by Karen Renee
“Use mine,” Mom said. “There’s a padded stool under the vanity, which should make it easier for you.”
JUANITA HAD APPLIED the last piece of foil to my hair when the house phone rang, and I jumped in the little stool.
“Are you always this jumpy, Raegan?”
“No. The house phone almost never rings, though.”
A moment later, Mom stood in the doorway holding the phone toward Juanita. “It’s Clint for Raegan.”
Juanita handed the phone to me.
“Hello, Clint.”
I heard him exhale. “Why is it the two times I want to speak to you today, you don’t answer your cell? Don’t answer that. Tanya told me about the first one. I heard what your mother said, so who is with you that she had to tell someone else the call was for you?”
My eyes closed. He could be so pushy, and normally, that didn’t bother me. This, though, was something else.
“My patience is wearing thin, mamita.”
I swallowed my huff of breath. “Your mother is here. My cell is on the kitchen table.”
“Christ,” he muttered.
I opened my mouth to ask if he needed something, but he spoke again. “She isn’t doing something to your hair, is she?”
“Technically, no. She already did something to my hair.”
His tone was terse. “Raegan. We discussed this last night, for—”
“You discussed it and diverted the conversation when I pointed out jogging makes me sweaty.”
Juanita giggled, but Mom barked out a laugh.
“Can’t you ditch your audience?” he demanded.
“Not really. Your mom and I are holed up in the bathroom. Mom brought the phone to us, and you know she’s an eavesdropper. What did you expect?”
Juanita tried to swallow her laughter, but her bosom heaved with her mirth.
“Put Mamá on the phone.”
With a closed lip smile I offered Juanita the phone. “He would like to speak with you.”
Juanita arched a brow as she took the phone. Rather than put it to her ear, she examined the face of it and pressed the button to put Clint on speaker. “Holá, Clint. You’re on speaker, but you know that.”
He made a strange noise. “I’m not thrilled you’re messing with my woman’s hair. But, is this like when you gave Laura and Erica perms? Am I gonna be smelling this shit for the next three days and nights?”
Now I swallowed back laughter. Of all the things he could be concerned about, he didn’t want to smell the chemicals that would make my hair look fabulous.
His mother’s face went stony. “No, Clint. You will not have to smell her hair. It’s been two decades since I last permed Laura’s hair. The solution for highlighting tu reina’s hair doesn’t smell anything like that.”
“Mamá,” he drawled.
“No. You’re not going to ‘Mamá’ your way out of this.”
He sighed. “Well, since I’m on speaker. What do you ladies want for dinner? I’ll be by at a decent hour. I could bring—”
“Don’t bother, Raegan’s making lasagna,” Mom said.
I swung outraged eyes to her. “I am?” I whispered.
“Do you have garlic bread?” Clint asked, and I knew he heard me whispering.
“Pretty sure we don’t,” I said.
“I’ll swing by the Olive Garden.”
“No, mi hijo. Go to the grocery store and get French bread, we’ll make the garlic bread here.”
“So, you’re gonna have Rae out of those foils in time for her to make dinner?”
Juanita scoffed. “They’re highlights. I’m not trying to cover any gray hairs. You focus on your work so Rae doesn’t have to answer the door with a gun in her hand.”
I closed my eyes, wishing she hadn’t said that last part.
“Put mi reina back on, Mamá.”
I looked up at Juanita to see an apologetic expression on her face. I accepted it and the phone with a nod. With my thumb, I took him off speaker. “Yes, Clint?”
Even though I expected more aggrieved irritation, his tone was incredibly gentle. “Do you want or feel like making lasagna?”
I smiled, wishing he was here because him being so damned sweet was when I wanted to kiss his face off. “Not really, but I don’t exactly have a choice.”
He chuckled. “There’s always a choice, babe.”
“For you, perhaps.”
“And you, too. If you feel like being pampered, don’t cook. I’ll surprise them both with something we’ll all love.”
A tempting offer, but I knew better than to thwart Mom’s grand plan since I suspected at least part of it had to do with Juanita being here.
“Nope. Lasagna it is tonight. But, if you can pick up some bread, that’d be great.”
Clint
I HATED THE IDEA OF Rae with foil in her hair. I didn’t care what Mamá said, every woman I’d seen before and after highlights failed to look half as new-and-improved as Mamá claimed. There seemed to be something fake about highlighted hair to me. Like women wearing make-up. It was rare Raegan ever wore it. I loved that about her and always had.
Pulling up to Penny’s house, my SUV smelled like garlic from the fresh breadsticks I had ordered from a local restaurant. Mamá may have ordered me to get fresh bread, but I didn’t want to force any more work on Raegan than necessary.
It wasn’t until I was halfway up the walk that I noticed Laura’s car parked across the street. While I liked the idea of her making amends with Penny and Rae, a big dinner was not what I had in mind for tonight.
Rather than go in through the front door, I skirted the side of the house so I could enter the kitchen. The scent of lasagna baking hit me a second before the noise of Mamá and Laura. They were arguing loudly, partly because of the Latin music blaring from a stereo, and partly because in my family winning an argument required a higher volume more than a solid foundation of facts and logic.
