Authors: J. D. Faver
Tags: #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers & Suspense, #Romance, #Romantic Suspense, #Thrillers, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense
The children ran to get their coats and boots on.
She pulled Sara’s cap down over her ears and helped her with her mittens before gathering her own outerwear. Hearing Brett’s footsteps, she threw open the door to find him shaking his finger at her.
“
You shouldn’t do that,” he said. “I could have been the bogey-man.” Always look out the window before you open the door.”
“
Yes, sir,” she said meekly.
“
Brett!” Seth and Sara screamed in unison, launching themselves at him. He grabbed the small human missiles, swinging them around.
“
Mom!” Seth said. “Brett’s here!”
“
So he is,” Rene acknowledged, smiling at the man who stood beaming down at her, children attached to each arm.
“
Shall we go to church?” he asked. “I know I have a lot to give thanks for.”
She breathed out a sigh. “And I to be forgiven.”
~*~
Ted pulled the car into the underground parking garage, parking in a space marked, “Reserved for Dr. Sanders.” Maddy couldn’t help but admire the way her husband looked in his tux. She relished the time alone with him. No children. No Terrence. Just Ted and Maddy alone at last. Two grown-ups out for a night on the town.
It wasn’t dark yet. Ted insisted they drop by his office before dinner so he could sign papers for Tina Bangs, his office manager.
“
Please hurry, Ted,” she said. “Don’t get tied up.”
“
Don’t think I’m going to leave you down here all alone,” Ted said. “You must come with me so Tina can’t lure me into some tedious project, and I can keep an eye on you.”
“
Oh, must I?” She shook her head. “I can wait quite well all by myself.”
“
Think again, dear one.” Ted swung his long legs out of the vehicle. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to leave you even for a moment. I don’t trust that Mark won’t pop in while my back is turned.” He opened her door and held out his hand. “Now come along quietly and I won’t have to use the handcuffs.”
“
Oh, really?” Maddy burst into a fit of giggles. “What if I want the handcuffs?”
“
Later.” He pulled her from the car and into his arms, smiling down at her for a moment before kissing her tenderly.
“
Why, Dr. Sanders,” Maddy said as she drew away from his lips. “Your love-starved behavior won’t wash. I happen to know you were totally sated, not an hour ago.”
“
True, but it’s sort of like Chinese food.”
“
How so?”
“
You think you’ve had enough and an hour later, you’re hungry again.”
Maddy laughed, letting the pleasure of their light-hearted banter roll over her, filling the space around them with a safe perimeter that no villain could penetrate. “I wouldn’t want you to starve. We could go to a hotel.”
“
Yes, we could,” Ted agreed. “But, I think I’ll just savor the anticipation and take you to dinner and the theater first.”
“
How very civilized. Let’s get this over with. You sign papers and I’ll listen to Tina tell me about her parakeet.”
“
Fair, enough.” Ted wrapped his arm around her and they walked to the elevator like high-school sweethearts.
Once inside his office, Tina presented Ted with a stack of letters and official-looking documents to sign.
“
You look lovely, Mrs. Sanders,” she said in her breathy voice.
“
Thank you, Tina.” Maddy looked at the dowdy woman hunched over the computer keyboard. “What’s different about you? Is it your hair?”
Tina smoothed the chin-length pageboy of some indeterminate shade between blonde and brown. “Why, no, I haven’t done anything to my hair.”
“
Something’s definitely different. You’ve had a facial? Been to a spa?” Tina shook her head to each query, but there was certainly a change in her. The usually drab, slightly sallow complexion was glowing and her eyes were bright behind the cat’s-eye glasses. “It’s a man in your life!”
“
Oh, Mrs. Sanders!” Tina giggled behind her hands. “How did you guess?”
Maddy tried to think of a tactful way to tell her she didn’t look like such a dead fish.
