We all said our good-byes, and Dennis walked away, dragging Chyna behind him. Abruptly, he stopped and turned back. His eyes zeroed in on me so there could be no mistake to whom he was speaking. "You're really unlikable, you know?"
I cocked my head. "Yes."
He seemed surprised by my admission, but really, what was I supposed to say? It wasn't like it was the first time I'd heard that, in one way or another. He gave me another long glare that was probably supposed to be threatening. It was a bit.
He turned and trotted through the crowd, Chyna in tow, the view from behind making it appear as though her butt was mostly silicone as well. I tried smiling sweetly at Aodhagan, but it didn't work as well for me as it had for Chyna. Eyes narrowed, lips pulled into a snarl. Ah, man. Now I was in trouble.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Aodhagan grabbed me a little too hard by the arm and dragged me into the coat closet. It being July in Texas it was, not curiously, completely devoid of coats. Still, there wasn't enough room for me, Aodhagan, and my comfort. He threw my arm down. "What were you thinking?"
Everything that I'd ever received from him before was mere annoyance or maybe disapproval. This was anger. I was surprised by the transformation it made in him. His cheekbones were slashes of angry red against his pale skin, his nostrils flared, and his lips curled back in a violent snarl.
As John Dryden so sagely advised, "Beware the fury of a patient man."
"I was just talking to him," I argued, my voice small.
"You were just talking to a man you know could be dangerous, by yourself, while you were outnumbered, and, on top of all that, you were purposely, purposely, saying inflammatory things to him." His disgust was palpable. "You must be crazy, because I know you're not stupid."
He was right, of course. What I had done was really, really dangerous. I was bigger than Chyna, but I wasn't very strong, and Dennis alone probably could have overpowered me, especially with Chyna there to keep me quiet.
I had an image of them dragging me away without anyone noticing and murdering me somewhere on one of these backcountry highways. Saying shocking things to potential murders was really not wise. Technically, it wasn't surprising I had done such an idiotic thing, but I was disappointed in myself. And now I was scared too. "I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me." He slumped against the wall, all of the tension suddenly draining from his big frame. "It's you I worry about. You could have been hurt." He ran his hand through his hair, ruining all his hard work to tame it. "I can't take care of you when you do things like that. It makes it virtually impossible to protect you."
"I don't need to be taken care of," I argued without conviction.
A slow, warm smile turned up the corner of his lips and so too my body temperature. "Honey," he drawled with just that little bit of Texas that made my stomach melt like ice cream in the sun, even though I never guessed I would go in for that kind of thing. "I've never met anyone in my life who needs to be taken care of more than you do."
I should have been offended or at the very least annoyed, but all I could manage was almost unbearable arousal. Not totally aside from that, his words were the truth. Who knew what I would have done or said, but he saved me from myself for the second time in just a few minutes. He opened the door and gestured out.
"So where's Kathleen Audbergen?" I asked him, ignoring the stares of the people who had noticed us coming out of a closet together. Struggling for normalcy, I smoothed my hair and fisted my hands to stop the shaking.
"Strinton's talking to her." He pointed across the room.
I wasn't amazed to discover that it was the behemoth woman and her linebacker boyfriend. My friend the spy. "So why was Kathleen Audbergen watching me smoke a cigarette outside of Thelma Sue's?"
Aodhagan shook his head, and we watched from the table of cheese ball leavings, totally cleaned out by the guests, until they said good-bye and Dennis Strinton headed for Lloyd Granger, who was still surrounded by fans.
We moved in quickly, before they got away. As it turned out, they seemed to have absolutely no intention of avoiding us. Mr. Linebacker saw us first and tapped Kathleen Audbergen on the arm to draw her attention. They met us in the middle of the floor. I could tell that Kathleen Audbergen was evaluating me as coldly as Chyna Strinton had. I don't know what she was looking for or whether I fell below the measure. She pretty much ignored Aodhagan.
"I'm Kathleen Audbergen. Your aunt was one of my best childhood friends. We played together from the time that we were just little girls."