Raegan walked into the kitchen and jumped when she saw me. I fought my head rearing back at the sight of her because I was wrong. Her hair didn’t look fake. She looked like someone who belonged on a red carpet or on the cover of a magazine. My urge to claim her swelled within me and I suppressed it, but no way she would get away from me a second time.
She moved toward the oven, but I grabbed her hand and yanked her outside before anyone noticed us.
“Clint! I don’t have any shoes on, what are you doing?”
With my hands on her shoulders, I leaned back. “Jesus, I didn’t think you could get more beautiful, Rae.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Clint,” she whispered.
Moving a hand to cup her neck, I stepped in and gave her a lengthy hello kiss. She tasted of red wine. I ended the kiss and rested my forehead on hers.
“What was that for?” she asked.
I chuckled and pulled my head back. “That was hello. Are you up for some not so nice news?”
She shrugged. “I doubt there’s a choice.”
“Toxicology reports on your sister’s stomach contents, blood, and urine came back. The examiner said there was benzodiazepine in her system, but since she had Xanax in her medicine cabinet that wasn’t alarming.”
Her brows furrowed. “Wynnie wasn’t on Xanax.”
“They found a bottle with her name on it in the bathroom, honey.”
She looked to the side for a beat. “Yeah, but she stopped taking it about a year ago. Hell, when she stopped it was during the worst part of my separation before the divorce. She told me I needed to get a prescription for it because it would help me keep my head together. She was right, since I got the prescription, but stopped taking it when the worst of the divorce was over.”
My gut said we were on to something with this.
“Are you certain she didn’t start taking it again? Lots of people don’t talk about their anxiety like they should, honey. The two of you had enough going on with your mother, could she have kept that to herself?”
Her lips twiste
d as she thought about it. “I suppose, but how does this make a difference since Tommy said it should’ve been me in that tub?”
My teeth clenched. “I don’t know, but my gut tells me there’s a lead here. I’ll have to ask the M.E. some more questions.”
PENNY INSISTED I SIT at the head of the table so I could serve the lasagna as I cut it. Raegan sat to my left, handing me empty plates, while Mamá sat on my right, passing full plates around. No sooner had I set my own plate of hot food in front of me than the doorbell rang.
“It’s about time. That girl does not know how to tell time, I swear,” Laura muttered. She looked at Penny. “Do you mind if I answer the door? It has to be Erica.”
Penny nodded, and Laura left the table.
Laura came back, saying, “Well, Erica decided to bring a plus-one. The more the merrier, right?”
I turned to see Laura’s smile was fake and Carlos stood next to Erica. “You lost your mind,” I grumbled to Erica.
Mamá stood up while launching into a string of Spanish, but Erica cut her off. “Stop, Mamá! I brought Carlos because he’s in trouble and I wanted Clint to help him.”
“Why would he help him, when Carlos thought Clint was following him just last week?” Laura asked.
I glared at her. “I wasn’t following him. Told you that on Saturday.”
“And I didn’t believe you.”
“If you’d have stuck around, I’d have filled you in.”
She looked away and I turned to Erica. “He’s got problems, so you bring him here?”
My little sister glowered. “Knew you’d be here, and I knew you’d refuse to talk to him.”
“He doesn’t belong here,” Mamá hissed.
“It’s not even your house, how can you say that?”
Raegan went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water and a plate. She set the glass in front of an empty seat and put the plate next to me. “It’s fine, Erica. I’m Raegan and this is my Mom, Penny. It’s nice to meet you, Carlos.”
I scowled up at Rae. She could be charming, but this was completely different from years past. My suspicion was her ex-husband had everything to do with it, and I didn’t like it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Raegan. And Penny, you have a very nice house.”
Rae sat down. Her foot nudged mine. “Can you dish another slice, please?”
I sighed. Mamá sat down as Erica and Carlos joined us. Mamá took the plate from me, passing it to Carlos.
“Did you want wine, Erica?” Laura asked.
She looked around the table. “No, thanks.”
Penny engaged my siblings and Carlos in small talk. In between bites, I kept my eyes on Carlos. It might have been my imagination, but he had his eyes on Raegan more often than not.
“Carlos, what do you do?” Penny asked.
He turned to her as if the idea of holding a job was a foreign concept – and for him, it probably was.
“Oh, I’m in-between jobs.”
I nearly choked. “When did you get let go from your last job?”
His eyes narrowed for a scant second. “About a month ago.”
My eyebrow arched. “Is that the trouble Erica mentioned you’re having?”
He stalled by sipping some water. “No. That’s something different, but I don’t want to bother the ladies with it.”
Penny speared some salad. “Oh, you never know. We might have a different perspective to offer.”
“He doesn’t listen,” Mamá muttered.
“Be nice,” Erica hissed.
Penny glanced at my plate. “Clint, you ate awful fast. Do you want another piece?”
I shook my head. “No thank you. Carlos, are you feeling like seconds?”
He shook his head while popping the last bite of pasta in his mouth.
With a jerk of my chin toward the kitchen, I took my plate and beer to the kitchen. He came in behind me.
“Should we discuss this outside?”
