The phone rang and rang. She was about to hang up when she heard his voice. “Hey, there,” she said.
“Hi, yourself.” His voice sounded huskier than usual.
“Did I wake you?” she asked.
“Not really.”
Gabrielle grinned. He never used to admit she’d woken him in the past, either. “I’ll take that as a yes. I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to go to bed without hearing your voice,” she said honestly.
“I’m glad you called.”
She curled on her side and snuggled into her pillow, the phone cradled against her ear. “And why’s that?”
“Your voice will be the last thing I hear before I go to sleep.” His deep tone rumbled through her.
Closing her eyes, she let herself imagine him lying in his bed, wearing nothing but the boxers he favored. She could almost feel her fingertips gliding through the coarse hair on his chest.
“Gabby?”
His voice brought her back to reality. “Hmm?”
“I asked how your parents are doing. Are you falling asleep on me?”
She licked her dry lips. “Not a chance,” she murmured. “My mother is fine. We had a nice breakfast. And we talked about you.”
He let out a groan. “I can only imagine how she feels about me these days.”
“She remembers you as a nice boy. I assured her that hadn’t changed. And my father is doing well, too. He loves teaching and I think he finds the summer even more challenging because the classes are smaller and his students really want to learn.”
Derek chuckled. “I do remember him trying to engage me in academic debates. I wasn’t much good against him.”
“Don’t feel bad. Nobody is. Anyway, they both said to say hi,” she said, fudging the truth.
In reality both of her parents were wary about her getting involved again with the man who’d broken her heart years ago. It didn’t help that he now had a child. An eleven-year-old child who only reinforced their opinion that he’d moved on and she hadn’t. Since Gabrielle wasn’t about to get into personal issues—or curses—with her academic-oriented parents, she decided to let it go. They’d been critical of the beliefs most of the people in town had even back when they’d lived in Stewart. She wasn’t about to assume their feelings had changed.
She’d just have to let time and Derek prove them wrong. Or so she hoped.
“Tell them I say hello, too.”
“I will.”
“When are you coming back?” he asked.
A touch of longing sounded in his tone. It matched the way she felt, too. She missed him. His laugh, his smile. His touch.
“Tomorrow. I’d like to conduct some interviews for my book.” And she hoped by stirring the pot, she’d smoke out whoever was after her.
He cleared his throat. “With whom?” he asked gruffly.
She curled her hand into a tight fist as she answered, knowing he wouldn’t like her reply. “I called Mary Perkins’s office today to make an appointment. Her granddaughter, Elizabeth, answered the phone. She said the mayor was out of the office and she didn’t have access to her appointment book.” But Gabrielle didn’t believe it for a minute. Elizabeth was totally anal, Gabrielle doubted the mayor could breathe without the younger woman knowing about it. Gabrielle knew she was being stonewalled and she’d decided to just show up tomorrow and wait until the mayor made the time to speak with her.
Derek expelled a harsh breath. “Why would you bother with her? She’s an old, bitter woman with an unreasonable hatred for my family and an unbelievable need for power.”
“That’s exactly why. She masquerades as a politician who wants the best for her town and constituents, but the more people I talk to, the more I learn that she’s almost universally disliked. She uses her family name to manipulate people. It’s part of the ramifications of believing in curses. I want to get into her psyche,” Gabrielle said.
“What you’re going to end up doing is upsetting whatever nutcase ransacked your room.” His voice rose in frustration.
“Shh! You’re going to wake Holly,” she said, hoping to calm him.