Page 239 of Things Left Unsaid

I know it makes me petty, but I run a hand through my hair. Aware that my ring finger will glint in the light.

Her jaw clenches at the sight.

Zee - 1.Grand-mère- 0.

“What time does this atrocity start?”

“One PM.”

“Will that hockey player be there?”

She sayshockey playerlike she doeslawyer.

“They all will.”

“Mon Dieu.”

“Why do you think I want you to be there? If nothing else, the fact that it will make the right impression should encourage you to attend.”

Sniffing, she retorts, “Is Calder making my coffee?”

“If he is, then I pity you. Would you like some that doesn’t taste of pond water?”

“S’il te plaît.”

“You’ll come?”

“If I must,” she dismisses, turning her head to the side so she can look out onto the ranch.

If the words weren’t a dismissal, then that is.

Sighing, I turn toward the door but I pause to ask, “Did you see Clyde in our truck?”

“Do you think I’m in the habit of lying to the authorities, child?”

A nonanswer if I ever heard one.

My marriage is the only time the matriarch of the Bar 9 and the patriarch of the Seven Cs have ever worked together as a team…

That makes her statement to the RCMP questionable.

Are they taking her seriously? Or filing it as a petty grievance between long-held enemies?

Pursing my lips, I return to the kitchen.

“That was fast,” Colby remarks when he spies me.

Thankfully, Carson is still sitting at the table, shielding me from his junk.

“She wants me to make her a coffee.”

“As payment for attending the BBQ?”

“No, Calder.” I flash my ring at him. “This did the talking for me.”

“Where can I get me one of those?”

“Did you come out and I missed that announcement? Anyway, as far as I know, the Korhonens are all straight.”

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