Chapter Forty-Five
Adam
Tuesday night after Brian and I installed the new camera at the front of the building, Lainey went back to her apartment, and I stayed my first night in the Garcia’s house.
It was a beautiful home, but it was going to take some time to get used to the quiet of living alone. Not to mention, the groans the older Craftsman made in the middle of the night.
My body had gotten used to waking up at three a.m. to feed Conor, and precisely at three minutes after three, I found myself staring at the ceiling.
I wondered if the little guy was awake yet, and if Lainey was doing okay.
Arresting Bess had been a shock, but I was glad that part of the saga was over. I was anxious to see what a deep dive into the electronics we seized said about Earl’s involvement.
And I still needed to figure out who attacked me. One thing I knew, it wasn’t that pudgy bastard and certainly hadn’t been his crazy-ass wife.
I wasn’t leaving town until that was solved.
I grabbed my phone from the charger on the nightstand and scrolled to the app with the cameras for Lainey’s backstairs and bakery front.
I did a “live” view and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, then swiped through the videos taken earlier whenever the motion detector had been activated.
Again, nothing more remarkable than a wandering dog with a collar who’d obviously escaped his yard, sniffing around the stairs. I had a feeling if I showed Brian the video, he’d know exactly who the pup belonged to and would probably insist we stop by tomorrow to make sure it had gotten home safe.
That was the part about policing in Haven Springs that I had been looking forward to. But I knew I was holding back from fully committing myself to the job and people of the town. I didn’t want to get too invested here.
I knew it was only a matter of time before Lainey got involved with someone else, and I cut bait.
On a brighter note, Alan had texted he was stopping at a hotel for the night but would be arriving tomorrow afternoon.
I couldn’t wait to see my big brother and show him around my new little, temporary town.
And driving my Bronco again.
~~~~
After lunch, Brian and I were on our way to settle a feud between Mr. Radcliffe and Mr. Williams over azalea bushes, when my phone rang.
I saw who was calling and answered it.
“Hey! You’re on speaker in front of my boss, so don’t say anything inappropriate!”
“Well, as long as it’s not that asshole, Brian, you keep talking about, we should be fine.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Of course that’s something my brother would say.
Brian chimed in. “Nah, that fucker never works.”
“That’s what I hear!”
The smile was still on my face when I asked, “So other than trying to get me fired, why are you calling?”
“I wanted to let you know my GPS said I should be arriving at the address you sent in exactly…” he paused like he was doublechecking. “Thirty-six minutes.”
“Provided we get this gardening dispute that we’re headed to settled in a reasonable amount of time, I should be able to meet you there. Otherwise, you can swing by Clay’s Diner on Main Street and grab something to eat until we’re done.”
“Let me know in a half-hour what it’s looking like, and we’ll go from there.”
Brian replied for me.
“Fortunately for your brother, he hasn’t had to deal with Wes and David, the gardeners in question, before.
Unfortunately for me, this is an annual springtime occurrence between the two.
I can almost guarantee we will not be done in thirty minutes.
So, you should probably just plan on meeting at the diner. ”
My brother’s voice came through the speaker. “Where’s this bakery you were staying at?”
“It’s on the same street, a block up. Do not go in there without me.”
I immediately regretted saying it the second the words passed my lips because that was precisely what he was going to do now.
“Why? Are you worried she’ll be awestruck by how handsome I am and realize I’m the better Callahan brother?”
“Yes, exactly. You’re onto me. There’s no getting anything past you, big brother.”
“Don’t worry—I’ll talk you up.”
“Orrrr, you could just stay at the diner until we get there.”
“Normally, I’d agree but the fact that you don’t want me to go there so badly, makes me wanna go there.”
“What I meant was, I really don’t want you to go to the diner.”
“Okay, then I won’t. I’ll meet you at the bakery instead. See you later!”
Before I could argue, the dick hung up.
****
Lainey
I knew exactly who the stranger was the second he walked in the bakery’s door. His swagger alone gave him away—it was identical to his little brother’s. But when he approached the counter and I saw how much they looked alike, there was no doubt in my mind who I was waiting on.
He studied the day’s selection behind the glass, and I offered, “Your brother’s favorite is the blueberry tart or a croissant.”
He didn’t seem surprised that I knew who he was while he made a point of looking me up and down as far as the counter would allow. Finally, he drawled, “Well, he obviously has good taste. I’ll have one of each.”
The cocky grin must also be a familial trait because they shared that, too.
I gave it right back and winked at him when I said, “Coming right up. Do you want something to drink with that? We have coffee, tea, and sodas.”
