by Lynn Bulock
“I want to go home. I wasn’t done building,” he still protested.
“The blocks will be there when you get home this afternoon. And they have blocks at school.” Lori tried not to sound as exasperated as she felt. Where was all the joy she usually felt in the morning with the kids? Even Mikayla seemed to sense her grouchy mood today and fussed all the way to Friedens in her car seat.
Now she wanted the blanket off that covered her seat and prevented her from seeing anything inside the church building on the way to Tyler’s classroom. Lori dodged her daughter’s flailing hands and feet to lift the blanket.
“It’s going straight back on when we leave. You don’t need a cold.” She knew the baby didn’t understand a word she was saying, but that had never stopped her before.
Tyler used the opportunity of being let loose in the hallway to jam his hood back on and turn around. “I really, really want to go home and build. And I miss my fire engine,” he said.
“Tyler Harper, I am not going to repeat myself. I am also not going to chase you.” Lori stood still in the hallway for emphasis. Tyler turned around, knowing he had pushed the limit. “I know you want to go home right now. But Miss Gloria and Mr. Mike are expecting me to go to work so we can get things done. If I don’t get my work done this morning, they won’t get all theirs done, either.”
“And then the goats will be hungry.” Tyler pushed his hood back. Lori marveled at how well he could put together a chain of events. “I guess I better go to school. Sorry, Mom.”
She ruffled his hair. “No problem. And I’m sorry if I sounded mad. I’m not mad, just…rushed, I guess.”
Tyler’s forehead wrinkled. “Me, too. That’s a good word. ‘Rushed.”’ He said it with a whoosh of air that blew his blond bangs away from his face, making Lori laugh.
“We’ll have to do something about that, won’t we? The rushing?” She made a similar sound to the one Tyler had made, which got him giggling, too. His laughter made Mikayla smile and in an instant her morning was turned around. Funny how simple most solutions were when you let them happen. Tyler opened the classroom door and headed in to the delightful rumpus that was morning at preschool. It made Martin Properties look very calm in comparison.
How did she do it? Mike looked at Lori, working at the computer calmly entering figures, the phone pressed to one ear while her left hand jiggled Mikayla’s crib. The woman was amazing. In the short time she’d been at work in the office she’d found so many ways to fit in.
He had been worried about her managing the baby and learning the operations around here. For Lori it hadn’t seemed to be a problem. She picked up on Gloria’s way of doing things quickly, and they communicated better than he’d ever seen his mother get along with any of the part-timers in the office.
Her awful old car kept chugging along between the little green house and town every morning and afternoon and she was never late. A lot of evenings she declined Gloria’s invitation to share dinner with them, although Mike did notice that she took her up on using the washer and dryer at the “big house” any time his mom offered.
Mike’s own phone ringing pulled him away from his careful observation of Lori. That was a shame, because when she got really involved in what she was doing with the computer, or jiggling the baby, she had this habit of running the tip of her tongue over her pink lips while she concentrated. That he could definitely watch for quite some time.
“Martin Properties.”
“And even Martin speaking.” Hank’s voice was jovial. “Haven’t seen you around much lately. Which is a good thing, I guess, because it means there hasn’t been much search work around here.”
“That’s true. But I don’t expect a busy man like you called here just to ask why I haven’t been over to the station lately.”
“You got me there. I need to speak to the lovely lady on your end of the phone. Is she available?”
“Lori’s talking to a client right now. Can I have her call you?” Mike wondered what the sheriff wanted with Lori. Surely their business together was wrapped up.
The other man’s chuckle was dry and slow. “What if I was to tell you I wanted to talk to your mother? There is more than one lovely lady working for Martin Properties these days. Although I’m sure you have eyes for them both differently than I do.”
Hank wanted to talk to his mother and was calling her a lovely lady? Surely this had to be chamber of commerce business or something. Mike couldn’t imagine another reason for Hank to want to talk to his mother. “Sure. I’ll check and see if she’s free.”
