Heartbreaker Hero: Eddie's Story (Maine Justice Book 4) Read online

  She nodded slowly, but he wasn’t sure. He also wasn’t sure he wanted to be more explicit about it.

  “Abby said you brought a girl here on a date a couple of months ago.” Her voice caught.

  “That’s true. It was a girl from the church. Rachel Trueworthy. We went to the circus with Harvey and Jennifer. It was fun. She’s a very nice person, and you’d probably like her. But I didn’t kiss her, and I didn’t fall in love with her. And I haven’t asked her out again, because I decided I liked you better than any of the other girls I’ve met—women, I mean—” He stopped and shook his head. At the police station, they came down hard on guys who called the female officers and dispatchers “girls.” It was too much to process right now. “Come on, let’s go in.”

  She walked with him in silence. Harvey was watching the end of the movie with Jennifer.

  “Hi,” he said when they went in.

  Leeanne mumbled “Hi,” and went over to the stairs and out of sight.

  Harvey sat up straight, and Jennifer hit the mute button.

  “What’s up, Ed?” Harvey asked.

  “Nothing.” Eddie stretched. “Maybe I ought to go home.”

  Harvey got up and steered him into the sunroom.

  “Something wrong?”

  Eddie eyed him thoughtfully. “Leeanne seems to be concerned about my past love life.”

  Harvey was silent for a moment, then he said, “Well, you’ve dated a ton of women. More than most guys have. Me, for instance.”

  Eddie knew Harvey hadn’t been a slouch in his college days, but he said, “You were socially challenged.”

  “True. But you—”

  “What?”

  Harvey raised one hand, as if in apology for saying it. “You practically invented flirting, Eddie.”

  That hit hard. “I’m a friendly person.”

  “Yes, you are. Especially with women.”

  “But I’m a gentleman.”

  His eyebrows went up. “Sometimes you were a little wild.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “No, I’m very happy with the way you’re turning out.” He put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “You’re growing up, Eddie. On January first, you’ll be the senior detective in the Priority Unit. I’ll be putting a lot of responsibility on you.”

  “And you don’t have any reservations about me dating Leeanne anymore, right?”

  “Right. Just take it slow. You haven’t been too aggressive, have you?” He looked a little anxious.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t sound sure. Maybe you’d better back off a little.”

  Eddie sighed. “You set it up so she’ll be here all week, then you tell me to back off.”

  “Only if she needs you to. You’ve got to go by her feelings, Eddie, not yours.”

  “Oh, have you got a Wainthrop Woman Emotion Meter in your pocket?”

  He smiled. “Jenny mostly gives me a reading loud and clear. She’s not the kind that keeps you guessing.”

  “Well, Leeanne’s got me tied up in knots. And I blame Blabby Abby for that.”

  “Abby?” Harvey frowned.

  “Apparently she’s been talking about me at work with a couple of women I used to date.”

  “Oh, boy. I’m guessing that’s not good.”

  “Worse than that. At least, with one of them. The other one I take it was from high school, and I don’t think she would hold anything against me.”

  “Are you sure? High school girls can be brutal.”

  Eddie sighed. “Yeah. Well, I never—” He looked at Harvey and groaned. “No decent woman is ever going to want to date me, let alone marry me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Yeah? What happened to everyone loving the dangerous bad boy?”

  “It works when you are the dangerous bad boy. But you’ve reformed, and you’re in a rough spot. You don’t want to play with the bad girls anymore, and the good girls are still leery.”

  “They won’t have anything to do with me.”

  “Not true. I happen to know you’ve been out with several very nice young women with high standards over the last few months. Look, you’re upset. Stay and have some coffee with me. We’ll sort this out.”

  “I promised my mother I’d eat over there tonight.”

  “Okay.” Harvey peered at him closely. “You sure you’re all right?”

  “Yeah, thanks. I’m better than I was. Do you think I’m too old for her?”

  “The older you both get, the less that will matter.” Harvey eyed him for a moment. “Aside from the fact that she’s beautiful and she’s a lovely person, what attracted you to Leeanne?”

