AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I yawn and realize that the sun is up, and neither Mack nor I have gone to bed, or even left the scene of last night’s crime. My eyes naturally gravitate in his direction. I don’t believe in fate or superstition because it’s always disappointed me in the past, but it’s mind-blowing that the very night I get my old engagement ring stuck on my finger then he shows up. Out of the blue.
An older state police officer with kind eyes approaches me and Colby where we’re standing next to her car. “Excuse me, ma’am, you said that your last name is spelled S-h-e-r-i-d-a-n?”
My lips curve. “That’s correct. Do you know by any chance if I can leave any time soon? I’ve already given my statement, and my friend is here waiting to take me home. Plus, it’s a little chilly this early in the morning, and they’re not letting us go back in the house since they’re inside investigating the rock.”
The officer looks to his right and left. “Hold on, I’ll ask someone.”
“That’s what the last officer said a half hour ago.” Colby rolls her eyes. “I’m too young to die on the frozen tundra of Pennsylvania in May.”
I start to chuckle. “I’m sorry. I had no idea that this would happen. I had no idea that he would be here.”
“Well, how about the next time you spend the night with a man, your ex, whoever, try doing it the old-fashioned way? Try naked in bed, not running around a raging fire ruining my favorite cocktail dress.”
I cast my friend my most apologetic look. “I’m so sorry. Mack told me to get back, but I didn’t listen in time, and some sparks shot out when the airbags blew. I never meant to get burn marks on your dress.”
Colby snorts. “Burn marks? Oh, no, no, let’s use the correct terminology, please. Holes. There are now dozens of tiny, char-rimmed holes in my dusky blue cocktail dress.”
I grimace. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise. As soon as I sell a lot and get my first commission, I’ll buy you a new dress."
Colby sips her coffee with dark sunglasses firmly in place with her hair knotted at the nape of her neck and wrapped in one of Aunt Trudy’s heavy sweaters. “Yeah, well, good luck with that. Now you’re effectively trying to sell a crime scene.”
My shoulders hunch. She has a point. I’m not sure when my next big payday will be if this kind of bad news gets out about Golden Meadow.
Colby lowers her sunglasses and glances over at Mack walking with a state police officer around his truck's burned-out frame. She sighs dreamily. "This whole police report business is exhausting. However, it's worth crawling my ass out of bed at sunrise, hungover, and freezing to see the man, the myth, the legend, Drake Mackenzie!"
I sit up and dart a look at Mack. "Oh, my God, Col, keep your voice down!"
Her brows wiggle above her lowered frames. "You don't understand. Aunt Trudy told me the whole story of your young love romance over margaritas. She nearly blew her oxygen tubing out of her nose when I told her you were with Drake. She kept saying, ‘You're telling me the truth, your hand on the Bible and a Reba's best hits album? She's with Drake her-ex-fiancé Mackenzie?’ I said, ‘Yes, him, that Drake!’ Even Duncan got in on the action and started howling. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard this early in the morning while sober."
"I'm not entirely sure that you are sober, and I'm going to pass out from embarrassment if you say his name one more time. Hush!" I swat at her arm.
Colby scoffs. "Whose name? Drake's? Oh please, girl, he can't hear me from way over here. Oh, wait, he's looking over, act natural." She pushes her glasses back into place and pretends to look off into the distance.
"These fields are so... beautiful and big, so… green."
I groan. "This is your best at acting naturally? Just when I think things could not possibly become any more awkward, they somehow manage to. And, for your information, Drake goes by Mack these days," I hiss in a whisper.
Her head snaps back in my direction, and she flashes me a cheeky smile. "Oh? Mack. I like it. It makes me think of Mack-daddy. Why isn't he going by the D-word anymore? Or is his given name only to be used in intimate situations?"
I roll my eyes. "I wouldn't know. Neither one of us knew how to approach the other after the fallout of our relationship. We haven't so much as glimpsed each other or had one friendly call over the last decade. It's surreal seeing him."
"I bet, especially after wearing your old engagement ring to the party to ward off men, then he just magically appears. It's like you summoned him or something. Oh, I almost forgot, Aunt Trudy put me on ring duty, so give that thing over here. There’s no way your fingers are still swollen now that you’ve been outside on this frozen tundra.”
Colby wiggles my ring off and immediately drops it in a zippered compartment of her purse. I shake my head. "You're here to take me home. I could have easily worn it for the last hour of this adventure."
"Nope, I promised Aunt Trudy that I'd get your engagement ring from you and give it to her for another round of safekeeping. What did Mack say when he saw it?"
I rub my naked ring finger, marveling at how quickly I had grown accustomed to the feel of wearing a ring again. "He didn't see it."
Colby's brows furrow. "He had to."
I shrug it off. "No, he didn't."
I don't believe in superstition, but even I'm a little shaken by the turn of events. So instead of allowing myself to drift down a rabbit hole of irrational thoughts about fate and destiny, I change the subject. "Anyway, no police asked you for a statement, did they? I saw some approach you when you first got here."
Colby snorts with laughter. "No, but the local rent-a-cops got all bent out of shape when you called me to come get you. I thought Barney Fife over there was gonna frisk me even though I showed up five hours after the fact. Thank the sweet Lord the state police are here. Do you know Frost Forest's finest considered recording last night's fire as a possible lightning strike to Mack's truck? I guess the red rock through the front door window with scribbled Leave or Else on it was an act of nature too."
She waves her hand in the air frantically. “Beware, everyone, there’s a wild band of literate raccoons on the loose throwing stuff through people’s windows with scribbled threats on them! Do us all a favor and call the wildlife commission instead of the local cops.”
