TWO TO DIE FOR

by Allison Brennan

  “You can have Siobhan.”

  Sean was typing on his phone, and deleting names on Lucy’s. “We have one hour, five minutes—our reservation is only a short walk from here.”

  “They have to be thoughtful presents,” Lucy said.

  Sean gave her a mock sad face. “I’m always thoughtful about what I give to people.”

  “You’re also competitive.”

  “True.” He kissed her. “Meet you back at Abigail’s table?”

  “Ready, set ...”

  He laughed and walked back in the direction they’d come. Cheater. She bet he already had ideas.

  Lucy went in the other direction. Nothing else had jumped out at her down the first main area, so she started along the back of the courtyard. One booth seemed rather sparse, and she wondered if they’d already sold out, or just didn’t have much merchandise. But the little displayed was very unusual—chainsaw-carved bears.

  She wanted one for herself, even though it didn’t match their San Antonio house at all. But a bear would look adorable in the cabin. She didn’t see the proprietor. She picked up a card.

  Bob and Betsy’s Bear Art

  Bob & Betsy Cannon

  Eagle County, Colorado

  There was one bear taller than Lucy. It had to be over six feet tall—maybe even taller than Sean. The detail was exquisite, and she wondered if they used the chainsaw then smaller tools for the details. A fishing box was carved next to his feet, and the proprietors had dressed him in a real vest with lures. A fishing rod had been propped in his hand, and it looked like his other hand could hold a second. What a cute idea. The other bears ranged from small whittled bears less than a foot tall, to a variety of bears two to three feet tall.

  Would Sean think the pair of bears joined at the hip holding a Welcome sign was hokey? She didn’t care. It made her smile. Who else could she buy it for? She wished she had Nick and Carina on her list because Nick would love it, she was pretty certain. She had John Patrick, their six-month-old son, but she wanted to get him something he could play with. Rick Stockton? Sean had added Rick to the list? She’d never bought Rick a Christmas present, but maybe he was a regular for Sean. What was she going to buy for the Assistant Director of the FBI?

  Sean had definitely cheated.

  She had Nelia, her oldest sister. They weren’t close, but after their dad had a heart attack last Christmas, they’d spoken a few times. It was still uncomfortable, but maybe a whimsical bear like one of these would make her smile.

  Lucy called out. “Hello?”

  A moment later, a woman in her sixties came from behind a drape at the back of the booth. She looked surprised to have a customer, as if she’d come out for a different reason and hadn’t heard Lucy. She looked around as if expecting someone else.

  “I’m so sorry. I thought my grandson was here.”

  “I’d like to buy a couple of your bears,” Lucy said. “Do you ship?”

  “Yes—but I’m not really prepared right now.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes, as if she were preoccupied. “We don’t have a lot of inventory—this is our last fair.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Your bears are adorable.”

  The woman ran her hand over the head of one of the bears lovingly. “When Bob and I retired a few years ago, we became bored and started this business. We’d made them for presents for years when we were working, but …” Her voice trailed off.

  “Are you okay?” Lucy asked. Betsy, she presumed, looked on the verge of tears.

  “Oh—sorry. I’m just a little sad. We weren’t even going to come out tonight, but my grandson talked us into it. He’s more upset than we are, I think, that we’re closing down. I didn’t realize it would be so hard.”

  “Grandma?” A young man in his early twenties stepped into the booth from the back. He smiled at Lucy, but put his arm around his grandmother and squeezed. “Which bears do you want?”

  “I need one of them shipped, and one I’ll take with me.”

  “We can do that,” he said.

  “Kyle—”

  “Grandma, I’ll take care of it for you. I’m here for the rest of the semester.”

  “You’re in college?” Lucy asked.

  He nodded. “I took the semester off.”

  “I told you not to.”

  “It’s fine, Grandma. You need help moving, and I’m not going to let you and Grandpa pack up the house alone. I saw Grandpa talking to George Crutcher, and you know George will keep him all night talking about snow levels and erosion.”

