The old man scratched his chin, thinking. “It’s not good, Allie.”
“You think you’re gonna surprise me at this point?”
He frowned. “Probably.”
Allie sat back in her seat, knowing that yeah, there was probably stuff she didn’t want to know about her ex-husband, especially if it involved what he’d gotten up to after he left her, but that didn’t mean she didn’t need to know.
“You think I’m gonna break down or something?”
Old Quinn leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You? No, you wouldn’t break down. Still hate being the one to put that burden on you. There are some things a woman doesn’t want to know about her man, even if he isn’t her man anymore.”
She glanced over at Ollie. “Would you tell Ollie?”
Old Quinn sneered.
“Please?”
Old Quinn tapped his foot. “You should let things lie, Campbell.”
Ollie said, “I know you don’t like me, but Allie came to us for protection. You know that means we’re looking out for her and her family. If you know anything that might help us keep those kids safe—”
“Fine,” Old Quinn said. “I’ll talk to the bear.”
Allie smiled. “You can talk to us both.”
“Nope.” Old Quinn shook his head.
“Seriously?”
“Sean, take Miss Allie out on the front porch. Keep her company while Campbell and I talk.”
Allie narrowed her eyes. “You’re an old sexist, Joe Quinn.”
“Never claimed different. I’m as scared of an angry woman as any old man, but there are things you don’t need to know, and I’m not gonna tell Campbell if you’re here. You want the information or not?”
Allie considered whether she wanted to leave the two men alone with each of them glaring at the other, but Sean took her hand and lifted her from the couch.
“Come on. Let’s go look at the fascinating rocks.”
She frowned at him.
“Hey, they’re kicking me out too.” Sean winked at her and she let him help her up.
“Fine.”
Allie cast one last look at Ollie as she headed out the door, but his eyes were glued to the arm Sean had wrapped around her waist.
The two men couldn’t be more different. Sean was as charming and flirtatious as he was talkative. He’d left the Springs when he was just eighteen and hadn’t been back more than a few times. Ollie was quiet and steady, his presence and reputation in Cambio Springs as solid as the rocks that surrounded them.
Sean led her onto the porch and then off it, wandering a little distance to a picnic table under a clutch of cottonwood trees. He sat down and pulled her to his side, leaning against her shoulder with his own.
“How you doing with all this?” he asked her. “I haven’t talked to you in a while.”
“Okay, I guess. I’m… numb. I feel like it’s him. I don’t know why, it might not be, but—”
“I feel the same way. And… it fits.”
“What do you mean?”
“Whoever it was died about ten months ago, is that right?”
“That’s what Ted thought.”
“I talked to her and Alex about it.”
“And?”
Sean sighed and Allie leaned her head on his shoulder, at ease with him in a way she’d never been with Ollie.
Sean wasn’t like a brother—he’d always been too much of a flirt for that—but his affectionate, teasing nature made Allie comfortable. He was sweet with all his female friends, though she knew he was probably a terrible boyfriend.
“You and Joe…,” he started. “It’s hard. Because I got Joe, in a way. He never really wanted to be here, but unlike me, he wasn’t willing to work to get out. He did love you, Allie. He just wasn’t capable of being the man you deserved.”
She bit her lip to keep her temper. “He hated me at the end, Sean.”
“I know he wasn’t a good guy. He was a jackass to you and the kids. I’m just trying to tell you that once, he did love you. And I know he loved the kids, even though he was a shit dad. In his own way, he loved them.”
“What does that have to do with the body?”
He put his arm around her and said quietly, “Because I don’t think Joe would have left them for this long if he could have come back.”
Allie closed her eyes because it was the truth that had been lurking in the back of her mind that she didn’t want to admit.
Yes, her ex was a bastard. Yes, he was a crap husband.
But he did love his kids.
She blinked back tears and felt Sean’s arm squeeze her shoulders.
