by Lynn, JB
“She must have a reason,” the lizard said.
I really wished I knew what that reason was.
4
“I still haven’t heard from Lawrence,” Aunt Susan complained as she chopped onions.
I wasn’t sure if the tears shimmering in her eyes were caused by the pungent vegetables or worry, but that made twice in one day if it was the latter. If I wasn’t already worried about Griswald, Aunt Susan’s display of emotion would’ve gotten me there.
Still, I needed her to keep it together, if only so she wouldn’t go looking for her husband herself.
“Maybe he’s under radio silence,” I suggested.
She frowned at me. “We talk on the phone, Margaret, not a radio. Do I really seem like the type to be conversing through ‘Ten four, good buddy’?”
I bit back a smile and shook my head. “You do not. I just meant that maybe it’s safer for him to be out of communication for a little while.”
She waved the knife in the air. “Safer for who?”
“Everyone?” I suggested weakly, not happy that she was treating the sharp blade so carelessly.
“I’m going to call Brian,” she declared.
“That’s an excellent idea,” I agreed. Hopefully, Griswald’s nephew, the police detective, would be more effective at soothing her nerves than I.
“And what are you going to do?” She made it sound more like an accusation than a question.
“I’m going to dinner with Zeke.” I recited it just as Zeke had told me to do.
Susan put the knife down and smiled. She liked Zeke. “Well, that sounds lovely. You should tell him to stop by. We don’t get to see that charming man often enough.”
I nodded. “I’ll tell him.”
She dumped the chopped onions into a bowl. “Templeton’s chicken soup didn’t cure Herschel, so I’m making him his favorite dinner, liver and onions.”
I barely held back a gag.
“You know what they say,” she continued, washing her hands, unaware of my disgust, “feed a cold, starve a fever.”
Personally, I didn’t see how something as repulsive as liver and onions could help anyone, but I kept my opinion to myself.
“Have fun with Zeke,” she said, walking out of the kitchen.
“She’s losing it,” God opined. “One minute she’s upset, the next she’s all cheery.”
I didn’t disagree with his assessment. “She’s struggling,” I acknowledged. Susan had always been the strongest member of the family, and she seemed to be seesawing between playing mother hen and giving in to the urge to fall apart.
I wished there was something I could do to help her. But first, I had to deal with the teddy bear issue.
Zeke, after instructing me to tell my family we were going out to dinner, had urged me to “wear something nice”.
I took that to mean he didn’t want me to model the t-shirt and flip-flops he’d given me to wear as an outfit after I’d been dyed blue. I surveyed the contents of my closet unenthusiastically. I’d never been much of a fashion plate, but considering I’d left my last two homes because of explosions, my wardrobe was sparse. Besides, the only “date” I’d been on recently had been the mission to rescue Alicia from her father.
There was a soft knock on the bedroom door. “Maggie?” Marlene called.
Opening the door, I smiled at my sister. “What’s up?”
Her grin back was tentative. “I heard you’ve got a date.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m going to dinner with Zeke. It’s not a date.”
She nodded, an amused smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “What are you going to wear?”
I shrugged helplessly and waved at the pathetic contents of the closet. “My options are limited.”
“I’ve got a dress that I think would work for you. If you want it.”
I raised my eyebrows. While Marlene and I are similar in height, I probably weigh twenty pounds more than her.
“At least try it,” she urged. “You have nothing to lose.”
I nodded.
“Be right back!” she said with a twinkle in her eye and scurried off.
“Can I go with you?” Piss purred from where she was curled up at the foot of the bed.
“To dinner?” I asked.
She stretched her whole body. “To see Zeke.”
“Her obsession with Zeke is unnatural,” God declared from his terrarium.
The cat made a half-hearted swipe at his glass enclosure, making it clear what she thought of his judgment. “We’re bonded.”
“It’s the whole being responsible for saving one’s life thing,” I interjected, eager to put an end to their squabbling.
“Well then, you should be bonded to all of us,” God griped.
“Too me?” DeeDee asked from her spot in the middle of the bed.
“Even you,” God acknowledged.
“I’m grateful to all of you,” I said.
“Me? Me? Me?” Benny asked, running back and forth in his box.
“You too,” I assured him.
“You too what?” Marlene asked from behind me.
“Giving myself a pep talk,” I lied as I turned to face her.
“You don’t need a pep talk when it comes to Zeke. He’s always adored you.” She laughed. “You could never do anything wrong in his eyes.”
I blinked, surprised by her assessment. Was that true?
She held out the dress. “Here, try it on.” She thrust the hanger at me and closed the door behind her.
While I pulled on the clothing, she mused, “What do you think of Miss Lassalan?”
I froze. Was she unhappy with the girls’ teacher? “She seems pleasant enough,” I said carefully. “Is there a problem? Does Alicia dislike her?”
“I wouldn’t go by what Alicia likes or doesn’t. Her mood is different every hour. Sometimes she hates it here, other times she’s happy.”
“She’s been through a lot,” I murmured.
“I know.” Marlene let out a heavy sigh and sat down on the bed.
