Accepted Memories (Sycamore P.D. Series Book 2) Read online

  Just then, his attention was drawn away from the people in front of him. Alison had stepped into the open doorway at the other end of the auditorium. Alison! Stan had not only grown up with Grant, but with Alison as well. She was Grant’s little sister who had always been in the way or telling on them for everything they did.

  Alison, the little brat! When had all that changed? When had she stopped being a nuisance? When had she become a woman? When had she become the most beautiful woman in the world? When had he begun to look at her as a desirable woman rather than his best friend’s little sister?

  The biggest question of all was, would Alison ever look at him as anything other than the bully who had always teased and chased her while they were all growing up? How could he get her to look at him the way Kelly looked at Grant? Whoa, where did that come from? Did he want Alison to look at him the way Kelly looked at Grant?

  No time for that now. He had to go up and meet Alison halfway to walk her back down to the front. When he held out his arm, she grabbed it the way they had practiced at the rehearsal last night, but she kept her eyes straight ahead.

  When they approached the others, she pulled away from him just a little sooner than she was supposed to. Now, she was glaring at him from the other side of the pastor. What had he done now?

  Then the music changed as Kelly stepped through the doorway on the arm of her grandfather, Harold Newcomb. Stan glanced over at Grant who was now leaning a little forward in anticipation of meeting Kelly and her grandfather. Stan hoped Grant didn’t fall on his face before they arrived.

  Out of the side of his mouth, he said, “Last chance to bail.”

  Grant didn’t change his expression or his posture in the least when he answered with, “Not a chance, buddy!”

  When the ceremony was over and they were all four standing in the foyer to greet the people as they left. Stan had to laugh, which only earned him a dirty look from Alison when he did so out loud. Kelly was first, then Grant. Alison was so close to Grant that if Stan were to try to get close to her, he’d almost be touching Grant.

  Message received, loud and clear! But the question that wouldn’t leave his mind was, ‘Why?’ To be fair, he also had to ask himself why that answer was so important. Sure, he and Grant were too close for him to be fighting with his best friend’s sister. But he knew, deep down, that there was another reason. He just wasn’t ready to admit it yet, even to himself.

  Thirty minutes later, at the reception, again Alison was sitting as far away from him as she could get. He knew he had to say something, but what?

  He was saved by Grant when he turned to Alison, put his arm around her and said, “Alison, please don’t make a scene here with Stan. Can’t you try to get along with him for just a couple of hours? For me?”

  Stan couldn’t see her face, but he was sure that she was giving her brother a dirty look. He was surprised, though, when she turned around in her chair, scooted it a little closer to Stan and smiled at him.

  What a smile! Even though he knew she didn’t mean that smile one little bit, it blew him away. She was so beautiful. Her golden blond hair almost sparkled in the light from the chandeliers in the banquet hall. He couldn’t have said anything if his life depended on it. She mesmerized him.

  She was talking to him and he had to listen. “Are you going to sit there and stare at me all night? We’re supposed to be having fun. Act like it.”

  He shook his head to clear it. Yes, he realized then that he did want to have fun with Alison. He didn’t think they were thinking along the same lines though.

  * * *

  Alison was sitting between her brother and Stan at the reception deep in thought. Stan was sitting there grinning at her like a baboon. What was with him anyway?

  Then she thought back to the receiving line in the church foyer earlier. When Sarah had come through, Alison hadn’t been prepared. She didn’t know how to act toward the woman. Sarah had been with Sybil, but that didn’t help much. If anything, that had even made it worse. She remembered thinking, what should she do? What could she do? Out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed that both Kelly and Grant were watching her too. So, she couldn’t just ignore the woman. She had to do something, but what could she do?

  Sarah had taken the decision away from Alison when she smiled and said, “You look so beautiful in that delightful blue dress Alison.”

  Alison had shaken the hand that came at her and mumbled a soft ‘Thank You’ to the woman who looked so much like her. Sarah just happened to be wearing a dress that was the same shade of blue that Alison’s dress was, which made her feel like she was looking into a mirror. She had wondered who had arranged that little coincidence. One look at a grinning Kelly and she had had her answer.

  Why didn’t that make her mad? For some reason, she just couldn’t get mad at Kelly anymore. Sure, at first, she had resented the time Grant spent with Kelly, but not anymore. It was more than the fact that Kelly had just married Alison’s brother. She couldn’t help feeling that she and Kelly were very much alike. At least they were in the fact that they’d both grown up without either parent, one having died and the other out there somewhere for twenty years.

  Yes, they had a lot in common. And it was time for Alison to do something about all the attempts Kelly had made to become her friend. Right then, she made the decision that as soon as Grant and Kelly came back from their honeymoon she would make friends with Kelly. She had eight days to think about how she was going to go about it. They were all going to be at a big Sunday dinner a week from tomorrow, at the Newcomb estate. She’d start then. That is if her brother would let her spend any time with his new wife.