“You know that, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think he knew you guys were through. But he’d have come back to see the kids if he could have.”
She nodded and saw Ollie coming through the front door, eyes searching for her. He spotted them under the cottonwood trees and marched over.
“Why’s she upset, Sean?”
Sean’s back went straight. “We’re talking.”
“Yeah? That doesn’t answer my question.”
Allie wiped back tears. “Ollie, stop.”
“You’re laughing and teasing her all the time, but the minute you get her alone, she’s crying. So what the hell is going on?”
Sean shook his head. “You really are boneheaded, aren’t you?”
Ollie planted one hand on the table and leaned over. “You and your stinking family—”
“Watch it, bear.” Sean’s lip curled up, and she saw the edge of a fang.
“Did you know and not tell me? Did your own pathetic need to be the hero—?”
“Hey!” Allie stood up. “What is wrong with you?”
Ollie glared at her. “He’s what’s wrong. Him and his entire backstabbing clan.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sean said. “Why don’t you use your brain instead of your brawn for once in your life? Or are you jealous I can put a smile on her face when you can’t?”
“Both of you, stop!”
Sean stood up and pulled his keys from his pocket. “Come on, Allie. I’ll take you home.”
“I’m taking her home,” Ollie said.
“Neither one of you is taking me home.” She grabbed Sean’s keys and marched toward the pickup truck she knew he’d been driving around town.
“Allie,” Sean called. “Stop!”
She heard scuffling behind her, but she didn’t stop walking.
“Ollie,” she yelled, “you can give Sean a ride to pick up his truck and sort things out. Stop being jerks, both of you. You’re friends.”
Old Quinn was leaning on one of the porch rails, watching her with a smirk on his face. “Give ’em hell, girl.”
“You”—she pointed an accusing finger at him—“are probably the one that started this somehow, Joe Quinn. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
“I usually am.”
“If either of them comes back to town with broken bones or poison in his system, I’m gonna be pissed.”
He shrugged. “Just start driving. I have a feeling that bear ain’t gonna wait long to chase you.”
“Troublemaker.”
Old Quinn winked at her. “And that would be the pot calling the kettle black, sweetheart.”
Chapter Eight
“YOU ARE A MORON,” SEAN SAID.
“Shut up.”
“Seriously, why is it taking you so long?”
Ollie slammed his hand down on the steering wheel, gritting his teeth when he heard the crack.
“Oh, that was smart,” Sean said.
“Why are you in my truck?”
“Because your girlfriend stole mine.” Sean frowned. “That seems wrong somehow. I usually get at least a kiss before they steal my car.”
Ollie shook his head. “You’re a… putz.”
“A putz?” Sean laughed. “Did your grandpa teach you that word, old sport?”
“Yeah, he did. And it fits.”
“I’m a putz? Why the hell aren’t you and Allie starting your happily-ever-after yet, huh? I don’t think I’m the one who’s a putz here.”
“She’s still grieving over her husband, Sean. Her kids are wrecked, and it’s only going to get worse when they find out that body is Joe.”
“She’s not hung up on Joe. She’s grieving the father of her children. She’s in pain for them. But yeah, I’m sure having you around—you, who loves her kids and adores her—that would be such a bad thing, right? I mean, that would make life so much worse to know that they had a good guy who loved them backing them up while they go through all this shit. That would be awful.”
“Yeah, so maybe I can help. And then maybe she makes it through this crisis and discovers she’s not ready for a relationship, or that she doesn’t want one with me. What do I do then, Sean?”
“So this isn’t about her. This is about you being a chickenshit.”
Ollie pulled over to grab Sean by the neck, only to find the man had disappeared into the floorboard. Ollie heard the whisper of a rattle somewhere in the truck, but couldn’t see his old friend anywhere. The sudden chill of a brush against his ankle brought him back to sanity.
He took a deep breath. “I hate it when you do that.”
Ollie reached over and shoved open the Bronco door, tossing Sean’s empty clothes out the door.
