Kiki Lowenstein Books 1-3 & Cara Mia Delgatto Books 1-3: The Perfect Series for Crafters, Pet Lovers, and Readers Who Like Upbeat Books!

by Joanna Campbell Slan

  “I got Sid in my guest room, but you can have my room, and I’ll take the sofa. You can stay at my place, Granddaughter.”

  “No way. That sofa of yours is old and saggy. You sleep on it and your back will be killing you. I don’t want to put you out, Poppy. You’re already taking care of Sid. In fact, you should go on home and make sure he’s okay.”

  “You can stay with me,” said Skye. “I changed my sheets today. You can have my bed, and I’ll take the futon. The animals will be fine here, and you have extra clothes in your old apartment. I can check on you. Come on, Cara. It’ll be like a pajama party. Look, the food’s ready. At least have a bite or two.”

  With a practiced ease, she dished out helpings. Poppy stared at his plate. “What in tarnation is this mess?”

  “Try it,” Skye coaxed him. “It’s good for you. There’s spaghetti squash in there instead of wheat-based pasta.”

  Nathan disappeared again into my office.

  “No, sirree. I didn’t claw my way to the top of the food chain so’s I could eat veggies I can’t identify.”

  Lou glanced up from his notepad and chuckled. “See, Skye? I’m not the only one.”

  “I’m gonna grab me a burger on the way home.” He stood up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight, Granddaughter.”

  “Dick, how’d you break your finger?” Skye stared at the metal sheath covering the top of Poppy’s pinky.

  “On a chunk of wood,” said my grandfather.

  “Poppy is a hero. While the cop who was guarding my mermaid took an extended vacation in the john, Poppy tangled with the turkey who cut her oxygen tube. She died, by the way.”

  “I know, sweetie,” said Skye, wrapping her arms around me and giving me a hug. “I am so sorry.”

  “At least I got to break this here finger on that creep’s jaw. If I’d had a few more minutes, they woulda taken that punk out in a body bag. Good riddance to trash, I say. Punk didn’t know who he was messing with.”

  “Poppy, I didn’t know who he was messing with, either. What got into you?”

  “Instinct. A man does what he has to do. Besides, I couldn’t let you show me up. You had him howling in pain.”

  “Poppy, you’re full of baloney, and we both know it. You’ve had martial arts training or training in hand-to-hand combat. You took that kid down like he was waving around a pool noodle.”

  “He didn’t know what he was doing. Held that there knife like a rookie does.”

  “Yes, but you did.”

  “Don’t worry none about me. I got to go see about Sid. You need to go upstairs and soak them muscles of yours. Get outta them bloody clothes.”

  I glanced down at myself. The pretty lemon-colored polo shirt stiffened in patches where blood had dried on it. “I am never going to get this clean,” I said.

  “Sure you will. I’ll help you. We’ll douse it with Shout. Even if you don’t, it doesn’t matter. You’re safe,” Skye said.

  “You done good, Granddaughter,” said Poppy. “Now go take care of yourself. I won’t expect you for breakfast tomorrow. You’ll probably need to sleep in.”

  Our habit had been to meet at Harry and the Natives for breakfast on Sunday mornings. I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could, I realized how stiff I was already becoming. “Maybe you and Sid can eat there instead.”

  “That’s an idea. After we get done, we can go round up that computer of yours.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Love you, Poppy,” I said.

  He grunted and left.

  “Lou? You ready to get back to the station? We’ve got a long night ahead of us,” said Nathan.

  “I’ll be right behind you,” said Lou. “After I help Skye get Cara and the animals upstairs.”

  Nathan hesitated. For a tick, he leaned toward me as if to give me a kiss or a hug, but I gave him an angry look. He backed away from me. “All right then. Cara, I hope you feel better.” With that, he left.

  “Wow, Cara,” said Lou. “That was cold.”

  “Listen up,” I said to Lou and to Skye. “Because I want to go on record. I am sick of being second fiddle to my sister. I am also sick of problems with Binky Rutherford. I’m taking this earring back to her if I have to leave it in her mailbox. And I might drop off that dress, too. There’s too much bad juju swirling around me. I’m done with this.”

