Also, toward the back of the book was a handwritten name. It’d been carefully inscribed between the lines to mimic the typesetting of the words above and below it. She’d missed it the first few times she’d read over the book.
Manfred Pitts.
Strange name, but it had to be a clue meant for her to find.
Both boys rustled awake, so she stashed the book under her chair with the notepad tucked inside. She promised herself she’d give it top priority later that night after the boys went to bed, but as luck would have it, like much in her life, it didn’t work out that way. After the drama of the day, a carb-loaded dinner and impromptu root beer floats, she couldn’t keep her eyelids open.
~*~
Sunday morning after church, Kirin grabbed a steaming coffee and the book and headed for the table to eat brunch with the boys. The warm morning sunlight poured in over their antique breakfast table.
While the boys gobbled eggs, she sipped her coffee and glanced out the back window toward the forest. In the distance, she noticed a doe at the edge of the woods connected to her backyard. The doe’s fur was the color of honey. Young, graceful, and elegant. Carefree, she munched on grass, then popped her head up and froze. She stood stock still staring at something off into the distance. Kirin stiffened, anxious for her. After an entire minute of no movement, the doe must have finally willed herself to move. She turned and galloped back into the woods.
Maybe that’s what she’d looked like when the crackhead guy came toward her in the parking lot, and Sam came to her rescue.
Sam. Why did he cross her mind more and more? And then it hit her. Sunday was shopping day! Oh, please let him be a creature of habit like her. She made a mental note to dress up for the store. Just in case.
~*~
Showered and dressed in the tenth outfit she tried on – her favorite jeans and a pink shirt, Kirin crept down the hall to check on the boys. They’d been eerily quiet for several minutes, which usually meant trouble. Leaving them alone was like leaving a lion in a cage full of chickens. There was bound to be feathers everywhere.
Kirin peeked around their door. Little Jack hummed while working on a superhero’s puzzle, and Will had earbuds in with his nose stuck inside a Harry Potter book. Veggie Tales played on a CD in the background.
She backed out into the hallway to listen and froze in her tracks. A shuffling sound floated up from the kitchen. And singing.
Rosa was singing. That was something she’d never heard before.
Kirin snuck halfway down the stairs. Rosa’s head was inside the fridge cleaning out leftovers with pink earbuds wrapped around her dark hair. Kirin called her name. She knew Rosa heard her, but the woman ignored everything and kept singing. Rosa was avoiding her and her questions.
Kirin had straightened her long hair, brushed her teeth, and added makeup for a chore she hated. Normally, Rosa would not only notice, but would have a snide comment.
Rosa glanced at her once but continued to ignore her while singing. It was odd. She’d never pass up poking fun at Kirin if given the chance. Kirin felt as if she stood inside some alternate universe.
Kirin stood like a statue leaning up against the counter, narrowed eyes, staring at Rosa from across the room until curiosity finally won. Kirin stalked toward her like a big cat and stood right behind her until Rosa turned and screamed.
“Ahhh!” Rosa pulled the headphones down to her neck and glared at Kirin, who grinned widely.
“What?” she yelled, grabbing her heart. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“No” Kirin answered softly, “I need answers.” Kirin didn’t move out of her way when Rosa tried to sidestep her.
“Your list is right there on the counter,” Rosa pointed to the list with the hand that wasn’t holding her heart.
“You know that’s not what I want.”
Rosa held Kirin’s gaze and narrowed her eyes as if trying to decide how much to say. After a deep breath, she cleared her throat, and picked up a jar and spoke. “Oh, I got spooked. I ran back by the house because I’d forgotten my sweater and you left the backdoor open. I knew you weren’t here, but I thought I heard footsteps upstairs.” She fiddled with the jar, stalling. “I grabbed a gun from the panic room, hid it in the pantry and ended up leaving it on the shelf. The noise turned out to be the wind hitting the heavy curtain in the boys’ room because their window was cracked open.”
Rosa flashed a quick, albeit fake smile then spun around Kirin, carrying the jar.
