Breakfast at the Honey Creek Café

by Jodi Thomas

  Like proud parents they watched him walk out the door.

  Pecos drove the few blocks to the church. Kerrie was waiting on the steps. When she saw him, she turned away, then turned back. “Pecos?”

  He was smiling as he walked toward her. “I know this is a hurry-up wedding, but for me it’s our wedding and it’s special.”

  She smiled back, looking beautiful as always in a white sundress with flowers along the hem. “I can’t believe you’re doing this for me.”

  “Not just for you. For me.”

  Inside the church, the expression on Kerrie’s dad’s face was more of a puzzled look than an I’ll-kill-you-later-look.

  Pecos felt like he was floating through a dream. Any sign of the high school kid he had been just hours before was gone. He looked like a man about to be married.

  The county judge married them because no one could find the preacher. The bride and groom hugged but didn’t kiss. Since Kerrie’s father had said there would be no celebration, the wedding was over in ten minutes. Brad shook Pecos’s hand and said simply, “Give us an hour and we’ll have her clothes packed up and on the porch. No sense sending her winter things—she’ll be too big to wear them.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll be by before dark to pick them up.”

  “Barbara said we gave her the car. She can keep it or sell it. It’s hers. She’s got a college fund, but—well, it’s a college fund . . . for college. I guess that’s out the window now.”

  Pecos felt his hopes and dreams rising. She’d be able to go to college no matter how poor they were. Brad looked like all his dreams for his only child were falling.

  Pecos straightened his shoulders. “I’ll make sure she goes to college, sir. I’ll take care of her.”

  A touch of murder flashed across Brad’s face. “You’d better, kid.”

  Pecos raised his chin. “I’m not a kid, Mr. Lane, and you’d best remember that.”

  Kerrie pulled him away then, and they were practically running out of the church.

  They drove around for a while and ended up stopping for cherry-limes at the Sonic. Then they went out to their rock and talked.

  Pecos loved sharing his plans and dreams with Kerrie. She said she’d take a few classes this fall if he’d drive with her and start on his degree too. They’d take her car just in case she went into labor. She might have to take incompletes on her classes if the baby came before she made her finals, but she’d manage.

  “I don’t know. If I have to deliver a baby, I think the pickup would work better than that little car.”

  She held his bruised face in her hands. “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not a cow and you are not going to have to deliver this baby. My car will drive faster and get me to the hospital.”

  “I wouldn’t mind.” He tried to look disappointed. “I’ve got time to read up on it. I could probably Google whatever I need to know.”

  They held hands and planned a future, a future that had seemed so dark just hours before, but now was full of hope. They’d starve their way through diapers and college, then together they’d build their dreams.

  When they made it back to Mr. Winston’s house, all the flea market helpers were waiting. Claire had made lemonade and Mr. Winston bought cupcakes for all.

  There was laughter and hugs all around.

  While Pecos was helping Mr. Winston refill everyone’s glasses, he glanced out the window, and saw that Kerrie’s parents were standing on the sidewalk looking uncertain.

  “I’ll talk to them,” Mr. Winston said.

  Pecos nodded and slowly opened the window a few inches so he could listen.

  “Evening,” the old man said. “You’re welcome to come in and join the party.”

  Kerrie’s father shook his head, but her mother looked willing.

  Mr. Winston nodded politely. “She’ll always be your daughter. The baby will be your grandchild. And I have a feeling Pecos will always be your son-in-law. He loves her, you know.”

  Winston turned and came back inside, but Pecos noticed he left the door open a few inches. Pecos closed the window and went back to Kerrie. He put his arm around her knowing she must be mourning the loss of her parents at the party. Her father had said there would be no celebration.

  “You sorry?” he whispered.

  “Never. I married the best friend I’ll ever have.”

  There was that friend word again, but he wouldn’t complain. Friends seemed to be a good place to build from.

  Ten minutes later, her parents came through the back door. Brad never said a word except to claim he had an accident when Claire asked about his arm. Barbara was polite and seemed interested in all the people around the table. She even laughed as they each took credit for turning Pecos from a frog to a prince.

  Kerrie cuddled next to him.

  “Sorry about all the drama today and the quick wedding,” he whispered.

  “I thought it was grand.” She kissed his cheek . . . again. “We’ll tell our grandchildren about it one day.”

  Pecos smiled but considered grandchildren might not be in the picture if she didn’t work on getting her kisses a bit closer to his lips.

  Chapter 33

  Late afternoon

  Sam

  Sam packed up and decided to drive around the valley, memorizing every view. He had no idea what would happen in Anna’s office at five, but no matter what, he wanted this town to be his base. He’d been living in his new apartment in Denver for six months and hadn’t bothered to unpack the boxes. Honey Creek would be a longer commute, but there was a small airport in Clifton Valley. He could store his plane there and be anywhere in the Rockies within three or four hours. There would be several weeks a year when he’d be gone training, but he’d always have this quiet place to come to.

  With or without Anna in his life, this would be his home.

