Page 38 of Trouble Comes in Threes

He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. “You ready to make the move to part time?”

“No, not yet. But leaving early a few days this week isn’t exactly part time.”

“True, but you can go part time if you want, Rose.”

I drew in a breath. “I’m not sure I want to. I’d like to spend more time with the kids, but Ashley and Mikey are in school all day anyway.” And if I were honest with myself, part of the reason I’d agreed to search for the owner of the box was because I was a little bored. Part time wasn’t going to help with that. I wasn’t like Violet, who had loved being a stay-at-home mom.

“And besides,” I added, “if I did go part time, money would be tight, and it’s already tight.”

“And the sheriff’s position in Fenton County doesn’t pay all that much.” I heard guilt in his voice.

“Stop,” I said, lightly elbowing his side. “I have absolutely no regrets about you taking this job, Joe. We discussed it before you ran. I knew you’d have days with long hours.”

“But I still feel like I’m shirking my responsibilities to you and the kids.”

I shifted on the sofa to look up at him. “You’re keeping the county safe, and that means more to me than you know.” I held his gaze. “Was the murder in Pickle Junction a run-of-the-mill murder, or is it something to be worried about?”

“The truth?” he asked with a guarded gaze.

I nodded. “Always.”

“I don’t know yet.”

Chapter Ten

Joe had to leave early the next morning to deal with the murder investigation, but getting the kids out the door went relatively well.

It wasn’t until we were halfway into town that I realized I hadn’t heard from Neely Kate about the box. I wasn’t sure what that meant. Had she opened it and decided to continue investigating without me? Or had the contents been so boring, she hadn’t bothered to let me know? Neither answer sounded quite right.

Daisy was at daycare when I dropped the kids off, so I wasn’t surprised to see Neely Kate sitting at her desk when I walked into the office.

She glanced up and gave me a sheepish look. “I didn’t open the box.”

I stared at her in surprise. “What?”

She made a face. “Jed and I got into a huge fight, and he was the last person I wanted to ask for help.”

“So do you still want to open it?”

“Of course, but I decided to see if you’d changed your mind about opening it with me.”

I stared at her for a long moment. “Yeah,” I finally said. “I want to open it with you. But how do you plan to get it open now?”

“I was thinking we could ask Bruce Wayne.”

I grinned. “Brilliant idea.”

“You’re not worried it’s going to jinx you or anything?” she asked.

“No.” I cringed. “I’m kind of embarrassed about running off and leaving it with you yesterday.”

“What? Why?” she barked, sitting upright. “Rose, you were the one dead in the vision!”

“First of all, we don’t know it was me, and second, if it was, you were there in danger too.”

“Did you change your mind and decide to tell Joe?”

“No,” I said with a sheepish shrug.

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