Dae's Christmas Past (2 page)

She shook her head as she straightened her cat around her neck. “No. I came spur of the moment. I’ll have to find a place. Maybe you have some ideas?”

“We have plenty of room at our house. I’d love it if you stayed with us.”

“Us?” Her pretty face got pink. “That’s your grandfather—Horace O’Donnell, right? I remember him!

It sounded as though she
fondly
remembered him. Had I missed something when she was here last time? “Yes. We have an extra room. Gramps loves company.”

“Thank you, Dae.” She hugged me. “As for the parties, I’d love to go with you. It will give me a chance to mingle and get to know people. Will your friend Jake Burleson be there? Is he a friend-friend or a boyfriend?”

“He’s a friend-friend.” Her question made me smile. “I have a boyfriend—Kevin Brickman—although that’s a silly word for our relationship. I don’t know if Jake will be there or not. He’s not from Duck, but he might come just because the party is for me. I haven’t seen him for a while with all the events leading up to the election.”

“I see. I’d still like to go out to the site even if he’s at the party. I just thought it might be nice to meet him first.”

“We’ll have to see if he’s willing to put on a clean pair of jeans and drive down here. Jake’s not a partygoer by nature.” I picked up my handbag. “I have to go home, take a shower, and change clothes. We’ll head to the Blue Whale Inn after that for the first party. That’s Kevin’s place. I’m sure you’d like a chance to catch your breath too.”

“That sounds great. Thanks so much. I could freshen up a little, change clothes. Do you need to talk to Horace first?”

“Nah. He’ll love it. My house is only a short walk from here.”

“I remember.” She sighed. “People here walk everywhere unless they drive one of those little cars.”

“Golf carts.” I thought I might as well teach her the local jargon. “Gramps recently purchased a deluxe model. If he’s home, we’ll ride over to the Blue Whale with him. If not, I’ll call Kevin. I’m not walking to the post-election parties in my good shoes.”

She put her hand to her heart. “That’s a relief! I love Baylor.” She stroked the large cat draped around her neck. “But he’s no lightweight.”

“Did you bring luggage?” I hadn’t noticed anything with her when I’d seen her on the boardwalk.

“I have one suitcase. I always travel light. I think we can clear the air on all these bad vibes in a few days.”

“Did you drive to Duck?” I switched off the lights and closed up Missing Pieces. “I didn’t think to ask.”

“I don’t like to drive.” A breeze caught her large purple hat and almost took it off her head. Baylor yawned but otherwise didn’t move as she grabbed at the hat. “I don’t even own a car. But a friend was headed this way so I hitched a ride with him. I thought I’d be able to find someplace to stay for a few days. Now I don’t have to. Thank you for your hospitality.”

She’d left her suitcase beside my shop on the boardwalk. I’d been so busy thinking about the election that I hadn’t even seen it. I offered to carry it and was surprised how heavy it was. She was obviously good at packing.

We walked past Curves and Curls Beauty Spa on our way to the parking area. My good friend, Trudy Devereaux, owned that shop. Our town hall was still located with the Duck Shoppes on the Boardwalk, but it would be moving soon. Construction crews were hard at work on the new stand-alone building that would house town offices. It was almost complete.

Our first municipal building was going to be next to Duck Park. We’d used some of the land, donated to the town years before, to put it there. Our town manager, Chris Slayton, had set up some great plans for our growth in the next few years. The new town hall was only the beginning.

As we passed the present town hall our clerk, Nancy Boidyn, walked out of the office, cigarette already in hand. She glanced at it guiltily. “Hi, Dae. I know how this looks. I’ve been trying to stop smoking, but there’s always something going on with my girls. I love them, but they drive me crazy!”

She was talking about her two teenage daughters. They were frequently in some sort of trouble.

I put my hand on hers. “You don’t have to explain to me. I know it’s hard to stop doing anything you’re used to doing.” I turned to my companion. “Nancy, this is Mary Catherine Roberts. Mary Catherine, this is Nancy Boidyn, our town clerk.”

