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“Oh, boy!” Teddie said. “Endless candy!”
“Endless dentist visits,” Katy groaned.
“Stop that,” two voices said at once. Teddie and Parker looked at each other and just howled with laughter as they realized they’d said it at the same time.
“You two!” Katy said in mock anger. “I can’t take you anyplace!”
“We’ll behave,” Teddie promised.
“Speak for yourself.” Parker chuckled. “I never behave.”
* * *
Their first stop was the side of the town square that contained a restaurant and a sports bar, along with a dress shop. The proprietors were wearing costumes and carrying pumpkin baskets full of candy.
Teddie held out her own bag and received handfuls of candy while Parker and Katy watched from the sidewalk.
“They really pull out the stops to do this, don’t they?” Katy asked. “It’s so nice of them!”
“It’s dangerous for kids to go alone these days,” he remarked. “And houses are spaced so far apart that it would take forever to go door to door.”
“That’s true.”
“Hey, Mrs. Blake,” a young voice called.
Katy turned. She smiled. The girl, a redhead with brown eyes, was in the class she taught. “Hello, Jean,” she greeted. “You look very trendy!” she added.
Jean, who was wearing a Wonder Woman costume, laughed. “Thanks! My mom bought it for me!”
A woman joined them. She was tall and she looked irritated. “Honestly, all this fuss just for some candy we could have bought at the store,” she muttered. “I’m missing my favorite program on TV!”
Jean flushed and looked as if she could have gone through the concrete with embarrassment.
“We all make sacrifices for the children we love,” Katy said gently, making the tactful remark with just a faint bite in her tone.
The woman actually blushed as she looked from Katy to Parker. She cleared her throat. “Well, of course we do,” she added belatedly. She forced a smile, and Jean relaxed. “Come on, Jean, there’s another bag of treats waiting for you.” She nudged her daughter forward.
“Good to see you, Mrs. Blake,” Jean said.
“Good to see you, too, Jean,” Katy said softly.
Parker made a face as the two of them went out of earshot. “My mother would never have complained like that.”
“Neither would mine,” Katy said on a sigh.
“Parker?” came an almost incredulous voice from behind them.
Chapter 5
Parker turned around and there was his former sergeant, Butch Matthews, grinning like a Cheshire cat as he saw his friend keeping company with a woman. A pretty woman, at that.
“How’s it going, Sarge?” he asked, extending a hand to shake. “What are you doing here? And where did you leave Two Toes?”
“Safely locked in the den,” the man replied. “Double locked. Is that Mrs. Blake?” he added.
“It is. Katy Blake, this is Butch Matthews. He was my sergeant when we served overseas. He owns Two Toes.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Katy said, smiling.
