Chapter 17 #2
She hugs me, but her eyes stay on Stella. When the hug is over, she declares, “You must be Stella Collins. I’m Katie Briar, I work at the diner.”
They shake hands and I tell my girlfriend, “Katie is the reason the corned beef hash is so good.”
“Well, then,” Stella smiles sweetly at her, “I am forever in your debt.”
Katie chuckles, but I know her real laugh and that ain’t it. “I’m sure I’ll figure out a way for you to pay me back. So, you two spending the holiday together?”
I nod. “That’s the plan.”
She eyes our cart, then asks, “Just one cart for the two of you?” Her tone reeks of judgement.
I firmly tell her, “Yes, Katie.”
“Hmm,” she huffs. Then she changes gears, “Did you hear about Mrs. Carmelo?”
Stella asks, “The woman who answers the phone at the sheriff’s office?”
“That’s the one. She’s,” Katie leans close to us and tries to whisper, but it’s too loud inside Bailey’s for whispering, “three months pregnant.”
Stella frowns, “Why is that controversial?”
“Because her husband has been stationed in Iraq for five months.”
“Oh!” Stella gasps.
“More than that, her brother-in-law has been staying with her since he left.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t mean they slept together—"
“Terry and Barry Carmelo are identical twins,” Katie points out.
Stella’s eyes go wide. She grimaces, “Well, at least the child has a real good chance of looking like they belong in the family.”
“I’ll say.” Katie laughs. “Oh, FYI, Sheriff Brinks is on a hunting trip through January 5th. He told me he was going to call everyone or put it in the church bulletin, but that telling me was faster. Since I haven’t seen you at the diner for a few days, Jordan, I didn’t get a chance to tell you.
Well, it was nice meeting you, Miss Collins. ”
“Please, call me Stella.”
Katie grins at her. “Stella, I’m glad to know Jordan has something good keeping him busy these days. Merry Christmas, you two.”
I smile at her. “Merry Christmas.”
We watch her walk away, and Stella asks, “So, how long were you two sleeping together, before I came along?”
I choke on nothing, before I can say the words, “We never slept together, Stella.”
She grins. “But you wanted to.”
How the hell does she know? “I was…I was working up to it,” I admit.
“She’s pretty, Jordan. Seems sweet, too, if not a bit of a gossip. How come you never sealed the deal?”
“That’s a good question. Did you see they have paper towels on sale?”
Stella laughs. “It’s okay to talk to me about other women. I promise. Whatever happened between you two is in the past, right?”
“Ancient history.”
“Then, why is it a big deal to tell me about her? I’m just curious.”
“This…feels like a trap.”
She giggles. “I swear to God, I’m not trying to trap you. I just want to know what went wrong, so I don’t do whatever she did.”
“What makes you think it was her fault?”
She beams up at me and says, “Because you’re wonderful. So, I have to assume it was her.”
I sigh. “Honestly, Stella, it just didn’t happen. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. She’s a good woman. We had our regular flirts, but never we went out. I was close to asking her, but then you came along, and my interests…changed.”
She looks amused. “I’m glad they changed.”
“Me too.” When we go to the checkout, I notice her foot taps when she’s in line. “You okay?”
“I hate lines,” she says. “Not that I’m in a rush, but lines always make me feel like I’m stuck. And being stuck is…not good for me. Makes me feel like a sitting duck.”
“Oh, okay. Do you want me to pay? You can wait in the car. With the doors locked.”
“No, no. I’d rather be with you.” Her eyes dart around to the other people in the store.
“If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t seen anyone in here that I don’t know.”
She smiles. “Thank you. That does help.”
We make it out of the store in one piece, despite the crowd’s best efforts. At the truck, as we load up groceries in the bed, a shadow creeps up from behind. I turn and find Alex. “Oh, hey, man.” I shake his hand.
“This greeting is a big improvement from the last time I saw you,” he says.
Stella smirks, “Well, this time he knows who you are, goofball. How’s Grandpa?”
“Doing great. He’s actually gained four pounds in the last two weeks.”
Her voice cracks from hope and joy, “Really?”
He nods. “The treatments are taking less out of him now, and we’ve been getting him the nutrition he needs. Here’s a picture.” He shows us his phone. There’s a bony old man sitting with Stella’s family, so I assume it’s him. He looks tired, but happy, with his great grandson on his knee.
Stella cries into her mitten. “Oh, my god. There’s color in his cheeks!”
Alex nods. “He’s getting better.”
“This is all I wanted for Christmas. Thank you so much.” She hugs her big brother, and as happy as I am for her, I can’t help but feel exposed in the parking lot.
“That’s wonderful news, guys, and I hate to say it, but is there a way we can wrap this up? I don’t want to sound insensitive, but—"
Stella wipes her eyes, then says, “Yeah. I know. We have to be practical.”
He nods. “I know, we gotta be smart about all this.” Alex slips his phone into his pocket. “I just hate that we can’t see each other because of your asshole ex-boyfriend.”
The news lands like a bomb in my head. I blurt, “Riker is your ex—boyfriend?”
“Yeah, but—"
“The guy who murdered someone, the guy you said was your partner…you didn’t mean business partner, did you?”
“Oh, he was that, too. Look, I didn’t want to get into it. I still don’t.”
Alex asks me, “Witness Protection didn’t tell you about their connection?”
“Not that part,” I tell him. I don’t know what to think. “Stella, did everything else go down how you told me?”
“Yes.”
I can see the truth in her eyes. She’s being honest about that. “Is the ex-boyfriend part the only part of this that I don’t know about?”
She considers the question for a second. “I think so.”
“Okay then. We should probably get going.” I slam the tailgate closed and people around us scream. It wasn’t that loud. Then, I hear it. Two gunshots. I look at Stella. Her big blue eyes are wide in terror before she and Alex both drop to the ground.