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Chapter Ten
The next morning, BlackFriday, was pretty subdued.
Tony opted to catch a ride to the set, which was out at the Larky century farm for exterior shots, with Mignon so that I could have a moment alone with my deputy. I was sipping coffee while eating a toasted English muffin when Teddy appeared.
I glanced up from my phone where I’d been scanning the editorial page in the weekly newspaper. Guilt hung over his head like a thundercloud.
“I know what you’re going to say,” he rushed to get out before I could even open my mouth. I cocked an eyebrow. “No, I do. You’re going to tell me to stop being such a fool.”
“Nope, that was not what I was going to say at all,” I replied, laying my phone down beside my mug. “What I had planned to say was threefold,” I held up a finger, “one is that you slept in your uniform, so it needs to be changed.” His cheeks grew pink. “Two,” I held up another digit, “we all have personal issues that drag us down. You need to learn that while you are on call, and that is pretty much all the time in a village this small, you have to limit your alcoholic intake.” The man flushed a brighter red. “And three,” my ring finger came up to join the other two, “women have feelings. Stop treating them like they’re disposable playthings.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He sat down opposite me, the meager morning sun trying to push its way through some thick, gray clouds. “I mean, I know all of that, I just...” he blew out a breath that billowed his cheeks, “I got kind of lost in the whole ‘men in uniform are sexy’ thing that so many chicks are into. I mean, I try not to be a jerk, but they’re all so pretty and friendly. But yeah, I’m swearing off women for good. I think I might join your camp.”
I had to chortle. “Don’t think it works that way, but feel free to apply for membership. Also, before you hear it elsewhere, which you will, there was a call out for a domestic at the Marley farm, and since you and he are cousins...”
His bleary eyes rounded. “Fuck. Did you go without backup?”
“I called the state police, and that is not a call I like making, Theodore. It makes us look bad, so in the future refer back to my point two. I’m being gracious this time.”
“Christ, I am so sorry. This is really my screw the pooch era.” He slapped his hands over his scruffy face and then scrubbed hard enough to make sparks. “And for the record, he’s only a cousin through marriage. No one claims that nasty rat prick. Did he hit Louise?”
“She claims no but the older boy, Jeremy, said yes. I’m going to contact Rachel over at CPS just to make sure the school knows to be on the lookout for any signs of harm on the kids, especially now that they’re the ones calling the cops.”
“Yeah, good idea. I’ll make runs out there more frequently, just to touch base, as family and all. Louise is too nice a lady to be married to a fuckwad like Clinton.”
“That she is.” I didn’t wish to gossip more about someone who was facing one of the worst situations a person could find themselves in. “Would you like some coffee?”
“I...yeah, maybe. Thanks.” I rose. “And thanks for being so decent about my fuckup. I’m turning over a new leaf. No women and no drinking.” He crossed his heart with a shaky finger.
I doubted that vow would last long. I remembered being young and randy. Hell, I was still randy, just less frequently. Truth be told, I’d given up on my sex drive for years, thinking I was too old and broken for such things. Then Tony Gugliotti showed up in my little town andBOING! My dick staged a revival meeting in my drawers.
After his coffee, I sent my disheveled deputy home to shower and shave. My hour at the gym dragged terribly as everywhere I looked there were holiday decorations. How the store owners had gotten them up so damn fast was a mystery. They were everywhere, though. I suspected Bradley had recruited the local streets department to work overtime to make sure the tinsel candy canes were attached to the old-fashioned lights that lined Main Street just for the movie ambiance. Hell, knowing the mayor, he might have done it himself. Just him and the Mrs. out at two a.m., her holding the ladder, while he made with the merry.
The office was as quiet as a tomb when I arrived. Most of the offices were open today but with very disgruntled and sullen employees, so the chit-chat was the bare minimum. An older woman, Leighanna, was our dispatcher today. She waved and offered me some cookies that were left over from her big meal yesterday. Given the state of my trousers since Tony moved in, I politely declined the sweets and ambled into our tiny office, proud as hell of myself for not giving into temptation.
“Hey, I see you came into work today,” Logan from the planning commission office said as he stopped at my door. “I wasn’t sure you’d have the stamina after spending all day with that TV star fiancé of yours.”
My ass was barely in my chair and we were doing this already. “Tony and I are not engaged. He’s staying with me because of the lack of rooms for the movie production company.”
“That’s not what Leroy Gilken was saying at the diner. He said that his wife, Tizzy, who owns the hairdresser shop out on Miff Berry Road, was saying her cousin Freda, who works for the cleaning company that won the contract for the courthouse, had to unlock the basement door and let you two out. Freda said that you two looked real cozy and that you two were holding hands. Then Paulina, who’s the clerk at theWhat A Bargain!store, saw Tony through a window and swore he had a hickey on his neck in the shape of a walrus. When she said that Gladys Humphrey had one of her spells and they had to use some vinegar on a sponge to revive her.”
Christ. This town. “Okay, so for starters, as I said, Tony and I are old friends. Yes, we did get trapped in the basement. No, we were not cozy.”
Excuse me? You fucked him over a camel. If that’s not cozy, I don’t know what is!
