Chapter 18
ALEX
I couldn’t believe my grandfather. How dare he bring up the past, especially in front of Zina? I could still taste her on my lips, still feel the way her hair slid through my fingers as I kissed her.
I pulled some clothes on and headed down to the warehouse to check on preparations.
Toby was there, doing a final walk-through of the dome.
He’d already filled the large aboveground pool.
I’d checked with the aquarium on exact requirements and had dumped enough salt in the bottom to make sure the penguins would feel right at home.
“Think you’ll be wrapping up today?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Toby fiddled with the thermostat. “It’s done. Now all you need to do is get the temp down to where you want it and bring in the ice and snow.”
“I can’t believe you were able to get this done so fast.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, isn’t that right?” Toby clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m just going to make a few final adjustments.”
We were doing everything we could to make sure we’d have things ready.
Now that the habitat was finished, I’d have such little time to get the penguins trained.
Good thing they were coming from the aquarium where they’d participated in plenty of training sessions, so they were used to working for treats.
I hadn’t been able to make it over to Houston to see them in action yet.
The director said I could come by anytime and hand select the penguins I wanted to have at the wedding.
With everything under control, today seemed as good a time as any to head over.
Maybe the girls would want to go with me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Char. If memory served, she had a rare day off and might enjoy having some time to herself.
“Hey, what’s up?” she answered, her voice a little breathless.
“I need to head to Houston to check out those penguins. Thought maybe the girls would want to go with me and we could give you a day to yourself. What do you say?”
“Really? I was just starting to clean out the girls’ bedrooms. Do you know Frankie keeps all kinds of food under her mattress to train Shiner Bock?”
I stifled a chuckle. That didn’t surprise me at all. Frankie loved that damn bird with a fierceness. She’d do just about anything for him. “I believe it.”
“I wanted to ask you a question about Shiner.”
“What’s up?”
“I think Dolly’s allergic. Is there any chance he can move out to the Phillips House with you?”
I groaned. “First Gramps, now the damn bird, too?”
“Just long enough for me to see if it makes a difference?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Thanks. Frankie will be heartbroken if we have to give him away. And I’m sure they’d love to go with you to the aquarium. What time?”
“How about an hour?”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll have them ready.”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, Alex?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks.” She disconnected.
I tucked my phone back into my pocket and headed back to the house. That gave me just enough time for a shower, another few cups of coffee, and a talk with my grandfather about appropriate breakfast conversation. Gramps still sat at the table, where I’d left him.
“Hey, we need to talk.”
Gramps looked up. “Haven’t we talked enough for one day?”
“You should have thought about that before you went and brought up things from the past.”
“You can’t change what kind of person your mama was.” The old man gave a slight shake of the head. “But you can change what kind of man you want to be.”
I forced down the anger rising in my chest. “You have no business talking about my mom like that. You don’t know what happened back then.”
“I know a lot better than you do. What were you, five? Six? When she left, you couldn’t have been more than first or second grade.”
Five. I was five years old when I came home from kindergarten one day to find my dad passed out in a recliner in the family room and my mom long gone.
She’d left a note saying she was going to stay with her sister and would come back for us when she got a job and found us a place to live.
That was the last time I’d heard from her.
“How dare you bring that up in front of a stranger?”
Gramps scoffed, laughed right into his mug of coffee. “I’d say you know that woman better than the vast majority of other people in this town. Do you think I couldn’t hear the two of you going at it all night long? She ought to know what she’s in for, don’t you think?”
That was it. The man must have lost his mind, at least the part that had still been working. I stomped out of the house, leaving him to his memories and judgments. I’d sacrifice that extra coffee and head to Char’s early if it meant getting away from my grandfather.
As I passed through town, I caught a glimpse of the Burger Bonanza sign. I may as well stop in and grab a cup of coffee to go.
A few minutes later I leaned against the counter while I waited for the waitress to stop by and grab my order.
I hadn’t spent much time in town since I’d been back—I’d been busy from dawn till dusk trying to get the warehouse ready for the impending penguin arrival.
As I sat there waiting for my fix of caffeine, I let my gaze roam over the place.
Same booths. Same countertop. Same cantankerous cook slinging burgers in the kitchen.
It was comforting on some level to know that no matter how long I’d been gone or how far I traveled, places like this would always stay the same.
Kind of like my grandfather, I supposed. Maybe I’d been too rough on the man. I kneaded the back of my neck as someone slid into the booth behind me.
Must have been two people based on the way they traded muffled words back and forth. I didn’t pay them much mind until I heard a phrase that set off a chain reaction of protectiveness. “Stupid, dog-loving bitch.”
They could be talking about anyone, but my mind immediately went to Zina.
I fought the urge to whip around and set them straight.
But that wouldn’t do any good. So I sat there in silence, straining to pick up tidbits of the conversation.
The waitress came over to take my order, and I decided to stick around and try to figure out what they were talking about.
While she chattered away at me, I missed out on a good chunk of what was being said.
I swore I heard the word “pity.” But it could have been “pity” or “pittie.” Laying into a man for mistaking something he said wouldn’t do any good, so I waited.
The talk between them stopped when their food arrived.
I was left to sip on my coffee and hope they started up again before I had to leave to get to Char’s.
I tried to turn my head and catch a glimpse of them without being too obvious as I signaled the server over for more coffee.