  Eddie blinked at him. “Seriously?”

  “Yes. Why Leeanne, and not someone else?”

  Eddie could tell this was an important question, so he gave it his full attention. “I like the way she thinks. And she cares about the same things I do. Oh, not writing and goats and stuff, but ... well, she wants to get the truth out. I think that’s why she’s studying journalism, because she thinks it’s important that the people writing the news are careful and truthful. And you know she’ll do her work well. And she cares about people.”

  “Okay.”

  “There’s probably more stuff,” Eddie said.

  “That’s a good start. Do you want us to talk to Leeanne?”

  “Only if she wants to.”

  “All right.”

  “I’m not sure if I’ll make it to church tonight. Are we running in the morning?”

  Harvey walked over and checked the indoor-outdoor thermometer on the bookcase. “The temp’s dropping. Meet me at the track.”

  Eddie drove to his parents’ house and tried to settle his mind before he went inside. Walking through their door would mean a different kind of turmoil. He pulled in a deep breath and got out of the truck.

  “Well, look who’s here,” Pop said, as if he hadn’t seen Eddie in years.

  “About time.” Maman came over and kissed him.

  His sisters and their families were there again, and the meal was noisy. Ansel and Lisa had been watching the news, and Ansel turned the TV down but not off. Mémé pumped Eddie for more information about his petite amie, as she referred to Leeanne. He didn’t wax very eloquent. If he and Leeanne quit dating, Mémé would still ask about her for a year.

  Ansel called, “Hey, Eddie?”

  “What?” Ansel nodded at the TV. A reporter was just closing out a statement.

  Eddie said, “I missed it.”

  “The police chief,” Ansel said. They found a dead body in his back yard.”

  “How about that?”

  Everybody stared at the TV.

  “Did you know about that?” his father asked.

  “I mighta heard something.”

  They let it go, and Eddie was surprised but relieved. He wondered who had told the press. Probably Ryan Toothaker found out. He was a smart, ambitious reporter for the Press Herald, and he came to the station just about every day to read the police log. He’d probably gone in that morning just for drill and got a bonus. Once news got out, it was everywhere. Poor Mike. He’d probably have to field a million calls tonight.

  Maman had made tourtière, a sort of pork pie, which was one of Eddie’s favorites. He ate a lot and turned down several offers of beer. Everyone else except the kids and Lisa were drinking. She was pregnant again. Mémé had a glass of wine. Eddie had told them all he’d quit drinking, but they refused to accept his explanations. He’d gotten to where He just said no thanks. This would probably go on for the rest of his life.

  They sat around talking after supper was over, and his pop lit a cigarette.

  “Put that out,” Monique said. “Lisa’s pregnant.”

  His father swore and went outside to smoke.

  “You shouldn’t throw a man out of his own house,” Maman said.

  “Oh, what are you going to do, make Lisa leave?” Monique was scowly, and her husband, Wyatt, was stayi
ng out of her way. He played with the kids, with their Christmas toys. Lisa’s husband, Ansel, turned the TV up again and kept putting back the beer.

  Eddie wasn’t enjoying himself, but he tried to stay calm and talk to everybody. Pop came back inside complaining about the cold and reeking of smoke.

  “So what are you working on now, Pop?” Eddie asked. Winter was a slow time in that climate for construction workers.

  “We’re drywalling a new wing on a bank downtown.”

  “Terrific.” Eddie knew he hated working with sheetrock.

  His father opened the refrigerator. “You want a beer?”

  “No thanks, Pop.”

  He frowned and stared into the fridge. “What happened to all the beer?”

  “It’s probably all gone,” Maman said.

  Lisa made a furious face at Ansel. Pop swore.

  “Paul, ne jure pas,” Mémé said. Like telling Pop not to swear would do any good.

  “I will if I want to.”

  “Paul, don’t speak to your mother that way,” Maman said.

  Pop’s face was going purple.

  “So, Edouard, did you go to the Christmas Mass?” Mémé asked.

