I’d been admitted into a private room, where Max sat with me. “Hayden will be here in a few minutes. She and Justin went to get you a set of clothes and a few other things.”
I moved to push myself up, but it was harder than I thought. “My dogs. Are they okay?”
Max guided me back down carefully. “The dogs are fine. I called Mary and she came to get them. They’re at the shelter. Hayden’s going to get them later and bring them home for the night.”
“My house isn’t safe.”
“She’s staying at Justin’s. You don’t have to worry.”
I relaxed. “Why are they keeping me overnight? I’m fine.”
“The doctor wants you to stay tonight.”
“Tonight?” I glanced around the room searching for a clock. “What time is it?”
“Almost seven.”
I’d found the package before eight o’clock. “At night?”
“Time flies when you’re in shock.”
“But I’m okay now. I feel better.” I did feel better, but I was exhausted.
“That may be, but your blood pressure’s up and the doctor wants to keep an eye on it. Besides, you said it yourself. The house isn’t safe. Justin’s got his men keeping an eye on it. Said you can go home in the morning.”
“Okay. But I need to talk to the doctor. I’m pretty sure I have high blood pressure.”
“Don’t worry about it. He says it’s probably just elevated from being in shock. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
I left it at that, though I’d meant what I said. “Do they know where the package came from? Who left it?”
“How about we table any discussion about the package for now? You need to get some rest.”
Justin and Hayden came in a few minutes later.
She rushed over and crawled onto the small bed beside me. “Please don’t do that again.”
I chuckled. “I’ll try.”
Justin smiled at us. “I told her she did the right thing by calling me right away.”
Max stepped back. “I’m going to head out, give you all some time alone.”
I reached out toward him. “No, Max. Stay, please.”
“I could use a cup of that awful espresso from the machine in the waiting room.” He made eye contact with Hayden and Justin. “You two need anything?”
They both shook their heads.
“I could use a glass of water,” I said.
“I got it,” Hayden said. She climbed out of the bed and poured me one from a small pitcher on the side table.
Max winked at me before walking out of the room.
Justin watched me struggle to sit upright and handed me a controller for the bed. “Red button.”
I adjusted the bed. “Do you have any idea who did this?”
He frowned. “Not yet, but we’ll figure it out, I promise.”
“It was blue. Did I tell you that?”
Hayden squeezed my forearm. “Mom, you need to rest.”
“The car?” Justin asked.
“Yes, not a truck. A car. Blue. Did I tell the police that? I don’t remember.”
“You didn’t have the chance. You fainted before we had much time to talk.”
“And that’s why you need to rest now,” Hayden said.
“I’m okay. The car looked like an older model, but I don’t know what kind. Maybe a Honda or something like it. Wasn’t a hatchback, but it was too far away for me to see anything really.”
“I’ll let my guys know.”
“Okay, time to rest now. We’ll leave so you stop talking about it.” She kissed me on the cheek. “I love you.”
“Love you, too, honey.”
Justin placed his hand on top of mine and smiled.
I flipped mine over and clasped it around his. “Thank you,” I whispered as tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Family helps each other,” he said. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
“Tomorrow. He’ll let you know tomorrow.”
Max stayed the night with me, but he wouldn’t talk of the bomb or either of the investigations. He wanted me to rest and sleep, but it was hard. I couldn’t stop thinking about happened, and what the bomb meant.
Sam whispered in my ear. “Hey. babe. Big day today, huh?”
I turned onto my side and smiled at him, the glow of our bathroom night light making a halo around his head. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“Remember that car we rented in Italy? The one with the broken mirror?”
I giggled. “It was just hanging off the side bouncing along as you drove.”
He leaned closer and kissed my nose. “We had so much fun on that trip, didn’t we?”
“One of the best yet.”
“You’ll have more, babe, I promise.”
“We’ll have more.”
He traced my lips with his finger. “I’ll never leave you.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
When my eyes opened, I expected to be in my bed, my husband lying next to me, the dim glow of the bathroom night light casting a halo over his head. But I wasn’t in my bedroom. I was in the hospital, and Sam was dead.
I dreamed of him like that sometimes, dreams that felt so real I could smell his aftershave, feel his fingers on my skin. I lived for those dreams, knowing they were little visits from heaven.
“Mis, you okay?” Max stood next to the bed. “I heard you mumbling. Do you want me to get the nurse?”
I turned toward him. “No, I’m fine.”
He nodded. “Okay. Well, I’m just over there in the chair if you need me.”
“Thank you.” I closed my eyes and begged God to let me dream of Sam again.
The doctor released me the next day with a prescription for a month’s worth of high blood pressure medicine. Hayden had a small panic attack, certain I would have a stroke the minute I was alone.
On the way home she tried to lecture about eating less salt and exercising more, but I ignored her and changed the subject. “Where’s Max? He stayed the night with me.”
“He had a meeting. Said he’d come by the house later.”
