Murder & Mayhem

by T Wells Brown

  Roman smiled to himself. He was going to have to pay close attention to Cabe; nuisance or not, it was going to be fun watching him twist and turn. Because if Roman knew anything, he knew one thing; and that one thing was, you didn’t fuck with a woman’s emotions like Cabe did Isabella’s and get off lightly.

  No, Cabe was going to pay dearly. And Roman was going to have a front row seat to the whole show.

  This was going to be fun.

  Chapter 19

  Jake and Annie

  The next morning, true to his word, Marcus showed up with the most beautiful white bullies, I’d ever seen.

  They looked like they were a cross between an American Bull Dog (huge) and a Pitt Bull (muscular). The male Jake, was a giant snow-white guy with two little light brown spots on one ear. And the female was also snow-white and just a little smaller than her brother, with a light brown circle on her right eye. Her name was Annie. She looked very similar to the old Little Rascals’ dog.

  Once Marcus let them out of the back of his huge impressive kenneled truck, they stretched and sniffed around.

  While they busied themselves sniffing around, I stood stock still. I was a little taken back by how big and scary they looked.

  Marcus walked over to me and said, “Have you ever had dogs, Isabella?”

  “Nope.” I said, with a little pop sound on my “p”.

  “Are you okay with them so far? You look a little scared. ”

  “Yep.” I replied, with the same pop on my “p”.

  “Ok, Annie, Jake c’mere,” Marcus yelled and let off a low whistle. Both dogs immediately turned and ambled their big bodies over to him.

  “These two are super gentle. They honestly don’t know they are any bigger than their heads. They have no clue they are big and scary. Isabella, I wouldn’t bring you any dogs who wouldn’t work for you. You trust me, right?”

  I looked down at the two huge beautiful dogs who were waiting for whatever Marcus had called them over for, both of them were not only wagging their tail but also their entire back ends. It was freaking adorable.

  I leaned down and reached out to the male, Giant Jake, and said, “I trust you completely.” And scratched Giant Jake’s head. Jake enjoyed having his head scratched so much, and he showed his appreciation by hauling his big body over to my legs, and flopping down on my feet.

  “How old are they?” I asked.

  “We think they’re about three,” he replied.

  “Who’s the biggest baby?” I cooed to Giant Jake and scratched the top of his head. Looked at his sister, I cooed to her, “Are you my baby too? Huhn, are you? Are you?” She immediately came to me, and I scratched her head.

  “Alright, I’m going to get their kennels set up for you on the balcony in the kitchen, so when you are working, they have somewhere near you to hangout. Your bedroom is where they will sleep. I have their beds. I’ll put them in there, that’s where I want them sleeping, not in bed with you. They need to be free to roam at all times. And I want them with you when you’re up and around.”

  Still loving on the dogs and not even looking at Marcus I said to them, “Okay, that sounds great doesn’t it my babies? Yes, it does! Yes, it does!”

  I heard Marcus muttering about “ruining his guard dogs” or something like that, but I couldn’t care less. These were the most adorable babies I’d ever seen and they were going to be with me for as long as I could keep them.

  It turns out whoever’s dogs they were before they ended up at the Harmony Grove animal shelter had taken very good care of them. They knew several commands, were low energy and basically just wanted to lay around at my feet all day and get fed treats. They shadowed me everywhere I went.

  I ended up having to buy, from Amazon, two large decorative kennels to go onto my balcony area off of the kitchen that they stayed in while I was in the kitchen cooking, so they wouldn’t contaminate any of the food. As soon as the new kennels arrived, I had Marcus come pick up the ugly-as-sin-monstrosities he had originally set up for my babies.

  Marcus and I did have a little bit of a heated discussion about the new kennels when he came to pick up the old ones. I showed him the new kennels and how pretty they were. The wood on the top was reclaimed barn wood and the bars were a gorgeous decorative cast iron. I paid a mint for them, but I was receiving a hefty paycheck with almost zero expenses, so I could afford to splurge and they did not disappoint.

