The Way of the Wicked (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 2) (12 page)

“Why does Grammy have to be so mean?” Ashley sniffed. “It’s bad enough that Lincoln and I have been trying to conceive for over a year and I didn’t even realize it until she made me look at that damned calendar.”

“Grammy just wants you to be happy,” Cooper said. When Ashley snorted in disbelief, she added, “I think she wants to see that our family’s growing. You know, that life is going to go on when she’s gone. The idea of us being settled is a comfort for her.”

“She still laying it on thick about catching Nathan?” Ashley asked as she swatted away a tear clinging to her jawline.

Cooper smiled. “Not any thicker than you do, Ashley.” She searched in the birch tree for the woodpecker and saw his gray-and-black-speckled body flitter around the upper part of the fraying trunk. “To answer your question from earlier, Nathan and I were having a great date until we found those two stray kittens Grammy gave away last week. They, ah, kind of interrupted us.”

Ashley gave her sister a curious stare. “Good thing you’re not superstitious. And what’s happened since then?”

Cooper shrugged. “Let’s grab Columbus and give him a chance to stretch his wings a bit while we’re talking.” She fetched the hawk from his cage and walked a safe distance from Ashley toward the split-rail fence. Columbus flapped his wings the entire way and Ashley eyed him warily.

“He won’t fly at you,” Cooper assured her sister. “He’s just excited to be out in the open.” She raised her arm and the hawk took off.

As Columbus alighted on a tree in the brilliant sunshine, Cooper leaned on the fence rail and sighed. “Maybe Nathan and I aren’t meant to be together. We just can’t seem to connect for more than a few minutes at a time. I didn’t think falling for someone again after Drew would be such hard work.”

Ashley shielded her eyes from the glare as Columbus circled about the field of dry grass.

“Work. Funny you should use that word. That’s what Lincoln told me the other night—that I’ve turned our time together into work.” Tears pooled in her eyes again. “He says that he’s got two jobs now. One running his daddy’s dealerships and the other . . .” She trailed off. “Is making
me
a baby. He doesn’t say
us,
Cooper. As if it’s all about
me
!”

Cooper touched her sister’s corona of sunlit hair, which shone like warm honey beneath the open sky. “I’m sorry, Ashley.”

“I
need
this baby, Coop. Lincoln’s hardly ever home. When he’s not working, he’s out golfing with the guys. What about me? I’m sick of shopping and I’ve had every spa treatment this city has to offer. I want more out of life.” She snatched a twig from the ground and began snapping it to pieces. “For years, I’ve done all kinds of charitable work. Habitat for Humanity, United Way, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, the Children’s Hospital, every animal shelter within three counties, a trillion museums, and what for?” Anger appeared in the clench of her jaw. “I just want this
one
thing.”

Cooper was silent for a moment. With extreme gentleness she said, “I don’t think it works that way, Ashley. You can’t earn yourself a baby.”

Her sister sighed. “I know, but it’s how I feel sometimes. Other people get pregnant when they don’t even want to be pregnant. I want a child more than anything and can give a baby such a good life, so how does that make sense?” She picked at a piece of loose pine on the fence rail. “My church friends tell me that God has a plan, or that this might be a test of my faith, or that I should be patient. Well, I think a year’s long enough to wait, unless this is a test I’m just plain going to fail.”

At that moment, partway across the vast field, Columbus cried out in frustration. He swooped just above the tall grass and rose slowly toward the horizon, his talons bare.

“He almost had something,” Cooper murmured. “It must have slipped away.”

“That’s how I feel about time,” Ashley said sadly. “It’s just slipping past and I can’t hold on to it.”

Cooper rubbed her sister’s back as the breeze made waves in the sea of grass before them. Together, they leaned against the fence, each lost in unhappy thoughts as Columbus attempted another unsuccessful dive. Finally, Maggie called them in for supper.

Ashley brushed a few seeds and nettles from her cashmere sweater and pleated skirt. Drawing in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and gave a little toss to her head, as if she were shaking off the emotion she’d revealed only moments ago.

Cooper stretched her forearm into the air, signaling Columbus to return. He landed in a flutter of creamy white and walnut feathers, blinking rapidly. He was still frustrated by his failed hunt. Cooper soothed the bird with her free hand as she and Ashley made their way back to the house. Cooper returned the raptor to his aviary and hung the thick glove on a hook fastened to the side of his cage. “It’ll be okay, Ashley,” she said before reentering the kitchen. “Things will work out.”

