A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel (7 page)

“How weird is it, Nick? Coming back home after months of living over there, I mean.”

Good question, one he had no easy answer for. But for Callie, he’d try. “You don’t really live over there. You exist from one minute to the next, doing your best to get through one day after another. I tried not to keep count, but it’s hard not to think about how many weeks or months are left until you can come home.”

“I bet it’s scary.”

“Yeah, it is.” He washed the memory of all the dust and dirt away with a sip of coffee before working up the courage to look at Callie. “But it’s exciting, too. All that adrenaline pumping in your veins, living on the edge all the time. It’s addicting.”

“That’s what Spence said, too.” She chuckled softly. “Lucky for him, our old police chief had been in the service, too, because it always took Spence a while to remember he couldn’t drive like a madman over here. I learned quickly to do the driving whenever the two of us went anywhere if I wanted to get there in one piece.”

It felt good to be talking about his friend with someone else who’d known him so well. “Yeah, well, you haven’t seen Spence at his crazy best until you’ve gone ripping through those narrow streets over there taking the corners like he was a NASCAR driver. The whole time, he’d have this huge grin on his face as he hollered insults at the locals.”

Callie laughed, but at the same time her eyes welled up with tears. Nick understood her reaction. A volatile mix of emotions churned in his gut every time he let himself think about his friend. Sharing a funny story with Callie like this allowed the humor to break through, and he could enjoy the memories.

But later he’d feel guilty for being happy when Spence was dead.

Callie’s hand settled over Nick’s fist. “Spence would never want us to remember him only with grief. It’s okay to look back and laugh.”

She was right. And maybe someday he’d convince himself that was true. Time to get moving before he did something stupid, like pull Callie into his arms.

He wadded up the paper bag and dumped the rest of his coffee before handing the mug back to Callie. “Well, as my dad always says, those weeds won’t pull themselves.”

Callie was already on her feet and quickly blocked his escape. Without a word, she slipped her hands around his waist and gave him a quick hug. His own arms were running on autopilot and snapped around her, holding her close. He got lost in the sweet press of her feminine body against his, in the faint scent of vanilla from her shampoo and the flutter of her pulse. Any words he might have wanted to share stayed tied up in a huge knot in his throat, but he suspected she understood all too well what he couldn’t say.

They stood huddled together, taking comfort from each other. The embrace lasted for maybe a minute tops, but just that small contact eased the knot of Nick’s pain. He had to let go, had to step back, before she stole yet another piece of his heart. He pressed a soft kiss against her temple.

“Thank you,” he whispered and walked away.

N
ow, this was aggravating.

Callie frowned as she checked her notebook a second time. She had definitely listed a vase when she’d catalogued the stuff on this bookcase. The only note she’d made about the vase was that it had been blue. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember what it had looked like.

An image niggled at the back of her mind. Something about flowers. White maybe. Yeah, that was right. The vase had been about twelve inches tall, medium blue with a vine of white flowers that wound around the vase, starting at the bottom and ending at the top.

“So where is it?”

She looked around the room, but it was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t even a space on the shelf where she remembered seeing it. That spot now held a stack of books that she was almost sure hadn’t been there before. A quick glance down her list confirmed that. Nope, no books on that particular shelf.

What was going on? It wasn’t the first item that had come up missing since she’d inherited the house. When the attorney had met her at the house to go through it with her, they’d both noticed imprints on the carpet in a couple of places, as if things had been moved around.

Or taken.

As soon as that thought zipped through her mind, Callie quashed it. There was no reason to get paranoid. Another possible explanation would be that Spence had designated a few items to go to other people, and the stuff had been picked up after she and the attorney had gone through the house together. But if that was true, why hadn’t he mentioned it? A simple call to check for sure would ease her mind.

Unfortunately, when she’d met with Troy to sign off on more paperwork the other day, he’d mentioned he would be out of town on vacation for a couple of weeks. He’d given her the number of another attorney who was covering any emergencies that came up while he was gone. But a missing blue vase, especially one she couldn’t prove had actually been there in the first place, didn’t exactly qualify as an emergency. The call could wait until after Troy got back.

At least this time she’d thought to bring her digital camera to add photos to her survey. She stepped back and took a shot of the entire bookcase and then did a close-up of each individual shelf. The front door opened just as she’d moved on to the items on the mantel.