“
My boyfriend, Ray, is so sweet. You’d just love him, Mrs. Sanders.” Tina stopped, obviously flustered. “No, I mean, you wouldn’t love him like that. I mean, like I do, but he’s so sweet, you just couldn’t help but think he’s cute. Y’know?” Her voice trailed off and Maddy noticed her neck had turned a mottled shade of red.
“
I understand,” Maddy said. “Tell me about him. What does he do?” She glanced down the hall toward Ted’s office.
“
He’s a pharmaceutical sales representative. I met him right here.” Another fit of giggles. “He’s so handsome. I never thought he’d be interested in me, but he was very attentive, right from the start.” Tina’s eyes had taken on a far-away quality behind her glasses. “He’s really tall, dark and handsome. In fact, he’s just about perfect.”
Maddy wondered what Tina’s idea of handsome was. “You mean to tell me that Mr. Wonderful has a flaw?”
Tina blushed a deep shade of rose starting from her neck. “He’s just the sweetest man. But he has this ‘ex’ and she won’t let him see his kids. He’s trying to get things sorted out with her and then,” she stopped abruptly.
“
Do go on,” Maddy urged.
“
He’s hinted that he wants to get serious when the ‘ex’ problem is solved.”
“
Oh, how nice for you, I’m sure,” Maddy said. She knew Tina had long-harbored feelings for Ted, which Ted would never acknowledge. Tina seemed to live in a sort of dream world away from her office duties. She often went on bird-watching expeditions with a group from North Houston and talked to her parakeet, “Sweetie”. “I’m so happy for you, Tina. Where does he take you when you go out?”
“
Oh, he likes to go to quiet movie theaters and watch classic films. We sometimes just go to the park.”
“
Sounds very romantic,” Maddy said, wishing Ted would hurry.
“
Oh, he is. He is.” Tina’s face was glowing.
“
Maddy! Come in here!” Ted called to her.
She excused herself, gratefully slipped into Ted’s office and closed the door behind her. “Thanks. I’ve heard more than I want to know about Tina’s new boyfriend.”
“
Tina has a boyfriend? Oh, never mind. Look at this.” Ted pointed to the monitor of his computer.
Rene’s cryptic message brought tears to Maddy’s eyes. “Oh, Ted. She’s all right.”
~*~
Rene stepped down from the Hummer into Brett’s arms. The children scampered out and fairly danced into the church. As Brett and Rene entered the building, heads turned their way. The congregants smiled and nodded to each other, seeming to shout their knowledge of the previous evening’s carnal activities.
Rene felt self-conscious, but pleased to be in Brett’s company. They slipped into a pew in the back just as Rick Starkey swept in, followed by Father Paul. During the service Rene met the eyes of friends who smiled encouragingly. She realized she hadn’t felt so much a part of a group since she had left her parent’s home for college. Were these people her new family?
After the service, she and her small party were among the first to arrive in the community room due to their proximity to the exit. Mrs. Pindar arrived close behind and began to take the plastic and aluminum foil off a large platter of cookies and a plate of sliced pumpkin bread.
“Would you serve coffee, my dear?” she asked, though Rene couldn’t imagine anyone refusing this regal lady.
Brett led the children over to talk to the McCorkill family.
“Thank heavens you and Brett have come to your senses,” Mrs. Pindar said. “I was afraid the two of you might make a mistake you would regret for the rest of your lives.”
“Ma’am?” Rene asked, pausing with an empty cup under the spigot of the shiny chrome urn.
“I was afraid you two young people would,” she paused, then spat out, “screw up.”
Rene started laughing in spite of Mrs. Pindar’s grave expression. She set the coffee down, not trusting herself with the scalding liquid. Mrs. Pindar chuckled. Soon laughter shook her tiny frame.
“What’s going on?” Nadine asked. “I haven’t seen anybody laugh so hard since Sam rented all of the Three Stooges movies in the store.”
“It was a private joke,” Mrs. Pindar said sternly. “Would you like refreshments?”