  “I’ll grab the sage sticks and a white candle,” said Skye.

  Lou chuckled and shook his head. “You two are a real pair.”

  37

  My clothes were stiff with blood. I peeled them off while Skye ran a bath for me, liberally dousing the water with essential oils. She poured in a half a package of Epsom salt. I guess everyone in the world kept them at hand but me.

  “Here, I’ll take those downstairs and get the stains out.” She set my wadded up things on the counter. “There’s a bathrobe behind the door. Let me help you step into the tub. I’d hate for you to fall and hit your head again.”

  The water, salt, and the oils stung like crazy, but only for a second or two. I gasped as the water lapped at my skin, but Skye held on to my hand tightly and cooed, “It’ll quit directly. Come on. Sit down. Let the water do its magic.”

  I hadn’t realized how stiff I’d be, and her help proved invaluable. Once I was situated, she handed me a baby flannel and a plastic bottle of moisturizing body wash. She had installed a dimmer switch on the lights. With a flick of her wrist, the bathroom was softly illuminated. Putting my clothes down for a second, she lit three fat candles and set them on the counter.

  “There. Now you relax.” She closed the door behind her.

  I sank down until the water reached my chin. My knees were skinned and bloodied. The tuck and roll that had saved my life had taken a toll on my body. But as the water unknotted my muscles, I puffed up with pride. I’d saved myself. Or rather, Poppy and I had saved me.

  How had he learned those hand-to-hand combat skills? Were those part of regular training? Or did they hint at an education beyond what the rank and file serviceman learns? Then there was that cold glint in his eyes. The bizarre expression that had come over his face. My grandfather had morphed into a killing machine. In fact, if the cops hadn’t intervened I had no doubt that Poppy would have snapped the neck on my assailant.

  So who was this man, the guy I knew as my grandfather?

  What arcane skills did he have—and what was he hiding?

  My mind drifted back to Cooper. His business associates thought of Poppy as old and washed up, but nothing could be further from the truth. Although his diabetes could flare up and cause him to have muddled thinking, we’d brought that under control. He hadn’t had a problem for months. Other than that, my grandfather was in great shape physically.

  What is age but a number? Okay, people said that all the time. It was a tired cliché, but perhaps it was also a fact. My grandfather talked like an old man. He was curmudgeonly and gruff. His hair had thinned and turned gray. His skin was weathered, thanks to years in the sun, but those outside appearances meant very little when he needed to take action.

  I decided to call Cooper and tell him he needed to intercede on Poppy’s behalf. His investors were flat out wrong. Besides, he and I had an oral contract. When I sold him the lot for his new business, he’d agreed to give Poppy a job. If all else failed, I might threaten to take him to court. The publicity would be very bad for the new Fill Up and Go station.

  My fingertips wrinkled like raisins. The water cooled. Skye tapped on the door and offered me help getting out of the tub. I took her arm gratefully. The bath had zapped the last of the adrenaline from me, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Skye had thoughtfully put out a soft tee shirt and a pair of old yoga pants for me to wear to bed. I hung up the bathrobe and slipped under the covers.

  Exactly as she had committed to doing, Skye came in and checked on me to see if my concussion had worsened. I always roused as she entered the room, because Jack’s tail would beat a rapid tattoo. By contrast, L
una would open one eye and go back to sleep.

  “You’re going to be exhausted tomorrow when you work a full shift at Pumpernickel’s,” I said, when she peeped in on me around two a.m. If a vote was taken, Skye would win easily as their most popular waitress. On Sundays, she hauled in more tips than most of the other waitstaff did over the course of an entire week.

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay. When I knock off at five, I’ll come straight back here and take a nap.”