This wasn’t the truth. The way she’d told the story, rattling it out, way too fast. And her tone was sweeter than McDonald’s sweet tea.
There had to be more to it, so Kirin pressed on.
“And the book?” she demanded. “Why does it keep moving from room to room?”
Rosa searched Kirin’s eyes for a second and then laughed.
“I must be cleaning up and carrying it around, sorry about that. I know how much that book must mean to you since it was the only thing your father left you.”
Rosa waited, no doubt for a show of remorse over not cherishing the book, but none came. A quick spark of anger crossed Kirin’s mind. Who was she to make her feel guilty?
Although, she had to admit to a fleeting pang of guilt. Yes, it meant so much to her she’d barely picked it up and flung it off her bed several nights, treating it like a pair of dirty, old socks. Remembering the gut twisting feeling of not being wanted her entire life, that small shred of guilt vanished.
Rosa stared at Kirin with a serious face. Kirin stared right back then shoved her misplaced anger in her pocket. Something was off. She shook her head, grabbed her keys, purse, and the grocery list and headed out the door without another word.
Rosa followed into the garage and shut Kirin’s door. She handed the stack of neatly folded reusable bags through the open car window. Rosa hesitated, as if she wanted to say something else, but finally resigned herself to one ominous warning.
“Be careful.”
“Always am.” Kirin replied.
Rosa shot her a look of disbelief and Kirin laughed.
As she drove in silence to the store, questions pinged in her mind. Why did it feel as if Rosa knew something she wasn’t telling? What was she holding back and why?
She was damn sure going to find out.
Chapter Ten
Kirin drove toward the store like a Nascar driver. She winced and slowed when her tires squealed taking a corner too fast. Butterflies danced in her stomach. Giddy as a fifth grader with a crush, she parked and stepped out of her car. Nervous energy hummed in her veins as she walked toward the store. Concentrating on the pavement, she wracked her brain to think of something witty to say should the opportunity present itself. It was then something caught her eye, and she raised her head.
Sam stood by his truck a few paces away, leaning on it casually as if he was waiting for a parade. Jeans, boots, and a dark green polo that brought out the green flecks in his eyes.
“Hello stranger,” he teased in a chipper voice.
Kirin smiled too broadly. She had to rein it back in. It was as if they’d planned a meeting. Sam fell easily into step with her, shoulders touching.
Kirin’s smile, embarrassingly, crept out ear to ear. She didn’t care. He looked genuinely as happy to see her as she was to see him.
“Do you always stalk women going into the store?”
“Only women who try to kill me with tomatoes.”
For a moment, she was helpless and lost in his rugged good looks and kind eyes, until she walked smack into a taller woman coming out of the store. The angry woman mumbled something inaudible. Kirin’s face flushed warm. Sam laughed and grabbed two carts.
Over the next several aisles, Kirin struggled with focusing on Rosa’s list. Something about Sam took her mind and twisted it until she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do. She placed food in her cart, not caring if she grabbed what was on the list. Rosa would think she’d lost her mind. But the mor
e they talked, the more she was attracted to him. And she didn’t want that to stop.
Kirin crouched down in the frozen food case to pick out some veggies from her list. Sensing his eyes on her, she turned her head toward him. Sam stood still, watching her. Slowly, she stood back up.
“Problem?” her tone was lighthearted and playful, with her hands fisted on her hips.
“You keep getting prettier every time I see you.”
“But you’ve only seen me once before today.” She pointed out, raising an eyebrow.
“No. More than that. I just hadn’t spoken until you tried to kill me.”
Kirin glared at him, but a tingle fluttered in her chest. He’d noticed her.
Sam pushed his cart forward. He shook his head as if he argued with himself then stopped a few feet ahead and waited. He turned back toward her.
“You comin’?”
She nodded, pushing her cart alongside his as they continued shopping. The girlfriend or ex-girlfriend must’ve been conflicting him. She hoped for ex, but either way she wasn’t a homewrecker. She’d have to play more aloof. Then again, he didn’t seem like one to cheat.