“They’d better,” Ashley said with a frown. “Or I’m going to demand my money back from that fortune-teller at the state fair.”

Cooper laughed. “How on earth would you find her again?”

Ashley tapped her temple. “Even I could track down someone named Madame Zoofu. Now, let’s get our dinner over with so we can have dessert. Daddy said Mama made apple crisp tartlets with hard sauce—my favorite fall treat! She must’ve known I needed some extra TLC today.”

“That’s because she’s a mother,” Cooper said. “You’ll have those kinds of instinct about your own child one day, Ashley. And I hope you have a boy. We have too much estrogen in this family as it is.”

Ashley shot a wary look in Grammy’s direction as she turned her wrinkled face toward the kitchen door.

“We have plenty of what?” Grammy demanded.

Before Cooper could answer, Ashley plopped down in her seat and chirped, “Spirit, Grammy! We’ve got lots of spirit!”

“Glad to hear it,” Grammy replied and then gestured at the ham. “Somebody cut me off a nice, thick piece. I got a new kind of denture cream and I plan to see if it’s as good as the commercial says. We should expect the best out of life, girls.” She eyed both of her granddaughters. “Sometimes you’ve got to believe that you deserve the riches of this world before they can be given to you. And I’m not talkin’ about money in the bank, but all things great and beautiful.” She reached across the table and grasped Ashley’s left hand. “I’m your grandmother and I’m tellin’ you, you deserve the beautiful things. A beautiful marriage and the beauty of motherhood.”

“Thanks, Grammy,” Ashley whispered, clearly moved by Grammy’s speech.

Grammy released Ashley’s hand and plopped her napkin on her lap. “Come on, let’s say grace so we can eat. Bow your heads, children. I know a short one.”

• • •

Wednesday morning at Make It Work!, Angela called Cooper on her cell phone and asked her to pick up the company’s lunch order from Casa Grande.

“I ordered you cheese enchiladas with refried beans and rice,” Angela said, sounding especially chipper. “I know what everybody’s favorites are, except for Emilio. He says he likes to try new things all the time. I can only imagine what he means by that.” She giggled.

“Is Mr. Farmer treating us again?” Cooper asked as she loaded her toolbox into the back of the van and closed the double doors.

“Yes, ma’am! That makes two times this week. He’s been mighty friendly to me, too. Brought me a pack of gum Monday, a candy bar yesterday, and this mornin’ he brought me a little pumpkin with a painted face. It’s the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.”

Cooper climbed into the van’s high driver seat. “I guess you managed to make him jealous.”

“Reckon so.” Angela sounded smug.

“So what now?” Cooper tried to refrain from sounding judgmental. “You wanted Mr. Farmer to pay attention to you and he is. I don’t see him getting the rest of us little tokens of affection. Are you going to keep flirting with Emilio?”

“It depends where that gold Godiva box Emilio brought with him to work ends up. If I find it on my desk sometime today, then I’ll know he’s interested and hey, I might as well give him a try.” Angela sighed theatrically. “Maybe Mr. Farmer will finally realize that he shouldn’t have waited so long to decide that he wants to be with me.”

“How do you know Emilio has chocolates with him?” Cooper adjusted her phone headset as she turned onto Broad Street.

“Oh, I just happened to peek in his bag before he went out to empty the shredder boxes.”

“Angela!”

“I just wanted to see what cologne he wears,” Angela protested. “He always smells
so
good.”

Cooper pulled into a strip mall and found a space for the van at the far end of the parking lot. “I have to go. I’m at the restaurant.”

After collecting their order, she returned to the office and laid out the lunches in the break room. As she leaned over to place a pile of napkins on the far side of the table, Emilio entered the room and greeted her enthusiastically.

Cooper quickly swung around. “Oh, hi. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Can I help you set the table?” he offered gallantly. “Because there’s something I’d like to give you when you’re done.”

Pretending to be too busy arranging plastic cutlery to meet Emilio’s eyes, Cooper mumbled, “Oh, yeah?”

Emilio sidled closer. “Some chocolate-covered cherries. They smell sweet and melt in your mouth. And they’re the best, because some women deserve only the best.” His voice had turned low and husky.

