Epilogue
“That’s right, get all the way under there,” Barbie said, making me stop short while taking the trash bag out.
Sitting in lawn chairs in the driveway were the older ladies, each of them sporting a margarita—at ten in the morning—watching Dixon wash the SUV.
Which, I assumed, York and Velle had used it the night before to transport the body, so he had all the tools out to clean the tires, rims, everything.
From experience, I knew that car wouldn’t be considered clean until someone had scrubbed it inside and out at least five times.
Then driven it through a couple of car washes for good measure.
“Good morning, ladies,” I called after tossing the trash. “Dixon,” I added, making him turn to look at me, a smirk toying with his lips.
“How’s my granddaughter doing this morning?” Claudia asked.
“She’s sleeping in,” I told her. “Think she finally feels like she can rest without worry.”
“I’m glad she has you to look after her,” she said. “And I think we both know what the ladies and I will do to you if you hurt her.”
“You gonna feed me to alligators?”
“Crocodiles like human bodies more than alligators do, dear,” Claudia said, making my eyes widen.
“But, no. There’s a good chance of discovery with that if you’re not careful.
Better to start a garden club,” she said, her eyes twinkling, making me glance across the street toward the sprawling gardens of the assisted care facility.
“Sure, bones might be found someday. But we’d be long gone by then,” she added, a wicked smirk toying with her lipstick-smeared lips.
“Noted,” I said, nodding. “But I have no plans of hurting Rue.”
To that, she gave me a nod.
“Now let me get back to my show,” she said, gesturing toward Dixon.
“They are shameless,” Rue said, standing near the corner of the house, shaking her head at your grandmother and her friends.
“Dixon is playing it up for them. You could have slept in longer,” I said, sliding an arm around her.
“I’m not used to the sounds of the house yet,” she admitted. “The air clicking on woke me up,” she added with an eye roll. “I came looking for Ernest.”
“Eddie took him to the store to get supplies.”
“I hope Eddie has a good back. He’s going to be carrying that dog.”
“He can handle it. Did you grab some breakfast?” I asked, knowing Eddie left a spread before he headed out.
“I did. I also caught Mackie on the counter eating a pancake. I put him back in the cage. With the pancake.”
“Sucker,” I said, giving her a squeeze. “And that’s coming from someone who already gave him some of the hash browns.”
“I know you don’t want to give me all the details, but are things… happening?”
“That’s why it’s quiet around here. Huck and the older club members are out making sure this is all over. And you’re going to be cutting ties with the supplier at Vital Greens.”
“Happily,” Rue agreed. “That was what I wanted to do from the beginning, but Marco made sure I knew that wasn’t an option.”
“I know it might be a pain in the ass to find a new supplier, but you don’t want any kind of connection to people who are smuggling shit into the country.”
“Agreed. There are plenty of other options.”
“Do you mind keeping the store closed today? Maybe tomorrow too? Just so we can concentrate the area we need to cover for protection until this is all over.”
“I could use some time off. I can put a post up online. Traeger might be a harder sell,” she said as we moved back into the kitchen. “He has so many orders coming in and needs access to the kiln.”
“About that,” Traeger’s voice greeted us as we moved inside.
He was in the process of scrubbing the coffee pot. But, seeing his chance to talk to Rue, he set it down and rinsed the suds off his hands.
“About what?”
“The kiln. You see, when I heard from Teddy, it was clear I really needed to scale up. I, uh, rented a space that has the juice for two larger kilns. An office in the back, a bathroom, and a large front room with enough space for tables and wheels.”
“Plural?” Rue asked.
“Well, Teddy suggested that I make my business work for me even when I am not actively making pottery myself.”
“You’re opening a studio,” Rue said.
“I am.” Traeger looked close to bursting. “I know that I should have told—”
“Shut up,” Rue cut him off. She broke away from me and ran toward her friend, wrapping him up in a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you! This is amazing. I mean, I am going to miss your coffee horribly. It’s going to be a real nightmare. But this is so great. You’re going to be so successful.”
“Thank you. I think I can probably teach your man how to make the coffee for you.”
Your man.
I liked that more than I could have expected.
“I’m up for the job,” I agreed.
“Good, because she’s hopeless with a coffee machine,” Traeger said, going back to his washing, then making a fresh pot. “That’s something you need to know about her.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“She needs carbs when she’s stressed out. And you have to remind her that she cannot keep trying to take Calatheas home. She can’t handle them. Then she gets sad when she kills them.”