  Sybil had been next in the line. She had the same blond hair and blue eyes of her younger sister, but she was shorter and heavier. Right then, she had given Alison one of her stern looks that she and Grant had always known said that she didn’t approve of what they had just done. What had bummed out now? She hadn’t ignored the woman, had she? She’d shaken the woman’s hand hadn’t she? She had even said ‘thank you’ hadn’t she?

  Sybil startled her when she pulled Alison into an embrace and whispered in her ear, “I hope you’re next, dear. In fact, I’m sure you will be.”

  Alison was still shaken up over that comment. She did not want to get married. Ever! According to Sybil, her parents’ marriage had been terrible with her father drinking and beating on her mother. She would never get into that kind of relationship. Ever! Everyone always said she was so much like her mother. If her mother hadn’t been able to tell the difference between a good man and a bad one, how would she ever be able to? And if Sarah was their mother after all, then she had picked two bad ones. Even husband number two, Harry Newcomb, must have been almost as bad for him to lie to Sarah all those years, telling her she had no family.

  Kelly’s grandmother, Beth, had been next in the line and she had also pulled Alison into a hug. Alison was beginning to like this nice older lady. She seemed so sweet, just like her granddaughter.

  The older woman had looked her in the eye and said, “Alison, dear, I meant what I said earlier. I truly do want to be your grandmother too. I would dearly love having another granddaughter.”

  With that, Beth had stepped over to hug Stan as well. She sure was a hugger. Alison didn’t want to think about any of that sticky family stuff right now.

  Her feet had been hurting in these blasted heels. She wished there hadn’t been so many people going through that receiving line. She was glad the table had cloths that reached almost to the floor. She tried to be casual about slipping both of her heels off and breathing a silent sigh of relief.

  She sneaked a peak to her right where Stan was sitting. As usual, his dark blond hair was in its normal mess. He was talking to one of his cop friends who was leaning over the table in front of him. Good! Maybe he’d leave her alone for a while. She couldn’t get any farther away from him without being on the other side of Grant. She almost giggled at the thought of earning her big b
rother’s wrath by being between him and his new wife.

  Wife! That was going to take some getting used to. For the last twenty-eight years, she’d had him all to herself. Now, she was going to have to share him with Kelly. Hah! If the past ten months were any indication, she’d be lucky to spend any time at all with her brother now. From the time he first met Kelly, all he did was talk about her and try to be with her every chance he could get.

  She didn’t look forward to the rest of the reception. It was at the country club, of course. The Newcombs were rich, after all. Kelly’s grandfather owned a large company that had eight new car dealerships in three states, and they lived in a mansion in Mountainside Estates.

  That was when she realized that the cop had moved on and Stan was talking to her.

  Stan laughed as he said, “Are you back? I was saying that Grant and Kelly look perfect together don’t they?”

  All she could do was nod and say, “Yes.”

  She hoped that her short answer would discourage more talk. After all, she was tolerating Stan right now for her brother’s sake. But that didn’t mean she had to carry on a lengthy conversation with him, did it?

  Chapter Two

  Grant had been gone one day, and Alison already missed him. That was silly. She didn’t see him that much anymore. They had led rather separate lives since college. Even though they both lived in the same town they’d grown up in, they didn’t see that much of each other. That had been even more so since Grant had made detective. When she thought about it though, she realized that her real problem was that she knew she couldn’t just pick up the phone and call him if she needed something or if she just wanted to talk to him. He was in Hawaii after all.

  About the only time they saw each other now was at one of the Sunday dinners that Sybil insisted on having, at least once a month. And those were often messed up by the fact that Stan was almost always there too.

  Stan! It wasn’t so much that she disliked Stan, it was just that to him she was still his best friend’s bratty little sister. And to her, he was still the bully who had always picked on her and teased her while they were growing up. Now it was so much more than that. It was just that he was always there with Grant when she wanted to spend quality time with her brother.

  She finished getting ready as she slipped into a burgundy pantsuit that she loved for the way it highlighted her long blond hair.

  She enjoyed holding open houses on Sunday afternoons. Enough people usually came through that she often picked up a good prospect or two. She knew she presented a house very well and took advantage of the fact.

  As she walked into the garage, she admired her new blue Mustang. She was glad that Kelly had talked her into buying it, which hadn’t been too difficult after riding with Kelly in her red one and even driving it once. She had fallen in love with hers. She had purchased it from Newcomb Motors, of course. She had to admit though that they had given her quite a deal. Kelly showed her the factory invoice and they hadn’t made any money on the deal. That had made her feel special.

  As she parked in front of the house that she would be presenting today, she took a deep breath of the crisp clean air. She loved living in this mountain valley. Of course, she didn’t know much else. She’d only left for two years to go down to Tempe to attend ASU, and that was a long time ago. She had gone to the local community college first.

  The open house was slow for the first couple of hours. Two couples had come through so far, and neither seemed to be very interested in the house.

  She got excited when she saw another car pull up, until she noticed who stepped out of the car. Spencer! No! She didn’t want to have to deal with him. They had gone out almost every week for over a year but she had broken it off with him six months ago. He’d been pushing her to take their relationship to a level where she just wouldn’t go. He’d caused quite a scene that last night when she broke it off with him. She hadn’t seen him since.