I guess I didn't have to wonder whether she knew who I was when she was watching me. "Thank you so much for coming, Ms. Audbergen. I'm sure it would have meant a lot to her to have you all here."
"You could call me Kitty, if you'd like to make me comfortable. And I'm not sure she would have liked us here at all. Lloyd, Dennis, Penny, and I go way back. So far back, I think she'd forgotten why we were ever friends. This is Ari Larsen, by the way." She indicated to the man next to her.
"Hi, I'm Helen Harding. And this is Aodhagan MacFarley. So, I guess you hadn't seen Penny lately?"
"On the contrary." Kitty made a survey of the entire room. Her eyes stopped on Lloyd and Dennis. "I saw her two weeks ago."
Now she had my full attention and Aodhagan's as well. "Did she ask you to come, or were you just in the neighborhood?"
She looked again in the direction of her old friends. "I don't think that this is really the best place to talk about that. Come to my house tomorrow. We'll talk about it."
"But you live in Santa Fe," I protested.
"You have been doing your homework, haven't you?" She looked at me appraisingly. "But if you want to know why I came to see Penny, you'll have to meet me there. We can't talk about it here." Her voice was firm.
"It's only like five hours Helen, it's no big deal," Aodhagan interrupted calmly.
No big deal? From Manhattan it was possible to get almost anywhere on the East coast in five hours. Obviously, all these wide-open spaces had distorted his perception of how far was a big deal. "How do we get there?"
Ari pulled out a business card and handed it to Aodhagan. While the men were otherwise engaged, I turned back to Kitty. "Why were you watching me the other day?"
She smiled at me, but it was humorless and slightly frightening, considering the question I'd asked. "I like to do my homework too. I was just checking you out. Seeing what sort of person you are and what you planned to do after you found out Penny was dead."
"So, what? You discovered my secret plan to smoke a cigarette in front of Abilene Walker's house?" I knew that it was probably not a good idea to alienate yet another potential source of information, but the fact she didn't try to hide her spying but still wasn't forthcoming about what she wanted was creeping me out.
"I know what you're up to. And don't try to pass that weak-as-water story of writing a book off on me."
"I am a writer. Anyway, what do you know about that?"
She gave me a hard stare. She had hazel eyes, flecked liberally with green. She was surprisingly wrinkle-free for a woman of her age. "I know about a lot of things I really shouldn't." Suddenly she turned away from me and started toward the door. Ari followed her with a sheepish smile in our direction. I stood there until they were gone.
"This just gets weirder and weirder."
Aodhagan squeezed my hand but let it go quickly. "Let's go thank Lloyd before he leaves."
We had to push through the crowd of onlookers and admirers to get to Lloyd, but when they saw who it was, most of them moved aside. Those who were not in awe of the God-like figure of Aodhagan MacFarley moved out of respect for the grieving niece. We thanked him for doing the service and made small talk until the others wandered away.
"We just wanted to apologize for the other day." Aodhagan's voice was rich with sincerity. Although I had reason to believe he wasn't sincere at all, I could never have guessed it from his tone and posture.
I had no desire to apologize
to the man. I thought he was a first degree asshat, but I'd apologized to Dennis Strinton, and not only was that guy a jerk, he was bat-crap crazy.
"I was way out of line," I agreed. "And you're right. I have no business writing a book about Norma Jean. Penny will never know."
He gave me a look that was genuinely concerned. "I'm glad that you came around, Helen, my dear. People are crazy. You never can tell what they'll do. It's always best to err on the side of safety."
Discomfort reared when he had used my first name and a pet name when I barely knew him, thought he was a creep, and didn't have any proof he wasn't a killer. Nor did I have any proof that anyone else in this room wasn't, I reminded myself. No use jumping to conclusions yet one more time in my life.
"You don't think that Penny was killed because of Norma Jean, do you?" Aodhagan sounded like he was trying to be respectful, while hiding the slightest hint of disbelief. Once again, I was stunned by what a good liar he was when he'd had hardly any practice at all. I guess some people are just blessed with natural talents.
