Small Town Girl

can’t run from the past that’s given me wings
If I had to choose between this and what’s left of me
Then I choose me
I guess I’ve come a long way for a small town girl

 

“The last time I saw you look this tired you’d just busted up a counterfeiter’s ring,” Jim said, sliding back into the booth next to Trixie. She had just smothered another yawn.

“Had a late night and an early morning,” Trixie replied, blinking rapidly before she realized Jim was referring to the house on Telegraph Road. Her mind had immediately gone to one of her early cases with the bureau.

“We could make excuses and cut out of here,” Jim offered. “I can take you home.”

Trixie glanced around at the smiling faces of Bob-Whites that surrounded them. Honey had managed to get everyone to Sleepyside on Friday evening and planned a mini-house party beginning with a late brunch at Crabapple Farm the next morning, followed by horseback riding. The schedule for the rest of the weekend included a simple but elegant dinner at Manor House, and a sleep-over, with everyone departing as needed on Sunday. The ever-tactful Honey had managed to make both mothers feel involved in the impromptu engagement celebrations.

“Do you think Honey would mind?” Trixie asked tentatively, biting her lip.

“Of course not. Besides isn’t she part of the reason you’re so tired?” Jim teased as he reached out and tugged a sandy curl. “Come on, Shamus, someone has to be the first to leave.”

Jim stood and reached for Trixie’s hand. “I’m taking Trixie to the farm. She’s just about to fall asleep listening to Mart. That should tell you how tired she is.”

Dan snorted. “I don’t know, Jim. Listening to Mart could make anyone fall asleep.”

“True,” Brian added. “His voice has an almost soporific quality to it.”

“No, no, no!” Dan shook his head. “It’s not his voice. It’s his vocabulary. Boring, boring, boring! If his lovely wife weren’t sitting between us, it would’ve put me to sleep as well.” Dan grinned as he patted Di’s hand and gave her a wink.

Mart gave a good-natured grin at the teasing. “I fear ’tis an arduous assignment to keep the inquisitive Beatrix from conjuring up an escapade for the group this weekend. I concluded it would be of paramount importance to lull her into a slumber, rather than to risk pursuing villains in the wee hours of the morning.”

Trixie sniffed and tossed her curls. “Really, Mart. I’ve been pursuing leads all week. It’s not like I need to do it in the middle of the night. Besides, I wrapped up my first assignment this afternoon.”

“Let’s go, Trix,” Jim suggested, cupping her elbow before Mart could come back with another retort to tease his almost-twin. “If you need to do any hot pursuits before brunch, just let me know. I’ll help you out.”

The rest of the Bob-Whites hooted as Jim escorted a blushing Trixie out of Wimpy’s.

The five remaining Bob-Whites turned and looked at each other, snickering. It was Dan who started the wager. “They’ll be married before Honey and Brian. Any takers?”

“I’ll put five on that!” Mart said eagerly. “Next Valentine’s Day unless I miss my guess. Those two have a thing about Valentine’s Day.”

“Wait, let me get a pen,” Honey said scrambling in her purse. “I want in on this.”

“Honey!” Brian was shocked. “You’re going to bet on your brother and my sister?”

“Yep,” she answered, looking up through the short curtain of hair that fell over her eyes as she dug through her purse. “They’ll be engaged by Labor Day. I’ll go double or nothing that they elope.”

Di laughed. “No way. Crabapple Farm all the way. A backyard wedding similar to what we had for Juliana. October. Did we agree the bet was five dollars?” She reached for her purse as well.

“You’re all going to bet on them?” Brian asked, with a skeptical stare at each one in turn.

“Yes,” Di answered impatiently, the violet eyes flashing. “Are you in or not?”

It was a clear sign he was verging on becoming boorish Brian Belden again.

Brian sighed, realizing it was time to put up or shut-up. “The man has it bad. He’ll never make it through the summer. Engaged before July fourth and married next spring.”

 

 

“Park in my spot,” Trixie instructed. Jim had asked her to ride with him when he took Honey and Brian to the airport and promised her the meal of her choice if she did. Although they had spent a good portion of the weekend in each other’s company, they had only been alone together on the short ride from Wimpy’s to Crabapple Farm – a brief journey during which she had struggled to stay awake.

“What about something to eat?” Jim asked. “I promised to feed you, remember.”

“You said I could pick,” Trixie reminded him. “I want Chinese takeout. Ding How is just around the corner. They’ll deliver, or we can walk a few blocks and pick it up.”

Jim grinned. He understood completely her need for something simple and filling. The weekend had been filled with delicious but elaborate meals.

He parked in the underground parking lot as she had instructed, and they both headed towards the elevator, hand in hand, Jim carrying her designer duffle bag.

“You call it in, Trix, and I’ll go pick it up,” Jim offered, as they entered her neat apartment.

“I don’t mind walking with you.” She smiled up at him. “It’s not all that cold out tonight.”

It didn’t take long for them both to decide on simple orders of fried rice and spring rolls. Trixie called and was promised the order would be ready in half an hour if they would pick it up; delivery would take twice that amount of time.

