After the Rain (The Callahans) (27 page)

Maybe they liked small, he decided. Of course, he was used to large. His four-bedroom home in Texas was four times the size of this place.

Climbing out of the truck, he looked around the dark street. It was fairly quiet, given the time of night. There were still lights on here and there but the majority of the neighborhood was dark. Beau looked up at his brother’s house again. It too, was dark. There was no truck in the driveway and Beau knew his brother had purchased a black Dodge Ram, much the same as the one Beau owned, shortly after he’d moved here. He knew Trey tended to do a lot of shift work. It was possible his brother was on the job. He headed up the walk, stopping momentarily at the sound of a man’s voice coming from the side of Trey and Kylie’s house.

Curiosity had him prowling across the grass to take a look. He found a man on his hands and knees, peering into a thicket of Trey and Kylie’s shrubs.

“Mittens, damn you!” the man said, irritably.

“What are you doing?” Beau asked, and watched as the man nearly jumped out of his skin.

“I’m looking for my cat. What does it look like I’m doing?” The man jumped up quickly, his eyes narrowed. “You’re not Trey.”

“I’m his brother. Who’re you?”

“I’m Richard Melzo. I live next door. I didn’t see you at the wedding.” His last words almost sounded like an accusation.

“I wasn’t there,” Beau said, folding his arms over his chest. This guy couldn’t possibly think Beau wasn’t really Trey’s brother. They looked a lot alike, besides the difference in their eye color. Trey’s were blue, Beau’s were brown.

“Nobody mentioned to me that you were coming for a visit,” Richard Melzo said, skeptically, his brow furrowed.

“Should they have?” Who did this guy think he was? Beau couldn’t help wondering just what kind of neighborhood Trey had moved into. Where Beau lived, there were fences between each house. Miles of fences. He’d never even met his neighbors.

Richard frowned and did his best to stare Beau down, even though he was several inches shorter and probably sixty pounds lighter.

“They didn’t know I was coming,” Beau finally relented, his eyes catching a glimpse of a grey blur flying across his feet.

“Mittens!” Richard took off after the cat, apparently satisfied for the time being, that Beau wasn’t a serial killer.

Naturally, the creature headed down the lawn and straight for Beau’s truck. It leaped up into the air and landed on his newly waxed hood. He winced, figuring that was probably going to leave a mark.

“Mittens, down!” Richard demanded, reaching for the damned thing. He managed to get it by the tail and drag it toward him, finally capturing it in his grasp. Beau winced again as the little beast let out a yowl. This was why he would never own a cat. At least he guessed it was a cat.

He frowned as Richard headed back across the lawn toward his house, without another word. Obviously, Riverdale, Montana was going to be hell on his beloved vehicle. First the crazy woman with the SUV and now this.

“Beau?” In all the commotion, he hadn’t heard the front door to Trey and Kylie’s house open. He looked up to see Kylie standing on the front porch, in a pair of loose pajama pants and a tank top. He had obviously woken her.

“It’s me,” he confirmed, sheepishly and headed for the porch. “I know it’s late. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t know you were coming,” she said, offering him a hug, which he took, happily. He hadn’t seen Kylie in almost a year. Hell, he hadn’t seen his brother in nearly that long either.

“You look exhausted, come on in.” She motioned him through the front door. “Trey isn’t here right now. He got a SWAT call a few hours ago.”

“I should have called first. I wasn’t sure when I was going to hit town.”

“How long are you staying?” she asked, turning a light on in the living room.

“I’m not sure. I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants lately.” He looked Kylie over closely. There was something different about her but he couldn’t put his finger on what. She’d always been cute. She was blond and blue eyed—a little slip of a thing that probably didn’t even weigh a hundred pounds. His six-foot-three frame towered over her. She had her hair pulled up in a ponytail and her face was free of make-up. Maybe that was the difference. The times he’d seen her before, she’d been all dolled up with make-up and nice clothes.

“I have coffee in the kitchen. Do you want some?”

“No thanks. I just drank a Coke on the way over here. That’s going to keep me awake enough.”

“Well get your things then,” she said, smiling. “I’ll show you the guest room. We’ve been waiting for someone to use it. Nobody’s been to visit here since Faye and Dusty brought Lucas six months ago.”

Lucas
. Beau hadn’t even seen his nephew yet and the kid was almost a year old now. This was another reason his family had to be pissed at him. He turned to his sister-in-law. “Listen, Kyle, I don’t want to put you guys out.”

“You’re not,” she said sincerely. “Trey will be ecstatic to see you.”

Somehow, Beau doubted that. The last conversation they’d had, had been three months earlier, just before the wedding. Trey had asked Beau to be his best man and Beau had turned him down. Security around him had been tighter than a drum back then and he hadn’t wanted his family involved in the mess. Needless to say, Trey had been pissed. The conversation had not ended well. They’d talked periodically since then but things were strained between them, which was something Beau intended to fix, now that he was here.

“Stop standing there like that and go get your stuff,” Kylie ordered.

Too tired to argue, he headed outside to retrieve his bag from the truck. He noticed Richard Melzo was standing on his porch, staring over at him. The guy was a busy body, that was obvious.
Perfect
.

He locked up his truck and headed back into the house, ignoring the neighbor altogether. “Your neighbor doesn’t like me much,” he said, stepping into the house and shutting the front door. He clicked the lock into place out of habit.

“Richard?” Kylie looked surprised. “When did you meet him?”

“He was outside digging through your bushes for a creature named Mittens.”

Kylie grinned. “Mittens is a cat.”

“Yeah, I saw the paw prints on the hood of my truck.” Beau set his bag down inside the guest room Kylie showed him. It had a king-sized bed.
Thank God
.

“Trey made sure the bed was big enough for you guys, don’t worry,” she said, reading his mind.

“I’ve spent a lot of nights in doubles and queens. My legs hate me in the morning,” he admitted.

“I can see why. Trey’s the same way.” She looked around the room thoughtfully. “There are towels in the bathroom, across the hall. Do you need anything else?”

“Not a thing. Go back to bed. You have school tomorrow, don’t you?”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday, Beau.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Life on the road is a big blur for you, isn’t it?”

He couldn’t argue with that. One day blended right in with another.

“Okay. Well holler if you need anything. Don’t be alarmed if you hear Trey come in later on. Who knows how long he’ll be?”

Beau watched her leave. After he heard her door shut down the hall, he pulled his duffel bag open and dug through it. The object he was looking for was at the bottom of his bag. He pulled the Glock out and made sure it was loaded and ready to fire. Setting it on the nightstand, he sat down on the bed and pulled off his boots. He had originally intended to shower before bed but the soft pillows piled at the headboard were far too inviting. Instead, he leaned back, fully clothed, and fell asleep.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Hayden lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children. She is the author of several romantic suspense novels, including:

HIDE AND SEEK
(Book 1 - Hide and Seek Mystery Series)
SWEET REVENGE
SAY MERCY
SOUNDS OF NIGHT
UNBROKEN
(Book 2 - Hide and Seek Mystery Series)
AFTER THE RAIN
(Book 1 – The Callahan Series)
HOPE FOR CHRISTMAS
(Book 1 - Noel, Montana Series)

COMING IN 2013
COLLISION
(Book 3 - Hide and Seek Mystery Series)

COMING IN SUMMER 2013
IN THE EYE OF THE STORM
(Book 2 – The Callahan Series)

WWW.JENNIFERHAYDENBOOKS.COM