I reached down and pressed the button to return the chair to its regular position; and then I stood up and wrapped my arms around Billy. “I love it, Billy. There were some things that I needed to think about.”
“I’m hoping it’s not about the murder, Lorry, because I’ve got that covered.”
Before I could admit or deny anything, he grabbed my hand to coax me down the hallway. “Come see our bedroom. You’ll like it!”
Aiden grabbed my other hand and jumped up and down as we walked. “Mommy, my bedroom looks out over the horses! It’s awesome!”
“That’s great, sweetie. I’m glad you like it.” Leaning over, I gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head. Luckily, he had quit jumping, or I might have timed it wrong and gotten a fat lip.
A fireplace, with vents and a glass front, built into the wall caught my attention as we walked into the spacious master bedroom. Have I told you how much I love fireplaces? Probably. There was a back door leading who knew where, and to the left of the door, attached to the ceiling and facing the bed, was another large television. We were not a television-loving family, but its sheer size still impressed me.
There were two dressers, matching night tables, and a king-size four poster bed with a red bedspread and matching black and red pillows that matched most of the throw rugs in the house. Right smack in the center of the bed, a solid black cat curled into himself, ignored us like we weren’t even there.
“Oh, forgot to tell you. We inherited a cat. That’s Tom.”
I sneezed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“MOMMY, I THOUGHT you weren’t allergic to cats anymore!”
“I’m not allergic to Rocky, anymore,” I said, rubbing my itching eyes. I had decided not to be allergic to him, and it mostly worked. But this was a new cat. “And he’s on our bed.”
Billy stepped over. “You want me to get him off? I can do that, though I don’t know how to keep him off unless we don’t let him inside. But if that’s what you want, Lor—”
“No, no, leave him alone and let him sleep. If I could get used to Rocky, I can get used to this one. What’s his name again?”
“Tom.”
“As in tomcat? If he’s intact, we need to get him neutered right away,” I said.
Billy hugged me. “Just a name, Lor, he’s already taken care of.” He squeezed me and turned to follow Aiden through a doorway to the right of the one we just came in. “Come on, Lor, and look how cool our bathroom is.”
Although cool was not a word I’d use to describe a bathroom, I followed Aiden and Billy into it. To my left was a large area with two separate sinks.
“See this?” asked Billy. “His and hers sinks!”
“Nice!” I said. There were cabinets below and a large horizontal cabinet above, with sliding doors. To my right was a closet with plenty of space inside, and a matching closet on the other side of the entrance to the walk-in shower. I had never used one of those but had heard good comments about them. At the far side was a small room with the toilet.
“No bathtub?”
“You can use mine, Mommy. I’ll share.”
Billy shrugged and hugged Aiden. “No, just the one in the other bathroom. We can have one put in if you like.”
Bingo moseyed out through the small dog door in the wall beside the toilet. “Where does it lead, Billy?”
“I think there’s an enclosure outside.” Bingo moseyed back into the room and looked up at me as if to say, “Nothing there, Mom.” I leaned down and petted him, and he wagged his tail.
We exited the bathroom area and Bingo put two feet up on the bed to get a better sniff of the cat. The cat ignored him, so he jumped back down. Rocky at the historical society was Bingo’s best friend. That made me think about something that I hadn’t thought of before. What would happen to Rocky if they sold the historical society? One thing I knew for sure. No one would put that cat out on the street. I’d make sure of that. “I hope this cat gets along with other cats,” I said.
“You thinkin’ of getting another cat?”
I shook my head. “Just thinking, Billy, just thinking.” But I somehow knew it would work out okay.
Aiden grabbed Billy’s hand and pulled him toward the back door. “Let’s go see the horses!”
Bingo and I followed them outside to a cement area leading to some stone footsteps in the direction of the big barn. And when I say big barn, I am not exaggerating one iota. It was huge—much bigger than our barn-wannabe gambrel house in town. I wanted to look inside, but Aiden was pointing out to the pasture and trying to pull Billy in that direction.
