Passion's Price. Gwynne Forster

some homemade.”

      “I wondered where you two were. Good morning,” Darlene said.

      “Good morning,” Mike responded. “Did you sleep well?”

      “You bet I did. That bed is pure luxury. How’d you sleep down here?”

      I fought the sheets half the night trying to deal with my passion for you, he said to himself. “Fine,” he said, and made himself grin.

      “Have you ever made pancakes, Darlene?” Boyd asked. “I’d love to have some.”

      Darlene rolled up the sleeves of her blouse. “Give me flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, salt, butter and fifteen minutes.”

      Mike stared at her. “I wouldn’t have thought you could boil water.”

      “I’ve been known to burn it,” she shot back. “Boyd, do you have any maple syrup?”

      “Oh, yes. I’ll fry some bacon.”

      Darlene looked at Mike, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Think you can set the table, Detective Raines?”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      Half an hour later, the three of them sat down to a breakfast of fresh pineapple, pancakes and bacon. “These pancakes are delicious,” Mike said.

      “Oh, yes. They’re real good,” Boyd said. “I hate not going out, but having company for breakfast and dinner is better than going out by myself.”

      Mike glanced at Boyd in time to see Darlene stroke his arm in a gesture of comfort. He could use some of that himself.

      A loud crash interrupted this thoughts. He pushed away from the table. “Get under the table, both of you,” he said. He grabbed his revolver and ran to the hallway that led to the rear of the house. The sound came from the direction of the back of the house. The shattered windowpane told him that he’d guessed right. He unlocked the door and stepped outside just as a man attempted to scale the high fence and escape.

      “Drop or I’ll shoot! I said drop!” The man fell to the ground. “And don’t move an inch.”

      “My leg hurts.”

      “Too bad. Get up, face that wall and don’t turn around unless you want a bullet.” He dialed the detective’s squad room. “This is Raines. I caught a guy scaling the wall after he tried to break in the back door at Boyd’s place.” He dialed Boyd’s number.

      “Hello.”

      “Boyd, this is Mike. I’m holding a guy out back here. If two policemen come to the door, let them in and show them the way to the back of the house.”

      “Okay, but you be careful.”

      “I’ve got it covered, Boyd.”

      Within ten minutes, Cody Johnson and another officer arrived. “Good work, Mike,” Cody said. “We’ll take him off your hands.”

      “But I have to file my report, so—”

      “You’ve been up all night, man. It can wait until tomorrow. Breaking and entering will get him a nice rest, so one extra day won’t matter,” Cody said. “By the way, please give my regards to Miss Hellraiser.”

      Although he winced at the dig about Darlene, Mike forced a grin. “I’ll do that. Thanks, buddy.”

      Darlene held Boyd’s hand. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Whatever it is, I know Mike can take care of it.”

      “You’re right,” Boyd said. “Ever since I met him, I wished I’d had a son like him.” He cleared his throat. “Darlene, I think I ought to tell you something. You’ve been so nice to me that I feel badly for not having been straight with you. I haven’t been straight with Mike, either.”

      “What is it?” she asked cautiously.

      “I’m under house arrest until I testify in a big case. That’s why I appreciate Detective Raines,” he said. “But after I testify I’m on my own or it’s the witness protection program.”

      “What will you do?”

      “I don’t know. I think that’s what’s behind these attempted break-ins. Pretty soon, Mike’s going to release you, but I want you to stay in touch and come visit me. I never married, so I don’t have any children. You’ll always be welcome here.” He was quiet for a moment. “You and Mike, work things out. He’s a good man, and you won’t find one like him every day. Do you hear me?”

      “Yes, I hear you, and I’m sure that you’re going to be all right. Thank you for everything, Boyd.”

      “Something serious seems to be developing between you two. Don’t ignore it.”

      They both walked to the front of the house. Darlene followed Boyd to the front door. “Detective Johnson, what’s happened? Is Mike…Detective Raines all right?”

      “You bet. We came to arrest the intruder.”

      She let out a long sigh. “Thank God.” Cody regarded her suspiciously, wondering if anything was going on between his partner and her. Even so, it could have been that she was relieved nothing serious had happened to Mike.

      “Come with me,” Boyd said. At that, Cody’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked around as if assuring himself that he was in the right place. Boyd was not behaving like a man who was under house arrest.

      Darlene followed them down the hall to the door that led to the rock garden, stepped outside and satisfied herself that Mike was indeed safe. Later, after Cody and his partner left with the assailant, Mike sat down with Darlene and Boyd.

      “The officers at the station will be arraigning the suspect, Darlene, and if they can detain him, you’ll be free to leave. Until then, I’m still on duty here. However, if you or Boyd would like to get some fresh air in the garden back here, I’ll be glad to go with you. I think he’s the guy I’ve seen driving past here, but I want to wait for the police report.”

      “Let’s order some lunch,” Boyd said. “By the time it gets here, I’ll be hungry.” Once it was delivered, the three of them sat on benches in the rock garden enjoying the fountains and the birds that came to use the birdbath. After a while, Boyd decided to go into the house to get some bird feed.

      “I guess this the end for us, Darlene. I was hoping that somehow you’d stay a little longer. I want a chance to know you and to show you who I am. Though since I’ve met you, I’m no longer certain that I know myself.”

      She stroked the back of his hand. “I guess the biggest surprise has been my reaction to you, Mike.”

      He took both of her hands. “Don’t you want to get to know me?”

      “Yes, but you scare me, because I don’t know what you’ll do.”

      “If you’re talking about the Mike who kissed you last night, trust me, the better you get to know him, the happier you’ll be…that is, if I’m the guy who teaches you.”

      “But what about the distance between Maryland and Memphis?”

      “If the planes don’t fly, I can always drive. If you tell me I can see you, believe me, I’ll be there.”

      “Why, Mike? We hardly know each other.”

      “Darlene, this is something you should know about a man and a woman—it only takes a moment. For me, that moment was when I opened that door as you were about to leave.” He stared hard at her.