“I’ve been driving for two days; I’m kind of coffee-d out. I’ll just have a Coke and some water.”
As he paid, he glanced around the almost-empty bakery, then asked, “Can you spare a little time and sit with me?”
****
Adam
I walked in the bakery and dropped my head in defeat.
Aw hell.
Alan and Lainey were at a table by the register, and they were both laughing.
And not “ha-ha, that’s cute” laughing. No, it was the type of laughing that had Lainey wiping her eyes.
Alan saw me first and he stood with his arms open and exclaimed, “There he is!” His deep, booming voice echoed off the bakery’s walls.
Fuck, it was good to see him.
I didn’t hesitate to step into his embrace, and we hugged far longer than the average three seconds.
Finally, we separated, but he kept his hand on the back of my head while he beamed at me.
“I’ve missed you, bro!”
“I’ve missed you, too! Thank you so much for making the trip down.”
“Yeah, of course. Lainey was filling me in about everything that’s been going on around here! That shit is wild! You still haven’t caught the guy who jumped you, though?”
“No, not yet.”
“So, the two incidents weren’t related? What are the odds of that?”
Brian piped in, “Pretty slim, in my opinion.”
I added, “But we haven’t been able to connect anyone else to Lainey’s stalker.”
Alan looked over at Brian, like he’d just noticed him, and stuck his hand out.
“You must be Brian. Alan Callahan, nice to meet you.”
“Likewise. That was really cool of you to come all the way from Massachusetts.”
“Well, I figured since my little brother didn’t want to see his family after getting discharged from the Marines, I’d come to him.”
“That’s not it, and you know it.”
Alan turned to me with a grin. “I know; I’m just busting your balls. I haven’t been able to do that in a while!”
Lainey stood and said, “I need to get back to work, but Alan, it was truly a pleasure.” She nodded toward me and Brian. “Gentlemen, wonderful to see you as always.”
She’d taken three steps when I called, “Hey, do you have any blueberry tarts left?”
She went behind the counter and returned with a bag she handed to me.
“Of course, I saved you the last one. Your brother paid for it.”
I shot him a smile. “Aw, thanks, man.”
Alan, who was an inch taller than me, looked over my head toward Lainey and asked, “Seven thirty tonight? Make sure you bring your little boy.”
“I’ll bring the baby and the blueberry wine.”
They exchanged a look, then burst out laughing at the same time, which pissed me off.
“What? You guys spend thirty minutes together, and you already have inside jokes?”
Alan clasped my shoulder and said, “It’s nothing like that.
She was telling me earlier how you like the blueberry tarts, and that reminded me of the last time I was at Flannigan’s.
I watched this poor girl on what had to be a blind date.
They ordered a bottle of blueberry wine, and the dude kept talking about how low the alcohol must be because it was so good.
She pointed to where it showed on the label that the alcohol content was actually eighteen percent.
But he ordered a second bottle after chugging down all but a glass of the first one.
An hour later, he proceeded to throw up blueberry wine all over her open-toed sandals. ”
I wrinkled my nose at the scene he’d described. “That poor girl!”
“So that’s what we were laughing about.” He turned toward Lainey, “But seriously, if you find blueberry wine… I kind of want to try it.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
I looked between the two of them while I tried to figure out what they were talking about.
“Wait, what’s going on at seven thirty?”
“Oh, I invited Lainey over to your house for dinner. We’re having steak and potatoes.” He lifted his chin in Brian’s direction. “You’re right next door, right? You’re invited, too.”
Brian didn’t hesitate. “I’ll bring dessert.”
Well, okay then. I guess our night is planned.
~~~~
Brian pulled into his driveway but didn’t kill the patrol car’s engine.
“Angus said you didn’t use all of the ten days he promised you, so take the rest of the day and tomorrow off and spend it with your brother.”
“That’s great. I appreciate it.”
“I’m sure it will be nice to catch up with him.”
“It will be. I haven’t seen him in almost ten months.”
“Do you want me to bow out of dinner tonight so you can hang out, just the two of you? I can talk to Lainey; I’m sure she’d be okay with staying home.”
“No, of course not! Alan loves to hold court. His philosophy is, the more the merrier.”
“But that’s not your philosophy.”
“Admittedly, I am not the life of the party that my brother is. I am far more select in the company I keep.”
“That’s probably because you were in Special Ops.”
“No, no. That has nothing to do with it. Alan was in counterintelligence when he was in.”
“Alan was a Marine?”
“Yep. Ten years.”
“Wow.” Brian’s face split into a grin. “Then I got nothing on why your brother’s so much more likeable than you.”