Page 234 of Love Bites

CHAPTER13

Later that afternoon, perched on Wolfgang’s back porch steps next to Natalie as the twins and Kelly played tag in front of us, I still had flowers and Jeff Wymonds on the brain.

The warm, waning sunlight held reign over the surrounding hills, while shadows hovered in the nooks and valleys, waiting for their turn. Sweat trickled down my cleavage and back, Wolfgang’s shin-high grass now a thing of the past thanks to Aunt Zoe’s lawnmower.

After several calls this afternoon, I learned that even with the added time until the Historical Committee would allow work to start on the Hessler Haunt, I was still on my own when it came to yardwork and housecleaning. When I’d said on my mass-mailer postcards that I’d go the extra mile for a sale, I hadn’t realized I’d be pushing a lawnmower for part of it.

As we stared out at the backyard, abuzz with katydids, yellow-jackets, and other insects of prey, I spilled my thoughts about Kelly’s dad to Natalie in hushed bursts. The scent of fresh-cut grass and the peals of kids’ giggles took the shivers out of my suspicions.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Natalie whispered for my ears only, her tone matching the disbelief wrinkling her brow.

“No. I’m totally serious.” I shooed a wasp away from Natalie’s shoulder. “How else do you explain the picture collage of the missing girls and the jacket?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t think Jeff is smart enough to pull off one abduction, let alone three. There has to be some other explanation.”

I gulped the last of the lukewarm water from the bottle Natalie had brought me, tasting a hint of plastic, mulling over her objection. “Did you make the call I asked you to?”

Natalie nodded. “Rumor has it Donna is leaving Jeff because of another woman.”

I gaped at Natalie. “What? Why? The guy has the sex appeal of a snail.”

“Well, he’s certainly no Doc Nyce.”

Recalling the glimpses of Doc’s bare skin that I’d snuck and not-snuck earlier today, I’d second that motion.

“Or Wolfgang.” Natalie added with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Or Wolfgang, I smiled. If only he wasn’t halfway across the country sitting on the dock of the bay, wasting time we could better spend exchanging flirting glances.

“But Jeff cleans up decent and has a nice voice,” Natalie continued, “and after a couple of beers, the stupidity pouring out of his mouth doesn’t matter so much, anymore.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from recent experience.”

Natalie’s soft chuckle drew my gaze. “Almost, but I don’t sleep with married men, even when I’m washing away the been-dumped-again blues with a pitcher of suds.”

“All the more reason to continue with your sabbatical for at least a month.”

“I don’t know that I’d go that far.” She leaned back, resting her weight on her hands. “Especially now that I’ve met Doc.”

I frowned. First Harvey, now Natalie. Doc was worming his way into my world, and I wasn’t sure I wanted him there. “You mean you’ve actually met Doc face-to-face?”

“Not yet, but I will soon. I called and made an appointment with him for this coming Wednesday. If things go as planned, we’ll start out in his office and end up in my bed.”

My gut twinged at the idea of Natalie and Doc leg-wrestling on her red satin sheets. Doc was on the way to becomingmydark, mysterious, forbidden fantasy, one I didn’t want to share with my best friend. Unfortunately, having already staked a claim on Wolfgang, I couldn’t rope off Doc, too. Natalie would call “Bullshit!” and rightfully so.

“Do you really think Jeff’s the one sending you flowers?”

I shrugged. “The flowers started coming after I met him.”

“He just doesn’t seem like the flowers kind of guy.”

“Harvey and I stopped by the florist this afternoon, but the clerk who took the order had left for the day and the flowers were paid for with cash—both times, so they had no record of the purchaser.”

“Third time’s a charm, right? You just have to wait for the next bouquet.”

“I guess.” Easy for her to say; she wasn’t the one at the vulnerable end of a pair of binoculars. “Jeff may just be a local yokel to you, but I think there’s something weird about him. Spooky, even.” Possibly dangerous, too.

“You know, Violet, in some cultures, sending flowers is actually just a nice gesture.”

---