She set me up on the couch with a fluffy blanket, two pillows from the guest room, and a pitcher of water on the coffee table. “I’m not sure this is a good idea, but Justin’s assured me you’ll be safe.” She fluffed another pillow and held it out to me. “Need another one?”
“I’m good, thanks.” She’d already fluffed three and stacked them behind me. I pulled one out and placed it on the other side of the couch.
“What channel do you want?”
“Hallmark is fine.” She searched for the network on the guide.
“Justin loves that stuff. His DVR is full of Christmas shows.”
“He’s a keeper.”
She sat next to me and smiled. “He is, isn’t he?”
“What’s going on with you two?”
She snuggled under the edge of the blanket, her thighs pressing against my socked feet. “We’re just taking it as it comes. Kind of rediscovering each other, you know?”
“Some loves never fade.” Sam lying next to me in my dream flashed in my head. “Some are meant to be forever.”
“We’ll see.” She flipped the blanket off, stood, and then tucked it in around my toes. “I hate to do this, but I have to get to work. I’ve got three meetings today, and I really need to be in the office for them.” She pulled the blanket up over my chest. “Do you want to lie down more?”
“No, I’m good.”
“I’m sorry I can’t stay. I’ll come by after work.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine. You said Max is coming by. He’ll keep an eye on me.”
After she left, I watched several hours of Hallmark movies and then reached my limit. Too much ho-ho-ho-ing and sticky sweet happily ever after’s left my stomach heavy and my body in need of some fresh air.
I shut off the house alarm, slipped on my boots and jacket, and walked outside with the do
gs at my heels. The snow was gone, leaving in its place a hard, wet grass. The dogs didn’t mind. They took off galloping in opposite directions until Allie decided it was torture time, and chased Bandit around in circles.
I walked over to the gazebo and sat in Sam’s chair. I closed my eyes and traveled back to our trip to Italy so many years ago. We’d had such fun. Our first trip as newlyweds, we’d spent most of the money on our tickets and a small bed and breakfast off the coast of Naples, but we didn’t care. Our days were filled with walks through town and drives along the coast dreaming about retiring to an old home there somewhere on a hill.
My cell phone ringing brought me back to reality.
There was urgency in Max’s voice. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I’m at the gazebo.”
“I’ve been knocking on the door for five minutes.”
I glanced at my phone. There were no notifications from the digital doorbell. “The bell battery must be dead.”
“I’ll come back there.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m already on my way. Come on in through the garage. The code is 9843.”
“Got it.”
By the time I made it into the house, Max had a pot of coffee brewing and two plates of Chinese takeout on the bar. He placed a fortune cookie next to each plate.
“Wow. You went all out.” I poured us two cups of coffee. “Decaf I presume?”
“This late in the day, you bet.”
We sat, and Max dove into his kung pao chicken. “Happy Family has the best fried rice.” He waved his fork at the little white container. “Have you ever had it.”
I nodded. “Sam and I used to get it all the time.”
He stopped chewing. “I’m sorry, Missy.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. It’s nothing, really.” It was something, but it wasn’t his fault, and he didn’t need to feel bad. I opened the container and scooped out a small serving of fried rice.
“How’re you feeling?”
I moved the food around on my plate. “I’m fine. I’ve got a little Christmas high, but I guess that’s not a bad thing.”
“A Christmas high? Thanksgiving’s not even until next week.”
“Tell that to the Hallmark channel. They’re already playing Christmas moves. I watched several today, and now I’m ready to decorate the house and wrap presents.”
He laughed. “Jenna watched those things.” He sipped his coffee. “Is it wrong for me to admit I like them, too?”
I raised an eyebrow and smiled. “I won’t tell.”
I sipped my coffee, but still hadn’t taken a bite of food. “Do you think the bomb is connected to the murders?”
He set down his fork and faced me. “I think someone thinks you know something and it’s a threat to them.”
“Do you believe me now? The murders, do you think they’re connected?”
“I don’t know. I just know you need to stay out of it. You keep putting yourself at risk, and one of these days it’s going to catch up with you.”
He was right. I stirred the rice around the plate, making little piles of it along the rim.
“You should eat a little more. I promised Hayden I’d keep you fed. I’m afraid she’ll hurt me if I don’t get some food into you.”
I smiled. “She’s persistent like her mother.”
He chuckled. “You think I don’t know that? Everyone this side of the Mason Dixon line knows that.”
Max really did care about me. He cared about Hayden, and the dogs, too. He’d been there for us after Sam’s death, helping us get through the hard stuff. He wasn’t obtrusive, he was just there, waiting on the sidelines if we needed something, and I appreciated that. “You’re good people, you know that?”
“My momma tried.”
Chapter 9
Max slept on the couch. I begged him to sleep in the guest room, but he wanted to be downstairs close to the doors in case something happened.
“If someone’s going to try anything, they’re going to be at ground level.” He placed a gun on the coffee table beside the couch. “And I want to be ready.”
