Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (90 page)

Maisy ran over to him and gave him a
big hug. "It's lovely to see you dear, however, there's no reason
to use profanity."

What could he do? She was his mother.
He rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around her frail body in a
gentle hug.

He grasped her shoulders gently and
held her at arm's length. "Mom, we have to have a talk."

11:20 am

"Here it is." Sam slowed, pulled into
the long driveway, and parked. There was a familiar truck parked to
the right. She frowned. There's no reason it should be Brandt's
truck. There had to be hundreds of those here in town. Her pulse
jumped, and she couldn't help searching the area for him. She
didn't want to see him, not really, yet couldn't hold back the
pulsing excitement at the thought of it. Traitorous
hormones.

She walked inside. Large and open
with multiple comfy couches, the lobby had a friendly atmosphere.
Sam could see people feeling welcome here. Bright yellows and
moderate oranges blended with the lush palms and overgrown
dieffenbachia plants filling each corner.

The front counter stood empty. Sam
pursed her lips. There didn't appear to be a bell to ring for
service either. Sam frowned. She checked her watch. Surely, it was
early for lunch? Not knowing how a place like this worked, Sam
found herself choosing between two corridors and took the left one.
Various doorways along the hallway were identified by numbers. They
appeared to be apartments or self-contained suites of some kind.
They didn't look like the hospital rooms she'd assumed they would
be.

Having never known anyone living
permanently or temporarily in a place like this, she found herself
wondering at the circumstances that would leave them here. Did
these people not have family, or were they alone like she
was?

Were they happy here? Or did they
pine away, always wishing for a better life? Living alone for so
long, a place like this could seem like a prison. Surely, some of
these people had families to live with?

Laughter drifted toward her. Curious,
Sam followed the sound. Glancing back, she saw the reception desk
remained empty.

The hallway opened up into another
large sitting area with many tables surrounded by people. Some
played cards, others were engrossed in chess, and still others were
petting several dogs. Animals. Now that was a nice touch. Sam
smiled at a particularly large feline that strolled regally between
several legs, her leash getting caught up – to everyone's
enjoyment.

Sam looked around for someone in
charge. Everyone appeared to be in the same age category – old.
There was one younger man with a basset hound on a leash. The dog
appeared comfortable, sprawled in place and showing no interest in
being dragged across the room. Sam smiled. The dog was gorgeous.
Evidently, several of the residents thought so too. Several bent to
pat the dog's long ears and rotund belly.

No one appeared bothered by Sam's
presence. In fact, no one even seemed to notice her. She continued
past the group and headed down a quieter corridor where there were
several more doors.

One
opened, and a small woman with a nametag on her shirt walked
out.
Finally.
Sam
stopped. "Excuse me. Do you know where I can find either Sarah or
Nancy?" Belatedly, Sam read the nametag.

"I'm Nancy. Sarah has gone home for
the day. How can I help you?"

"I'm here from the vet hospital in
Parksville to pick up an injured cat."

"Oh my goodness. You've been walking
around here looking for me, haven't you? I'm so sorry."

Sam smiled at her. "No problem. How
is the...?" Her voice trickled to a stop as a large man stepped out
of the room behind Nancy. "Brandt?" She blushed and quickly
corrected herself. "Detective Sutherland, I mean. What are you
doing here?"

Nancy jumped in. "Oh, do you two know
each other? That's wonderful. Why don't you stay here for a moment
while I try to locate the poor cat?" With a bright smile the
cheerful woman hastened down the way Sam had come.

"No, I'll come..." But Nancy was
already gone.

"Too late. Nancy can move very
quickly when she wants to."

"Brandt, who are you talking to?" A
spry lady with bottle-blue hair came to the door. "Oh." She smiled,
a little too brightly. "How nice. Brandt, invite your friend
inside." She turned to Sam. "Hi, I'm Maisy and Brandt is my
son."

Sam smiled weakly. "Hi." Of course,
this was Brandt's mother.

"Come in, child."

Sam found herself manoeuvred into the
small suite where several curious seniors instantly surrounded her.
Behind her, she could hear Maisy whispering loudly to
Brandt.

"Now I know why the others wouldn't
do. All you had to do was tell me about her. This is wonderful."
Maisy beamed.

Sam closed her eyes. Uh,
oh.

"Mom, don't start with
me."

"Of course not. I'm too happy to
argue with you." She bustled over to regard Sam like a unique
species under a microscope. "Move everyone, give the child some
space." She snagged Sam's arm and led her to the couch. "My
goodness there's not much to you, is there?"

"There's enough. I'm actually quite
healthy." Sam tried to defend herself while allowing Maisy to shove
her gently onto a flowery couch that probably had many stories to
tell. For all the gentleness behind this woman's gestures, Sam
sensed a steel core. She might be Brandt's mother, but Sam doubted
she had let him get away with much.

A warm cup of tea was placed in her
hand, followed by a small plate heaped high with
cookies.

"Oh, no. The tea is just fine, thank
you."

"Nonsense. You need to eat
more."

A polite way of saying she was too
skinny.

Another silver-blue head popped
around the corner. "So your son is here, is he? Now you're going to
get it, Maisy."

"Nonsense. He can solve this." This
came from one of the people that had been in the small room the
whole time.

Brandt interrupted. "Let's return to
why I'm here. Mom, what are you up to now?"

She rose with a gentle smile on her
face. "Surely, they didn't call you over this little bit of fun
we're having, did they?"

Multiple voices chimed in with their
take on the situation.

"Mom, this is the third time this
month. What's gotten into you?"

"Why nothing. Besides, this isn't my
fault. This time it's your fault."

