Chapter 21

When they got upstairs and closed the bedroom door, he saw her dress on a stand. He went over and stood there, looking at it.

“This is really a beautiful dress. Not one you can wear every day though.”

She went and stood behind him, putting her arms around his waist and smiling.

“Silly, this isn’t a dress you can wear to just any old thing. It’s for a fancy party or a ball. I wanted to design something that women could feel like a princess in.

“Can’t you just picture a woman wearing this as she glides across the ballroom with a handsome man? I just love the color and the material. Do you really like it, or are you just saying that?”

He turned around so that he was facing her and placed his hands on her waist.

“I meant what I said. It’s beautiful, and it’s you I can picture wearing it.

“I hope I get a chance to see you in it soon, and maybe I’ll be the one who has their arms around you as we dance around the room.”

He started kissing the side of her neck. “Let’s go to bed. There I will show you a different type of dance.”

The next day, when Thomas found out that Carson had delivered Roxie’s dress, he went up to her bedroom to see it.

He was so thrilled that she was now talking to him, though things were still a bit tense between them.

“Sweetheart, this dress is magnificent. And to think this is the first design that’s all yours!

“I am so proud of you, and since you didn’t get a chance to wear it before, I will get Claudia to organize a party, and we will invite as many people as we can, and you shall wear this dress.

“Once the women who come to the party see you in this dress, they are going to want you to start designing something unique for them.”

When Dexter heard about the party that Thomas wanted to throw next week, he was against it.

With as many people as they were planning on inviting, it would make his job so much harder. Not that he couldn’t do it. It was just that it would put her in more danger.

He and Roxie fought about it for most of the afternoon.

“It’s not a good idea. All those people here, it’s going to be hard keeping an eye on all of them and on you. The person that’s trying to harm you could be at this party.

“No. I forbid it. There will be no party here, and you will not be going to a party, and that’s final.”

She gave him a light shove. “You forbid it. How dare you. This is my father’s home, and if he wants to host a party, he can.

“Don’t you understand how important this could be for me? How it could start off my career, my own line of designs? My father will hire extra guards, and you’ll be there.”

He let out a loud sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. “The guest list is for two hundred fifty people. Have him cut it in half, and I will allow it.”

“Just who are you to say you will or won’t allow something?”

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. “When I took this job, I told your father that I was the boss and what I said goes, and if that wasn’t good enough for him, then I would walk.

“He agreed that I would be in total charge, and if that were to change now I would walk out this door, and you could get someone else.”

She felt her eyes getting wet. “Dexter, you don’t mean that. You wouldn’t really leave me.”

He knew that there was no way he would leave her, but she didn’t know that. “When it comes to my job, I always mean what I say.” He hated lying to her, but it was something he had to do.

“Okay, you win. I’ll talk to my father and tell him to cut the list down to a hundred and twenty-five people.”

She turned to walk away, but she stopped and looked at him. “I can’t believe you would honestly leave me. I thought you loved me.”

“I do love you, but I won’t stand by and let you put yourself in danger over a damn dress.”

As soon as he said that and saw the hurt look on her face, he felt like shit. To her it was more than just a dress. It was the start of a dream, one that she’d been working so hard for.

He would have to apologize to her and let her know that he didn’t mean it the way it came out. The way she stormed out, he knew it was best to let her calm down a little before apologizing.

He waited an hour before going down to the library to see her. He walked in and saw her busy at work, wearing those god-awful dark-rimmed glasses.

She looked up when he entered. “What do you want? I’m busy.”

He walked over to her. “I’m here to apologize for what I said.”

She pushed her glasses up that were sliding down her nose and glared at him angrily. “For saying my dress was stupid?”

“I never said it was stupid.”

“You more or less did,” she snapped.

He reached over and removed her glasses from her face. Taking hold of her hands, he pulled her up so that they were face-to-face.

“I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. I was just saying that you are more important than any dress. I absolutely loved your dress, and I know that it’s more than that to you.

“You have to look at it from my point of view. There are so many suspects, but no real leads.

“Anyone could be the culprit and could be at that party, so the more people there, the harder it is going to be for me to keep you safe.”

“You have no idea how hard it is for a woman to break into the fashion world. It’s mainly run by men. And when you said what you did, it really hurt me. I felt like you didn’t believe in me.”

He placed the palms of his hands on each side of her face.

“You mustn’t feel that way. I do believe in you, and I support you 100 percent. I love you so much, and the thought of losing you is tearing at my insides,” he said, his voice cracking a little.

He then drew her close. Lowering his head, he gave her a long and passionate kiss.

When the kiss was broken, she looked up at him. Her eyes had filled with tears. “I can’t believe that you would really leave me.”

“I didn’t mean it. I could never leave you. But you have to listen to me and do as I say, because it is for your safety, and not because I want to control you.”

Hearing that he didn’t mean what he had said made her feel better. Nodding her head, she smiled at him.

