by Katie Ruggle
Chapter 24
“Sure you’re ready for this?” Chris’s smile was teasing. “Lou in her own habitat… It’s a little scary.”
Daisy laughed and slapped his shoulder. “Lou’s awesome, no matter where she is. And I was born ready.” At his smirk, she rolled her eyes. “Okay, so maybe I took a detour between birth and a few weeks ago, but I’m definitely ready now.”
“Let’s do this, then.”
Despite her words, it took an effort to open the truck door and an even greater one to climb out of her seat. She focused on the pavement right in front of her feet until her heart settled down a little. With a deep breath, she lifted her chin and took in the front of The Coffee Spot. Although the building wobbled slightly from side to side, Daisy smiled.
“It looks exactly how I pictured it,” she said, proud that her voice was calm, although still a little raspy. The doctor had said it would take some time for her trachea to heal. In the meantime, Chris had told her that he thought her husky voice was sexy.
He frowned, eyeing the small structure in front of them. “Kind of a dump?”
“No!” she protested, though she was unable to prevent another laugh from escaping. “It’s cute. And cozy. And we should probably go inside before it starts rocking back and forth any more than it already is.”
With a concerned look, he took her arm and escorted her to the door. She didn’t mind, since the world seemed steadier when he was touching her. Chris pulled open the door, making the sleigh bells hanging on the inside jangle. As soon as Daisy stepped inside, a shriek like a train whistle came from behind the counter.
Lou hurtled across the shop as the few customers ducked out of her way. “Daisy! You’re here!”
Daisy barely had time to brace herself before the other woman plowed into her, hugging her tightly. As air was squeezed out of her lungs, Daisy wondered if allowing Lou to use her gym was the best idea. She was already freakishly strong.
“This is so perfect!” Lou released her and grabbed her hand, towing her to the counter. “Sit! What do you want to drink?”
“Um…” She slid onto a stool, trying to ignore the fascinated stares of the other customers. Eyeing the menu hanging on the wall behind Lou, Daisy hesitated. Her heart rate was picking up again, and she rubbed her damp palms over her thighs.
Stepping behind her, Chris wrapped his arms around her upper chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. Instantly, she relaxed.
“Why does it stink in here?” Chris’s chin pressed into her head as he spoke. Once he mentioned it, Daisy noticed the stench of body-odor underlying the more pleasant coffee scent filling the shop.
Lou beamed. “Smelly Jim is back! I’ve been really worried that something had happened to him, but Jim said he’s been, in his words, ‘lying low’ until things settled down here. I tried to give him money, to thank him for pulling me and Callum out of the reservoir, but he wouldn’t take it. I finally got him to agree to me buying him anything he wants from here. It seems like such a small thing for saving our lives, but he’s happy, so I’ll quit bugging him about having a parade in his honor. Sorry, Daisy! I’m talking way too much again, but I’m just excited that Smelly Jim’s okay. Drink?”
“Not to be boring, but just a regular coffee, please.”
“Good choice,” Chris said.
Lou grabbed a cup. “And you could never be boring.”
“I wouldn’t mind a little boring for a while,” Daisy admitted, tracing the edge of the counter with her thumb. “Just going to the grocery store is plenty of excitement for me.”
“Even though I must admit that I miss the whiteboard”—Lou handed her the coffee—“I have to agree with you. Summer’s coming, and that means more people on the reservoirs, which means more calls for us. Being on the dive team is enough of a wild ride without throwing arsons and murders into the mix.”
Taking a sip of her coffee, Daisy just made a wordless sound of agreement.
“And what’s your beverage of choice, Deputy Chris?” Leaning over the counter, Lou examined him closely. “Your face of many colors is healing up nicely. The bruises have faded to a kind of sickly yellow.” Lou looked back and forth between Chris and Daisy. “You two match. It’s cute, in a damaged kind of way.”
He snorted a laugh. “Thank you, I think. And I’ll have what she’s having.” His chin dug into her scalp again. She didn’t mind the pressure. In fact, it was reassuring to be surrounded by Chris.
