Shadow of Doubt

by Abbie Zanders

  “I was just busting your balls in there, but I know that look.”

  “What look?”

  “The look a guy has when he meets a woman and gets all tingly in his bits.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Heff chuckled and slapped him on the back before turning to go. “Right. Just watch your six—at least until we know if she falls into the friend or foe category.”

  Maybe Heff saw a little too much.

  Chapter Four

  Kate

  After leaving the store in her father’s capable hands, Kate went to the Sumneyville fire hall, which was where most community events and local wedding receptions were held. In addition to having a large, open space and side bar, the fire hall had a huge kitchen capable of producing massive quantities of food. Fire Chief Petraski allowed the Ladies Auxiliary to use the place to prepare meals for the local outreach program. In exchange, they left plenty of meals in the commercial fridge for him and the rest of the volunteer firefighters.

  When Kate arrived, a few women were already there, mostly retired moms and grandmas, cooking up a storm. Agnes Miller was rolling dough on the center island table like a boss while the Schaeffer twins, Edith and Lydia, were expertly chopping up potatoes and carrots into bite-sized pieces. Three massive cast-iron Dutch oven pots sat atop the commercial stove, tended by a spoon-wielding Martha McGillicuddy. Mona Delvecchio, the biggest gossip in Sumneyville, sat in the corner, wearing an apron, though she rarely actually did anything besides talk a lot. At least her hair wasn’t purple anymore.

  “Mmm, smells awesome,” Kate said in greeting, hanging up her coat by the door and breathing in the heavenly aromas of butter, onions, garlic, and roasted chicken. “What are we making tonight?”

  “Pot pie.”

  “My favorite.”

  Agnes’s eyes twinkled. “We know. Make sure you take some home with you.”

  “No doubt of that. What do you need me to do?”

  “You can start by kneading the pastry dough under that big bowl. My arthritis is acting up something fierce today. It should be ready.”

  “On it.” Kate rolled up her sleeves, gave her hands a thorough wash, and got to work.

  The ladies shared stories, giving updates on who had been doing what and to whom. Kate listened but didn’t actively participate. One, because she didn’t put much stock in hearsay, and two, because they knew a lot more about what was going on than she did.

  Mona waited until Kate was wrist deep in pie dough before saying, “I heard one of those Sanctuary boys came into Handelmann’s today.”

  Boy wasn’t how Kate would have described the man she’d seen, but she supposed when you were in your seventies, anything under forty qualified.

  “Yes,” she confirmed.

  “I heard he’s a big one, too. Like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson,” Edith commented.

  “Or John Cena,” Lydia added with an audible sigh. “I just love John Cena.”

  They expectantly looked to Kate for confirmation.

  She obliged, careful to keep her expression neutral. “He is.”

  “Well?” Mona prompted.

  “Well what?” she asked innocently, hiding her smile. Kate knew exactly what they wanted—a firsthand play-by-play account of her brief interaction with the mysterious stranger.

  Mona impatiently clicked her tongue. Everyone pretended not to notice when her dentures slipped. “Don’t keep us in suspense, dear. What was he like? Other than Matt Winston, we don’t know much about them.”

  “I heard Matt Winston’s changed quite a bit from the carefree young man he used to be,” Martha commented. At fortyish or so, she was the second youngest of the group next to Kate. Martha was also Mona’s protégé in terms of local scuttlebutt-gathering.

  “Of course he’s changed.” Edith clucked. “The service does that to a man, and he was a SEAL, for goodness’ sake. I watch that show on television, the one about the SEAL teams. I should know.”

  Lydia shook her head. “And after what happened to his family ...”

  Kate listened to them banter back and forth, rehashing the fire that had claimed the lives of Matt’s family while he was off at basic training or boot camp or BUD/S—there was some debate as to what it was actually called. The discussion then predictably turned to what had prompted Matt to go off and join the Navy in the first place. Some of their theories were quite colorful, ranging from a rift with his father to getting a local girl “in the family way.”

  Kate didn’t think anyone, except Matt Winston, knew the truth about what had really happened, and that was the way it should be, in her humble opinion. Thanks to Luther and his indiscretions, she’d been the focus of more than a few juicy discussions herself and knew how uncomfortable that kind of scrutiny could be.

  Eventually though, their conversation quieted, and they turned back to Kate.

  “So, Kate, enough stalling. What was he like?” Mona pumped yet again.

  They glared at her, as if she’d been the one to push them off-topic.

  She removed the last batch of baked pot pies from the commercial oven and slid in another before saying, “He didn’t say much. He was quiet. Very polite.”

  Mona narrowed her eyes. “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.” Kate shrugged. “He came in for rock salt and a shovel and got both. Oh, he also bought up all the brownies that were left from the Sumneyville Animal Shelter bake sale.”

  Their eyes lit up.

  “Does he know you baked them, dear?” Agnes asked.

  Kate thought back. “Yes. He asked if they were homemade.”

  “And did he buy them before or after you told him?”

  Crap.

  Kate saw where this was headed, but there was no swerving off the road now. She braced for impact. “After.”

  They nodded in knowing synchronization.

  “Hmm, I think he likes you, Kate,” Agnes commented.

  She shook her head, even as a tendril of something tried to take hold. “He was just being nice.”

  “Don’t be so quick to write him off,” Edith advised. “They’re very deliberate, those SEALs.”

  “And you know what they say,” Lydia added. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

  “Yeah, and you’re not getting any younger, you know.”

  “Stuff it, Mona,” Agnes said, coming to Kate’s defense and turning back to her. “Don’t listen to her. She’s just miserable, and she wants everyone else to be, too.”

  Mona looked offended, but the spinster twins were nodding again.

  “Exactly, dear. We never married, and we’re perfectly happy. Aren’t we, Lydia?”

  Lydia sniffed. “Speak for yourself. If John Cena came to my door and bought my cookies, I’d leave you in a heartbeat.”

  On that note, Kate packed prepared meals into several boxes, enough for everyone on her delivery list, plus a few extra. “I’m not reading anything into it, and neither should you, so don’t go starting any rumors, okay?” She looked at each of them in turn. “And if I do hear any, I’ll know exactly where they came from.”

  Without giving them a chance to respond, Kate leaned out the door and called some of the guys hanging out in the hall to help her carry the boxes to her Jeep. Then, she skedaddled, leaving the cleanup and post-game analysis to the experts while she made her deliveries.

  Several hours later, Kate pulled into her driveway, checking that all looked well at Handelmann’s. Living across the street made it convenient to get to and from work, even in bad weather. Duke trotted down the sidewalk, right on time.

  “You should have heard the ladies tonight, Duke,” she said as she heated up pot pie for both of them. Like her, Duke was a huge fan of homemade chicken pot pie. “They’re trying to play matchmaker again. I told them about the guy who came in today and they think, because he bought all my brownies, he’s a potential suitor.”

  Duke tilted his head.

  “Ye
s, they actually used the word ‘suitor.’ Can you believe it?”

  Kate spooned some of the potpie into a bowl and mixed it with some dry dog food before preparing a plate for herself, sans kibble. Duke had the bowl licked clean before she even sat down at the table.

  “Hungry, huh?”

  He picked up the bowl and placed it at her feet—his way of asking for seconds—then sat back on his haunches and waited patiently.

  “What did you think of him?” she asked.

  Duke’s tail wagged and he panted softly.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. I’m not going to get my hopes up, though. Like I told them, he was just being nice. And if something seems too good to be true, it probably is, right?”

  Kate saved a little on her plate and then scraped it into Duke’s bowl, which was a testament to exactly how much she liked him. He made quick work of that and then climbed up onto the sofa with her. After she turned on the television and covered them both with her grandma’s crocheted afghan, he was snoring softly, and Kate wasn’t too far behind.

  Chapter Five

  Mad Dog

  Mad Dog turned the kitchen and bathroom taps on just enough to keep a steady drip going. The region was in the grips of frigid blast, and he’d learned the hard way that if he didn’t do that, he’d return to the trailer to find the pipes frozen. Now that Heff was living in one of the cabins, the onus was on him to ensure that didn’t happen.

  After grabbing his keys, he locked up the place and headed to the main building. The scenery was breathtaking. Church’s land, a three-hundred-acre parcel in the mountains, was a veritable winter wonderland. Pine trees were iced with snow as far as the eyes could see. The blanket of snow on the ground shimmered in the sunlight, as if it had been encrusted with millions of tiny diamonds. He barely noticed the cold, biting air, thanks to the wool cap and Gore-Tex jacket Church had gotten for each of them.

  With the winter weather and frozen ground, they weren’t making any progress outside, so they were concentrating on inside renovations. Today, however, Mad Dog planned to head back into town. It had been a full week since his last visit, and he was looking forward to it.

  He popped into the kitchen to grab some of Sam’s awesome secret-blend coffee for the road. He had no idea what she put in it, but the stuff was like crack. It was so good; he wouldn’t care if she had laced it with actual crack.

  Sandy was there, too. The two women were sitting at a table together, deep in conversation.

  It was Sandy who noticed him first. “You’re looking pretty spiffy today. What’s the occasion?”

  He might have shaved and taken a little extra care with his appearance this morning. “No occasion, just heading into town.”

  “Going to Handelmann’s by any chance?” Sam’s eyes twinkled.

  “Maybe.” Definitely. “Do you need anything while I’m in there?”

  “Actually, do you mind if I tag along?” Sandy asked. “I’d like to stop into Franco’s and see Rico and Jeannie and maybe hit the arts and crafts store to pick up some presents for Kevin. His birthday’s in a few weeks. Heff said he’d take me after he got back from helping Brian and Tori out at the ranch, but things are supposed to get dicey tonight, weather-wise.”

  Mad Dog had no problem with giving her a ride into town, but Heff was pretty territorial when it came to Sandy. It wasn’t a matter of trust; they were brothers in all the ways that counted, and Sandy didn’t have eyes for anyone but Heff. When guys like them found someone who accepted them as is—the good and the bad—they became very protective of them.

  It worked both ways, too. Sandy was every bit as protective of Heff as he was of her. It was just the nature of the mated beast.

  “I don’t mind if Heff doesn’t mind.”

  She rolled her eyes but understood. She fired off a text to Heff, who responded almost immediately with the all-clear.

  “You know, I could use a few things, too,” Sam added a little too innocently to be believable.

  He knew collusion when he saw it.

  “What are we talking about?” Smoke asked, entering the kitchen.

  “Going into town to pick up some supplies,” Sam answered.

  Smoke, who wasn’t nearly as devious as the women, said, “You were just there three days ago and got enough food to last a month at least.”

  “True, but I did forget to stock up on toilet paper. You wouldn’t want to weather a storm without that now, would you?”

  Mad Dog withheld his smile. He knew for a fact they were well stocked in that area. Since they were also well stocked in rock salt and shovels, he kept his mouth shut.

  “Fine.”

  Sam and Sandy ran off to get their purses or whatever, and Smoke turned to him.

  “No worries, man. I got your six,” he said, proving that he wasn’t as clueless as he’d pretended.

  ~ * ~

  Forty-five minutes later, they were entering the Sumneyville town limits.

  “Where to first, ladies?” Mad Dog asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

  “Oh, look. There’s Handelmann’s. Why don’t we stop there?”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” Smoke said without missing a beat. “Why don’t we drop you off at the shopping center? You can take your time and get what you need while we take care of some business. We can have lunch at Franco’s before heading back.”

  Mad Dog had to bite his tongue not to laugh at the scowl on Sam’s face. The women were busted, and she knew it. That didn’t stop her from rallying, however.

  “But Handelmann’s is right here. We don’t mind.”

  “Neither do we,” said Smoke.

  The man really did have his six.