Gloria sounded happy to talk to Hank on the phone. And judging from her enthusiasm in picking up the call, maybe it wasn’t chamber of commerce business after all. Mike decided he was going to have to give Hank another good look. Sure, he was widowed and about sixty. And Gloria was, when you got down to it, the most attractive single woman in Friedens of a certain age.
But surely his mother wasn’t interested in lunch with Hank Collins for anything but business, was she? Mike breathed a sigh of relief when she came out of the office asking Lori to go to lunch with them at the Town Hall. Lunch for three sounded much more likely to be business.
Still, the whole thing had him a little confused. If it was all business, why did his mother dash back into her office and come out smelling of cologne, with freshly applied lipstick? And why were she and Lori giggling as they left the office with Mikayla packed in her infant seat?
Mike considered closing up for half an hour and just happening to take lunch at the Town Hall today. But since he only did that once in a blue moon it would be obvious what he was up to. Checking up on the lovely ladies he worked with, and why either of them wanted to have lunch with the sheriff. And although he was dying to know the answers, Mike wasn’t a snoop. So he manned the phones and finished the proposal he was working on for a strip mall just off the highway. But that girlish giggling from Lori and his mother as they left taunted him the entire time they were gone.
At first Lori thought she was just a chaperon at the Town Hall. Why else would the sheriff and Gloria Martin want her around, complete with the baby, in the middle of a crowded lunch rush? With the presence of the two of them, not even the worst busybodies in Friedens could assume that their meeting was a date of any kind.
Lori wasn’t sure why Hank and Gloria had to be that careful anyway. If they wanted to see each other socially, what would stop them? They had both been alone for years; Gloria, she knew, for decades. And although Mike didn’t notice it, his mother was still young at heart and an active woman who probably missed having male companionship.
Still, he would have blown a gasket at the thought of his mother going out on a date with the sheriff. Lori could have predicted that, so she ordered her chicken salad on toast, with a glass of milk to go with it and sat back to rock Mikayla in her seat and pretend she wasn’t listening to the conversation at the table.
It surprised her when after the small talk was made for a few minutes, Hank turned to her. “I guess you know why you’re in on this.” Lori nearly choked on the milk she was drinking.
“Well, I thought I did,” she said once she recovered. “I just figured I was the, uh, cover here. Sort of like a chaperon, not that you two need one or anything but…”
Hank and Gloria were both laughing. Lori thought Gloria looked great this way, away from the office and smiling in the company of a handsome man. She ought to do it more often. The skin around Hank’s eyes crinkled when he laughed, making him seem years younger than he usually did, sitting somber in his uniform. He shook his head, denying her statement. But Lori noticed that even as he denied it, one hand slipped softly over Gloria’s.
“You young people have one-track minds, I swear.” The sheriff still sounded tickled. “If I wanted to date Mike’s mom, I’d do it in less public places than the Town Hall. Even with a chaperon. There are restaurants in Washington, you know, and it’s only twelve miles away. No, we’re getting you away from the office this time
. You see, Ms. Harper, I’ve got a little proposition for you.”
“A proposition that would make my son even more aggravated than the thought of my dating Hank,” Gloria said, still smiling. She hadn’t moved her hand out from under the sheriff’s larger one, Lori noticed. She wasn’t sure which was more interesting—the two of them holding hands, or the unspecified proposition that they were talking about.
The waitress came with their lunch, and the sheriff and Gloria stopped holding hands. When the waitress was gone with her tray, Lori took a couple of bites of her chicken salad sandwich, wondering how long she should delay asking them what they had in mind. She didn’t want to look too eager.
Her reticence seemed to be bothering Gloria. She picked at her hamburger, rearranging lettuce and tomatoes and thin slivers of red onion. “Aren’t you even going to ask?” she finally blurted.
