by Ann Charles
“It’s personal now, kiddo.” She closed the drawer with her hip. “We need to put together a battle plan, though.”
Harvey hooted while cutting thick slices of ham. “Now we’re talkin’. This is gonna be more fun than rubbin’ belt buckles at a Saturday night barn dance.” He pointed the butcher knife at Doc. “Didn’t I tell ya it was a good thing I didn’t listen to Coop and ordered that cannon?”
Doc cringed visibly.
“You’ll have to surprise them next time to gain the upper hand,” Aunt Zoe continued, setting silverware around the table.
The front door closed. “Howdy, pipsqueaks,” I heard Natalie say to the kids. She strode into the kitchen carrying a paper grocery bag. Her cheeks were pink from the cold, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Hey, guys. It smells amazing in here.” She turned to me. “Guess what?”
“You saw a ghost?”
Being that Natalie lived in a haunted boarding house, it seemed like a viable guess.
“No.” She set the bag on the table and pulled a bottle of tequila from it. “Try again.”
I tipped up the bottle, checking out the label. It was a different brand from our regular. I was ready to drink some now, but I’d wait until the kids went to bed. I held up the bottle. “Am I going to want to drink shots about it?”
She shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Does it have anything to do with Cooper?” I asked with a wink.
That brought out a scowl. “No, but I did run into him afterward.”
“Did Coop tell ya about our trip to Slagton?” Harvey dropped a slice of ham in the cast iron skillet on the stovetop.
“No. He asked if I could give Violet a message for him.”
Doc turned, his gaze narrowing. “What message?”
“He’s going to stop by tonight. He needs to talk to her and Zoe.”
Groaning, I leaned on the table, resting my chin on my knuckles. “Now what?”
Was this going to be about what happened in Slagton? Was he still feeling guilty? Because if so, I needed to set him straight so that we could get back to insulting each other on a daily basis. This sad teddy-bear side of Cooper made me want to give him a hug and assure him everything would be okay, which was a bad idea. I’d undoubtedly be bitten by the rabid law dog and end up snarling back at him from the end of my chain with frothy saliva flying everywhere.
“He didn’t clarify.” Natalie smirked. “Because if he did, then Coop wouldn’t be nearly as maddening, would he?” I had to agree with her on that note. “What happened in Slagton?” she asked me.
“You tell me your news first.”
“Okay. Since I was up in Lead, I swung by your ex’s work to see if he was able to get a new hood ornament yet.” She grinned. “I was merely curious, of course.”
“Did he?” Aunt Zoe asked, leaning against the counter.
“Not yet.”
Doc chuckled as he rinsed off the knife.
“But while I was there, I noticed Dominick Masterson’s rig in the parking lot.”
That made Aunt Zoe do a double take. “What was he doing there?”
Natalie pulled a six-pack of Corona Extra out of the bag and carried it over to the fridge. “Stirring up some trouble, I’m guessing.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Because he came walking out with Rex by his side.”
“Rex?” I followed Natalie, placing the tequila on top of the fridge. “That’s weird. I didn’t think Rex interacted with the locals outside of Ms. Geary.”
Harvey cursed, flipping a sizzling slice of ham steak. “That ex of yers is lower than a cockroach’s belly.”
Ms. Geary, Aunt Zoe’s neighbor across the street, had kicked Harvey to the curb last fall in order to let Rex start parking his Jaguar in her garage, so to speak. Weeks later, the truth came out that Rex was using Ms. Geary so that he could spy on us off and on for months.
I patted Harvey’s back on my way to the table. “You’ll get no argument from me on that one.”
“No matter how many times a snake sheds its skin, it’s still a snake,” Aunt Zoe said.
“Anyway, Dominick and Rex looked as thick as thieves in the parking lot,” Natalie said, joining me at the table. “But maybe they were strangers before today. We all know how Dominick can charm the pants off his victims with those dreamy eyes of his.”
Aunt Zoe muttered something very unlady-like under her breath.