Walking past their backs toward the barn, I walked across a metal bridge that spanned a rock-lined ditch that I imagined was for drainage. Then I proceeded across a span of dead weeds and another metal bridge. Almost all the way across—it was only a yard long—one of my three-inch heels got caught between the bars of the bridge. So focused on pulling my heel out, I ignored the sound of a door opening. Trying to give the heel one last yank to get it free, I pitched forward and found myself in someone’s arms. And the someone wasn’t Billy.
The man set me on my feet and took a step back to look at me. And I took two steps back from him, covering myself as if I was naked and he had caught me coming out of the shower. Skinny as a fence post, the grizzled old cowboy in front of me had lines on his face from a lifetime of frowning.
“Who are you?” I asked in surprise. It wasn’t exactly a question, though I wanted to know.
A grizzled old dog stood beside him and softly snarled, but the old man put his hand in the dog’s face to quiet him. The retriever-sized dog had a long multi-colored coat. “I should be asking the same of you, ma’am.” He said it politely but with an obvious edge.
Before I could tell the old codger off, Billy stepped up beside me and took my arm. Aiden, on the other side, held my hand.
“Ah, Bill,” said the cowboy without smiling. “She belongs to you.”
“Uncle Charlie, this is my wife, Lorry, and my son, Aiden. Lorry, Aiden, this is Uncle Charlie. He lives here.”
Uncle Charlie took his well-worn black cowboy hat off and nodded his head to me. “Ma’am.” Then he stuck out his hand for Aiden, who shook it enthusiastically.
“Can I pet your dog, Uncle Charlie?”
“No, boy. That’s ole Buck. He and I prefer to keep to ourselves. Best leave him alone.”
Ole Buck stood just behind Charlie softly growling. But he didn’t move. Aiden came back and took my hand again.
“Uncle Charlie, would you mind if we looked at the bunkhouse?” Billy asked.
“No, go ahead. It’s as clean as it’s gonna get. Just don’t touch the saddle!”
“Don’t worry Uncle Charlie, we won’t,” said Billy, who led the way into the side entrance of the barn.
“Mommy?” Aiden said with his hand on the front of his pants. “I’ve gotta go.”
“All right. We can go back to the house,” I said as I turned around.
“Ma’am, he’s welcome to use the toilet in the bunkhouse,” Charlie said to me, and then to Aiden, he added, “Just don’t pee on the seat, boy!”
“Thank you,” I said.
Aiden pulled his hand out of mine, turned toward Charlie, and put both hands on his hips. “I don’t pee on the seat! I urinate like a man!”
Charlie didn’t smile at that, although it looked like his mouth wanted to. “I’ll remember that, Aiden.” He turned around and faded off into the sunset with the dog following, as the four of us strode into the barn.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IT SMELLED LIKE a barn—in a good way. From my youth, I loved the smell of horses, and this brought back all those sweet horsey memories. Standing there, looking around at the vast interior of the barn, I didn’t realize that Aiden was jumping up and down holding himself. Luckily, Billy noticed and showed him where the door to the bathroom was.
“It’s huge in here,” I remarked, thinking how silly that was. I mean, duh!
<
br /> “Definitely a big barn,” said Billy. “Let’s look inside the bunkhouse before Uncle Charlie gets back. I don’t want to bother him.”
“Why do you call him Uncle Charlie? I know he’s not really your uncle.”
“Everybody calls him that.”
“I’m not going to,” I said, trying to moderate the defiant tone in my voice.
Billy shrugged. “Suit yourself,” he said. “Here’s Aiden now.”
Aiden rubbed his hands on the front of his pants as he said, “Let’s go see the horses!”
“Not yet, buddy boy. Didn’t Uncle Charlie have towels in there?” Billy asked.
“Yeah, but I didn’t think it was polite to use them, and I couldn’t reach the paper towels hanging on the wall.”
Billy pulled Aiden toward us, and we both hugged him. “What a great kid we’ve got!”
Aiden grabbed at Billy’s hand and tried to pull him toward the wide front door of the barn. “Let’s go see the horses, Daddy! We’ve seen enough of the inside of houses for today!”
