Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Kell
The apartment over Bilbee’s tavern, up and around back from the bunkhouse, wasn’t fancy, but it was his and his alone. He didn’t have to live at home and deal with feeling like he was fifteen again and being smothered by his mother.
Besides, he was twenty-eight years old, worked full-time for his dad, had his own side business, and made a good living. Paying for solitude was worth it.
Freshly showered, he was working on his second cup of coffee and buttoning up a clean flannel shirt over black silk long johns, munching on a piece of cheese.
Last night’s Nor’easter had left about eight inches, a little less than expected, but the wind had been killer.
Drifts would be everywhere, and he wondered what the roads were like.
There’d be plenty of folks stranded out there, and loads of tree limbs down.
As the clock rolled over to six a.m., he looked outside. Luke was ready for him, the exhaust of the pink police car sending off ribbons of white into the air. Instead of his personal Jeep, he’d brought the cruiser.
Guess this qualified as official business for Luke.
Kell had secured a new radiator hose after leaving the hospital, Deke kind enough to drop one off at the tavern. Rachel hadn’t realized she’d left the keys with him. If Luke got him up to the rental car and he fixed it well enough, he could return it to Rachel this morning and be done with her.
For good.
Three nights in town, huh? He could avoid her for three more days.
Plenty to do with the big Valentine’s Day festival coming up, anyhow.
Busier than usual, these two weeks before the big day were an endless stream of jobs and tasks.
No such thing as a weekend in this town this time of year.
Everyone worked from dawn to dusk and beyond.
Then the big rest began on the fifteenth.
His phone buzzed with a text.
You awake? I’m here.
Luke’s text made him chuckle.
How could I miss you? You drive a Pepto-Bismol bottle with lights on it.
He got a crude emoji in response.
Shrugging into his coat, Kell grabbed a freshly washed apple and wedged it between his teeth, giving Calamine a quick look before heading out. She was snuggled up on the big upholstered footstool Kell had long ago given up on as a footrest.
Catrest was more like it.
“Cally?” he asked.
She opened one eye, closed it slowly, and did not move.
A wave of brisk wind hit him full in the face as he pulled the flaps down on his hat, walking carefully down the flight of stairs.
His one-bedroom apartment was a funny little place, directly above the tavern’s office, and right next to the loft storeroom.
No wall came into contact with the bunkhouse or the bar itself, which suited Kell just fine.
Quieter that way.
The strange use of space meant he had an enormous living room and a bedroom just big enough for a king bed, a dresser, and a nightstand.
He’d turned one corner of the living room into an office of sorts, if by “office” you meant a battered old desk, a cantankerous swivel chair, and piles of unorganized paperwork.
With a bunch of random pens in a Love You Coffee mug.
The police car was nice and toasty as he climbed in, his brother dressed head to toe in red, including his hat, which rested on the console near the police radio.
“Hey.”
“Hey.”
Luke backed out of the parking spot, and that’s all they said for the next five miles.
But his brother couldn’t help himself, finally deciding to use his cop skills to interrogate.
“You gonna tell me what yesterday was all about?”
“Nothing more to tell. You saw enough to get the big picture.”
“Pretend I’m Harriet. Tell me a story, Uncle Kell.”
“Shut up.”
“Rachel, huh? I do remember her. That FaceTime. She talked to… us.” He meant Amber, and talking about Amber hurt Luke more than anything in the world.
As you would expect.
“Yep.”
“So she’s back in your life?”
He bristled at the words. “Not by my choice.”
“Lucinda and Boyce are selling out, huh? Does Tom know?”
“I assume so. I don’t think he’ll be surprised. He’s the town manager–he knows lots of businesses change hands.”
“No. Lots of businesses close or go out of business, Kell. Not sell out to huge companies.”
“Don’t know much about how Tom works. Why don’t you ask him? You work with him more than I do.”
“Now you’re just going all grumpy quiet on me.”
“I learned it from the best, bro.”
“Kell. Man. You glued yourself to her.”
“She glued herself to me.”
“And you had to go in the bathroom with her.”
“I saw nothing!”
“That was weird. Admit it.”
“Of course it was weird! Did I say it wasn’t?”
“I always thought she was the one you were really interested in. Not Alissa.”
And there it was. Luke’s whole point.
Kell sighed through his nose, but said nothing, mentally calculating the distance.
About four levels of probing inquiry.
A full-body strip search would be easier than this.
“I don’t give you the third degree about your feelings, Luke. Drop it.”
