by Judi Lynn
Her phone rang again and she picked it up. Sorrell. She didn’t give him time to talk. “It’s a no-go. I don’t want to see you.”
He laughed. “I thought it was worth a try, but I knew it was a long shot.”
“Don’t call again.”
He hung up without another word. She was pretty sure he’d hoped a cheap investment in flowers—for him—might tip the balance in his favor. The man was an idiot.
Ansel looked at her. “What now?”
“Have you ever made cupcakes?”
His eyes lit up when she rolled up the door on the built-in appliance corner and pulled out a stand-up mixer. “This is going to be so much fun.”
And it was. Cooking with Ansel made the rest of the day pass quickly. While he took a shower, she ran to the meat market and came home with two big ribeye steaks and some corn on the cob. When Ansel saw them, his jaw dropped.
“I thought you could grill these while I took my shower,” she said.
“Our apartment complex wouldn’t let us own a grill.”
“Mine’s on the back patio. Want to give it a go?”
He bent down to pat George. “You’re gonna like this, buddy.”
Jazzi laughed and left them. By the time she came back downstairs, Ansel was finishing up. He’d even made a salad.
They ate at the island. Cleanup was easy, and then they rented a movie. When it was time to go to bed, Ansel gave a long, satisfied sigh. “This was a perfect day.”
She grinned. “Enjoy it. Tomorrow, my family invades us.” And they’d have plenty to say about Ansel moving in with her. Mostly, they’d encourage her to keep him here.
“We’re in good shape. We made lots of things ahead.”
Her grin grew wider. “The food’s the easy part. They’re all going to want to see every inch of the house. And they’re going to tease me about you. It’s going to be organized chaos.”
“Lots of laughing people. I can handle that.”
And the thing is, she thought he just might enjoy it.
Chapter 29
Jazzi and Ansel met in the kitchen when they got up Sunday morning. They’d done a lot of prep work, but there was still plenty to do before her family came at two. They didn’t have to rush, though, and that was nice. They checked off finished dishes at a leisurely pace.
They sipped coffee and nibbled on toast as they worked. Ansel wore running shorts and a sleeveless, white T-shirt. Jazzi kept glancing at his muscles and legs. She grinned when she caught him looking at her legs, too.
“You’re a distraction,” he told her.
“So are you.” She couldn’t think too long about that. “Any news from Emily?”
“She texted me that I can either take the furniture in our apartment, or she’s selling it.”
“Will she really leave without you?”
“She took the job in California. I go with her, or we’re done.”
A knot clenched in Jazzi’s stomach. “If you want to leave . . .”
“I don’t want to. This was the last straw. I didn’t even get a vote. I never get a vote. She can find some other toady to salute and bow to her.”
“I never thought of you as a toady.”
“Jerod did, and he was right.”
Jazzi didn’t agree, but she wasn’t going to argue about it. “Do you want the furniture? You could store it in the attic or the basement.”
“I texted her to sell it. I don’t want anything that reminds me of her.”
Okay, then. Ansel had reached his limit. A tiny tendril of hope blossomed inside her. Shame on her. But if Emily was out of the picture . . . She glanced at the clock. “I think you look great, but do you want to change before everyone gets here? The food’s ready to go.”
He grinned. “I think you should wear that sundress with the yellow flowers.”
She rolled her eyes. That dress had a scalloped neckline that dipped low enough to show a lot of cleavage. “What? You think you get a vote now?”
“You can’t blame a man for trying.”
But when she came downstairs a half hour later, she was wearing the dress, and he looked happy.
They’d put all the leaves in the table and arranged the food and dinner plates on the kitchen island. Buckets of ice held beer and wine. When people came, the flow between table and food worked so smoothly, Jazzi thought she’d feed her family, buffet style, from now on.
Everyone came—Mom and Dad, Olivia and Thane, Jerod with his Franny and kids, Dad’s brother, Eli, and his wife, and for the first time, Samantha brought Grandma.
“I told her she’s part of the family now,” Gran said. “She has to put up with you, the same way I do.”
People laughed and welcomed her. They ate first and then wanted to see the house.
Jazzi’s mom turned in the foyer, taking in both sides of the first floor, and shook her head, a big grin on her face. “It’s every bit as charming as I remembered. Lynda called it her storybook home. I love what you’ve done with it.”
Jazzi led them upstairs, and Olivia grabbed Thane’s arm. “I want one.”
He frowned. “One what?”
“A place of our own.”
A big man, he visibly coiled to control his excitement. “Really? You’re ready? We can’t afford something like this.”
“Why not? We’ll find our own fixer-upper and make it beautiful.”
His steps grew lighter as they went to see the yard.
Jazzi warned them ahead of time. “We haven’t done any outside work yet. We want to make the patio bigger and add more landscaping.”
Grandma sighed as they passed through the kitchen. “I bought a new dress for Cal and Lynda’s engagement party. He served wonderful food, too, and had music.”
“Should I have hired a string quartet, Grandma?”
“I don’t need background music,” Gran protested. “I want a band. We should dance.”
Mom laughed. “You’re usually tipsy when you do that.”