  “Geez, but you didn’t have to do this. I could have gone to Poppy’s house. He could nap all day.” I scooted to one side, so she could take a seat on the bed. With a quick move of her feet, she lifted her legs and put her back against the headboard. Like everything in her apartment, the headboard testified to her vast creativity. Skye had purchased two teak wood grates for less than $80 from a nautical salvage shop. Since teak wood is nearly impervious to water, it is the nautical wood of choice. The grates were designed to let in light and air. The small holes were only an inch or two wide. Using metal straps, Skye attached the teak strips to a strip of cheap plywood as wide as her bed and one foot higher than the top of her mattress. Next she glued thin wood molding to three sides and framed the teak pieces. After the assembly, Skye hand-rubbed oil into the wood to bring back its sheen. The finished headboard looked like a million dollars. I asked her to make more of them. Six people have put deposits on customized teak headboards. She’s trying to keep up with the demand, but we don’t have enough room for her to work on more than one headboard at a time.

  “Anyway,” I said sleepily, “I’m sorry to have cost you a good night’s sleep.”

  She reached down and stroked my hair. “Getting up during the night is good practice.”

  “Why? Are you planning to go to med school? I’ve read how the doctors don’t get any sleep during residency.”

  “Med school? No way. But I imagine I will be waking up at odd hours when the baby comes.”

  “Baby? But I’m not having a baby. I’ve decided. I plan to tell Jason when he’s back in town next week. I suppose if I was really, truly, madly in love with him, I might consider it. But as much as I like him, I can’t see us married. Much less as parents. He’s too young for me. Really he is.”

  She laughed softly.

  “Wait!” I sat bolt upright in her bed. “Skye? What are you saying? You weren’t talking about me, were you? You didn’t mean me. You meant…oh, gosh! Oh, Skye! This is wonderful! It’s just grand! Does Lou know? Have you told him? When are you due?”

  “Slow down. One question at a time.”

  “Okay, due date.”

  “August 21.”

  “And Lou?”

  “He doesn’t know yet.”

  “He is going to be so, so thrilled! He’ll be over the moon!”

  Her answer was as soft as the dark that surrounded us. “I hope so.”

  I slept and slept and slept, waking up only to eat when Skye brought me food. Losing track of time, I woke up raring to go when the sun peeped through the bedroom window. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and as I tried to stand up, I nearly toppled over, face first. Poppy had been right. I was stiff, sore, and exhausted. Had I been obligated to meet him at Harry and the Natives, I would have been in rough shape. As it was, I could barely lift my head.

  Skye heard me rustling around and stuck her head in. “Hello, Sleepy Head. Are you feeling better?”

  “What day is it?”

  “Monday.”

  “Monday? I lost an entire day?”

  “Don’t worry. MJ and I took care of the store and your animals yesterday. How are you feeling?”

  “Rested. Embarrassed. Ready to get up and be productive.”

  Skye loaned me undies and a loose fitting pair of velour sweatpants with a matching hooded jacket. Dressing took a lot of energy, even with Skye’s help. But whenever my thoughts strayed to Danielle’s death or the death of my mermaid, I distracted myself with one little word: Baby.

  Skye was going to have a baby!

  Her pregnancy was such wonderful news that I would have trouble keeping it to myself, but I’d promised Skye to keep my mouth shut—and I would. She had decided to wait until she was a little further along to tell Lou. After he knew what was up, she planned to tell MJ and Honora.

  However, when I heard her retching in the bathroom, I wondered how long she’d be able to keep her secret. I was stripping her bed when she stuck her head inside the door. “Breakfast.”

  After wadding the sheets into a ball, I stepped into her small kitchen. Despite the smile on her face, she sported a sheen of perspiration from the gyrations of her tummy. “You poor kid. You shouldn’t have cooked for me. I remember how the smell of food can turn your stomach.”

  “Phooey. After I puke, I’m good for an hour or so. Besides, I only made toast and tea. Sorry, but my cupboard is bare.”

  “I’m fine with toast and tea. Thanks again for taking care of me.”

  She lifted Jack to her lap so I could eat in peace, while she nibbled at Saltine crackers. He loves anything that goes crunch. The crackers and toast did just that, so he was a real pest.

  “I’m so happy about your baby.”

  “So am I. I’ve decided that even if Lou doesn’t want to be involved, I’m keeping this child. I don’t have much, but I’ve been saving every penny on the off-chance this might happen. See, I miscarried back when I was married, thanks to a couple of swift kicks from Bucky. The doctor said I’d never be able to get pregnant, and I’d given up praying for a miracle. But now I have one.”

