“Do you know which group it is?” I nod. “Okay then, call them and meet with them. They may have more information.”
“Great idea, Jack!” I jump up and hug him.
“Now can I have my ice cream back?”
Chapter 22
"Contagious” by Avril Lavigne
The conservation group, Save the Plains, is super excited to hear from me. The office manager actually uses the words ‘super excited’. They can’t wait to meet me, and I make an appointment for the next day. I probably should do some real work in the meantime, but it’s hard to get motivated to sit behind a computer when you’re chasing a murderer – although ‘chase’ may be a bit of an exaggeration. Oh, and I’m a millionaire now.
I’m surprised by the offices of Save the Plains. They’re light and airy. I was expecting an office stuck in someone’s basement with boxes crowding the hallways. Everyone is young and overly friendly. It’s a bit creepy. I think I prefer a dank basement.
I’m shown into a meeting room where a young woman is waiting my arrival. She stands and nearly runs to me when I enter. “Hi, I’m Jenny Williams.” She looks as if she’s about to hug me, but I stick out my hand. I’m not into hugging strangers. Jenny looks at my hand and shrugs before shaking it vigorously. Her enthusiasm is nearly catching. Lucky for me, as a middle-aged cynic, I’m immune to such naïve enthusiasm. I manage, just barely, not to roll my eyes at her.
“I’m Izzy Archer,” I state and pull my hand away before she breaks bones. Maybe I should have endured the hug?
“Yes,” she says and points to a chair for me to sit on, flouncing down on a chair opposite mine. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
“You have? Why?” My cynic is on high alert.
She actually blushes. I didn’t think anyone blushed anymore. “I wanted to thank you for your generous gift.”
“Um,” I stutter – a bit embarrassed that she’s thanking me for something I was screaming about yesterday. “That was my grandmother, not me.”
Jenny waves her hands in dismissal. “Doesn’t matter who started it. It’s your land, right?”
I nod. “Actually,” I take a deep breath before starting again, “I wanted to talk to you about the easement.”
Jenny takes a quick breath. “You’re not thinking of backing out are you? There’s no backsies possible.”
I laugh at her use of the juvenile term ‘backsies’ and shake my head. “No, no. I have no problem with the gift in itself. I just wanted some background information.”
She visibly releases the breath she was holding. “Oh good. We don’t need another heir fighting us. Legal fees are killer.” After a pause, she asks, “Anyway, what do you want to know?”
I squirm in my seat a bit, uncomfortable with the questions I want to ask. “To be honest, Grandma didn’t tell me about the easement. I’m wondering why she made it. I mean, I know it’s to protect the land, but do you know anything about my grandma’s situation, in particular?”
Jenny shakes her head. “Actually, I just started in this office. Let me see who handled the easement and if they’re available.” I nod at her, and she jumps up from her chair.
After five minutes of waiting, during which time I learn, once again, that I suck at mobile phone games, Jenny returns. She sits across from me and shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but the person who handled your grandma’s file isn’t here today.”
“Oh,” I say, deflated. “Will they be in anytime soon?”
“She’s gone this week, but will be back on Monday.”
“Can I see her then?”
Jenny nods. I’m disappointed I have to wait, but at least it’s not a complete dead end. Jenny sets up an appointment for me on Monday morning, and within a few minutes I’m back in my car cruising for home.
I get a weird feeling of déjà vu while driving home, almost like someone is following me. I know I’m crazy, but that doesn’t stop me from checking my rearview mirrors constantly. I shiver. Can you catch paranoia from overdosing on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream?
I shake my head to clear it. I am not going to get all paranoid. What I am going to do is drive home and get back into the swing of things. I’ve wasted enough time since Grandma’s death and even though I’m now a millionaire, I need to get some work done. I haven’t had the time or energy to think about my future and whether I’ll keep working, but I need to, at least, finish the projects to which I’ve already committed myself. It looks like Jenny’s enthusiasm for life is contagious, after all.