Cooper could feel his breath on her cheek. She tried not to grimace as his musky cologne nearly overpowered her nostrils. “That’s really nice of you, Emilio,” she said, still refusing to look at him. “But you really shouldn’t get me anything. We’re just coworkers.”

Emilio placed his hands over his heart. “But we could be so much more.” He inched even closer. “Did you like that perfume I got you? Are you wearing it right now?”

Feeling trapped in the small kitchen, Cooper prayed for a way to escape Emilio’s hulking presence, but her well-built coworker kept pressing forward until she was backed up against the cabinets with no retreat in sight.

“Look.” Cooper held her hand out in front of her. “I’m kind of seeing someone, Emilio.”

“I heard about the guy, but if you were serious about him, you wouldn’t say ‘kind of.’ He must not be treating you like a queen, but I will. Go out with me this Friday and I’ll show you what it’s like to be with a man who really understands what a wildflower you are. What do you say, babe? I could give you a taste of what’s in store for you if you say yes.”

Horrified, Cooper realized that Emilio intended to kiss her. Spurred by panic, she ducked under his arm and popped up behind his back, twitching like a hunted rabbit. At that moment, Angela and Ben stepped into the room. Angela was in the middle of nagging Ben for the lapses in his paperwork while he rolled his eyes in exaggerated annoyance.

“I’m starvin’!” Angela declared once she had finished with Ben and sat down, unaware of the charged air within the room.

Ben seemed to sense that something was amiss, for he threw a questioning gaze at Cooper before dumping a mound of tortilla chips on the lid of his takeout container. “Is there any salsa?” He searched inside one of the paper bags sitting in the center of the table. Cooper rushed to her seat—eager to create more distance between herself and Emilio—and handed a salsa container to Ben.

“You’re going to need an extra workout after
that
lunch,” Angela said, pointing at Ben’s loaded plate with her fork.

“This is the only decent meal I eat,” Ben mumbled as Emilio sat down next to Cooper.

“Doesn’t your wife cook?” Emilio asked. “I will never marry a woman who doesn’t know her way around a kitchen.”

Ben glared at Emilio. “Let’s just say my wife’s not feeling up to cooking these days.”

“Men are perfectly able to make their own meals. This isn’t the fifties,” Angela remarked to Emilio. “You’re a bachelor. What do you do for supper?”

“I buy it.” Emilio laughed. “Until I can land myself a girlfriend who’ll fry me up a nice steak, it’s all takeout all the time for this single man.”

Angela dabbed at her crimson lips with a napkin and leaned on her elbows as she gave Emilio an appraising look. “So when you find this girlfriend, what else are you going to have her cook besides steak?”

Emilio pulled at a string of cheese protruding from the edge of his beef enchilada and shrugged. “Stuff my mom made. You know, Italian stuff. Lasagna, veal parmigianino, gnocchi, cannoli. None of this Southern fried chicken and grits; I can’t stand that kind of food.”

Angela bristled. Cooper knew that the perky secretary prided herself on the perfection of her fried chicken.

“What if she can’t cook like your mama?” Ben asked.

Emilio pulled another long strand of cheese from his fork, twisted it around his index finger, and pushed it into his mouth with a laugh. “There’s lots of fish in the sea, right? It’s not like I won’t do things for the woman who takes care of me either. It has to be a two-way street. That’s how a good partnership works, right, my man?” He knocked Ben’s arm with his elbow, causing Ben’s uniform sleeve to slide into a puddle of guacamole.

“Good luck finding a woman who’ll slave over a hot stove for you!” Angela shoved her chair away from the table and balled up her napkin in annoyance.

“I’ve already got the perfect lady in mind.” Emilio smiled enigmatically.

Cooper got to her feet and tossed the remainder of her lunch in the garbage.

“Where are you going?” Emilio asked, suddenly the picture of friendly concern. “Something wrong with your food? Want me to get you something else?”

“No, thanks. I’m not hungry anymore,” Cooper told him. Hurrying to the restroom, she washed her hands and then paused at her locker, almost afraid to look inside. She opened it a hesitant crack, but even the weak fluorescents overhead were sufficient enough to illuminate the gold Godiva box.

“Oh, no,” Cooper moaned and slammed the locker shut. She hastened to leave the room before Emilio could corner her there and headed for the front door, thinking that she’d never been so eager to perform maintenance on the machines at a medical office park across town.