Page 51 of Steers and Stowaways
“To make things even more exciting, we’ve decided to tie the knot before Christmas.” Mallory stepped away from Tucker to give a giddy twirl. “The wedding reception will be here, so we’re gonna be overrun by landscapers, decorators, you name it. It’s the only way we’ll be able to whip this place into shape in time.”
Martina abruptly took a seat on the top porch step. “It all feels so sudden.”
Because it is.Tucker was enjoying every second of her witchy discomfort. He hoped she felt inconvenienced. Boxed in. Thwarted. Lord willing, her discomfort would extend to an orange jumpsuit soon.
Martina spread her hands. “What about your grieving college friend?”
The speed at which Mallory’s joyful smile faded was worthy of an Emmy Award. “We haven’t told her yet,” she confessed, sounding rueful, “for obvious reasons.” She let out an award-worthy sigh as she tipped her face up to Tucker. “It didn’t seem right to flaunt our happiness, given her recent and tremendous loss. I’ll, um, have to figure out a way tobreak it to her gently.”
Three days later
Mallory fluffedthe pillows on her guest bed and smoothed the red-and-white checkered quilt into place. If Martina decided to pop her head into the room today, Mallory didn’t want there to be any evidence that Chip had slept there the previous night.
Once the bed was made, there was no evidence that the room had been used. For an eighteen-year-old, Chip was heartbreakingly capable of coming and going without leaving a trace. He was the polar opposite of most messy teenagers. She couldn’t wait to scuff up the place a little to make it more man-cavey for him, but not yet. As long as the narco rustlers were running roughshod over her ranch, her guest room needed to look unoccupied.
A pounding of footsteps outside was followed by a frenzy of knocking on her back door. She hurried across the kitchen and found Chip standing there, which made her smile since he’d spent the night in her guest room. As agreed, he was making a show of tromping up her porch stairs in full view of the cottage where his parents lived, making it look like he was reporting for duty. She was thankful he was keeping his word, because she had a huge list of chores for him.
He wasn’t alone. Tucker’s enormous German Shepherd, Braveheart, was standing beside him. He yipped and wagged his tail at the sight of her.
“Look what the dog dragged in,” she joked, pushing the door wider to let them inside. “Did Tucker leave him here overnight?” While Braveheart launched himself joyfully ather, she poked her head out the door in search of the private investigator who was never far from her thoughts.
“Nah, he got here early.” Chip gestured at the back pasture. “He and his work crew are out there repairing a fence.”
“Oh?” She raised a hand to shade her eyes, but Chip surprised her by reaching for her elbow and tugging her back in the house, exhibiting strength that belied his weedy frame.
“Hurry up and put me to work,” he grumbled, staying in his pre-agreed upon role as a crabby, reluctant teenager. “Mom says I have to help whip this place into shape for the wedding.” They didn’t speak freely in her home for fear of being eavesdropped on. It was a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with the drug cartel, where they had to assume the walls themselves had ears.
“You’re thebestbest man ever,” she said sweetly while bending over to hug Braveheart. Over the top of the dog’s head, she scanned Chip from head-to-toe to make sure everything was okay with him.
Chip gave her a thumbs up to assure her that he was. “She’s also letting me off the hook on helping her out at the computer until after the wedding.”
Her heartbeat sped, knowing it was his way of alerting her that something big was about to go down. According to him, his mother only banned him from assisting her with her bookkeeping duties when she was handling something particularly icky for the cartel. Otherwise, she was happy to take advantage of her son’s nerdiness to handle the tedious chore of record keeping on her behalf.
For free. While you do whatever it is that you do instead of what I hired you for.Mallory was kicking herself for how many months she’d allowed Martina Silva to pull the woolover her eyes, pretending to be the world’s greatest employee. It made her shudder to recall all the extra tasks Martina had volunteered for—tasks that kept her underfoot in the house so she could spy on everything Mallory did.Ugh! And I fell for it. Totally fell for it!
“Did you tell Tucker?” Mallory phrased her question carefully as she stood, keeping her hand on the enormous German Shepherd’s head. It felt like something her fiancé needed to know right away, but she needed to make it sound like she was encouraging Chip to volunteer for additional chores.
“Cheer up,” she cooed for the benefit of anyone who was listening. “It’s nothing a few day-old donuts won’t make better.” She waved him toward the bar, where a large white box rested. Tucker had dropped it off yesterday afternoon, and it was still half full.
“Sweet!” Chip hurried to the box to help himself to an apple fritter.
“As for your first assignment today…” He groaned as she followed him and rested her elbows on the bar across from him. “I’ll admit to teaming up with your mom on this one.”
He paused mid-chew to eye her expectantly.
She reached beneath the bar to pull out the laptop she’d hidden there before he’d walked in.
“What’s this?” He watched her curiously as she opened it, and the screen flashed to life.
“See for yourself.” She beamed at him, ready to explode with excitement. Getting his mother’s blessing had required her finest acting yet.
His eyes nearly bugged out as he read the headline aloud. “Online GED Prep Made Easy.” He raised his stunned gaze to her.
“She said yes,” Mallory informed him quietly.
Chip’s eyes glazed over.
Her eyes grew damp in response. She watched him take a deep breath before forcing himself back into his role.
