“What is it, Heath?” she asked. “What’s the matter?”
Heath looked at her directly. “There’s a bench warrant out for your brother’s arrest. The D.A. says he violated the terms of his bail by traveling to Massachusetts.”
Chapter 9
Ann looked stricken. “What do you mean? You said that Tim had been given permission to go!”
“Calm down, I’m going to handle it,” Heath said firmly.
“Obviously some wires have crossed somewhere. Harry Caldwell is going to straighten this out, pronto.”
“He won’t be in his office now, Heath!”
“I’ll find him wherever he is. For what I’m paying him, he’ll solve this little problem if he has to take a dogsled from Springfield to Boston.” Heath went to his closet and started to dress, pulling trousers off a hanger.
“I’m going with you,” Ann said, dropping her towel and walking past him.
“You are not. You almost passed out last night, and after this day, you’ve had enough stress for at least a week. I’ll go over to Caldwell’s office and you stay here and relax.”
“Heath, I can’t ask you to keep unscrambling my messes like this,” Ann protested.
“Why not? Wasn’t that our deal?”
“I thought our deal was off.”
“Not that part of it. Listen, you’re my wife. I have the ability to handle this and you don’t.” He grinned. “When I need a grammatically phrased letter I’ll let you take charge. Now, get out of my way and go and pick out an outfit for later. This will all be settled in two hours, I promise you.” He picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder, then kissed her on the cheek.
Ann stared after him as he left the bedroom, and she heard him speaking to Daniela in the hall. Then she dressed quickly and went out to the kitchen herself.
Daniela was washing dishes in the sink. The debris of the party was still visible, but reduced; Daniela had been busy clearing it away all day.
“Still at it, Daniela?” Ann said, walking over to the terrace doors and glancing outside. The furniture was stacked to one side and Victor was standing on a garden chair, taking down a string of colored lights.
“There’s a lot to do,” Daniela said, glancing at her and smiling. “You look so relaxed this evening.”
Ann smiled back at her. It was true. Despite Tim’s latest crisis Heath’s changed attitude was like a balm to her soul, giving her hope for the future and their life together.
“I guess it must be a relief to have the party out of the way,” Daniela said.
Ann nodded.
“Do you want something to eat?” Daniela asked.
Ann shook her head. “No, thanks. I’m having a late dinner with Heath.”
“You’re too skinny, Senora Bodine. Have a snack now. Mr. Bodine, he is always telling me to cook for you, fatten you up.”
“Always?” Ann said.
“Yes, since you got married.”
So while Heath was giving Ann a hard time to her face, he was sneaking around behind her back and telling the housekeeper to prepare special meals for her. Typical.
“Okay, I’ll have some toast,” Ann said, sitting down in the breakfast nook. Daniela went to get the bread, saying, “The party was a big success, senora?”
“Yes, thank you,” Ann replied, thinking about its lurid aftermath with Ben Rowell in the bedroom. “You and Victor were such a big help, Heath and I appreciate it. When are you leaving?”
“We were through at noon,” Daniela replied, “but I didn’t want this mess to greet me day after tomorrow, so we’ve stayed to get some of it out of the way.”
“You don’t have to stay any longer.”
“But, senora, the tables from the caterers have to go back, and the rest of the decorations—”
“Can all wait until after Christmas. Heath said that your daughter is coming to visit tonight and that should take precedence. Did Heath give you your bonus?”
Daniela nodded as she buttered toast and then put the plate in front of Ann.
“Then get lost,” Ann said, laughing.
Daniela was obviously pleased. “I hope the new year is a very happy one for you, senora,” she said, patting Ann’s arm and then walking out of the room.
That gave Ann pause. So Daniela and her husband had not been insensitive to the undercurrents of tension in the house. And Ann had tried so hard to pretend that everything was fine.
After Daniela and Victor left, a holiday hush settled over the evening, leaving Ann with nothing to do. She was too jittery to work and everybody she knew to call or visit was sure to be busy. Finally she could wait no longer and dialed Harold Caldwell’s office. She got a voice message saying that the office was closed.
If Heath and the lawyer were there, they weren’t answering the phone.
Ann tried to read and to watch television. She was just about to call again when Heath came through the door, carrying several wrapped packages and wearing a red felt Santa Claus hat with white faux fur trim.
“Ho, ho, ho,” he said, encircling her with his free arm. “Oh dear, my Mrs. Claus looks somewhat worried. Where’s my joyous Christmas face?”
“How is Tim? What’s happening? Is he in jail?”
“Take it easy, he’s not in jail,” Heath replied, dumping his packages on the entry-hall table. “Harold Caldwell pulled some rabbits out of a hat and the bench warrant has now been rescinded. Curfew will not ring tonight.”
Ann sighed and closed her eyes. “I tried to call Caldwell’s office,” she said.
Heath grinned. “I kept him busy—he wasn’t taking any outside calls.”
Ann flung her arms around his neck. “Thank you. I seem to be saying that a lot lately.”
“De nada. Hey, you haven’t commented on my holiday accessory.” He swept off the hat and bowed.
“Very fetching. Where did you get it?”
“I bought it at the liquor store.”
“Liquor store? Have the proprietors branched out into haberdashery?”
“Nah, they had a counter display of them when I went in there to send a bottle to Ben Rowell. I couldn’t resist.”
“I hope you got him something nice.”
“A fifth of Glenlivet.”
“Good.” Ann kissed him tenderly on the cheek.
“Don’t you want to open your presents?” he asked, picking up the smallest one and shaking it suggestively.
“Isn’t that supposed to wait until tomorrow?”
“There are no rules for a Bodine Christmas. Come on, just this one package. I want to see what you think of it.”
“I thought we were going to go shopping together, ” Ann said, accepting it.
“We will, we will. Everything is open late tonight. Tear into that one now.”
Ann went into the living room and sat on the sofa, ripping off the gold paper and red bow. Inside was a jeweler’s box.
“Heath, what did you do?” Ann asked, lifting the lid.
“I made a start on the rest of our lives, I hope,” he replied, watching her face.
Against a bed of deep blue velvet lay a gold chain with a large charm attached. Ann lifted it to look at it more closely; it was an old-fashioned quill and inkstand made of heavy gold and studded with diamonds.
“Heath, its beautiful. But why the charm?”
“Because you’re a writer. And a pretty good one too, I might add.”
She looked at him. “How do you know?”
“I’ve been reading your next book.”
Ann stared at him, stunned. “What? How?”
“At night, after you’re asleep, I’ve been going into the den and breaking into your computer.”
“How did you get into the file?”
He winked. “I’m a mechanical whiz, remember?”
She couldn’t get over it. “Heath, you are incorrigible.”
“Yes, I know. I also know more about the Italian Renaissance than I ever thought was possible.”
Ann laughed.
“How long were you in Italy?”
“Not long enough. I still have more research to do.”