Texas Bad Boys

by Rosemary Laurey, Karen Kelley

  Lillie stood along with Nina and Juliet. The three held up their longnecks—longnecks is what Juliet said beers in a bottle were called in Texas. Nina said to the crowd, “To Pete Maddock for bringing us together.”

  Juliet said, “We love you Grandpa.”

  Lillie added, “To a wonderful man we never knew.”

  And a bleary-eyed Rusty Pierce chimed in with, “And we hope you’re not flipping in your grave over your hotel being turned into a sissy spa.”

  Everyone froze and Betty slammed down her beer and glared at her husband. “There you go, you old fool. You had too much to drink and you had to open your big yap and ruin this nice affair.”

  Rusty’s eyes didn’t quite focus. “Hell, damn it, woman, it’s the truth.”

  “And you just used two cusswords at the same time, proving just how sloshed you are,” Betty huffed.

  Lucky Freemont said, “Well, I’m sober as a judge and I know what Rusty’s saying is true enough. The spa should be closed. It’s not what Pete would have wanted at all and now’s as good a time as any for getting the truth out.”

  The men nodded in agreement and Betty faced Rusty and the other women in the saloon faced the men they were with. Betty said, “So it’s come to this, has it? Well, you have your saloon, Rusty Pierce, and I get my spa.”

  “But you come to the Rooster,” Rusty countered.

  “And you can come to the spa,” Betty said.

  “Fat chance that. Besides, John here was supposed to have the place closed down by now. That was the agreement. Said he’d sweet-talk Lillie June into changing it back into a hotel.”

  Lucky added, “Said he’d appeal to her feminine side. He was supposed to make things peaceful here so he’d be sure of getting his job back in Dallas. Looks like that sweet talking didn’t work for squat.”

  Lillie’s gaze met John’s across the saloon. “It’s not what you think,” John said. “It might have been at first but things changed. We changed.”

  “Sweet talk? Feminine side? Eat dirt and die, John Snow.” Lillie straightened her spine, anger eating at her insides. “I’ll be going to my spa now. My spa that’s going to stay a spa and no sweet talking is ever going to change that.”

  Betty stood and glared at Rusty. “And the sooner you understand that, the sooner you get me and your bed back instead of sleeping every night on the living room couch. So there.”

  The women followed Betty and Lillie out the saloon door, the men staring dumbfounded.

  The little parade got to the porch of the saloon, rain still coming down in waves. Lillie said, “Thank you for your support, and the spa will be open tomorrow first thing, like always.”

  The women cheered and Betty said, “And we’ll be sleeping alone fine and dandy till our men come to their senses.”

  Lillie smiled as she waved to the women as they left, but deep down inside she felt wretched. Her spa was causing tension, breaking up homes, doing the exact opposite of what a spa should do. Spas were designed for peace and harmony, and there sure wasn’t much of that in Silver Gulch tonight, thanks to the Silver Springs Spa and Healing Center.

  She should leave. She’d caused enough problems in town and there was the John Snow factor to consider. She was involved with a man who suspected her sisters of doing in Grandpa Pete and had played her like a well-tuned fiddle so she’d close down the spa and keep the menfolk of Silver Gulch happy, all to secure his job back in Dallas.

  Could she pick men or what! If she ever considered marriage she should be shot. It was doomed from the start. She had the flawed marriage gene just like her mother.

  To avoid getting soaked Lillie kept to the covered porches of the shops and made her way to the spa. She climbed the steps to the third floor. Sleep, she needed sleep. Solid male footsteps sounded on the stairs and Lillie called out, “If that’s you, John Snow, you’d better run for the hills, because I intend to strangle you dead and cook your sorry ass in the hot tub.”

  “And your sisters will be more than happy to help,” John said as he pulled up in the kitchen doorway, looking like a drowned rat.

  Nina and Juliet appeared behind John, both huffing and looking equally wet. Nina said, “He outran us, Lillie. We tried to stop him from coming up here but he wouldn’t listen.”

  John gazed at Lillie. “I came to straighten things out between us. What happened in the cabin today had nothing to do with this spa and getting you to close it down or me keeping my job in Dallas. It was between you and me and it was special. You’re special and if you don’t believe me there’s not one damn thing I can do about it. I don’t lie to women, never have and I don’t intend to start now.” He took her into his arms and kissed her hard, then turned on his heel and left.

