"Candles and fresh flowers, too?" Laverna asked.
"Mmm-hmm. Yes. The works." Grace waltzed over and hugged Laverna, whose dark eyes widened in surprise. "I want music, too. Something romantic."
"Yes, ma'am." Laverna smiled timidly.
Jed waited in a long line of cars backed up on the highway between Beaulac and St. Camille. He'd decided to take the shortest route to Sheffield Media, Inc. headquarters, not realizing a road crew would have a section of highway blocked and was making the eastbound traffic take turns with the westbound traffic on the narrow strip of old road.
Jed thumped his fingers on the steering wheel as one foot patted nervously on the floor mat. Dom had phoned to let him know Grace had insisted on heading to the office immediately and wanted him to meet them there. Mentally he knew Grace was as safe with Dom and Kate as she would be with him: but on a possessive male, gut level, he didn't want Grace going anywhere without him.
Just as he started to call the office to let them know he'd be late, his lane of traffic got the go-ahead, so he shifted gears and moved forward, but only at a snail's pace.
An hour later, he parked at Sheffield Media, Inc. headquarters and strode into the main building. When he arrived at Grace's office, he was told by one of the secretaries that Ms. Beaumont had already left for lunch.
"Where did she go?"
"Rudy's. It's on Main Street. You can't miss it. Ms. Beaumont asked that you join them as soon as possible."
"Them? Do you mean the Dundee agents?"
"Yes, sir, they were with her, along with Ms. Leone and Mr. Prentice."
Oh, great, just great, Jed thought. Lunch with Hudson Prentice. He didn't like the guy. And it wasn't just because the man was in love with Grace. Jed's gut instincts told him Prentice couldn't be trusted. If he had to choose between Prentice and Uncle Willis to be the bad guy, the informant who had betrayed Dean Beaumont and Byram Sheffield, he'd pick Prentice. After all, what had Willis Sullivan gained by the two men's deaths? Nothing. On the other hand, Prentice had believed he would be named CEO of Sheffield Media, Inc. after Grace's father died. And with Dean Beaumont out of the way, he'd probably thought Grace would fall into his waiting arms.
Of course Jed had no real proof. And gut instincts wouldn't hold up in court. Nor would his gut instincts persuade Grace that her senior vice-president was a two-faced, conniving bastard. Besides, Jed told himself, there was always the off chance he could be wrong.
"How long have they been gone?" Jed asked.
"They just left. Less than ten minutes ago. Rudy's doesn't open until twelve-thirty during the week and there's always a crowd."
Jed dashed into the parking lot, jumped in the rental car and screeched out onto the road. As he zipped from red light to red light in the business district of downtown St. Camille, he asked himself why the hell he was in such a rush. What did he think would happen to Grace without him at her side?
As soon as he turned onto Main, he saw the restaurant at the end of the street, the last building on the left. Like so many establishments in town, Rudy's was housed in an old building that had been renovated and yet maintained a Louisiana antebellum ambience. Black wrought-iron banisters lined the upstairs porch as well as the downstairs one. Glistening black shutters flanked two sets of long, narrow windows across the front of the old whitewashed redbrick exterior. As he crept slowly along the street-the speed limit was fifteen miles an hour-he spotted Grace's Rolls parked out front, with Nolan sitting inside; then he saw a line of people slowly entering Rudy's. When he drew nearer, he recognized Kate and Dom standing in line and to their right Prentice stood beside Elsa Leone. Undoubtedly the others blocked his view of Grace. When Jed drove up in front of the restaurant, he hunted for a parking place, then noticed a sign pointing to parking in the rear. Grumbling under his breath, he eased the rental car onto the narrow alleyway that led to the back of the restaurant.
When he got out of the car, locked it and headed toward the sidewalk, some odd sixth sense kicked in, alerting him to danger. His steady walk turned into a hurried trot and then broke into a full run. As he turned the corner, he comprehended several different events occurring simultaneously. In his peripheral vision he caught a glimpse of a car crash at the intersection. One vehicle ran through the red light and rammed straight into the side of the other car. Looking directly ahead, he noted the customers entering Rudy's had stopped, turned and gaped in surprise at the nearby accident scene. Dom and Kate, flanking Grace, took defensive positions, blocking her body with theirs. And for some unknown reason, Hudson Prentice froze in place, closed his eyes and looked as if he was praying.
Jed hurried toward Grace. Two of the men in the crowd raced across the street toward the accident site, presumably going to offer assistance. When Grace saw Jed, her face lit up. Nothing had prepared him for the way her reaction made him feel. The woman had him turned inside out, her every look tightening his gut, her every touch arousing him.
"Jed…" She turned to him, but stopped herself before actually reaching out to him.
He knew what she felt because he felt it, too. He wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her senseless. But Grace Beaumont wasn't the type of lady who would go in for public displays like that.
Before he could say anything, one of the men who'd rushed from Rudy's to the accident site, called out, "Hey, there's a guy over here who's having some kind of convulsions. We need a doctor or somebody with medical training."
The crowd buzzed with concern and curiosity. Jed knew what he had to do, but that nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach cautioned him not to leave Grace. He grasped her arm and said, "I've had medic training. I should-"
"Go…go," she told him.
Most of the people in line at Rudy's went inside for lunch, but a few decided watching an accident scene was preferable to eating. Grace instructed Elsa and Hudson to go on into the restaurant, then she turned to Kate and Dom.
"Mr. Shea, why don't you go with Jed and see if you can help out. Kate and I will go in and order, then y'all can join us later."
Jed looked squarely at Kate. "Take care of her."
"You know I will," Kate replied.
Reluctantly Jed headed toward the car crash at the intersection, Dom at his side, as Grace and Kate followed Elsa and Hudson into the restaurant. Just go do what has to be done to help out, Jed told himself. Kate will look after Grace. After all, what could happen to her in Rudy's?
Jed and Dom parted the crowd hovering around the two wrecked vehicles-a shiny red Toyota convertible and a black Ford Windstar minivan. It appeared the man driving the convertible had run the red light and smashed into the side of the minivan-probably at no more than twenty miles an hour. The woman driving the Windstar had two toddlers in regulation child safety seats in the back. She was crying, but she seemed to be physically all right, as were her two squalling babies. The young man behind the wheel of the sports car was in the throes of a convulsion and since Jed couldn't see how he could have been badly injured in what appeared to be just a major fender bender, he figured the guy had some sort of medical condition.
"You look after the lady and her kids," Jed said. "I'll see what I can do for this guy."
By the time Jed checked the guy over and decided he hadn't received any injuries and that he possibly suffered from epilepsy and had gone into a seizure which had no doubt caused the accident, the police showed up and an ambulance siren could be heard several blocks up the street. Jed discovered a medical emergency bracelet on the man's wrist which verified Jed's suspicions that he had epilepsy. Since Jed and Dom were firsthand witnesses to the collision and the lady was too hysterical to give the officers a competent report on how the accident had occurred and the other driver would soon be on his way to the hospital, Officer LeBeck asked the Dundee agents to fill him in on what had happened.