Nick had been clearing out the front flower bed when she’d arrived. He’d had on a sleeveless T-shirt then, but he’d obviously shed it in the interim. Maybe it was wicked of her, but she couldn’t resist snapping a quick picture of all that tan skin. One peek at the image on her camera had her giggling. The flash had startled Nick, giving him a slightly demonic look.

Still smoking hot, though. She snapped a second shot just because. In this one, he looked considerably more disgruntled.

“Okay, let me see them.” He closed the gap between them to look at the screen. “Tell me you’ll delete those.”

“I don’t think so. I’m doing a photo survey of everything in the house, which includes you.”

He made a quick grab for the camera and jumped back out of her reach. “In that case, we need a couple of shots of you, too.”

She could just imagine how those would turn out. Holding her hands in front of her face, she gave in. “Okay, you can delete them. Just give the camera back.”

A couple of clicks later, she lowered her hands to take back the camera, only to realize that was exactly what Nick had been waiting for. He snapped several more pictures of her before finally relinquishing the camera, a snotty grin on his face.

One look at the pictures told her why. Not only was her ponytail off center, but she had several smudges of dust on her white T-shirt and a matching one on her cheek. She quickly gave the delete button a good workout. “Okay, so can we agree that we’re both a little camera shy?”

Nick reached out to wipe the dust off her cheek. “Agreed.”

His touch left her tingling in places that were nowhere near her face. Swallowing hard, she followed him into the kitchen. “Where’s Mooch?”

“He’s sleeping in the shade out on the porch. I guess he wore himself out watching me work. Want a cold drink?”

“Sure.”

Nick handed her a can of pop and then sat down at the kitchen table. “So what’s with the camera?”

Callie showed him the list she’d been working on. “I’m doing a room-by-room inventory of all the furnishings, mostly to get some idea of what I have to work with. You know, if I decide to turn the house into a bed-and-breakfast, or even if I don’t.”

Nick stretched out his legs and leaned back in the chair. “That makes sense. This place is certainly big enough for what you’re thinking about.”

Sitting so close to him made concentrating on anything else hard, especially when he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She forced her attention back to the problem at hand. “I think so, too. Anyway, I’d already started taking notes on things and then transferring the entries to a database on my computer back at the house. I thought I was being careful, but I’ve already found discrepancies.”

“How so?”

She felt foolish for not being able to handle such a simple task. “When I’ve compared the printout of the database with the actual items, a couple don’t match up. Either somehow I’ve marked them down in the wrong room or I was imagining they existed at all. This time, I’m taking pictures as I check them off the list so I can make sure I’ve gotten everything right.”

Nick sat up straighter. “Are you saying things are missing that were here before?”

What was that odd note in his voice? “Maybe, although that doesn’t seem likely. It’s just that I could’ve sworn there was a blue vase on the bookshelf in the living room. It’s not there now, but it could be that I marked it down in the wrong room or on the wrong shelf when I entered the data.”

“Does anyone else have keys to the house?”

His question startled her. “My folks have a set, and the attorney might have a spare. Why?”

“This place has been vacant for a while. I was wondering if it was possible someone else had gained access somehow. That could explain how a few things might have gone missing. You know, someone taking the opportunity to lift a few things while the house was unoccupied.”

One name immediately came to mind. “I suppose it’s possible that Spence’s uncle, Vince Locke, might still have a key. He hasn’t lived in the house since Spence reached the age to take control of his inheritance. They had a huge fight over it, and Spence ended up needing the police to escort Vince and his son, Austin, off the property. They’d moved in with Spence right after his parents were killed in an accident.”

She’d been away at college at the time, but her parents had told her all about it. “It was a really ugly situation. From what I heard, Spence offered to let Austin stay on, but he left with his father.”

Nick’s expression turned stone cold. “Spence didn’t talk much about his family situation, but it was clear that there was bad blood. Something to do with Spence being adopted and his uncle calling him a mongrel.”

“How awful,” she said, flinching at the horrible choice of words. “He never told me that, but considering his uncle, it doesn’t surprise me. Spence didn’t look at all like his adoptive parents, but there was never any doubt that they loved him unconditionally. You can see it in all the family photos scattered around the place.”

She paused to think about how much more to share. “This house had been in his mom’s family for a couple of generations. An elderly aunt left it to her several years before she and her husband adopted Spence. When they were killed, Vince evidently thought the house should have gone to him or at the very least to his son, Austin, because they were blood relatives.”

The memories of how Vince had treated Spence still had the power to have her seeing red. “That man was the reason Spence spent so much time at my house when we were growing up.” Enough about the past. “I’d better get back to work.”

