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I recoiled, my alcoholic buzz replaced by Ray-induced queasiness. Nope, that was not going to happen.
Wolfgang placed his hand on my lower back. “You ready?”
The trip home was quick and quiet. Too soon, Wolfgang was strolling up the walk with me.
“Thanks for dinner. I had a wonderful time.”
“My pleasure. Will you dine with me again after I return from San Francisco?”
“I’d love to.”
The front window curtain twitched. We had an audience.
I stopped at the base of the porch steps. “Oh, I meant to ask, did you send me flowers yesterday?”
He shook his head, his white teeth gleaming in the feeble glow of the porch light.
If it wasn’t Doc or Wolfgang, who was it? Harvey?
“Sounds like I have some competition,” he said.
“I guess you do.” The image of Doc’s dark stare stirred my thoughts before I could blink it away.
Wolfgang took my hand and tugged me toward him.
My heart throbbed in my throat. Here it was, the magic moment—stars twinkling, crickets chirping, Aunt Zoe’s honeysuckle blooms perfuming the night air. My pulse sped like a chipmunk on Red Bull, my lips tingled, my armpits dampened.
I hadn’t kissed a man in almost two years, and that guy had smelled like onions and could have been the missing link between modern humans and the Neanderthals. I shivered, feeling like I was fifteen again, learning all about teenage hormones with Johnny Dean on a ten-minute break from Driver’s Education class.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you all night,” Wolfgang whispered.
“Ah, hah. My telepathic powers worked.”
His chuckle vibrated in his chest. “Any objections?”
I raised my chin, ready and waiting. “Nope, but you’d better hurry. My kids already know we’re out here. With Natalie in a cast, I don’t know how long she can keep them penned in.”
He touched my hair, twisting a loose curl around his finger. “You have beautiful eyes, Violet. Beautiful skin. Beautiful hair.”
His wooing technique was a winner. I closed my eyes and opened my mouth, giving him the green light. Seconds ticked by. Then more seconds.
“I think we have an audience,” Wolfgang said.
I opened my eyes, expecting to see my kids with their faces plastered against the window, but they weren’t there. “We do? I don’t see Addy or Layne.”
“I’m not talking about your children.” Wolfgang nodded toward the street.
I followed his gaze, squinting in the dark. Under a Ponderosa pine, about a half-block down the road, stood the shadowed silhouette of a man.
Somebody was watching us.
* * *
Saturday,July 14th
Old Man Harvey was on the prowl for houses—prematurely, in my opinion. However, Harvey wasn’t interested in listening to what I had to say.
From the moment he’d burst through Calamity Jane’s front door this morning, he’d been overflowing with piss and vinegar, cursing and swearing as he crossed the floor. Needing to pry his bony ass from the chair opposite my desk before Mona’s VIP clients showed up for their appointment, I decided to take him on an impromptu tour of available homes.
