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“Very grateful,” Gary Boynton said. “And you brought the dog...”
“Hey, that dog helped save me!” Dierdre said.
“Right, right, of course!” Gary said. “Sorry. We just weren’t...well, I never had a pet as a kid.”
“We might change that one day now that you’re a big kid!” Dierdre teased.
“Special Agent Law, please, take a seat. Oh, wait, would you like coffee, tea, water—anything?” Gary asked her.
He was evidently at home in the Ayers family kitchen.
“Coffee would be lovely,” Colleen said, taking the chair Amelia Ayers indicated at the end of the six-seat table. “I was just stopping by... I have to get back to work, but I couldn’t resist the offer of a homemade cookie!”
“Mariana is amazing,” Dierdre said with affection. “So, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and honey-crusted crackers—all equally delicious.”
“I will go with chocolate chip. It’s my usual choice; it’s hard to beat a good chocolate chip cookie,” Colleen said.
“No! You must have one of each!” Dierdre said. “Mariana baked them in honor of my homecoming.”
“Then I shall have one of each,” Colleen assured her.
She bit into one of the cookies. It was delicious—Dierdre hadn’t lied.
Mariana stood waiting, but she hadn’t taken a seat at the table. Maybe that would have been taking it too far for Amelia Ayers.
“Wonderful!” Colleen told Mariana.
The woman smiled happily. “And tonight—steak and lobster! We are so happy, so very happy and grateful, thanks be to God, that our Dierdre has come home!”
“And you are a sweetheart,” Dierdre said. She smiled at Colleen. “The hospital’s food wasn’t bad, but it doesn’t compare to the concoctions Mariana can put together.”
“It’s nice to celebrate like this,” Gary Boynton said. “Tomorrow, I’ll be hitting the grind again. Lots of paperwork still to be done, but today is for my girl.”
The last was softly, gently spoken. He did seem to honestly care for Dierdre, but whether it was the love of the century, Colleen didn’t know.
But he at least cared, or he went through all the right motions.
Colleen tried each of the cookies. Gary talked a little tech about the things he intended to do to make the kitchen even better for Mariana.
Dierdre seemed thrilled to be home and—thankfully—she had been sedated when she’d first gotten to the hospital and didn’t remember how close she had been to dying. “I guess there was a point when I wasn’t breathing. If you and your partner and Red hadn’t come when you did—I am so lucky.”
“I am so lucky too,” Gary whispered.
Colleen smiled and rose. “I’m happy that everything worked out. But now I’d best get back to work. Thank you so much for the coffee and the cookies that are beyond delicious!” she assured Mariana.
“I’ll walk you out,” Amelia said. “You and Red.”
Red woofed and wagged his tail and followed close at Colleen’s heels.
They left the kitchen and passed through the dining room with its elegant table and chairs set and matching hutches and on into the handsomely appointed living room. The large mantel held many family photos and Colleen paused, smiling, and asking, “May I?”
“Of course. Family photos. Look at that one! Ah, our wedding. And there—Dierdre as a baby. She was an early baby. Well, I guess I was already pregnant when we were married. These days, no one cares. My folks wouldn’t have been so happy, so... Dierdre! Early baby.”
“Well, she’s a sweet and beautiful baby,” Colleen said.
“And we probably are far too possessive and overprotective. But I had complications at her birth. I couldn’t have more children. So, she is...” She paused and laughed. “Poor girl. She’s our obsession!”
“From what I hear, she’s truly lovely to everyone, so you must have been wonderful parents.”
“Lucky in many ways.” Amelia paused, frowning. “Oh, dear. Did you interview Vince?”
“Yes.”
“Such a nice young man. Just not...”
Colleen shrugged. “Seems to me he does well enough. He’s very talented.”
Amelia sighed. “I told that to Rory.” She grinned. “I told him the boy was talented, and weren’t we going to feel like jerks if he made millions and millions selling records! But Rory worried so. Musicians. Druggies, womanizers, and no stable employment.”
“Um, honestly, Mrs. Ayers, I know many musicians who are clean and sober and dedicated to their spouses.”
“It’s just...well, I have to admit. My life wasn’t going so well when I met Rory. I had dated a guitarist. I was working my way through college. He cost me a fortune, and I discovered a lot of it was going to drugs. When I met Rory, my world turned around. I don’t want my daughter falling into a trap that almost seized me. So, when Rory was so down on Vince, I have to admit... Anyway, now she’s with Gary! And he will protect her and support her.”
“Some people do like to think they can support themselves, and prefer a marriage that’s more a mutual falling in love,” Colleen said. She didn’t want to make an enemy. And she was no one to judge Amelia Ayers. She didn’t know what the woman’s past had been.
Time to make a courteous exit.
“Well, I’d better get back to it,” she said. “Thank you again. Thank you so much!”
“Honestly, I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am!” Amelia told her.
Impulsively, the woman hugged Colleen.
Colleen gave her a quick, firm hug in return.
Red woofed.
She headed to her car, waving. Red followed along and jumped right in the back seat.
She drove away, waving one last time.