  Eventually, Sam found himself heading deep into the valley looking for the cemetery in the woods where his parents had been buried. It took him a bit of time, but he finally found it. He hadn’t returned since the funeral, but he remembered there was a peace in the place. Huge oak and tall pines bent by the winds cradled the cemetery. Thick grass spotted with wild flowers blanketed the uneven ground. The graves weren’t in rows, but clusters. A wooden gate swung open and closed with the wind as if invisible visitors were passing in and out.

  As Sam walked toward their plots he didn’t feel closer to death, but closer to Heaven.

  He placed the thin white clerical collar on his father’s headstone. “Well, Dad, I gave it a try, but it wasn’t for me. I’ll have to find another way to save the world.”

  After a moment, he went on. “And, Mom, I haven’t found the perfect woman. I did a good job of finding a woman who has just about everything I don’t want in a woman. She’s shorter than me by a foot, talks all the time, bosses me around, but she’s got a fire for life that rubs off on everyone around her.”

  Sam lowered himself to the grass beside the headstone and started talking as if his parents were on the other side of the stone listening. He told them about London and the horror of seeing innocent people dying. He described how the army settled him and gave him direction. He talked about April Raine, who loved nature and him. He described how he felt dead inside most days. He told them how it felt to be part of a community if only for a few days.

  When he was done, he rose, and stood before the two headstones a moment longer. “I’ll come back and visit again soon.”

  Sam walked away smiling. It was almost time to meet Anna and his phone hadn’t rung. There was a good chance he’d have time to make that couch in her office squeak before he had to leave.

  He laughed. That would be one thing he wouldn’t talk to his parents about.

  Chapter 34

  4:30 p.m.

  Piper

  Piper rolled her shoulders. She’d just lived through the longest city council meeting in her career. Every person in the room had a complaint or wanted something changed
immediately. Twice she’d had to call for a fifteen-minute break so people could calm down, have a cup of coffee, and think.

  Neither break seemed to help, but the three dozen cookies she’d had delivered at three o’clock had at least turned the volume down while everyone chewed.

  Now she had a stack of papers and requests to go over before she could call it a night. At least most of the reporters were gone. It seemed Boone Buchanan was about to become yesterday’s news. He wasn’t dead or found. Maybe he’d just fade into one of Honey Creek’s legends. She’d rather have him found. Boone Buchanan wasn’t worth legend status.

  A new rumor had surfaced that he’d lost his car in a poker game that night. Rather than hand over the keys, he’d driven the BMW into the river.

  Piper thought that sounded like something he’d do. Boone hated to lose.

  She climbed the wooden stairs from the third floor to her office on the fourth. As always, the meeting hadn’t made it to a budget vote. The elevator would have to wait a few more weeks to be fixed, along with half a dozen other repairs on the building.

  She paused in front of her grandfather’s picture just outside her office. “Maybe you were right. Sometimes it’s not a matter of winning or losing. Sometimes it’s just a matter of outlasting your enemies.”

  A small square envelope fell out of the pile of papers in her arms. Piper bent down and picked it up, then walked through Autumn’s open office door.

  She got a stack of papers every meeting, but she’d never received a letter from someone at the council meeting. It was addressed to her but had no return address, no stamp.

  A chill passed through her. She’d seen a note like this before. Same letter size. Same handwriting on the address. No stamp. Just like the one she’d found shoved under her door shortly after Boone disappeared.

  She set the papers down and collapsed into one of the waiting chairs across from the secretary’s desk.

  “You need something, Piper?” Autumn, for once, looked too busy to talk.

  “I’m fine. Just tired.” She opened the envelope and pulled out the one piece of paper.

  Autumn almost sounded like she cared. “I don’t blame you. I could hear the yelling in the meeting when I had to go downstairs to get to the restroom. I wish someone would fix the ladies’ room on this floor or that dumb elevator. I hate walking down those creaky, old wooden stairs every hour. Nothing ever gets fixed around here.”

  Autumn grimaced and continued. “The shouting from the boardroom gave me a headache. But, as usual, I had to spend some time in there, what with my peeing problems, so I eavesdropped. Didn’t sound like anything new. Just the same old problems.”

  Piper quit listening to her secretary. She unfolded the note from the square envelope.

  One line. WATCH OUT. YOU DIDN’T CRY FOR ME. I WON’T CRY FOR YOU.

  “Oh, you got another one of those strange notes.” Autumn opened her left top drawer and pulled out three more square envelopes. “I’ve been finding them all around, but they don’t make any sense. I was planning to toss them in the bottom file drawer with all the other weird mail.”

  Piper held her temper in check. “Why didn’t you give them to me? After all, they are addressed to me.”

  “I didn’t want to bother you. You’ve got enough to be worried about. And, you know, I open all the office mail. It’s my job. If I passed you every nut’s letter or threat, you’d be afraid to come to work. I’m used to them. Besides, after three kids nothing frightens me. Gotta say, you get less than your granddad did.”

  Piper returned to her office with the letters, and hurriedly read them. One said: REACT. The next said: SOMETIMES TRAGEDY BRINGS CHANGE. The last note issued a warning: LOCK YOUR DOORS AND STAY INSIDE IF YOU WORK LATE.

