“Miz Cookie had some seriously crazy depths,” Hannah said.
Sarah laughed at that. “Lucky for me she paid for the wake in advance. I thought she looked odd that day, but kind of put it down to the funeral. Did you know she had a jazz funeral for him?”
“Wow. I wonder if they’ll get paid?”
She laughed again. “You don’t happen to be free on Friday do you, Hannah? I’ve got a gig—”
“She is not free,” Ferris said, taking her arm. “She has a date.”
Sarah’s brows arched. “Really? Um, does Alex know? He’s in there with Nell.”
“He knows,” Hannah said. “He’s as okay with it as he can be.”
“Are they in the kitchen?” Ferris felt it time to move on from this. “You coming with?”
“Do I need to come with?” Sarah looked from him to Hannah.
“Maybe,” Hannah said.
Sarah shut the door. “More bad news?”
Hannah kind of shrugged. “And no, Alex doesn’t know. Not sure he knows we’re coming.”
“I’ll come, if only to protect you from him.”
* * *
Hannah loved Sarah’s kitchen. It was like walking into a hug. Except for the space occupied by Alex. He looked suspicious and defensive. Nell looked apologetic.
“Look who stopped by,” Nell said, clearly trying to let her know she hadn’t brought him in.
“What’s going on, Hannah?”
“It’s okay, Nell, as long as you promise not to tell any of the sibs until Zach’s had a chance to talk to them,” she amended.
“Zach?”
“Let’s sit down, shall we?” Sarah suggested, pulling out one of the stools on the work side of her big wooden table.
Still suspicious, but now also puzzled, Alex settled Nell and then sat next to her.
“Has Alex filled you in on things?” Hannah asked, wondering how she’d gotten roped into another situation requiring people skills.
“I have,” he said. “What’s this all about? Was there something you didn’t tell us the other night?”
“Well, duh, obviously.” She gave Nell an apologetic smile. “I’m better with dead people, sorry, that’s wrong, too.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Nell said, unease turning to puzzled. “Just take your time.”
“I’m better over the phone, but this isn’t the kind of thing you tell someone over the phone.”
Nell’s color faded. “Someone…died?”
“No!” Hannah exchanged a worried look with Sarah. “At least, this is New Orleans. Someone died, but not someone—actually, just the opposite. Someone—they are both alive. Charlie and Ellie, I mean.” How not to break news, she mentally castigated herself.
“Alive?” Nell started up. “Where?”
“Here. They moved here about the time things got crazy for you. They saw your picture in this online magazine. Your books…they wanted—they were afraid to make things worse. I found them by, well, kind of by accident.” No need to mention she’d worried they turned into geriatric murderers.
“You’ve talked to them?” Alex said, a bit grimly. “Zach? Zach knows?”
Hannah gave him a look and turned back to Nell. “They’d like to, you know, meet you. If you’d like to meet them?”
Her eyes filled with tears. She covered her mouth with her hand. Sniffed. “If? Oh my gosh. When? How? Where? They’ve been together? Please tell me they at least had each other….”
Hannah nodded, her eyes pricking with tears. “They are living at the Happy Endings Retirement Center.”
Nell laughed, a laugh that broke on a sob. She looked at Alex. “I have a grandmother that doesn’t suck.”
“And she has a wicked sense of humor,” Sarah said, wiping tears from her eyes, too.
Alex folded Nell into his arms, holding her tight as her shoulders shook. He looked at his little sister over her head. Hannah held up a hand. “Save it for Zach. I’m just a bit part in that story. An accidental walk on.”
Nell pulled back, wiping at her face with her fists. “I want to see them, talk to them…”
Hannah pulled out her cell and handed it to. “Just punch that number.”
Nell looked at, then looked at the phone, hesitated, then pressed it and held the phone to her ear. It only had time to ring once.
“H-hello? Grandma? It’s Nell.”
Nineteen
Hannah tried to recall her last date. It had been a while. Quite a while. This was not a happy thought. It was also not a good time to remember that relationships that start under intense circumstances never last. Was it even a relationship? Just because it felt like one, and also felt kind of, well, huge, didn’t make it so.
It was too soon to have the talk, but she kind of wanted the talk before the talk. Even though it was too early. Way too early. A little over a week, a few kisses—really nice kisses—didn’t add up to the talk. Not even the prelude to the talk.
Okay, she was a scientist. Time to act like one while she waited for the knock on the door. Instead of wishing she’d spent more time digging through her meagre wardrobe. What were the facts in evidence?
Were kisses facts?
They felt like facts, or possibly evidence.
What about warmth in a guy’s eyes? What did that add up to? And the hug. The hug had been right there in front of Zach and Alex, though it kind of felt unpremeditated, so maybe it didn’t count.
But he’d faced down her dad and her entire family. The guy had staying power.
Did he want to stay?
Did she want him to stay?
That was the heart of the problem.
She did.
Didn’t seem to matter that he was younger and might weigh less than her. Or at least wore the same size pants.
On the upside, he didn’t seem to fear her brain. Or think she was a dumb blonde. She’d had that date back in college. More than once.
