Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes (23 page)

“It's all over,” he announced solemnly.

“I heard shots,” