Page 6 of Merry Murder Season
When we got back to the house, we had more visitors. The nice thing about a California Thanksgiving was that if the weather held, you could have everyone outside, enjoying the sun. Greg had people in lawn chairs in the backyard. Deek was running around getting people drinks. And Emma was lying on the deck, watching people invadeher territory.
From my count, we were an hour away from serving dinner and we were only missing two people.
A motorcycle raced up the street and then parked in our driveway. Lille and Dominic had arrived. Greg met my gaze.
Now the party could start.
Chapter 3
Dominic had not been what I’d expected. He dressed in a black button-down with black jeans. His dark hair was pushed back away from a face that would make any woman swoon, with sparkling blue eyes and a dimple that showed in his five o’clock shadow when he smiled. He brought me flowers and asked me to call him Dom. He chatted with Aunt Jackie and Harrold about traveling in Italy and the best places to avoid the tourists. He talked about literature, including Shakespeare and the classics, withDeek and Tilly.
He was the perfect dinner guest.
Until, to Lille’s and Jim’s dismay, Dom took a strong interest in Beth’s cult project. They talked long after the coffee and pie had been served. I’d pulled a chair close by, too, interested in the development of the book and what Beth had found since she’d last beenin South Cove.
When dinner was over and most of the guests, including Dom and Lille, had left, Dom had charmed almost everyone in the house. Except, I noticed, Greg. He and Jim were hanging out on the side of the yard talking. Probably about Beth’s unreasonable demands for an actual life after they were married. Lille had hung by Dom’s side most of the day, except when he approached me to help get food on the table and later to clear the plates so we could stuff dessert into our already full bellies.
Deek was helping in the kitchen, filling the dishwasher while I tried to find room in the fridge for the leftovers. “Dom’s not exactly what I expected. I’ve heard stories about Lille’s boyfriend, but this guy is a dark romance hero just waiting to be redeemed by the virtuous heroine. I’m kind of in love with him too.” He grinned at me. “In a totally non-sexualbromance way.”
“He is different than what I expected,” I said as I moved the olive jars to the back and pushed the plastic tub of mashed potatoes onto the shelf. Greg’s family was coming for dinner tomorrow night before we went to Chip’s Bar for the dart tournament. I glanced at Deek. “What are you doing for dinner tomorrow?”
“Probably grabbing some pizza from the winery before heading over to Chip’s. I’m closing tomorrow, remember?” Deek handed me a storage bag he’d just put the leftover salad into. “I’ll take some leftover pie if you want to get rid of it. I’m working tonight and tomorrow before I go in. Hopefully, it will be slow on my shift, since I’m on deadlinefor this book.”
“I think the bookstore is in bad hands if it’s ever just you and me.” I tucked the salad into the veggie drawer and looked around the kitchen. The pumpkin pies and the rest of the turkey could go into Toby’s fridge in his apartment. I looked around but he was already gone. “Where’sToby and Greg?”
“They had a call out.” Deek took an empty pie plate and put three large slices of pie on it, then covered it with aluminum foil. “Something about a domestic dispute?”
“Great. Probably about dinner or the football game.” I handed him a half-emptied tub of Cool Whip. “Take this. Are you sure you don’t want some turkey?”
“If I get hungry, I’m just across the street. I’ll let you know.” He wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and looked around the kitchen. “And with that, I’m gone. It will give you some time to chat with the dude’s family. Their auras are all kinds of messed up. Is there something going on?”
I didn’t want to air Jim and Beth’s dirty laundry, but again, Deek had seen the issue between them. Of course, the fact that they hadn’t said one word to each other the entire afternoon might have been a clue as well. “I’m sure they’ll work it out.”
Deek shrugged. “If you say so. Sometimes we have to make choices for ourselves rather than forother people.”
His words echoed the warning Esmeralda had given me earlier. Was this fight with Beth and Jim what she’d seen? I followed him out. “When was the last time you talked to your godmother?”
“Two weeks ago when she dropped off the key and a page of instructions on how to feed the cat.” Deek paused at the door and the sun shone on his now blue dreadlocks. “Why?”
“Just wondering if she got into New Orleans okay.” I tried to mask my question.
Deek shook his head as he left. “You’re a horrible liar. Thanks for the grub and for inviting me. This was better thanI’d expected.”
I closed the door and turned to find Amanda staring at me, her arms folded. “Now what are we going to do to fix this rift betweenJim and Beth?”
* * *
Beth and Amanda had gone Black Friday shopping first thing the next morning in Bakerstown. I’d begged off since Tilly was the only one at the shop and we had a “buy one coffee, get one free” sale for all the Black Friday shoppers. I knew Deek was writing, so I’d volunteered to do the shift. And, as Greg had reminded me, it kept me out of the Beth-Jim argument.
As we cleaned up the leftover dinner, Beth came into the kitchen and took the drying towel from Greg. “Go talk to your brother. I’ve told him I’m going to this fundraiser tomorrow night with or without him, so he mightas well come.”
Greg met my gaze.
“Don’t even think about it. You’re coming with me. Come hell or highwater,” I said.
“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded his head and then grinned at Beth. “See, King men can be taughtsome manners.”
“I’m beginning to think your brother is adopted,” Beth deadpanned as she tooka pan from me.
