Off Season

by B. Allison Miller

  “But you told me you had started seeing a therapist before Crater McMurphy was murdered. Something must have changed before then. What happened?”

  Jed nodded. “Yeah, I started having some pretty bad nightmares about six months ago. It was after that shooting at the bank. I decided it was time to deal with things.” Six months before, an armed robber had entered a bank in the village. Shots were fired. Fortunately, no one was killed. Of course, Jed had been there. I’d heard about the robbery from my dad. I didn’t know that the experience had affected Jed.

  “I’m so sorry. How are you now?” Jed had fired his weapon, injuring a murder suspect.

  “The therapist and I are talking a lot. I have therapy twice a week. She’s helping me with desensitization techniques, and I take anxiety medication now. I spoke to her about what happened in Crater McMurphy’s suite—I told her that I was too overwhelmed to investigate. It was a setback but it isn’t irrecoverable. I still have a long way to go. And now the internal affairs department is looking into me because I used my weapon against Rebecca McMurphy. I’ll be on administrative leave for a while. I have a lot of recovering ahead of me, Mandy, but I hope that we can be close again.”

  “I was terrible to you—teasing you the way I did—I am so incredibly sorry. I wish I knew the truth earlier, Jed. I think if we’d just talked,” I stopped speaking and gave myself a mental shake. I wasn’t blameless. I needed to take responsibility for what happened too. “I’m sorry, Jed. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t mean to use you, but if you felt used then I must have used you. I apologize. Also, I am so sorry for minimizing what you’ve been going through.”

  Then, Jed gave me the three most generous and wonderful words in the world.

  “I forgive you.”

  “Now that I know what’s wrong, I’ll be a kinder and gentler friend, okay?” I squeezed his hand.

  Jed laughed. At that moment, we both must have realized we were still holding hands. Jed lifted our entwined hands, and gently kissed my knuckles.

  “So, there’s a reshowing of ‘Step Brothers’ tonight or a girly romance movie, I think.”

  “You get to choose. I lost our bet, remember?”

  I shook my head. “I just know that I won. I got my friend back,” I smiled, and Jed squeezed my hand.

  WE WALKED TO THE THEATER, hand in hand, and Jed insisted on buying our tickets, popcorn, and sodas. He was treating this like a real date, our first real date, and I was on board with it. We were finally putting our old, hurt feelings aside, and moving forward. I knew Jed wasn’t the same person that I’d known a decade before, and that was okay because I wasn’t the same person either. We were starting over and trying something new.

  We were watching the brilliantly funny movie ‘Step Brothers,’ and when we reached the schoolyard fight scene, I swear, Jed shook the walls with his laughter. I followed suit because it is impossible for me not to laugh when Jed laughs. When he laughs, the skin around his eyes crinkles a bit, and his laugh is loud and contagious. I think at least two couples moved to get away from the noise we were making. Yes, we were a bit buzzed from the drinks we had earlier so that added to the effect. But here’s the thing, seeing Jed laughing again gave me the best feeling in the world because I haven’t heard Jed laugh so much in a really long time.

  After the movie, we called an Uber to take us home. There was a definite chill in the air, reminding me that the off-season would be over soon. There would be snow on the ground in a few months, and the Chalet would be busy with guests and the après ski crowd. Jed sensed me shivering against the chill in the air. He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist sharing the warmth of his body with me while we waited.

  Jed had the driver drop me off first. We didn’t kiss goodnight. I think we both sensed that it was too soon. Instead of kissing, we hugged goodbye and I whispered, ‘Welcome back,’ in Jed’s ear.

  EPILOGUE

  “A candle never loses any of its light while lighting up another candle” – Rumi

  IT WAS LATE SEPTEMBER. I had a Saturday morning off, and I indulged myself by driving into town for a mochaccino. I hadn’t taken any time off recently. I had thrown myself into my work. I was spending more time with my parents too. My mom’s life was coming to an end, and I wanted to be with her as much as possible. I was learning to accept my memories as treasures, and that made spending time with my parents a little easier. I was glad that the Crater McMurphy case was solved, and my friends were found innocent. As expected, Rebecca McMurphy was charged with murder, and Shannon was charged with extortion and a couple of other things. Life at the Chalet hadn’t returned to normal, but we were doing okay with our new normal. My cellphone rang as I stood in line waiting for my beverage.

  “Hey, Mandy,” it was Tate.

  “Hey, Tate. Is everything great?” I was faking my enthusiasm because Tate and I hadn’t discussed our feelings for each other since the night that he told me he wasn’t Skye’s father. In the weeks following Shannon’s arrest, I hadn’t spoken to Tate much at all. I didn’t drop in on him at Slopes or call him to chat. We passed each other in hallways and met for company meetings but the closeness we shared earlier faded a bit. I didn’t see him as the sexy bar manager anymore. I saw him as a co-worker. I didn’t bother to tell Tate that I only wanted to be friends with him and he didn’t ask. My track record at asking to be ‘just friends’ stinks if you will recall. I was facing the very real prospect of losing another friend if I didn’t handle things correctly.