“It only takes a few minutes to walk,” Trixie commented as she hung up the phone. “We’ve got thirty minutes to kill. Any suggestions?”

“I can think of a few good ways to fill thirty minutes,” Jim suggested.

“Oh?” Trixie gave him a flirtatious look, accompanied by a provocative smile. “What were you thinking?” she asked, turning toward the fireplace. “Maybe we could start a fire.”

Jim’s arms slipped around Trixie, and he dropped a kiss on her neck. “An excellent idea,” he murmured. “Since you make me feel like I’m on fire.”

Trixie gave a contented sigh and leaned backward against his hard chest. Her thoughts lingered on just how nice it was to finally be alone with Jim for the space of that sigh. Then, she remembered how Di had always told her and Honey to light candles and set the stage before starting to make-out with their dates. “Don’t you think a fire would be nice? We could sit in here and eat our Chinese. It would help us stay warm.” She wondered if she had any candles to light.

“I don’t need a fire to stay warm.” He turned her around and claimed her lips, kissing her with a passion that was guaranteed to make her feel warm and toasty.

“I’m feeling pretty warm, what about you?” Jim asked as he pulled back.

“It’s much too warm in here for a fire, now!” she admitted, with a nervous giggle.

“Trixie, I’ve seen you all weekend and I haven’t had a chance to spend any time alone with you.” Jim nuzzled her neck as his warm hands ran up and down her arms.

“There was that fifteen-minute drive from Wimpy’s to the farm,” Trixie reminded him, before giving him a short sweet kiss.

“Yes, but you were asleep for twelve of those minutes.” Jim pulled her toward the sofa. He seemed satisfied when they were settled comfortably with Trixie draped across his lap.

“You wasted three whole minutes of time alone during that drive,” Trixie complained, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yes, well I spent too much time trying to decide whether or not to tell you that you snore.” Jim grinned.

“I do not snore!”

“Yeah, you do. But don’t worry, it’s a cute snore. Kind of a puffing snuffle. I could almost hear a baby panda making a sound like that.”

Trixie’s nose immediately wrinkled. “I do not snore!”

“I liked it.” Jim’s mouth sought and found a sensitive spot just behind Trixie’s ear, where he dropped several kisses before nibbling her earlobe. “It’s a sexy snore.”

“Is it cute or sexy? Make up your mind, Frayne.” Trixie enjoyed the delicious sensation currently moving outward from the spot behind her ear.

“Both,” he murmured, claiming her mouth again. This time he fumbled with the bottom of her sweater so his hands could caress the smooth, warm skin on her back. He bit back a groan as she pressed against him and touched the back of his neck with her fingers; his own fingers had discovered a thin cotton camisole under her sweater.

Trixie’s hand moved from the nape of his neck to slide under the collar of his thick sweater and softly caress the skin there. He shuddered as he plundered her soft mouth, unable to control his hands as they dug under her camisole seeking the bare skin of her back. She moaned and the sound vibrated through him, flooding him with desire. When she shifted as if to get closer to him, Jim pulled her down on top of him as he reclined on the sofa. Her petite frame slid against him with a friction that caused him to realize he was in trouble. Alarms were ringing before he realized that Trixie wasn’t moaning with desire. It was a groan of frustration. The alarms were the telephone, shrilling to signal a call – an unwelcome interruption to his suggestion on how to best spend their time to together.

Trixie shot an apologetic look at Jim as she moved to answer the phone, taking a deep breath before she picked it up.

“Hey, Beatrix.” Charlie’s voice came across the fiber optic wires.

“Hi, Charlie. Are you home already? What’s up?” Trixie asked, fighting to keep the irritation from her voice as she glanced again at Jim blowing silent kisses in his direction.

“That’s what I was going to ask you. I have a message here that you called on Friday. Ellie was holding my calls so I could get out of the office. I should’ve told her to put you through or at least have you call my cell phone.”

“Friday?” Her thought processes were still muddled after the episode on the sofa.

“Yeah, Friday. Afternoon. About two.” Charlie had skimmed through a stack of messages, deeming Trixie’s the only one worthy of an immediate return call on Sunday evening. “She noted she transferred you to Ben Riker, but that I should probably still call you.” Charlie paused as he looked as his computer screen and studied a picture of Trixie with Dan Mangan on the updated society news website. The headline teased about another illicit liaison for the popular young woman. Mitsy had bristled with indignation when he had shown it to her earlier and demanded to know what he planned to do about it.

“Oh!” Trixie remembered the question she had for Charlie. “I don’t know, Charlie. In hindsight, it’s probably not a good idea to ask you for a suggestion on how much I should charge your father for my security audit.” She looked at Jim and noticed he was starting to pull on his jacket. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was time to pick up their order.

“Um, Charlie – could I call you back later?” Trixie asked. “Jim’s here right now, and –”

“—say no more! I understand.” Charlie pushed a hand through his hair, more worried than ever about the picture and associated gossip. “Call me later tonight if you can or first thing in the morning if you want to catch me in the office.”

She agreed and hung up the phone before turning to grab her own jacket.