  “Do you really think that Lou won’t be happy? Has he ever said he doesn’t want a child? He’s really nothing but a big, sweet teddy bear.”

  “I don’t want to be disappointed, so I’ve steeled myself for the worst. Men can be … strange…when it comes to obligations. And I don’t want to be a burden. Or be dependent ever again. So it’s best not to hope, right? Lou might not want me now that I’m pregnant. You know how it is. Some men have that weird thinking about pregnant women being fat and all. So, I’m preparing myself for rejection. Just in case.”

  Those blue eyes had seen so much pain. I couldn’t keep my opinions to myself. “But if you don’t hope, if you don’t trust, you lose all the joy of the moment. This is a joyful time! If you’re waiting to tell him then you can’t enjoy this pregnancy until you do. Don’t you think this baby deserves a happy mother?”

  She swallowed, her Adam’s apple moving in that slender throat. A gleam told me she was near to tears. “My prayer is that my baby will have a happy mother and a happy father. But if the baby can only have one, it’s up to me, right?”

  I hugged her. “And you are not alone. You have friends who love you.”

  “What are your plans for the day?” Skye asked, as she wiped her eyes with a trembling hand. “I know Tommy is arriving later.”

  My response was interrupted by Jack’s warning bark and a knock on her door. Skye bounced up to answer it.

  “Can we move this party downstairs?” My grandfather shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “There ain’t much room here, and I done brought us all a box of donuts.”

  “Where’s Sid?” I asked.

  “Sid’s taking the morning off. Maybe even the whole day. He gets tired easily,” said Poppy. “We went and picked up his computer yesterday after breakfast.”

  “How’d that go?” I started toward the stairway. Skye turned off the lights and shut her door.

  Poppy shook his head. “Them slum landlords deserve to be shot. His pal’s living in a dump. We didn’t even go in. Sid messaged him, and he done brought the computer to the truck. When we got home, Sid spent hours checking and double-checking to see if any harm had been done.”

  “Had it?” I barely trusted myself to ask. Skye fell in step behind us, being patient as I slowly worked my way down the steps.

  “Not that we could see. His paycheck’s missing, but I told him you can replace that. Still, the other kid
—Sid’s friend—was awfully closed-mouthed about the whole adventure. He claims that Sid’s mother and one of her friends borrowed the computer and then brought it back. Guess the two of ‘em were giddy when they did. Laughing so hard he said one of them wet herself.”

  The stairs proved to be a challenge. I winced with each step, even though Poppy took a lot of weight off my legs by keeping one arm around my waist.

  “You aren’t sore?” I asked him.

  “You didn’t soak in them Epsom salt did you?”

  “She did,” said Skye.

  “Poppy, Skye took wonderful care of me. Yes, I soaked in Epsom salt but I slept clear through Sunday. Don’t worry. Tonight I’ll have another nice, long, hot bath.”

  “I intend to see to it. I decided Sid and I are gonna go over to your house so we’re there when Tommy comes home. Them two boys ought to get along just fine.”

  I didn’t argue with him. I missed having a house full of young men eating pizzas, playing video games, and watching sports on TV.

  A ding from the back room signaled that the dryer was finished.

  “Those are your clothes, Cara,” said Skye. “I think I got all the blood out. I had to run them through the wash several times.” Racing around us, she flew down the steps. By the time we made it into the back room, she was whisking the clothes from the dryer. She held them up so I could see that they were, indeed, free of ugly bloodstains.

  MJ threw open the back door. “Another day another dead person, hey, Cara? Your escapade at the hospital is all over the news. I heard you almost got your neck slashed. Wow. Good thing you’ve got lots of bandages on those cuts. The news reports brought in all sorts of customers and thrill-seekers who wanted to see ‘Stuart’s answer to Batman and Robin,’ which I personally do not think is flattering. If the reporters called you Mrs. Peel and John Steed, I’d be thrilled, but not Batman and Robin. Not cool. Not at all.”