Dreaming of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #8)(11)

A tear and then another slid down her cheek, and she hastily brushed them away. “I’ve been…” She wiped away a couple of more tears. “I’ve been missing you something awful. Everything reminds me of you—the little tea shop on Main Street that we used to eat at, even that Victorian restaurant, Victoriana, across the street from the art gallery.” Her throat felt clogged with tears.

“I… I followed Mario into that restaurant this morning. Our restaurant. The bastard,” she said softly. “But I met someone else there today. And… well, it made me think of something other than revenge for a change.”

That made her feel guilty. How could she think about a man as beguiling as Jake Silver and how nice it would be to date someone like him, when she had a promise to fulfill?

She didn’t say anything for a while as she looked up at the wisp of clouds dotting the blue sky. She thought about how this was just like the kind of day she used to enjoy on nature walks with her mother and how her meeting with Jake would have been a godsend, if not for what Mario and Danny had done to her mother.

“I’m not sure you’d approve of him.” Alicia gave a sad little laugh. “You never really liked any of the guys I dated, and no wonder. They were all losers. But Jake, well, he seems different somehow. Dangerous in a good way.” She stood and took a shaky breath. “You know what a mess I’ve always made of my life when it comes to guys.” Just like her mother’s relationships with men.

“I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Only that Jake made me realize I wasn’t totally dead like I thought I was. But it scares me. Not only because my past relationships were such disasters, but also what if I fall for someone like Jake, and Mario or his thugs kill him, too?”

She knew they wouldn’t hesitate to make her hurt even more than she did now. She folded her arms around herself and rubbed them, suddenly feeling a chill. She’d already lost her mother to these men. She didn’t want them killing anyone else she felt something for.

As much as she wanted to have lunch with Jake later and see him further, she couldn’t. For now, men and relationships were out of the question. Deep down, she knew that. Knew she couldn’t keep their “date.” That was why she’d had to slip away from him back in town. To get away from his enticing presence so she could think clearly again.

Car doors slammed near where she’d parked, and her whole body tensed with worry. Turning to look, she watched the path for some time until a dark-haired man and a blond woman—hand in hand, and both wearing shorts and T-shirts—appeared, strolling along the hiking trail with their backpacks bulging. Alicia took a relieved breath.

They looked at her with odd expressions. The suit jacket and skirt and sneakers probably puzzled them until they saw the memorial wreath propped up by the tree and murmured greetings as they walked by her.

Unless they were out-of-towners, they’d probably heard about her mother’s murder. Many people knew about the flowers she set out each week on the spot where her mother had been murdered. Someone always took away the spent flowers before she returned. At least, that’s what she told herself. If someone was stealing her mother’s flowers after Alicia left, she hoped they put them to good use.

The hiking couple had long since disappeared along the path and through the woods. Alicia was about to say her good-byes to her mother so she could go back to town and try to catch up with Mario again, when two more car doors slammed shut in the parking area. Hikers, more than likely. Still, she watched the path with apprehension, waiting for their appearance, unbuttoning her jacket in case she had to get to her gun, and hoping some of Mario’s henchmen weren’t coming to pay their last respects.

***

Mary Clebourne identified herself as the gallery owner. She’d frowned at Jake’s brusque greeting and jumped when he set the box of photographs on the desk a little too firmly.

He quickly said, “Price them however you see fit. I’d planned to meet with you earlier this morning when you were supposed to be open, but I’ve got another commitment right now.”

She seemed to gather her wits and frowned even deeper. “We need you to sign some paperwork and—”

“I’ll return later today,” Jake said, heading for the door. It wasn’t like him to let his imagination get away from him, but after the thug had threatened Alicia in the restaurant, Jake couldn’t quit worrying about her.

“But…” the woman said.

Jake let the door swing shut on his departure as he rushed to his truck. He glanced up the street at the floral shop and noted that Alicia’s car was no longer parked there. Hell.

With his truck in gear, he tore off down the street and jammed on his brakes in a parking spot at the floral shop. Barely shutting his vehicle’s door, he stalked into the fragrant, refrigerated store where bouquets of flowers and pots of plants resting on terra-cotta tiles decorated four-tier circular shelves.

Dressed in a blouse and skirt covered in red roses, a gray-haired woman smiled in greeting, dimples appearing on her full cheeks. “May I help you, sir?”

“A woman came in here wearing a black suit, her hair dark brown, and… her name is Alicia Greiston. I need to track her down.” He sounded as desperate as he felt.

The smile instantly fell from the florist’s face, and a grave sadness marred her appearance. But she hesitated to say where she might think Alicia had gone.