  Lillie felt stunned like she always did when John kissed her fast and hard like that. Nina put her hands to her hips. “Well, he is something.” She laughed. “Reminds me of Lance.”

  “And Rod,” Juliet chimed in. “Men of that sort do put on quite a show.” She took Lillie’s hand. “So, what do you plan to do now, dear?”

  Lillie closed her eyes for a moment. “Jump out the window, but first I’m getting you towels to dry off.”

  Lillie got robes from the new stash she’d ordered for her customers, and Juliet filled a teapot and put it on the stove. “Bet you have some chamomile handy. We’ll brew it up and sit and talk and forget about men.” She kissed Lillie on the head. “It’s a time for sisters to be together.”

  Nina put out cups and napkins. “But I must say that John has a point.”

  Lillie scoffed, “The one on the tip of his thick head?”

  Juliet grinned as she located the cookie jar. “Nice try, dear, but we know you’re crazy about the man. He’s just gone a bit astray.” She sobered. “But there is something very strange going on with Grandpa Pete’s death. For a while I thought it was his ghost and, don’t laugh,” she rushed on, “it seemed to fit because I wanted to meet him. But now I think something else is cooking and it’s of this world. Things were moved about in my office, and I found mint wrappers on the floor.”

  “Me too,” added Nina. “And I found a sandy footprint on a floor I’d just cleaned at the ranch and no one was home but me.”

  “And someone was in the attic here,” Lillie said. “And there was sand on the steps that lead to the attic.”

  Both Nina and Juliet gasped and Nina said, “You never told us.”

  “I didn’t know what to make of it until now.” The sisters exchanged looks and Lillie continued, “We all think there’s something amiss—good Lord, I’m starting to talk British.” They laughed and Lillie said, “John thinks so too, and even if he is a jerk he probably has good cop instincts.”

  Juliet poured tea. “Everything seems to lead straightaway to the riverbank: the overturned boat, the fishing vest, the sandy footprints.”

  “Grandpa Pete has a cabin there,” Lillie said as she stirred her tea. “I think we should take a look inside. Maybe there was a scuffle there. Maybe someone did in Grandpa and the scoundrel is hiding out there and keeping tabs on us to make sure we don’t find him. We have to find out why someone would kill Grandpa Pete. We need to start looking somewhere and I say the cabin is the best place. We’ll meet here at eight and hope for dry weather.”

  They were quiet for a moment, as rain beat on the windows. Juliet said, “I thought I left all this rain back in England. Perhaps tomorrow it will let up a tad.”

  But at eight, as Lillie, Juliet, and Nina headed toward Grandpa Pete’s cabin on the back gravel road in Lillie’s Jeep, the sky was gray and rain continued to fall. Nina looked out the window at the dripping landscape. “There’s no one out here but us. Maybe we should have told the men where we were going. Lance thinks I’m getting my hair done at Betty’s and having lunch with you two.”

  Juliet said, “I conveyed the same to Rod. If the men knew the truth they would have pitched a hissy.” She glanced from one sister to the other. “Do Texas men pitch hissies?”
>
  Nina laughed. “They do something, just don’t think anyone’s put a label on it.”

  The tires slid on the loose gravel and Lillie slowed the Jeep to a crawl and headed down a dip. “The river is starting to rise. If we don’t go now we could be cut off and anything we might find that could lead us to Grandpa Pete’s killer might be lost.”

  She pulled to a stop and Nina gasped, “Holy cow! The road’s gone.”

  Lillie nodded. “Small Creek isn’t so small at the moment. It’s flooded over the road. We’ll have to walk in. I think John said there was a footbridge in the woods. Hopefully, that’s still standing and we can get to Grandpa Pete’s cabin that way.”

  Juliet flipped up the hood on her rain jacket and stepped out of the car. Lillie zipped her yellow jacket and followed, as did Nina. Lillie pointed through the dripping woods. “There’s John’s cabin, so the little bridge must be—”

  “Ouch,” Juliet yelped and crumpled to the ground. Nina and Lillie rushed to her and Lillie asked, “What happened?”

