by Kym Roberts
Reba Sue didn’t hesitate. “Oh, I need to buy one for me and one for my sister. I can’t have him sign an e-book copy, now can I!” Reba Sue ran for the thriller section in the second stall on the other side of the Barn.
“—make that no copies.” Daddy smiled.
“Problem solved. Thanks Daddy.”
“Anytime, Princess.” He lowered his voice. “Apparently, the mystery was rather obvious.” He winked and looked over his shoulder to check on Reba Sue’s progress before asking, “Do you think you should tell Mateo that Nathan Daniels is coming to town?”
“I was just going to ask you if you could watch the register, so I could go call him.” The last thing I wanted to do was call Mateo in the store where anyone and their brother could hear. I had too many interruptions by people with cameras in the past few days to take a chance.
“We make a helluva team,” he said, and I couldn’t help but think of my commitment to Cade’s campaign. He thought we made a good team too. I guess the question was what team I thought I belonged on.
Reba Sue returned with her two copies of the book.
“I’ll see you and Nathaniel on Wednesday morning, Reba Sue.”
“You’re going to make the meeting special, right? Ask more people to join. Have fresh pastries and coffee?”
She acted like I was new to the business. This was my thing. Of course, there’d be other people invited—especially a man in brown who filled out his uniform rather nicely.
“We’ve got it covered. No worries,” I told her.
Reba Sue smiled, and I finally saw what Cade had seen in her when they were dating. She didn’t seem to be his type, but she was attractive.
I left and decided to get some fresh air on my way to my apartment. The skies were blue, the air had a hint of dust, and the town seemed empty. Kind of like a ghost town minus the tumbleweeds. Although we did have them from time to time. The Inn hadn’t reopened, and the diner only had a couple of cars parked in front. I rounded the Barn and went through the gate that shut off the alley between the buildings from the courtyard and Main Street.
The ornamental metal gate was a bit rusty, but the patina seemed to add to the rustic charm of the Barn. Plus, it was the only thing to secure our backyard and the staircase leading to my apartment. I wanted to jump up and tap my mama’s sign. I’d done it daily when I was in high school. I used to jump up and touch the sign to improve the height on my cheerleading jump. Now I wanted to say hello to my mom. As a teenager, it was a way for me to talk to my mom without looking like I was crazy if I went to her gravestone and talked to her there. Kids could be cruel that way, and I didn’t want to be sent to a counselor just because I wanted to pretend my mom had my back even after her death. Just a Hi, Mom. Let’s see how high I can jump today. Or Today sucked but you would have been proud of how I handled it.
Today, I felt the need to tap the sign and say hello. Eve’s gate was my link to the past. The sign had been a gift from my daddy to my mom when they bought the Book Barn. It also signified the entrance to the family home where no one else was allowed unless invited.
I closed the gate, jumped and…my fingers caught air. I looked at the sign. Had Daddy raised it? I tried again and got nothing.
He had to have raised it. I was thirty, not fifty and I’d just done it a few days ago.
I backed up and gave myself a few steps running head start, leaped and…nothing. I landed on my feet with absolutely no satisfaction in my soul.
“Want me to lift you?”
I turned around and smiled, a little embarrassed by my childish desire to jump up and hit the sign.
Mateo sauntered up to the gate and came through. “You are trying to touch the sign, aren’t you?”
“You know I am.”
He leaned forward and greeted me with a kiss. The type of kiss no one would mistakes for a friendly peck between friends. I put my arms around his neck, loving the moment, if not the bulletproof vest and gun belt.
When we came up for air, I said, “I’ve missed you.”
“How’s the political arena treating you today?”
I sighed. I should’ve discussed my decision with him before I made it. I knew he was hurt by it, but he wanted to support me in everything I did.
“It’s going good, but I need to talk to you about something else.”
“What’s up?”
“Reba Sue was just at the bookstore. She invited Nathaniel Daniels to the Mystery Moms Book Club meeting Wednesday morning.”
The glint in Mateo’s eyes was the only hint of his excitement. “Are you telling me he accepted?”
“According to Reba Sue, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“I guess you can count on adding one more person to the Mystery Moms meeting,” he said with a sly smile and a wink.
“Are you going to dress up like a mom?” I teased.
Mateo’s lips met mine in a quick peck. “You’re cute when you think you’re funny.”
“Did you read the book?”
“As matter fact, I did. I will be prepared to discuss the plot in its entirety.”
I pulled back and searched his face. “Seriously?”
“Would I lie to you, Charli?”
That was one thing I knew Mateo would never do. Lying wasn’t in his genes. It was as if that switch was turned off before he was born. Like the commandment thou shalt not bear false witness was literally tattooed in his makeup as thou shalt not lie. I wasn’t sure he was even capable of a white lie.
Unfortunately for him, I didn’t share that trait. It was a flaw in my makeup, but I also knew I wouldn’t change it. Because the only time I’d lied to Mateo was when I was trying to protect him, or I was trying to find out the truth. Which seemed kind of ironic when I thought about it.
“That is one thing I will never expect from you,” I confessed.