  “Oh, I was wondering where he went off to.” She smiled at Lucy. “Kyle will take care of you, dear.”

  Betsy left and Lucy asked, “Is your grandmother okay?”

  “She will be,” he said. “It’s been a tough year for them, my grandpa has high blood pressure and they live off the beaten path. Last winter was hard, so they decided to sell and move into Eagle.” He looked wistfully around at the bears. “I used to help when I was in high school, but I didn’t realize how hard the work was for Grandpa when I left.”

  Then he smiled and said, “We can ship anywhere, though outside the continental US it’s pricey.”

  “I’m going to take that one,” she pointed to the joined bears, “with me, and I’d like that one,” she pointed to a single bear the same size holding a fish, “to send to my sister in Idaho.”

  He handed her a pad of paper. “Write down the address and I’ll look up the shipping cost.”

  She wrote out Nelia’s address and hoped she liked the bear. She couldn’t think about what else to get her—she’d never bought her a Christmas present before because Nelia moved from San Diego nearly twenty years ago and stopped speaking to most of the family, including Lucy. But after last Christmas, and Nelia’s heart-felt letter she’d sent before Lucy’s wedding, Lucy wanted to make an effort to connect with her much-older sister.

  One of the smaller whittled bears had a cute little hand-drawn sign that said, “Goin’ fishin’” and she spontaneously picked it up. “And this,” she said. Hank wasn’t on her list, but she wanted to give him something for being a great neighbor. He already said he’d keep an eye on the place when they went back to San Antonio. Then she saw a bear with his paws in prayer and thought of Father Mateo, the priest who had married her and Sean. He might think it was silly—Father Mateo was very serious about most matters—but she thought it was cute so added it to her growing pile.

  Kyle tallied up the cost and Lucy paid. She put the small bears in her purse—their heads poked out at the top—and tucked the larger bear under her arm.

  “I can carry it out to your car for you if you’d like,” Kyle said. “My grandma will be back soon.”

  “I’m good—my husband is around here somewhere. Thank you, I really love it.”

  He smiled, but like his grandmother, it was tinged with sorrow. They seemed like genuine people, and she hoped everything worked out.

  The bear was heavier than she thought, so Lucy went back to the entrance to where Abigail had her booth. “Abigail? Remember me?”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you mind if I leave this bear with you for about thirty minutes? My husband and I have a competition going, and I can’t find anymore Christmas presents if I have to carry this around.”

  “Bob and Betsy’s bears—I love these things.”

  “You know them?”

  “Betsy was my fourth grade teacher—my mom had her as a teacher, too. Locals really all know each other—Kyle is only a couple years older than me. We knew each other in high school, which isn’t all that big. His girlfriend graduated from art school last year and he introduced me to her. Gracie is trying to open an art gallery right on the main street—her dad’s kind of rich—and she already asked if she could show my work. As if I’d say no! The exposure would be fabulous, and I’m going to be the only photographer. She wants to open in the spring, but her dad is making her jump through hoops for the money.” She shrugged. “It mig
ht not happen, but if it does, great, right? Check out her work—Gracie Calvert. She has watercolors mostly, some pencil drawings, but her work is so good.” Abigail gestured down the main aisle.

  “I will, thank you.”

  Abigail took the bear and put it behind her table. “Kyle said it’s gotten too hard on them to keep up the business—his grandfather has some health issues, and his grandma can’t do the heavy work. Kyle lost his dad when he was little—I don’t know what happened to his mom, but his dad was in the military and died overseas. His grandparents raised him, they’re really close.” She grimaced. “I shouldn’t gossip like this.”

  “You care about them.” Maybe quite a bit—Lucy suspected Abigail had a crush on Kyle, girlfriend notwithstanding. “Thanks for watching my stuff. I’m meeting Sean here in,” she looked at her watch, “only twenty-three minutes! I need to get going.”