“Stay, Trix,” Jim said grabbing her arm before she could pull the jacket on. “Get some drinks ready and start the fire. I think we could both use a cooling off period.”

Trixie bit her lip. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted a cooling off period. The past fifteen minutes had been exactly what she wanted. If it hadn’t meant leaving Mr. Su holding her order, she wouldn’t have cared about the food. She nodded reluctantly and watched the door shut behind Jim. Giving a sigh of frustration, she moved to the kitchen and took out her disappointment on undeserving ice cubes. “Really,” she muttered as she threw the cubes into two tumblers, “the fire’s already been started.”

 

 

Trixie glanced at the clock and hesitated only a moment before calling Charlie’s cell phone. He answered before the second ring finished; reassuring her it was not too late to call.

“Belden, just what kind of trouble have you managed to get into while I was gone this weekend?” he asked, sounding more like Jim than he could possibly know.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Trixie replied. “I really did call you Friday to ask you about how much people charge for security work. Ben told me a hundred an hour would be good, or five thousand for the week.”

Charlie snorted. “That idiot’s never going to make partner. Bea, you should be charging nothing less than three hundred an hour, twelve for the week.”

His numbers confused her and she stammered, “Twelve hundred for the week?”

“No! Twelve thousand. And don’t worry about it being my father. Technically, he’s not a client. He can afford it. Maybe for him you should inflate it a little more,” Charlie joked.

“I … I don’t know what to say. Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. In that kind of business your recommendations included findings that will save companies ten times that amount. You can draw up return on investment analysis that proves your worth it. If you don’t believe me, ask Mitsy. She deals with this kind of thing at her Dad’s company; she’ll tell you the same thing.”

“Okay, I guess I’ll take it under advisement,” Trixie answered, truly shocked at the figures Charlie had given her. “Speaking of which, how is Mitsy? How was the skiing?”

“Fantastic!” Charlie enthused. “Mitsy’s a superb skier, so we were out on the slopes most of the day. The snow was just about perfect. How was your weekend? I noticed you have a new man. Does Jim know?”

Trixie snorted. “What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything this weekend but spend time with my family.”

Charlie was silent for a moment, digesting the fact that she didn’t know about the article. “You didn’t read The Squawker this morning?”

He couldn’t see the dramatic eye roll, but her response was clear enough. “Puh-leeze, don’t tell me you read that drivel?”

“I have my own reasons for looking at it,” he answered. “If you haven’t seen it, you need to check it out.” He paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully. “Bea, don’t get hurt by this. Whoever took that picture was right there at your apartment, inside your building.”

“Charlie, seriously… I didn’t attend any functions this weekend. Why would there be a picture of me?”

“Because you’re the current hot topic,” he said succinctly. “Dammit, Bea – go read the damn article. This guy you’re with – does Jim know about him?”

“I haven’t been with any guy this weekend except for Jim!” The protest burst out in a tone she immediately knew was inappropriate. “I’m sorry, Charlie. Seriously, I spent the weekend with my family in Sleepyside. My brother announced his engagement to Jim’s sister.”

“Congrats. Who did you ride to Sleepyside with?”

“My friend, Dan Mangan. He’s a friend of Ji—” she stopped short and groaned. “Please don’t tell me there’s a picture of me with Dan!”

“He’s not named. The headline reads ‘What’s Up Doc?’ and infers you’re stepping out on Dr. James W. Frayne with a weekend getaway with um, how did they put it? Oh, yeah. Mr. Long-Lean-Loverboy.”

“Dan’s going to kill me,” Trixie muttered.

“Dan? Seems to me you should be worried about Jim.” Charlie mused, wondering why Dan would care.

“Dan’s our friend, Charlie. He’s one of NYPD’s finest, a detective on the force. If his buddies see this, and you know somehow they will, he’ll never live it down.”

Charlie snickered. He couldn’t help wondering whether an officer being subjected to paparazzi would somehow motivate the police to be more willing to enforce the distance ordinances. Laws he believed were in place to protect the privacy of private citizens like Beatrix.

“Go read the blog, Bea. And be careful. This guy’s entirely too close to you if he’s taking pictures that up close and personal.”

“How do you know he was up close?” Trixie asked.

“Because of the angle of the photograph. It’s too clear for them to have used a high-powered telescopic lens.” He paused, not sure she would welcome his advice. “One more piece of advice, Beatrix?” he said, his voice apologetic.

“Sure.”

“Call Jim and tell him. Tonight. Don’t let him find this out on his own. One of you needs to call your buddy, Dan, before he reports for work. You don’t want him walking in on this cold.” Charlie paused. “Unless you think he reads this shit.”

“Not on a bet,” Trixie answered. “Thanks, Charlie. “

“You’re welcome. What’s up this week? You and Jim want to get together one night this week?”

“I’ll ask,” she answered. “But later in the week, okay? I’ve got a job lined up with Warren Mortimer and I need to get a feel for it the next couple of days. Not to mention a fundraiser planning luncheon on Wednesday. Plus, I’ll need to check with Jim.”

“Gotcha. Later B.”

Trixie studied the phone for a moment before moving towards her computer. It was time to take things more seriously.