Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“Good morning,” Charley said, opening her bedroom door bright and early on Triple C-West.
“Good morning,” Abilene said, holding Wyatt Earp.
“Hi,” Austin, her twin brother said. “I knocked on your door so that we could tell you we like your puppy.”
Cooper caught up with his siblings, and Chloe was right behind him. She shooed the children, along with Spike and Wyatt, down the hall to the top of the stairs.
“Come to the kitchen whenever you’re ready, Charley. Derek’s already gone to the stables. I’m going to feed the kids some breakfast and get them on the school bus.”
“Okay,” Charley said, watching them trek down the staircase. “I’ll be right there.”
With a laugh, Chloe said, “We can have our breakfast in peace after they leave.”
Charley shut her door and put the same clothes back on that she’d worn the previous day.
She had no makeup with her and really wanted a shower and a change of clothes.
She couldn’t go see Sully again looking as bad, at least in her opinion, as she’d been the day before.
So, she made her bed, grabbed her purse, and hurried downstairs.
Finding Chloe and the kids in the kitchen, Charley poured herself a cup of coffee and picked up Wyatt.
She took him out to the front yard. As he did his business and played, she sat in a rocker on the porch.
Wyatt was back in Charley’s lap when the kids came bustling out of the house.
Shouting and waving goodbye to her, they piled into a golf cart parked beside the house, and Chloe drove them to the end of the drive.
Spike raced alongside them. Within three or four minutes, a big, yellow school bus stopped in front of the Triple C Ranch-West archway and the children boarded.
Chloe waved, and Spike barked. The dog jumped onto the passenger’s seat of the golf cart, and Chloe returned to the house.
Spike hopped out and stopped next to Charley and Wyatt.
“I want all of this someday,” Charley said to her cousin as Chloe walked onto the porch.
Chloe smiled and said, “That same school bus just picked up Colton and Courtney Cooper. And before Triple C-Central, it goes right by Cash’s, yours, and Sully’s ranches.”
Charley stood, put Wyatt down, and hugged her cousin.
In the kitchen, Chloe poured coffee, served along with yogurt and blueberries and a side of toast for breakfast. The dogs ate in the mudroom as Scarlett, who had evidently already dined, sunned herself in the windowsill.
As Charley finished her coffee, she received a text from Sully.
When Chloe cocked a questioning brow, Charlie smiled.
“Sully’s awake. He says they moved him out of the ICU last night as planned.
He’s on a discharge floor now, has no temperature, and feels good.
The nurse just told him that his doctor will be making rounds soon.
Sully will know then if he’ll be discharged.
” Charley texted back and said, “I don’t know why I’m so nervous, but I can’t wait to see him. ”
“Because you’ve admitted out loud that you’re in love with him, and in your heart you’re hoping he’s in love with you too.”
Charley raised both of her eyebrows, sighed, and admitted, “That sums it up perfectly.” They both laughed, and Charley said she was going to head to her cabin with Wyatt. “I need to try and look a bit more presentable today than I did yesterday. Or I might lose Sully before I can win him.”
“I highly doubt that,” Chloe said. “I think you’ve already won him.” After breakfast, Chloe walked her back out to her car with Wyatt and Spike as escorts. “Please keep us posted, and if Sully isn’t discharged, come spend the night again.”
“Okay, I sure will. Thank you, Chloe. I love you all.”
“The entire Cooper family loves you too, Charley.”
Charley hugged her and promised to keep them posted. Putting Wyatt and his puppy food into her car she got in after him, and with a wave, headed down the drive. She met up with Derek in his truck as he turned off the highway and into the driveway.
He stopped, rolled down his window, and said, “Be careful and say hello to Sully.”
“I will. Thanks again for taking me to the crash site yesterday, Derek.”
With a nod, he raised a hand in goodbye and Charley waved back before heading east on the highway leading to her cabin.
She talked to Wyatt as she drove, telling him about Sully.
She waved at Chase and Jade Cooper, who were also in a truck, and heading west. Triple C Ranch-East was next, and everything looked quiet.
The parking lot of the Lodge, however, was packed.
Despite the fact they were busy, she’d heard Cash say at the Halloween party that he was taking some time off from the dude ranch during the holidays due to the expected Thanksgiving arrival of the new baby boy. How exciting and wonderful.
Charley reached her cabin, and heading inside with Wyatt, she planned to make fast work of taking a shower and changing.
Humming a happy tune, she was excited to get back to the hospital and check on Sully’s discharge status.
But when she looked through her clothes, she couldn’t find the freshly laundered sweater and jeans she’d planned to wear.
That was frustrating enough, but in the process of taking things out of her duffel bag, she dropped her hairdryer onto the bathroom floor, and it decided not to work. The shower would be postponed.
“Wyatt, it’s broad daylight. We’re going to make a quick trip in and out of my Old Colorado City apartment,” Charley said.
Locking the cabin, she took the puppy back to her car. Placing Wyatt in his dog bed on the passenger’s seat, they zipped west down the highway. “I love Pikes Peak,” she said, admiring it in the distance.
Wyatt gave a puppy-sized barked as if he agreed. Reaching the corner of her shop on Colorado Avenue, everything appeared normal. In the parking pad area at the duplex, Charley looked in all directions before exiting the car.
Wyatt relieved himself, and Charley said, “Wyatt, I think someone may have done some housetraining with you before you were abandoned.” Charley wondered again if that person had since been murdered.
They hurried inside, and she locked the door.
Giving Wyatt water, she made a mental note to take his dog bowls with her this time.
As Wyatt curled up on a thick rug for a puppy nap, Charley found the clothes she wanted to wear and took her shower.
After shampooing and blow-drying her hair, she dressed.
With a dab of makeup, she felt like her old self.
