Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1) (15 page)

She felt heat where his hand touched the skin on the nape of her neck. She tried to
remember her day. What had she done? Oh, yes. "Chocolate chip pancakes for, Liz's
kids. Relentless hounding from my dog because I ran her late—due to the chocolate
chip pancakes. Landscaping plans for a new construction site the owners think will
be ready for me to start in April, but will likely need to wait until fall."

"I need someone for my yard." He slowly ran his hand over her shoulder and down her
arm before twining his fingers with hers. Her lids closed as he did.

"I don't work for family or anyone I'm close to."

"I'm not family," he said with a crooked smile. "So, that must mean we're close."

She let out a quick sigh and smiled back at him, her eyes dropping to his mouth. "Close
enough not to do your yard, but you need to line someone up soon. Spring's around
the corner and the schedules of the nurseries in town fill up fast."

"I'll get to it."

They talked of plans for his house. The Giants chances of making playoffs. The progress
she'd made with his dog.

Eventually, they realized it had been a while since Dave and Amanda had left. "I'll
go check on them," Nathan offered.

"If it's all right with you, let's just leave them," she answered. "I really don't
want you to think Amanda is loose. Well, too loose, but they're not coming back."
Brie took the last sip from her wine. "And I really should be getting home. It's late."

"Not coming back? Well I'll be damned. That's not exactly like Dave, either. Lucky
shit." His eyes darted to hers just as Duncan's had when he'd realized what he said
about Mrs. Whittier. And just as Duncan had, Nathan quickly apologized. "Sorry."

She laughed. "No one's keeping you from going out and... being a lucky shit yourself,
Nathan." She put on her coat before he could help.

"I'm okay." He smiled and added, "I know how to be a lucky shit all alone."

Shaking her head, she gave his hand a discreet squeeze and headed for the parking
lot. "Thank you for getting involved with my... incidents. I'll try to be more cooperative."

He opened the door and placed his hand on her lower back.

She winced.

"You're not going to let me kiss you, are you?" he asked as they walked.

"No. Not here. Not that I wouldn't like to, but no. I know you don't understand. I
went to the school I work at when I was a little girl. It's been hard enough for me
to gain the respect of my colleagues. This would be just the kind of thing that could
set them off."

"We could go back to your place, and I could kiss you there."

She smiled at him. So cute. "I'll write out that list for Dave. Thanks again for your
help."

Chapter 13

An early warm spell stayed so long the snow all but disappeared. With the ground saturated,
Brie was careful to run Macey in the street through the morning mist. A car approached
as she moved toward a stretch of sidewalk. Squinting at the white compact car, she
recognized Brian and waved awkwardly.

He wasn't smiling. "Morning, Brie."

She stopped and Macey sat at her left side. "What brings you here at this hour?"

He ran his open hand over the top of his blond buzz. "I just got off, thought I would
stop by to see if you were up for coffee before you went to work."

"Did you come by a few weeks ago?"

"Uh, yeah. Looked like you had... company."

"Liz's kids."

"Really?"

Pulling on her ear, she answered, "I actually need to finish up my run and get to
work."

"I miss you, Brie."

"We've been over this, and I really should be going. Have a nice couple of days off."
Waving, she took off uncomfortably with Macey keeping pace at her side.

On the way back, she noticed Molly's car in her mother's drive and decided to visit
the two early birds. Even with the caution of keeping her dog out of the mud, she
still needed to clean paws in the mudroom before letting Macey loose in the house.
Accustomed to the routine, Macey looked like she would have rolled her eyes if she
knew how, lifting each paw one at a time.

Showering washed away any thoughts of the uncomfortable run-in with Brian. She dressed
in a pair of dark brown slacks with matching pumps and an ivory blouse.

* * *

A fresh-baked-goods smell blew over Brie when Ethel opened the door. "Good day for
an inside visit, Brie. Come in, come in. They're back in the kitchen."

"Brie." Molly walked over to greet her with a kiss on the cheek. "We were just talking
about you." Molly was dressed in olive, flowing slacks and patent leather black boots
with a coordinating linen blazer over a white blouse. Her straight blonde hair bundled
high on her head.

"I hope it was good." Brie walked over to kiss Molly's mother who didn't get up.

Lucy placed her cold hand on her cheek. "We were wondering how long your family stayed
over the holidays and if you had a nice time. You don't have enough visitors for a
young, single woman."

Lucy looked more vibrant than usual and so early in the morning. Her hair was already
styled in lose, silver curls around her shoulders, and she wore a coral pant suit.
Pouring Brie's coffee in one of her favorite china cups, she set it in a matching
saucer before handing it to her.

"They stayed just two days. It was wonderful. I'd just seen them at Thanksgiving,
but I think the kids have grown. It was nice to reminisce." She placed two fingers
on her chin as she leaned over to decide between a blueberry and a cinnamon scone.

Molly smiled a thoughtful grin. "I had the biggest crush on Chase when we were children.
He was six years older and didn't give me a second look, but yet."

"Everyone gave and still gives you second looks.
I
was the geeky chunky girl." Brie laughed. "Still, it was nice to speak of the times
when my parents were still proud of me."

