Nodding toward his plate, she said, “Do I need to box that up for you?”
Shaking his head, he said, “No, but I have to go in a few minutes.”
“Then eat up,” she commanded, winking before she darted off to pour coffee for some more customers. She wanted to give him plenty of time to finish his breakfast, and when it looked like his plate was empty, she went back behind the counter.
He reached over and placed his hand on hers and said, “Before I go, I wanted to ask you. Would you like to have dinner with me sometime? Just you and me…dinner.”
Sucking in her lips, she asked, “Like…a date?”
He grinned, and said, “Yeah, Carrie. Like a date.”
She could not contain her smile as she nodded her agreement. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”
Nodding, he said, “Then I’ll set something up.” He placed money on the counter and said, “Walk me to the door?”
She met him on the other side of the counter and walked toward the door, realizing that all eyes were on them. Leaning in, she whispered, “I think every person in this room is staring at us.”
One side of his mouth curved up, and he said, “That’s what I planned on.” Placing his hand on her waist, he leaned in and brushed his lips lightly against hers. “I’ll call you soon. Can’t wait to hear about Jack’s camps.”
She watched him walk out toward his Sheriff’s SUV then whirled around, seeing that most eyes were on her, including BettyJo, Mavis, and Joe. And they were all smiling.
That afternoon, she was grateful when Ellen showed up on time. Carrie rushed to the church, pulling into the parking lot just as it appeared other parents were picking up their children, too. Surprised at the number of kids around, she walked quickly into the vestibule, seeing Pastor Hackett waving at her.
“Hello, Ms. Beaumont. I think I can say that Jack had a wonderful time today.”
Smiling, she said, “I’m sure he did.”
“He’s a natural-born leader. Very social and highly intelligent.”
Nodding, she said, “I agree with you. That’s also what Mr. Jameson from the middle school said as well.”
Just then, another young man walked over, and Pastor Hackett said, “Oh, let me introduce you to the leader of our camp. Brian Jeter. The summer camp, actually, was his idea.”
Carrie turned and lifted her hand to shake Brian’s hand, but found the young man’s eyes continually dropped to her chest as he greeted her. Giving his hand a slight squeeze, he jolted, and his eyes lifted back to her face as a pink blush hit his cheeks. She knew she should be used to it, and in many ways she was. Aware of her own curves, Carrie had developed early, and by the time she was thirteen years old she had noticed boys—and men—would often stare at her chest when they talked to her.
Strange, she thought, that she had never found Colt just staring at her boobs. He was a man—all man—and had no doubt noticed her physical attributes, but when he spoke to her, he always held her eyes.
Pastor Hackett continued the introductions, saying, “This is Jack’s mother.”
Brian enthused, “He’s a wonderful boy. He mentioned that you work at Joe’s Place. I haven’t been in there yet, but I hear it has great food.”
“Yes, I’ve worked there for years. And you should come in. Joe and Mavis are wonderful cooks.”
She heard Jack call out from behind her, and she turned to walk toward him. Jack looked up and asked, “Shelley thinks she might need a ride home. Can we give her one?”
“Sure, but let me check and make sure it’s okay.”
She walked back toward the ministers, then stopped as she heard Brian ask, “She’s a single mom?”
Pastor Hackett nodded and said, “Yes. I don’t believe she’s ever been married but provides a good home for Jack.”
Incensed that they would be talking about her, she clapped her mouth shut, realizing that most people enjoy a bit of gossip. Jack called again, and she looked up, seeing Shelley’s mom standing with Jack and Shelley. Walking back over, Shelley said, “Thanks for the offer to take me home, Ms. Beaumont. My mom is here now.”
She smiled at the other mother, introduced herself, and said, “I’m more than willing to bring Shelley home anytime she needs.”
Donna smiled and said, “And the same goes for Jack.”
Normally she would have stayed and chatted for a few minutes but Carrie guided Jack out, saying, “We need to get home.”
As they drove away, she questioned Jack about the church camp.
“They have the middle school and high school kids divided,” he said, “and then we all came together at the end.”
“What are some of the things you did?”
“They had time for crafts, but I thought that was lame. It was the same kind of things we did in elementary school. The music time is pretty cool, though. I liked that. They had a couple of high school guys who had guitars, and the songs we sang were fun.”
“Like church songs?”
“Nah, we sang the stuff you hear on the radio. Some country songs, and one of them even broke out into some rock ‘n’ roll.”
She was surprised, but Jack’s face was so alive with enthusiasm, she kept her opinions to herself. “So, what else did you do?”
“They divided us into small groups and asked us what we like to do for fun. They asked us about what our families were like, that kind of stuff.”
Glancing over, she asked, “And what did you say about your family?”
He grinned and said, “I said I had the coolest mom ever.”
Laughing, she said, “Now I know you’re just sucking up.”
Shaking his head, Jack said, “No, I’m not. Honest mom. You wouldn’t believe what some of the kids said. Some said they had great homes or big houses, or they had a swimming pool or live near the beach. But then there are a lot of others who talk about how their parents worked all the time, and they were at home alone most of the time. Or how they didn’t have anything in the house. A few of them said they didn’t have money for food all the time.”
