Diablo Lake: Moonstruck (3 page)

Chapter Four

John Joseph Dooley looked at his grandsons as he drank his morning cup of coffee. “Patty tells me there’ll be a new tenant above the mercantile.”

Jace looked toward Damon, keeping his glance nonchalant. JJ Dooley never brought anything up lightly. He wasn’t the Patron—the leader—of the Dooley wolves for nothing. And clearly his brother had gone to tattle because he was a shit stirrer.

“Katie Faith Grady’s moving in this week. She’ll be a good tenant. Quiet enough, no chore to look at. She’s got a job. Big plusses in a renter.” Damon winked at his grandfather, keeping it casual.

“She’s a wildcard.” Patty Dooley, JJ’s wife and their grandmother put another heaping platter of hotcakes on the table before joining them at the opposite end from JJ.

Like pillars in a foundation, his grandparents had held this family together in the lean times as well as those of plenty. They’d stepped in to raise Jace and his brothers after their mother had died giving birth to Damon and Major. Their father, the Dooleys’ youngest son, had been an outlaw wolf. Whatever he’d done got him killed.

As an outlaw, his name wasn’t spoken. Their father was a shadow shaped like a man. A weight of shame they bore without having really known him at all.

The reality for Jace and his brothers had been a life of proving to everyone that they were nothing like their father. It had forged a deep bond between the three. A unified front. His relationship with his little brothers was part of his armor. Even when he wanted to punch one of them he always knew they’d have one another’s backs.

They figured out soon enough that whatever their father had done had most likely been selfish and stupid. JJ had to fight several challengers to keep his position as Patron in the two years following their father’s death. That’s when he began to train his grandsons.

Jace had been four years old the first time he’d had to fight to prove he was worthy.

It’d become something they all had to do. Battle not just to prove their strength but to build respect. Not just with fists, but with heart and brain. Lots of people wanted to knock the outlaw’s sons down a few pegs. As a kid it had been a regular occurrence that he went to bed with bruises or some sort of injury from fighting or training.

One of his earliest memories was being jumped by three adult wolves. Knowing there was no way he—a seven-year-old—could beat them all at once, he’d led them on a chase until he’d been able to become the pursuer. Taking each one of them out at a time. He’d used his wits and though he’d been sore for a few days afterward, his grandfather had been proud.

JJ had sat on the chair near his bed. His grandmother had tended to him, cleaned him up and got him into bed to let time do the rest to heal him. She’d gone to check on the twins, leaving him alone with his grandfather.

Being raised by JJ hadn’t always been easy. His grandfather knew Jace had to build up a thick armor. And he understood all the scar tissue from having to fight off challenges would be part of that.

Even through all that Jace had always known his grandfather loved him and absolutely believed in his ability.

“Mercy is an important quality,” JJ had told him. “I like that you didn’t kill any of the wolves who attacked you today. You made a point to them and the rest of the pack. I also like that you beat each one of them badly enough that they’ll feel it a while.”

Jace had nodded, pride easing the pain of his broken rib.

“I want you to remember something. When you’re in charge, you might have to be merciful to your wolves by being unmerciful in their protection.”

Jace’s eyelids grew heavy as the spell Miz Rose had provided to help him sleep began to pull him under.

“Well done,” JJ murmured. “I’m proud of you.”

All those years of having to fight for respect and their rightful place in the pack had his uncles willingly stepping aside, acknowledging Jace as Prime when he’d turned twenty-two.

Shoving that from his mind, he attempted to fish for info while keeping his tone light. “She’s a wildcard, huh? What do you mean, Grandma?” Jace forked several more hotcakes onto his plate and smothered them with the warm berry preserves.

“I mean the girl’s got lots of energy around her. Lots of magic. Could make her something strong, special. Haven’t seen her use it though.” Patty shrugged and drank her tea. But Jace wasn’t fooled by the pretend casual tone. He knew she was busily working out just how they could work this to their advantage. There was a reason she and his grandfather had such a tight bond. She was as politically savvy as he was.

“Pembrys aren’t gonna like her in the bosom of all these Dooleys.” Major, Damon’s twin, wiped his mouth with a napkin and sat back with a satisfied sigh.