  “Twisted my blooming ankle. Rabbit hole, I’d say.”

  Or snake hole, Lillie thought but kept it to herself. “You two head back to town and I’ll go on.”

  “Not in this lifetime,” Juliet protested, as she held on to Nina and Lillie and righted herself. “You’re not staying out in these woods by yourself with a potential evildoer scurrying about.”

  Lillie said, “I know, you two stay at John’s and I’ll look around at Grandpa Pete’s cabin. If I see anyone I’ll come back. I’ll be fine. I swear I will not confront anyone on my own. Okay?”

  Nina exchanged looks with Juliet. “Bloody poor idea if you ask me, but we’re out here now and need to get the job done,” said Juliet.

  Lillie and Nina got on each side of Juliet and Lillie nodded toward John’s cabin. “Just up ahead.”

  Juliet hopped on one foot, and when they got to the cabin Lillie lifted an old log—making real sure it was a log before touching it—and located the key John had used to lock up the place when they’d left. She opened the cabin door and helped Juliet inside. “There’s a fire ready to be set. John built it before we left yesterday.”

  Nina giggled. “Oh, if these walls could talk.”

  “I’m not answering that one,” Lillie said. “But there’s half a bottle of brandy to get you warmed up.”

  “Something you didn’t need yesterday, I bet,” Juliet quipped as Nina and Lillie helped her into a chair by the hearth. “Just how long were you here?”

  Lillie sighed. “Long enough to get into trouble.” She headed for the door before either sister could ask more questions. “I’ll be back soon.”

  Juliet said, “Nina should go with you for protection.”

  “You’re the one with the bum ankle. I can run like the wind if I need to. Lock the door behind me.”

  Lillie left before her sisters could protest again and made her way to the creek. This was probably just like the day Grandpa Pete drowned. A lump lodged in her chest at the thought. What she wouldn’t give to have known him, talked to—

  Barking snapped her back to the moment and Butter darted through the trees, jumping in little circles. “Yeah, I’m glad to see you too. What are you doing out here? You ran off last time without even exchanging e-mails.”

  Butter ran and came back and did it again, just like yesterday, when she led her to John’s cabin. “Okay, where are we going this time?”

  She followed Butter toward the creek. She could hear the water rushing, then spotted a log bridge with a chunk of it gone and a cabin like John’s in the distance, smoke curling from the chimney. Someone was in Grandpa Pete’s cabin? Gabe Rankin? He was the one Grandpa left the cabin to or—

  “Help! Lillie! Over here, girl!”

  She spotted an old man clinging to a fallen tree half submerged in the water. It wasn’t Gabe Rankin but he did look familiar. From the wake last night?

  She raced to him as he yelled, “Get help. I fell off the dang bridge. My leg’s caught. Can’t budge it and this here tree is the only thing keeping me from getting washed out into the dang river.”

  She waded into the water and held out her hand. The man shook his head. “I’ll just pull you with me, girl. We need a rope and some muscle. My strength’s just about ate up from the cold. Been out here since daybreak and this here creek’s getting deeper by the minute.”

  He was ashen and looked weak. “Were you a friend of my grandfather and staying in his cabin?”

  “Hell’s bells, girl, I am your grandfather.”

  John leaned across Melinda’s desk at the spa. “Where is Lillie? Where are Nina and Juliet? Are they all together?”

  Melinda folded her arms across her ample chest and tipped her chin. “I’m not at liberty to say. In fact, Lillie will string me up if I tell. You honestly think she and her sisters did in their granddaddy? If that isn’t the most asinine thing I’ve ever heard in—”

  “It’s raining like mad, Melinda. The river’s on the rise and I’ve got Rod and Lance helping people to evacuate right now. Lillie wouldn’t take off unless she was up to something, and I don’t know what happened to Pete but something’s not clicking and I’m going to find out why.”

  Jimmy came up behind John. “Hello, beautiful.”

  Melinda blushed and fluffed her hair. “Well hello, handsome.”

  John did a mental eye roll and swallowed a groan. “Melinda?”

  “Oh, all right, all right. But I’m only telling you because Lillie and her dear sisters are down by the river and I’m starting to get worried sick. Never seen so much rain before in my life.”

