Full Heat: A Brothers of Mayhem Novel

by Carla Swafford

  ZQ ended the call and Dustin stared at Nance’s picture on the phone. Crazy, fool, one-eared dog.

  —

  Kelcee Todd took her place around the polished conference table in a long room of Noah Sterling’s suite of offices. Why she needed to be here for the reading of Frank Brandt’s will was beyond her. She’d worked for him for more than two years in his Bookstore by the Falls, made sure he took his medicine on time, and ate regularly.

  She also looked the other way while he played checkers too long with his buddies on the wooden front porch of the store. If it was too chilly, she simply carried out his old sweater and stood there until he got through fussing at her for babying him. She’d kiss his whiskered cheek when he jammed his arms in the sleeves, scowling at her. Mercy, how she’d come to love that old bald coot. He promised her she’d be safe with him and she was.

  Now that he was gone, she wasn’t sure if she should keep the store open or not. She supposed it all depended on who inherited it. She hoped it was someone who loved books and kept the quaint store going. Four other people sat around the table, some fidgeting while everyone eyed each other…wondering.

  The door opened and Noah Sterling walked in with a large cup of coffee that smelled of whiskey, his blue and green paisley necktie askew.

  Owen Pohl waved his Cowboys ball cap in front of his nose. “My God, Noah, whatever ʼtis you got in that cup must be a hundred proof.”

  The lawyer placed his hand to his throat and croaked; the drink was for medicinal purposes. He coughed weakly. “I have a terrible sore throat.” Maybe so, but he also had poor acting skills. The man would never bring home an Oscar.

  Once the lawyer read through the typical legalities of the will, sipping from his cup every few minutes, he began the list of items bequeathed to the persons within the room.

  “ ‘To my lifelong friend Owen Pohl, I leave my white 1960 Chevrolet Impala convertible. I know you’ll take good care of my baby.’ ”

  Owen slipped his handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his reddened eyes before honking into the red hanky sounding like some of the geese that nested near the pond below Warrior Falls.

  The lawyer continued reading from the sheaf of legal papers. “We put many a mile on that fine banana boat, didn’t we, Owen? And I thank you for your loyal friendship.” The Old Man dabbed his eyes again and nodded, as if Frank were in the room with them.

  “Yes, and he can have it. Father acted like it was pure gold. Can we get moving here?” Frank’s daughter sneered. She wasn’t the most likable person Kelcee had met in Warrior Falls, a small, unique town she’d come to adore.

  “ ‘To my lifelong hunting buddy, Clint Silver, I bequeath all my stuffed trophy heads and bodies, even that black bear I shot on our trip to Canada. Although Clint and I both know it was his bullet that brought him down. Clint, there was no better hunting partner than you. I also want you to have my guns and gun case.’ ”

  “Good grief,” Wanda Brandt complained again. “Trust my father to be preachy, even in his will. Can’t you hurry this up?” She slapped her expensive purse onto the table for emphasis.

  Noah Sterling slipped his wire-rimmed glasses down near the end of his nose. “I am not some machine one can flick a switch to put into high gear. All my wills are read the same way. I suggest you behave yourself, even if time is so important to you. Surely your real estate agency will survive.” He glared at her for a good minute.

  Wanda’s face turned beet red and Kelcee imagined steam blew out of the demanding woman’s ears.

  The attorney looked at the will again. “ ‘To Shelby Johnson, I will my GMC truck and three thousand dollars on the condition she and her little boy leave her abusive husband and never return to Warrior Falls. Make a new life for yourself, without that lowlife who keeps beating you. No man should treat his wife the way he does. Run away to a different state, girl, and hide with that adorable boy of yours.’ ”

  The lawyer took a sip of his spiked coffee. “ ‘If you stay with your husband, the truck and money revert to Wanda. You get neither until the day the court serves Bo with divorce papers. U.S. Marshal Clint Silver will escort you into your house to help you remove things you and your son need, and will then load it all onto the truck elsewhere, so Bo doesn’t know what you’re driving.’ ”

  Shelby nodded and sobbed, while she trembled, no doubt with fear.

  “ ‘Now, Wanda, we come to you. Wanda, you were our only child and we doted on you your whole life. When your momma got cancer, you claimed your life was too hectic to help care for her. When my heart started giving out, you told me to hire in help. You were just too busy. Since you value time so much, I’m giving you your grandma Brandt’s grandfather’s clock and your great aunt Bessie’s mantel clock. All of your mother’s jewelry is in our bank vault. It, too, is yours along with all of our stock. Noah Sterling will go over the list with you. Someday, I hope you’ll learn the value of love and caring for others.’ ”

  Wanda gasped and jerked straight in her chair. “That’s it? A couple of dusty, old clocks, jewelry, and next-to-worthless stock? Who gets the bookstore and all its books?”

  All eyes volleyed toward Kelcee. A bead of sweat trickled down her back. Surely not.