“That’s just icing then, isn’t it?” JJ smiled and Jace’s protective feelings about Katie Faith intensified.

“I think she’s had enough of a time with the Pembrys. Leave her be.” Jace hadn’t expected the level of vehemence he’d used. The entire table turned to give him a look. “What?” he asked, hoping to change the subject soon.

“Just interesting, how you seem so interested in her welfare and all,” JJ said with a smirk. “I’m getting old. Your grandmother deserves a day off at some point. I think it’s time for you to start thinking about taking over as Patron. You need to start a family of your own.”

Jace groaned. Katie Faith had been back in town for less than a month and his grandpa was already planning for how many kids she was going to have with Jace.

“She’s a nice girl. The Pembrys did her wrong. Let it go. The last thing she needs is to be fought over like a bone.” Jace attempted to be stern, but JJ Dooley didn’t care about that.

“Mmm. You sweet on her?” his grandmother asked.

He avoided her gaze. “I care about her because she’s a
friend
. I’m gonna head out.” He stood, picking up his dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. “Sheriff’s got a burr up his butt about people showing up late.”

Dooley wolves had built Diablo Lake. From the roads to the buildings. While the Pembrys liked to run things, holding office and filling up a lot of city type jobs, the police station tended to be full of Dooleys. His cousin Sam was a deputy like Jace. But it was Aimee’s dad, Carl Benton, who was the sheriff. A guardian witch. Carl’s magic helped to buffer the energy between Dooley and Pembry wolves.

Another thing that made Jace crave Katie Faith was the way their magical energies had an apparent affinity. A good balance between complementary magics was one of the reasons Diablo Lake’s biggest secret remained safe from the outside world.

Here he’d been assuming he’d end up with another wolf and suddenly this delicious little witch dropped into his lap and he didn’t plan to let that go.

* * *

“Hey there, Jace,” Connie, the dispatcher—and his cousin—called out as he entered the station house. The squat concrete building was also the town disaster shelter and out back was the basketball court most everyone in town used all summer long.

There were two cells. Rarely used and even then it was bush league stuff. A scuffle at a party so someone might need to cool off over night. Once or twice he’d arrested someone for domestic violence.

If they were Dooleys, his grandfather would handle the real discipline once they got out of jail. They didn’t cotton to any harm of women and children. Once a Dooley violated that rule, the sentence would be brutal and nearly immediate. And permanent.

Thankfully it was mostly small stuff. Drunks and dumbasses, but they generally avoided the crime plaguing human cities.

Jace booted his computer up before heading to get himself another cup of coffee because his PC was a hundred years old and slow as molasses.

“Getting a cup of coffee,” he called out to Connie. “You want any?”

“Too hot for coffee just now. I’ll stick to soda. Thanks though. I hear you have a new tenant over the mercantile now.”

He goggled at her. That was fast, even for small town gossip.

She laughed. “You think everyone isn’t buzzing around about Katie Faith being back and how pretty she is? And you go and move her in across the hall? Granddaddy must be giggling all day long.”

That made Jace laugh. “She needed a place to live. We rented her one. But you’re right that JJ is in heaven. I’m sure he’ll find a dozen ways to rub it in some Pembry face before the week is out.” Hell, part of Jace wanted to do that too.

Connie said, “He does like to stir the pot. Not that Dwayne Pembry and his litter don’t deserve a good lesson in how not to alienate a gal as powerful and pretty as Katie Faith Grady. We’re smart enough to see her value to Dooley.”

This again? He gave his cousin a serious look. “
Leave her be.
Let her come back and make her way here. All this politicking is going to spook her.”

As he spoke he knew how futile the effort was. Diablo Lake was what it was. Chances were, Katie Faith knew the same and was already steeling herself for the inevitable when she moved in.

“You’re getting old. She’s pretty. Good family. She’d be a good addition to the pack. Why not you instead of any other idiot in town?” Connie shrugged before turning her attention to the ringing phone.

“Any
other
idiot? So I’m an idiot too?” he asked but she continued to deal with the call.

