by Judi Lynn
“We can build that right behind the wine room,” Jerod said.
Satisfied with their plans so far, they trudged upstairs to mark measurements for their work tomorrow. Then they grabbed sledgehammers and got busy. Nothing like knocking down walls to get your mind off things. Even with their white masks covering their noses and mouths, it was dirty work. The scarf that protected Jazzi’s hair was so stiff, she wondered if the dust would wash out. They were finishing for the day when Jazzi’s cell phone buzzed. She looked at the ID and frowned. “It’s Donovan’s ex-girlfriend, Brianne.”
The girl jumped straight into speech when she heard Jazzi’s phone click on. “I need to talk to you. That detective friend of yours is drilling Jarrett right now, and Jarrett’s getting in a scary awful mood. I don’t want to be here when Gaff leaves. Meet me somewhere? I’ll swap new info if you keep me out of Jarrett’s way for a while.”
People were coming to bake cookies and make candy tonight. “Company’s coming to my house in a couple of hours.”
“I could meet you there. Please. If Jarrett’s mad enough, he doesn’t mind cuffing me once or twice.”
Jazzi didn’t really want Brianne to know where she lived, but then she remembered that Jarrett had already pounded on their door. If he knew, she knew. And if Brianne had something new to tell her… She bit her bottom lip. She didn’t like the girl, didn’t even trust her, but she didn’t want her to get hit either. “You can’t stay long. We’re pretty far north, and I can only see you for half an hour before our company comes.”
“I’ll be there at five fifteen. I’m leaving our place right now, and I promise, I won’t stay.”
“Okay, see you then.” It would be cutting it close, but she could cook while she talked to Brianne. For cookie nights, she kept the food simple. She’d already browned hamburger with taco seasonings, diced plenty of toppings, and bought tons of Mexican chips to throw everything together for nachos.
Ansel’s frown spoke volumes. “Really? You invited her to our place?”
She quickly explained, and he settled down a little, but he still wasn’t happy. “I guess we can’t pass up a chance for new information if she actually has some.”
Jazzi nodded. “Even if she tells us something, Gaff had better check it out. I don’t peg Brianne as very reliable.”
Jerod pulled his white mask back in place. “Let’s finish this wall and call it a day. Peter’s been fussy the last few nights, and Franny could use a little TLC. I’ll stop on my way home and grab something for us to eat.”
Forty minutes later, they dusted themselves off as best they could and headed home. The first thing on Jazzi’s agenda was a shower. She’d love to supervise Ansel’s, too, but there was no time for play.
When they walked inside their house, though, she’d miscalculated. The first thing on the agenda was the care and feeding of a starving pug and two naughty cats. Then she and Ansel went upstairs to clean up.
Her hair was still damp when she layered all of the ingredients onto four large rimmed cookie sheets to heat up the nachos. When she cooked while her hair dried, it had a tendency to get messier than usual, but there was no help for it tonight. She was rushed. A chip fell on the floor in her hurry and Inky pounced on it, then began batting it around the kitchen, Marmalade chasing after him. They were having a good time until it got too close to George, and he ate it. Inky arched his back and hissed at the pug, but George showed no shame. He looked around for another chip and when none was in sight, closed his eyes again.
Jazzi began lining up ingredients to make peanut butter cookies, along with pinwheels and sugar ‘n’ spice—Jerod’s favorite. She had out her heavy saucepan and candy thermometer to make caramels when there was a knock at the door. Ansel went to answer it.
“Well, hello there!” she heard Brianne say.
Ansel stepped aside for her to enter. “Jazzi’s expecting you.” He motioned toward the kitchen.
Brianne gawked on her way in. He was wearing his worn jeans and a thermal shirt that showed off all of his muscles. When she tore her gaze away, she studied the house. “Jeez, girl, I didn’t know you had it so good. Is this your fine looking man?” She looked Ansel slowly up and down.
“Yup, he’s mine. I snagged him before he knew better.” Jazzi motioned toward the coat tree near the back door. “Sorry, but I have to get things ready while we talk.”