The truly terrifying part? When she’d peeked into the future, well, the dream future? She’d seen him there, throwing a ball to a couple of kids. With no evidence at all, she thought, he’d be a good dad.
What else did she have? Well, Alex trusted him with everything but a sister and he wouldn’t have trusted anyone, okay, he might trust his sisters with God. But that was it. And because you kind of had to do that. But if he hadn’t trusted Ferris on the job, he would be long gone. And possibly dead for pressing lips to his sister.
She rubbed a finger across the lips in question and smiled.
Did they have enough for the long haul? How could she know? She just knew she’d like to try. If he did. But what if he didn’t? She would turn every epic age before him. Forty. Fifty. Sixty. Unless she died first. Odds were she wouldn’t. Women tended to live longer—she rubbed her head. It felt like a squirrel got loose in there. With some reluctance, she met her own gaze in the mirror again.
She couldn’t fall in…love that fast, could she? If she had…she rubbed the place where her heart beat. It might get broken.
A scientist shouldn’t be afraid of learning new things, but they also didn’t run into a wall on purpose.
A knock sounded, making her jump higher than science decreed she should. She stared at it. She’d have to open it. She couldn’t run now. And if she did? She’d never know.
Whatever she was, woman, scientist, or crazy. She needed to know.
She opened the door. “Hi.”
* * *
Hannah had seemed a bit tense when he picked her up, but then so was he. He’d gotten himself all ginned up to have the talk with her, had even practiced the words and now they seemed, either wrong or stuck in his throat. Wasn’t sure. Knew they weren’t coming out his mouth. To have the talk, he needed to talk. With words and everything. Mostly words. He frowned. Not mostly. Talking needed words. Jeez his head was all messed up. He could punt. He knew, not sure how, but he knew Hannah wouldn’t say anything.
But he’d seen what happened when she wasn’t sure.
He wanted to close the distance, not increase it.
She wasn’t easy to get close to, but he managed it. Most natural thing ever, getting close to her. Felt like it always had been, always would be. Wish he knew how to tell her that.
He glanced at her. Looked like she was focused on her food, but then she looked up. And smiled. That smile almost stopped his heart. How did she do that? And why her? Why that smile?
“I—” Dang that was close. Almost used the l-word. Way too soon. How could she trust the words now? “This is nice.”
She glanced around. “It is.”
“I meant…” He pointed to her and then him.
She smiled again. “That’s nice, too.”
The distance eased some. That hadn’t been that hard. Wished he didn’t have to talk. He could sit here looking at her and be happy. Course, he’d like to kiss her again, too. He finally rubbed the back of his head and chuckled.
“What?” Hannah asked, her eyes wide and curious.
Guy could get so lost in those eyes. “What color are they?”
“Excuse me?” she shook her head.
“Your eyes. Seems like every time I look, they are different.”
“Oh.” Color ran up under her skin. “It says blue on my driver’s license.”
“No, they’re blue, but they’re more than blue.” He leaned in, but the light wasn’t good enough.
“Are you flirting with me, Ferris?”
He went from looking at her eyes to meeting her gaze. “Yes. Problem?”
“No. Give it your best shot.” She leaned her elbows on the table, rested her chin in her palms and looked at him.
He swallowed. “I want to,” he swallowed again, took a drink of water, and then went on, “have the talk, but I don’t know how.”
“To talk?”
He took one of her hands and cradled it in his. “To have the talk.”
“Oh.”
Her lips pursed around the single word. If table hadn’t been between them…then he realized she wasn’t saying more. Just as the panic started, she spoke.
“That talk.” She looked down, then slowly looked up. “I don’t know how either. I’ve never actually had it with anyone.”
“Seriously? I mean I haven’t but you—” He gestured with one hand. She was so…everything. He couldn’t believe she was free enough to be sitting here holding hands with him.
“Mostly guys have been afraid of my brothers. Or my brains.”
“Now, see that’s just crazy, well, not the brothers. They’re pretty scary. But your brains. I mean, I was like guys like that until I read Pride & Prejudice—”
Her lower jaw slackened in a really cute way. “You read Pride & Prejudice?”
“Well, there was this girl.” He grinned.
“Of course there was. How old were you?”
“Sixteen.”
“Okay, I might be a little impressed.”
“As you should be. Anyway, that book, well, I hadn’t really thought about, you know, about wives and the future and stuff.”
“Most of us don’t at that age.”
“I mean the romance stuff, I was like, boring, but that dad and the mom. And that sister? The one who ran off with the jerk and was happy about it? Who does that? That’s horror story stuff.”
“Pride & Prejudice as horror story?”
“Exactly. Started me thinking what it would be like to live years with one of them. Well, that’s when it happened.”
Hannah blinked a couple of times. “What happened?”
“Well, I decided to only date smart girls. It was tough, cuz the smart ones were sometimes too smart to waste time with me.”
Hannah laughed, a rich throaty sound that kind of scrambled his brains for a minute.