Lloyd Granger looked stunned himself. "I shouldn't think so. Surely, it was just a hobo or something. I just simply meant that still waters run deep. People around here don't like to be asked a lot of questions. It makes them defensive, and defensive people do stupid things."
Especially stupid defensive people.
A woman came over to tell Lloyd a story of healing that she'd experienced as a result of something or other he'd put on, and I knew we'd lost him. There would be no more question-and-answer time. People in the room were already starting to zero in on him for their little piece. I gazed over the room at the few people left. They were all eating with relish, gossiping with one another, and making plans for other rendezvous.
Was anyone in this room thinking about Penny at all? Everyone I knew was long ago gone. All of these people were strangers to me. My strength and fortitude suddenly fled, and I knew I'd dissolve into tears if I didn't leave. I hadn't cried so much in years as I had since coming to Texas. But I knew that it was coming.
"Aodhagan, I want to go home." My voice came out sounding young and vulnerable, two of my most dreaded feelings.
He turned to me. "Of course."
He instantly put his hand on my elbow and led me out the door, deflecting every comment put in our direction. His actions made me feel sort of dumb and weak, which I hated, at the same time as they made me feel safe and protected. I could get used to that. No, I couldn't, I reminded myself. No safety and protection for me. Well, maybe from a four-hundred-pound man named Eddie or a large lesbian but not from Aodhagan.
He loaded me up in the car and drove home mostly in silence. The only person with something to say was Glen Miller, and he didn't have anything useful in his repertoire. Or even good advice, aside from it wasn't a good idea to sit under apple trees with anyone but your boyfriend.
When we rolled into town, he suddenly said, "My parents will be sorry they missed the service."
"Where are they?"
"Scotland. They go every year in July. Before the kids start coming in to get their teeth done for the fall semester. I might have mentioned my dad's an ardent fisher. They camp out in the Highlands and live off the earth for two weeks. There was no way I could even tell them. Dad's favorite spots are practically devoid of civilization. That man lives to fish. It costs the earth to get a license up there, but I buy him one every year for his birthday."
"How much could a fishing license cost?"
He laughed heartily, probably at my ignorance. I didn't even know how much they cost in America. Nor had I ever wondered even once before that moment.
"You don't even want to know. But that's what he loves, and I love him, so every year, it's the way it goes."
If only I could break everything down so easily. Then again, I wasn't sure that my motives had ever been pure. At least, not completely. "You're a good son and a nice guy."
He pressed his lips together. "Yeah, that's me. Mr. Nice Guy."
I'd forgotten how much he hated being called nice. "Okay, you're a creep then."
He laughed. His good humor returned as suddenly as it had gone. "You know something, Helen? Dennis Strinton is wrong. You aren't unlikable. I like you a lot. And, what's more, you make me feel really good."
I was suffused with warmth at the compliment. No one had ever told me I was likable. Or that I made them feel good, even David, with all his sentimental prose.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Inside Aodhagan's sanctuary, he leaned against the desk with a sigh that seemed to emit from somewhere deep in his soul. He took off his jacket and threw it in the chair. His tie shortly joined it, and he began to unbutton his shirt. I wondered if he planned on getting completely naked before he answered my question. I had to squelch that thought before it really started. Fortunately, he stopped at two buttons.
"What time do you want to leave for Santa Fe?" I asked, just for something to say.
"Early." He looked out the window at the backyard, his vision fixated on some point in the distance. "We should be gone by six so that we can be there by lunchtime."
"Hey, Aodhagan, what's your strongest memory of Penny?"
He smiled, a slow upward curve that ended in a grin. "I got the talk from Penny."
"Oh, good Lord. Why not your parents?"
I couldn't imagine the horror of the kind of sex education that would have come from the mouth of Penny Cadgell.
"I was only ten, but I was starting college, and she thought I needed it. Judging from my level of social awkwardness at that point in my life, she should have known I'd be going the abstinence route, but she insisted. Mom was vocal that no one needed to talk about sex until the day before they got married or, she was keen on this one, never, if I entered the priesthood."