DeeDee immediately crawled over and put her head in my sister’s lap. I didn’t know if she did it to comfort Marlene or if she just wanted to be pet, but I was touched by the gesture.
The Doberman sighed happily as Marlene began to absentmindedly stroke her.
“How are you doing with Alicia being here?” I asked, smoothing wrinkles out of the fabric, remembering that God had told me they use formaldehyde on the cloth for that. I turned away so Marlene wouldn’t see me shudder.
“It’s great,” Marlene said a tad too quickly. “And it’s hard,” she added honestly.
I nodded. I had experience with what it’s like having instant motherhood thrust upon you. I walked over to the bed, sat down beside her, and put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first became responsible for Katie.”
“It’s a lot,” Marlene said in a strangled voice.
“But you’re doing great,” I encouraged. “It’s not all perfect, but it’s going well.”
She frowned. “Only because she likes Katie and your mouse.”
“Me! Me! Me!” Benny cheered from his box.
God grumbled something under his breath.
“She doesn’t like me,” Marlene admitted, her voice laden with pain.
“I didn’t like Aunt Susan when we moved into the B&B,” I confided.
She glanced at me sharply. “You remember that?”
I nodded. “I was, what, five? Mom and Dad were pretty freewheeling, and all of a sudden I was stuck in this old house with a woman who had so many rules. Don’t touch this. Don’t do that. Plus, she was resentful. I didn’t understand that she was mad at our parents for putting her in that position. I thought she was mad at us. I was miserable.”
“I don’t remember,” Marlene admitted.
“You and Darlene were too young.”
Pain flicked in Marlene’s eyes, and I immediately regretted say
ing her twin’s name.
I pushed past it, deciding to stay on track with the problem at hand. “But eventually, I came to appreciate everything that Aunt Susan, and Loretta and Leslie in their own ways, did for me. Alicia will come around, too. She just needs some time.”
Marlene nodded slowly. “You’re probably right.”
“I am,” I said with more assurance than I felt. I hopped up off the bed and did a twirl, modeling the dress. “What do you think?”
“It looks good. Zeke will love it.”
She looked so pleased that I didn’t repeat it wasn’t a date.
--#--
Zeke pulled up in front of the main house at six o’clock on the dot. If he’d thought we’d make a hasty retreat, he was wrong. All three of my aunts were sitting on the porch waiting for him.
To his credit, he didn’t hesitate to get out of the car, bound up the steps, and kiss each of them on the cheek.
They all approved; Aunt Susan because she appreciated his manners, Aunt Loretta practically swooned under the attention of the younger, attractive man, and Aunt Leslie because she’d always been fond of Zeke, even when he’d moved into the B&B as a teenager after his own parents had kicked him out.
I waited patiently for him to extricate himself from their hold and then we both got into his car and drove off.
“Susan looks stressed,” he observed.
“Someone’s trying to kill her husband,” I reminded him.
He nodded.
“So tell me about this teddy bear-stealing job.”
He gave me a sideways glance, suddenly nervous. “This wasn’t my idea, Maggie.”
“I know,” I said, wondering what was going on. I’d worked on a few jobs with him for Whitehat by now, and he’d never been nervous to tell me about them before.
He pulled off the road, put the car in park and turned in his seat to face me, clearly worried. “You need to stay calm.”
“I hate being told to stay calm,” I muttered, as a tide of panic rose within me. Whatever this assignment entailed, Zeke seemed to think it would upset me. He was probably right.
“If I thought I could do this job on my own, I would,” Zeke continued.
“Just tell me,” I said through gritted teeth, knowing I wouldn’t like what I would hear.
Zeke took a deep breath and blurted out, “The teddy bear is owned by Dominic Delveccio.”
5
After Zeke had finished explaining that Ms. Whitehat wanted me to steal a toy from the grandson of a mob boss, I made him take me straight home.
“I’ll tell everyone you had a work emergency,” I said when he protested.
“Maggie,” he tried again.
I shook my head. “Take me home. I need to think. Alone.”
I made him drop me off at the top of the driveway, where no one could see me, and began to pace after he drove off.
“This is not good,” I muttered.
“Perhaps your most dangerous job yet,” God agreed.
That did not make me feel any better. I’d been hoping he’d be the voice of reason and talk me off the ledge of hysteria I was hovering on.
He scrambled from my bra up to my shoulder. “What are you going to do?”
I shrugged, almost knocking him off.
Besides a surprised gasp, he didn’t complain.
“I can’t betray Delveccio,” I murmured. “But I can’t afford to let Ms. Whitehat down.”
“Not to mention, she did say lives were at stake,” the lizard reminded me.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “There’s that.”
“An important consideration,” God opined.
“So is me staying alive,” I snapped at him.
“You look nice,” a voice called out, interrupting our conversation.
Whirling around, I found Gino standing a few yards away.
“You look very pretty in that dress, Maggie,” he said with an appreciative grin.
“It’s Marlene’s.”
He shook his head. “Wrong. The correct response would be, ‘thank you’ or maybe a curtsey.”
I raised my eyebrows at him. “Do I strike you as the curtseying type?”
