25. Juniper
25
JUNIPER
“ A re you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Gray asked when I was almost outside the Lilac’s gate.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“You seem upset.”
I shot him a look. “Of course I’m upset. You had no business telling Cord what you did.”
“You wouldn’t have.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s because it isn’t his business.”
“He said he apologized.”
“Gray, you’re my brother, I love you, and I appreciate you looking out for me. However, conversations between Cord and me are none of your business.”
“I know he cares about you.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I glanced over at the expression I expected to see on his face.
“Wow,” he muttered.
“I’m not going to apologize. I told you it’s none of your concern, and I meant it.”
“Wrong. You said it was none of my business. While that’s true, there will never be a time in your life when I won’t be concerned about you. The same as you will always feel protective of me.”
“I don’t need your protection with Cord. I just need you to let it be for a bit until I figure out how I feel.”
“Understood.”
I gripped the steering wheel tighter when he used the same word Cord had.
With the exception of stopping to give my mom a kiss on the cheek when we got home, I went straight upstairs and shut the door. I closed the window blinds, lay on my bed, and hugged my pillow.
The last month had been one of the most emotionally trying times of my life other than when it was me going to rehab every day, learning to walk again. I was damn lucky I wasn’t paralyzed after the damage my spinal cord had sustained, not that it made my recovery easy by any means.
Truthfully, I didn’t allow myself to spend much time dwelling on it. I was injured, and I recovered. Most people had no idea I’d even had surgery for it unless they saw the scar. Which Cord hadn’t and, now, never would. I had thought about how much I’d tell him when that day came, but that no longer mattered.
I opened my eyes when I heard a knock on my bedroom door.
“Hey, Juni. Are you awake?”
“I am now,” I said when Gray stuck his head inside. “What do you want?”
“Uncle Pete is here, and he’s talking to Mom and Dad about the arrest. I figured you might want to hear it.”
“I don’t.” I rolled over so my back was to him.
“I heard him say something about Cord’s mom.”
I bolted upright. “Who did?”
“Pete, and the more I stand here talking to you, the less of it I’m hearing.”
I followed him down the hallway, and we sat on the stairs where we did as kids when we were supposed to be in bed.
“Decker is digging into it now, but it seems like too much of a coincidence,” I heard my uncle say. I looked at Gray, and he shrugged. “I know you’re a few years younger, but do either of you remember Brianna Conrad or Joe Wilkins? ”
“I remember Joe,” said my dad. “Football player, right?”
“Yes, and guess who was voted cutest couple in their senior year?”
Neither of my parents answered.
“I’ll give you a hint. Joe was the male half.”
“Brianna,” guessed my mom.
“Nope. Patricia Rooker.”
When I gasped, Gray put his hand over my mouth.
“You might as well come the rest of the way downstairs. We know you’re eavesdropping,” my dad said in a raised voice.
I was way ahead of my brother.
“How is this relevant?” I asked, pulling out the last empty chair in the kitchen and leaving Gray to lean against the counter.
Uncle Pete shook his head. “I always said you should’ve been a lawyer.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, though.”
“The person arrested for attempting to murder Cord was Joseph Wilkins Jr., Joe and Brianna’s son.”
“Are you saying you think he tried to kill him because Cord is the son of his father’s ex- girlfriend?” The idea of it seemed ridiculous. “How does he even know Cord?”
“According to the man himself, Joe Junior was one of the cowboys at the Lilacs.”
“But—”
My uncle held up his hand. “Instead of asking a question after everything I say, why don’t you pipe down and listen, brat?”
I stuck my tongue out at him and made a motion with my hand. “Go on.”
“To answer the question I didn’t let you ask, Cord picked him out of a photo array. He was the only person he recognized out of the twenty cards we had him look at. He said the kid’s name—get this—was Buck.”
I bit my tongue to stop myself from asking how that, too, was relevant.
“Your next question is how is it that someone who worked on the property missed getting his profile added to the security system. That’s still a bit of a mystery, but every cowboy we asked couldn’t place him, except Cord, who said he didn’t remember ever seeing him inside the perimeter.”
I sat back in my chair and folded my arms.
“What?” asked my uncle .