I jump out of my car and walk to my front door with renewed energy. I’m surprised to see my front door wide open. I guess Jack’s made an appearance. “Jack, you left the door open!” I yell as I enter the house. No one responds. Huh, that’s weird. I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a roar. I whip my head around and look outside. It’s just a car starting up – an awesome Chevy Impala muscle car – but just a car, nonetheless.
I let out the breath I was holding as I watch the car slowly roll by. Just as the car is passing, the driver turns his head and stares at me. His shocking white hair looks familiar, but I can’t place it. I shake my head and slam the door shut. I will not be paranoid. I will not be paranoid. I say it out loud because everyone knows talking out loud scares away ghosts and creepy things.
I call Jack and fill him in on the meeting. He’s disappointed the clue he discovered didn’t pan out but excited I’m going to meet with someone else on Monday. He wants to join me then, but I manage to persuade him it would be weird. He pouts, but I don’t let him distract me. I’ve had years of practice in ignoring his pouts.
Chapter 23
"Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis
My phone ringing wakes me up on Saturday morning. I look at my alarm clock and groan. It’s only nine. Who dares to call me this early on a Saturday? Can only be Jack. “What?” That may have come out a bit like Oscar the Grouch, but I always sympathized with poor Oscar. He was totally underappreciated just because he lived in a garbage can. The garbage can looked clean enough to me. Who am I to judge? And he was kind of cute – for a grouch.
I hear chuckling on the line, which definitely doesn’t sound like Jack. Face plant into pillow. “I thought you were Jack,” I say into the pillow. For some reason, this causes the chuckling to gain tempo. The men in my life are such jerks sometimes. But they’re also extremely hot, which means I put up with them. Who wouldn’t?
“You’re very chipper in the morning,” Noel says, after he finally stops laughing.
I sit up in bed and force myself to sound civil. “I stayed up late working last night, trying to catch up on projects.” I yawn to emphasize my point.
“Oh,” Noel sounds disappointed. “Does that mean you’re working all weekend?”
I sigh. “Probably, why?”
“I thought I’d take you out on a date tonight. Just you and me. No Jack.” Hmmm… work or date with hot police detective? No contest there.
“Well,” I try to play coy. “It’s not like I’m going to work 24/7. I guess I could make some time for you.”
Flirty Noel makes an appearance. “You could, could you?” I smile but remain quiet. “I’ll pick you up at six. See you then, baby.”
“Bye.” My voice probably sounds breathless, but it does weird things to me when he calls me baby.
I really do need to catch up on some work projects. I spend the day locked away – literally – in my home office. I put the chain on the front door to prevent Jack from wandering in and turn off my phone. Although my mind often wanders to a certain hot piece of male deliciousness, I manage to get quite a bit of work done before my phone alarm goes off at five. I still don’t understand how the alarm works when the phone’s turned off, but I’m not complaining.
The doorbell rings at five minutes to six. I rush to answer it, but then force myself to slow down before I open the door. “Hi,” I say when I see Noel standing there looking scrumptious in dark jeans molded perfectly to his strong thighs
and a button-down shirt. He’s holding a bunch of vibrantly colored tulips. “Someone is getting insider information,” I say as I grab the tulips. I try to turn toward the kitchen, but Noel refuses to release his grasp on the tulips.
“Is that any way to greet your man?” he says as he leans forward and gives me a hard kiss on the mouth.
“That seems like a better greeting,” I admit when I can breathe again. This time when I try to turn toward the kitchen with the flowers, he lets me, but not before he smacks me lightly on the butt. “What?” I sputter.
Noel chuckles behind me as he follows me to the kitchen. I quickly sort out the flowers, and we’re on our way. We drive in Noel’s ultra-hot GTO to a small Italian restaurant in the downtown area. I’m determined I’m not going to ruin this date in any way. There will be no embarrassing myself by flashing my backside to the restaurant, and there most certainly will not be any loud talking of BDSM. I’ll even try not to pepper Noel with questions about murder investigations. I will be the perfect date. I barely stop myself from snorting at that thought.
