AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Spinning on his feet, Fletch rocks back on his heels when theusuallyglamorous Seraphina Lewis shyly pauses in the doorway of the bar.
Where she typically wears heels and a skirt wherever she goes, she wears jeans tonight, and a concert tee, with the excess fabric knotted at her left hip. Where she normally looks salon blown-out, tonight, she wears a high ponytail and minimal makeup.
A swipe of lip gloss. A dash of mascara.
Her eyes, somewhat scared, when in day-to-day life, it’s she who terrifies me, she studies our gathering and looks at everyone except Fletch.
Not that I blame her; he’s doing the eyeballs-popping-out-of-his-head thing, like we’re in a Roger Rabbit cartoon.
“Sera?” He presses a palm to his chest and tilts his head to the side when the woman wrings her hands. “You’re back early.”
“Yeah, well…” Wandering forward, she’s hesitant as she moves closer and Tim comes to a stop to watch her;because it’s polite to stare, I suppose. “I did what I had to do. So…” Pausing just two feet away, she lifts her shoulders and lets them drop. “No need to hang around longer than necessary.”
“Are you okay?” Aubree reaches out with her free hand and squeezes Seraphina’s arm. “How areyou? It’s hard losing someone. Even if you didn’t particularly get along with that someone.”
Archer scoffs behind me. “It’s a fun club to be a part of.”
When Tim sets a beer on the bar near Archer’s elbow, he twists to grab it. But instead of drinking it himself, he offers it to Seraphina. “Welcome home. You wanna get drunk with us?”
Surprised, she reaches out and accepts the beer, but her eyes go to Mia in Aubree’s lap. To the toddler… inside a bar. “Is this the new standard we set for child-rearing in Copeland City?”
“Annnnnd she’s back.” Fletch throws his head back and laughs. “Judgmental little snoot snoot. It’s the dinnertime crowd, Fifi. Not midnight. There’s no one banging on the pool table.”
“Well, no,” Arch chuckles. “Because you’re right here.”
“Helpme!” Fletch pins his partner with pleading eyes. “Best friends don’t dig holes deeper.”
“Have something to eat,” I murmur. Pushing to my feet, I clap my hands and wait for Mia to transfer from oneMissto another. “Burgers. A drink. We’ll put something on the jukebox, and you can tell us why you look like you’ve… well…” I set Mia on my hip and wave a hand in Seraphina’s direction. “It’s not that you don’t look hot in jeans and an oversized tee, but it’s notyou. So you can tell us what the hell happened. Then I’m taking my husband home.” I look to Fletch and flash a playful grin. “Kinda like how you take Miss Penny home.”
“Woman!” He looks to Seraphina and grinds his jaw when she turns to the bar and slides onto the stool on Aubree’s left. “Why can’t you be cool, huh?” He reaches across and flicks the center of my forehead. “Be cool!”
“What? Miss Penny. Miss Fifi. Me. EvenMommy.” I drop my lips into a pout. “You’re a busy man, Charlie Fletcher.” Then I look to Mia. “Daddy’s so silly, huh? He’s such a goof.”
“Heissuch a goof,” she parrots on a cackle. “I can’t wait till Mommy gets home. We’re gonna get hotdogs on a stick and have a sleepover. It’s gonna be like a birfday party, butbetter, ‘cos she’s coming home!”
“That sounds wonderful.” Pulling her in tight, I accept her arms around my neck and the hug she gives that ends with her breath coming out on a grunt.
Pulling back, I startle when Arch stands and presses his chest to my back.
I don’t dislike his new position. He makes it so I can rest the back of my head on his shoulder. So I can breathe and smell him in my lungs. “I can’t wait until she comes home too, baby. Because if she makes you happy, then she makes me happy.”
“Oh, Miss Penny.” Fletch’s voice changes, drawing my eyes up and my heart thudding in my chest.
Maybe I’m a grown-ass woman who can function in society, but I have a million thoughts flickering in my mind, and one of them centers around the woman Fletch is absolutely banging while his daughter sleeps.
Except, maybe he isn’t.
With a smug grin of his own, Fletch turns to me and extends a hand toward a portly old woman of about a hundred and thirty-three. She has silver eyes, enough loose skin to wrap around her twice, a cardigan that I think Steve, my landlord, might like, and a purse slung from her elbow that’s almost as tall as the woman herself.
I was expecting a busty bimbo, but I get Geriatric Glenda instead.
“Uh…”
“Minka Mayet.” Arrogant, Fletch gestures down at the woman half his size. “I’d love for you to meet our special Miss Penny. She hangs out with Moo while I work, and her presence in our lives makes literally everything better. Miss Penny,” he looks to me. “The esteemed Chief Medical Examiner, Minka Mayet.”
“Er…” Warily, I extend my hand for her to take. “I’m… surprised. And somewhat chagrined. Fletch never told me how beautiful you are, Miss Penny.”
“Hmm.” Somehow, though she’s a foot and a half shorter than me, she looksdownat me. “Miss Mayet,” she grumbles. “It displeases me that you lead Detective Fletcher along.”