What was Dominick up to now? The chances of his randomly befriending the father of my children were slim. How had he figured out who Rex was? What angle was he going for by looping Rex into the chess game Dominick and I were playing?
I looked over to find Doc watching me with a pinched brow as he dried his hands on a towel. “You need to pay a visit to your ex.”
“Or I could just execute him.”
His eyes creased. “If you need help, I’m your huckleberry.”
So Harvey had confirmed earlier. I winked at my stallion.
“You need to get in line behind me on that score, Doc,” Natalie said, pulling a small white box from the paper bag.
“Please tell me those are chocolate truffles.” I reached for the box.
She snatched it away. “They’re for dessert.” She put them on top of the refrigerator next to the tequila. “You have to share.”
“But I don’t like to share,” I said, folding the paper bag.
Doc brought the bowl of salad over, setting it on the table. “That makes two of us, cara mia.” He ran his hand over my hip.
I beamed up at him, hearts undoubtedly pulsing in my eyes like a lovesick cartoon cat.
Natalie made a gagging sound in her throat. “Save it for the bedroom, lovebirds.”
“I don’t trust Dominick,” Aunt Zoe said, still snarling about the shifty charmer.
“None of us do, Zoe.” Natalie nudged her aside to get to the cupboard with drinking glasses. “Now, I’ve spilled my news, so it’s your turn. What happened back in Slagton today that Coop neglected to tell me about?”
I told her the story, focusing on the highlights of the trip rather than the details we’d shared with Aunt Zoe.
When I finished, Natalie gaped at me from the open fridge door, two bottles of Corona in her hands along with a bottle of salad dressing. “Holy castration clamps!”
“Hey now,” Harvey said. “Watch yer language. Yer gonna scare my giggle berries into cryin’ raisins.”
Doc carried over bowls of sliced mushrooms, tomato wedges, and chopped bacon, setting them next to the salad. “Willis, you have a true gift when it comes to painting pictures with your words.”
“A gift? Right.” After wrinkling my nose in Harvey’s direction, I turned back to Natalie, who handed a bottle of beer to Doc before returning to the table with her own. “We were just planning our next trip to Slagton when you got here.”
“You’re going back there again?” She twisted the top off her bottle. “What the hell? Did you eat a loaf of dumbass today?”
I flipped her off. “No, and that’s not how the saying goes.”
“I’ll say it the way I want to, and my version works perfectly well when it comes to any nutty-ass plans to go back and face off with those things again.”
Doc lowered into the seat next to me, offering me a drink of his Corona. “I’m glad to see I’m not the only one questioning a return trip.”
“What does Coop have to say about it?” Natalie asked.
“He doesn’t know yet.” I took a hit from Doc’s bottle, handing it back. “That needs a squeeze of lime.”
“Well, when Cooper gets here,” Natalie said, “I bet he’ll have plenty of hot air to share about why that is a bad idea.”
“Harvey approves,” I said, throwing the old boy under the bus.
“That’s because Harvey likes to blow holes in things with Bessie.”
“You can borrow money on that,” Harvey agreed, flipping two of the ham steaks over.
He stepped aside while Aunt Z
oe pulled a casserole dish from the oven. She carried the cheesy potatoes over and set it next to the salad.
Man, oh man. I almost drooled right on the casserole.
“What do you think, Zoe?” Natalie asked.
Aunt Zoe grabbed the bowl of bacon crumbs and sprinkled half of them over the top of the scalloped potatoes. “There’s a Winston Churchill quote that I believe applies to Violet’s situation.” She set the bowl down. “ ‘If you’re going through hell, keep going.’ “
Raising his bottle of Corona in a mock toast, Doc said, “ ‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here.’ “
Harvey harrumphed. “Leave Shakespeare and his wagon of words outta this.” He pulled another slice of ham from the cast iron pan.
“Addy and Layne!” Aunt Zoe called out. “It’s time to eat.”
“Wash your hands,” I added.
Minutes later, Addy joined us in the kitchen as Harvey placed a plate full of browned ham steaks next to the scalloped potatoes. “Something smells yummy,” she said.
“You ready to eat some grub?” Harvey asked, taking off the apron.