“I suppose so. But I think I’ve already figured part of it out. The only thing you two have in common that would drive Mike this crazy has to do with Clyde Hughes.” It was fun watching the surprise spread over both their faces. “You know I don’t trust the man, either, so it must be something to catch him in whatever he’s doing. And I’ve got no doubt he’s doing something that isn’t quite right.”
Hank broke into a grin. “See, Gloria, I told you she was smart.”
Gloria’s answering grin was even wider. “No, Hank, I told you first. And my son’s every bit as smart, so if we’re going to do this without him knowing about it, we better be quick. Tell Lori what we had in mind.”
Lori leaned over the table, hoping Mikayla wouldn’t pick this moment to wake up. Not now when things were getting interesting. She slept like the angel baby she was. And Hank leaned in to the middle of the table, as well.
“You see, it’s like this,” he began. “Gloria’s right. We’re pretty sure ol’ Clyde is up to something illegal. Something involving drugs. Probably the meth labs that have been popping up around here. But there’s nothing to prove it. Still, when he got so interested in you a few weeks ago, and you living out in his trailer and all that, it got me to thinking.”
Hank leaned back, brow furrowed. “I don’t know quite how to ask this part. Did your husband know about the baby?” He gestured toward Mikayla’s infant seat. “Did he seem worried about having another mouth to feed?”
Lori looked down at the table. Hank was getting very close to an issue she’d dismissed from her own mind several times. “He did seem worried at first. But then he stopped talking about it. And he told me everything was going to be okay.”
“Did he say why? Was he getting a raise at work? Taking on another job?” Hank’s gaze was piercing. Lori searched her memory for the answers that she wasn’t sure she could find.
“No, he just stopped worrying. He didn’t say much, but then, Gary didn’t always say much. He was sure that getting rich quick was always around the corner.” She stopped, half of her sandwich suspended in one hand. “No, wait. He did say something. Something a little odd. He asked if I knew where his old notebooks from school were, if I’d be able to find them if he needed them.”
“And you said?” Hank leaned even farther in.
“That they were probably in the storage space we rented over in Union. And he made sure that I had the key on my key ring, not just lying around someplace.”
Gloria looked at Hank. “Sounds like we have a trip to make. And then some calls.” She looked at Lori, and Lori felt as if she was being measured for a task. “How are you at cards? Specifically poker?”
For the first time since they sat down at the Town Hall, Lori felt a little uneasy. “I’ve never played. But why do I get the feeling you’re asking about something else?”
Gloria nodded. “You’re right. I am. It’s pretty obvious that Clyde is up to no good. And I can tell from what he hasn’t said that Hank suspects he may have had plenty to do with your husband’s death.”
Hank grimaced. “And I still can’t say anything, Gloria. Not for certain.”
“But it’s possible,” Lori said, feeling herself start to shake.
Hank nodded. “And there’s one way to find out for sure. That’s where those poker-playing skills would come in. We could set a trap for Hughes.”
It was becoming clearer. “With me as bait?” When Hank nodded again, Lori wondered if she was really up to what these two had in mind.
Chapter Twelve
Mike looked at her suspiciously when she went back to the office. Lori was sure of it. She tried to act as nonchalant as possible when Gloria dropped her off in the nearest parking lot and she walked back the four doors to the office. But Mike’s normally friendly gaze looked less friendly than usual this time.
“Have a good time?” He wanted more than a simple yes or no for an answer, Lori was sure.
“Fine.” Lori busied herself settling the baby in her crib.
“What are you up to with those two, anyway?” Mike crossed the room, and Lori’s temper flared.
She didn’t have to answer his questions. There was no reason that anything that went on in the Town Hall was Mike’s business. “Nothing. We just had lunch. Why do you ask?”
Mike stopped, his lifted eyebrows telling her he seemed to be taken aback by her quick, sharp response. “Sorry I asked. It’s just that this isn’t a normal occurrence. You going out to lunch, I mean, especially with Hank and my mom.”
