by Roma James
Cole hugged me back for several long seconds, then opened his arms wider and motioned toward Prescott. “You’d better get in on this, too. I’m gonna remind you of all those nice things you just said the next time you’re acting like an asshole.”
Prescott laughed, then joined our little group hug. “You’d just better be glad we’re friends… asshole.”
We all laughed at that. “I love being here with you guys,” I said. “I don’t even want to think about going home yet.”
“Then don’t think about it,” Cole said.
“That’s right. Not tonight, anyway,” Prescott added. “Think of something else. Like going home with me.”
He kissed me on the forehead, and then I took a step back so I could look both of them in the eye. “I’d like that. Except I want it to be all three of us. Just to spend the night. We don’t even have to… I mean… I just want to be near both of you tonight.”
“Then that’s what you’ll have,” Cole said.
“Whatever you want, babe.” Prescott nodded.
I smiled. How could I not? My two guys—my perfect guys—were here with me.
That was what I wanted. That was all I needed.
Chapter 15
Daisy Lynn
I had been sorely tempted to beg for another couple of hours with my guys when Janessa and Becca came to pick me up at Prescott’s house the morning after our impromptu sleepover.
It had been so nice just to lie there with them, kissing and cuddling and sleeping in each other’s arms. The day had just started and I was already missing it—and hoping we’d get a chance to do it all over again really soon.
“So?” Janessa asked, looking at me in the back seat through the rear-view mirror. “How was it? You haven’t said a word since you got in the car.”
“It must have been good,” Becca said, smirking. “She hasn’t stopped smiling since she got in the car, either.”
Both were true. And I kept on smiling as I nodded my head. “It was really nice. Just… comfortable. But there really isn’t much to tell. We just stayed in and slept. We were all pretty much in a carb coma after that amazing dinner.”
“That cobbler did turn out pretty well, I have to admit.” Now Janessa was smiling. “Granny’s would have been better, but I think she’d still be satisfied with mine.”
I opened my mouth to say something else, then shut it again as my smile faded. I wasn’t the best with directions, but it was pretty easy to get around in a town as small as Bliss. And I’d made the trip from Janessa’s ranch to Prescott’s house enough times to know we were driving in the wrong direction.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “This isn’t the way back to your house.”
“I wondered how long it would take you to notice,” Janessa chortled. “I can’t blame you, though. I know what it’s like to be thinking about someone—or maybe two somebodies—so much that you don’t even notice anything else.”
I felt my face flush a little. She had hit the nail on the head with that one. There really hadn’t been room in my thoughts for anyone or anything else since the moment I’d met my guys.
And honestly? I was mostly okay with that. This was fun and new and exciting. And even though I hadn’t done the greatest job of balancing my time between my guys and my friends, I was trying to be more mindful of that.
Only after several more seconds of my own distracted thinking had passed did I realize Janessa never really answered my question. And we were still going the wrong way.
“So what’s the big mystery?” I asked again. “Where are we going?”
“I wanted to drop off some cobbler to a friend,” Janessa said, making eye contact with me again through the mirror. “Just a quick little stop. We won’t be long.”
Becca held up a dish with the cobbler. “I still think we should have kept more of it for ourselves, but…”
“That wouldn’t be very neighborly, though, would it?”
There was something in her tone—not quite sarcasm, but not far off—that made me think there was more to this visit than just delivering some delicious cobbler.
“And who is this new favorite neighbor of yours?” I asked. “I’m pretty sure it can’t be a guy…”
“No, not a guy…” Janessa’s voice trailed off a little as we pulled off the main road onto a long driveway that led up to a stately house. “It’s Nora Statler. I just wanted to check up on her after the conversation we had at dinner last night.”
Oh, God.
I remembered that conversation all too well.
“I, um… don’t think that’s a great idea,” I said.
“Which is exactly why I didn’t tell you about it before we got here.” Janessa shrugged. “But we’re here now, and it would be a shame to let this cobbler go to waste. And anyway, you don’t have to talk to her. I’m just going to say hi and see how she’s doing. Then we can leave.”
Becca wasn’t making eye contact with either of us, so I couldn’t tell whether she agreed with Janessa’s visit or not. Not that it mattered what anyone else thought. I knew what we were doing—and I knew exactly why we shouldn’t be doing it.
“Prescott and Cole are going to be really upset when they find out we’ve—”
“They don’t have to find out at all, do they?” Janessa snapped, cutting me off. “Unless we find out some useful information while we’re here, of course. But all they really said was that I—we—should be careful. And last I checked, there wasn’t anything less threatening than taking some dessert to a neighbor in broad daylight. What do you really think is going to happen? There’s three of us here. Nora isn’t going to shoot us. She sure as hell isn’t going to lay hands on us.”
Okay, so she had a point there. And honestly, if Janessa was going to make this trip regardless of how anyone felt, I would rather Becca and I stay with her than let her go alone.
God, Prescott and Cole were going to be pissed when I told them about our visit. And it wasn’t like I could just not tell them. I wasn’t going to lie to my guys. Not even if it was a lie of omission.