Brows lowered, she said, “That seems rather harsh to have the kids admitting things like that in front of a bunch of others.”
Thinking, Jack said, “Well, that’s when we were in small groups. Then later it seemed like they sorta divided everybody.”
“Divided?”
“Yeah, I noticed the people in my group who seem to have it the worst were later sitting with some of the other kids that I knew from school that are like that. Then I saw some of the richer kids were sitting together. I was kind of in the middle group…I’m not sure what that means.”
Feeling as though her head was going to explode, she worked to keep her voice steady. “Are you telling me that they actually have the kids sitting with other kids, divided by their family situations?”
“Not for everything, Mom. Just when we were in that big group. We broke up into smaller groups to go outside and play.”
She glanced at Jack, his eyes on her, and she forced a smile onto her face. He seemed to have had such a good time and had a chance to play with his friends, and she did not want to trounce on his enthusiasm. Maybe, I’m just oversensitive.
She sighed, not liking what Jack was telling her about the church camp, deciding she wanted to keep an eye on how they did things in case she needed to stop having him attend.
Hunter, Trevon, and Elizabeth were sitting at their desks when Colt walked back through the station. Trevon was a deputy working toward becoming a detective, and Hunter was helping him. Colt caught Hunter’s eye and made his way over to them. “What have you got?”
“We're starting to make a few connections,” Hunter said. “We found out that in the last four robberies that involve prescription drugs, they all got their prescriptions from Stuart’s Pharmacy in Baytown. That, in and of itself, is not strange because other than Stuart’s Pharmacy, there’s only Markham’s Pharmacy that’s about fifteen miles north of here. We did find out that for shut-ins, Stuart�
��s has an employee that will deliver the medications to them on Wednesdays. Will Penland is the employee. He’s been working for Stuart’s Pharmacy for over ten years, exemplary employee, and has no priors. Trevon and I are going to go interview him in just a few minutes.”
“Do you think Will is letting someone know where he makes his deliveries?”
“We’re considering it. Since he makes home deliveries, he can scope out the place, see if the person lives alone, and he would know what drugs are in the house.”
Trevon said, “It seems risky, though. If he’s smart, he would have to know that if the homes that he has visited have break-ins, then we’re going to look at him.”
“One thing you can always count on with some criminals is that they’re not always smart,” Hunter responded. “I did find out that two of the four victims go to the same free clinic, and another three out of the four attend the same church. So there’re several tie-ins, but I don’t know that any of them are connected to the robberies.”
Nodding, Colt said, “Good work. Will Penland might just be the biggest tie-in that we have so far. Anything on the fingerprints?”
Elizabeth answered, “We found George’s, both neighbors, Carrie Beaumont and her son Jack. There were a few small children’s fingerprints, which we’re going to ask George’s son if we can get his family’s fingerprints to rule those out.”
Shaking his head, Hunter said, “I feel like we’re making baby steps, but it’s still not coming together. With the various robberies going on, we’re not even sure that any of them are actually tied together, with the exception of the prescription drugs.”
Colt nodded and said, “Keep working the problem and let me know how it goes.”
He started to turn away when he could see that Hunter wanted to ask something else. Lifting an eyebrow, he observed Hunter glance between Elizabeth and Trevon, both of them nodding and moving to another set of desks.
“I wonder how you’re doing with all this…you know, it being so close to Carrie.”
Not used to discussing his personal life, Colt realized that in the past he did not really have a personal life to discuss. He scrubbed his hand over his face and admitted, “I got that call from Jack, saying that something had happened next door, and all I could think about was getting to them. Once there, I just focused on the job, but later, when I thought about somebody stealing and assaulting George with Carrie and Jack sleeping right next door, I about lost it.”
Nodding, Hunter said, “Yeah, when Belle was in danger, that was worse than any case I’d ever faced.”
“How’d you deal?”
Grinning, Hunter said, “First, I knew that just having her in my life made everything better. And second, I kept her as close as I could.” With that, Hunter clapped him on the back before heading over to the other detectives.
Spending the rest of the afternoon working on state and local reports, Colt’s mind often drifted to Carrie. He could not believe how nervous he had been asking her on a date, still uncertain, even with all the signals, that she was interested in going out with him. He thought about where he wanted to take her, adding and crossing several possibilities off of his mental list. It had been a long time since he had taken a woman out to dinner and realized he might need a little help.
He stepped outside his office, seeing Loretta sitting at her desk, efficiently handling much of the paperwork that he detested. She was probably his mother’s age, kept herself neat and fit, noticing that her eyes always sparkled when she talked about her grandchildren. Sucking in a fortifying breath, he walked over and said, “Loretta, I need to ask you a question.”
She looked up, her brow furrowed, and said, “Of course, Sheriff Hudson.”
Shaking his head, he said, “This isn’t from Sheriff Hudson. This is just from Colt.”
Her brow furrowed even more, and she said, “Okay,” drawing out the word.
