Page 94 of In Cold Blood
“Hey, darlin’.”
Noah opened his arms and Mia veered around him like an obstacle. “Okay.”
He smiled at the sight of his son. “Ethan.”
Ethan fist-bumped him. “It’s that time of the month, Dad,” he said quietly without Mia hearing. Noah rolled his eyes.
“Jump in. I’ll be there in a second,” he said.
“I would if there wasn’t a wolf inside,” Mia said.
“It’s not a wolf. It’s Uncle Luke’s K-9. His name’s Axel.”
“I’m not going in there.”
“Then jump up front,” Noah replied, turning as Lena approached with Aiden.
“Noah. This is Aiden.”
“Hey,” he said, shaking his hand.
“I’m sorry about your brother,” Aiden replied. “Grief is a hard thing to process. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Well…” Lena said, a smirk forming.
Aiden must have sensed them wanting to have a moment. “Well, good to meet you, Noah.” He thumbed over his shoulder. “I’ll be in the car, Lena.”
He wandered back under Noah’s watchful eye.
“Seems nice.”
Lena nodded. “Listen, Mia is a little hot-headed today. If she gives you any problems, tell me. Okay?”
He waved her off. “Ah, it’s all good.”
“No. She’s been a handful lately. Sixteen. Boys.” She summoned a smile. “All right. Well. I’ll meet you back here at noon?”
“That works.”
They returned to their vehicles. Axel was having a whale of a time in the back with Ethan. His bushy tail was batting Ethan in the face. “Axel. Come on now. Sit your butt down,” Noah said as he slammed the door shut and glanced at Mia who was staring at her phone, thumbing it faster than he could even read what was on the screen.
“So you wanna get some ice cream?”
“Sounds good to me,” Ethan replied, scratching Axel’s back. The dog barked seemingly in agreement. Mia just shrugged. The upside was he didn’t get to see this often. Usually, she was talkative and upbeat. Although it was new, he thought it was best not to prod the wasp’s nest. Nothing worked better than ice cream in getting a kid to relax. He figured she’d eventually slip out of the funk.
Noah took them over to Donnelly’s Ice Cream, famous in Saranac for its soft-serve ice cream. Since 1953 it had been a staple of the Adirondacks. The tiny white shack was set back from the road about ten minutes north of the town. An American flag flapped in the breeze above it. A teen was inserting money into the Pepsi machine up against the side as they rolled in.
“Have you found out who killed Uncle Luke?” Ethan blurted out.
“Ethan!” Mia said, whirling around in her seat and glaring.
“It’s okay, Mia. He has a right to ask.” Noah eyed his son in the rearview mirror. “No. Not yet. But we will.”
“Best of luck,” Mia said under her breath.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