Brandt shook his head, clearly
confused.

Sam couldn't believe it. She watched
in bemusement, drinking her tea, as fifteen elderly people in the
room crowded around Brandt, all of them talking at once.

"Okay, one at a time. Come on
everyone, calm down. Jackson, you take it easy – I don't want you
having a heart attack again. Colonel, good to see you. Do you know
what Maisy is up to this time?"

The colonel laughed a deep Santa
laugh that charmed Sam. "Of course. She's acting as a bookie
again."

"Mom?" Brandt spun around to see his
mother calmly counting a column of figures. "What are you
doing?"

"Nothing much. Just taking bets on
Joshua's love life." She snickered. "Or lack of it."

Several giggles and guffaws filled
the room.

"Joshua?"

"Yeah, the sour puss that runs this
place. He has a new girlfriend, so we're betting on how long before
it all goes south. Personally, I don't see it making it to the end
of the month."

More laughter as several other people
boasted what time they'd bet on.

Brandt groaned. As always, his mother
had fired up her social circle. Brandt just stood, his mouth
working, only no words came out.

Sam giggled.

Everyone spun to stare at her. Maisy
hopped to her feet and walked around her son. A delighted smile lit
up her face. "Oh my, child, that sounded a little
rusty."

Sam's eyes widened at that comment.
She knew she didn't laugh often, but surely calling it rusty was a
little extreme.

"Brandt, I like her. Except she's all
skin and bones." She turned to Sam. "Surely, you're not one of
those hung up on all those fad diets are you?" Disapproval swept
the room.

"No, ma'am. I'm not dieting." Fat
chance. Sam thought of the belt she'd had to notch tighter this
morning. She was losing weight quicker than she could
eat.

"You're all eyes too. Life has been
hard on you, hasn't it?" Maisy didn't wait for an answer, which was
a relief as Sam had no idea how to answer. Maisy grabbed her arm,
tugging the sweater up her arm. "Dearie, you're positively skinny."
The blue veins pulsed along the top of Sam's arm. Hurriedly, Sam
pulled the oversized sweater down to cover the top of her
hand.

Maisy patted her hand before
releasing it. "It's okay child. We're not criticizing you. We're
all friends here." She smiled up at her son. "Brandt, tell me about
this beautiful waif in your life."

All eyes turned to Brandt. Sam's were
wide with horror.

Brandt found his voice, just not the
volume control. He bellowed, "Mom, stop."

Maisy stared at him, affronted. "Now
you listen to me, young man, I haven't even begun."

Grimly,
Brandt glared down at her. "You can stop right now. This is a
semi-official call because once again you are creating a
disturbance. Do you
want
to be evicted from this place? Go somewhere else where you
won't have all your friends? This has to stop."

"Harumph."

"Don't give me that. I've told you
before, no more betting. Taking a simple wager between two people
is one thing, Mom. Setting up a betting book on something like the
administrator's love life is going too far – again." Brandt was
adamant.

Sam sat bemused as chaos erupted
around her. It went on for at least ten minutes before Brandt
managed to calm down the outrage.

Watching him, Sam realized that
several of the elderly people were staring at her openly. She
probably wasn't the norm for Brandt's women.

Her lips quirked in a tentative smile
at several of them.

They all smiled big fat grins back at
her.

"What's your name, dear?"

Turning to look at Maisy, Sam
replied, "My name is Samantha."

"That's a beautiful name." Maisy
beamed at her, apparently having no trouble ignoring her son
glaring down at the two of them.

Sam wasn't having the same success.
Her glance darted between Brandt and Maisy.

"Mom, are you going to behave? Or
must I arrange for you to go back to your apartment?"

"Should I ask Samantha if you're
behaving?" Maisy asked archly, to the amusement of the audience.
She stared innocently up at her towering son. The twinkle in her
eye couldn't be missed.

The colonel interrupted. "How about
we change the subject? When are you guys going to catch that
killer? I heard about them finding that poor woman the other
day."

That started the seniors all over
again. Brandt threw up one hand in a classic stop gesture.
"Silence!"

As Sam watched, Brandt's gaze slid
over the seniors, his mother, and finally rested on Sam. He
frowned. The room quieted, except Sam didn't think he'd intimidated
anyone but her. Maisy's cronies were obviously used to him. They
treated him like one of their own. Maisy looked like hell on
wheels, for stirring things up.

"I don't know what case you're
talking about. We're after several killers. You know I can't talk
about any specifics. But the police are following up several leads.
We're doing everything we can. So if you know anything that can
help us – great. Otherwise, let us do our job." He sent a cutting
look to his oblivious mother. "And don't set up a pool on
it."

"Well, if we do, we'll bet on you.
See? We know you'll solve these cases." His mother beamed up at
him.

Brandt shook his head. "Is it safe to
leave, Mom? Do you think you can behave for a while?"

"Of course she can." Several of the
seniors glared at him.

Brandt rolled his eyes. "Sam, let's
go."

Sam hopped up, but had to tug her
hand free from Maisy's clasp. "I have to find Nancy and the
cat."

"We'll stop at her office on the way
out."

Maisy rose and wedged herself between
the pair. "Sam, please come for lunch next week. Brandt, when can
you bring her?"

"Oh no, I couldn't do that." Sam
shook her head.

"Why not?"

Sam didn't know how to answer. She
slid a sideways glance at Brandt. Their eyes met. She shrugged, not
knowing how to answer the question.

"Mom, Sam and I will discuss it, and
I'll get back to you." He tugged Sam further away from his mother.
"Now, we're leaving."