“Nothing. Go ahead.”
“The kid—who is only seventeen, by the way—has both lawyered up and clammed up. Neither is a surprise. However, I don’t believe he acted alone. I think someone pushed him to do it.”
“Any idea who?” my dad asked.
“Here’s the thing. According to Ashford, Brianna and Patricia were the best of friends. Patricia hightails it out of town, and Brianna marries her ex.”
I probably would’ve scoffed, but in just the limited time I’d been around Decker, it became obvious the man was brilliant. He was the one who’d pieced together that Sam was Miss Cena’s great-granddaughter. He’d never make the connection between the guy who’d tried to kill Cord, his mother, plus the kid’s parents if he didn’t think it was relevant.
“Given you’re not supposed to talk about an active investigation, I’m assuming you aren’t here just to gossip,” I said.
Pete laughed, shook his head, and looked at my dad. “It isn’t too late to send her to law school. She’d probably make DA by the time she turned thirty.”
My dad smirked. “You could also try to talk her into going to the police academy. ”
“While this is all very amusing, I’m serious. Why were you talking to my mom and dad about it?”
“To see if we remembered them,” my mom answered for him. Of all of us, she was the only one I hadn’t seen crack a smile. Not that the subject matter was at all funny, but she usually chimed in when Pete and I were trash-talking each other.
“Do you?” I asked her.
She nodded.
“Well?” I pressed.
“I don’t remember Patricia per se, but I do Brianna. She and Joe used to come into the Goat.”
My dad raised his head. “That’s right, but damn, how long has it been?”
“Years. The last time I saw her, I pulled her aside and suggested she not return.”
My mouth gaped. I’d never ever heard my mother say anything like she just had. It was apparent my father was as stunned as I was. “Why?” I asked.
“One night, your Aunt Sue was fit to be tied, and when I asked why, she pointed to Brianna. The other waitresses and the bartender at the time all told stories about how rude she was to them. From what I remember, they said she complained about the service, the food, and even the drinks almost every time she came in, then expected everything to be comped. Whether it was or not, she was one of those people who thought it was funny to leave a penny tip.” Her cheeks flushed, and she lowered her gaze. Maybe that’s where I’d gotten it from.
My dad put his hand on my mother’s shoulder. “You did the right thing, sweetheart.”
“I know. I just don’t like turning business away.”
“We’ve never hurt for customers,” he added.
I glanced up at Gray, whose puzzled expression matched my thinking.
“Okay. So we know Brianna wasn’t a nice person. I don’t see what that has to do with Cord.”
“Me neither,” Pete admitted. “However, we’re bringing both parents in separately tomorrow to question them.”
I looked over at him. “Will Decker be there?”
He grinned. “Damn straight, he will.”
After he left, Gray followed me upstairs. “What do you think?” he asked.
“I can’t connect the dots, you know?”
“Me neither,” he said, repeating what our uncle said.
“Ashford is smart, though. ”
Gray nodded. “I thought the same thing.”
“Do you think Pete told Cord any of this?”
“I know he didn’t. That’s the part I overheard before I came up to get you. He said he didn’t want to mention the possible connection to Cord’s mother until they had more to go on.”
“I can’t help but think Miss Cena would know.”
My brother nodded again. “Same.”
I tapped my lower lip with my index finger. “Which means there might be something in her journals.”
“What are you thinking?” Gray asked.
“I’ll call Sam and ask if she’d mind if I came over and looked through them tomorrow.”
“I could help,” he offered. “Unless Beau has something else he needs me to do. ”
“Excellent.”
Maybe I wasn’t ready to address the relationship between Cord and me—or lack of one—but I sure could help Pete figure out the connection between Patricia Rooker and the guy who’d tried to kill him.
When I arrived, at ten the following morning, Cord’s truck wasn’t parked near the cottage, but there was another black SUV near the main residence. “Is that all guys drive anymore?” I grumbled to Gray, who had the same type of vehicle.
“In the dead of winter, living in the snowbelt? Yes, it is.”
“So what do you do for Beau anyway, besides food delivery?”
“You’re being awfully surly for a girl who wanted my help.”
