by K. J. Emrick
With a shrug, Darcy agreed. “Right. This time. I had no idea Lauren was the murderer. Did you?”
Jon looked sheepishly down at his feet. “I’m sure it would have come to me. Eventually.”
They had been standing in their bedroom for a very long time now while Jon made her tell him the story over and over. He kept saying that he needed to go down to the police station and help sort this mess out, now that they had the person who murdered their town mayor in custody, but instead of leaving he just kept alternating between holding her in his arms and telling her how stupid she’d been.
As if Darcy didn’t already know that.
“We have a family to think about,” he said, also for the tenth time. “We can’t keep throwing ourselves into harm’s way over and over. Not when we need to make sure we come home at night for their sake.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Like when you’re the chief of police in a town with one of the highest murder rates in the country? You call that staying out of harm’s way?”
For that she got another hug, and this time he didn’t let go.
“Let’s just agree,” he whispered into her ear, “that we’re going to be more careful now. For the sake of our kids. Okay?”
“Agreed,” Darcy told him. “It’s okay, Jon. I know I’m not exactly eighteen anymore.”
“Would you want to be? If you could go back, I mean. Would you really want to relive your youth?”
“Uh… no,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. “I think I had enough of being young back when I was young.”
“I don’t know. I think I would have liked to know you back then.”
She pulled a frown. “I’m not sure you would have.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to trust you on that. You don’t talk about your younger years very much.”
His hands smoothed themselves up and down her back and she leaned into him. It felt really nice. Being home again, even without their pizza, felt even nicer. It was the end of another mystery for both of them. One that had been very personal, and very emotional.
“We won’t forget her,” Jon said.
Darcy didn’t have to ask who he meant. It was like he was reading her thoughts. He’d always been able to do that for her and now was no different. Her mind was full of thoughts about Helen. Her life, and her death, and the senseless way that she had died for another woman’s senseless jealousy. Memories flooded through her, along with things that she suddenly wanted to tell Helen but would never be able to, and all that anger she’d been holding in let go all at once. It was like someone had opened the floodgates on her grief.
Tears streamed out of her eyes and she was helpless to stop them. She clung to Jon, needing his support to stand, except then he was easing her down onto the mattress and letting her bury her face in his shirt while she sat and cried out everything that was in her. Her tears were hot and salty. Darcy hadn’t realized just how much she’d been holding in. Was this where her anger had come from in the first place? Holding all this back?
She remembered how Lauren had been so certain that Helen didn’t appreciate her. Darcy knew that was a lie, and it made Helen’s death all that more senseless. Helen had cared for Lauren very much, and appreciated everything she did, even to the point of pushing Darcy out of the spirit communication rather than reveal it was Lauren who had killed her. She had been willing to let her memory be that of a good woman who had died peacefully in her sleep, if it meant that Lauren wouldn’t have to go to jail for the rest of her life.
That was so like Helen to do something like that. It was the sort of person she was, to care for others more than herself.
As the tears finally began to slow, she felt the pain in her stomach unknotting. All of the sick emotions she’d been carrying around since Sunday, when Jon told her Helen was dead, eased away and were gone. She felt them going and didn’t try to stop them. She still didn’t let go of Jon. She wasn’t ready to let go. He was her rock. To be fair, she was his rock, too. They steadied each other, in all the ways that were important.
“Better?” he asked her, that one word carrying a world of meaning.
She nodded into his shirt, shifting her body against his until she was comfortable again. “Thank you. I think I needed that.”
“I’m always here whenever you want to fall apart,” he promised her. “I’ll catch you.”
“Oh, Jon.” He always knew the right things to say. Even if they were incredibly corny.
He cupped her chin in his hand, and lifted her face up to his, and she saw that look in his amazing blue eyes that defied description.
Their lips touched, and she pressed her mouth to his, eager for his kiss.
She was so wrapped up in the feeling of being this close to him that she almost missed the sound of their door opening.
“Mom?” It was Colby who had caught them in their kiss. “Zane says that Cha-Cha is hungry. Um. I can do it if you want. If you’re busy, I mean.”
She watched them, sitting on the bed together, and she kept her expression very carefully neutral, but Darcy knew what was going on behind those eyes. Colby knew what had been going on in here, and she had an idea of what came next. Darcy wouldn’t have gone to bed with Jon with the kids still awake, but Colby obviously knew what men and women did behind closed doors. She was getting much too smart about such things. Their little girl was growing up.
Looking at her now, it was easy for Darcy to picture her as a young woman, grown up and moving on without her parents. Married, and with kids of her own.
Not too soon, she hoped. She wanted her children to be young and innocent for as long as possible.
“That’s all right,” she told Colby. “I’ll feed him.”