Glancing around to make sure no one else was listening, he said, “I want to take someone to dinner. I’d like it to be a nice restaurant, but not overly fancy. Someplace where you can dress up or be a little casual. But a place that makes…uh…a statement. You know…a statement that says we’re not just having dinner, but I’m really interested in you.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he almost turned around and walked away, feeling utterly foolish.
Loretta’s smile deepened as her brow relaxed. “I see you’ve finally gotten off your duff and asked Carrie to dinner.”
Jerking in surprise, he asked, “How did you know?”
“I think everyone’s been pulling for you two for a while. You’re never together often, but anytime someone sees you in Joe’s Place, it’s obvious that you two can’t keep your eyes off each other. Anyway,” she patted his hand, “take her into Baytown. Take her to The Sunset Restaurant. It’s right on the water, has fabulous food, is nice but not pretentious.” Leaning forward, she whispered, “I promise, she’ll love it.”
The pressure in his chest released, and he smiled in return. Thanking her, he walked back into his office, looking forward to when he could take Carrie to dinner.
13
“This has gotta be better than hospital food, right, George?” Joe asked, calling back from the kitchen.
“You got that right,” George said, sitting at the counter, shoveling in eggs and bacon.
“Are you going to take George home soon? He’s gonna pop if he keeps eating,” Mavis joked.
The breakfast crowd had eased, and the lunch crowd had not yet started. Carrie was on the schedule for the breakfast shift only and would soon be getting off. Looking up at Joe and Mavis, she nodded and said, “Yes. I wanted to make sure he had a good breakfast. I went through his house yesterday and cleaned, making sure the fingerprint dust was off of everything and straightened up. I called Stuart’s Pharmacy, and they’re delivering his new medication this afternoon.”
“You didn’t need to do all that,” George fussed.
“Girl, I don’t know how you take care of everything,” Mavis said.
“Mom is a superwoman!” Jack called out, sitting on one of the stools at the counter. “She can do anything!”
Carrie rolled her eyes but leaned over to ruffle Jack’s hair in affection. Her wide smile was filled with motherly pride even when he tried to duck her hand. Laughter greeted the pair from the others, and she managed to kiss the top of Jack’s head before hearing the bell ring over the door again.
“Carrie?”
Carrie turned around and looked at a face that had aged but was one she never expected to see again. Peter Bernstein. Stunned, she stared without saying anything.
He repeated, “Carrie?”
She startled, jolting out of her statue-like state, and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“We…uh…I wanted to talk to you.”
It was then that she realized he was not alone and wondered how she could have missed the statuesque blond next to him. The couple was striking, impeccably dressed, and she had no doubt that the woman’s haircut probably cost as much as Carrie made a week or more in tips. The woman appeared uncomfortable, looking as though she wanted to offer a smile but was uncertain as to whether or not she should.
Carrie felt a presence nearby, and the scent of BettyJo’s perfume let her know that she had moved in close. Instinctively, she realized that Mavis and Joe had circled behind her as well, and she knew the unwelcoming tone of her voice was giving her away. “This is where I work. Did you want anything to eat?”
Peter shook his head, his gaze taking in the place, and said, “No. Thank you. I need to talk to you.”
Joe, as though reading her unease, said, “This is my joint. If you don’t want to eat, then I’ll need to ask you to move on.”
Carrie watched the woman’s hand reach down and clutch Peter’s, and fear moved through her, knowing Jack could witness the scene. “I can only give you a minute, but we would need to step outside. As Joe said, this is his business.”
Peter nodded and tu
rned with his hand on the woman’s lower back, guiding her through the front door. Carrie felt fingers on her arm and glanced down to see Mavis nearby. “You need one of us to go with you, girl?” Glancing back at Jack, who was staring at them, she whispered, “No, stay with Jack. Keep him busy.” Smiling at her son, she said louder, “I’m going to step outside and talk to an old acquaintance. I’ll be right back and then we can get George home.” She was thankful to see that her words seemed to satisfy Jack, but his eyes were curious.
“Girl, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Joe said.
Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out slowly and said, “No, not a ghost. Just someone who ghosted on me.”
“Shit,” Joe cursed under his breath, and she was sure he could guess who Peter was.
She broke away from her posse and headed out the door, seeing Peter and the woman were standing in the shade to the side. A silver Mercedes was nearby, and she had no doubt it was theirs. She almost laughed, seeing it parked so close to her old car. Money and the trappings of wealth had meant everything to Peter’s father, and it appeared the apple had not fallen far from the tree. A rush of gratitude that Jack had not been raised with that mentality slammed into her.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over and, keeping her eyes on Peter, said, “I can’t imagine what you need to see me about after eleven years.” She watched as a wince crossed his face, the expression surprising her.
In many ways, Peter looked very much the same as she remembered. Handsome. Lean but muscular, and she remembered he liked to swim and play tennis. From his tan, she assumed he still did. His hair used to be a little shaggy but now was neatly trimmed and groomed. Dress pants, white long sleeve shirt, and navy tie. He now looked like a younger image of what she remembered of his father.
Turning to the woman, she stuck her hand out and said, “We haven’t been introduced. I’m Carrie Beaumont.”
Our Time (Baytown Boys Book 11) Page 10