  Anyway, Marcus thought I was ridiculous; I knew this because he looked at me crazy-like and said, “Cabe has lost his ever-loving mind! No wonder he’s been a moody son-of-a-bitch!”

  Whatever.

  Anytime I left the kitchen area or I wasn’t standing and cooking they were at my feet. I couldn’t make a move without them. I couldn’t even go to the bathroom alone. They would sit and cry at the door until I opened it, and then they would both crowd inside the bathroom. It was kind of hilarious, and it was also very sweet, and thinking back, I was never actually alone again after welcoming those two sweet babies into my home.

  I hadn’t yet broken a few things to Marcus, who checked on the pups daily. First, they didn’t sleep in their beds, they slept tucked into me in my bed at night. Second, Marcus was never getting them back. After the comment about ‘Cabe losing his mind’, I didn’t feel so bad about keeping them, or spoiling them. I was starting to feel safe and relaxed again. It was a really good way to feel and it was a gift these two sweet babies gave back to me. They deserved every treat I gave them.

  He was right on one thing: these dogs had no idea they were supposed to be guard dogs. They thought they were sweet and lovable and that’s how they acted. I’d never seen them in their big and bad mode until one afternoon, when some poor unsuspecting soul rang the door chimes and they went ballistic! It took me off guard how they responded and I was a little apprehensive at first by how ferocious they looked.

  It wasn’t long before I got tired of the barking. I walked up behind them and said “Enough!” in a firm exasperated voice. They both instantly stopped and sat as much on my feet as they could, pressing the weight of their bodies against my legs.

  Looking down at them, they did look ferocious with the stripe of guard hair standing up. The delivery guy who had rung the door chimes couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  I loved them even more!

  Cabe had been in and out and around the winery. When he heard Marcus brought me the dogs, he came in, met the pups, walked them around a little bit, gave them each a treat, decided they were perfect for me and left without ever saying a word directly to me.

  I didn’t say anything to him either. It was weird. I couldn’t forget he had said he loved me, but I also couldn’t forget how badly he had hurt me. I believed him when he said he took Jennifer home after the bar and didn’t stay with her…but it still didn’t change that he had made love to me the same morning he knew he was going to be going on a date with another woman. How was I supposed to get past that ?

  When he did check in on me, strangely, the pups wouldn’t alert me when he came in. They alerted me for absolutely everyone else … but not the one person I would have liked to know was coming.

  Figured.

  A few nights after I adopted Annie and Jake, Captain Steve came by to share dinner out on the balcony. Since we had an event that night, it was around nine pm before we were able to sit down and relax with our food.

  My feet were hurting. I was experiencing swelling in my feet and ankles that I’d never had before, so it was new for me. Of course, being on my feet all day was fairly new for me too and I was keeping long hours. I attributed it to that and realized I was going to have to get a thick rubber mat or something to stand on while I was cooking and baking.

  Luckily, my appetite had fully returned from my stomach bug and I was hungrier now than ever before, but I seemed to be losing weight still, my arms, my back, my stomach was smaller around my rib cage, even my thighs and bottom seem to be smaller. The only part of my body that wasn’t gett
ing smaller, were my boobs, which were heavy and sensitive.

  After we finished eating dinner, and Annie and Jake realized no more table scraps were coming their way, they both slipped under the table and lay on my feet.

  My feet were so sore and it hurt so much I grimaced and moved my feet out from under them. Captain Steve saw what was happening and pulled my feet onto his lap.

  “Isabella, your feet are so swollen,” he commented, and all I could think was what a bittersweet moment, because it reminded me of the first time Cabe had done that after the funeral.

  I didn’t mention any of what I was thinking when Captain Steve proceeded to give me one of the best foot rubs I’ve ever had in my entire life, even better than the one I got from Cabe.

  I let out a little whimper. It felt that good.

  And yes, I did it even not having sex.

  That of course, is when Cabe decided to burst in on our dinner. See, what’d I tell ya? Annie and Jake didn’t even get up from under the table to alert us Cabe was coming in.

  What the heck? Traitors.