“Shift and get back in the car. I’m not driving into town with your naked ass next to me.”
Another, stronger rattle and Ollie took the keys out of the ignition.
“Fine. I won’t leave you on the side of the road.”
There was a flash at his shoulder, and when Ollie turned his head, he was greeted with the flare of a frilled lizard cape flashing in his face while Sean hissed, inches from his face.
“Dammit!” He brought his elbow up to smack it, but it had already darted away. “I hate that one, Sean.”
A ripple of air outside his truck, and Sean’s pale arm grabbed for his jeans.
“Hey, I could have scared you as a horned lizard.”
“What does that one do?”
“Spits blood out of its eye.”
Ollie grimaced as Sean hopped back in the truck.
“You do the weirdest shit.”
“Because hibernation isn’t odd.”
“I don’t hibernate.”
“But you could.”
Ollie shook his head and started the Bronco back up.
They rode in silence until Sean started talking again. “You think she’s still in love with Joe?”
“I don’t know.”
“She hasn’t loved him for years. You ought to know that by now.”
“The timing still sucks.”
“Yeah, it does. But the timing is never going to be perfect. She’s got four kids, two sisters, one father, two jobs. Her life is crazy. But being with you could help with that. She loves you, Ollie.”
“As a friend.”
“So show her it’s more! She can’t keep her eyes off you. Anytime you’re nearby, she watches you. Attraction is not the problem.”
“I don’t want to talk about this with you.”
“And I don’t even want to think about how wound up that girl is. She’s a fox and she’s been alone for how long? She’s got to be frustrated out of her mind.”
“Don’t make me kill you. You know I can.”
“Hey.” Sean grinned. “This is only good news for you, my friend. Everyone knows vixens are freaks.”
“Shut. Up.”
“Just saying, when this has been settled, you will be the envy of us all.”
“She is a mother of four, you asshole.”
Sean burst into laughter. “Yeah. You ever wonder why?”
No, he didn’t need to. A long clothesline of lace panties spoke for itself.
A headache started building behind his eyes. “Seriously, we need to change the subject.”
Sean fell silent just as Ollie turned onto the main road and headed toward Allie’s house.
Ollie asked, “Did you know? About the shit your uncle told me?”
“I knew about the poker game in Palm Springs. Maggie told me one of her brothers set it up for him, but it sounds like she’s the one who really did. I’m the one who told my uncle.”
“Why the hell would your sister vouch for a gambling addict in a high-stakes game, Sean? Why would she even—”
“Joe owed her money, okay?” Sean raked a hand through his hair. “Listen, I’m not saying I approve. I don’t. But Joe came to Maggie and asked for the introduction. The man knew his cards. She and a couple other people staked him for it and expected Joe to be able to walk away with at least enough to pay them back.”
“And then he disappeared.”
“Maggie’s a bitch, but she wouldn’t set him up if she thought it was someone violent. Joe was one of us. She wouldn’t have done it. If nothing else, the old man would have killed her.”
Ollie ground his teeth. “I’m going to talk to Alex.”
Sean winced. “Oh, you hate me. You know he’s going to blame me.”
“I have to. He’s the only one who’s ever run in that crowd. He’ll know who we can talk to. We need to find out who was at that game.”
“You think they had something to do with it?”
“According to your uncle, the game was set up for a night almost exactly ten months ago, the same age as the body. You telling me you think that’s a coincidence?”
Sean sighed. “No.”
“Yeah, I don’t either.” He turned right, toward the house, only to see Caleb’s police truck turn in behind him. “What the…?”
He cleared the line of willow trees that bordered the road to see Sean’s truck sitting in front of Allie’s house next to Ted’s Jeep.
Ted’s Jeep at Allie’s house. Caleb’s truck behind them.
“Shit,” Sean whispered.
No.
