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I shook my head. “Whatever Arnie is, I’ll be able to kick his ass and be back before your bedtime.”
Sicily pulled away, lips quirking into a smirk. “Language, Mama. Language.”
I chuckled and ruffled her hair. “That’s right. Remind me to put a quarter in the swear jar when I get home.”
***
Sonny strained his leash, loping forward at a rate that left most of the others in the dust. Somehow, he managed to keep his nose to the ground while moving at a high speed, snuffling all the while. Every so often, he’d try to slip the leash and go tearing off into the surrounding forest, but I always managed to wrestle him back into submission. It was only the pig-wrestling stops that allowed Dean and Mason to keep up with us at all. By the time Dean reached my side, he was panting and clutching a stitch in his side.
“I’m going to have to up my running,” he panted, bending double so he could drag in deep lungfuls of air. “Keeping up with you is like trying to run a 5k. I haven’t been this winded since I attempted a triathlon.”
I smiled sheepishly. It was probably a bad idea to mention that I could go even faster than I had been. Men’s egos bruised easier than a peach, after all. I’d have liked to believe Dean was above all that, but we were still getting to know each other. And as he’d already demonstrated, he wasn’t exactly forthcoming about everything that had happened since we saw each other last.
“We can start running in the evenings together,” I offered. “If we survive, that is.”
Dean smiled. “As if Arnie could take you.”
“We don’t know what he can take,” I answered with a frown.
Dean nodded but didn’t sound concerned. “So far as I can tell, nothing is stronger than a vampire. You’ve got this in the bag, Twila.”
Again, his praise made me want to squirm and blush like a schoolgirl. That much hadn’t changed at least. Alton and I were in love once, but that love wasn’t the same as what I’d had with Dean. What I’d had with Dean had been the kind of love you never forget—the kind that continues to haunt you.
But that love was also in the past and the man before me was a bruised one—and sometimes that sort of damage was impossible to get past. Furthermore, there was no way I could even think about getting into a relationship with someone who didn’t trust me enough to allow me into his head. Yes, Dean had finally opened up about his daughter and his ex-wife but I had to wonder if there were still secrets lurking there.
At the end of the day, I’d been hurt enough that I wasn’t eager for another helping. And sometimes the best way to avoid getting hurt is not to play the game.
I did my best to reign Sonny in so our little monster hunting group could keep up. I had no idea what we’d be stepping into, so I needed to keep Dean, Mason, Ol’ Ned, and Bud in firing range. I’d convinced Boone to stay behind to keep a close eye on my trailer. The conversation with Sicily had been productive, but I didn’t believe for one second that she wouldn’t sneak out to follow us if she had a mind to. I was counting on Boone to keep her from doing something as foolhardy as running into the woods unarmed. And after the last time he’d been paired with a rifle, well… let’s just say I wasn’t eager to repeat it.
We moved in almost total silence, but for the rustle of wind in the trees and the snorts from our scenting pig. A few minutes in, Mason let out a small, half-hysterical laugh. I turned to look at him with an arched brow.
“What’s so funny?”
Mason shook his head. “This is all... it’s socrazy.We’re following apigthrough the woods to try to find a monster who kidnapped a serial floozy. You just can’t make this shit up.”
I sighed.
Sad to say, aside from Sonny, this was an ordinary night out for me. If I wasn’t working, I was tracking monsters through the woods, hoping they were with it enough to see sense and come home for some good, old-fashioned therapy. I’d already reached the conclusion that I’d never escape Windy Ridge, but before I’d assumed it would be the crippling poverty that would keep us here, not the fact that we’d all grown fur or fangs.
“I don’t understand it,” I said, shaking my head. “Why didn’t Ethan divorce Jeanie after the first time she cheated on him? Or the second? Or over the fact that she cheated with so many different partners?” I speared Dean with a look. “If you’d stepped out on me, I would have dropped you so fast, your head woulda spun. And I’d probably have tanned your hide before you walked away, too.”
“As you should,” Ol’ Ned grumbled. “A woman like that ain’t worth keepin’. Not sayin’ we shouldn’t rescue her, but she ain’t no good as a wife.”
Dean stared straight ahead and didn’t say anything, which was usually an indication that something was bothering him. I nudged him with my elbow, tugging Sonny back like a misbehaving dog. The pig-man let out an indignant squeal and tried to throw a hoof back at me. I dodged it.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Dean frowned. “I don’t think it’s as simple as you’re making it out to be, that’s all.”
“What’s not so simple?” I asked, frowning at him. “Don’t tell me you think Ethan should take Jeanie back after everything?”
Just the thought made my stomach clench hard and if I didn’t understand Ethan’s motivations in staying with his cheating wife, I really didn’t understand Dean’s in defending him, when he’d experienced the same thing! Was this Dean’s way of somehow hinting that he wanted to get back with his ex? He didn’t seem to like her, but why else would he be defending what Jeanie did?
Dean shook his head. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m just saying it doesn’t boil down to good husband and bad wife. If there’s anything I’ve learned as a police officer, it’s that humanity is fundamentally screwed up. People have all sorts of reasons for why they do what they do. Maybe Jeanie just doesn’t give a spit about her husband. Or maybe there are things going on between the two of them that we don’t know about.”
“But Ethan is willing to burn down houses for her. That’s loyalty.”
“Or fear,” he countered. “Fear that he’s screwed up his life, that things have become too damn complicated, and he should just settle for what she’ll give so he can keep his kids. You know the courts hate giving custody to fathers.”