Brianne shrugged out of her coat and came to sit on a stool at the kitchen island to watch her get ready. Tonight, she had more blue streaks than before in her ink black hair. And her eyes were rimmed with plum instead of black. “What are you making?”
“Cookies and candy for Easter. I make them two or three batches a week and freeze them to deliver later.” She stopped for a minute to study Brianne. As far as she could see, there wasn’t a bruise on the girl. “Did you get out before Jarrett got nasty?”
“I left when Gaff left. He’ll drink a few beers and settle down before I get back.”
“What upset him so much?” Jazzi reached for the vanilla out of her corner cupboard, but the bottle on the lazy Susan was almost empty. She went to the extra cupboard to get a new one. When Brianne saw all of the vinegars and wines for cooking in there, her eyes went wide.
“How many people do you feed?”
“A lot, and Ansel and I like to cook together. We like to keep everything well stocked.”
Brianne’s eyebrows rose. “The hunk cooks, too?”
Ansel stopped scooping sour cream into a fancy bowl to scowl at her. “Jazzi and I are partners at work and at home.”
“Do you ever hit her?”
Ansel stared. “Wouldn’t be safe. She’d hit me back. Maybe when I was sleeping.”
Brianne threw back her head and laughed. “If I touched Jarrett, he’d beat me till I couldn’t raise an arm.”
“And you still stay with him?” Ansel was clearly puzzled.
“I like a guy who won’t take any guff from me.”
“To each his own.” Ansel shook his head.
She smirked, amused. “I know how to handle him. A couple of his girlfriends didn’t.”
Jazzi joined the conversation. “Are they the ones who filed restraining orders against him?”
“Stupid, right? If Jarrett was ticked enough, he’d go after them anyway.”
“Did he go after Maureen and beat her up?”
Brianne sat up straighter, her shoulders stiff. “Jarrett’s not like that. He’d never kick a woman when she was down, especially an old broad like Maureen.”
Jazzi wasn’t sure what to make of that. Jarrett only beat women he knew personally, and then only if they were young enough?
Brianne went on. “After talking to Gaff, Jarrett thinks someone talked when they were inside. Having two guys rough up Ray made him worry. Two guys came into the garage a few days ago and jumped him. Newbies. He wiped the floor with them before they took off. He thought they were after the money in the cash register, but now he thinks they were looking for the stolen cash.”
“Could he give a description of them?” If they had records and mug shots, Gaff might be able to track them down.
“Yeah, Gaff brought in a guy who draws stuff like that. Jarrett was happy with how the pictures turned out. Said it looked like them.”
Good. Little by little, they were making progress. If Brianne was telling the truth.
Brianne looked at the clock. “Guess your friends will be here soon, but it’s still too early for me to go home. I’d stop at a bar and hang out if I had money.” She gave Jazzi a knowing look.
What the heck? Jazzi reached for her purse, but Ansel beat her to it. He opened his wallet and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. “Knock yourself out.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “You wanna miss all this funfest and hang out with me?”
“Not a chance.” He added a five-d
ollar bill for her.
She grinned and went for her coat. “If you ever feel a little frisky on the side, let me know.”
He didn’t answer, so she let herself out. “That girl has a lot of nerve.”
“She thinks she’s a badass, but that’s not doing herself any favors. She kicked Donovan to the curb to run back to Jarrett.”
“That says it all.” He pushed the sour cream to the end of the kitchen island near the shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes, then began filling another bowl with sliced black olives.
A few minutes later, Walker, Didi, and River came through the back door.
“It smells good in here.” Walker helped River take off his coat and reached for Didi’s to hang on the coat tree.
“Supper got a little rushed,” Jazzi said. “Nachos.”
“I love nachos!” River went to the junk drawer to pull out the cats’ string and play with them. Inky and Marmalade came running.
Didi shrugged. “He loves anything messy—spaghetti, goulash, tacos…”
“He’s a kid.” With a smile, Walker watched him run, dragging the string behind him.