  Lucy was positive she was going to lose. Not just because she spent too much time talking, but because Sean took competitions seriously.

  She walked faster.

  Chapter Three

  Sean was pleased with his efforts. He didn’t finish his list, but he only had Kane and Nate left. The Rogan’s weren’t big on Christmas, so Sean never bought presents for his family, at least not since they were kids. But Lucy’s family celebrated Christmas like it was the only holiday in the year, and it meant something to Lucy, so it meant something to him. Kane would be hard, but he already knew he was getting Nate a custom knife from a company in Germany that Nate had been coveting since he realized Sean had one. Sean had already ordered it, and it would be delivered by the time they returned from Colorado. Sean had planned on giving it to Nate as a thank you for everything he’d done helping him prepare for the wedding. But he’d save it for Christmas.

  He detoured to the indoor buffet and bar because he wasn’t much into mulled wine. He bought something from a local brewery. It hit the spot.

  In the corner, he observed two young men arguing. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they were clearly in a heated discussion. He kept an eye on them while chatting with the bartender, who was a friendly older fellow who knew a lot about micro-breweries.

  “If you have time, check out the Vail Brewing Company. They have a tasting room,” the bartender said.

  “My wife isn’t a big beer drinker, but I can entice her,” Sean said.

  The bartender glanced over at the two men. “You a cop?”

  “Nope.”

  “You’re looking at them like a cop.”

  “Suspicious by nature.”

  The bartender laughed. “The tall, skinny kid is Kyle Cannon. Local. In college now, though I’ve seen him around lately. His grandparents are local. Don’t know the short, buffed guy. Though come to think of it, I saw him with Kyle at the hardware store last week.”

  “Good memory.”

  “Vail’s not a big place.”

  “You’re from here?”

  “Denver. Moved here twenty years ago with my boyfriend. Donny is an architect, was hired to design a couple houses for rich folk, did so well we didn’t have to leave. We love skiing. Never regretted it.”

  As the bartender spoke, the short, broad kid stormed off, leaving the building through a side door. Kyle walked right past Sean and the bartender, also heated.

  “Another?” the bartender asked when Sean placed his empty on the tray.

  “Nope, need to meet my wife. But I’ll check out that tasting room. Buy some local beer for friends back home.”

  “You won’t regret it.”

  Sean headed back to Abigail’s booth. He was five minutes late, but Lucy wasn’t there.

  “Have you seen my wife?” Sean asked Abigail. He would never get tired of saying that.

  “Thirty minutes ago she asked me to store something. I don’t know if I’m supposed to show you.”

  “Sneaky. How are you doing tonight?”

  “Preview night is always fun, but people are here to socialize and drink the free wine, not buy as much, unless it’s to commission a special order. I did okay, though. Other than you, got two more commissions, so that makes me happy.”

  “Before Lucy gets back, I need to tell you exactly what I want.” He leaned over and explained. Abigail asked a few questions, but she was grinning. “That will be so neat! Yes, I can do that. I have to make sure the weather holds, so I’ll text you the morning of. Right now, it looks like the weather will be clear for at least the next three or four days, but it’s the wind I really have to worry about with the drone.”

  “Let me know. I’ll make sure she’s there.” He looked at his watch again. “She’s losing and she can’t stand it.”

  “Losing what?”

  “How many Christmas presents she can buy in one hour. I’m going to win. She thinks too hard.”

  “How many are you both buying for?”

  “We split the list, and we each had ten people.”

  “That’s a lot of shopping.”

  “I’m good at buying.”

  Abigail was looking behind him, so Sean turned to see what drew her interest. Young lovers—the way they stood close together, near the edge of one of the booths with the girl behind the counter and the boy in front of the counter, hands clasped, faces close but not kissing. The girl was emphatic about something, and the guy stood there, stalwart. As soon as the guy turned, Sean recognized him as the tall, skinny guy from the ballroom—Cannon, the bartender had said.