“That’s when I dance my best.”
More laughter rang out. Everyone seemed happy to be here, even Samantha, and she’d never been here before.
When Grandma stepped into the backyard, though, her good mood vanished. She turned to shake her finger at Jerod. “Shame on you, boy!”
Jerod blinked. She’d obviously caught him off guard. “Why? Franny’s my wife, and I’m happy she’s pregnant.”
People turned to stare. Jaws dropped.
Olivia clapped her hands. “You’re pregnant, Fran?”
Little Gunner nodded his head. “My mommy’s going to have a baby.”
Franny blushed all the way to her hairline, her fiery skin clashing with her carrot-orange hair. “We were going to tell people next week. We didn’t want to steal any of Jazzi’s glory.”
“Doesn’t bother me,” Jazzi said. “We’ll make this a double celebration.”
Franny laughed, relieved. “Thanks, we’re happy about this.”
Jerod turned to Grandma. “See? I done good.” He was trying to jolly her up, but Grandma still didn’t look pleased.
“Why would you dig a hole in winter?” she asked. “And why hide behind the hedges? I could hardly tell it was you.”
Jazzi’s eyes went wide. “You were here in the middle of winter?” Grandma must have seen someone digging the hole for Noah’s body. No wonder it was so shallow. He’d disappeared seven months ago—in the winter. She hadn’t really thought that through. They’d had a mild winter, but the ground would be partially frozen. The hedge was so thick, Cal wouldn’t see that the ground had been turned over, and it would look fine by spring. Of course, Cal didn’t live that long.
Samantha looked as surprised as Jazzi. “Is this where you went? By yourself? Don’t ever do that to me again! You promised me you’d never drive again.
” Samantha sounded so upset, Gran gave a quick nod.
Samantha tried to explain. “We were supposed to visit Eli that day. I pulled the car out of the garage to warm up, then came in the house to find Dottie, except when I came in the back door, she went out the front door, got in the car, and drove away. I had no idea where she went. I thought I’d die, I was so worried. I called Eli, but she never went to his house. An hour later, she came home, angry.”
Grandma glanced at Eli. “You’d be angry, too, if someone invited you to their house and then they weren’t there.”
Samantha softened her voice to soothe Gran. “You didn’t go to Eli’s. You came to Cal’s house by mistake.”
Grandma blinked. She looked at Eli. “Is that why you weren’t here?”
“I was waiting for you at our place,” he said.
Jerod motioned to the house. “It was all one big mix-up, Gran. We all love seeing you, but it’s hot out here, and I want to try one of those cupcakes. I’ve had only a slice of fruit pizza so far. Let’s go back inside where it’s cool.”
They followed him back to the kitchen and people reached for more desserts. While they ate and talked, Mom announced, “Doogie and I are flying to New York next month to visit Noah’s family. We want to meet his wife and baby, and they want to meet us. His parents invited us.”
Jazzi stared. Mom had wanted to meet her sister’s son. Maybe meeting Noah’s families would help her heal. They needed to heal, too.
People left the party at the end of the day, laughing and talking. Cal’s house had worked its magic. Deaths had happened here, but joy still filled it and permeated the air. Jazzi didn’t exactly understand how, but this house was going to help them put the past behind them.
When she waved everyone off and closed the door, Ansel looked downright pleased with himself.
“It was a success, don’t you think?”
Jazzi looked at the empty plates and trays. There were a few leftover cupcakes, but that was all. “I think everyone had a good time, even after Grandma accused Jerod of digging a hole behind the hedge.”
“She saw Noah’s killer. She’s lucky he didn’t come after her.”
“I’m thinking she saw him, but he was too busy digging to see her.”
Ansel picked up plates to carry to the sink to rinse. “She got lucky. If someone called Cal with a fake emergency to get him out of the house to kill Noah, the murder was well thought out. That’s pretty cold. He’d have been just as happy to toss Gran on top of Noah in that hole.”
Jazzi shivered. It would be so easy to hurt Gran. She started carrying plates from the kitchen island to the sink for Ansel to rinse. “I wonder who Gran saw. She thought it was Jerod, so he must have been tall with brown hair.”
Ansel chuckled. “Well, that narrows it down a lot.”
She punched his arm. “My big question is why. Why would anyone care if Cal spent a week with Noah? What difference would it make?”
“When you figure that out, you’ll be close to your killer,” Ansel told her. “But that’s Gaff’s job. And you need to tell him what you learned, but that’s all you can do. The rest is up to him.”
Jazzi didn’t think her lead would get Gaff any closer to solving Noah’s murder, but she called him and told him what Gran had said anyway.
When they’d finished cleanup, it was later than usual. They headed to the living room and sank onto the sofa to watch TV—their usual Sunday ritual when Emily worked. Jazzi’s cell phone buzzed and she glanced at the caller ID. “Reuben, my upstairs neighbor.”
Ansel had met him, but only in passing.
Reuben rushed into speech. “Hey, Isabelle and I are going to the Gas House again tomorrow night. Want to meet us there?”
“Can I bring Ansel, too? He’s staying with me now.”