I skip wine and ask for sparkling water. Wine tends to cause my brain to disconnect from my mouth. I scrounge the menu for a meal with the least amount of spillage opportunities. Definitely not ordering anything with spaghetti or cream sauce. I’m not the most elegant eater in the best of circumstances, and when Noel’s around I tend to turn into a lovesick teenager. A lovesick teenager may be borderline okay, but a lovesick teenager with sauce dribbling down her chin is a definite no-no. Tortellini it is!
Dinner is really great, if I do say so myself. Of course, I would have had a good time if I could have just stared at Noel for an hour, maybe two. He seems to enjoy my chattering away, though, and I manage not to talk too loudly about embarrassing things. No talk of whips and chains tonight.
“Do you want coffee?” Noel asks after we’ve finished our scrumptious meal.
“I’d love some.”
“How about we get out of here, ,take a stroll, and then grab a coffee at the corner coffee shop?” Noel suggests. Who knew hot guys could be closet romantics? Well, obviously we don’t. Otherwise they wouldn’t be in the closet, but you get my meaning.
Noel and I stroll around the downtown area hand in hand. I window shop and Noel people watches. After a stop for coffee, we head to his car and he points his car toward my house. I’m getting really nervous. I’m not really sure what to do at this stage. Should I invite Noel in? If I do, how far should I let things go? Ugh, this dating thing isn’t easy.
Noel grabs my hand and squeezes. “Relax, Iz. We won’t do anything you don’t want to do.” I chuckle. That’s not the problem. I know what I want to do, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate. Apparently, there’s a big difference.
Noel parks in my driveway. “Stay there,” he says before getting out. He walks around the car and comes to the passenger side to open my door for me. “My lady,” he says as he offers me his hand.
“My, my,” I respond in my best English accent. “I do declare you are a gentleman, Mr. Blackburn.” He bows slightly before pulling me out of the car.
I walk up to the door fiddling with my keys. Ask Noel in? Not ask Noel in? What to do? I don’t know why I’m bothering to pretend it’s a struggle. We all know I want Noel to come in with me. I put the key into the lock and turn to ask Noel if he wants to come in, but he doesn’t give me a chance to talk. Instead, he grabs my face gently between his hands and leans in. He kisses me until I can’t breathe.
“Do you want to come in?” I ask when I finally catch my breath. In response, Noel gently pushes me out of the way and unlocks the door. He grabs my hand and pulls me inside. I turn on the hall light and throw my purse and keys on the little side table I keep in the entrance way for such things because otherwise I would spend half my life trying to find my keys.
When I look up to check my reflection in the mirror above the side table, I let out a little scream. My lower face is covered in blood. I turn to Noel and see he’s got blood gushing from his nose. “What the…” are the only words he gets out before he collapses to the floor. Huh. Didn’t figure big, bad, hot detective man for a fainter.
I rush to the kitchen and wet a towel before returning to the hallway where I’ve left Noel laying on the floor. No chance of moving that man. I mop up the blood on his face and use the towel to stem further bleeding before I try to wake him. I slap his shoulder none too gently. “Noel, wake up!” I don’t shout, but I’m not exactly quiet either.
His eyes open, but they’re unfocused. He’s obviously confused. “Where, what?” he says before his eyes clear. “Shit.”
“Come on,” I say. “Let’s try to get you seated.” I get behind him and reach under his arms to pull him up. He’s limp and weighs a ton. Hard muscles may look delicious, but they sure are heavy! After a bit of unladylike grunting, I manage to get him leaned up against the wall.
“Lean your head back, it’ll slow down the bleeding,” I have no clue really, but it sounds good. “Are you feeling okay?” Stupid question, I know. “Should we take you to the hospital?”
Noel shakes his head just as the doorbell rings. Who in the world is ringing the doorbell at this time of night? I open the door to find Jack standing there looking irritated. When he sees my face, he lets out a shriek. “What’s going on here?” he asks as he pushes me inside.
