Kate Hoffmann - Declan

“Do you think it’s possible for you to be happy again? For there to be another baby?”

“Not if Daniel loves you,” she said. “And as long as you’re alive, he will.”

“But I don’t love your husband, Marcy. You do. And if you shoot me, you’ll never be able to get back to that happy place. It will never happen because you’ll go to jail and Daniel will be all alone.”

“He loves you,” Marcy shouted. “And you love him!”

“I don’t,” Rachel insisted.

Dec took a step forward and Marcy turned the gun on him. “She doesn’t,” he said.

“How do you know?”

“Because Rachel loves me, not your husband. Me. She’s loved me from the moment we met. And I’ve loved her just the same. Marcy, she told me this and Rachel wouldn’t lie to me. I swear.”

Marcy’s gaze darted back and forth between the two of them. “Is that true?” she asked Rachel.

Rachel looked over at Dec and smiled, hoping that it was the smile of a woman very much in love, then realizing that it couldn’t be anything else. She did love Dec, so there was no reason to lie. And he’d just found a way to get through to Marcy. “Yes,” she murmured. “It’s true. I fell in love with him the moment we met. Actually, it was a little while after that, but it was the first night we met.”

“I want a life with Rachel,” Dec said. “Just like you want a life with your husband. If you shoot either one of us, then neither of us will get what we want. And that would be a real shame, don’t you think?”

They stood looking at each other in silence, wondering what would happen next, Rachel trying to tell him how she felt with her eyes. And then, when they turned back to Marcy, Rachel watched her slowly lower the gun. Dec stepped forward and grabbed it from her hands before she collapsed on to the bedroom floor.

Rachel dropped to her side and soothed her as she wept, while Dec stood over them both, still watchful. “I’m going to call the police,” he said.

Rachel looked up at him and shook her head. “No. No one has to know about this. I’ll make sure she gets help. Sending her to jail isn’t going to do anyone any good.”

“Rachel, we have to turn her in.”

“No!” Rachel said, gathering Marcy into her arms as the woman sobbed. “Everything will stop now. Marcy will get help and you won’t say a word. Promise?”

Dec sighed. “All right. I promise.”

Rachel slowly drew Marcy to her feet, then took her hands. “Come on. Let’s go wash your face and comb your hair and then we’ll call Daniel to come and get you.”

Marcy’s sobs shook her shoulders and she looked at Rachel with a tear-stained face. “I’m sorry,” she said as they walked to the bathroom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-don’t tell Daniel what I did. I’m so sorry.”

“It’ll be all right,” Rachel said. “He loves you. He’ll understand and he’ll help you.”

Dec stood in the bathroom doorway, watching them both, the gun dangling from his hand. Rachel gave him a quick smile and he shook his head. “Do you have your cell phone?” she asked.

He took his out of his pocket and handed it to her. “What’s your phone number, Marcy? I’ll call Daniel to come and get you.”

She punched in the numbers as Marcy ticked them off, then handed the phone to Dec. “Explain to him what happened and tell him to come over right away.”

Dec walked back into the hallway and Rachel could hear him speaking in a low tone. She turned back to Marcy, smoothing her hand over her back. “Do you feel better now?”

The woman nodded. Rachel took her hand. “Come on, let’s go downstairs. I’ll make you a quick cup of tea. That will bring some color back to your cheeks.”

A half hour later, Rachel stood in the foyer of her house and watched as Daniel drove away with his wife. She gripped the edge of the door, trying to keep her knees from buckling, but when Dec came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, she sank back against him.

“It’s over.”

He rested his chin on her shoulder. “It is.” His lips pressed to her cheek. “Thank God, you’re safe. When I saw that gun pointed at your head, I thought I’d jump out of my skin.”

“Having you there was the only way I got through that.”

He cursed softly. “And I almost got you killed. I knew we shouldn’t have come here. And then, I left my own gun at home. I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t do my job.”

She turned in his arms. “You did everything you needed to do.”

He grabbed her face between his hand and kissed her deeply. His mouth was frantic for the taste of her and Rachel wrapped her arms around his neck and held tight, desperate herself to soothe her nerves.

Dec drew back and took her hand, then led her up the stairs to her bedroom. Rachel hesitated before stepping inside, wondering if she would ever forget what had happened there. The best way to forget would be to replace the bad memory with a good one.

She reached up and began to unbutton Dec’s shirt. The rest of his clothes soon sat in a pile on the floor and she stripped off her own, then drew him along to the bed. They tumbled onto the duvet, Dec pulling her body on top of his as they fell.

He kissed her again, devouring her mouth, his hands skimming over her naked body. Dec held her so tight that Rachel wondered if he’d ever let her go. But when he finally softened his embrace, she rolled off to his side and curled up against his body.

There would be plenty of time to make love. But before they did, a question needed to be answered. Rachel just wasn’t sure how to ask it. “Do you remember what you said to Marcy?”

“I said a lot of things to her,” Dec replied.

“When you told her that you loved me and I loved you? And that we loved each other from the moment we met?”

“Umm-hmm.”

“That was the smartest thing to say. The moment you said that, I knew we’d be safe. I don’t think I ever would have thought to tell her that.” She drew in a ragged breath, trying to calm her nerves. All she had to do was ask. Did he mean what he’d said or was it simply a way to pacify Marcy?

But she couldn’t bring herself to verbalize the question. It was too soon and she didn’t want to push him. But everything was about to change and Rachel wanted to hold on to something of what they shared.

In the end, she didn’t ask. Instead, she crawled on top of Dec and seduced him, bringing him to his climax in a slow and easy way. She’d find all the answers to her questions. It would just take a little bit more time.

DEC STOOD IN THE KITCHEN of Rachel’s house, peering into her refrigerator and looking for a beer. “I thought you said there was one in here,” he shouted.

“Look on the bottom shelf,” Rachel called from upstairs.

He did as ordered and found what he was looking for, the last bottle from a six-pack he’d brought over last week. Dec smiled as he twisted off the cap. Their lives were so intertwined already. Rachel’s clothes hung in his closet, his beer stayed cold in her fridge, they’d even exchanged house keys. And sharing households was helped along by the fact that they lived only three blocks apart.

Dec leaned back against the counter and took a long sip of his beer. Life was pretty damn good, he thought to himself. And from where he stood, it would only get better.

Tonight, he and Rachel would celebrate the first month of their relationship. And though it seemed like such a short time, they’d spent more hours together than most couples who’d been dating for six months. Since he’d met Rachel, Dec had taken some well deserved vacation time. Summers were always slow for Rachel, so they’d had plenty of opportunities to be together.