by Matt Lincoln
I fell heavily onto the couch, nearest to the fire, and Amber immediately made herself cozy next to me. Harry followed me into the den a moment later.
“So that’s it, huh?” Harry asked as he came to sit next to me. “You’re just going to waltz in here and enjoy my home. No hello, no introductions. Were you raised in a barn?”
“I did spend a few weeks sleeping in a barn when I was eighteen, actually,” I deadpanned.
“Don’t be a smartass,” Harry said, smiling in spite of himself. “Introduce me to your friend. Sit down, son, make yourself comfortable.” He gestured at Junior to take a seat on the adjacent couch.
“Thank you, sir,” Junior said with a small nod before sitting.
“Ah, no, no, none of that ‘sir’ crap,” Harry said, waving his hand dismissively. “I’m not on the force anymore. You can just call me Harry. Although I am glad to see you have more manners than this one.” He shoved me gently on the shoulder.
“I got all my manners from you, old man,” I said, earning myself an unamused glare.
“That’s not nice, uncle Charlie,” Amber said admonishingly from her position beside me.
“I know, I’m sorry, Amberbug,” I said indulgently, feeling happy when she lit up with a smile.
“Your name’s Junior, right?” Harry said. “That’s what Charlie told me over the phone when he told me you were coming.”
“Oh, well, yeah,” Junior said, turning a shade redder. “My mom’s idea. She’s kind of eccentric. Really into unique and unconventional stuff, you know?”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Harry said. “I’d rather have a conversation with someone who was unconventional than someone who was boring.” I noticed his response had cheered Junior up. “Besides, it isn’t any more embarrassing than Charlie’s first name.”
“So, what’s for dinner?” I interrupted, hoping to stop that particular conversation in its tracks.
“What, what do you mean?” Junior asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. “Isn’t your first name Charlie?”
“Hey, Amberbug, you wanna see what I got you?” I asked, and to my relief, she began to bounce in excitement.
“Yes!” she screeched, and I shifted a little to pull a small box from my pocket.
“Here it is,” I said, dropping it into her small, outstretched hands. She unwrapped the brown paper around the box ever so carefully before lifting the lid.
“Ooh, it’s so pretty,” she said as she pulled the necklace out of the box. At the end of the chain was a single pearl carved into the shape of a heart.
“This pearl came from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece,” I said as she held it up to the light. “Do you want me to put it on you?”
“No, I want him to put it on me,” Amber said, pointing at Junior. The look on his face as his eyes went wide was funny enough that I heard Harry snort behind me.
“What, why me?” Junior asked.
“Yeah, why him?” I asked, feeling just a tiny bit jealous.
“Because he’s a gentleman,” Amber said, hopping off the couch and walking over to Junior. “He uses good manners, so he’s a gentleman. I want him to put it on.”
“Okay, if you insist,” Junior said as he took the necklace from Amber and hooked it into place around her neck.
“Thank you,” she said, lifting her dress as she curtsied before running off. Harry burst into laughter as she did.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “We’ve spent the last few days watching all of her favorite princess movies, and that’s all we want to do or talk about. Her mom is off on a girl’s trip, and with just me and her up here on the mountain, there’s not much else to do, especially when it rains like this.”
“It’s no trouble at all,” Junior said, smiling softly. “It was pretty cute, actually. So she’s your niece then, Hills?”
“Not biologically,” I clarified. “Her mom is Harry’s daughter. And stop calling me Hills already, especially when we’re outside the office.”
“Oh, uh, sorry,” he said, looking uncomfortable.
“Well, anyway, as far as dinner goes, I thought maybe we could have a little competition,” Harry said, drawing attention away from Junior. He was always so good at that, redirecting a conversation so that everyone felt comfortable and included.
“What kind of competition?” I asked.
“Well, you know how the last time you came by, I had made those terrible kebabs?” Harry said. “Well, I was thinking this time, we’d all try cooking something, and then whoever’s meal tastes the best is what we’ll have for dinner.”
“Won’t we just end up with three inedible means then?” I asked with only a hint of sarcasm. I truly wasn’t confident in any of our cooking abilities.
“Don’t be such a spoilsport, Charlie,” Harry said. “What do you say, Junior?”
“That actually sounds pretty fun,” Junior said.
“There you go, that’s the spirit,” Harry said as he started wheeling himself into the kitchen. “C’mon, boys.”
Junior and I got up off the couch and followed him into the kitchen. We pulled out pots, utensils, spices, and all matter of ingredients as we argued over what we should try cooking.
As we did, I was glad I’d invited Junior over. Harry had always known just what to say to pull me out of a funk. I’d noticed how Junior had seemed down on himself ever since we’d gotten back from Greece. Granted, I’d been a little disappointed too, but it wasn’t like Junior to mope. I’d hoped that Harry would be able to tell him what he needed to hear the way he always did with me, and I was pleased to see that my assumption had been correct.
Sure, there was still some more left to investigate, but for now, we were happy with the successful completion of our first mission.
Epilogue
“And that was basically the end of that case,” I said quietly. Olivia had fallen asleep partway through the story, but I’d continued telling it to her dad. In the end, it had turned out to be for the best, as I’d forgotten how gory the details of the original crime scene were. After she fell asleep, though, I hadn’t had to worry about censoring out the blood and violence and was able to tell the story in more accurate detail.
“Wow,” Mark said, shifting Olivia further onto his shoulder so he could flex his numb arm. “So, you really were a federal agent, huh? I’ll be honest, I kind of thought you were just making up stories to entertain Olivia, but, wow.”