“You came home from D.C. like a lovesick puppy who got abandoned by the side of the road. Took you close to a year to seem normal again. We used to point to pictures of Grumpy Cat when Harriet was a toddler and she’d shout, ‘Uncle Kell!’. Rachel was part of that.”
“Not talking about this.”
“Fine. Then let’s talk about why she’s here. Why is she here?”
“To get Lucinda to sell Love You Chocolate to Markstone's.”
“And what’ll that mean for the town?”
“She says thirty to forty new full-time jobs with benefits.”
“So they’ll expand the factory?”
“I guess.”
“Where? Space is tight downtown.”
“No clue.”
“That means new development.”
“Okay.”
“Someone’s got to sell them some land if there’s going to be a new factory.”
“Do I look like the director of development for Luview, Luke?”
“We don’t have one, remember? He quit.”
“Right. He wasn’t here long, was he?”
“Nope. Didn’t like all the resistance to his ideas.”
“You think Rachel’s going to experience resistance?”
“If selling Love You Chocolate means building new structures on the land near town, you bet.”
“Then maybe Lucinda won’t sell. I don’t care, Luke. Why should I care? I just want her gone.”
“Why?”
“Because she reminds me of my old life.”
“Lots of things remind us of our pasts. We don’t want them all to go away.”
“I do with this one. She… she reminds me of how na?ve I was.”
“I thought you guys were friends. You watched that Nordic murder show crap together.”
“It’s not crap.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. We did. It’s part of why this is so…” He made a face.
“Hard?”
“Complicated.”
“Old feelings coming back?”
“How would you feel if someone you liked a long time ago came back out of nowhere and you couldn’t escape her?”
Luke snorted. “Fat chance of that ever happening to me.” His face fell. “Besides, Amber and I started dating in high school. The only person who fits that description is…”
“Kylie Hood,” Kell said, enjoying turning the tables, bringing back memories of the first girl Luke kissed.
“No way she’s coming back to Luview.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. You’re just bringing this up to deflect.”
“Worked, didn’t it?”
“Mom’s going to hear about this.”
Kell patted his phone. “Already been texting like crazy.”
“And?”
“And I’m ignoring her.”
“Is that why she wouldn’t leave me alone last night?”
“Probably.”
“You just turned your phone off and didn’t answer?”
“Uh huh.”
“Must be nice.”
“It is.”
“Cops can’t do that. I have to be available just in case. And parents can’t do that, either.”
The word single wasn’t part of Luke’s comment, but Kell felt it. Last thing in the world Luke ever expected was to be raising his child on his own. Not that he didn’t have help; their mom and dad rose to the occasion, and Colleen and Kell took shifts every week.
Being here to watch Harriet grow had been the one positive about coming back home five years ago.
And it really had meant the world to him.
As they got out of town and onto Route 33, Kell was impressed by how clear the roads were.
The sun crept up and gave a dazzling shine to the day, making everything look picture perfect.
Half an inch of snow clung to every tree branch, and the piles on the roadside meant the elementary school’s sledding hill would be popular after school.
Fortunately, the snow had fallen early enough for the plows to clear all the bus routes.
Or unfortunately, if you were a kid who just wanted to sled all day.
“Harriet okay with Nicole?” Luke had recently hired a nanny.
“Yeah.”
“How’s that working out?”
“Eh. Nicole’s good with her. Terrible at doing the ‘light housekeeping’ part of the job.”
“No surprise. She’s eighteen. Just out of high school.”
“Sure. And I hate asking over and over. Mom’s offered to come and train her.”
“Train her to what? Pick up toys? Come on, Luke. You’re a cop. You enforce boundaries for a living. Make your nanny do what she’s supposed to do.”
“I know.” He let out a long sigh. “It’s just one more thing I have to deal with that I shouldn’t have to deal with, so I don’t. Only so much energy, you know?”
“Yep.”
So far, no stranded drivers, which was unusual. When they reached the logging road, Kell braced himself to grab a shovel from the trunk and dig their way up the hill, but he was pleasantly surprised to find it was plowed, right up to the rental car.
“You did this?”
“Got the road crew to do it. Figured it saves us some aching backs.”
“Maybe your stupid job is good for something, Luke.”
“I’m so glad to have your approval, bro. Been desperate for it my whole life.”
Leaving that one out to hang, Kell climbed out and took in a deep breath, loving the scent of fresh snowfall. It never got old.
Unlike his brother’s cracks.
Kell unlocked Rachel’s car and pointed to the back seat. “If we can’t get it started, I’ll need to move all that into your car and bring it to her. She has a meeting with Lucinda and Boyce at eleven.”
“No problem. I think you can fix this, though.”