I heard a little impatience seeping into his voice. I couldn’t blame the kid. Looking at houses was boring compared to looking at horses. It made me realize that I wouldn’t mind seeing the horses myself.
Billy looked at his watch, nodded, and said, “It’s getting late. I need to get back. All right, we can see the bunkhouse another time. Let’s go see the horses!”
We were about to see a whole lot more.
Billy led us through the long barn, past four half stalls and three double-size stalls, all set in the middle of the barn. Outside the stalls was enough room for a car to drive all the way around. There were no cars in the barn, though there was a big blue tractor in the front by the double barn doors that were wide open beckoning us toward the horses.
As we walked out into the late afternoon dim sunshine, Charlie and Buck approached us. Bingo stayed behind my legs, though Buck had never made one aggressive move toward him. Well, aside from baring his teeth at us humans.
“Hey, Bill,” said Charlie, “you was going to let me know if it’s all right to keep horses here or not.” I cringed at his incorrect English, but if he lived here, there wasn’t a lot I could do about it.
“What?” asked Aiden and looked at Billy.
Billy spoke to Aiden, “Uncle Charlie likes to buy and sell horses. If he does that, then he has to keep them here. What do you think about extra horses here?”
Aiden jumped up and down and nodded his head. “Yeah! More horses!”
“I guess that’s a yes,” Billy said to Charlie.
Charlie nodded his head. “Have you shown him the—” but he didn’t get to finish because Billy held up his hand. “Ah, I see,” said Charlie. “All right. I’ll see y’all later.” Without another word, Charlie and Buck walked past us down the long corridor to the bunkhouse. When he got past us, he grabbed hold of one of the stalls to keep from falling. Billy didn’t notice it, but I did. Although I hadn’t smelled alcohol on his breath, I’d bet he was an old drunk.
“Where’s your horse, Daddy?”
“We’re going to see him right now, little pard. And he has a friend.”
“A friend?” asked Aiden, puzzled. “You mean another horse?”
“Well, another equine,” said Billy.
“Equine?” asked Aiden. And I knew what his next library book would be about.
Billy took Aiden’s hand and my hand, led us past two empty corrals, and toward the large pasture on the other side of the hay barn. When we got close and couldn’t see anything, Billy asked us both to close our eyes, which we did. I wanted to peek, but if Aiden could do it, so could I.
He walked us a few more steps and through a gate. I heard him unhook the chain and re-hook it once we were on the other side. “Are you both ready?” asked Billy.
Aiden jumped up once. “Yes! Can we open our eyes?”
“Not yet,” said Billy. Then he gave a long whistle.
We heard hoof beats approaching us fast, and I fought the urge to open my eyes. I trusted Billy.
“Almost,” said Billy. “All right, you two. I’d like you to meet Spider and Spot. You can open your eyes now.”
Spider, a tall, muscular black horse with two white front socks and a long black mane and tail, stood in front of Billy, nuzzling him. Behind Spider, not approaching too close, was Spot. And Spot was—a zebra.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
AIDEN, BUSY PETTING Spider’s nose, didn’t notice the zebra at first. When he looked up and saw it, he pointed and said, “Daddy! A zebra! You have a zebra!” He was about to take a leap in the zebra’s direction when Billy held him back by the shoulder.
“No, you can’t pet him, little pard. Spot is a little skittish right now. He might get used to you later.” Billy had been so invested in showing us the house, barn, bunkhouse, and horses, that he had forgotten his time constraints. When he noticed the sun on its downward path, he said, “Oh, no! We need to leave right now or I’ll be late, and that would be disastrous! Let’s go!” He gave Spider one last stroke on his neck, called him a good boy, and then grabbed my and Aiden’s hands and pulled us through the gate, pausing briefly to lock it. “C’mon! Run!” And Billy, Aiden, and Bingo ran for the truck, with me trying to keep up as best I could in my heels.
