been better.”

If she hadn’t gotten here in time and saved Dawnie. He rubbed his eyes. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“Why am I here? Why have you gone to so much trouble to force me to come here?”

He opened his mouth to tell her it was because he loved her … had always loved her … and that he’d brought her here so that she could finally see him for the man he was and not just her brother-in-law, but the words in his heart didn’t make it to the surface. “The night of your wedding, I promised Ricky that if something ever happened to him, I’d take care of you.”

Earlier she’d told him to look in the mirror if he wanted to see a coward—she’d been right. Every day he faced down greedy record labels, tore through contracts, and strong-armed recording studio execs, but all it took was one troubling case of unrequited love for a six-foot-tall, hazel-eyed beauty with a chip on her shoulder and a bad attitude and he was a whipped puppy. If he could discreetly punch himself, he would.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t sound pissed, only tired.

The bottom edge of her white towel grazed his peripheral vision. If he looked up now, he would touch her, and once he got his hands on her, he wasn’t going to stop.

For the last seventeen years, he’d made sure to control himself around her. He rarely touched her, provided a sympathetic ear when she needed one, and kept his feelings to himself. Being near her but always checking himself so she wouldn’t guess his feelings was the hardest thing he’d ever done … but he’d do it all again, because being around her made life worth living. This time, he’d show her how he felt. It was okay now that Ricky was gone. He needed to start small—little gestures of his love. She didn’t trust him.

Just to be on the safe side, he slid his hands under his thighs. Small gestures … small gestures … small gestures. “Get dressed and we’ll talk.”

“What about Dawnie?”

“Mandy’s home from school and distracted her from the Barbies with the promise of a long bubble bath and pink glitter nail polish.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her bend over to pick up one bag. He closed his eyes and tried really hard not to imagine that towel falling to the floor.

He opened his eyes to find that she’d walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

The scent of her flowery soap on her skin lingered in the air. Lucky was feminine in an unconventional way. Every move she made was somehow graceful and harsh—like a cross between Donna Reed and Xena the Warrior Princess. He glanced at the bathroom door. Would there ever be a time when she didn’t feel the need to shut it? Would he ever get a chance to be more than her brother-in-law?

Five torturous minutes later, she stepped out, wearing skintight jeans and a vintage Rolling Stones concert tee shirt. Her feet were bare, her hair was finger-combed in a long, wavy mass, and her face was makeup free. He wanted to eat her up.

As she walked, she reached behind her and twisted her hair up into some intricate bun thing and stuck a pen through it. He’d seen her do it a thousand times, but it still mesmerized him. How did it stay up? How could she look so regal with nothing but a pen?

She took the seat on the sofa next to him, propped her feet up on the coffee table, and relaxed back. “So, what evil master plan have you hatched this time?”

A lock of hair came loose and fell into her face. He stuck his hands under him again to keep from tucking it behind her ear.

“First, thanks for saving Dawnie’s life. If you hadn’t been there… I don’t even want to think about it.” His voice shook, and he couldn’t make it stop. The thought of losing Dawnie… It made him physically ill.

“You know thanks aren’t necessary. She’s such a sweet child, I’m glad I got there in time.” Lucky took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You’re stalling.”

She turned to look at him. “I promise to listen. Right now, emotionally, I don’t have much left in me. Never in a million years would I have believed myself capable of caring about Ricky’s children. But when I heard that cry for help and saw that tiny body at the bottom of the pool, I died a thousand times. I had to save her. She had to be okay. My heart stopped beating until she took a breath. And then she held me so tightly.” Her voice broke. “What am I supposed to do? She has Ricky’s eyes.”

She was hurting, and he ached to hold her.

If life were different, he would have scooped her up, set her on his lap, and kissed it away, but he couldn’t, no matter what he wanted, so he kept his hands exactly where they were.

“I know this is hard for you. If I could save you this pain, I would, but you have to face it.” He blew out a long breath. “And unfortunately you have to face some other things too.” How did he start? How did he go about ruining the life of the woman he loved? “I know you don’t want to talk about the new reality show, but we have to discuss it.”

“No, we don’t.” Her heart wasn’t in it, and she didn’t get up. It was progress … hopefully.

“Yes, we do. You’re being sued by the show, and they want their money back.” Which was just a drop in the bucket.

“So what? As soon as Ricky’s will is out of probate, I’ll settle with them. What’s the big deal?” She sounded so matter-of-fact … so innocent. That was about to change.

“There is no money.” He let his hands out of jail, turned so that his back was against the armrest, and gave her his full attention. Facing her head-on was the least he could do for her. “Ricky’s estate is broke. In fact, the bank will be foreclosing on the house next week. I’ve put them off that long with the promise of a new show. My brother was a hell of a musician but a terrible money manager. He invested everything in a company developing efficient solar power technology. They went bankrupt and took everything Ricky had with them.”

“Everything?” She shook her head. “Solar power… What are you talking about? No, wait…. He was obsessed with green energy. I remember him mentioning it.” She sat up, tucked one leg under her, and turned her body toward Will. “When you say everything… How much is left?”