I looked over at the cottage again, wishing I saw signs of life. Besides having no SUV parked out front, it didn’t look like any lights were on, and there was no smoke coming from the chimney.
“Someone would tell us if Cord was back in the hospital, right?” I asked.
“He’s with Pete.”
“How do you know?”
My brother rolled his eyes. “Because I pay attention. He said it last night before leaving.”
“What do you mean?”
“He said that he, Cord, and Decker were meeting this morning.”
I didn’t remember hearing him say that. “What about Buck?”
“I guess he had to leave last night. ”
My eyes opened wide. Cord had been alone? Why hadn’t someone told me? Wait. Because I’d left after telling Cord to give me time; that’s why. Still, I wouldn’t have wanted him to be alone on his first night in the cottage. What if something had happened? What if he’d had one of the nightmares that he said only occurred on the nights I wasn’t with him?
“Juni?”
I glanced at my brother. “What?”
“I was just making sure you heard me.”
Had I? I guess it depended on what the last thing he’d said was. “What are they meeting about?”
Gray reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell, and tapped the screen. “Here. Ask him yourself.” He put the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Gray,” the voice answered. “How’s Juni?”
My mouth gaped, I pulled the phone out of his hand, and looked at the screen. “You called Cord ?” I mouthed.
Gray smirked.
“Hello? You there?”
“Uh, hey, Cord.”
“Juni? Sorry. I thought it was your brother calling. ”
“It was. He, um, dropped the phone, and I picked it up.” I cringed. Why was I lying?
“Where are you?”
“The Lilacs. I’m getting together with Sam this morning to read through more of Miss Cena’s journals.”
“How long will you be there?”
“We just pulled in, so…I’m not sure.”
“Decker, Buck, and I are on our way there now. I was hoping we could talk. You know, about us. Plus, there’s stuff Deck wants to talk to all of us about.”
I leaned against the seat and shut my eyes. “Yeah, sure,” I responded.
“Good. So, uh, see you soon.”
“Sure,” I repeated, ended the call, and tossed the phone at Gray. “You’re a jerk.”
“Actually, what I am is the guy who went after Cord on your behalf, had it out with him, and all that’s left is for the two of you to kiss and make up.”
I shot him a look and got out of the SUV.
“Hey, hold up,” he hollered after me as I ran up the porch steps. “Will you wait?” he added when I didn’t stop.
I ignored him and knocked. Sam must’ve been waiting in the foyer because the door opened a second later. I stepped inside and closed it behind me.
“Isn’t Gray with you?” she asked at the same time he knocked, then walked in.
“Nice, Juni,” he mumbled as he brushed past me.
“Ready to get started?” I asked, not wanting to talk about my brother or Cord or my uncle—pretty much every man was on the list. Even my dad, not that he had any reason to be.
“Sure. I moved the journals from upstairs into the library yesterday. I decided it would be easier to go through them if they were on a shelf in date order.”
Why did she have to say the library? If there was any one room in this house I didn’t want to set foot in, that was it. I just prayed Cord didn’t come looking for us, find us there, and think it was my idea.
On the other hand, I had to agree that making the journals easier to identify by date would be helpful, and looking through them to see what I could find relating to Cord’s mother was the reason I was here.
I groaned inwardly. Or thought I had until Sam asked if I was all right.
“I’m fine. ”
“If you say so,” she said, pulling a journal from the shelf and handing it to me. “This is from the year Patricia graduated.”
“Have you read it?” I asked.
“I have, but I don’t remember any mention of her. It could be that I skimmed over it, thinking it was irrelevant.”
Irrelevant. I almost laughed at her word choice. If she’d said it in front of my uncle, he’d probably suggest she become a lawyer too.
Sam had closed the door, and when someone rapped, I almost knocked the water bottle I’d brought with me off the table.
My brother peeked his head in the door. “Decker asked if you could please join us.”
Sam stood and motioned for me to follow her. I kept my head mostly down as we walked into the main dining area, where everyone was already seated. There were three open chairs, but Gray’s stuff was already on the table near one of them. Another one was next to Beau, and the third was beside Cord. Given it would be weird and awkward if I sat next to Sam’s fiancé, I walked over to the chair Cord had stood to pull out for me.