Just as she finished dressing, her phone sounded, and when Wyatt looked up, she said, “A text from Sully. He’s being discharged.” She texted back that she was on her way to pick him up and walked to the front door. She opened it without the chain in place and gasped. “Rod.”
“Hi beautiful,” he said and held out a bouquet of flowers wrapped in cellophane.
He always seemed to have a smirk on his somewhat round face.
She knew he came from money. A trust fund baby, he’d claimed, and perhaps the reason why he was accustomed to getting whatever he wanted.
“I see you got my other flowers, since they’re not out here on the porch. ”
“Yes, I did. But I’m just leaving, so—”
“So, I’m only staying for a minute.” He pushed past her and with his foot nudged Wyatt out of his way. The puppy evidently didn’t move far enough or fast enough to suit Rod, and the second shove he gave Wyatt seemed a bit rough to Charley. “I called, but you didn’t answer.”
“Come here, Wyatt.” Charley picked him up and cuddled him. She didn’t tell Rod that she’d blocked his number.
“I don’t see the other flowers, baby,” Rod said.
“The vase broke, and the flowers didn’t make it.”
“You couldn’t save my flowers even though you’re a florist?”
“Even though.”
Rod scowled at that but quickly masked it with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Then it’s a good thing I brought replacements.” With that, he laid the flowers on the counter, leisurely walked to the sofa, and plopped down as if he had no intention of only staying for a minute.
“I’m headed to the hospital to pick up a friend, and I need to get going.”
“The guy with the guns? The guy I saw in your flower shop? With the big truck?”
“Yes.” Charley cautiously remained near the front door. Someone had vandalized her car and property, and she still thought it might have been Rod.
“Tell you what, you get rid of that cowboy, and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, do anything you want to do.” Lounging on the sofa, like he owned it and her, Rod spread his arms wide. “Go anywhere and do anything in the world. No pressure.”
“Rod, you’re pressuring me right now,” Charley said, holding Wyatt to her heart and keeping one hand on the new doorknob Sully had installed.
She knew Sully would be livid to find out she’d put herself in this predicament.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I’m not going to go out with you again.
You need to leave or I will call 9-1-1.”
“The hell you will.” Rod lurched off the sofa with such force that Charley took a step back. She had a fleeting sense of déjà vu as he came toward her.
“Trust me, I will.” Charley’s phone rang, and she placed Wyatt on the floor, then dug into her purse. Keeping an eye on Rod, she answered her cell without looking at the caller. “Hello Leon, yes, I’m in my apartment. Come on up the hill.”
“When that hotshot rancher dumps you, don’t come crying to me.
” Rod charged across the living room, kicking Wyatt along the way as he stomped out the door.
Wyatt whimpered and rolled sideways. Rod met up with Leon, who was riding his scooter into the parking area, and shouted for him to go to hell.
Over his shoulder, Rod hollered, “That goes for you, too, Charley!”
Charley shoved her phone in her pocket and collected Wyatt to make sure he was okay.
He was, and when she looked up, a flash of something on the sofa caught her eye.
Rod’s gun lay on the middle cushion! Dear God!
As Rod got into his Mercedes and skidded over the gravel, she hurried across the living room.
She had the presence of mind not to pick up the gun with her bare hands.
With the puppy still in her arms, she raced around the counter and into the kitchen.
She put Wyatt on the floor, grabbed a dish towel, and hurried back to the living room.
She tossed the towel over the gun a split second before Leon entered the tiny foyer of the apartment. She turned and faced him.
“I thought I saw the tail end of your car on the parking pad,” Leon said, looking over his shoulder to the gravel area. “That Rod guy is a real piece of work.”
“Are you feeling better, Leon?” Charley asked from across the room. When Leon turned to her, she gasped. “My gosh! What happened to your face?”
“Oh, you mean the scratches?”
“Yes. They look raw and deep.”
“I had a bad fall.”
“Oh,” Charley said. Wyatt scampered to her, and Charley picked him up. “I thought you had a stomach virus.”
“Dizziness from the virus is why I had the bad fall,” he replied, lingering in the foyer as she stayed near the sofa. “But I’m okay.”
“Good.” Charley found it odd that Leon didn’t acknowledge the puppy. Maybe he just didn’t like dogs.
“Since you’re closed, I’ll continue working on my uncle’s car today.”
“Your uncle had a car? I thought he bought you the scooter for transportation.”
“He did because his car needed work,” Leon said and touched his face as though it still hurt. “I’m hoping to get his car running reliably today.”
“That’s great, Leon,” Charley said. She had to get out of here before Rod realized he’d misplaced his gun and came back to look for it.
“I’d like to show you the car.”
“Leon, I apologize, but I’ve got to cut our visit short. I have a prior commitment and I need to be on my way.”
“You do?” In addition to the fresh wounds on his freckled face, Leon appeared pale and more gaunt than usual.
The last time he’d exhibited even a slight smile was the day he’d said she should rename her store the Little Shop of Horrors.
Today his expression was completely bland again.
“If I get the car running, maybe I can pick you up later. For dinner?”
“I can’t today.” Charley remembered Sully finding out from Owen the caliber of bullet in Rod’s gun.
She would take his gun straight to Sully and Owen.
She knew that since CSPD was in possession of the report on the bullet taken from her mother during the coroner’s autopsy, they could test Rod’s gun.
Rod Vaughn could either be eliminated or confirmed as a suspect in her mother’s murder and thus, the man who attacked her.
When the cell phone in her pocket rang, she jumped.
“Hello?” It was Sully. She couldn’t explain what she was dealing with in front of Leon but tried to sound as normal as possible.
“Sully, I promise I’m on my way. Right now. ”
“Charley, we need to talk,” Leon said and closed the front door.