Mateo laughed. “You never know when people will surprise you.”
Suddenly I began to doubt my ability to read him. “Are you telling me that you’ve lied to me?”
“I’m telling you, in this business, I’ve learned to expect the unexpected.” He pulled away but left his hands around my waist. “Now, are you going to touch that sign or what?”
I grinned. “I’m going to touch that sign.” I bent down, jumped straight up in the air, and tapped my mom’s sign with Mateo’s help. “Love you, mom,” I whispered just before my feet hit the ground again.
I looked into Mateo rich chocolate eyes brimmed with eyelashes so long they were sinful, and said, “Thank you. Not many people would understand my need for that.”
He kissed me again, and even though it was brief and not as full of passion as the first one, it was full of an emotion that felt a lot like love. “I’ll be there at ten AM sharp,” he said as he disengaged and grabbed the latch to the gate.
“We’re not going to dinner tonight?”
“This case has me a little too busy. And Cade just advised me that he planned on meeting you to strategize for his campaign tonight.”
Fuzz buckets. I’d forgotten all about that. “We could have an early dinner,” I suggested.
“If you’re asking me out for dinner, I’m going to have to decline.”
My heart nearly stuttered to a stop. His message seemed the exact opposite of what we’d just shared.
“If, however, you’re asking me to join you for dessert and breakfast, then I’ll see you around midnight.”
That warm tingly feeling returned. This was what we’d been building up to for months. “That’s exactly what I’m asking for,” I said.
Mateo’s grin was full of satisfied male ego. “Then I suggest next time you make yourself clearer.”
“I’ll see you at midnight, Mateo.”
“Yes, you will, Charli.”
Mateo got in his car, and I wen
t up to my apartment feeling better than I had all week. Finally, a conversation that had Mateo and me on the same page. We’d been struggling for so many days, I’d begun to doubt we’d get past it. But tonight, we were going to go back to the way it was before all this happened. Before life got all screwy, and my future seemed completely uncertain. Sometimes new adventures were exactly what I didn’t want. And today, I’d been craving the past where my goal was to have a great sales day at the Book Barn, spend a little time with my friends, and have my boyfriend in my bed.
Lucky me, that’s exactly what I was going to get.
Chapter 17
I met Scarlet for dinner at the Hazel Rock Diner. It was fairly crowded with people from the surrounding rural areas coming into town for the weekend. Sugar was working the Barn with Daddy who was leaving early for his bowling night in Oak Grove. We both had the night off. I’d thought Sugar would want to spend time with her family, but Dean was going out to spend the evening with Maddie’s mom. They were going to make plans for Maddie’s funeral, and Greta wanted to see her grandson—for the second time in the little boy’s four years of life. That had irked Sugar, but she bit her tongue for Scotty’s sake and bowed out gracefully since Sugar’s face was the last one Greta would want to see.
I was betting Greta had invited Dean out to the house to ask him to pay for the funeral.
“What’s your plan for tonight?” Scarlet asked.
I thought of Mateo coming over for dessert. “Nothing.”
Scarlet looked at me as if I was one of my kindergarten students caught with my hand in the cookie jar. I took a bite of my chicken wrap. It was smothered with bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese and ranch dressing. Nothing like having a mouthful of delicious food to help swallow a lie.
Cade slid into the booth next to me and stole some of my fried string onions. I scowled at him and pulled my plate away. “Those are bad for you.”
He laughed, and his hazel eyes sparkled. “We’re supposed to be talking strategy.”
“We can talk strategy. You just need to order your own food.”
“She hates when people steal food off her plate,” Cade said as he took a drink of my sweet tea and snuck around my hand defending my plate to strip me of my onion rings like he was a linebacker running a stunt play to strip the ball from a quarterback. It worked like a charm.
I scooted away from him, and he grinned with my food in his mouth. Then he hailed the waitress and ordered a grilled chicken breast and fruit.
“You’re not getting any more of my onion rings,” I told him.
“That’s okay. I feel my arteries clogging as we speak.”
“Good.”
Cade smirked. “Are you hoping I keel over, Princess?”
“I’m hoping you go sit with Reba Sue to eat your dinner,” I said.
“O.M.W. you wouldn’t seriously wish that on him, would you Charli?” Scarlet asked. She offered Cade the croissant that came with her salad. The one she never ate and usually gave to me.
I shrugged.
“I told you. She can turn vicious when you mess with her food,” Cade said.
I rolled my eyes. “What did you want to talk about?”
“I’ve signed up a volunteer in Waco who has time tomorrow to put out signs. I need you to deliver the signs to her.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Her?”
“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that.”
“If it was like that, he’d be delivering the posters himself.” Scarlet winked, and I couldn’t help but snort. She was right.
Cade ignored us. “She’s a friend of my mom’s, and she and her bible study group are going to hang signs tomorrow for me.”
“Seriously?”
He nodded and pulled his hands out of the way as his food was delivered.
I thought of Mateo. “I can’t do it.”
“You can’t?” he said.
“Why not?” Scarlet asked. “You just told me you weren’t doing anything tonight.”