“No, I really was a federal agent,” I said. “Up until about five years ago, actually. But, even before then, I wasn’t going out into the field as much. The younger generation had taken over by then.” I smiled fondly.
“So, that is how you got the scar, then?” Mark asked. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, that is. Sorry, I guess Olivia must get that blunt attitude from me.”
“Yeah, it is. Not during that mission, though,” I said as I traced the scar lightly and thought back to the events that caused it. “It was a few months later, maybe even a year. One of the people we were after planted a bomb in our headquarters.”
“A bomb?” he asked, flinching as Olivia stirred at the sound of his voice. “Seriously? Like, here in the US?”
“Yes,” I said. “It wasn’t highly publicized, though. The organization I worked for isn’t very well known, and they prefer to keep it that way. Makes it easier to operate when the bad guys don’t see you coming.”
“Well, what was the story behind that case?” Mark asked, his eyes wide with curiosity.
“That one was crazy,” I said. “We were working on this case in Japan, and we had just gotten this big lead-”
“Mr. Hills, I don’t mean to bother you, but it’s time to close up.” I looked up to see Patrick standing by our table. I suddenly realized he was right as I looked out over the dining room, which had grown completely empty while I was telling Mark the story. Through the windows lining the three exterior walls of the restaurant, I could see that the snow had settled into
a gentle flurry. Outside, the sun was beginning to set, sending warm rays of pink and gold over everything in the room.
“Oh, I didn’t realize how late it had gotten,” Mark said, noticing for the first time that we were the only ones left in the dining room.
“Neither did I,” I said. “I’m sorry about that, Patrick. You can head on home. I’ll close up. And I’ll have your bonus ready for you tomorrow. Did all the cabins get enough firewood?”
“Yes, sir,” Patrick said with a smile.
“Great, thank you so much, son,” I said.
Patrick turned and left then, probably in a hurry to get home while visibility was still clear. If he didn’t live just an hour away, I might have insisted he spend the night as well.
“Well, I should probably get Olivia to bed,” Mark said, standing up carefully so as not to jostle her awake.
“Of course,” I said. “Here, let me walk you there. It’s about a ten-minute walk, and I wouldn’t want you to lose your way with the sun going down.”
The walk to the cabins was fairly straightforward. There was a clear footpath there, but people who weren’t used to hiking could easily get lost in the woods, especially when it was getting dark. The snow was about a foot high, and I felt bad for Mark, who was making the trek in jeans while carrying Olivia. We made it there without incident, though, and I led Mark toward one of two cabins that didn’t have smoke coming out of its chimney. After knocking to ensure that it really was empty, I opened the door and led Mark inside.
I knelt down in front of the fireplace to get the fire started as Mark laid Olivia down on one of the small twin beds. The cabins were small, only a single room with two twin beds, a small table and a chair, and a fireplace. They were really meant for hikers who came down to the lake to fish or kayak, and so they didn’t exactly have a lot of amenities. After getting the fire started, I showed Mark how to add logs and how to keep the gate over the fire closed to prevent any embers from flying out.
“Make sure to remove those wet clothes too,” I said, pointing down at his pants and socks. “You fall asleep like that, and you’re liable to wake up with frostbite.”
“Sure,” Mark said as he tucked a blanket around Olivia’s shoulders. “Thank you again for everything.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said as I turned to leave.
“You’ll have to tell me the rest of that story sometime,” Mark said as I was walking out the door. “The one about your scar.”
“Well, come on back to the motel anytime,” I said as I turned to look at him. “I’m always here. Although I have to warn you, that story might be a little harder to make kid-friendly for Olivia.”
“Maybe in a few years then,” Mark said with a smile.
“Yeah, maybe,” I laughed as I left the cabin, shutting the door tightly behind me to make sure the cold air wouldn’t leak in. The snow was starting to come down a little heavier now, and I was sure that within an hour or two, the eye would pass, and the storm would be back in full force. With that in mind, I hurried back to the motel. I did a quick walkthrough to make sure everyone was out before turning out the lights and locking up.
I could hear the wind picking up as I made the short walk to my cabin, and I sighed with relief once I was finally inside. Today had certainly been a new kind of adventure. While I generally preferred solitude, I had to admit, something about the frenzied, excited energy had been fun. It reminded me of my old days as an agent. I laughed quietly to myself. If me from back then could see me now, living in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, he’d probably be appalled. I remembered how I used to make fun of Harry for living up on a mountain and spending his time stargazing and grilling by himself. I’d ended up a lot more like him than I ever thought I would.
I fell heavily onto my couch and pulled out my phone. Seeing Olivia and thinking about Harry made me want to call Amber. I hadn’t seen her or my honorary grandkids since last summer when Amber and her husband had brought the kids up here for a fishing trip. I scrolled through my contacts list and called her.
“Hey, Uncle Charlie! What’s up?” I heard her voice come through the line after the second ring.
“Hey, Amber. I was wondering if maybe you and the kids would want to come up here for New Years?”
Author’s Note
Hey, if you got here, I just want you to know that you’re awesome! I wrote this book just for someone like you, and if you want another one, it is super important that you leave a review.
The more reviews this book gets, the more likely it is there will be a sequel to it. After all, I’m only human, and you have no idea how far a simple “your book was great!” goes to brighten my day.
Also, if you want to know when the next book comes out, you absolutely must join my Facebook group and follow me on Amazon. Doing one won’t be enough because it relies on either Facebook or Amazon telling you the book is out, and they might not do it.
You might miss out on all my books forever if you only do one!
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Special thanks and credit to Moonstruck Covers Design & Photography, the studio responsible for all my When in Vegas covers!