“So…” As she poured Chris’s coffee, Lou looked over her shoulder at Daisy, who was equal parts impressed and worried about her careless handling of a hot beverage. “What’s the plan, now that you’re out and about?”
Her stomach churned at the question, but it wasn’t a bad mix of emotions. There was fear, but also excitement and anticipation. “I’m thinking about opening a gym. A real one, not just the one in my house.”
Thrusting the cup in Chris’s direction, Lou grinned. “That would be awesome! This town desperately needs something like that—as you know from all the people who pile into your training room on a regular basis.”
“My dad never let me pay rent, so I have some money saved.” Daisy felt Chris release her and shift away so he could drink his coffee, but she’d calmed enough to not need her safety blanket wrapped around her anymore. The conversation was distracting her, too, and talking about her plans out loud was making her even more enthusiastic about the idea. “I thought I could focus on the self-defense aspect—like boxing, MMA, and Krav Maga—but have some other classes, too, for the…well, less violence-inclined.”
“Belly, the coroner, used to teach yoga.” Ellie slid onto the next stool over, grinning at Daisy’s surprised look. “You must not have heard me come in. Lou makes enough noise to drown out the bells on the door.” Laughing, she ducked the cardboard cozy that Lou chucked at her head, reaching up to catch it. “Thanks, Lou. Just don’t do that with my latte.”
Turning to grab a cup off the stack, Lou asked, “What was that about Belly and yoga? Those two don’t seem to fit together.”
“She used to teach it. When she was in the store the other day, she mentioned it.” Turning to Daisy, Ellie said, “I think she misses it. I bet you could recruit her.”
“Yoga.” After considering the idea for a moment, Daisy nodded. “That’d be good, especially for these muscle-bound guys.” She rotated on her stool so she could squeeze Chris’s biceps. Grinning, he obediently flexed. “Need to keep them flexible.”
For some reason, that sent Lou and Ellie into a giggle-fest. “Flexible is good,” Lou said, once she could speak again.
“I’m feeling a little too testosterone-heavy to be a part of this conversation.” Chris bent and pressed a kiss to the top of Daisy’s head. “I’m going to run a couple of errands.” He gave her a questioning look, and she nodded, answering his unspoken question of whether she’d be okay without him for a little while.
The other customers had busied themselves with their phones and conversations, so she was feeling less like a zoo exhibit and more like a normal woman having coffee with her friends.
“See you later.” She smiled at him, and his eyes darkened before he kissed her again, this time on the mouth. It was short, but intense, kicking up her heart rate just as she’d gotten it under control.
“I won’t be long. Half hour, tops.” He continued to hesitate while watching her carefully.
“Sounds good.” When he still didn’t move, she made shooing motions with her hands. “Now go, so we can discuss you and your buddies.”
That must have proven to him that she’d be fine, since he grinned at her and headed for the door. As she turned back toward the other women, she saw Lou was frowning as she watched Chris through the front window.
“How’s he been?” Lou asked, her eyes still on Chris as he got into his truck. “He seems…sad.”
Be
fore she answered, Daisy took a moment to consider how he really was. “It’s going to take a while, I think, before he’s back to his usual level of happy. Until the whole mess exploded, he really admired…his boss.”
“Will he run in the emergency sheriff election?” Ellie asked, taking a sip of her latte.
Daisy shook her head. “Not unless he changes his mind. Chris likes responding to calls and being in the middle of the action. Turning into a paper pusher would drive him insane. Even having off these last couple of weeks during the state investigation is making him twitchy. He’s ready to get back out there.”
“Too bad,” Lou said, spinning a plastic cup lid on the counter. “He’d have made a good sheriff.”
Just the word “sheriff” made her skin clammy, so Daisy turned to Ellie. “How are you doing?” She hadn’t gotten a nighttime call from Ellie since before the shooting.
“It seems kind of coldhearted to say.” Ellie bent her head over her latte, absently twirling a stir-stick in it.