Kirin’s mind wandered over the next few aisles as they chatted about schools they attended, friends, and kids. Every time she’d try to get information about his past, he’d turn the conversation back to her. She managed a few gems. He’d never been married, no kids, and liked animals, but honestly, at that point in the conversation, she’d been too busy trying to stay neutral and yet getting lost in his face. Nothing was sinking in.
~*~
He’d flirted and she’d laughed as they walked toward the checkout. What the hell was he doing? Everything about this felt wrong and right at the same time. His heart and other body parts seemed to be leading his mind. He’d have to shut that part down quick.
He’d never been this invested in a target before. Never gotten to know anyone on a personal level. He heard himself asking about her family and friends like he stood outside his body and watched. He’d been doing this kind of work way too long to make such rookie mistakes.
He blamed Sonny. Meddling old fart.
Part of him didn’t want the evening to end. In the checkout line, her cart was lined up in front of his. She stared at the magazines, wringing her hands and biting her lip. She was cooking something up in that brain of hers. Oh, God. If she asked him on a date, what could he say? His heart said hell yeah, but his brain pinged more warnings. He hadn’t planned for this and damnit he was a planner.
Sam scrubbed his face. He needed a diversion. Grabbing the first thing he saw, a Hershey’s bar, he tossed it into her cart, and it landed with a hard thud. She turned and narrowed her eyes. One pretty eyebrow shot up as a mischievous grin unfurled.
The chocolate bar teetered on top of a box of mac and cheese. The next thing he knew, she grabbed up big handfuls of candy bars and barraged his cart with them. Sam stood open-mouthed for half a second before grabbing them up, just as fast, and tossing them back into her cart. All the while, people around them stared. They were in the throes of a juvenile full-scale bar war. He felt like a kid. And it felt amazing and foolish at the same time.
Finally, they called a truce. Both leaned over to empty all the candy out of their carts. Sam cleaned his quick, then leaned into her cart at the same time she did to help. Her blonde hair spilled down past her shoulders and smelled like sweet juicy apples. Her smooth face and pink lips hung dangerously close to his. The electricity of having her mouth so close to his made him hold his breath. They stilled at the same time. She stared at his mouth.
This wasn’t the first time a target was attracted to him. He knew how to be detached and aloof, he’d done that gig his whole life. But how the hell do you turn it off when you feel it too? This was a first.
Sam willed himself to snap out of it. He turned on his acting as he whispered, “They’re staring at us.” A grin spread wide across his face.
She wanted him to kiss her. He knew that slow flutter of the lashes and half open mouth look—he’d seen it many times before. But this time…he wouldn’t have minded it. Not at all. And that shocked the crap out of him.
Kirin blurted out, “Wanna go for coffee sometime this week?”
His eyebrows wiggled in amusement. She looked shocked at her own words. He stepped back, and involuntarily smiled at her eagerness. Before his brain could say no, his lips defied him. “I’d love to.”
~*~
Kirin volleyed back a grin, trying to remind her feet to move ahead in line. She’d had an epic loss of coolness and chided herself for sounding so desperate. After they’d both checked out and loaded groceries into their cars, they met back at the cart return.
Her palms sweated and her knees wobbled as she walked toward him, biting her lower lip. It was the way he looked at her. And the way they’d made an instant connection.
Sam handed her a strip of paper and pen to write her number down. As she wrote, he stood close enough that their shoulders touched. He didn’t offer his number, nor did he promise to call. Handing it back to him, he held on to her hand and the paper for a moment, leaned in and whispered, “See you around, Kirin.”
“I hope so,” she replied, turning to walk back to her car, she smiled to herself.
Still mentally doing backflips as she buckled her seatbelt, her phone buzzed. A blocked number.
Leave the book by the cart return.
A chill ran down her spine. She’d gotten so wrapped up in Sam, she’d forgotten the dark suited men were still out there. She didn’t have the book. It was at home. Safe. Kirin locked her doors. She wrote back.
