Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
“Well, things have calmed down since all that happened,” Ronetta sniffed.
I didn’t have the heart to remind her that they hadn’t, seeing as we were awaiting the identification of two bodies who were probably my parents, and her dear friends.
But I saw it when it came to her anyway.
I felt George’s change in vibe, but I was closer.
So I got to her first.
I pulled her into my arms.
“I’m good, I’m good,” she muttered, resisting my hold.
“Stop it, you’re not, I’m not. But I’m a big girl now, Ronnie, you don’t have to hold the world at bay for me anymore. I can handle this.” I took my arms from around her and framed her beloved face with my hands. “And I can handle it because you taught me how.”
That did it.
Her face started collapsing, I drew her into my arms again, she pushed closer, and I felt her body buck with a sob.
George got near, gently pulled her from me and into his own arms, murmuring, “Mind the dumplin’s, darlin’.”
I nodded and did as he asked.
I gave them space, and now it was me futzing around my kitchen, looking for busy work while Ronetta, who wasn’t big on showing emotion that didn’t include joy, love, humor, encouragement, and when it was deserved, disappointment, pulled herself together.
I knew she’d gotten a handle on it when I heard her whisper, “I’ll just go fix my face.”
“You do that, love,” George whispered back.
He was finishing my job with the wine when I walked to him with some glasses.
“If it’s them, it’s good we know,” I said softly.
“You’re right, doll,” he muttered glumly, taking a glass from me and starting to pour.
I got into what I was going to ask Ronetta earlier.
“I haven’t told my grandparents.”
He shook his head. “You’re right not to. Let’s get the news. Save them from this awful…” His mouth tightened before he finished, “Waiting.”
I felt it coming over me too, the return of the tears, because Mom and Dad would be so relieved about this.
Honestly, if they’d been told what would happen, I swear, they’d say, “Well, at least Ronnie and George are right next door.”
And they would be right.
“We were so lucky to move in next to you,” I whispered, and George looked at me, his familiar brown eyes startled. “I was so lucky.”
Those eyes warmed.
He cupped my cheek and stroked the apple with his thumb. “That feeling is mutual, Lilly Bean.”
The smile I gave him was trembly.
He took his hand away but kept hold on my gaze. “And for what it’s worth, Sonny would be over the moon a man like Harry Moran was in his daughter’s life. Dependable. Loyal. And he’s proved to us all the depths of his love, sadly doing it after he lost his wife, but he also did it before. He doted on her and he didn’t care who saw it. That’s a real man, Lilly Bean. That’s the kind of man your father would want for you.”
Dang it!
The tears hit my eyes.
I was able to stop them from falling when Ronetta swept in, asking, “Is no one looking after my dumplings?”
I sniffed hard and raced to the pot.
I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. She’d taught me to cook this dish when I was fourteen. Essentially, you just let them simmer.
But it took my attention elsewhere so Ronnie could do another thing Ronnie was adept at doing: demonstrating stealth love. She did this by coming up behind me, rubbing my back, then wrapping her fingers around my waist to give me a squeeze.
And then, before I could turn and catch her eyes, she left me and went to her husband for her glass of wine.
NINE
Let’s Start Here
Harry
That same night, when his phone went, Harry was having a beer, his feet in warm socks resting on top of the old tree stump on his porch, a fleece jacket on, his three dogs lying around his rocking chair, his eyes to his empty stables, and his thoughts yet again on having them knocked down.
He looked at his phone screen expecting it to be Cade, considering he was right then on a lecture tour, his woman Delphine with him. He was doing courses for law enforcement officers down the east coast, returning in a couple of days.
Those two had a busy schedule, and Cade had said he’d call when he had time. But they’d exchanged some texts about the Sonny and Avery Rainier situation, and what Cade’s boys said held true.
Cade knew Sonny, also Avery (just not as well), and he was dead set there was no chance they were involved in the Dietrich situation. So much so, at the time, he’d been preparing to wade in if Dern took it too far.
They hadn’t been able to discuss it fully, and since Sonny was a friend of Cade’s, Harry hadn’t had the heart to share about the two bodies in Idaho.