  “Things are okay.” Tate didn’t sound like things were okay. He sounded uncharacteristically gloomy.

  Tate was speaking quietly, and I wondered if he was at his home with his daughter. I imagined explaining to Skye that her mother wouldn’t be coming home soon must be difficult. My understanding was that Shannon faced up to a year in jail for extortion.

  “How is Skye?” I asked Tate as the barista handed me my drink. I nodded my thanks to the barista and took my drink outside so I could enjoy the beautiful Colorado sunshine while I spoke to my friend.

  “She’s holding up. She’s confused. She doesn’t know anything about her relationship with Crater. That is something that Shannon and I will have to discuss when Skye is older. Do we tell her the truth? I don’t know.”

  “Yes, I can understand how that would be difficult.”

  “Listen, Mandy, I hate to do this, but I hope you’ll understand my reasons. I’m handing in my notice at Slopes. I have a friend who has something lined up for me with regular business hours. I need to focus more on being a dad now, and I need a job where I can do that. I’m leaving the village.”

  I guess that I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that Tate was leaving, but I was. Tate was a true friend and a good guy, and I would miss him. On the other hand, knowing the secret about Skye’s paternity, I understood why Tate didn’t want to stick around. What if someone else came looking for the little girl? Would someone else have the right to claim Skye as their own? Perhaps an aunt or a grandparent? Tate would never want to give her up, and I knew he’d do whatever he could to keep her. For that reason, I guessed that it would be better if I didn’t ask any questions about where Tate would be going or what he would be doing.

  “I understand your decision, Tate. I hope you’ll be able to keep in touch. We will all miss you.”

  “I’ll do my best to keep in touch.” I heard him take a deep breath. “I wish things could be different, Mandy. Thanks for being such a good friend to us.”

  “Thank you for being my friend. I will miss you both.” We said ‘goodbye’ and disconnected our call. I hoped that Tate and Skye would be okay. I had the feeling that I might never hear from them again. I hoped that I was wrong, but I knew that Tate wouldn’t give up his daughter willingly. He would run if he had to. I also realized that Tate had the knowledge and skills to disappear if he wanted to. I felt a bit melancholy and decided that maybe I would go home and mope for a while. Maybe I would watch kitten videos on Y
ouTube and eat junk food until my foul mood passed. I no longer felt like sitting in the sunshine.

  “Only one left!” The man called out as I was walking across the parking lot towards my car. I’d been lost in thought, and the man caught my attention when he held up the wiggling black ball of fur and nodded towards me.

  “Excuse me?” I asked, and he knew I was hooked before I did.

  I PLACED THE PUPPY in a box on the floor of my car and drove slowly and carefully across town. I glanced down, and the pup raised his ears in curiosity as if he was wondering where we were headed. “You are incredibly cute, and I would love to keep you. The thing is, I know someone who needs you more than I do,” I told the cute puppy. The puppy didn’t answer me. He just curled up in a ball and sighed.

  When I reached his place, I picked up the puppy and carried him to the door. I was balancing the warm, little black pup against my shoulder like an infant so that I could ring the doorbell. I was enveloped in the happy scent of puppy breath and the softness of puppy fur. In other words, I was in Heaven. I heard footsteps approaching, and when the door opened, I could see the look of surprise on his face. I hadn’t seen him in weeks.

  “Mandy,” came the tenor of his voice. Was that my heart fluttering like a butterfly’s wings when he said my name? This warranted further investigation.

  “Hi Jed, I hope it’s not too early for you.” Jed was wearing faded jeans and a blue t-shirt, his feet were bare, and his now longer hair was still wet from his shower. He looked good. He looked happy. I guessed from his casual outfit that I caught him on a day off. Jed spent several weeks on administrative leave following the shooting, and he had been attending extra therapy sessions ever since. We spoke on the phone often, but we hadn’t dated since our night at the movies. We did visit my parents together a few times after our date, but we stopped when my dad hinted at our relationship status. We continued visiting my parents separately. Jed wanted to heal some more before we tried out our new roles as potential partners. Truthfully, I was beginning to miss him.

  “No, I was up.” He directed his eyes toward the puppy that I was cradling and he smiled, “Who is this little fellow?” Jed stepped forward to pet the puppy. His smile grew wider as he stroked the puppy’s hair, and I smiled back at him. Is there anything cuter than a grown man going mushy over a puppy? My ovaries sighed and I mentally admonished them for not being more progressive. Stupid old-fashioned organs!

  “Oh, he doesn’t have a name yet. I thought you could pick one out for him. I was at the coffee shop in town, and a guy was selling Lab puppies out of the back of his truck. He said they were pedigreed, but I don’t know if that’s true. And I know, as a cop, you might not approve of buying puppies in parking lots from random guys who probably don’t have a vendor’s license, but look at him. He is perfect. He was the very last puppy.” I realized that I was nervously speed babbling at Jed. I only nervously speed babble like that when I am attracted to a guy. I was definitely attracted to Jed.

  “You brought your puppy over so that I could name him for you?” Jed scratched the puppy’s head as he smiled at me. The puppy smiled too.