Molly shook her head. "Oh, honestly. Your parents didn't care what you chose as your
career. Granted,
they
may have preferred you stay in med school on scholarship rather than NYU. It didn't
hurt that you landed a job that wasn't a thousand miles away."

Molly put a cinnamon scone on her plate for her. "They would want you happier now.
What about the attractive, skinny neighbor? Have you gotten over your silly notion
that you shouldn't have a relationship because you have his nephew in your class?"
Molly looked toward her mother who pretended not to hear.

"I don't need a man to make me happy, and he's not so skinny anymore. One of the rooms
in the second floor has been transformed into a workout area. He mentioned that's
one of the reasons he sold his business, to have time to get back in shape." Brie
paused to sip her coffee. "Did I tell you he owned a business? Woodridge Studios?
It's high-end furniture, so I thought maybe you would know about it. Chase was all
Nathan Reed this and Nathan Reed that. He has some of Nathan's work in the parlor
at his condo."

"I'm more in the clothing line, but the name sounds familiar."

"Man's been without a job for two months, now? That's no man, Brie. You can find plenty
of working men to use those brains on." Lucy stood and wrapped up some of the blueberry
scones in clear plastic wrap.

"I need to stop and see Amanda before she has to get Rose to school. Shall I take
those over for you?" She smiled innocently at Lucy.

"Take what over where?" Lucy looked to the pastries she was placing in a box. "Oh."
She handed the box to Brie. "Suit yourself."

As Brie walked around the end of the cul-de-sac, she gazed at her neighbors' brown
yards that had been buried under white for so long. The green would return soon. Her
spare time would turn to clearing out her customers' flower beds and on the new construction
site design.

Just before she reached the Pipers', a police car pulled in the drive. She almost
shouted hello to Dave before she saw Rose come tearing out of the house with her school
clothes, coat and backpack already on. A few steps before she reached Dave, she jumped
in the air. In what looked like a practiced routine, he caught her and sat her on
his hip. Rose dug in his shirt pocket until she found what she was looking for. She
unwrapped something small and stuffed it in her mouth, keeping her legs wrapped tightly
around his sides. Amanda made her way to him by the time the stunt was finished, and
Dave leaned down to kiss her.

Look who's been sneaking around, Brie thought. She wondered if Nathan knew.

* * *

"If you're gonna get that comfortable, you're gonna have to help me fill out some
of these reports."

Nathan's feet sat annoyingly on the corner of Dave's metal desk. They hit the ground
with a thud when Dave pushed them from the corner of it with his left hand as he kept
writing with his right. Feeling guilty, he decided on a disclaimer. "I don't have
anything new to tell you until she fills out a police report. If you're going to get
comfortable, how about you get comfortable with some coffee and get me some while
you're at it?"

Damn it, he had work to do and now all could think about was Brie's cold case. His
gut told him there was more than one person guilty of the double murder walking around
free, and it ate at him.

As he thought, he put his pen between his teeth.

Nathan came back with coffee. "Come on, Dave. Think about it. The cold case file says
the backdraft was professionally set."

Caffeinated bribery. "Seemed professionally set."

"Okay, seemed. But then Brie just happens to become buddies with a firefighter? Ends
up dating him?" Nathan propped his feet back on the corner of Dave's desk. "That's
a really big coincidence, don't you think?"

"Yes. I've thought about it. And I have a lot of work to do. Get her in here to make
this official, and I'll enjoy hauling his firefighting ass in for questioning."

* * *

She finished her midterm assessments. Brie grinned, pleased with the progress of her
students, especially Andy. So, how did he fall behind in the first place? she wondered.
She decided to leave work right after her students and stop by to share the news with
Nathan before Andy's progress report was mailed.

There were a handful of pickups in his drive and one white box truck. It looked like
a bad time for an impromptu conference, but she couldn't help feeling curious about
the action. It occurred to her she'd never really stopped by his house during the
day in the middle of the week. She walked right in, laughing to herself that she didn't
knock.

There was a crew of men working on the walls in both the front sitting room and the
enormous foyer. Scaffolding reached the open foyer that went up to the landing of
the second story. The men walked around on stilts as easily as they would on flat
shoes. It was hard to watch, dizzying.

Endless plastic covered everything. Painters worked in the long hallway at the top
of the stairs, along the tall landing and back to the bedrooms. She could hear Nathan's
voice from the back of the house, bickering with someone. She walked toward the sounds,
noticing the child lock on the mudroom door knob as she searched. She found them off
the kitchen, past the large pantry room, and in a tiny bathroom she never knew existed.

"There's no damned room to make this any bigger," said an irritated voice.

"It can go this way," Nathan retorted.

"Not without butting out the damned side, changing headers and studs."

"So?"

"Listen, I pushed this up for you because I owe your pops a favor. This'll take twice
the time. It's just a small bathroom."

"The
small
is what I have a problem with."

Brie turned to leave, then stopped to listen.

"I want it bigger without making the pantry smaller."

The two walked out as they debated. The contractor cursed and wrote notes on a small
yellow pad.

Nathan stopped when he noticed her and smiled big enough to show the beginnings of
lines radiating along his temples, making him look smart and sexy. "You're here."