Reuben’s voice lilted. “You have a man in your life? How wonderful! I’m dying to meet him. Six o’clock?”
She didn’t explain that Ansel was only a roommate. Let him enjoy the fairy tale that she was in a relationship. “We’ll be there.”
When she hung up, she looked at Ansel. “That’s okay, isn’t it? Or would you rather stay here while I go?”
“Where you go, I go.”
Yeah, right!
Jazzi had looked through the Sunday paper and Ansel was sprawled on the couch with George, watching the end of a baseball game, when the doorbell rang.
Ansel looked at Jazzi and she shrugged. “I’m not expecting anyone this late.”
He got up to answer the door, and Jazzi could hear his quick intake of breath. “Emily! What are you doing here?”
Chapter 30
Emily pushed inside the house. Only five-four and thin, she was stronger than she looked. Her dull brown hair was tugged into a knot, and her gray eyes blazed. “I thought I’d find you here. Have you moved in already?”
“I needed a place to stay, and Jazzi has a spare bedroom. You kicked me out, remember?”
“What a convenient excuse to spend more time with Jazzi.”
Jazzi looked up from her newspaper, but stayed where she was. This was between Ansel and Emily.
“I’d have spent more time at home if I hadn’t always bothered you so much. I made too much noise when you were trying to sleep, remember? You barely wanted to see me on your days off.”
“I worked nights. You knew that.”
“I was fine with that. Sure, you were gone a lot, and I had to fix my own suppers and do my own thing, but I didn’t count on you wanting me gone when you slept, too, or when you were unhappy about something, or when I annoyed you when I didn’t unload the dishwasher the right way.”
“You knew I’m particular.”
“You’re past that.” He turned to walk to the sitting area in the kitchen. “You’re a control freak. I could never do anything right. I’d have still stayed with you, but you’re the one who wanted to leave here, and you didn’t give a thought to my job, what I want.”
“I gave you advance notice.”
Jazzi could no longer see them. They were on the other side of the downstairs half-bath, but she could still hear them. His voice had an edge to it when he answered her. “I didn’t want a notice. I wanted a vote.”
There was a moment of silence. Finally, Emily said, “You should have spoken up, told me how you felt.”
“I did. You didn’t listen.”
Another pause. “You’ve always let me do whatever I want.”
“There are limits, Emily.”
“I don’t like limits.”
“That’s why I’m living here and you’re moving to California alone.”
Jazzi heard a foot stomp. “I want you to come with me.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Then, darn it, we’re through.”
“Yes, we are.”
Her voice small, she said, “I’m leaving in the morning. I sold everything. I’m renting a furnished apartment.”
“Good luck on the West Coast.”
A long pause this time. “Can I get a hug good-bye?”
Jazzi heard them move in unison.
“Have a good life, Emily.”
There were sniffles. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
“I know. I wish you the best.”
They walked to the door. It opened and closed. Then Ansel set the alarm and came to lie on the couch again. George snuggled close to him. A car pulled out of the drive, and headlights swept past the window.
“Are you okay?” Jazzi asked.
He nodded. “I was ready. I’ve been ready. Emily made it easier for me.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”
“Are you?” He sat up to look at her. “I wasn’t sorry when you broke up with Chad. The only thing that bothered me was that I was with Emily. Maybe that’s why I
put up with so much from her. I felt guilty that I moved in with her on the rebound and I’d rather be with you.”
Heat surged through Jazzi’s body. “You wanted to be with me?”
“I have fun with you. I was lucky if Emily enjoyed anything we did together. If I took her to a fancy restaurant, she’d have rather had sea bass than walleye. They didn’t have her favorite wine. The risotto wasn’t creamy enough.”
Jazzi smiled. “She’s a perfectionist.”
“She’s impossible. I really tried to make it work, but somewhere along the way, I decided it never would.” He glanced at the clock. Almost ten. “I’ve been wanting to go to bed with you for a long time.”
Holy crap! Could bones melt? For being so easygoing, Ansel could be more direct than she realized. “It’s been hard to keep my hands off you.”
His eyes glinted, and then he pressed his lips together, apologetic. “I know it’s a little soon . . .”
“Are you kidding?” She tossed the papers aside and went to him.
He opened his arms and dragged her onto his lap. When his mouth crushed hers, her lips parted. He grinned and pulled away. “You have a king-size bed, don’t you?” He pushed himself up, scooped her into his arms, and carried her upstairs.
George whimpered at the base of the steps. “Later,” Ansel told him.
The dog must know that command. He stretched out to wait.
A long while later, George barked at the bottom of the steps. Ansel glanced at the alarm clock. “It’s getting late. Jerod will be here early tomorrow. He’s going to guess things have changed between us. What do you want to tell him?”
“That we decided to be friends with benefits.”
He laughed. “I’d work overtime for benefits like these. I’ll let you sleep now. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. I’m a cuddler. Go and get your dog.”
He sprinted for the door. “I’ll be right back.” He carried George’s dog bed into the room. Once they were settled, Jazzi drifted to sleep. Cal’s house was good for her.
Chapter 31