All I could see from the corner of my eye was a pair of well-worn steel-toed work boots and a hand before the man shifted farther into the booth.
Dammit. The man did wear a ring though. Looked like something I’d see on a biker. I could have sworn it was a skeleton.
I pulled out a few bucks and slid them under my saucer, figuring I’d get up and go to the restroom. That would give me a chance to sneak a quick look at the men at the table behind me. Before I could stand up, a palm landed on my shoulder.
“Alex Sanders.” A woman stood next to me, her other hand held out for a handshake.
“Do I know you?” I instinctively reached for her hand, barely catching a final look at the two men as they exited through the front door.
“Suzy Mitchell, damn glad to meet you.”
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment . . .” I hopped off my stool and ran to the door, trying to catch a glimpse of the two men who’d been at the booth behind me. I made it to the window just in time to see a large black dually pickup truck fishtail out onto the main road.
“Mr. Sanders?” Suzy had followed me to the door, a friendly smile on her face.
“You didn’t happen to catch sight of those two men, did you?” I moved back toward the stool where I’d been sitting, stopping on the way to see if maybe the men had paid with a credit card and left a receipt sitting there.
“Sorry, I didn’t. Can I ask you a quick question though?” Her lips were bright orange, just a few shades different from her hair.
“Sure.” I had no idea how the woman knew my name or what I might be able to help her with, but my chance of getting more info on the two men was lost, so I managed a smile as I grabbed my jacket.
“I hear you’re doin’ some work out at the Phillips House?”
“That’s right.”
“Well, I wanted to introduce myself. I’m the town florist. You be sure to give me a call if you need flowers for that big wedding coming into town.”
“Oh, they’ve got a wedding planner from LA making most of the arrangements, but I’ll mention it to Lacey.”
She nodded. “I heard you’re going to have some penguins. One of ’em gets out of hand and you need to have something mounted, I can help you with that too.”
“Mounted?”
She pulled a rolled-up magazine out of her back pocket. “Taxidermy and flowers, those are my two specialties. You can see right here I was a centerfold back in the day.”
I squinted, not wanting to look at the spread she held out.
“Do my own mounts, full body if you want. I figure penguins can’t be too different than some of the other animals I’ve worked with.”
I peeked between my lashes at the image of Suzy surrounded by woodland animals. My stomach churned. “Oh, we’re set there. No need to mount the penguins.”
“You let me know if you change your mind.” She held out a card.
I slid it into my back pocket. “I sure will.”
“Oh, one more thing?”
I cringed, wondering what other businesses the taxidermist florist might be dabbling in. I was almost afraid to ask. “Yes?”
“Is it true you’re having a dog adoption event out at the Phillips place today? My nephew lost his dog to cancer last year and I was going to send him over.”
“We sure are. Starts at three.” I checked my watch. Speaking of the adoption event, I’d promised Zina I’d help. If I wanted to get back in time, I’d better get a move on.
“Thanks. I’ll let him know.” She grinned again as she stepped past me.
I downed the rest of my coffee and headed toward the truck.
Twenty minutes later I pulled into Char’s driveway. The girls crowded around me, apparently eager to get to the aquarium.
“Uncle Alex, is it true we’re going to get to pet the penguins?” Dolly asked.
“Can we teach them how to play soccer?” Jordan passed a soccer ball between her hands.
Izzy took my hand and tugged me toward the truck. “Let’s go. I want to draw them.”
Char gazed at me over the tops of her daughters’ heads. “You sure you’re up for this?”
“Um, yeah.” Truth was, I was already having second thoughts. But I’d offered and it was something that needed to be done sooner rather than later.
Char lifted Dolly up so she could climb into the back seat. “Have fun.”
“Did you decide what to do with your free time?”
“Sure did. One of my friends is meeting me in town for lunch and then we’re getting manicures at the salon.” Her smile made the hours that stretched ahead of me worth it. “Where’s Gramps?”
“Oh, we kind of had it out this morning. He’s back at the Phillips House.”
“You can’t leave him there by himself all day.” Char’s forehead creased.
I couldn’t imagine spending the morning at the aquarium with my nieces and my grandfather. “He’ll be fine. Where’s he going to go? He’ll putter around the warehouse, pet some dogs, and maybe get his head out of his ass while he’s at it.”
The girls giggled.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Gramps and I had exchanged some harsh words, but the old man was right. He always was.
“Come on, Alex. This isn’t what we talked about. If you won’t take him with you, I guess I’ll have to cancel my plans.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
“Fine.” I let out a sigh. “We’ll swing by and pick him up on the way. Happy?”
“As a clam.” She leaned over and wrapped an arm around me for a half hug. “You’re a good guy. Despite what everyone says.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I’ve got to get going. Y’all have fun.”
Fun. Right. With my four nieces and my grandfather at the aquarium.
If that was fun, then I decided I’d been doing it wrong.
I herded the other girls toward the truck and got them loaded in.
As I drove back to the Phillips House, I thought about whether or not I ought to call Zina and warn her about the men at the diner.
Based on what I’d heard, I didn’t even know if they’d been talking about her.
They could have been talking about someone else.
It would be better to relay that kind of news in person, not over the phone.
But if something happened or I got a sense she was in danger at all, I’d hunt those two men down and figure out what they were up to.
Satisfied I had a plan, I slid a smile onto my face and cranked up the tunes.
Today was about the girls and the penguins and the cranky old man I was lucky to have as my grandfather.