Wrong number.
The text bounced back as not delivered. Kirin looked over where Sam’s truck had been. He was gone. She drove home with her head on a swivel, looking for anyone following her, but found none.
Once home, Rosa still acted odd. Headphones still in, she sang and rearranged coats in the closet. Kirin went inside and put the groceries away. She ran upstairs to check on the boys who played a noisy game of tag in the playroom. Kirin got pulled into the action and chased them until they giggled in a pile on the floor.
Rosa yelled her goodbye from the bottom of the stairs, and the door clicked behind her. Smart woman. She snuck out before Kirin could ask more questions or get any answers.
Kirin trotted downstairs to start dinner, still happy from her encounter with Sam when a tuft of gray hair peeked through her screened back door. Three knocks. Kirin smiled. Arthur would never enter, even after all these years, without knocking and wouldn’t dare come in without permission.
“Come in,” she sang.
As he opened the door, his old black lab curled up on the bottom step, waiting patiently for the scraps from the table he knew would come.
Arthur’s Sunday overalls had a freshly ironed crease down the front of his legs. Slowly he placed his red cap on the counter as he juggled two ripe cantaloupes in his free hand. Kirin wiped her hands and relieved him of one. He smiled back, grateful. She placed it on the counter then looked down and noticed his fingers.
Without thinking, she said out loud, “Your hands are dirt stained.”
As soon as the words flew out, she winced and slapped a hand over her big fat mouth. Damnit, Kirin.
In an instant, two little boys were at Arthur’s side, inspecting his hands and looking up at him, demanding an explanation. Kirin shot Arthur a look of apology.
“Now, boys,” he raised his hands in surrender. “I’ve only been tillin.’ I might have planted a few new herbs, but y’all don’t like to plant those anyway.”
Arthur touched the top of Will’s head. “My instincts tell me our cold nights aren’t finished with us yet. The big planting will probably come next weekend. And I’ll need two strong boys to help me then.”
Will smiled, and Little Jack squeezed Arthur’s leg. Will took off like a shot racing his brother back to the dining room to finish a puzzle.
Slowly and with a grunt, Arthur sat, wrapping
his legs around the bottom of the barstool.
“Ms. Lane, how are we today?”
“We’re good. How’s your arm?”
As if on cue, he rubbed his left arm. “Couldn’t complain, ma’am, nobody to listen and don’t do me no good anyways.” He smiled wide. The deep lines on his tanned face curved together in unison.
“Ms. Lane,” he began again, “did you know every spring a new family of fawns is born at the edge of the forest? A mama doe was there this morning, but something spooked her.”
“I saw her, too.” Kirin grinned at him as she peeled potatoes.
“New beginnings, Ms. Lane, that’s what Spring is all about. But you gotta be wary for the danger. That doe could sense it. I think we could learn a lot from animals. People gotta learn to slow down and use their instincts to see the danger.”
Arthur always had the best advice as if he somehow knew what was about to happen. New beginnings. As usual, he was right. This spring was about new beginnings for her. But she also felt the danger on the horizon. She’d remember his words and use her instincts.
Arthur interrupted her thoughts. “Ms. Lane, can I help you do anything? You’re always a feedin’ me.”
Same question every week. Same answer.
“Nope. Who else would teach my boys about farming and living off the land? It’s the least I can do, and besides, we enjoy your visits.”
Kirin dished up spicy grilled pork chops, garden green beans with ham bits, potatoes, and a salad. Big glasses of chocolate milk gleamed on the table, producing smiles on two little boys’ faces. She’d have to buy a cow from Arthur soon or go broke. The boys liked their milk. Bribing them with the chocolate variety was the best way to get them to eat the salad.
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dean had used bribery to get her to eat during her non-eating phase, right after her mama died. Aunt Kathy reminded her so much of her mom. Same red hair and infectious laugh. Although it’d taken her aunt a long time to laugh again after her mama died.
Entangling: Book One of the Kirin Lane Series Page 8