He grabbed her other hand, raised one to his mouth and held it there until the laughter faded from her face and small flames flickered in her eyes. Oh those eyes.
“Now see, if I hadn’t learned a few things, one of them being that it takes time to woo a smart woman, I’d l-word you right now.” He kissed the other hand. “I’d say some other things, too, but I know they wouldn’t mean much. Not yet. You’re smart. I’ll save the l-word for when it’ll mean something. But I’m…” He considered for a minute. “…putting you on notice. I may not be the smartest man to come along, but I’m smart enough to know when a woman is too good for me. And dumb enough to hope she’ll still have me. Because I want the best. For me. And for my kids.”
“Your…your kids?”
Her hands trembled a bit in his and she licked her lips, her eyes so big he could fall in there and never find his way out.
“Well, the ones we’d have—if you want them. I mean, I can see why you might want to think about that, and if you didn’t—both parents should want kids. They should both want them.” He stopped, aware he’d lost track of his point. And strayed into a place he tried not to go.
Something changed in her eyes. She freed one hand, but only to touch his cheek, smoothing his hair back from his face. He must have said something right, because she felt closer.
“If we got to the l-word—and the m-word—”
She paused, but he didn’t flinch, which made him kind of proud.
“—then I promise you that any kids would be very wanted. Very. And—” her gaze flicked away, then came back to him, and her smile deepened until it was mysterious and filled with promise. “I think you are much smarter than you realize.”
He took a deep breath, and let it out in a relieved sigh. His first time with the talk and he had apparently nailed it. This relationship stuff wasn’t as hard as all the brothers kept saying it was.
“So, we’re, you know, in it, in one of those…”
She giggled. “Apparently. And you know what is even more amazing?”
“What?” Apparently he knew her well enough to be wary.
“No one died.”
“That is amazing.” He gave an uneasy look around and while he was looking the wrong way…
“Fancy meeting you two here.”
“Zach.” Hannah’s voice sounded a bit strangled.
They both dropped all contact, almost slamming themselves against the back of their chairs. His even rocked a bit. A bit symbolic that. He’d never liked symbolism. Ever.
“And Felicity.” Hannah stood up. Her smile looked stiff, but she shook hands with her dad’s date.
Ferris studied Felicity, mostly so he wouldn’t have to look at Zach. She was younger than Zach, though still older. He could see why Zach liked her. Some gray in her hair, kind eyes, nice smile.
Hannah was a bit stiff introducing them. He tried to imagine one of his parents dating someone else and decided he might find it a bit awkward, too. The dogs wouldn’t like it either, which for his parents would be the bigger problem.
“So you’re out for dinner?” Oh, yeah, state the obvious. Well, he had warned Hannah she was smarter than he was.
“Just finished.”
No one could say Zach talked too much.
“We’re thinking of going to a movie,” Felicity said, brightly.
“That sounds fun,” Hannah said, dropping the words into the silence that had formed.
Might have been funny if it hadn’t been his date’s dad out on a date, too.
“We’d better get going, hon-Zach. We’ll miss the credits.”
“Be a pity to miss the credits,” Ferris agreed. Was that his voice that sounded so hearty?
“Have fun,” Hannah said.
Zach started to go, then stopped and said, “I’ll be home tomorrow, Ferris.”
“Oh.” He blinked. “Okay.”
“You’re off, right?”
“Yeah…” It didn’t help that you could see trouble coming if you had no clue what kind. But he knew something was coming.
“Stop by anytime.”
“Stop…by?”
Couldn’t see, but sensed a trap closing around him.
“Alex said you had something to talk to me about.” Zach’s grin was toothy. And feral. Then he turned, took Felicity’s arm and walked away.
Ferris tugged at the neck of his shirt. Wasn’t the tee shirt choking him though. No, that was fear.
“Talk?” Hannah turned from watching him leave. “What do you have to talk to him about?”
“Your brother is evil.”
“I know that—oh.” A pause. “You could always tell him about Pride & Prejudice. He might like it if you make it sound like a Western.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “Let’s get out of here. If I’m going to do the time, might as well do the crime, er, the kissing.”
“I might be willing to be an accomplice in that. But then you have to tell me what other books you’ve read to get girls.”
* * *
Thank you for reading Dead Spaces. I hope you enjoyed it. If you haven’t read the first two installments, check out Relatively Risky and “Family Treed.” Stay tuned for the next installment in the Big Uneasy series.
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Project Enterprise The Big Uneasy Lonesome Lawmen
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From Relatively Risky
If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you’ll check out: Relatively Risky: The Big Uneasy 1. I’ve included an excerpt below.
A quirky artist must unravel her parent's secret past before the mob erases her future. But will the protection of a handsome homicide detective be her only hope of surviving the Big Easy?
Nell Whitby is starting over in New Orleans, getting a publisher for her children’s book, sketching tourists in the French Quarter, and leaving the tragic death of her parents behind. When a handsome detective asks her for a date, her fresh start seems perfect…until a dangerous family secret bubbles up from the past and puts her life in jeopardy.
Dead Spaces: The Big Uneasy 2.0 Page 22