  Eddie hesitated. There wasn’t a right answer, so he’d better just face it head-on. “Uh, no, Mémé, I didn’t.”

  His grandmother shook her head. “You missed the Christmas Mass?”

  His mother turned her scowl on him. “Not even going to Mass on Christmas Day. I don’t understand it.”

  “I told you I had to work yesterday.”

  “But if you hadn’t worked, you’d have gone to Leeanne’s parents’ house. Do they go to Christmas Mass?”

  “No, but we all went to church this morning.”

  His mother shook her head. “My son. Father Claude asked about you, and I didn’t know what to say.”

  It was tough being the oldest, and the only boy. His family had expectations.

  “You haven’t been to confession for six months, Eddie.” That was another familiar line coming from his mother.

  “You just don’t understand, Maman. I confess different now.”

  “Oh, I know, I know. You pray to God without the saints, and you confess without the priest. You told me.”

  His father glared at him. “You shouldn’t upset your mother. Going to church one time out of the year wouldn’t kill you.”

  Pop ought to know, Eddie thought. Christmas and Easter were about it, so far as his father was concerned.

  His grandmother said, “Hush, now. I’ll light another candle for you, Edouard Jean Thibodeau.”

  Eddie stood up. “I’ve got to get going. Great meal, Maman.”

  “What? You’re leaving?” she asked as if in shock. “You’ve only been here an hour. I thought you were spending the evening with us.”

  “Two hours, almost, and I’m going to church. That’s what you wanted, right? You can even come with me.”

  “To that Protestant church?” Her lip curled.

  Lisa said, “Leave him alone, Maman. He goes to church more now than he ever did before. That should make you happy.”

  That surprised Eddie, and he whispered, “Thanks.”

  Lisa nodded, as though that was what sisters did for you.

  “What’s it like?” Mémé asked. “Do they have a shrine for the Virgin?”

  “No, Mémé.”

  His grandmother shook her head.

  Regret stabbed Eddie, and he sat down beside her.

  “I’m not going there to upset you, Mémé.”

  “Then why do you go there?”

  “Because I think it’s right. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you all.”

  Mémé just smiled sadly.

  His mother put a plate with an éclair in his hand, and Eddie stayed another two minutes to eat it. Pop found a warm six-pack in the cellarway, took one, and shoved the rest into the fridge after a dark glance at Ansel.

  Eddie was a little late to the service, but there was a spot for him beside Leeanne. He still couldn’t get a meter reading on her. Eddie had no idea what she was thinking or feeling. She was very quiet, and her face was serious. He didn’t try to hold her hand during church. He kept shooting up prayers in his head, asking God to not let him blow it again.

  Afterward, he asked Harvey and Jennifer if they wanted to go out for a milkshake. He wasn’t at all hungry. It was just a social thing.

  “Why don’t you and Leeanne go?” suggested Jennifer.

  He looked at Leeanne.

  She shrugged a little and smiled. “Okay.”

  While Leeanne put on her jacket, Harvey pulled him aside. “Drive carefully, and don’t come back until you’ve talked this reputation thing out. And remember, Eddie, don’t ever leave a woman crying.”

  “Is there a rule like that for women, too?”

  “Yes, they’re not allowed to ever leave a man bewildered.”

  “I hope someone told Leeanne that,” Eddie said.

  She walked out into the parking lot with him, and he opened the truck door. He drove carefully and tried to decide how to approach the topic in question.

  “Look, I meant what I said earlier. I really like you, and there isn’t anybody else in the picture.” He turned in at the Burger King.

  She smiled a little. “That’s good, Eddie. I’m glad. I wasn’t trying to pry into your private life.”

  The funny thing was, he didn’t care if she did want to know about his private life. His present private life, anyway. He wanted very much to share the present and the future with her.

  He parked the truck, and they went inside and ordered. When they were sitting across from each other with their milkshakes, he asked, “So, is there anything else we need to talk about?”

  She looked embarrassed. “No, I—it was just that, after we went to Fort Point, Jennifer told me—I guess that was a long time ago.”