I ignore him and turn on Noel. “You promised me a night without Jack!” I accuse with my hands on my hips. He shrugs, but I can’t hear any response as he’s holding the towel in front of his mouth.
“What in the world is going on here?” Jack shouts. Yes, shouts. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Jack shout before. I turn to stare at him. He points to my face and makes a disgusted look. “You’ve got blood all over you, and Noel is on the ground holding a towel to his nose. What in the world did you do to him, Iz?”
“Me! I didn’t do anything. He got a nosebleed and fainted!”
Jack looks back and forth between the two of us in bewilderment before he realizes the truth of what I said. Then, he throws his head back and laughs. “I don’t know what’s funnier,” he manages to say in between chuckles, “the fact that you two were obviously making out when he had a bloody nose or that Noel fainted.” Noel growls at the last part.
I ignore Jack’s comments. “What are you doing here, Jack?”
He turns to me. “You haven’t been answering your phone all day.”
Oops! I smack my forehead. “I turned my phone off to get some work done. I must have forgotten to turn it back on. Sorry.” I reach over to give him a hug, but he backs away.
“Uh uh,” he says as he points to my face. “You need to clean that shit up before you come any closer, Izzy girl.”
“Wimp,” I say under my breath but deliberately loud enough for Jack to hear. He ignores me and leans down to Noel.
“You okay man?”
Noel nods and stands up. “Yeah, I think I’m good now.” He takes the towel away from his face.
“Your face doesn’t look much better than hers,” Jack comments.
I turn on Jack. “I don’t think you’re needed here tonight,” I tell him and then grab Noel’s hand. I drag him to the bathroom where I clean up his face.
“You okay?” I ask. He nods, but he won’t look me in the eyes.
We get cleaned up and then Noel hightails it out of my house. It appears the fates are determined I end up alone. I reach for the corkscrew.
Chapter 24
"I Never Knew You” by Jason Mraz
I spend Sunday much the same way as Saturday – locked away in my office. This time I’m not excited about my date with Noel. Instead, I’m thinking he’s running as far and as fast away from me as he can. Not too surprising. I didn’t expect it would work out anyway. Sighing the day away won’t help anything. Doesn’t stop me though.
Jack calls to beg me once again to let him join me at my meeting with the conservation group. He really thinks he’s some kind of detective or so
mething. Or something is about right. I put him off with promises of calling right after my meeting. He pouts but agrees with me – eventually.
Jenny, the overenthusiastic girl I met on my first trip to Save the Plains, is waiting to greet me when I arrive at the offices on Monday morning. “Hi Izzy,” she nearly shouts as I walk into the office. Is she bouncing on her toes?
“Jenny,” I respond. I start to reach out my hand for a handshake, but then decide against it. She nearly crushed me last time. I smile instead.
“Come on,” Jenny says as she turns around. She flounces down the hallway and I follow. I don’t flounce.
Jenny shows me into the same conference room we used last week. There is an older woman, who looks vaguely familiar, in the room. She stands as I enter. “You must be Izzy Archer,” she says and reaches out to shake my hand. “I’m Delilah. Please have a seat.” I grab a chair across from her.
“I’m sorry about your grandmother. She was a great woman.”
I nod. “Yes, she was.” I stare at her, head tilting to the side in confusion. “Do I know you?”
Delilah smiles. “You may have seen me at your grandmother’s funeral.”
“Of course. Thank you for coming.” The words fall automatically from my mouth.
Delilah clears her throat. “Anyway, you wanted to see me?”
I shake my head to clear it. “Yes. I understand you dealt with my grandmother and the conservation easement.” She nods. I take a big breath before continuing. “You see, Grandma never told me about the easement. Well, she never told me I was going to inherit either. But that’s another story. Anyway, do you have any idea why she wanted an easement?”
“I do.” She begins and then stops, re-considering her words. She clears her voice before starting again. “Actually, I don’t know how much I should tell you. If she didn’t mention this to you, then…” She trails off and shrugs her shoulders.
The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3) Page 10