Not now. Not ever.
So that meant we had to make this trip worthwhile. We needed to come up with some more evidence my guys could use.
“Okay.” Janessa parked the car in front of the house and then turned in her seat to look at me. “You can either stay out here in the car or you can come in with us. Totally up to you.”
I didn’t have to think about it anymore. I didn’t even hesitate. I simply nodded and reached for the door handle.
“I’m in.”
The outside of the house was elegant but in a sort of subdued way. The inside, though?
Even without knowing her, I could confidently say there was nothing subtle or subdued about Nora Statler. It was also pretty obvious that Nora liked nice things. Nice, expensive things.
But it was all too much.
Too cluttered. Too lush. Too many bright colors. Just… too much.
Then again, it all sort of matched her look and personality. Nora was a little too much, all by herself.
From her bleached blond hair to her pink satin robe to the leopard print slippers that matched her living room rug and throw pillows.
Just.
Too.
Much.
She offered us a seat on the large sofa and then made a show of collapsing into the armchair opposite. “You’ll have to forgive my lack of makeup,” she sighed. “I wasn’t expecting company today.”
“No worries,” Janessa said, the corners of her lips twitching. “You don’t have to get all dressed up for us, anyway.”
I elbowed her in the side while doing my best to keep from smiling. Or snorting out a laugh. I wasn’t sure in what world Nora’s look would be considered makeup-free, but she looked ready for a night out on the town to me.
I wouldn’t have even been a tiny bit surprised if she’d whipped off that silky robe to reveal a sequined cocktail dress.
Seriously. The woman was too much.
But there was something that was almost endearing about it. Endearing and sort of sad. Did she really put on a full face of makeup to knock around in this big old house all by herself?
Nora gave a smile that definitely didn’t reach all the way up to her eyes. “So, Miss Thoreson, to what do I owe this… unexpected visit?”
“We thought you might like some cobbler,” Janessa said, nodding toward Becca. Becca dutifully held up the dessert dish with a sweet smile. “And I also wanted to ask if your horse is doing any better since the last time we talked?”
Nora’s face fell into a concerned frown and she shook her head. It was the first genuine-looking expression I’d seen since we’d arrived. “He isn’t doing very well, I’m afraid. He’s been having kidney issues ever since the poisoning. Logan doesn’t know if he’ll ever make a full recovery.”
“Was it Monensin?” I asked, prompting a confused look from Nora.
“I’m sorry? I’m not familiar…” She shrugged. “I can’t remember what Logan said was used to poison my horse, but it wasn’t that.”
All four of us were silent for a moment. Were Janessa and Becca thinking the same thing I was? If Nora had somehow been connected with the other poisonings, wouldn’t she at least have heard of Monensin before?
I’d slipped the question in quickly, hoping to trip her up a little, but… either she was a really good actress, or she genuinely hadn’t ever heard of the drug. And judging by the rest of her over-the-top actions and surroundings, I had to assume that an unrehearsed lie would have been pretty easy to detect.
“It just feels like my whole world is crashing down,” Nora said, easing back in her chair with another heavy sigh. “First my beloved horse, and then Isaac… I just don’t know what I’ll do if anything else happens. I don’t think I could handle it. Maybe we should all be trying to sell our land.”
“I heard about something happening here but didn’t get a lot of details,” Janessa said. “That was the guy from the geological agency? Isaac?”
She nodded. “He’s been in a coma ever since the… the attack.”
The three of us leaned in closer with each word. Nora was barely speaking above a whisper. It was exactly the sort of dramatic performance I had expected to see earlier, but it still didn’t seem like she was acting. Not completely, anyway.
Whatever the geological guy had been doing at Nora’s house that morning, it was obviously more than just business.
“How did you know Isaac, anyway?” Janessa asked, giving a voice to my own thoughts.
“I… we…” Nora huffed out a short breath and made a dismissive gesture. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he gets better.” She stood up so suddenly that Janessa, Becca, and I all flinched a little on the sofa. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have an awful headache.” We got to our feet, and she didn’t waste any time ushering us toward the door. “I’ve been suffering since this whole ordeal started. Chronic migraines. I should probably be in the hospital myself.”
“I hope you feel better,” Becca said meekly as Nora practically pushed us out the door.
“Thanks for letting us stop by,” Janessa added. “Enjoy the cobbler.”
“Thank you, dear,” Nora said with another fake smile. “I need to go lie down now. I’m sure you understand.”
She closed the door before any of us could say anything else.
“Well, that was weird,” Becca said as we walked back to the car.
“Honestly?” Janessa shook her head. “Not much different from how she normally acts.”
“Can we at least go back to your house now?” I asked, suddenly feeling tired even though I’d had a full night’s sleep. “That was… a lot.”
“Not yet,” Janessa said, pausing as we all got into the car. “We still have one more stop to make.”
“Please tell me we’re not going to interrogate more of your neighbors,” I groaned.