I laughed, delighted with the picture of Aodhagan as a priest. "Did she really believe you'd be a priest?"
"No, I don't think so. But Jane sure as heck wasn't going to be a nun, and I guess hope springs eternal."
"Why didn't your dad talk to you about it?"
Aodhagan's chuckle was one of my favorite sounds in the universe. How odd that I'd only been hearing it for a few days. "Dad thinks everyone is born with that kind of knowledge. He was. He was chasing neighborhood skirts by mid-elementary school."
I smiled. "Was he disappointed you didn't carry the torch to a new generation of womanizers?"
"I don't think so. If he was, he's never said so. Unfortunately, Penny also included a lot of bizarre instructions along with the basic birds and bees. I had nightmares for months afterwards."
I couldn't fault him for that. If Penny had given me her brand of sex advice at my current age, I probably would've had nightmares, and I was made of sterner stuff than Aodhagan. At least, in the worldly sense.
"What about you?" He turned his attention my way.
That was harder. Only because the memories were raw. I was raw. Thinking about Penny hurt, and I had a lot of practice avoiding things that hurt.
But I found myself talking anyway. About the Port Victoria house. About the haven it had been. About the escape I desperately needed from the Upper Elton School for Young Ladies, in Long Island Sound, that I had attended during my elementary and middle school years. I talked about how exotic Penny and Texas had seemed to me, about how her words tasted like foreign spices on my tongue when I practiced them at night, trying to emulate her accent.
I shook my head. "She was…special. I loved her."
The words tasted as foreign as Penny's accent had on my girlhood tongue. Love. I didn't even know what that was. I told the hard truth, one I didn't want to accept but couldn't avoid, my voice nearly disappearing. "I think she's the only one who ever really loved me in my whole life."
The deep blue of his eyes and his unrelenting gaze made me look away out the window he'd abandoned. When he spoke, his voice made me jump. "Do you like Scrabble?"
The question seemed bizarre, unanswerable, for several seconds. I bl
inked. "Uh…sure?"
"Let's play."
It was very likely that he'd only suggested it to break the tension, but I figured what the heck. Until six tomorrow, we had nothing but time. A storm was brewing outside—one was definitely raging in my head—and a board game would hopefully be enough to divert my attention. He beat me obscenely by spelling words like obsequious and funicular. I played like a third grader, spelling things like cat and park. I deserved to lose.
Hours later, after I climbed into bed, I regretted spending so much time with him, in such an easy way. I was having trouble sleeping because every time I closed my eyes I kept remembering some story or smile. Like Penny, Aodhagan was special. Not like other people. I would miss him when I was gone, which just reinforced how much I needed to leave.
I turned over and thought about Penny, alone in the shed being ruthlessly attacked by someone she thought was a friend. Hopefully, Kitty Audbergen would end up as our big break, because I had to get out of Texas. Only someone who was really in trouble would have a fluttery stomach over obsequious.
Six AM came about nine hours earlier than it usually does, or at least it felt that way when my borrowed clock started blaring through the room like a gestapo alarm. I stumbled out of bed, stood under the shower stream like a zombie, and then dressed in my last clean outfit. Would we have time to hit a dry cleaner after we got back from Santa Fe? There was probably no chance of that, since everyone seemed to close up shop at sundown around here.
I carried my clothes out to my trunk to be taken to the cleaners upon return or at least tomorrow morning. I could see Aodhagan across the yard, with his head inside the Land Rover. It was too early to talk. I went back into the house to brush my teeth and decided to pass on breakfast, as the mere idea of eating made me ill. I was, however, gratified to find a Dr. Pepper in the fridge, along with items like lemon-pepper marinade and goat cheese. Heaven save me from men who know how to cook. They all made me look like a failure as a woman. I didn't even know what to make with goat cheese.
Digging Up Bones (Birdwell, Texas Mysteries Book 1) Page 19