by Dee Ernst
“Why on earth would he need eleven copies?”
“Different covers. You don’t know those horror aficionados.”
“And you do?”
“I’ll have you know I’ve seen Friday the 13th almost thirty times.”
“Almost?”
“Well, I fell asleep during some of them, so you can’t count them as a whole, you see.”
I laughed. He could always make me laugh.
A sleek Mercedes pulled up to the curb, and Mike made a noise. Joe lifted his head and growled, low in his throat.
“Who..?” I stood up and watched as Amy McCann came briskly up my walk.
She stopped short and stared. “Mike? What the hell are you doing here?”
Mike smiled. “I hang out here a lot.”
She looked at me, then back at him, and a sly, quite unpleasant smile came to her ace. “A happy couple? I see. Well, now, isn’t that just so romantic.”
I crossed my arms and went down a step. “Are you here for a specific reason, Amy, or just stopping by to say hello?”
She adjusted the large tote bag on her arm. “Your neighbor has filed with the town that there’s a rare and endangered animal nesting in the lot next door, and the town seems very reluctant to allow me to build.”
“Oh? How about that.”
She took a step closer. “Listen. You were in real estate. You know how hard it is, especially if you’re a woman. And believe me, I’ve been fighting the boy’s club around here for years.” She lowered her voice, just us girls. “I really wouldn’t build a fourteen unit anything here, it just wouldn’t make sense. But I’ve got to do something. What would make you happy, Chris? A nice, little single family? I could build something similar to your house, it would be quite lovely.”
“You seem to think that I have some sort of power in this situation, Amy. I don’t know why you would think that. A very well respected expert has sworn that an endangered animal has somehow decided to nest in, well, your trees. I can’t help that. I can’t help it if the town has decided not to go to battle with the State Wildlife Commission over it.”
She smiled. “Come on, give me a break here. I paid a lot of money for that piece of property.”
“Because you thought you could use it to get what you wanted from Connie and Celeste Montecorvo. And that was the only reason. Do I look stupid to you, Amy?” I heard Mike behind me shift in his chair, Joe was silent.
Her eyes narrowed. “You lied to me about that whole thing.”
“And?”
She stepped back. “What do you mean and?”
“I didn’t lie to you. I just played around with words, and you drew your own conclusions. But if I did lie, I certainly wouldn’t feel guilty about it. My loyalty is with Celeste, not you.”
I saw the anger in her eyes and it was, I admit, rather intimidating. She stepped forward, then leaned toward me. “I can fight this, you know that damn squirrel isn’t on the federal list, you know.”
“Yes, I know. The Commonwealth of Virginia still has a pretty high opinion of her, though. Fight away.”
“It will cost you money.”
“No, It won’t. I’m not the town, or the state, or even a conservation group from Delaware that’s perfectly prepared to have its members lie down in front of bulldozers if need be. This will, however, cost you money. How much are you willing to spend for spite?”
She looked past me at Mike and practically snarled. “You think you have friends here? Well, so do I, and let me tell you—”
I heard Mike walk down the porch steps and felt him come up behind me. His arm went across my shoulder and he pulled me close.
“I’d be careful here, Amy. This happens to be the woman I love, and I wouldn’t take very kindly to any of your usual dirt spilling onto her. You really don’t have as many friends as you think, and I you might remember the last time you thought you could throw your weight around. It didn’t go over too well in this town.”
My throat was suddenly dry and I swear my heart was pounding so hard that I thought I would explode.
A look flickered across her face and I saw her withdraw. “You two deserve each other,” she snarled.
I felt the tension leave my body. She was done. “Why, thank you, Amy. I think so too.”
She turned and clattered back to her car on spiked heels, her whole body trembling with anger. She slammed the door of her car shut, loudly, and sped down Main Street.
I was still standing, Mike beside me. He slipped both his arms across my chest and I felt his breath in my ear. “I know. You don’t need rescuing. I just couldn’t stand by and let her, well—”
“No. It was…fine. Thank you.” My mouth was dry and my voice cracked. He’d said it. He said the words, I’d heard them, but was it a show for Amy? Or was I really the woman he loved. Was it worth asking? What if..?
“Did you mean it?”
His hands rubbed my shoulders and I felt his lips in my hair. “Of course I meant it. I won’t let her start one of her nasty little campaigns against you. Why, I’ll—”
“No,” I broke in. “I meant the part about being the woman you love?”
He was very still, and then he turned me around and looked down at me, his eyes steady and warm. “Of course I love you, Chris. Have from just about the first time I saw you. I know I haven’t said it, and I probably should have. I love you and I am grateful every day that you think I deserve a place in your world.” He kissed me on the forehead. “And I just hope that you’ll love me too, one of these days. I can be an awful fool about some things, but I promise, if you give me enough time, well, I’ll kinda grow on you.”
I drew back and pushed him, hard. “You idiot,” I yelled. “You complete idiot.”
He stepped back, looking stunned. “Oh, God, I’ve done it now, haven’t I? Listen, Chris—”
I reached up and threw my arms around his neck, covering his mouth and cutting off his words.
He finally drew back and looked down at me, eyes twinkling. “Well, I did kinda hope,” he said.
“I love you like crazy. I love you like, like…”
“I believe you.”
Joe suddenly sprang off the porch and dashed into the lot next door and I saw her, Bella, a flash of silver racing across the ground and disappearing up the trunk and into the pine branches. Joe circled the tree, barking.
“There’s my girl,” I said.
“That’s her? She’s a beauty.”
“Yes, she certainly is.”
“And I’ve never seen any one person get so excited about seeing a squirrel run up a tree.”
“Not any squirrel,” I said. “That’s Bella.”
Joe sat beneath the tree, looking up
“Always hopeful,” Mike cracked, then laughed. “Come on, Joe. We’ve got everything we need right here,” he called.
Joe gave a final, wistful look, then scampered back and followed us as we went up the steps and home.
Also by Dee Ernst
Stealing Jason Wilde
Am I Zen Yet?
Better Than Your Dreams
A Slight Change of Plan
A Different Kind of Forever
Better Off Without Him
The Mt. Abrams Mysteries
A Mother’s Day Murder
A Founders’ Day Death
A Killer Halloween
A Deadly New Year
A Malicious Midwinter
A Fatal April Shower
The Eastern Shore Romances
A Safe Place to Land
Building Home
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