“Yeah, why not?” Nadine picked up a paper plate and held it out as Mrs. Pindar scooped pumpkin bread and cookies onto it.”
“Coffee?” Rene asked, but couldn’t keep her face straight. She burst into giggles as Mrs. Pindar offered sweets to Father Paul.
“What have you done?” Nadine whispered.
“Whatever do you mean?” Rene asked.
“Don’t play the innocent with me, girlie. I wasn’t born yesterday, or the day before either.” Her flame-colored eyebrows had crept high on her forehead. “I thought you and Brett were on the outs. When did you two get back together?”
“He just came over and we talked and--” Rene stammered.
“Oh, my God! You did it, didn’t you?” Nadine’s mouth dropped open as Cindy came over.
“What’s up?” She juggled the baby on her hip, shifting the diaper bag to her shoulder.
“Guess!” Nadine demanded.
“Oh, let me see,” Cindy said. “Rene and Brett are back together. That’s obvious.”
“And?” Nadine urged.
“And they both look very happy.” Cindy glanced across the room to where Buddy and Brett were deep in conversation with all the children circling like wild animals.
“And?” Nadine asked insistently.
“And--” Cindy looked Rene over critically. “You did it, didn’t you?” she whispered slowly.
Rene’s blush was answer enough.
After leaving the church, Brett turned away from the hotel, heading out of town. “I thought we could grab a bite at Honeybee’s a little later. Is anyone starving?”
“I’m afraid we had too much pumpkin bread and cookies to be hungry now.” Rene looked at the children in the back seat. “Are you two all right for a while?”
“I’m not hungry yet,” Sara offered.
“Me neither,” Seth said. “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Brett said, grinning.
“Oh, no!” Sara covered her head with her jacket.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Rene asked.
“That’s what you said when we came here,” she howled.
“Don’t worry,” Rene said. “We’re not leaving Sad Horse.”
“We’re not?” Seth said. “You mean we’re never going home?”
“This is our home!” Sara said, defiantly tearing the jacket from her head and leaving her hair standing on end from static electricity. “We live here.”
“No, we don’t,” Seth said. “We live in Houston.”
“Wait,” Brett said. “Let’s figure this out when we stop. Okay?”
Reluctantly, the children agreed. Rene and Brett exchanged a glance as he slowed to turn onto a narrow two-lane road.
They drove north in silence for about fifteen minutes and pulled off the road into a muddy driveway. Stopping in front of a ramshackle house, he honked the horn and waited until a stout man wearing an anorak and an eared cap emerged from the house. Several dogs spilled out, barking in a joyous fashion.
“That dog looks like its smiling.” Seth said.
“Hello, Thomas,” Brett called out as he opened the door. The dogs surrounded him, barking and circling, sniffing at his boots.
The short, wide man embraced Brett. They clapped each other on the back repeatedly. Rene and the children stared from inside the vehicle until Brett motioned them out. Brett picked Sara up and held her above the friendly yapping dogs.
“Let’s go inside,” the man called Thomas said. He led them up onto a covered porch and into the house, shutting the dogs outside. “Back here,” he said, motioning them into his kitchen. He stepped over a baby gate and lifted it to one side, allowing them to pass. A parade of small fuzzy creatures came out from under the enamel sink. The first one was pure white, followed by one with a pinkish-brown saddle and spot over one ear. The next two were gray with white on their faces and the last one was mostly red-brown with a white mask. The puppies seemed as delighted with the children as they were.
“Oh, can we play with them?” Sara asked. She held out her fingers and the white puppy licked them eagerly.
“You better play with them all,” Brett said. “It’s the best way to pick out the one you want.”
“Oh, Mom,” Seth said. “Can we? Can we please?”
“Brett,” Rene said, tears threatening to spill over. “They’ve never been allowed to have a pet.”
“That was then, this is now.” Brett pulled her into a one-armed hug.
“The white and one of the grays are female, the rest are male.” Thomas pointed to the frolicking pups.