The two women shook hands. Nancy’s blue eyes widened under her short, reddish-brown hair. “The pet psychic? I listen to your radio show all the time. Can you
really
talk to animals?”

“Yes. I can talk to animals. Thanks for listening to my show. I remember seeing you here, the last time I was in Duck, Nancy. You were running the whole town then! I’m glad you got some help.”

“Thanks. Yeah. The ‘good’ old days!” Nancy’s delicate features softened. “That last show where that man who called in had accidentally hit his dog with his car—that was heartrending. The dog wanted to forgive him, but the man couldn’t forgive himself. I cried the whole time I was listening.”

“It’s true what people say. Dogs are very forgiving of our flaws,” Mary Catherine said. “I’m happy I could reunite them. So many times pet owners are ready to find other homes for their animals and there’s no reason. They just need to understand them.”

“I have a terrier I wish you’d come talk to,” Nancy invited. “He’s so stubborn. How long are you going to be in Duck?”

Mary Catherine glanced at me. “I’m not sure yet. But if I have an opportunity, I would love to talk to your terrier.”

“I need to go home and get ready for the parties tonight,” I told Nancy. “Mary Catherine needs to freshen up a little too. She just got here from Wilmington.”

Nancy grinned. “Yep! We have a victory to celebrate. Congratulations, Madame Mayor. You’re in for another four years.”

We hugged. “Thanks. It only happened because of my friends, and my wonderful campaign managers. You did a great job for me.”

Nancy nudged Mary Catherine with her elbow and winked. “It didn’t hurt that the other candidate was disqualified for a while because the police thought he might be a killer.”

Mary Catherine laughed. “That’s the best way to take care of it.”

“I’d like to think I would’ve won even if that hadn’t happened.” Would my election always be clouded by the murder investigation into my opponent, Mad Dog Wilson?

“Of
course
you would have!” Nancy playfully slapped at me. “I have the car here today. I’d be glad to offer you ladies a ride to Dae’s house.”

“That would be awesome,” I told her. “Thanks.”

We went down the boardwalk stairs to the parking lot and got in Nancy’s older Chevy. My house was only a few minutes away on Duck Road. At this time of year, early November, it wouldn’t take long to get there. During the summer—when our population rose from five hundred and eighty-six to more than twenty-five-thousand—that drive could take half an hour.

Nancy chattered about her terrier and his bad habits all the way to the house. Mary Catherine sat in the front seat and pleasantly answered questions and discussed the dog.

I assumed being a pet psychic was a lot like being a doctor—everyone wanted to talk about their problems. The same thing happened to me when people from town had problems they wanted addressed. Sometimes it was about sidewalks. Sometimes it was about sewer issues. Mostly I referred them to our town manager, but I always checked back with him afterward to see if anything had been done.

Sometimes people wanted me to find things for them. Everyone knew about my gift. My mother and grandfather had always seen it as a kind of responsibility to the people of Duck, not unlike being mayor.

“Looks like you’ve got company, Dae.” Nancy’s smile was suggestive. “I think that old pickup belongs to Jake Burleson, doesn’t it? Maybe he’s come to help you celebrate.”

Nancy had a ‘thing’ for Jake. I’d told her repeatedly that it was fine with me if she dated him—she was worried I had romantic leanings toward him. She’d been a single mother for many years and the cowboy from Corolla had taken her fancy. I wished they would get together. Jake was a good man and Nancy was a wonderful woman. Nothing would make me happier.

I would have known that rusted-out pickup anywhere without Nancy’s alert. Riding in it was just slightly better than riding down Duck Road on a horse. You could see the road going by through holes in the floorboard. The whole vehicle seemed to be held together with wishful thinking and duct tape.

Jake usually brought the pickup when he was taking me somewhere. I didn’t mind riding a horse in a nice, sunny meadow, but I didn’t like being out on the street with one. He frequently came to visit and had eaten dinner many times at our house.