He gave me a half bow. “Not really. Did you have a fight with your date?”
Realizing he’d seen Zeke, I frowned. “He’s not a date,” I said finally. “He’s an old friend.”
“Like Mia?”
I glared at him. “No. Zeke’s a loyal friend.”
Something flickered in Gino’s gaze. “We could go on that date you owe me,” he suggested. “I mean, you’re all dressed up already.”
I shook my head. There was no way I could do something fun after Zeke dropped that bomb on me. I needed to figure out what I was going to do. “I’m not in the mood.”
“Careful,” God warned from my shoulder. “You may need him to get to the teddy bear.”
I sighed. “Sorry,” I apologized to Gino. “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
He nodded, waiting.
I swallowed nervously. It might be a nice distraction from my crazy life to spend some time with him when we weren’t on the clock. “If, and I stress if…if we went on a date, where would we go?”
“My place,” he said without hesitation.
“Whoa,” I said, holding up a hand to stop him. “I’m not—”
“We can’t go out in public together,” he interrupted, “and you don’t have a place of your own, so where else would you suggest?”
He waited while I tried to come up with an answer.
“He has a point,” God argued. “Being seen together in public is a very bad idea.”
“What did the little guy say?” Gino asked curiously.
“He thinks you’re right,” I admitted grudgingly.
Gino grinned.
“That doesn’t mean I think you’re right,” I quickly told him.
“C’mon, Maggie.” He extended a hand. “A little dinner. A little wine. A little conversation.”
I hesitated. “You know I’m not a casual hook-up kind of girl, right?”
He chuckled. “And I know you’d kick my ass if I tried anything inappropriate.” He winked at me. “That’s part of your appeal.”
I found myself smiling back at him. “And I can’t be out too late.”
“Of course not, Cinderella,” he teased.
“I may vomit if you two keep this up,” God warned.
Ignoring him, I slid my hand into Gino’s.
“This probably isn’t the best idea,” God said. “I suggested not alienating him. I, in no way, advocated fornicating.”
Gino tugged me closer. “I can’t believe you’re saying yes.”
“You don’t know what I’m saying yes to,” I reminded him.
“Neither do you.” He stared deep into my eyes, setting off a tingling in my abdomen.
I didn’t know if I was agreeing to this date because of the teddy bear or because I wanted to spend time with him.
Gino cupped my cheek with his palm, sending a shiver of delight through me.
His gaze narrowed as he took in my reaction. “This might not be a good idea.”
I swallowed hard. “It might not.”
“It could get us both in a lot of trouble.”
“It could,” I agreed breathlessly.
His cellphone buzzed, interrupting the moment. Dropping his hand from my cheek, he grimaced. “Sorry.” He pulled it out and frowned. “I’ve got to go.”
I nodded.
“Some other time?”
“Maybe,” I said.
Shaking his head, he hurried off.
“You dodged a bullet,” God declared.
It didn’t feel that way. It felt like I’d just missed an opportunity.
6
“A dame like you could do worse than a guy like him,” Mike cawed, landing right in front of me.
“Because Gino’s the cool one?” God mocked.
“Cuz he’s got honor and guts,” the crow squawked back.
The lizard made a scoffing noise. “Honor among thieves, maybe.”
Mike tilted his head so that he could glare at the reptile on my shoulder. “I like Gino.”
“I do, too,” I muttered tiredly. “But that doesn’t mean we’d be right together.”
“He protects your family, accepts your animal friends, and likes you,” the black bird pointed out, hopping up and down. “Plus, like I said, he’s got guts. He’s a-okay, in my opinion.”
“Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Mike,” I said solicitously. Wanting to get off the subject of my love life, I added, “I saw Ms. Whitehat and she told me that Boyd and his mom are doing quite well.”
Mike flapped his wings excitedly. “That’s great news! The best news!”
I smiled, hearing his affection for the boy.
We both startled as a car pulled into the driveway behind me. He flew off as I whirled to face the vehicle.
It pulled alongside me and the redheaded driver rolled down the window. “Hi, Mags.”
I smiled at Patrick Mulligan. “Hey.”
He ran an appreciative gaze over my outfit. “You look nice.”
“Thanks.”
“Big difference between a man saying you look nice and one saying you look very pretty,” Mike called from a nearby tree, solidifying his argument that Gino was the one for me.
“Is Brian Griswald here?” Patrick asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve been out.”
“Guess that explains the dress,” he murmured thoughtfully. “With Gino?”
I gave him a blank stare, signaling it was none of his business who I’d been out with.
His gaze narrowed slightly, but he kept whatever he was thinking to himself. “There’s something you should know.”
“If he makes a declaration of love, I will vomit in your ear,” God warned from my shoulder.
I shuddered.
“Cold?” Patrick asked.
I nodded because I couldn’t tell him I was repulsed by the lizard’s threat.
Patrick jerked his thumb toward the passenger seat. “Get in.”
“Not a good idea,” I murmured. “Someone could see.”
He nodded, acknowledging the wisdom of my caution. “I really am here on unofficial police business, though.”
