I speeded it up as I saw the lights of Mickey’s SUV coming down the street.
I darted in a half-jog, half-walk up Mickey’s drive, doing this following his SUV.
I slowed again as he got out of his truck but only because I was nearly upon him.
I didn’t wait for him to close the car door before I threw myself in his arms.
As mine closed around him, his wrapped tight around me and I could feel his breath stirring the hair on top of my head.
“Fuck, you smell good,” he murmured.
“Took a bath before bed to relax,” I replied to his chest.
“Mm…”
I felt his sound through my cheek and it vibrated deep in my belly.
We held on a while and when Mickey stated gently, “I’m good, Amy,” I tipped my head back to catch his eyes.
“Yeah,” I whispered.
He cupped my jaw with a hand. “You worried.”
“I was terrified out of my mind,” I told him the absolute truth but did it in a quip and then delighted in his chuckle.
He thought I was joking.
And he would think that, forever.
I would never lie to Mickey about anything else.
But so he could do what he loved to do to protect the citizens of Magdalene without a thought of the worry it caused me, I’d hide that from him for as long as he gave his time to the MFD.
Then he said something to me that, not with his words but with the strength he assumed I had in sharing them, was one of the biggest compliments he could give me.
“It was arson, Amy.”
I stared up at him. “Really?”
“Chief’s callin’ in an investigator. We don’t have one workin’ for the county because we don’t need one. But it was not one fire that spread. We found fire origin in three of those shops. We saw it. We know it. Bobby wants someone to make it official so Coert’s got everything he needs.”
“Who would do that?” I asked.
“No clue,” he answered. “Could be some issue with those shops or that development. Could be we got a fire bug.”
Oh, God. No.
I hid the panic at the very idea of that and what it would mean to the boys of the MFD, primarily Mickey, when I saw the fatigue gathered around his eyes and said, “Okay, honey. It’s out now and all’s good. But it’s late so I need to let you go so you can get some rest.”
“Okay, baby, kiss first.”
I nodded, rolling up on my toes as he bent into me and we shared a quick, sweet kiss that was a little wet since, during it, he touched his tongue to mine.
I rolled back and whispered, “Glad you and all the guys are safe, Mickey.”
“Me too, babe.”
I gave him a squeeze and ordered, “Go to bed.”
“Right,” he muttered, bending in for another lip touch before I pulled away and moved away so he could get out of his car door and close it.
“Sleep well,” I told him, grabbing his hand and leaning back into him.
“Will do. You too.”
“Will do. ’Night, honey.”
He tightened his hand in mine before letting it go on his, “’Night, Amy.”
I grinned, turned and walked away only to stop and turn around when he said loudly with great humor, “Jesus, darlin’.”
“What?” I asked.
“Only my heiress would have fluffy slippers with sequins on ’em.”
I loved it that with the night he had, he was smiling and I’d done something to make him do it.
Thus I went for more.
“There’s not much I do to keep up the Bourne-Hathaway name, but I feel it’s a moral imperative to wear appropriate heiress slippers.”
He shook his head and ordered, “Go home.”
“You got it,” I replied, turned and strolled back to my house.
This time, I didn’t do it letting Mickey watch me in my yoga pants and sequined slippers.
I did it turning once and waving hard, with a big smile.
He also had a big smile and he jerked up his chin.
I didn’t hear the garage door go down and I would see as I was closing my front door that Mickey waited at the rear bumper of his SUV for me to get home safely even though I lived right across our usually sleepy but at that hour, now totally comatose street.
My guy was a good guy.
I locked the door and then jumped a mile when I heard, “Mom.”
I turned, hand to my chest, heart hammering, to see Olympia in the shadows.
“Honey, you scared the dickens out of me.”
Suddenly, I found my daughter in my arms, the side of her head pressed to the side of mine and she was squeezing the breath out of me.
Just as suddenly as she threw herself in my arms, she said, “Glad Mickey’s okay,” let me go, turned and hurried away.
She’d heard me make plans to go see he was all right.
She’d waited up with me.
And maybe, (I didn’t put it past my girl, she could be nosy) she’d watched through the guestroom window as I ran across the street to make sure he was all right.
I had a feeling Mickey had already earned my baby girl’s stamp of approval.
Just because he meant something to me.
And fortunately, even though she’d waited up, obviously she hadn’t heard her brother and me talking about Polly.
I smiled to myself as I turned away from the door, wandered down the hall, took off my cardigan and threw it on the arm of the daybed, kicked off my sequined slippers and climbed into bed.
Then I, Amelia Hathaway, who’d grown up not learning how to deal and never having a solid foundation, after a very rough night, fell right to sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Three
My Umbrella
I was Pledging my fabulous new dining room table that looked perfect in its place in my great room and better, the bowl I’d bought that began my new beginning looked perfect in the middle of the table, when my phone rang.
I wandered to it, thinking I needed a rug under it and wondering if I’d be able to find that, and arrange for Mickey—and perhaps Junior and Jake, with the help of Auden—to come and move the huge, heavy table in order to put the rug under it.
This was a happy thought, which made the announcement on the display even more annoying than it normally would be, considering it obliterated my happy thought.
I sighed and wondered if I should perhaps not be grown up all the time as I took the call and put the phone to my ear.
“Conrad,” I greeted.
“You didn’t phone my secretary,” he replied.
No hello. He didn’t even say my name in greeting.
This was not starting out great.