“Well, I…” My brain raced for an answer. “I want to be at the store when Sugar closes. She’s still pretty upset.”
“That’s not a problem. You’ll be back in plenty of time,” Cade assured me.
I thought about my apartment. I’d neglected it, and I wanted to make sure it looked nice and didn’t smell like Princess or her little friend. I needed to shave my legs. “It won’t work.”
Cade set his fork down with the bite of chicken he’d been about to devour. He sighed heavily. “What’s going on, Princess?”
“Nothing.”
He turned in his seat, his face a mask of practiced patience. “It’s not nothing. Have you changed your mind about working for my campaign?”
“Of course not!” Maybe.
Cade scrubbed the top of his head, his irritation obvious to everyone. I had that effect on him more often than not. “I’m trying to understand—”
“Mayor, is that your new car out front?” We all looked up at Liza and her cameraman. Scarlet and I groaned, but Cade smiled and stood up to address her. He politely wiped his mouth and hands before tossing his napkin on the table.
“As a matter of fact, it is Liza.”
Liza pounced. “Senator Jones said a Tesla is hardly the car of a man claiming to be a running as the people’s candidate.”
Cade didn’t miss a beat. He smiled that thousand-watt smile that had women falling at his feet. “I make no apologies for my family ties. Some say I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.” He quirked his eyebrows. “That may be true.”
I closed my eyes. Even I knew that was not the right thing to say to the average American.
“But I am also from a philanthropic family who has given back to the community in more ways than Senator Jones could ever dream of doing. I’ve sponsored children’s charities and retirement homes that provide health care for residents. I’ve started a green initiative for Hazel Rock, bringing recycling to town and getting businesses to think about creating a smaller footprint on our environment. I’ve accomplished more in the time that I’ve been mayor of a town that has the population of a little over two thousand people than Senator Jones has done during his eight years in office. And I’ve done it without questionable campaign donations from cartels south of the border.”
“O.M.W.,” Scarlet whispered.
I couldn’t agree more.
Liza was salivating with the sound bite she’d just obtained for the evening news.
But Cade wasn’t done. “In answer to your question, a representative of the people can drive a Tesla. In fact, it would be irresponsible for me to drive any other type of vehicle when I have long campaign trips to make. Especially when I can afford the greenest, most environmentally conscious car on the road.”
Liza drew her mic back to ask another question, but Dallas Dover interrupted her interview. His hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail, and he held his hat in his hands.
I cringed. I’d kind of thrown him under the bus for not recycling the books the day before. If he was looking for retribution, now was the time.
“It’s one helluva car, Mayor. I’ve been thinking about looking at one myself. Mind you it’d be the cheaper model.”
Cade shook his hand. “Good to see you again, Dallas. If you’d like, I’ll show you some of the features.”
Dallas grinned. “Nothing like the state-of-the-art technology to make a man happy.”
Cade agreed, and they talked about the pros and cons of the car. The only con I heard was that Hazel Rock didn’t have any charging stations for him to plug into, but Cade was going to work on that. Sensing her interview was about to turn boring, Liza thanked Cade for his time, and she and her cameraman left the restaurant.
“I owe you one for that, Dallas.”
Dallas grinned then turned expectantly toward
me and Scarlet. Cade quickly included us in the conversation.
“You’ve met Princess…I mean Charli Rae and Scarlet, haven’t you?” Cade asked.
“I’ve met Charli Rae, but I haven’t had the pleasure of an introduction to Miss Scarlet.”
Dallas held out his hand and shook Scarlet’s before turning toward me.
“It’s good to see you again, Charli.”
I looked for a hint of animosity in his eyes, but there was none. If he’d heard the news conference, he didn’t think poorly of my statement to the press. “Hi, Dallas.”
He smiled and turned back to Cade. “Mayor, I wanted to apologize for not taking those books from Charli Rae. If I’d known she was going to burn them, I would have found somewhere on the property to put them, so the trash could pick them up.”
Cade shook his head. “It’s behind us. Just a matter of poor communication that we don’t ever plan on having again. Right, Princess?”
I didn’t like Cade’s tone. It made me feel like a little girl too young to have good decision-making skills. Yet I wasn’t about to undercut him; he was my boss.
“Yeah, it’s my burden. Not yours, or the mayor’s.” Ready for the conversation to end, I took a bite of my chicken wrap.
“Well, if you need me to get you out of a bind, let me know. The last thing any of us need is more trouble over something we can fix,” Dallas said.
I smiled and nodded at Dallas. “Thank you.”
He walked away, and I couldn’t help but think of Kid Rock. Dallas could stand in for him in a pinch.
Still irritated over his tone, I told Cade, “Do you know what the cartels will do to you?”
“Stay away from me and my state because they know I will come down hard on them?”
I looked around the diner to make sure no one was listening. “They will kill you.”
“You worry too much, Princess. Now how about that trip to Waco?”
“I don’t have a car. Tonight’s dad’s bowling night.”
“Take the Tesla.”
I choked on my chicken, and Cade patted me between the shoulder blades.
“O.M.W.,” Scarlet said.