“Don’t worry about offending us,” Lou told her. “I’m the one who referred to a deceased person as Headless Dead Guy, remember? And Daisy’s been dating a cop forever. I’m sure she can handle some plain speaking.”
Shooting a wary glance at the other customers, Ellie leaned closer to the two. Lou and Daisy mimicked her until their heads were almost touching. “Ever since the sheriff was killed, and I found out King was dead, I’ve been so…relieved.” She leaned back, leaving Daisy and Lou in their craned-forward positions.
“That’s it?” Lou said. “That’s your confession?”
Looking uncertain, Ellie nodded. “Well, yeah. Two people are dead, and I’m more relaxed than I’ve been for months. Isn’t that a sign I’m a sociopath?”
Since Ellie asked the question so seriously, Daisy tried to turn the amused sound that came out of her mouth into a cough. “No,” she answered after clearing her throat. “You are definitely not a sociopath. I’d be relieved if the person who’d shot me and tried to kill me was dead.”
“Um…” Lou sent her a sideways look. “The person who tried to kill you is dead—at least one of them.”
Carefully placing her coffee on the counter, Daisy flattened her shaking hands against her thighs, trying to force them to be still. “I’m glad Tyler’s going to be okay…physically, at least.”
“I guess.” The other two looked at Lou, and she grimaced. “I don’t wish he were dead or anything, but the little brat burned my truck…and my house. Sure, my stalker probably watched him do it and didn’t stop him, but Tyler confessed to being the one who lit the match.”
“Why’d he go after you? It’s a ways out to your place—how’d he even get there?” Daisy asked.
“Apparently,” Lou said, still sounding bitter, “he didn’t like that I was investigating Willard Gray’s murder. He thought he was protecting his dad. And he’s known how to drive since he was thirteen. He stole his dad’s truck to drive out to my place. That’s how he got out to set the wildland fires, too.”
“Wow.” Daisy shook her head. “I’m not sure why I’m surprised, though. He did burn and try to blow up mine. He thought he was helping his dad, but there are still some pretty big chunks missing from the kid’s moral framework. Deputy Macavoy’s parents filed a missing-person report, and no one is optimistic about finding him alive. They’re looking into his mom’s disappearance, too.”
“Tyler’s mom?” Lou asked. “I thought she left them voluntarily.”
Pity for the kid rushed through Daisy, almost smothering the anger toward him. “There’s no proof she didn’t, but Rob walked in on his wife abusing Tyler. After that, no one saw her again. It’s enough that the BCA is checking into it.”
“How sad,” Ellie sighed.
Lou made a sound of agreement. “Who told you that?”
“Strepple,” Daisy said. “He called to update me on the investigation.”
“Where’d they take Tyler?” Ellie asked.
“A psych facility outside of Denver.”
Ellie’s eyebrows rose. “Which one?”
“I’m not sure,” Daisy answered with an apologetic grimace. “Sorry. Strepple didn’t share that. Chris’s been trying to protect me from knowing details about the case. It’s a good thing I’ve started leaving the house, or I wouldn’t know anything.”
At that, Lou growled, “Seriously? Why would he think that would help? It makes me nuts not to know stuff.”
“Me too. Even my dad is acting all protective, and that’s not like him.”
“He’s still staying with you at Chris’s?” At Daisy’s nod, Lou scrunched her nose. “Doesn’t that get in the way of you and Chris…?” Trailing off, she waved a hand.
“Talking?” Daisy guessed, widening her eyes with mock-innocence.
“No.”
“Watching movies?”
“No.”
“Cooking brownies together?”
Cocking her head to the side, Lou looked thoughtful. “I guess that could be one euphemism for it.”
Ellie wrinkled her nose. “No. No, it can’t.”
Finally breaking down with a laugh, Daisy admitted, “Yes, when Dad sits on the couch between us, glaring at Chris, it does get in the way of me and Chris”—she imitated Lou’s wave—“cooking brownies. Literally in the way. It’s just temporary, though. Dad’ll be heading out to another job site soon, and he’ll find another place in Simpson. Chris’s already bugging me to move in with him permanently.”