  The clock chimed five times. Autumn began her routine of locking up. “I’m calling it a night. My bottom’s tired from sitting and my back hurts. If I’m pregnant again I swear I’ll kill my husband.”

  The office door closed just as Autumn said good night to the office. As always she didn’t wait for Piper to say anything.

  Piper realized she was alone. In five minutes the whole building would be empty. Hugging herself, she moved to the window. For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel safe in this office. Her grandfather’s office. Her office. The mayor’s office.

  As if to mirror her mood, the sky was darkening with a summer storm. Murky, rain-filled clouds shoved away the white ones as rain seemed to spit against her window, driven by the wind.

  Lightning blinked in the trees at the edge of town as if sending a warning of trouble yet to come. She couldn’t see the river but she knew it would be raging.

  For a while she just stood by the windows letting the storm blend with her mood.

  Finally, she turned back and spread the five notes out on her desk. Someone was threatening her. Somebody wanted her to be afraid.

  Could it be Boone? He’d joked once that they should marry so that in case she died in office, the town would automatically elect him as mayor. She remembered how envious he’d been of her title and position.

  Another thing he did when they were alone: He often talked about money. Her money. The Mackenzies’ money. “With your family’s political power and deep pockets, you could run Texas.”

  She’d never really liked him, but they’d grown up together, and Piper remained loyal to her friends. Plus, he was a handy escort, and a great excuse to turn down invitations from other men, the better to avoid awkwardness and hurt feelings. She supposed you could say she’d used him. And he’d used her. To get the attention he craved.

  His family had influence and the legal power, but they didn’t have a presence in politics. Boone wanted to be that presence and for a short time she’d let him use her to climb. But men like him tend to slip up. Shady deals, backing the wrong cause. Cutting corners and stepping on people.

  Pretending they were engaged was his latest attempt to draw attention—at least, until he’d disappeared. Maybe it was a mistake to let him get away with that. She’d always been very clear with him. Even when he became more pressing recently. She’d come right out and told him that if he was going to continue to pester her and claim he loved her, she would go public about their fake engagement. She’d told him she was tired of the whole thing, and was soon going to want to put an end to it anyway.

  The north wind rattled the windows as day darkened to night and the office moved into shadow.

  What if Boone hadn’t been totally exaggerating when he professed love for her? . . . whatever his version of love was, which she knew bordered on obsession.

  He’d seemed to take the news well that she didn’t want to pretend much longer, but what if he’d secretly been enraged? She knew better than to think he’d gone off and killed himself over her, but maybe it was his weird way of getting back at her. . . . That would line up with the creepy notes she’d been receiving.

  Piper moved closer to the window until she faced the outline of her own reflection. Maybe she’d underestimated Boone. Maybe she’d been wrong to write off all his craziness as—well, just being Boone. Maybe his psyche was darker than she’d ever imagined.

  Or . . . maybe she was just guessing. Maybe she was “barking up the wrong tree,” like her granddad always said when she invented answers to questions that had never been asked. Maybe Autumn was right about the notes. Just some nut.

  A stern voice came fast and angry from behind her. “How long have you been getting these threats?”

  She might have fired back, but when she turned she saw the worry mixed with anger in Colby’s eyes.

  “You’re late.”

  “Forget that,” he replied. “How long?” He held up one note.

  “I got one the day Boone’s BMW went in the water. The last note came today. And my secretary hadn’t bothered to show me the others until a half hour ago. I thought it might be Boone sending them to rattle me, but maybe the person responsible for Boone’s car ending up in the river i
s now coming after me. What if Boone was in some kind of trouble, and they think I know something, or have something that can’t go public? Maybe they think the lawyer and the mayor discovered a secret and now we both have to die.”

  To her surprise, Colby didn’t tell her she was spouting nonsense. “Do you have something like that?” he asked, still studying the notes. “Something that could ruin someone, or get him arrested? Some deadly secret? Could someone have something on you? Could Boone?”

  “No, no skeletons in my closet.”

  She began to pace the length of the windows and back.

  “What if this person writing notes thinks I know something on him and plans to kill me, or worse, end my career? Or maybe there is another nut out there who wants us both gone and he’s halfway to his goal. Boone could have been murdered and I’m next.”

  Piper’s hands began to shake. The stress of all this was finally getting to her. Wild guesses. Fear. She didn’t even know if she was making any sense.

  The trooper rounded her desk and held her tight as he pulled her away from the window so no one would see them. “It’s all right, PJ. I’m here. If someone wanted to kill you, they probably wouldn’t send you warnings. Maybe they just want to scare you so that when some kind of demand comes, you’ll be so afraid you’ll do whatever they want. Or maybe it’s just a game a wacko thinks he’s playing with the mayor. He’s daring you to find him while believing he’ll always be able to outsmart you.”

  Colby shifted her so he could look at the notes, while still holding her close.

  “Something’s bothering you about the notes, isn’t it?” She pressed her cheek against his shoulder, feeling safer with him near.

  He looked down at her. “Don’t you think it’s odd that your pen pal put your full name and address on the envelope when he planned to shove them under the door? He even has the zip code.”