“I promise from now on that whatever you say, I will listen. I already told my father to cut the list down. Claudia wasn’t happy about it, but I don’t give a damn about her.

“Right now she’s running around like a chicken with its head off, arranging everything. I will say one thing about her: she does know how to throw a very elegant party, with all the right people.”

“I’ll leave you now to get some work done,” he said, giving her another kiss before leaving the room.

He went outside and took another walk around the back. For some reason he was drawn back to the garden shed. He went inside and flipped on the light and started looking around.

He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he felt that there could be a clue in there somewhere.

He noticed that there was now a rope next to the gas can, and he wondered why they would need rope and who put it there. He felt like there was something missing, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

He searched through the drawers again, not finding anything except for some tools and other odds and ends that one would use when gardening. He turned around when someone entered the shed.

“Are you looking for something?”

He looked at the heavyset man and realized it was the gardener that he had seen on the riding lawnmower. “Not for anything in particular, but maybe you could answer a few questions for me.”

“What kind of questions?”

“For starters, what’s your name, and how long have you been working here?”

“Norman, and I’ve been working here for about three years now,” he said, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

“I hope you don’t mind if I smoke. It’s the only place I can, since Mr. Greene doesn’t allow smoking on his property.”

“But you’re on his property now.”

“Yeah, but he can’t see me smoking in here, and he never comes out here, so I sneak one when I can.”

“Have you ever tried quitting?”

“Once or twice. Even tried that stupid gum they have, but I didn’t like the taste of it.”

Dexter rubbed his chin. His gut told him that Norman was not his man. “Why do you have such a small gas can for such a big lawnmower? It would take you more trips to fill it.”

Norman looked over at the can. “That ain’t the one I use. I don’t know where that came from.”

Dexter squinted his eyes. “So you’ve never seen this one before?”

“Nope.”

“What about the rope? Do you use it for anything?”

“No,” he replied. “I’ve been off work for a few days, and the last time I was here those two things weren’t sitting there.”

“Do you have a large garbage bag?”

Norman went over and reached under a table and grabbed out a plastic garbage bag. “Will this do?”

“Perfect,” Dexter said, taking it from him. He carefully placed the gas can inside the bag, along with the rope.

“What are you going to do with those?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard how Miss Greene’s life has been threatened. These could be some clues, and I want to get them analyzed. Have you seen or heard anything suspicious?”

“Yeah, I know about the danger she’s in, but I haven’t seen or heard anything suspicious. I do hope you find the person responsible, because she is such a nice person, always so friendly.”

As Dexter walked back toward the house, he took out his phone and called Chad, asking him to send somebody over for the gas can and rope and to check it for prints.

Before he reached the house, it dawned on him what was missing in the shed. It was the dark gloves. They were there the last time, and now they were gone, and he hadn’t noticed them anywhere.

He figured that since the person had used the gloves, there probably wouldn’t be any prints on the gas can. Damn, he thought to himself. Another dead end.

He went back inside, placing the bag by the front door. “Douglas, a man will be dropping by to pick this up. Will you let me know when he gets here?”

“Yes, sir,” he answered and then told Dexter that the others were in the dining room getting ready to eat lunch, and they requested that he join them.

He entered the dining room, finding Roxie and the others waiting for him. He sat next to her and placed his hand over top of hers. “Sorry I’m late. I got caught up in something.”

“That’s okay. We just got here ourselves,” Roxie said, giving him a warm smile.

He was actually surprised that Claudia was being quite friendly, instead of her usual sarcastic self. She was even being pleasant to Roxie, which he found a little bit strange.

But then, on the other hand, maybe she was one of these women that loved throwing parties, which had put her in a better mood.

Then when she told them that Joseph would be joining them for the party, he knew right then the reason for her being in such a good mood.

For the life of him, he couldn’t understand how Thomas could not see what was going on under his nose and inside of his own home.

Claudia chattered on about the party, telling them about who she was getting for a live band, the guest list, and the food that she was going to have served.

Roxie looked over at Dexter and rolled her eyes. “Must you go to such an expense just for a party?”

Thomas spoke up. “Sweetheart, we are just trying to make up for the time you lost your dress before the party. This way some of the people will get to see it, and it could get you some orders.

“It’s a start, and it’s kind of my way of making up to you for making Joseph partner instead of you. I do hope someday you will forgive me for that.”

She didn’t want to be mad at her father, but he had hurt her deeply, and she wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive him for that.

“I have no choice but to accept the fact that you made him partner. I guess I’ll have to live with it, but like I told you before, I will not work for him or have any dealings with him.”

Just then, Dexter heard his phone pinging. He took it from his pocket and looked at it. It was a text message from Chad, saying he had information on Joseph and to call him back immediately.

He leaned over and whispered into Roxie’s ear, “I need to take this. It’s really important. It’s got to do with Joseph.”

She nodded her head. “Okay. I’ll wait for you in the library.”