“You sure?” Jon asked her. “I can go if you want to stay here. You’ve certainly done enough for one day. Things are going to be crazy tomorrow, and we still have to start planning the menu for Thanksgiving dinner, too.”
“Yes, and I’ve got all that settled. We’re having Helen’s famous blueberry lemon tarts, by the way. Bruce is getting me the recipe. I’ll ask him for it when things have settled down for him.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to having this conversation with him. The killer was right there the whole time, and none of us saw it.”
“He’ll probably take it better from you,” Darcy told him. “I’m going to owe him a big apology, and I probably should do that before I ask for the recipe.”
“There, see? Every time you cross one thing off your list you’ve got two more that pop up. Why don’t you get ready for bed and just relax for the rest of the night?”
“Because,” she said, “you have to get to the police station, remember? Colby can help me take care of things until you’re back. We can stay up late, just the two of us. How’s that sound, Colby?”
Her daughter beamed with excitement. “As late as we want?”
“Absolutely,” Darcy smiled. “At least, until you fall asleep on the couch.”
Colby put a hand on her hip like she’d seen her mother do a thousand times before. “I will not fall asleep. I’m going to stay up just as long as you do.”
Darcy didn’t argue, but she knew from experience that Colby was going to be snoring in front of the television right around midnight or so. She’d let her daughter stay up late before and she knew Colby’s limits. Usually she didn’t make this offer on a school night, but these were special circumstances, to say the least. If Jon was going to be off at the police station until God alone knew when, Darcy would definitely appreciate having Colby for company, even for a little while.
Besides, she looked better now, but Colby had been really under the weather lately. That headache of hers came and went, and Darcy was starting to get concerned. If it didn’t go away, for good, there was going to be a trip to the doctor. That wasn’t her gift telling her the future. That was her mother’s instinct watching out for her daughter’s health.
Jon kissed her on th
e cheek again, and then he gave Colby a huge hug that lifted her right off her feet. She squealed and laughed and leaned her head way, way back to look at Darcy upside down. They waved to each other with their fingers as Jon set her down. “I’m going down to say goodbye to Zane and Cha-Cha,” he said. “I love you, Darcy Sweet.”
“I love you too, Jon Tinker.”
He left for the police station not long after that. Darcy heard the car start in the driveway, and then pull away, as she was using a handful of tissues to wipe the last of the tears out of her eyes. She didn’t want Zane to see her like that and worry that something was wrong.
“It’s okay, Mom,” Colby told her, taking her hand. “We’re here for you.”
Darcy smiled at her. Obviously, she had done something right while raising her children for them to turn out like they had. Great Aunt Millie had been a good role model for her, showing her all the things a parent should and shouldn’t do. Her relationship with her own mother had been strained, at best. She was glad they were friends now, but she wanted Colby to be her friend now and forever. Not just when they were adults and could talk their problems through.
Tiptoe poked her head around the bedroom door, her eyes narrowed, and one ear held back. Darcy couldn’t quite figure out what was bothering her at first. Not until Cha-Cha barked from down the hall, playing with Zane in his room, and Tiptoe’s whiskers twitched.
“Ah, I get it.” Darcy moved over on the mattress, patting the space beside her for Tiptoe. “Come on up here, young lady. I have a story to tell you.”
Tiptoe looked dubious, but she slowly inched her way into the room, rubbing against the frame of the door as if to say she was only doing this so she could scratch her back. When she jumped up gracefully and landed next to Darcy, she curled her tail around her feet and looked off at the wall. She was here, but it was only because it was her idea.
That was fine with Darcy. Tiptoe was going to have her own personality, different from Smudge’s, different from that of her mother Twistypaws, and different from any other cat. That’s how it should be. It had taken some getting used to for Darcy, but she felt they were finally connecting.
Hopefully, what she was about to say would help.
“So, Tiptoe. I want to tell you the story of how I managed to catch Lauren Long with a Santa Claus, and with some help from an old friend of mine. Somebody you know.”
Colby’s eyes got wide as Darcy told the story of the ghostly appearance of the cat’s eyes, and how the lights had been miraculously turned off and on just when Darcy needed them to be. Tiptoe didn’t move through the whole story, not until the very end. It was impossible to tell how much the young feline understood, but when Darcy explained how much it meant to her to know that Smudge might still be watching over her, Tiptoe stood up, and pressed her head along Darcy’s arm.
“You’re part of our family,” Darcy told her. “Just like Smudge was. You’re special to us, and we’re glad you’re here.”
Colby stroked a hand down the cat’s back, and Tiptoe purred softly.
She jumped down off the bed, and ambled toward the door, just as Cha-Cha began barking again from Zane’s room. Tiptoe stopped, and her tail flicked, and then she looked back over her shoulder at Darcy.