  “No, I brought your puppy to you so that you could name him.” I held the puppy out to Jed. I guessed that the now wiggling puppy weighed about fifteen pounds, and it was becoming difficult to hold him.

  Jed accepted the puppy, he was still looking at me, “You bought me a puppy?” He swallowed hard enough for me to see it. I felt tears welling in my eyes at Jed’s reaction.

  “I thought he’d be a good companion for you,” I explained. “He can ride in your cruiser with you during the day, and stay with you at night. Labs are great. They are smart and loyal and get along with everyone.” I knew everything hinged on that moment. Would Jed get angry at me for interfering with his recovery? Would he tell me off? Or would Jed accept the puppy for what he was—a gift and a companion to help him get through the tough times he was facing? Honestly, I was beginning to think that I wanted to hold that role myself, but I wasn’t sure that Jed was ready for me yet—no matter how much he loved me. Anyway, how could I possibly compete with an adorable puppy?

  “You brought me what, an emotional assistance puppy?” Jed turned the puppy around so he could look at his face. Yes, smell that puppy breath, Jed. Let him reel you in! Jed swallowed hard again. I wiped a stray tear from my eye. I was seriously close to crying.

  I held my breath waiting to see if Jed would get angry. To Jed’s credit, he didn’t get angry. He smiled, stepped forward, and kissed my cheek.

  “I guess I could use some company,” Jed finally said as he stepped back and set the pup on the floor. He waved me into his house. “There’s coffee in the kitchen. Let’s get a cup, and then why don’t we take little John Doe through to the backyard, and see if he likes it?”

  “Okay,” I replied surreptitiously swiping at a tear that escaped my eye. I followed him into the kitchen. I couldn’t contain my smile. “John Doe? You aren’t going to name him that, are you?”

  “No? How about JD?” Jed offered.

  “Perfect.” I popped up onto the counter. Jed didn’t have a kitchen table or chairs. His kitchen was oddly empty. He must still eat at Delilah’s all the time. We should probably change that.

  “You know, raising a puppy is a lot like raising a kid. They need a lot of love and attention.” Jed poured a mug of coffee and handed it to me.

  “I imagine so,” I nodded my thanks for the coffee. I watched the puppy sniffing the floor and exploring. His chubby little body waddled as his tail stood up. The little puppy was adorable. He belonged here with Jed. How did I ever doubt that Jed would love him?

  “To be honest, I’m not sure I have what it takes to raise this kid on my own. Do you think maybe you’d consider helping out?”

  “I might be able to free up some time.” I felt myself smiling.

  Jed reached for me and took my chin in his big hand. We were so close, that I could count the freckles on his nose. There were twelve.

  “Good. That’s good. My therapist thinks it’s about time for me to open up to new things—I guess puppy ownership counts. But I feel I have to warn you, Mandy. If I take on this little guy, you are going to have to spend a lot of time here. Helping out. Also, I am not letting you leave today until you agree to go out to dinner with me again. Say, Friday night?”

  “I think I can agree to those terms.” I set my coffee on the counter and relaxed as Jed pulled me in for a kiss. Yes, those terms were definitely agreeable to me.

  The End

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  Did you love Off Season: A Last Resorts Mystery? Then you should read 5 Days 'til Christmas by B. Allison Miller!

  What do you do when you find a dead Santa Claus in your friend's coffee shop just five days before Christmas? Blogger/barista, Charlotte O'Hara is about to find out!

  When Santa turns up dead at her friend Joe's coffee shop, Charlotte O'Hara is determined to prove he's innocent. The problem is, all evidence points to Joe. To add to the holiday chaos, Charlotte's brother Danny is flying in from Iceland with a big suprise, and Charlotte still has to find a substitute Santa for Spruce Grove's Annual Christmas Pageant and Extravaganza, celebrate the holiday with her nutty family, and woo her former high school crush who just happens to be on the police force. Can a blogger/barista save Christmas in just five days? Charlotte O'Hara is determined to try!

  Also by B. Allison Miller

  Last Resorts Mysteries

  Off Season: A Last Resorts Mystery (Coming Soon)

  Spruce Grove Cozy Mysteries

  5 Days 'til Christmas

  The Boisterous Bridesmaids

  An Open Book

  About the Author
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  B. Allison Miller is the author of the cozy mystery series “Spruce Grove Cozy Mysteries,” featuring witty amateur sleuth, Charlotte O’Hara, a blogger/barista who lives in a guest cottage on her parents’ Christmas tree farm. Meet Charlotte and her friends in ‘5 Days ‘til Christmas,’ the first book in the in the Spruce Grove Cozy Mystery series. While the books follow a chronological path, each book may also be read as a standalone story.

  Ms. Miller's second series, "Last Resorts Mysteries," take place at vacation resort settings. The first book in the series, "Off Season" features Mandy Swift, a former professional snowboarder turned Chalet Manager working in picturesque (fictional) Silver Powder, Colorado.

  Allison lives in scenic Colorado with her husband and two rescue dogs. When she isn’t plotting a murder, Allison can be found hiking, playing with her dogs, or experimenting with recipes in her cozy kitchen.