  “ ‘Kelcee Todd, I’m sure by now everyone is looking at you. No doubt my daughter is shooting daggers with those piercing eyes of hers. Ignore her. For two years or more, you’ve made sure I took my medicines on time, you reminded me of my doctor’s appointments, made my meals and covered me while I napped with the afghan my wife crocheted. I never had to worry about the store, or the books being shelved correctly, or the register drawer coming out even. You were my sunshine on many a lonely day…’ ”

  “I bet she was his sunshine at night, too,” Wanda sneered and scowled at Kelcee as if she were a bug crawling up a wall.

  Kelcee could put up with Wanda’s continual looking down her nose at her. After all, they were strangers, but this…this was too much. “Don’t disrespect your father like that. Frank was an honorable man. He never touched me in a sexual way. I’d get a hug from him at Christmas, but it was a fatherly hug. Something you’d know about if you had come by more often to see him. Say what you want about me, but don’t you dare dis Frank in my presence.”

  “Nor mine.” Clint jabbed his finger on the tabletop.

  Owen crumpled his Cowboys hat in his hands. “Mine neither.” He nodded once.

  The lawyer waited a pregnant moment while Wanda muttered curses under her breath. He picked up the will again and continued. “ ‘Because of these things and so much more, I’m leaving you, Kelcee Todd, the bookstore and the land that runs to the edge of the pond at the falls.

  “ ‘My bequeathal includes the physical building with my apartment upstairs, all the contents inside—books, shelves, furniture, and electronics—except for what I’ve willed to other people. Also the porch furniture and checker barrel used by townsfolk for decades is yours. I can see how much you love the place. It should go to you along with what funds remain in my bank account, after the funeral and other estate expenses are paid. Make a good life for yourself there.’ ”

  —

  After two hours of carrying her quickly boxed clothes and books from the room she rented at the local boardinghouse to her new home, Kelcee walked through her bookstore. Hers. She’d been upstairs often enough to get dry clothes for Frank when he’d had an accident because he couldn’t move fast enough to get to the lavatory at the back of the bookstore. The apartment would take a lot of clearing out and painting, but she didn’t mind hard work. Still, the reality was having a difficult time taking root. This bookstore and apartment were hers.

  The door opened, and the rancher everyone called ZQ strode in. The man was like a movable mountain of granite with a devilish grin. Mannerly to a fault, he was the heartthrob of most women in Warrior Falls—single and married. His marriage to his country had broken many a heart, or so she was told. He doffed his black
Stetson. “Howdee, Kelcee, word around town is this store is yours now.”

  She swiped tears from her cheeks. News in this small hamlet sure did travel fast. “I don’t know what to think of it.” Her palms lifted and dropped. “This is the last thing I expected. Believe me when I say I don’t know what to do. The place needs some updating, but I don’t know how to go about it myself, nor do I have the extra cash to hire in handymen.”

  He slowly circled around. “You need someone to help you lay out plans. Give you some direction.”

  “Plans?” Where would she get the money for some kind of architect or construction guy? She had Frank’s old furniture upstairs to replace. Painting to do. Rugs to buy for her living quarters. She didn’t want to drain her savings; she’d been living on the cheap so she could buy a car.

  “Yeah. Like a corner for you to read to children. A rearrangement of bookshelves to create small reading nooks like they have in those big-city stores. I have a friend coming who’s good at that kind of thing.”

  Kelcee clasped her hands. “I don’t have the money to pay for something like that.”

  “Dustin, that’s my friend, is just recuperating from war injuries. Helping you would be ideal. A few hours a day so he can regain his strength and self-confidence. You could help each other. He won’t be very talkative.” He lightly cupped her shoulder. “Dustin’s a decent sort, thrown by his war injuries. He needs a friend and a job to anchor him. The kid won’t want to be paid.”

  What kind of man wouldn’t want to be paid for his labor? And just what did ZQ mean by this kid needing a friend? If she knew the rancher better, she’d swear there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes and a slight upturn at the corners of his lips.

  ZQ stopped at a display of Stephen King’s latest release and read the back cover blurb. He carried it over to the register. “I love how this man’s mind works. Weird as hell and yet he can make you believe every word.” He handed her his charge card and glanced around. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have the latest Highland time travel by Maeve Greyson, would you? Mom loves that series.”

  “A lot of women do. They’re over here. I’ve only got two left.” She hurried to the display and grabbed a paperback. “Here you are.”

  “Add it onto my bill. You know, it didn’t surprise me old Frank left you this place. Not the way you took care of him. Half of the time he pretended he didn’t even notice. Good friends like you are hard to find. You deserve this store. I can see how much you love it.”

  “Thanks. Still, I never expected it.” She glanced around. “Doesn’t seem the same here without Frank, does it? Almost like the spirit seeped out between the cracks of the building.”

  A faint smile warmed his features. “That fact alone will make you cherish it all the more. Relax, Kelcee. Enjoy the gift a decent man left you.” He touched the brim of his Stetson with two of his fingers in a farewell gesture and exited the shop, carrying his bag.

  Kelcee locked the store behind him. She went upstairs, put fresh linens on the bed, and cleaned the bathroom. Afterward, she emptied the bedroom closet and dresser, filling them with her things. At times, she stopped to shed a tear in gratitude. She had a home that belonged to her. A home where she hoped her brother would never find her.

  For if he did, her life would be over.

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