Billy and Aiden were already inside with their seat belts on when I arrived at the truck, huffing and puffing, and opened the door. Reaching over the seat, Billy offered me his hand and pulled me inside. Bingo was already on the seat waiting for me. Billy started the truck, and without hurrying, drove out the front gate, and down the narrow dirt road. When we got to the main road, he stepped on the gas, and the truck rattled and rolled across the potholes and washboard surface.
It was too uncomfortable riding in the truck to have much of a conversation, but Aiden tried. “Why is your horse named Spider, Daddy?”
“Because he has a peculiar marking on his right hip that looks like a spider hanging from a web.” We rumbled over a deep rut bouncing all of us against our seat belts, and Billy said, “Oh, sorry.”
“Why do you have a zebra?” Aiden asked.
“He kind of came with the house,” said Billy, as we bumped along. “The people who left took all their horses with them, but they didn’t want the zebra. And it’s not good for horses to be all alone, so I bought the zebra so Spider would have company. It’s called a companion horse.”
“Companion zebra, you mean,” said Aiden.
“Yeah,” laughed Billy.
“Are we going to sleep at the new house tonight?” asked Aiden.
“No, sweetie. We have a lot of moving in to do first. Plus, someone else needs to stay there for a while,” said Billy.
“That old man, Uncle Charlie?”
“No, son. Uncle Charlie lives in the bunkhouse. Someone else. Listen, Aiden, I need to talk to your mother about that and about what’s going on this evening. Everything you hear right now and everything you hear later has to stay with our family. Okay?”
“Sure, Daddy.”
“Lor, I’ll drop you off at the historical society and go straight to the Town Offices. After you lock up, drive there but don’t come in. I’ll call you on the car phone, because I know you forget to charge your cell phone half the time!” He glanced at me and smiled. “I’ll call before I go in and leave my phone on speakerphone in my pocket so you can hear everything that’s going on. It will surprise you. Ah, here we are.” Billy pulled smoothly onto the pavement from the rough road, past the barrier, and pulled up in front of the building in contention. “See ya soon. Love you both.” He leaned over and kissed me.
Aiden, Bingo, and I got out, and Billy sped away. It was a couple of minutes past five, and Petra had already put the closed sign up. I unlocked the door, let us in, and was surprised to find Petra still behind her desk.
“Hey, Petra. Working late?”
“No, just studying.”
“Want a ride home?” I asked as I hurried Aiden past her. When she
said no, I was grateful, because it seemed like Aiden and I should get to the Town Offices soon. Stepping out the back door, the three of us piled into the car, and I drove over there. Since Billy said not to go in, I figured it might be better if my car wasn’t seen, either, so I parked at the far end of the parking lot and didn’t turn off the engine.
We hadn’t been there a minute when the car phone rang. “Lor, I’m sticking the phone in my pocket now. Pay attention! Don’t say anything while this phone is on! Love you!” I didn’t even have a chance to say I love you back before I heard the faint rustle of Billy’s shirt as the phone slid into his pocket.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I HEARD A door open and close and then some voices in the background, but I couldn’t hear what they said. Aiden was leaning forward in the seat trying to hear, too. Even Bingo had his little ears pricked forward.
I could hear Billy’s cowboy-booted feet walking, and I heard one of the council members say, “What are you doing here?” It sounded like Anthony Petrelli.
“I came to listen to the proceedings,” said Billy. “And I was under the impression that these meetings were open to the public.”
“How did you know we were meeting at five o’clock?” asked Elizabeth. “The public sessions start at six.” The only reason I recognized her voice was because it wasn’t Christa, so it had to be Elizabeth.
“Lucky guess,” said Billy.
“We were about to vote on whether to discharge Martha Goldstein from her job as the town manager for malfeasance,” said the mayor.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Billy.
“We can do it if we want to!” said Anthony Petrelli. “Am I right or am I right?”
“I’m telling you, members of the High Council, with all due respect, I wouldn’t do that.” He had raised his voice just enough to get their attention.
“Sheriff Madrigal, this is town business and doesn’t concern you.”
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