“Grow up, Alex. We’re all opportunists when we want something bad enough. She loved the guy,” he pointed out impatiently. “He was sick over Celina’s death. I guess Stacey figured her love could make his hurt go away, that it would be enough.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Obviously. She couldn’t make Junior love her back. She sure as hell couldn’t weld his zippers shut.” Vexed, he gnawed on the corner of his lip. “Who spilled the beans about this? Junior?”
“Stacey herself. She confronted me in the powder room and accused me of upsetting her life by reopening this case.”
“Gutsy lady,” he said, nodding approval. “I always liked her.”
“Oh, really? Did you sleep with her, too? Or did the Gail sisters keep you satiated?”
“The Gail sisters, huh?” He barked a short laugh. “I know Stacey didn’t talk to you about Purcell’s notorious triplets.”
“Junior filled in the gaps.”
“Must have been quite an evening.”
“Most revealing.”
“Oh, yeah?” he drawled. “What’d you reveal?”
She ignored this well-placed insinuation. “Reede, what was the rush? Junior wasn’t in love with Stacey. For the sake of argument, let’s say he talked himself into marrying her. Why did they marry when they did?”
“Maybe she wanted to be a June bride.”
“Don’t make fun of me!” She shot out of her chair and moved to the window.
He whistled low and long. “Boy, are you ever in a rotten mood.”
“I just buried my only living relative, remember?” she flared.
He cursed beneath his breath and raked his fingers through his hair. “For a minute there, I did forget. Look, Alex, I’m sorry. I remember how bad I felt when I buried my old man.”
She turned to face him, but he was staring at nothing. “Angus and Junior were the only ones out of the whole goddamn town who came to the funeral. We didn’t even hold it in a church or the funeral home, just at the grave site. Angus went back to work. Junior returned to school so he wouldn’t miss a biology test. I went home.
“Not long after lunch, Celina came to my house. She had skipped school just to come and be with me. She knew I’d feel low, even though I hated the son of a bitch while he was alive. We lay down together on my bed and stayed there until it got dark. She knew if she didn’t go home, her mother would get worried. She cried for me because I couldn’t.”
When he stopped speaking there was a ponderous silence in the room. Alex was still standing by the window, motionless and transfixed by his story. Her chest hurt with heartache for the lonely young man he’d been.
“Was that the first time you made love to Celina?”
He looked straight at her, got out of his chair, and approached her. “Since you broached the subject of love lives, how’s yours?”
The tension snapped, as did her temper. “Why don’t you stop beating around the bush and come right out and ask?”
“Okay,” he sneered. “Has Junior made it into your pants yet?”
“You bastard.”
“Has he?”
“No!”
“I’ll bet he’s tried. He always tries.” His laugh was deep and stirring. “Bingo.” He raised his hand and stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “You’re blushing, Counselor.”
She swatted his hand aside. “Go to hell.”
She was furious with herself for blushing like a schoolgirl in front of him. It was none of his business who she slept with. What bothered her most, however, was that he didn’t seem to care. If she had to describe that glint in his eyes she would call it amusement, possibly contempt, but certainly not jealousy.