Ollie parked and jumped out of the Bronco, running toward Allie, who had her arms wrapped around herself. Her face was leached of color.
No no no no.
“Allie?”
Hollow eyes turned toward him, and he opened his arms, grabbing her and lifting her up as her arms went around his neck, holding so tight she threatened to choke him.
“Ted’s friend decided to work the weekend,” she whispered. “Trying to catch up. He called her…”
Ollie turned toward Ted, whose eyes were red. Alex stood with a hand at the small of her back as Caleb and Sean came walking toward them.
“It’s him,” Ted said. “Larry said the dental work was conclusive. He called as soon as he knew.”
Ollie turned his head, pressing his cheek to Allie’s temple, his hand against the back of her head, holding her to him.
“Okay.” He took a deep breath. “It’ll be okay. What do you want us to do?”
She was shaking. Ollie took her to the porch steps and sat down, holding her on his lap, her arms still around his neck.
“Allie-girl, what do you need?”
“I can’t think,” she said. “I can’t…”
“Do you want the kids here? Do you want us to take you over to Cathy and Tom’s?”
“Ollie—” His name was a choked cry when she broke.
He held her, stroking a hand over her hair, their earlier anger forgotten. He didn’t know what he whispered to her as she cried, but he felt Ted when she came to sit beside them and put her arm around Allie’s waist. He heard Alex sit beside his wife. Heard Sean pacing back and forth as Caleb murmured quietly on his phone.
The wind had picked up by the time her crying stopped. Allie lifted her head and wiped the tears from her cheeks, leaving one arm on Ollie’s shoulder as she blinked.
“Ted,” she said in a hoarse voice, “can you call Jena? Have her call my dad and get them to bring the kids home. My car is at the Crowe’s house.”
“Okay, mama.”
“In fact, see if
Tom and Cathy can come over too.” She sniffed. “And I need you guys to stay.”
“Anything you need,” Alex said. “The kids—”
“Caleb?”
The lean man knelt next to Allie, worry creasing his tan face. “What’s up?”
“Can you bring Low and Bear too?”
Ollie frowned. “You sure you want so many people here when you tell them?”
“I need…” Her breath hitched. “I want everyone here. Everyone close. They need to know they’re not alone. I want them surrounded. Want everyone… everyone who loves them—”
“You got it.” Caleb’s eyes filled with tears. “We’ll take care of it, Allie. We’ll get everyone here.”
She nodded and Ollie drew her to his chest again, wrapping both arms tight around her. He could feel her heart racing against his chest.
“Take a breath,” he whispered.
“Ollie, my babies.”
“Take a breath, darlin’. We’ll keep things together.”
“Stay.”
“As long as you want me to.” He hitched her tighter into his embrace, felt her hands move down and wrap around his waist. “I’ve got you, Allie. Just breathe.”
THE older boys knew as soon as they pulled up to the house and saw everyone there. Ollie could tell by the look in Kevin’s and Mark’s eyes. Kevin didn’t say a thing, just put his arm around Mark’s shoulders and led him into the house. Mark’s face was frozen, a blank mask as he watched Chris and Loralie hop up the front steps.
Telling the younger kids was… confusing.
Kevin sat next to Caleb in chairs brought from the dining room, his best friend Low on his other side. Mark, despite being ten, was sitting with Allie’s dad, squished beside his grandpa in the old recliner. Allie had Christopher on her lap, and Ollie sat next to her on the couch, Loralie hanging around his neck.
“Dead?” Christopher asked. “Like Bandit?”
Allie and Joe’s old dog had passed away two years before from old age and a love of chasing cars.
“Well,” Allie said. “Yes. I guess like Bandit.”
“Why?” Loralie asked. “Why isn’t he gonna come home anymore?”
“Because he can’t, baby,” Allie said. “Sometimes, if your body is hurt too badly—”
“Ollie?” Loralie put her thumb in her mouth and leaned on his chest. “Can I have a Popsicle?”