Once again, Jazzi was struck by how much the man loved the little boy. She had no worries that when Didi had his daughter, he’d love both kids equally. “Does your mom know that you’re going to be a dad in nine months?”
“She knows I’m a dad now, and our family will get bigger soon. She can’t wait to come for Easter to meet Didi and River.”
Didi twined her arm through his and leaned her head against him. “Is he the best, or what?”
Jazzi motioned toward Ansel. “The men in our family—and you guys are like family to us—aren’t too shabby.”
Didi laughed. “Right now, I feel more like freeloaders. We’ll have to have everyone over to our house sometime. We finally have enough room and dishes to entertain.”
Our house. Jazzi couldn’t stop a smile and Didi hugged herself.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky, but Walker wants me for keeps. We’re putting my house up for sale and having a small wedding. It all feels like we’re going too fast, but I can’t imagine life without him. I just can’t.”
Fast was right. A whirlwind might be a better description, but Walker and Didi looked like a perfect fit the minute they met. Jazzi gave her a warm hug. “I’m so happy for both of you.”
Just then the door opened and Gran and Samantha came in. Samantha was carrying a stack of cardboard cartons full of fresh eggs from their farm. “We thought we’d contribute something to the cookie baking,” she said. “And just so you know, the asparagus poked above ground this morning.”
It was too soon to pick, but Gran had enough asparagus and rhubarb plants to share. Jazzi started thinking about different dishes she could make for Sunday meals soon.
“Where’s the food?” Gran asked. “And my wine?”
Just like Gran to get right down to the important matters at hand. Jazzi and Ansel spread the cookie sheets filled with nachos on the butcher block countertop and put the lettuce, tomatoes, and other toppings within reach. To make things easy, they were using paper plates. No one worried about formalities and grabbed their food to settle at the dining table. The women drank wine and the guys grabbed beers. River and Didi drank soda. When the food was gone, the women started baking while the guys did cleanup, and soon batches of peanut butter dough were ready for the ovens.
River took off to the living room with Ansel and Walker while Jazzi and Samantha stirred ingredients for the sugar and spice cookies and Gran and Didi mixed the dough for the date filled spirals. When the timer sounded, and the first batch of cookies came out to cool, River swooped back in to be near Gran for the handoff of fresh cookies from the oven.
Didi shook her head. “No wonder he wants you to adopt him as your grandson.”
Gran chuckled. “That boy can spend a day on the farm with us anytime. Both Samantha and I will spoil him rotten. We never get to be around kids anymore.”
When Jazzi pulled Didi to the stove to make caramels with her, the rest of the women finished the baking. By the time the caramels were cooling, so were the cookies. Jazzi loaded two plates for people to take home.
“No caramels?” River begged. “I’ve never had real ones before.”
Jazzi rolled her eyes. If Gran could cheat, why couldn’t she? She cut off three squares of them to send home with Didi, one for each of them.
“I’ve never had real caramels either,” Gran begged.
Now that was an out and out fib, but Jazzi wrapped two more squares in wax paper to send home with her.
When she and Ansel were finally alone, he came to help with cleanup, then surprised her by dropping to one knee and holding his hands out, palms up, like Oliver in the Charles Dickens novel. “Please, Jazz. I’ve never had a real caramel either.”
She busted out laughing. “Just every year since we’ve known each other, but what the heck? Cut one for yourself.” She’d made two batches. She knew her Viking.
After she counted out forty of each cookie to freeze, she dished up extra sugar ‘n’ spice to put in a Ziploc baggie to take to Jerod for lunch tomorrow. She’d be lucky if anyone here could even look at a cookie near Easter, they’d already eaten so many, but then she shook her head. Who was she kidding? No one else in her family baked. The more cookies, the better.
They finally started turning out kitchen lights and headed to the couches to watch TV. Ansel stretched out on his with George by his feet and she lay on hers with both cats.
“It’s been a long night,” Ansel said. “But baking cookies is worth it.”