Nothing happened that night, though to be honest, no one thought anything would. His staying the night was more of a precautionary measure to satisfy Hayden, and maybe himself a little, too.
When I came downstairs, he had a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me. “Just how you like it—a little half and half to give it some color.”
My chest tightened. Such a small, kind gesture on his part, but one filled with years of intimacy with Sam. I felt that taking the cup from him was some kind of betrayal against my husband.
“I’m assuming you’re not going to stay home and rest today?”
“I’ve got things to do at the shelter, and I feel fine. I really need to get up and move around.”
Allie and Bandit sat on the small rug in front of the garage door and stared intently at their bowls.
Max pointed at them. “I think they’re hungry.”
I smiled. “You think?” I bent over and picked up the bowls, filled them with two and a half cups of Royal Canin—the only food that didn’t cause little Allie digestive issues—and set them back down.
The dogs ate like they hadn’t had food in years.
Max stared at them, his eyes wide, and a big smile on his face. “Wow.”
“They’d eat me out of house and home if they could.”
He laughed. “That’s a mother’s expression if I’ve ever heard one.”
“It was my mother’s, so yup.” I sipped my coffee and leaned against the kitchen island. “Did you sleep okay?”
He nodded. “When I did, it wasn’t bad.”
“I’m sorry. You must be exhausted.”
He shrugged. “I spent most of the night trying to figure out the connection between George and Cindy.”
“It’s not safe for me to be involved but you can be?”
“No one left a bomb on my doorstep.”
“Point taken. So, did you come up with anything though?”
He shifted his mouth so one side curled upward.
“I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”
“No, I didn’t come up with anything. Not anything that seems relevant, at least.”
“I was thinking. What if it’s not about money, or power? What if it’s something else?”
“Don’t they say people usually kill for love or money?”
“Exactly. What if we’ve been thinking about it wrong the whole time?”
“I don’t think George has been involved with anyone since Susan.”
“I still think we’ve been looking at it all wrong.” I walked around the counter and opened the bag of bread near the toaster. “Would you like some avocado toast?”
“No, I’ve got to run in a minute. I’ve got to get some things done before the memorial service.”
I slipped two slices of multi-grain bread into the toaster and took the avocado from the refrigerator. “Susan’s handling the arrangements. That’s kind of her considering they’re divorced.”
“I don’t think their marriage ended because they didn’t love each other. I think staying together just reminded them of what they’d lost.” He rinsed out his cup, placed it in the sink, and then came over to me and brushed a hair away from my face. “You going to be okay?”
I nodded, trying hard to keep the tears at bay. I didn’t know why I felt the urge to cry, but I wouldn’t do it in front of Max.
“I’ll see you in a few hours then?”
“Yes.”
He smiled and put on his sports coat. He patted each of the dogs on the head and smiled as he walked to the front door. “Lock up behind me.”
I leaned against the counter. Bandit and Allie sat in the walkway between the kitchen and keeping room and stared at me with their heads slightly angled as if they had an opinion to share.
“What? I’m allowed to have friends, aren’t I?”
Their tails swept across the wood floor.
Memorial services for prominent members of the community were like semi-formal dancing for the popular crowd in high school. The women dressed in expensive black dresses and stiletto heels, with designer hats stuck on their heads. Sam’s funeral was the same.
Seeing the Kentucky Derby styled hats gave Hayden and I a reprieve from the pain, and for a moment or two we found humor in something. The black lace hanging down over their eyes, the small black and cream silk flowers attached to the sides of the wide brims, we thought it was ridiculous. Where did they buy such crazy things? The only hats I owned were either baseball hats or the kind people wore when they went skiing.
Most of the women at George’s memorial weren’t even from the south originally, so they didn’t wear them because they were raised that way. They wore them because they could get away with it.
The service was packed. So much so the line went out the door. Susan stood next to the closed casket surrounded by dozens of floral baskets filled with red, white and yellow flowers She held a small white handkerchief in her hand and used it to her dab her eyes every so often.
I scanned the room, taking mental notes of the people who’d come to pay their respects, paying special attention to the women and their reactions.
Max tapped my shoulder. “You look nice.”
I’d dropped the dogs off at the shelter, shared a quick hello with Mary, and rushed to the funeral home. If I’d bet someone my black dress didn’t have dog hair all over it, I would have lost big time. But I appreciated the compliment. “Thank you.”
He leaned in toward my ear. “That’s probably inappropriate to say at a funeral, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure a lot of inappropriate things are being said here,” I whispered back, a smile spreading across my face.
He cleared his throat. “See anything interesting?”
I scanned the room again quickly. “No, unfortunately, I don’t.”
“Me either, but I don’t have any matchmaking experience, so…” He let that comment hang in the air.
I elbowed him in the side. “Stop making me laugh. We’re at a funeral.”
He straightened next to me. “Yes, ma’am.”
I greeted Susan with a soft smile. “Susan, I’m so sorry.”
Hounds, Harvest, and Homicide Page 13