“Hey, I’m standing right here,” Rue grumbled.
“And she never remembers to take her car in for an oil change.”
“I can handle that.”
“And she—”
“I’m going to go feed the tortoise,” Rue said, shooting us small eyes as she picked up the platter, then moved outside.
“You’re good for her,” Traeger said when she was gone. “But I was ready to shove you into my kiln for what you did to her.”
“Two murder threats in one morning,” I said, reaching for coffee mugs. “I must have a hell of a girl, huh?”
“You do. The best. But it seems like you already know that. But know… I will keep a kiln ready if I need to.”
“You should talk to Claudia. She’s got some good plans. The two of you could link up and make sure my body would never be found.”
“Good idea,” Traeger said, smile soft. “Her coffee is really not that hard to make. She just can’t get the hang of it. You will. Then you will be her daily hero.”
“That’s the plan,” I said, suddenly thinking about forevers. This time, with no secrets between us.
Rue - 7 Days
The shop was closed longer than expected, with Kylo and me just dropping in to care for plants here and there.
Part of it was the club still trying to clean up the power vacuum that Marco’s death created.
The other part was, well, that I was having too good of a time to sacrifice even an hour of it to work.
I loved my shop.
I needed the income from it.
But with a pending deal with Teddy, I didn’t have to worry so much about the daily sales reports. At least for the time being.
It allowed me more time to spend at the club and at Kylo’s house when we wanted more privacy.
We also had to rent a dumpster to clean out all the damaged items in my house. Then to my utter shock, Caymen volunteered to help fix up the place.
It turned out he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just fiercely protective of his brother and his club brothers. When I seemed like I could possibly be a threat to them, he was cold and unyielding.
Once everything came out, he’d shown me his kinder, softer side. Then apologized for his previous behavior by fixing up my house.
“I told you,” I said, walking into Kylo’s townhouse with grocery bags. I’d left him in the house as I went to visit my grandmother and run some errands. He had taken the time to hit the home improvement store and start painting the bare living room walls.
Aegean Blue.
It was everything I’d told him it would be the first time I’d visited his home.
The place was really starting to come together.
There were dishes in the cabinets, some pots and pans, even a crock pot. The dark gray living room sectional had come in. It was starting to look like a proper house.
“It’s the perfect color,” Kylo agreed, sporting some of it on his white tee from where the roller had spit it back at him.
“Did you have some technical difficulties?” I asked, gesturing toward where a large arch of the wall was unpainted below hip level. Because Ernest’s bed was in that corner and, I imagined, he refused to move to let Kylo paint.
“I figure I can get that spot when he gets up for dinner.”
“You spoil him.”
“Me, huh?” he asked, tapping the paint can closed, then making his way toward me. “I bet one of these bags is full of dog treats.”
“Welllll,” I said, making his lips curve up, “some of them are dental treats. Which is more about dental hygiene than rewards.”
“Sure, darlin’, sure,” he said, taking the bags from me and walking into the kitchen.
“I was thinking of making tacos for dinner,” I said as I put the cold stuff away.
“Or,” Kylo said, grabbing my hips and pulling me back until he was leaning against the counter, “hear me out. We spend the next hour or two naked. Then we order take-out.”
His hands were already sliding up under my shirt, cool fingers on warm skin, making goosebumps spread, and a shiver move through me.
He coaxed my arms up so he could remove the material, then his hands were on me again, drifting up my back, working the clasps of my bra free, then tossing that to the side as well.
Then his hands were on me, touching, squeezing, then working my nipples between his fingers until I was whimpering and writhing.
He grabbed me, set me on the counter. Then he was on his knees, slipping under my flowing skirt, yanking my panties to the side, and working his tongue relentlessly over my clit.
White sparks flashed behind my eyelids as I reached down, fingers sifting into his soft hair, holding him against me as he licked, sucked, and slipped two fingers inside me.
I could feel the pressure building, but I needed more, needed him.
My fingers curled in his hair, pulling hard until he was forced to pull backward.
His head lifted, eyes molten. “Problem?”
Words failed me then.
I pulled Kylo to his feet.
Then I hopped down off the counter, reached up under my skirt, and dropped my panties.
Kylo sucked in a deep breath, then I slowly turned and hiked up my skirt.