  “It sure was.” Five or six months. It seemed years. “Look, I’m sure Jennifer was trying to be a good big sister then, but I really think she’d give you a different message now.”

  Leeanne looked up at him. Blue eyes, dark chestnut hair, a smooth, white forehead. Her cheekbones were high like Jennifer’s.

  “I talked to her after you left today,” she said. “Her and Harvey. You’re right. I was wrong to pull up what she said last summer and try to make it fit with what Abby said this weekend.”

  “Yeah, well ...” Eddie considered slamming Abby, but decided that wouldn’t help his cause. “Let’s try to forget all that, okay?”

  “Yeah. I’m sorry I made a major case out of it.” Leeanne fiddled with her straw. “I’m not very good at relationships.”

  “I’m still learning, too, even though I used to think I was an expert.” Eddie reached over and took her hand. “Let’s give this one some time.”

  She nodded, with a gaze that told him it would be worth the painful moments.

  He took her back to Harvey’s. The lights were on in the breezeway and the kitchen, but the rest of the house was dark. Eddie unlocked the door for Leeanne.

  “Looks like everyone’s turned in. I’ll call you tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

  “I’d like that.” She put her hand up to his face for a second and then went inside.

  Chapter 7

  Monday, December 27

  Leeanne’s phone alarm rang at quarter to six Monday. She scrambled into her sweatpants and T-shirt and went downstairs. Harvey was just emerging from his bedroom, with Jennifer not far behind. They were out the door by six. The university had an indoor track, and the police department had an agreement with the school that allowed officers to use it in off hours. Harvey and Eddie went there to run in the coldest weather.

  Leeanne and Harvey were stretching when Eddie arrived. Jennifer sat in the bleachers working on a cross stitch sampler—Noah’s ark, for the baby’s room. She was wearing the shirt Eddie gave her.

  “Hey,” Eddie said. “Family day here?”

  “What can I tell you?” s
aid Harvey. “She wanted to run.”

  Leeanne just smiled and kept warming up. Eddie was wearing cutoff sweats and a T-shirt, and he looked pretty good. He dropped his jacket and did a few stretches, and they started out. Harvey and Eddie seemed to know several other men who were running—probably more cops.

  Leeanne did six laps and dropped off. She had run in high school and still kept up a hit-or-miss routine in summer, but she hadn’t done much running since the weather turned cold. She sat down next to Jennifer and watched Eddie.

  “Did you guys talk last night?” Jennifer asked.

  “A little. I think it’s okay.”

  “Eddie will treat you right. I’m banking on it.”

  “I guess I made more out of his past than I should have.” Leeanne sighed.

  “It’s something you should consider and then pack away.” Jennifer smiled and clipped her threads. “Because he really has changed, but there will always be people who won’t believe that.”

  Leeanne watched Eddie as he rounded the far turn on the track. “I don’t think I’m the right woman for Eddie. He deserves someone more mature.”

  “You’re getting there.”

  “Am I? Because I don’t think he’ll put up with the drama very long. I’m surprised he still wants to take me out on New Year’s Eve.” Leeanne glanced at her sister. “Of course, he’s committed now. I don’t suppose he’d break our date for the ice show, even if he wanted to. Because he’s mature.”

  “Because he’s a gentleman,” Jennifer said. “And because he genuinely likes you and wants to be with you that night.”

  “Do you really think so?” Leeanne pulled her knees up and folded her arms around them.

  “I do.” Jennifer patted her back. “He’s not pressuring you, is he?”

  “No. He’s very patient. Most guys probably would have called it quits by now.” Tears stung her eyes. “Oh, Jennifer, why is dating so hard?”

  “I don’t have a good answer for that.”

  “But you met Harvey, and it was wonderful.”

  “Not immediately. We went through some angst.” Jennifer took a new skein of embroidery floss from her tote bag and cut off a length. “I think part of your problem is that Eddie’s a superhero in your mind. He’s this dashing, successful detective. You don’t know if you can live up to that and be his equal.”