Her Norseman loved his food. And she loved him. She was happy for Didi and Walker. If they were as happy as she and Ansel were, they were lucky. And hopefully, even Jarrett would be happy enough tonight not to cuff Brianne when she returned home.
Chapter 29
Jazzi didn’t want to get out of bed Thursday morning. The alarm buzzed and Ansel flipped it off. He threw back his blankets and padded to the bathroom. It didn’t matter if the man only got two hours of sleep, when his alarm went off, he was alert. She didn’t get that gene. She closed her eyes, dug deeper under the covers. Inky, pressed against her side, stretched and jumped to the floor. She heard him stop, then start back to her. He knew their routine. Ansel got up, then so did she, but she wasn’t moving this morning. He jumped back up, moving to her pillow, and batted her hair with his paw. She put up a hand to stop him, and he licked it with his sandpaper tongue. Not a sign of affection. He was purposely trying to annoy her. She tugged her hand back under the blanket and he grabbed a clump of her hair with his teeth and pulled.
That did it! She sat up and glared at him. He blinked, free of shame, and jumped to the floor, looking back to make sure she’d follow him. The fur ball wanted to be fed. With a sigh, she gave in ungraciously. When Ansel exited the bathroom, it was her turn. Inky ran ahead of her. The beast had a thing for the running water in the sink when she brushed her teeth. He sat on the counter and leaned forward to drink. When she bent to spit, he jumped in the bathtub to play with the chain for the plug while she washed her face.
When she exited to start dressing, he raced ahead of her to bother Ansel while he tied the shoestrings of his work boots. Marmalade had her proclivity and didn’t leave the softness of the bed until she and Ansel booted her off to make it. Then Ansel picked up George and they all went down to the kitchen, Inky and Marmalade running ahead of them. While Ansel plopped pumpernickel bread into the toaster, Jazzi spooned half a can of wet food into each cat’s bowl and refilled their dry food. George whimpered and she fed him, too, then he went to the island to beg for a few crusts of toast from Ansel. While they sipped their coffee, he stayed to beg for bits and pieces of deli roast beef when Jazzi made sandwiches for lunch.
Their morning routine done, they pulled on hoodies and grabbed the cooler to go to wo
rk. If they got lucky, they could start framing new walls today.
Jerod was way ahead of them. When they got to the house and climbed the steps, he had already started cleaning so they could frame.
“You’re a little early this morning, aren’t you?” Ansel asked. He carried George to a clean corner to put him down, but the pug whined. He didn’t like all the dust and hammering, so Ansel carried him back down to the kitchen where his dog bed was. George would supervise out of sight today.
When Ansel returned, Jerod said, “Peter got up at five thirty this morning and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so I stayed with him until Franny got up to get Gunther and Lizzie ready for preschool. I thought about trying for a little more shut eye but gave up and drove here early.”
“The joys of fatherhood.” Ansel shook his head. “Not sure I’m ready for that yet.”
Jazzi heard that with relief. When they’d first gotten married, Ansel made noises about wanting kids. Little did she know the best birth control in the world was actually being around a baby.
“Take your time,” Jerod told him. “Once you have one, you can’t send it back.”
Another surprise. Usually, her cousin teased her about beating her ticking biological clock. He must be especially tired this morning.
They quit talking and strapped on their toolbelts to get to work. They had both bedrooms framed when Jazzi’s cell phone rang. She glanced at the screen. “Gaff.”
There was no place to get away from the noise on this floor, so she zipped downstairs to talk to him.
“I’m going to Ronnie’s funeral today,” he told her. “Thought you might want to come along. His grandma was pretty partial to you.”
“The funeral’s today?” How had she forgotten that? She’d watched the paper for the announcement a couple of days and then got busy. The notice got lost in the shuffle.
“His grandma’s son meant to come home for it, so they waited, but it fell through.”
“I didn’t bring anything to change into. I’m in my work clothes.”
“His grandma won’t mind. She’ll just be happy you came. Want me to pick you up?” Gaff was being too nice about this. He must be hoping the old woman would tell her something she might not tell him. But Jazzi did have a special fondness for the woman.