“Are you going to stay?” Lou asked.
“Yes.” Living with Chris was pretty much as wonderful as she’d thought it would be.
“Oh!” Ellie slapped her non-latte-holding hand on the counter, startling Daisy. “Speaking of fathers, guess who called me last night?” Positively beaming, she answered her own question before either of the other two could guess. “Dad!”
“Seriously?” Lou demanded, rushing to round the counter. “And you didn’t lead with that?” She grabbed Ellie, who lifted her coffee up out of the way just in time, and squeezed her tightly. “That’s awesome, El! I’m so happy for you!”
When Lou finally released her and returned to her spot behind the counter, Ellie bounced on her stool a few times, grinning hugely. “I know! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you until now. Poor George. I was so wired that I barely slept last night, and I kept poking him to wake him so I’d have someone to talk to about it.”
“That’s great, Ellie.” Reaching over, Daisy grabbed her hand. “You could’ve called me instead of waking the sleeping beast.” She didn’t mention that a call would’ve woken Daisy, too, since she’d been sleeping a lot more soundly recently.
Ellie laughed, a genuinely happy sound. “George was right there, so I just tortured him.”
The bells on the door jangled, and all three women turned their heads toward the sound to see Rory entering.
“Rory!” Ellie was the first to greet her. “My dad called last night! He’s in Florida for some reason that he didn’t explain very well. I mean, Florida? Really?”
A brief, but beautiful, smile flashed across Rory’s face. “Good. He’s okay, then?”
“Yep. He’s even on his meds. We had a conversation that actually made sense.”
“I’m glad.” Rory took the stool on her right, and Daisy shuffled hers back a foot so she could see everyone without having to turn her head back and forth.
“Not that I’m not wildly excited that you joined us,” Lou said to Rory, “but shouldn’t you be watching your store? The guns don’t sell themselves, you know.”
“I was at the store.” She frowned, but looked more baffled than angry. “Ian walked in and said that Derek drove by and saw Daisy walking into the coffee shop, so he texted Chief Early, who mentioned it to Soup, who called Ian.”
Lou lowered her head to the counter with
a thump that made Daisy wince. “This town.”
“Ian said,” Rory continued without reacting to Lou’s comment, “he was going to watch the store so I could come here and have girl time.” She said the last two words as if they were in a foreign language she didn’t know. “Is girl time really a thing, or is Ian pretending he knows stuff he doesn’t again?”
Lou and Ellie snickered, while Daisy tried to keep a straight face. Rory looked so very bewildered.
“I’m pretty sure it is a thing,” Daisy said as seriously as she was able. “Not that I’m an expert, of course, since most of my knowledge of girl time has come from books and movies.”
“It is a thing,” Ellie confirmed.
Rory nodded. “I have something that I’m pretty sure is girl time appropriate, then.”
Three pairs of eyes fastened on her.
“Well, spill it,” Lou urged, propping her elbows on the counter and leaning in. “Don’t make us drag it out of you. All that training with Deputy Chris has made us a bunch of badasses, so we could force you to talk if we need to.”
Rory was actually blushing, which made Daisy even more curious.
“Here.” Rory slapped a glossy brochure on the counter. All three reached for it, but Ellie was the quickest and managed to whip it away from the others’ grabbing hands.
“What is this?” Ellie looked confused as she flipped it over. “Safe rooms? Is that like a panic room?”
Realization hit Daisy, and she shrieked and grabbed Rory’s arm. The other women looked alarmed. “He actually did it?”
Leaning back warily, Rory said, “By ‘it,’ do you mean propose? If so, then yes.”
It was Lou’s turn to scream as she barreled around the counter for the second time. “He proposed?” She lunged to hug Rory, but then paused in midreach. “Wait. Did you say yes?”
Rory didn’t look like she wanted to answer, but she finally gave a short nod. With another shriek, Lou dove toward her and hugged her hard, apparently oblivious to Rory’s panicked expression and stiff frame.