Nick finished his drink and stood up. “Let me know if you need any help. Otherwise, I should get back outside before Mooch thinks I’ve forgotten about him.”

Then he winked at her. “Also, I don’t want my boss thinking I’m slacking off. She promised to feed me if I do a good job.”

“Don’t kill yourself out there, Nick. I’m not that good of a cook.”

He laughed. “Anything beats a microwave dinner, which is my main dependence when I have to fend for myself.”

“I can definitely do better than that.”

She reached for the camera and her list, intending to pick up where she’d left off in the living room. Before she’d gone three steps, Nick stopped her.

“As long as I’m staying here, I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to try to sneak into the house, but the locks on these doors are old and easy to jimmy. I’d feel a lot better if I changed them all before I leave. Would that be all right with you? It shouldn’t be too expensive to put in dead bolts on the doors, but the locks on the windows could stand to be updated as well.”

Troy had suggested that same thing when he’d taken her through the house, and she’d been meaning to call a locksmith. “Are you sure, Nick? Not about the work needing to be done, but about you taking on another big project for me. I’m more than glad to pay for the locks and whatever else that might be needed, but I hate that you’re wasting your leave helping me.”

“Let me worry about that, Callie. I want to help.”

He stared down at his hands as he flexed them. “And maybe I just need a reminder that these are good for something besides pulling a trigger.”

Before she could think of what to say, he was gone.

•   •   •

Buying the locks provided a convenient excuse for Nick to make a trip to town without Callie needing to know his real purpose for going. She had offered to let Mooch stay with her, saving Nick from having to ask her if she’d mind keeping an eye on the fur ball. While he had no problem with the dog riding shotgun with him, he didn’t like Callie being alone in Spence’s house right now. At the very least, Mooch would warn her if anyone came snooping around.

He cruised through town, swinging by the building that housed both the Snowberry Creek City Hall and the police department. The chief of police’s parking spot was empty, which was disappointing. He drove on toward the small hardware store a few blocks farther down the street.

The woman at the counter pointed him in the direction of the locks. Callie hadn’t said if she was operating on a budget, but it didn’t matter. He would pay for the damn things himself if it came to that. It didn’t take long to pick out the best locks the store had to offer, and Nick bought out their entire supply of window locks. Hopefully, it would be enough to secure the ground floor. He would order more once he knew how many windows the house had.

Back out in the truck, he considered his options. It didn’t take a genius to know that Callie wouldn’t appreciate him discussing her business behind her back. That wouldn’t stop him, though. He owed it to Spence to make sure his woman was safe.

His woman, not Nick’s. It was amazing how much that truth hurt. He was definitely the understudy in this little play, not the star.

Pulling out of the parking lot, he decided he’d do one last pass by the police department. The parking lot was still empty, but as luck would have it, he spotted the police chief walking into the coffee shop. Should he stop or not? When a parking space opened up across the street, he took it as an omen that he should. More likely it was him grasping at straws for an excuse.

The coffee shop was empty except for Gage Logan and the woman behind the counter. They both glanced in his direction as soon as he stepped through the door.

“Do you have a minute, Chief?”

The lawman studied Nick for a second before nodding. “I need to meet my daughter at school in a few minutes. If you don’t mind talking while we walk, I’ve got time.”

“Sounds good, sir.”

The police chief smiled. “Call me Gage. We don’t stand on much formality around here, and ‘sir’ brings back too many memories of when I was in the army.”

Nick gave him a long look, noting the air of quiet authority the man wore like a second skin. “I’m guessing special forces.”

“And you’d be right, even if it seems like it was a lifetime ago. I’m having an iced coffee. What would you like? I’m buying.”

“I’ll have the same.”

They waited in silence until their drinks were ready. Gage dropped a few bills on the counter. “Thanks, Bridey. By the way, this is Nick Jenkins. He’s a friend of Callie’s and served with Spence.”

Bridey’s welcoming smile faded a bit at the mention of Spence’s name. “Welcome to Snowberry Creek, Nick. I was sorry to hear about Spence. I went to high school with both him and Callie. Spence was a good man.”

Her comment, meant to console, triggered a new stab of grief, but Nick hid it behind a smile. “That he was.”

Gage led the way toward the door. “We’d better get going. My daughter nags if I’m late.”

Grateful for the change in subjects, Nick asked, “How old is she?”

“Nine going on thirty.” Gage shook his head with a rueful smile. “Seriously, I can barely keep up with her now. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when she starts dragging boys home.”