“Well, I did go today. And I might even do it again.” She changed the baby while she spoke, unwilling to look into Mike’s face. She could hide their plans from him if she was looking down at Mikayla instead, but probably not if she looked at his handsome, honest face.
Did this pang of guilt mean she was wrong for concealing their plans from him? Lori made sure Mikayla was put back together well, socks snug enough that she couldn’t pull them off for a few minutes and gently turned her over on her tummy to play and rock in the crib.
“Why are you so concerned about who I have lunch with, anyway?” she asked.
Mike’s expression went from curious to stubborn. “I’m not concerned. Not that much. It’s not like I’m jealous of Hank Collins or anything. With either of you, I might add.”
Why didn’t his words convince her? His expression didn’t do much more to make her feel at ease. Brow furrowed, hands jammed in his pockets, Mike looked like a man trying not to argue.
“You sure about all that?” She tried to keep her tone of voice light. It was aggravating that she almost wanted him to admit that he was just a bit jealous. Or worried about what she might be doing having lunch with Hank and Gloria. Instead, he just seemed curious and perhaps a bit anxious about his mother.
“Positive.” Mike rocked back on his heels. “Where’d the two of them get to? I didn’t expect you back alone.”
“Well, that’s what you got.” Mike felt very near now, and challenging. “They went their own ways. Hank had to go back to the office, and your mom went to pick up some documents at the courthouse. She said you’d remember that part.”
Mike sighed. “Trust me to forget. Sorry for giving you the third degree, Lori. It’s just that I’m not used to worrying about my mom and what she’s doing. Or you, either, for that matter. I’m usually the one who goes out for lunch. Did you know there were seven phone calls while you were gone?”
Lori shrugged. “That’s about normal.” It felt like a letdown, knowing he wasn’t really concerned. For a moment she considered telling him about their planned meeting tomorrow at the storage facility. That might concern him.
She decided against it. This was an exercise to clear Gary’s name of any suspicion, and to see if they could lay any blame at Clyde Hughes’s door instead. It was something she needed to do without Mike. Something she needed to do for the sake of her children so that someday when they asked about their father, she could tell them the truth.
She hoped they’d find what Hank expected in that storage facility. Or find nothing that incriminated Gary, at least. She wanted to believe everything
he’d told her in the year before his death. That his one arrest for drug-related behavior had been a terrible mistake on his part. That he would never dream of getting involved with anything like that again.
Still, what other way would he have had to make big money quick when he went off that last morning, confident that their finances were suddenly going to be straightened out? Lori’s head ached contemplating that.
“You all right?” Mike was a step closer. He truly looked concerned by now. “Are you dizzy or something?”
Lori shook her head, then wished she hadn’t. “Not dizzy. Just a little headache. I’ll be fine, really. Now tell me about those phone calls. Anything I can do to ease the workload?”
Mike cupped her elbow in his hand and steered her to her office chair. Instead of feeling manhandled, Lori felt taken care of. “I’d still be happier if you sat down. You look a little pale. And I’ve seen enough people pass out during fire-and-rescue missions to know the signs. I don’t want to have to catch you. Although it might be fun.” His grin had a touch of wolf or coyote to it. But friendly.
Lori couldn’t help but grin back. “I’m sure it might be. For you. Now, the phone calls, Michael?”
Settling her in her chair, he grimaced a bit. “Michael? Oh, joy. Now I really am on your bad side. I have got to stop letting you hang out with my mother.”
“Try and stop me.” Lori was sure her smile was as sweet as possible. Mike rolled his eyes and reached for the stack of sticky notes with their phone messages.
Mike had been watching Lori for days. There was definitely something going on with her. Mike watched her across the office. She seemed a little off her normal hectic pace. Tyler was done with school and sat at an empty desk, happily coloring while his mother worked and Mikayla slept. Usually she only stayed a short time once Tyler came from school, and then she was done. Today, and for the last couple of days, ever since she’d had lunch with Hank and his mother, she had been staying longer and looking a little flustered.