  I tried to drop my feet from Captain Steve’s lap, but he held on tight, so I looked up to Cabe and said, “Do you need something?”

  “I stopped in to check on you, Isabella, to see if you were okay. I guess I don’t need to worry about you being okay, now do I, Hernandez?” Obviously, this was spoken to Captain Steve not me.

  “Hey dude, you stepped away so I stepped in,” Captain Steve responded.

  Holy heck!

  “Wanna take your fucking hands off Isabella asshole?” Cabe said menacingly.

  “This is the second time you’ve asked me to take my hands off of Isabella. And this time, I’m thinking no. No, I wouldn’t. I’m hanging on to her.” And he pulled my feet closer to him, which actually hurt a little. I gritted my teeth and was not really paying attention to anything but my feet now being gripped tightly when I heard: “Mother Fucker!” Cabe growled and lunged at Steve, who must have known what was coming ‘cause he suddenly threw my feet off of his lap and lunged back.

  The two ridiculous men wrestled around on my balcony, knocking the table and chairs over, spilling the dishes and cutlery and forcing me to stand on my sore feet. Annie and Jake jumped up and barked at them.

  “Stop!” I screamed. But neither of the stupid Neanderthals were paying any attention to me. They were too consumed with their ridiculous egos.

  It was utter chaos on the patio. The men had destroyed the table and broken dishes and food was strewn all over. The pups were freaking out and barking at the two ridiculous men who were hitting each other.

  I was done.

  I just wasn’t up to this and these stupid childish men.

  I called to Annie and Jake and once they came to me, I lead them off of the balcony, through the kitchen toward my bedroom when I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea wash over me. I took off running as fast as I could to the bathroom, where I barely made it before emptying my stomach in the commode .

  I was starting to think something more was going on than the stomach flu. With that last thought, another wave of nausea washed over me and I ended up retching until my stomach had nothing left to give and still, I heaved.

  I heard the door open but couldn’t move my head to see who it was.

  The faucet turned on and I heard water running, then I felt large familiar hands move my hair off of the back of my neck and a cool soothing wash cloth was draped over it. Eventually, my stomach stopped heaving, allowing me to relax a little. I was partially lying on the floor, but I was too afraid to let go of the commode.

  Strong arms scooped me up and carried me from the bathroom to the bed. I was so weak from all of the vomiting I could barely hold on.

  Cabe laid me on the bed and retrieved the wash cloth from the bathroom and gently placed it on my forehead.

  “Isabella, what’s going on with you?” Cabe asked quietly, sitting next to me on the bed.

  “I’ve been battling this stomach bug for a while now, but I thought I had it beat.” I certainly wasn’t going to share my suspicions with him yet.

  “How long have you been throwing up?”

  “This is round two. I had a reprieve for a few days but must have been reintroduced to the bug.” I sure hoped he was buying this and we weren’t going to head into a very uncomfortable conversation. “I usually start feeling better pretty quickly after getting sick.” And sure enough, I was already feeling better.

  “Why did you come by tonight? And why would you start a fight with Captain Steve?” I asked, needing to shift the conversation away from me being sick.

  He looked at the necklace I was wearing.

  “You’re wearing the necklace I gave you.” He commented off topic. I touched the small pendant that sat at the base of my throat and said, “I never take it off. It comforts me and gives me strength. I touch it and I feel the love from Raquel and Antonio through it.”

  “I miss you Isabella. I needed to lay eyes on you. Every so often I come by to watch you cook,” he said, answering my previous question.

  What?

  “What? When? Why?” I asked scooting myself up into a sitting position.

  “Why?” Cabe looked at me and stretched his arm over me, placing his hand on the opposite side of my legs so he was leaning across me. “Because I fucked up Isabella. I don’t like myself much because of it. You deserve someone better. But I can’t get you outta my fucking head long enough to let that happen.”