  “Fine,” Sam huffed.

  Mad Dog continued past Handelmann’s and dropped the ladies off at the shopping center, where Sandy could pick up her artsy stuff and Sam could get “toilet paper.” They weren’t happy about it, but they couldn’t argue without coming right out and admitting that they wanted to be his wingmen—uh, wingwomen—when he saw Kate. While he appreciated the thought, he preferred to go it solo. He wasn’t even sure there was anything there. Yeah, Kate had smiled at him, but like they’d said, she was friendly to everyone.

  “What about you?” he asked Smoke.

  “Drop me off a couple of blocks from Handelmann’s. I’ve got some things to do.”

  Something told him that Smoke’s “things” involved a visit to the local jeweler, which just happened to be a few blocks from Handelmann’s. He hadn’t missed the panicked look on Smoke’s face the night before when Heff showed off the diamond pendant he planned to give Sandy for Valentine’s Day.

  “Here’s fine,” he said, opening the passenger door when they stopped at a red light in the center of town. Piles of plowed snow along the sides of the main drag made a curbside drop-off unlikely.

  “How long do you need?”

  “Thirty minutes ought to cover it.”

  “No problem.” A brief check of the rearview mirror confirmed that Smoke was indeed heading toward the jeweler.

  Mad Dog pulled into the lot at Handelmann’s. Jerry Petraski was there again. He and his son, Lenny, were securing a tarp over the truck’s bed. Whatever they had in there, it was heavy enough to drop the back end by several inches. Petraski glared at Mad Dog as he exited his vehicle but said nothing.

  “I was wondering if I’d see you today.”

  Mad Dog looked into Kate’s smiling face and forgot all about Jerry Petraski. A cold, wet nose snuffling against his hand kept him from staring too long. He was still wearing his shades, so maybe she hadn’t noticed.

  “I said I’d be back, didn’t I?”

  Her smile grew. “Yes, you did. Gotta like a man who keeps his word.”

  He forced his eyes away from her and over to the corner where only an empty pallet remained. “Looks like I’m too late.”

  “You have to get here early when they’re calling for a nor’easter,” she told him. “We sell o
ut quick. Luckily for you, I stashed some in the back.”

  It was his turn to smile. “You did, huh?”

  She nodded. The prettiest pink blush painted her cheeks.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem.”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have any more of those brownies stashed, too, now would you?”

  “No, I don’t. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn.”

  She reached behind the counter and extracted a sealed plastic tub, sliding it in front of him. “How do you feel about chocolate chip cookies?”

  “I think they’re even better than brownies.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that. Ten bucks for the whole thing. One hundred percent goes to the animal shelter.”

  “If they’re anything like your brownies, they’re worth triple that.”

  That rosy blush deepened, making her eyes sparkle even more. Mad Dog pulled out his wallet and focused on that instead of making a complete fool of himself.

  “Do you bake every week?”

  “Pretty much. I love to do it, and if I can raise a few bucks for the animal shelter, why not?”

  He extracted two twenties and slid them across the counter along with a credit card. “The cash is for the cookies. You can put the rest on the card.”

  “Are you sure? This is a lot of money for a few cookies.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve got a soft spot for strays.”

  Her eyes softened, and he would have gladly given her everything in his wallet if it would keep her looking at him like that.

  “Kate,” a woman said, emerging from the back with a roll of tickets in her hand. “Dad said to put these—well, hello there.”

  Just that quickly, Kate’s pretty blue eyes shuttered, and she started ringing up his purchases. Wondering what—or rather, who—was responsible for the sudden change, he looked down into the face of the very attractive, petite brunette who had spoken.

  “Hello,” he replied out of courtesy and then looked immediately back to Kate, who now seemed determined not to look at him.

  “Kate, aren’t you going to introduce us?” the newcomer asked.

  Because he was watching Kate so closely, he saw her eyes close for a moment and her back expand and contract as she took a deep breath. When she turned back to him, she was smiling again, but this time, it didn’t quite reach her eyes.