  She braced herself as he walked up to the door and came in as though he had a right to do so. She knew he wasn’t looking for a house. He seemed to be quite content living with his mother in a large house out in the country. His mother had been just one of the many things that had kept her from getting close to him and had helped to drive her away from him.

  He had a slight smirk on his face as he approached Alison. She looked at him. What had she seen in him before? She sure couldn’t see it now.

  Spencer was a few inches taller than she was with curly blond hair and brown eyes. He was one of those thin wiry types who seemed to have hidden strength that you wouldn’t expect him to have. No, he hadn’t changed, had he? But there was just something about the way he walked, the way he smiled at her or was it more of a leer? Yes, there was something different about Spencer now. But she couldn’t quite place it, and for some reason that bothered her.

  But this was Spencer, wasn’t it? Wasn’t he still the mama’s boy who lived with his mother at the age of thirty-one? She’d always felt safe, even comfortable around him. Maybe that was why she’d dated him for so long. He had just been so easy to be with. That was until he’d started asking too much of her.

  He stopped a few feet from where she was standing in the living room. He didn’t say anything at first, just stood there staring at her with that strange smile on his face. She wasn’t about to speak first, so she waited.

  After a moment, his smile changed again, closer to a real smile this time and he said, “It’s good to see you again Alison. You look beautiful as usual.”

  She wasn’t sure how else to respond to that so she said, “Thank you.”

  After another prolonged silence with both of them staring at the other, Spencer said, “I just want you to know that I still love you, Alison.”

  Before she could even think of anything to say to that, he turned around, walked out the door, down the sidewalk to his car, and drove off.

  What was that all about? That was strange! That was very strange!

  She had no more time to dwell on Spencer’s unexpected visit as she noticed another vehicle driving up. This time, however, she didn’t have to wait to see who it was. The truck, so much like her brother’s, gave it away. Since Grant was in Hawaii on his honeymoon, it could only be one other person. Stan! What was this? This must be her day for bothersome unwanted visitors.

  She couldn’t help noticing, however, that Stan stopped on the other side of the front door and knocked. At least that was better than Spencer had done.

  She opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch to talk to him. He didn’t need to go into the house. It didn’t seem right to her to have someone she knew inside the house with her when the owners were not there.

  Stan stood there smiling at her then said, “I thought you might want some company between prospects.”

  Alison started to tell him to leave, but for some strange reason, she didn’t. She knew she was still a little shook up from Spencer’s visit. Maybe she needed the company right then. She didn’t return his smile though.

  She walked over to a pair of wooden rockers and sat in one. Stan took his cue from her and sat in the other one.

  They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Somehow, Stan must have known that was what she needed. That surprised her and if she was honest, pleased her, maybe even more than she was willing to admit.

  Just as she was about to say something nice to him, he spoiled it all by saying, “Was that Spencer Baldwin I just saw driving off when I drove up?”

  When she nodded, he continued, “That guy is such a jerk. I don’t know what you ever saw in him anyway. He’s not trying to get you to go back to him is he?”

  He looked at her face which she was sure didn’t reflect any emotions at all. “He is isn’t he? Don’t be a fool Alison. Didn’t he show his true colors before? Don’t even think about it.”

  All her good intentions just disappeared at Stan’s harsh words and unsolicited advice.

  “So what if he is. I don’t think it’s any of
your business what I do with my life.” She stood and almost shouted at him. “I think you’d better leave now. I don’t need you telling me what to do, Stan Becker. I don’t need another big brother.”

  Stan looked as if she’d slapped him. Without another word, he stood and with a slouch made his way back to his truck.

  As he was driving off, she wondered why she had reacted in such a harsh way to him. She had treated him bad. Had he just been trying to help? No, not Stan! He was the one who was always teasing her, second-guessing her, and cutting her down.

  * * *

  Stan was sure there had to be steam coming out of his ears. As he drove away from Alison, he had to force himself to slow down and pay attention to his driving. After all, he was a police officer and should be setting a good example for others at all times.

  But he was just so mad at Alison right now. How could she even think about taking that jerk Baldwin back? The guy was a momma’s boy, a user, and worthless in Stan’s opinion. He was nothing but a pencil-pushing desk sitter. He was just an all-around nerd and that was all there was to it.

  Stan needed to cool off but he didn’t want to go home. He noticed that he was approaching a coffee shop so he turned into the parking lot.

  As he was following the hostess to his table, he heard someone call his name. He recognized that voice at once and didn’t want to acknowledge it but she called to him again. Not wanting to, he looked over to see his sergeant, Sonia Nordstrom, sitting in a booth by herself.

  He looked a little closer. She was wearing a navy blue NAU sweatshirt and faded jeans. Her long almost white blond hair was hanging down her back not quite to her waist. He’d never seen it any other way except in the tight bun on top of her head she always wore when on duty. Against that blue sweatshirt, it seemed to shine like a bright light.

  She was intimidating in more than just her rank. At six feet tall, she stood as tall as or taller than many of the male officers on the force. Even if he was only an inch taller than her, Stan was glad. He didn’t need her being able to look down on him in that way too.