Much Ado About Murder (Double Barrel Mysteries)
Page 24
“Blake? Is that you?”
There was no answer.
She shook her head and tugged the curtain shut, relaxing again under the spray of water. Must be her imagination. Ever since Guthrie had ransacked their bedroom looking for the stolen ring, she’d been a little nervous upstairs alone. She knew Alice and Oliver were within yelling distance, but she got that tingling sensation from time to time as though she were being watched. Now she knew what people felt like when their homes were broken into and robbed. Vulnerable and anxious.
A loud crash made her jump a foot off the tub and she slipped, grabbed the shower curtain on her way down, and fell in a wet plastic pile on the floor. The door burst open and a little wriggling furry mutt flew at her face. She put up hands to block the excited dog from licking all the water from her body. It tickled.
Blake was bent over laughing even as he tried to extricate her from the shower curtain and help her up. “Are you all right? I’m sorry. I was going to wait until you were out of the shower, but Agatha jumped on the desk and knocked over the lamp.”
He held Agatha back under one arm. She struggled to be free and continued licking, her little tongue slipping in and out the whole while. Shelby stepped out of the bunched up curtain and wrapped a towel around her middle, shivering.
“Where did you get her?”
“I talked with Heath. He knows he’s going to be in jail for quite some time and asked if we’d take in Agatha and Arthur. So I picked them up from the pound.” He gave her that lopsided grin she loved so much. “It’s the least we could do for them. After all, their home was burned down.”
“You’re a real softy, you know that?”
“Me? Never. I got them for you. You said you wanted a dog.”
She laughed, petting the little ragged mutt. “How does Alice feel about it?”
He cupped his hand to the side of his mouth and whispered in her ear. “I haven’t told her yet.”
She moved past him, noticing the bedroom door standing open. There was no sign of the German shepherd. “Where’s Arthur? You did leave him outside, right?”
“I thought he should see where we live so he’d be comfortable with his new home. We can build him a doghouse if you don’t want him inside.”
Shelby threw on her clothes as fast as she could and headed downstairs.
“Where are you going?” Blake called.
“Alice is baking bread and you let Cujo loose in the house.”
He dropped Agatha and pounded down the stairs after her.
A loud clanging crash of metal on tile followed by a scream of anger preceded their arrival. Alice stood in the kitchen, a big wooden spoon in her hand and a huge black dog at her feet… gobbling up a loaf of fresh bread.
At their running approach, she looked up, red hair flying around her face, eyes glaring daggers and asked in a tightly controlled voice, “Is this animal yours?”
Before they could answer, Jack appeared from Oliver’s room, a package of Oreos in his hand. He saw Arthur and a grin spread over his stubbly face. He reached down, took hold of Arthur’s collar, and pulled him away from the now empty pan. With a soulful look that had taken years of homelessness to perfect, he said, “I’m sorry, honey. My dog must’ve been hungry. We’re going home now.”
Dumbfounded, all three of them watched Jack head to the boathouse with his new friend. Arthur followed docilely along. Whether it was because Jack carried a package of cookies or because his ravenous appetite had been sated with an entire loaf of bread, they didn’t know. Blake slanted Alice a glance. Hands on her hips, she stared down at Agatha.
“Don’t tell me that is Jack’s dog too.”
“Not to the change the subject,” Shelby interjected lightheartedly, “but now we know where your dad got the cookies.”
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With Agatha trailing at their heels, Blake and Shelby walked down to the boathouse. The wind blew fiercely when they stepped out onto the open dock area, nearly whipping Blake’s cap from his head. Shelby reached up and tugged it low over his forehead, then turned and looked out across the huge expanse of water. Blake wrapped his arms around her, leaning in to protect her from the brunt of the wind.
“Superior is full of white horses today,” she said.
Earlier in the week, the lake had appeared placid and blue, but now churned an angry gray with a hint of green. Choppy waves crested white with foam, pounding the shore and sending spray up over rocky outcroppings. A storm was coming in from the north. Autumn had finally arrived.
Agatha wandered down onto the sand below the dock and began digging furiously for some perceived treasure. They watched for a moment and Blake laughed when she raised her face covered in sand, triumphantly holding a bone in her mouth. “I think Agatha is a natural born sleuth. Good thing she’s on our team now.”
“You are a competitive fellow, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
She turned to face him, eyes sparkling with laughter. “You didn’t take Heath’s dog to get back at him for taking your girl away from the prom, did you?”
“Are you kidding me? Heath taking Cynthia off my hands that night was the greatest win in my high school career.” He pulled her closer and bent his head to lightly brush kisses over her neck below her ear, his words soft and seductive, “You’re the only woman I want. The only one I need. I won the championship when I won your heart.”
His mouth covered hers in a searing kiss that melted her insides… until the sound of Agatha’s excited yipping got Blake’s attention again. He pulled back to look in her direction. The little dog had secured the area by treeing a pesky squirrel.
Shelby shook her head. “Looks like I have competition after all.”
Exeunt
Thank you for reading a Double Barrel Mystery. If you enjoyed this novel I would be most appreciative if you could leave a short review on the online site where it was purchased. This helps independent authors like myself tremendously. Happy reading!
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About The Author
Barbara E Brink lives in the great state of Minnesota with her husband, a spoiled dog named Willow, and two adult children living nearby. She spends much time writing, reading, motorcycling, running, and enjoying life with the family and friends that God has given her.
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Other Novels by Barbara Ellen Brink:
Double Barrel Mysteries
Roadkill
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Fredrickson Winery Novels
Entangled
Crushed
Savor
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Amish Bloodsuckers Trilogy
Chosen
Shunned
Reckoning
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Split Sense
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Second Chances Series
Running Home
Alias Raven Black
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Connect with me online
Twitter:
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My Webpage/blog:
http://www.barbaraellenbrink.com
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Barbara Ellen Brink, Novelist