His disdainful expression strengthened before he nodded. He started to turn around, and I said, “This way. We’ll head out the side door.”
I led him a few feet from the house because I didn’t trust any of the women not to eavesdrop.
I faced him. “So, what’s the trouble you’ve got?”
He shrugged. “Erica’s overreacting.”
He shuffled his feet drawing my attention to his shoes. Even in the dim light, I could see they were scuffed. Carlos always had pristine sneakers, whatever brand was the going trend, no matter how pricey. His jeans were frayed, but that might be intentional.
“You accused me of following you. Plus, you were worried about me staking out your corner store, and I have to wonder why that is. There something you feel guilty about?”
His lip curled. “Fuck this shit.”
The things I did for my sister. “I can probably help. All you have to do is tell me about it.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”
“Is it money?”
He scoffed. “Nah, man. I shouldn’t have laid it on Erica.”
“But you did. So, lay it on me. Otherwise I’ll get it from her.”
“You’re such an arrogant prick,” he muttered.
“All right then, good talk,” I muttered and strode past him.
“The Bloods want me for beating the asshole who beat Erica.”
That didn’t make sense. If that gang wanted retaliation, they’d have snatched Carlos and beaten him senseless.
I turned around. “How’ve you dodged it so far?”
He jerked his head in dismissal. “Don’t matter.”
My eyes widened. “The hell it doesn’t. The man you beat knows where Erica lives, which means they’ll go there, looking for you. So, how are you dodging them?”
He grunted disgustedly. “She never took that jackass to her place.”
“So fuckin’ what? They’ll figure out where she lives. It isn’t hard to do.”
His face softened just enough to tell me he hadn’t thought of that. “When I’m not with Erica, I’ve been staying with my ma.”
I pulled my cell from the holster on my belt. Back in the spring, I had loaded a hotel booking app, so I used it to book a room in Erica’s name using my credit card.
Neither one of them would like this idea, but if the Bloods were bent on getting back at Carlos, they’d have no issue taking Erica while they were at it.
I gave Carlos a hard look. “My sister’s booked into a room at the Hampton Inn. You’re gonna take her there and stay with her. Don’t fuck me over by ordering a bunch of porn or something, got it?”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s overkill, and I don’t need porn when I —”
I put a hand up. “Enough. I don’t need to know.”
Chapter 22
Time to Get to Work
Raegan
WITH ALL THE GABBING we did before dinner, it felt like Juanita and Laura had been at the house all day, even though it had only been five hours for Juanita and three for Laura. I put the lasagna dish in the sink to soak, wondering if I had to spend the night with Clint again.
The kitchen door opened, and he sauntered to me. “Sorry, I didn’t do the dishes, Rae.”
I chuckled silently. “Not your fault. Hell, it was Mom’s idea, so definitely not on you to do the dishes. I’m just pleased as punch you brought garlic bread. No offense to your Mamá, but just getting the lasagna together with her and Mom in the kitchen was a chore. The thought of making garlic bread with them wasn’t high on my list of things to do.”
With a smile, he leaned down and kissed my neck. “I figured as much, mamita. That’s why I did it.”
I leaned back to stare into his copper eyes. “I love you, Clint. So much, it’s like an ache.”
His lips twitched. “Let’s take care of that ache.”
He leaned down again, kissing my lips long and lingering.
The kiss turned into a make-out session, until Mom’s walker interrupted us. “I don�
�t mean to intrude, but I’m off to bed. Not using my walker took it out of me this evening, but I’m sure my therapist will be proud when I tell her in the morning.”
I unwrapped an arm from Clint’s back to point a finger gun at Mom. “That reminds me.” My eyes caught Clint’s. “Am I authorized to take her to her PT appointment tomorrow, or what? I had texted you...”
He grinned. “Texted you back, but I suspect with Mamá around you didn’t have time to check texts. I’m taking tomorrow morning off, and I’ll take you both.”
My eyes slid to the side. “You could leave me here.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my goof and I felt Clint’s rising temper. I put my hand up. “Stop. Don’t say anything. I forgot. So, of course I’m coming with you.”
He sighed. “Good.”
“On that note, good night, my dears.”
“Night, Mom,” I said. Then I glanced at Clint. “I take it we’re spending the night here?”
He nodded. “Get the gun out of your purse. I’ll need it on my side of the bed since I don’t have anything to sleep in besides my underwear.”
I stroked his chest. “Wish you didn’t have to sleep in those either.”
His smile held no feeling. “We went over this, baby. Not giving anybody a head start because I don’t have my boxers on.”
I shook my head. “Gee, seems I really don’t know how to deal with —”
“Stop, honey. There’s nothing normal about what’s going on right now, so don’t apologize for trying to get things back to normal.”
Relief rushed through me with his words. He definitely knew what he was doing, and I didn’t know what I would do without him. “All right, Clint.”
He kissed me quick. “Now, I have to shower, and...” he paused only to hiss, “Fuck!”
“What?”
“You can’t get your hair wet for three days or some shit, right?”
I smiled. “Forty-eight hours.”
With a sigh, he gave me a squeeze and let me go. “On that note, I’ll take my shower, and join you in bed.”