  John felt as if someone had smacked him upside the head with a two-by-four. “What are they doing at the river?”

  “That’s all I know. She didn’t tell me any more. Said she had a hunch and everything pointed to the river.”

  “Her hunch is going to get her killed.” John swallowed a string of curses. “When the evacuees from the flood come into town put them up here.”

  Melinda sucked in a quick breath. “This is not a hotel, John Snow, in spite of what you want.”

  “It will be a hotel forever if you don’t do what I say. I don’t have time to sit here and explain, but get this place working at full tilt: hot tubs, sauna, massage rooms, yoga, health food, the works.”

  He turned to Jimmy. “You’re going to help get people settled in here and keep records of who’s here so we don’t leave anyone behind who needs assistance.”

  Jimmy nodded. “Got it, but where in blazes are you going at a time like this?”

  “Fishing.” John left the spa and turned his collar against the rain as he headed for his truck, parked on the street. When he found Lillie he’d wring her neck…after he kissed her. Messing around by the river was not good during a flash flood, and with a day’s hard rain here and even more in the mountains, the Gulch was ripe for a flood, something a Chicago girl knew zip about. Except she did have one thing right: everything about Pete led back to the river. John revved the engine and headed out of town toward the cabins.

  Even though the sisters benefited from Pete’s death it would have taken a lot of planning and privileged information from Gabe for them to realize they inherited property on his death. Gabe would never betray Pete, and John could find no proof that anyone besides Gabe knew anything about Pete’s trusts or his will. So, what else had changed since Pete’s death? Nothing. His granddaughters came to Silver Gulch, period.

  John slowly smiled to himself. And isn’t it just too damn bad old Pete isn’t around to enjoy them. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  Three miles wasn’t far but gravel and water washing across the roads slowed him down. He shifted into third gear to give the tires more traction, and as he rounded the bend in the old gravel road that led to the cabins he spotted Lillie’s red Jeep.

  His blood ran cold. Three city gals out in this rain with flooding all around was not good. John killed the engine and got out. “Lillie,” he yelled into
the woods. No response except Butter running his way. She jumped in little circles and yelped. Dog talk for follow me, dumb ass? Hell, he didn’t have a better idea.

  Butter took off in a run with John right behind. She headed for the creek, which was no doubt a small river by now, and in the distance he saw a yellow splotch of cloth in the water. Lillie’s jacket? Oh crap! “Lillie?!”

  She turned and waved and he felt as if their gazes met across the distance. “John?!” she yelled back. “Here! Hurry!”

  Hurry? Hurry was never a word of reassurance. He tore through the underbrush, ignoring the more roundabout cleared path, till he got to her, waist deep in the water. “Thank God you’re here.”

  She was holding on to someone. “Howdy, Pete!”

  “Me and my granddaughter are getting mighty wet. If she hadn’t come along I’d be fish food by now. And you’re not acting all that surprised to see me.”

  “I’m not.” John waded into the racing water, the current swirling around his thighs, then up to his waist. He said to Pete, “I’ll get you off this log then hand you to Lillie, and she’ll get you onto the shore.”

  John grabbed Pete around the waist, bracing him from the back so the current wouldn’t sweep them both away. He got to the edge and Lillie grabbed her grandfather’s arm, smiling, her eyes shining. “I can’t believe you’re really here and we’re all safe.” She leaned forward to kiss him…except her foot slipped and she tripped forward, splashing into the churning water.

  John held Pete with one arm and snatched Lillie’s wet hand but it was too wet and she slipped right out of his grasp. Terror ripped through him as her body swept into the fast current, her terrified eyes big as softballs as she disappeared around the bend. Pete yelled, “Go get her, boy! That’s my granddaughter out there! I can take care of myself!”

  John scrambled up onto the shore, hauled Pete onto the bank, then ran along the bank. A yellow splash of color bobbed in the water, then was lost around the next bend. John ran faster, jumped a log, took the curve, and spotted Lillie clinging to a rock for all she was worth…and he realized that to him Lillie June—entrepreneur, courageous granddaughter, loving sister—was worth more than the sun, moon, and stars all rolled into one. He splashed into the water and grabbed the waistband of her jeans tight into his fist. “You scared the hell out of me.”