  “Friends?” he asked Abigail.

  “Kyle Cannon—his grandparents have a booth here and I’ve known the family forever. And Gracie Calvert, an artist. She’s his girlfriend.”

  As Sean watched, Gracie was talking emphatically about something. Kyle looked worried, but then Gracie kissed him and he nodded. Of course he would give in—Gracie was beautiful and he was obviously in love with her. Sean could see it on his face. Or maybe he was projecting, because just at that moment, Sean saw Lucy walking toward him. She wore a slight frown, but was so beautiful she took his breath away for a moment.

  As she came closer, he realized she looked more angry than anything else, her brows furrowed and the frown deepening when she saw him smiling at her.

  Teasing was always in order.

  “You know you lost, right?” he said and kissed her lightly.

  “I’m sure I did. I only crossed four names off my list, other than Siobhan.”

  “Don’t burn my bagel,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes and extracted two small bears from her purse. “I got these for Hank and Father Mateo, then a bigger one for Nelia and an even bigger one for us.”

  “Us?”

  “For the cabin. It’s cute.”

  Abigail retrieved the bear from under her table. Sean laughed. “Okay, I can see why you like them.” He picked up the two hugging bears. “They’ll look good next to the fireplace,” he agreed, and kissed her. “I still won.”

  “Of course you did. How many?”

  “All but Kane.”

  “You cheated.”

  “I had eleven names, you had ten, because I ordered Nate’s before the wedding. Just admit it, babe, I’m better at present buying than you are.”

  “Don’t call me babe.” But she smiled, and that’s all Sean really wanted to see.

  Sean said to Abigail, “Thanks for storing the bear, and I suspect we’ll be seeing you tomorrow at some point because Lucy needs to do more shopping.”

  “It was your idea to buy all the presents here,” Lucy reminded him.

  “It was your idea to Christmas shop in the first place.” Sean shifted the bear in his arms. “Hefty. Where was their table? I didn’t see them.”

  “They didn’t have many bears—this is their last fair.”

  “Kyle was over at Gracie’s booth a minute ago,” Abigail said.

  The three of them looked back to where Sean had seen Kyle and his girlfriend. He was gone.

  “I didn’t get a chance to see her booth,” Lucy said. “I’
ll bet my mom would like a watercolor.”

  Sean said, “We’ll come by tomorrow, okay? Would that make you happy?”

  “Maybe,” she said. They said good-bye to Abigail and headed out toward their car to lock the presents in the trunk.

  “Did you really get all the presents on your list?”

  “Yes.” He grinned. “You think too hard, which is good—I see something I know will work and I don’t second guess myself.”

  She sighed.

  “I’ll help with your half of the list. We can shop tonight in bed.”

  “Are we going to miss the reservation?”

  “They’ll have another table. Now, can you put the bear carvers and painters and photographers out of your head for the rest of the night?”

  “Promise.”

  He glanced over at her. Nope, she was still thinking. Of course she was, that’s what she did. She had more compassion in her little finger than most people, and he loved that about her.

  “We’ll come back and buy more bears, okay?”

  “Stop reading my mind.” She blew him a kiss because his arms were full.

  Chapter Four

  Sean had upgraded the security system on the house when he first bought it, but he’d had to play with the settings because of the animals that ventured along the perimeter. After being woken up twice in the middle of the night by deer or bears or raccoons, he’d turned off most external sensors and relied only on door and window security, plus inside motion detectors. A bit paranoid, but he and Lucy had every reason to be paranoid.

  It wasn’t his alarm, however, that woke him up at one that morning. It was a different sort of sound.

  He sat up, the comforter falling off him. He shivered—he didn’t get cold easily, but it was frigid in the mountains.

  “What?” Lucy said.

  “Go back to sleep. I just want to check something.”

  He pulled on his sweatpants before heading downstairs. He heard the floor in the bedroom creak—of course Lucy wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.