He rode horses most places. The wild horses were his true love, his passion. He didn’t care about anything else. He worked with injured animals until they were well enough to be back with the herd. I respected that about him.

The horses were part of the Outer Banks, but their space was becoming more and more limited by civilization each year. Jake, and Wild Horse Conservancy director Tom Watts, worked tirelessly to help them.

Mary Catherine and I got out of the car. Nancy got out too—on the pretext of taking the suitcase inside—I knew she really wanted to talk to Jake. So far he’d shown no sign of being interested in her at all.

“I’m glad he’s here,” Mary Catherine murmured to me as we walked toward the house. “I’m not as good at reading people as I am animals. I’m curious to meet this man who thought nothing of upsetting a fine balance.”

I started to remind her that Jake had no idea what he was doing when he’d found the horse statues on his property. He’d thought they were remarkable, something worth saving, like the living horses. He never intended things to get so far out of control. The state had come in when they’d heard about the find and it had quickly escalated from there. The excavation had changed his life and work. That was never what he’d meant to happen.

Jake walked out of the house with Gramps. His gaze was locked on me. The expression on his face was grim. Gone was the teasing, flirty man who’d tried so hard to charm me into believing that there could be something between us. I hardly recognized this stranger.

There were terrible, dark circles under his sunken eyes. His handsome face was drawn, thinner than the last time I’d seen him. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled as though he’d been wearing them for a few days. It was the only time I’d seen him without his Stetson.

I glanced away from his gaze. It was too painful to see him this way. What was wrong?

There were introductions all around—except for Mary Catherine and Gramps. It seemed they had known each other very well when she’d lived here before, even though it was only a brief time. He would still have been the sheriff of Dare County when she’d set up her shop on the boardwalk. I had just left college after my mother’s death.

He greeted her with a warm hug. I wondered how his thinning white hair and full white beard compared to the last time she’d seen him. The white accented his ruddy complexion and blue eyes. I thought it made him look distinguished. His face was still strong and rugged from spending so much time at sea on his charter fishing boat.

“Welcome back, MC. I hope you’ve spent enough time in Wilmington to know what you’ve been missing not being here in Duck.”

Mary Catherine was equally excited to see Gramps. “Horace, you old salty dog. You were about to retire from the sheriff’s office when I was here last. Did you finally give it up?”

“I did indeed. Come on inside and let me warm you up with some coffee. I have a nice apple strudel that just came out of the oven. I’ll get your bag. How long are you staying?”

They walked inside together, heads bent close. Nancy, Jake, and I stayed outside in the driveway. The breeze played with the last leaves that were left on the trees around us and pushed at the squeaky weather vane on top of the old house that had been built by an ancestor of mine.

My grandfather and my mother had both been raised here. So was I. Now I lived here Gramps who’d been my inspiration to open Missing Pieces—he’d told me I was bringing home too much junk and that I needed to find somewhere else to put it.

It was the best move I’d ever made.

None of the three of us that remained in the drive had anything to say. For once Nancy was even quiet instead of chatty. She gazed at Jake in quiet adoration.

“I have to talk to you, Dae.” He brought a brown cloth bag from behind his back.

It was the bag he’d used to put a few of the ancient horse statues into the last time I’d been out at his property with him. He’d wanted me to use my gift to understand more about the background of the horse cult they’d been excavating. Jake hadn’t grown up here, but he’d heard rumors about my gift of sight.

I’d been too involved in other things to look at them properly—at least that was my cover story. The real truth was that I was scared of them, as I’d told Mary Catherine though I hated to admit it. I’d only examined them with gloves protecting my hands because I could feel their dark power.

The whole idea of the horse cult was frightening to me. Archaeologists were saying the statues were at least a thousand years old. I’d touched dozens of antique items—either purposely or by accident—that didn’t go back that far. Not all of those were pleasant experiences. Most still brought nightmares.