Her eyes narrowed.
It was like she was saying that Cha-Cha could stay. For now.
Then she turned and slipped away down the hall.
If that was an offer of a truce, Darcy thought to herself, she’d take it.
“Speaking of Cha-Cha,” Darcy said, standing up from the bed, “I suppose we should go and feed him, right Colby?”
“Uh-huh. I’m kind of hungry myself. You know we never did get dinner. Not a real dinner. Dad gave us bowls of cereal.”
“Oh? I thought you liked cereal.”
“Sure, but for supper? Sometimes Dad is such a guy.” She clucked her tongue, sounding much older than her years. “Um. I think we’ll need to make some popcorn if we’re staying up later. Don’t you agree?”
Darcy agreed completely. Although, they would have to wait until Zane was in bed and asleep or else he’d want to stay up with them and get his share of the popcorn. If that happened, he’d wake up tired and grumpy tomorrow. Tired and grumpy three-year-olds were no fun, in Darcy’s experience.
Down in Zane’s room, they found him and Cha-Cha running around in circles in the middle of his room. Every few steps the dog would catch his ear under his own paw and end up tangled in his own feet. Zane would laugh and plop down next to him, picking him up around his midsection and hugging him tight. Cha-Cha loved every minute of it.
She knew that this had been Helen’s puppy, and no doubt Helen had intended to grow old with the dog. Most likely, this would have been the last pet she ever had. Not that Darcy knew what the lifespan of a Bassador dog would be, but a dog typically lived for about fifteen years. Without Lauren Long’s interference, Cha-Cha and Helen might have passed on together from natural causes.
But… seeing the way Zane was with him, she couldn’t help but think that Cha-Cha might be happier here, with a young boy who wanted to play and romp and chase sticks. They would play together and grow up together and Cha-Cha would grow into those ears while forming a fast friendship with a boy who would love him.
There was no doubt in her mind that Helen would approve.
“Hey, buddy,” Darcy said to Zane. “How about we go downstairs and get Cha-Cha some late supper?”
Zane was on the floor with the puppy again. The two of them looked at each other, and Cha-Cha twisted his head to one side and cocked one ear way up.
“He says,” Zane translated for him, “bam-bow-wow.”
Cha-Cha headed for the bedroom door, and slid his way around the corner, and then raced down the hall to the safety gate at the top of the stairs. Zane was right behind him.
Darcy stared at them both. That phrase…
“Bambo wow?” Colby laughed. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Little brothers. Am I right?”
She went after them, carefully opening the gate the way Darcy had shown her and then helping her little brother down the stairs. Cha-Cha was softly barking up a storm, obviously wondering where his food was and why it wasn’t already in front of him.
After another moment, Darcy shook herself and went to follow them. “It’s pronounced bam-bow-wow,” she whispered, remembering when Cha-Cha had corrected her in her dream.
Maybe Colby wasn’t the only one who had inherited the family gift. Could she have passed it on to her son? It was only supposed to go to the girls. That’s what she’d always thought. Great Aunt Millie, her mother, her sister and Addison and maybe baby Emily, her, and Colby. It only developed in the girls.
Except, there were hardly any boys in the Sweet family tree. It was one of those quirks of nature that Darcy had never really thought about before. Girls ran in the family. Zane was one of the few male births in several generations. Maybe the gift was unheard of in boys because boys were almost unheard of in the Sweet family line.
What would the gift look like in a boy? What would it do for Zane?
The possibilities were endless. It could be almost anything. Maybe even… talking to animals.
Darcy pressed her fingers around her Great Aunt Millie’s ring, and then touched the mother’s bracelet around her wrist.
Their family had so much that connected them. Not just the family gift, and however it might express itself, but love and respect and trust. Darcy loved her family.
She couldn’t wait to see where the story took them next.
For now, the story was taking her downstairs to feed their new dog and plan a night in with her daughter. Life didn’t get much better.
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About the Author
K.J. Emrick
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Kathrine Emrick writing as K.J. Emrick is the author of the popular Darcy Sweet Cozy Mystery series and the Pine Lake Inn Cozy Mystery series.
Strongly influenced by authors like James Patterson, Dick Francis, and Nora Roberts, Kathrine Emrick dreamed of being an author for the majority of her life.
She never quite gave up on the idea of being a published author and at the age of 51, thanks to the self-publishing explosion, she finally realized her dream. Her maturity allows her to bring a variety of experiences and observations to her writing.
She lives in beautiful South Australia with her family, including several animals. Kathrine can always be found jotting down daily notes in a journal and like many authors, she loves to be surrounded by books and is a voracious reader. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at the local library.