Sure he was going to settle down. Someday. And sure he’d had a thing for Katie Faith for a long time. But this would be on his damned terms if it happened at all. And he wanted it to. At least to take it a little further to see how they were together. Still, the way his family tried to marry him off like he was sixty instead of twenty-seven annoyed him.

“There’s been some vandalism down over at the Baptist church. I told Snuffy you’d be right round,” Connie said once she’d hung up.

Lucky him. Snuffy Carson was a pain in Jace’s ass. If he wasn’t such a sour old jerkoff, his trees wouldn’t get toilet papered by the youth of Diablo Lake all the time. But he took being offensive as his duty.

“Don’t tell him I’m rushing over there for TP’d oak trees, Connie. The man has to understand where his problems lie in the big scheme of things.”

“Like behind that big murder case you’re trying to crack? Or the bank robbery that never happened because this is Diablo Lake and more toilet papered trees down at First Baptist is pretty much the most egregious thing you’ll be dealing with today? He’s lonely and old and his wife died ten years ago. He probably hasn’t had any since way before that. I’d be grumpy too,” Connie told Jace. “You know how to handle him.”

The old guy would rant and rail. Jace would take pictures and a report and he’d most likely have some time to stop over at the Counter to check up on Avery Grady’s health and have a chocolate malted.

It was the neighborly thing to do.

* * *

Katie Faith put a glass of iced tea in front of her father. He wanted to come into work for a little while that day and both she and her mother thought it would do him some good.

He wasn’t able to handle much. He was still healing. He had to use a wheelchair if he was going to be out for any real amount of time because he got tired very easily. His genetics would continue to aid in speeding his healing, but it would still take time.

He could flirt with all the customers, get fussed over here and there, he exchanged gossip with his friends when they popped in. It was good for him to remember how much he was loved and appreciated and welcomed back to the community.

He was alive. He was mending. Everything was going to be all right.

“I gotta say, Katie Faith, it does my heart good to see you here, making this place your own,” her dad told her with a smile. “I sure did miss you, baby.”

“I missed you too.” And she had. The longer she’d been back in Diablo Lake, the more obvious it had become to her that she was back where she belonged. She finished cleaning up and turned back to him once more. “I have some ideas, opening up a bit earlier, staying open a bit later. And I’d like to add some simple food items to the lunch menu. Easily made ahead. Like a sandwich of the day. Chips instead of fries. I don’t think we need to muscle in on what Salt and Pepper does. We can compliment each other instead of stealing business.”

In any small town that was important, but in Diablo Lake even more given their isolation.

“Good to think about how it impacts the neighbors. I raised you right.” He winked and she was glad to see a little color in his face again. He wasn’t full strength, but he’d started physical therapy and the paralysis on the left side of his body had gone. Being back in Diablo Lake where the land did so much to help speed his healing had vaulted him forward by at least a month.

She grinned at him. “I’m thinking of buying an espresso machine for the mornings. There’s not a single coffee place for miles around. I wouldn’t be stepping on toes. Mom still wants to keep her afternoon shift. I think we should keep Curtis on too.”

The bell over the door jingled and they both looked up. Mayor Dwayne Pembry took up the doorway and inwardly she made the same sound her father made out loud.

“Like a bad penny,” her father muttered and she had to fight back a hysterical bubble of laughter.

If he upset her father one bit she was going to chase him out with the broom. She hoped that showed in her eyes when her gaze met his, holding it steady. This was
her
territory.

“Mayor Pembry, what brings you down to this end of town?”

“Just stopping in to say welcome home and to check on your daddy’s health.” He turned his fake politician smile on Avery. “You’re looking good. Scared everyone. Try not to do that again.”

Once, what now seemed like a million years ago, this man was going to be her father-in-law. He’d eaten dinner at her house dozens of times. He and Avery had been good friends even before Darrell and Katie Faith started dating. Their children’s relationship had only strengthened it. And then Darrell had done her wrong, Dwayne had badmouthed Katie Faith. Most likely he’d been embarrassed, but the damage had been done. Even though he’d finally realized just what Darrell had done and took the time to publically admonish him and apologize to Katie Faith on behalf of the Pembrys, it had been too late. He went on to lose the mayor’s office, only recently taking it back when the prior mayor was killed in a hunting accident.