Janessa laughed. “I’d consider it, but we’re out of cobbler.” She took a deep breath, then shook her head. “No, nothing fun like that. But cheer up.” She put the car in reverse and began backing out of the driveway. “We’re going to the police station to see your boyfriends.”
The news really should have cheered me up. It would have on any other day. Any normal day.
But things had stopped being normal a while ago. I just hoped my boyfriends would go easy on us.
“You shouldn’t have gone there,” Prescott said, just like I’d known he would. We’d barely even started telling him about our visit with Nora before he cut in with that look and tone that they must train police officers to use in times like this. “I told you specifically to leave the investigating to me and my deputy.”
“I don’t remember you saying those specific words,” Janessa countered, earning a look that would have probably made most people shut up and sit down without another word. Not my girl, though. “But even if you did say something like that, you also said to be careful—and we were very careful.”
“We all stayed together,” I offered, hoping to back Janessa up and defend my own actions a little at the same time. “That had to be safer than any of us trying to go there alone…”
“You shouldn’t have gone at all,” Cole said from his desk. “We would’ve been worried sick if something had happened to you.” He gestured to the three of us. “To any of you. Please promise us you won’t do something like that again.”
I was ready to make that promise, but Janessa sidestepped it with another question of her own.
“Aren’t you at least a little bit curious about what Nora said?” She looked from Cole to Prescott. “Will you be less angry with us if we can help with your investigation?”
“We aren’t angry,” Prescott said. “But I can’t stand the thought of the three of you putting yourselves in harm’s way. I’ll never be okay with that.”
“Did she mention anything about Isaac?” Cole asked. “And did you happen to see if she had any maps lying around?”
“She was kind of cagey about Isaac,” Janessa said. “When I asked how they knew each other she faked a headache and threw us out.”
“It was pretty fishy,” I added. “He was definitely doing more than geological surveys with her.”
“That’s what we figured, too.” Prescott nodded, frowning. “But there’s definitely still a business aspect. Something to do with some maps we saw.”
“They were maps of this area?” Becca asked. “Could I see? My major is in environmental biology, but I took some basic classes in geology and geography. I might be able to help.”
“That makes you more of an expert than we are,” Cole said, fishing out his phone and walking over to show Becca. “Just know that I’m not showing you this in my official capacity as a deputy. Just as a… a friend. Strictly off the record.”
Becca nodded and we all huddled around to see as she scrolled through the photos on Cole’s phone. “I don’t know much about this area,” Becca said. “But there are oil deposits marked all over those maps.”
“Oil?” Prescott asked, his eyes going wide. “Really? Damn…”
“So there’s our business connection,” Cole said, a far-away look in his eyes as he was no doubt piecing together evidence in his mind.
“And if Nora thinks there’s oil on our land, that would explain why she’s been so pushy about getting me and the rest of the land owners around here to sell,” Janessa said.
“She even mentioned something about everyone wanting to sell their land if the attacks continued,” I added. “Do you think…”
“That she’s behind all of this?” Prescott asked, finishing my question. “I think our case just got a lot stronger, for sure.”
“She and Isaac may have even staged the attack to throw us off—and it worked, if that was the objective,” Cole said.
Janessa shook her head. “I’m not sure about that part. She said he’s still in a coma, and she really did look worried when she was talking about him. But maybe…”
“Or maybe she knew about the attack but Isaac didn’t?” I wondered out loud. “He obviously wouldn’t consent to being put in a coma.”
Cole and Prescott exchanged a look, then Cole nodded. “Okay, thank you for your help, ladies. You really have done a lot for us today, even if we would have preferred that you hadn’t.”
“Is that our cue to leave you to your official police business?” Janessa asked with a grin.
“Something like that,” Prescott answered, mirroring her smile with one of his own.
“Fine.” Janessa sighed. “We’ll take the hint and go back to the ranch. Unless you guys wanted to keep Daisy Lynn here under lock and key, of course…”
I rolled my eyes but then stopped when I saw the way Cole and Prescott were both looking at me. Janessa must have noticed it, too, because she snorted out another laugh.
“Oh, my God. I was joking.” She threw her hands in the air, then nodded toward Becca. “Come on, let’s give these love birds some privacy.”
“Wait.” I walked over to Janessa and lowered my voice. “Do you mind? If I stay for a while, I mean. I was really looking forward to some girl time today, but…”
“No, I get it,” Janessa said. “We’ll have girl time later. Go get your guys.”
Becca nodded. “Girl time can wait—but just this once.”
I hugged both of them and waved goodbye. “Thanks. You two are the best.”
“We know,” Janessa said with a wave. “Now go have some fun.”
I was smiling as I rejoined Cole and Prescott. “I just wish I could split myself in half so I could be everywhere at once.”
“You don’t have to stay with us,” Prescott said. “Seriously. We’ll understand if you want to spend some time with your friends. We’re grown. We can handle it.” He looked over at Cole, who was already frowning at Prescott’s words. “Well, one of us is grown, at least.”
