Digging In: A Novel(53)

Sean remained standing. I thought maybe I should get up as well, but then, suddenly, I was exhausted. “Could we talk about the dress?”

“You took it with no regard for my feelings,” Mr. Eckhardt said. He sounded hurt. Was it an act?

“Took it from where?” Sean asked, confused. “Can we start at the beginning?”

Mr. Eckhardt didn’t offer any additional information, and I didn’t either. I tried to see how my digging up a dress and then actually wearing it might look to Sean. Would he find it charming or creepy?

Creepy. Definitely creepy.

“I would like it back,” Mr. Eckhardt said. “Along with an apology, and a promise from Paige that she will no longer take what’s not hers.”

“I didn’t steal it,” I said, sounding a bit too much like Trey.

“It’s my wife’s dress,” Mr. Eckhardt said, his voice pained.

“And where is your wife, sir?” Sean asked gently.

A thought pierced through my annoyance. What if she’d died, and he was still mourning her? How could I, of all people, have not thought of that possibility?

“She’s gone,” Mr. Eckhardt said, and my heart broke.

“Passed on?” Sean said.

Mr. Eckhardt rolled his eyes. “Nope. Just gone. Took off.”

I don’t blame her, I thought.

“Oh,” Sean said.

Silence.

“I’m not going to get the whole story here, am I?” Sean asked.

More silence.

Sean sighed. “Okay. Will you give the dress back, Paige?”

“Yes. I don’t want it anyway.” I stood.

They both stared at me as though I’d strip down right there. Mr. Eckhardt was horrified. Sean . . . not so much.

“I’ll be right down.” I dashed upstairs and tore off the dress. Maybe it was bad luck. If so, I’d counter it with a soft T-shirt and the jean shorts I seemed unable to take off lately.

When I returned to the kitchen, Mr. Eckhardt and Sean were talking companionably.

“Will you stay and enjoy the party, Bill?” Sean said, and I kind of wanted to kill him.

Mr. Eckhardt caught my expression. “No.” He snatched the dress from my arms. “I’ll be going as soon as I get my apology and a promise that it won’t happen again.”

I didn’t want to apologize. I didn’t want to promise him anything.

“It’s up to you,” Sean said mildly. He wasn’t coercing me in the least. It really was up to me. Perversely, that made me want to choose the safe route. Sean really was good at this cop thing. “I’m sorry,” I said robotically. “It won’t happen again.”

Mr. Eckhardt nodded, and then he was gone.

Sean stepped closer to me and ran his index finger along the collar of my T-shirt. “You look great in this, too. Actually, almost better.”

My heart lurched. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Now that I’ve fully complimented you, are you going to tell me how you got your hands on that dress?”

“Am I under arrest, Officer?”

“Not yet.”

“Should I hire a lawyer?”

“Not unless you’ve got something to hide.”

I felt a blush spread from my chest to my hairline.

“Now I’m really curious,” Sean said, grinning.

I explained how I’d found the dress, trying to make myself look as sane and innocent as possible.

Sean’s grin turned into a belly-rumbling guffaw. “You are such a weirdo. Definitely a strange bird.”

I’d spent my entire life trying to fit into the mold of a respectable, conventional citizen. His comment brought on a strange sense of panic. “I think anyone would have done the same,” I said primly.

“No. Most women wouldn’t have been digging in the first place.” He drew me to him, and his strong arms felt good against my back. “I think you’re phenomenal. I like that you’re offbeat. I like even more that you have no clue that you are.”

He held me for a moment, and then pulled back slightly. “I’ve got to admit I’m curious as to why Bill would bury his wife’s dress in the backyard.”

“Can you look into it?”

He nodded. “Something tells me we’re going to be surprised by what we find out. That man is in pain.” I ignored the look of recognition on Sean’s face that told me he knew exactly what that was like.

“That might be true,” I said, “but I’m more concerned with her whereabouts. I’ve lived next door to Mr. Eckhardt for over ten years, and I’ve never once seen a hint of a wife. He’s got a nephew who comes to visit with his family, and some neighbors pause to talk to him every so often, but that’s pretty much it.”

“That’s sad,” Sean said.

“It is.”

“Sometimes people never really learn to connect with other people.”

I smiled at him. “You don’t have that problem.”

Sean took my hand. “I want to dance with you again. Under the stars. In your beautiful garden. With all those people staring at us.”

I took a deep breath. I could connect, too. “I would like that,” I said. “Very much.”