  “Cabe…”

  “You aren’t like any woman I have ever met.” I didn’t know where this conversation was going, so I stayed quiet. “Everything just rolls off of you like water off a duck’s back. Nothing rocks your boat. With all the bullshit thrown at you since Antonio passed, you adjust and move forward, without skipping a beat. Nothing phases you or slows you down.”

  That wasn’t how I saw myself at all. And I was about to tell him that, when he went on to say, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; it’s gotta be from a lifetime of dealing with that crazy fucking mother of yours.”

  Do not ask me why, but my first instinct was to defend my momma. Yes, I agree, it was a stupid response so I stayed quiet about it.

  “Tell me you love me,” he said quietly. “Tell me you love me just a little. Tell me I haven’t fucked myself completely.”

  I wanted to tell him that I was so in love with him he stopped my heart from beating. But his previous actions, and my need for self-preservation kept me from speaking. I had too much at stake to give so much of myself away to him.

  We sat there staring at each other when Jake howled at Cabe, drawing our attention to the pups and Annie jumped on the bed, to get closer to me and snuggle her big girl body up against mine.

  “Whatcha up to big guy?” Cabe asked Jake, who looked at him, howled again, and then he too jumped on the bed only to flop down as close to me as he could get, pressing his big soft body against mine opposite Annie .

  I panicked, looked at Cabe and yelled, “Don’t tell Marcus!”

  Cabe threw his head back and roared with laughter.

  Chapter 20

  Tests

  I sat staring at the pregnancy test I’d laid on the table in front of me, unable to believe the results I was seeing with my own eyes. While I knew it was coming, I knew I’d been unusually sick and nauseated, and then unusually hungry and had been losing weight, I still couldn’t believe I was pregnant.

  I wasn’t supposed to be able to get pregnant. This was my aunt, my momma and my curse. My momma never really talked about it, but my aunt made sure I knew. My father left my mother because she had a very hard time conceiving, and when she was able to conceive, she couldn’t carry to term. My father didn’t know she was six weeks pregnant when he abandoned her. She never told him about me, ever. That’s when her true bitterness set in; during the pregnancy it took hold. Two years after I was born, she found out my father had married again and had another baby.

  But here I was, looking at a positi
ve pregnancy test.

  Pregnant.

  I was pregnant with Cabe Brown’s child.

  Now what the heck was I going to do? Not only was I stuck with him at the winery and in the ownership of the winery, but now I was stuck with sharing a child with him? I wondered how much time I had before I wouldn’t be able to hide it and he’d find out, if he didn’t already suspect.

  I’d ordered the pregnancy test online so no one would know about it. I wasn’t leaving the estate alone at all after that last attempt on my life, and I didn’t trust people not to talk if I asked them to buy me a pregnancy test.

  The info was just too juicy to expect people to keep to themselves.

  I didn’t really know who I could actually trust, I mean, I knew all of the Women of Wine tribe were there for me, and I knew without them I wouldn’t be able to do this.

  But I also knew they would get together and decide what was best for me concerning Cabe. I wanted to decide what was best for me concerning Cabe.

  With them, I was strong enough and had enough friendships, community and family that I could raise a child on my own. I knew without a shadow of a doubt, they would support me and become this child’s family .

  But I wasn’t ready to deal with all of that yet, and I wasn’t ready to let any of them know either, especially after the last time I tried to talk to them as a group; none of them agreed on anything! It was a fiasco! Individually, they gave great advice; as a group they disagreed and started arguing with each other, which did me no good at all.

  My first instinct was to call Sydney and tell her, but I wasn’t sure if she would be able to keep it from Cabe. I knew she wouldn’t do it to betray me, but she might think she knew what was best for me, like the other ladies, better than what I knew was best for me, and that just wasn’t the case.

  Yes, things were getting better with Cabe and I. He had started coming in occasionally to eat lunch or would show up in time for dinner.

  Apparently, during the time I thought he wasn’t around, he had been coming by and watching me without me knowing it. That in itself was kind of weird, but also, I kind of liked it. Maybe I was a little twisted, but even though he hurt me, and I knew he was capable of doing it again, I wanted him. I wanted to be with him and I wanted to be happy.