Page 57 of Double Booked

I watched as Riley and Agnes headed out the door, chatting about which store they were going to hit first. Maybe Momma A could fix whatever was troubling her today.

“Ready, boys?” Forrest asked, dumping the contents of his mug in the sink. “Johnson is expecting us.”

Colton and I looked at each other. A grin spread across Colton’s face and I was sure it mirrored mine. “Ready.”

The drive to Old Man Johnson’s place wasn’t long, maybe twenty minutes outside of town. When we pulled in, the older man was leaning against his old beat up pickup truck, a faded John Deere cap on his head and blue jean overalls hanging off his frail shoulders.

“Forrest, boys,” he greeted them. “How are ya today?”

“We’re doing great,” Forrest greeted him. “How are you?”

“These old bones are still kicking.” Johnson said. “Well, this is it. You can practically see it all from here.” He gestured to the land behind him. Johnson was a local farmer who had been farming for decades. His granddaughter was going to medical school and he was trying to raise money to help her pay for it. He had over a hundred acres but was selling off this five acre plot. Colton and I had driven by it on a job a few weeks ago and on a whim I had suggested we buy it and build a house where we could all live. Colton’s house in town was bursting at the seams right now and I could see the three of us swinging on a front porch swing while the dogs played in the front yard. And possibly a few mini-Riley’s as well. Colton had originally looked at me like I was crazy but the more he thought about it the more he was all for it. When Forrest came to town, we asked him to help us talk to Johnson about buying it as they were old poker buddies. This was the final walk through before we signed the paperwork.

The front part of the land was nice and flat and it would be easy to build a house that sat back from the road a fair bit. We had already checked on the utilities and everything ran along the county road and could easily be diverted into the property. The back half of the land sloped down gently until it hit a creek that bordered the back of the property. Plenty of room for whatever else we wanted to do with the property. Jake and Jessica were only a few miles down the road which I knew Riley would love. The property even qualified for high speed internet due to an upgrade the local cable company had made in the area. It was perfect and Riley had no idea.

“Are you sure she’s going to like it?” Colton questioned as Forrest and Johnson walked ahead. His jaw was clenched and his brow furrowed as a thread of uncertainty wove into his voice. I was usually the one who questioned things but this decision had felt right since the moment I laid eyes on the property.

“She’s going to love it,” I said confidently, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “And if for some reason she doesn’t, we can always sell it as an investment property but I have no doubt she’s going to love it.”

Colton nodded but he bit his lip. I stepped closer to him and he looked at me. I threaded our fingers together and his eyes widened as he glanced toward Forrest and Johnson’s direction. I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t one for PDA even if we weren’t really in public. “We’re going to build a life here. I fought it for years but we were always inevitable. And Riley is like the missing piece to the puzzle we’ve been searching for. We’re going to build a life here on this land.”

His eyes softened and he placed a hand on my hip, pulling me closer. “You’re right,”

“Of course I am.”

He laughed. “And always so humble. Okay. Let’s go make it official and then go get our girl.”

“That sounds perfect.” And it did. And it got even more perfect hours later after everything was finalized and we swung by the house to pick up Riley.

She was sitting on the front porch wearing one of my old high school jerseys and jean shorts with her hair pulled back in a high ponytail that I immediately wanted to wrap around my fingers. When she stood and shooed the dogs back into the house, I groaned. The sight of my name branded across her back had my cock stirring in my pants. Colton chuckled but there was heat in his eyes as well. It was all coming together. I had my best friend, my boyfriend, and my beautiful girlfriend and the deed to five acres in my pocket. It didn’t get much better than this.

CHAPTER 26

RILEY

My cheeks ached from the smile I kept plastered on my face. The sun was beating off the pavement and the Harvest Festival parade was well underway. I waved at people from Anderson and Sons Construction’s float as I stood next to Momma A, as Agnes insisted I call her. The float was decorated in bright fall foliage with leaves in red, orange, and gold. Two big scarecrows sat on top of the cab of the truck dressed similarly to Agnes and Forrest. A large wooden turkey sat in the bed of the truck behind us, wearing a top hat that had taken me forever to paint.

I scanned the crowd intently as the truck slowly crawled along the parade route. At the football game last night, I swore I saw Justin’s dad, Raymond, in the crowd but with every face I scanned, I was starting to think I must have imagined it.

Conrad, my FBI contact, had texted me this morning as I was getting ready for the parade. The file of information I had sent him along with Raymond Hargrove’s information was apparently the smoking gun they had been looking for. Conrad and his team had been investigating three of the eight murders as having a possible link and the file Alyssa compiled had blown the case wide open. Conrad was driving down from Louisville this morning and was going to grab a hotel in Somerset and come over tomorrow morning to interview me. Between the football game, the parade, and the festival this afternoon, I was running out of time to tell the guys, especially if Conrad was coming in the morning.

Not that they didn’t already know that something was up. I saw the way that they looked at me this morning but they were being sweet and giving me space to come to them. If they only knew what was on my mind. I didn’t deserve them. They were so sweet and understanding and I was about to blow up their world. At least Justin’s world for sure but by extension, Colton’s as well. Would they be as understanding when I finally told them what was going on? That Raymond was a serial killer and I was the one that figured it out and was going to get him arrested. There was no love lost between Justin and his dad I knew but what happened when Conrad investigated and found out that the first victim his dad ever killed was his mom? I had no hard proof of that but I knew how serial killers thought. Justin’s world was about to come crashing down around him and it was all my fault.

I was jarred out of my pity party when the truck made a left turn at the end of Main Street, signaling the end of the parade.

“All good up there?” Justin called up to Momma A, Forrest, and I. Colton and Justin were in the cab of the truck.

“All good.” Momma A called back. I held onto the railing as the truck and float pulled into the construction company’s parking lot. When it rolled to a stop, the guys exited the truck. I took Forrest’s hand as he helped me from the top of the float onto the lower platform. Colton was waiting on the ground and instead of offering me his hand, he placed both hands around my waist and lifted me from the truck bed, letting me slide down to the ground against him.

He dipped me back into a playful kiss as I giggled. “Did you have fun?” He murmured against my lips.

“I did.” And I really had. But I couldn’t help thinking this was going to be a once in a lifetime experience after they figured out what I did.

“Good,” Justin said, coming up next to us and sliding an arm around my waist. “Because the fun is about to start.”

“You young ones go on,” Momma A said with a wide smile on her face. “Have some fun and we’ll clean up here.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

---