“You bet! I love your grub.” Addy rubbed her hands together as she slid into the seat next to Natalie. “It’s way better than Mom’s.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as I dished her up some potatoes.
Layne took the chair next to Doc. “I like your cooking best, Mom.”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire,” Addy sang. “You’re just kissing up.”
“Am not!”
“Are so!”
“Stop it,” I said, handing Addy’s plate to Doc to add some ham. “Or I’ll send you both to bed with gruel for supper.”
“Is Harvey making the gruel?” Layne asked, handing me his plate.
Aunt Zoe laughed. “Your children remind me of you at their age.”
“Cheeky li’l brats,” I joked, smiling at my two pint-sized hearts in turn while I filled Layne’s plate and handed it off to Doc.
As chatter filled the air, focusing on the upcoming holiday and what gifts Santa might leave under the tree, a memory of that yellow eye looking through the knothole flashed through my thoughts. A shadow darkened my happy little moment. How many more family dinners were left in my future? What if I didn’t return from Slagton next time? What if …
Doc squeezed my thigh under the table.
I turned to him, blinking away silly tears.
The warm glow in his eyes lit the darkness of my thoughts. Leaning closer, he whispered in my ear, “Looks like good ol’ St. Nick needs to give us a ‘Gone Hunting’ sign for Christmas, cara mia.”
Chapter Eighteen
Doc and I were almost finished cleaning the supper dishes when Aunt Zoe’s doorbell rang.
“I got it,” Layne called out from the living room.
“Layne, wait!” I looked at Doc. “I don’t like him answering the door at night.” There were too many boogeymen roaming the Black Hills these days for my comfort.
“I’ll go,” Aunt Zoe said, pushing away from the table.
She returned a minute later with a blue-eyed fire captain. Cooper followed behind Reid, the gash on his forehead bandaged. He scanned the room, pausing when his gaze ran into Natalie’s narrowed glare.
What was with the dirty look she was sending his way? Hitting the Deadwood detective with an angry scowl was part of my repertoire, not hers.
Natalie took a hit of her beer, not taking her eyes off Cooper the whole time. He turned to me, his eyes squinty, brimming with unspoken accusations.
What did I do?
Shaking my head at the soap opera brewing in that corner of the kitchen, I let the water out of the sink and focused on the much less prickly of the two men. “Hey, Reid. What are you doing here?”
I hadn’t seen him since the night of the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce Christmas party when he and Dominick had gone head to head over Aunt Zoe.
“I brought something for your aunt.”
“If it’s a tired and bitchy detective,” I said, “you can leave him on the front porch.” I borrowed a corner of the dishtowel from Doc to dry my hands.
“Ease up, Killer,” Doc said for my ears only, planting a kiss on my cheek. “Coop’s worn out.”
Reid chuckled, socking Cooper’s shoulder. “You hear that, Coop? You’d better buck up or Sparky will give you another lashing.” His teasing grin swung my way. “By the way, nice try on knocking sense into Coop with your crowbar, but I don’t think it did much good. His head is too damned dense.”
Cooper’s upper lip wrinkled. “Keep it up, chicken shit.” He focused on Aunt Zoe. “Martin called me, requesting a police escort to enter the premises.”
A snort of laughter came from Harvey. “Zoe, yer firebug has rawhide wisdom, I tell ya.”
“He’s not my firebug.” She crossed her arms. “What did you bring me, Reid?”
He pulled something from his pocket, holding out a closed fist. “You left this in my truck.”
She took the bait, palm up. When he dropped a jeweled hair comb into it, her cheeks darkened. “Oh. Right. Thanks.” She stuffed it in her sweater pocket.
“That’s odd,” I said to her. “Since your hair is so thick, I mean,” I suspected someone had pulled it free, hoping it was Reid while kissing her senseless. But maybe I was reading too much into her blush. “Your hair combs don’t usually succumb to gravity.”
“Drop it, Violet Lynn,” she shot back.
Harvey and I exchanged grins. I was sticking with that kiss notion.
“How have you been, Reid?” I asked the fire captain.
“Cold and hungry.” I didn’t miss the heated look he sent Aunt Zoe.
Hungry for what? Or should I say for whom? I played dumb for Aunt Zoe’s sake, waving toward the leftovers sitting on the counter that I hadn’t put away yet. “If you’re hungry, we have plenty of leftovers.”
“Is that Zo’s famous three-cheese potatoes dish?”
I nodded. “Grab a plate and load up.”
Aunt Zoe glared at me as Reid took the clean plate Doc held out. I gave her a toothy smile back. She could pretend she was unhappy about Reid being in her kitchen, but I knew better. If she hadn’t wanted him to join us, she wouldn’t have let him cross the threshold.
“Coop,” she said, “you’re welcome to have some supper, too.”
He massaged the back of his neck, wincing. “I’m on duty.”
“So take a break and eat up, boy,” Harvey said. “Yer gettin’ too skinny from workin’ so many hours. You keep this up and yer drawers will fall off.”
Doc handed Cooper a plate. “You want some coffee, too?”
“Sure,” Cooper said, following in Reid’s wake.
Natalie stared at Cooper’s backside as he dished up a plate of food. When she caught me watching her, she wrinkled her nose at me.
Before he settled into Doc’s chair, Cooper spoke into his radio, rattling off a couple of codes and reporting he was on break—at least I think that’s what he said. I never understood how cops could comprehend the static-filled gibberish.
A dull thumping overhead made me frown up at the ceiling. While Cooper and Reid dug in, and Doc finished putting clean dishes away, I went upstairs to check on the kids. They were supposed to be finishing their homework that should’ve been done as soon as they got home from school, but they’d made a deal with Aunt Zoe to do it after supper so they could watch the Christmas special.
When I opened the door to Addy’s room, she had her back to me while jumping up and down on her bed, swinging a plastic bat around like a ninja princess. I stood in her doorway, watching her take swings at invisible enemies, using impressive evasive strategies to dodge unseen return blows. Holy crap. Where had she learned those moves? Layne was the one into weapons and superhero movies. Was it innate for Addy? Had I started out that way? I’d first played softball in fifth grade. Swinging the bat had felt natural out of the gate.
I shook out of my stupor. “That doesn’t look li
ke homework to me, Adelynn Renee.”
She squealed in surprise and landed on her butt on the mattress. “You scared the Parcheesi out of me, Mom.”
That was one of my mother’s favorite expressions. “What were you doing?”
“Nothing.” She slid to the floor, shoving the bat under her bed. “Just messing around.”
“You know how I feel about jumping on the bed.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re supposed to be finishing your homework.”
“I’m done.” She held up her sheet of math problems. “See?”
I took the paper, checking her work. “Good job. How about you get ready for bed?”
“Ah, Mom. Do I have to go to bed already?”
“No, I said to get ready for it, that’s all. And make sure you take your time brushing and flossing those furry fangs of yours.” I left to check on Layne.
“They aren’t furry,” Addy called after me.
“Brush for two minutes anyway,” I called back.
I knocked twice on Layne’s door and then walked inside. The place was empty. His science book lay on his bed.
“Layne?”
A shuffling sound came from his closet. I walked over and pulled open the door.
He sat with his arms around his knees, smiling wide up at me. A flashlight lay on the floor beside him.
I didn’t trust that smile for a second. “What are you doing in here?”
“Just sitting, Mom.”
“Do you think I was born yesterday?”
“No. You’re way too old for that. You were born like over ten thousand yesterdays ago.”
Lately, it felt more like twenty thousand. I crossed my arms. “What are you doing in your closet, Layne?”
“My homework.”
“So, you’re having an out-of-body experience?”
“What?”
“Your science book is on your bed. How else would you be finishing your homework from in here?”
“Oh. I was taking a break.”
“And doing what?”
He sighed, his smile slipping away. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“I’m your mother. My job duties include extreme probing in an effort to uncover all of your secrets.” At least until after he moved out on his own, but I suspected I’d still be plenty nosy even after that.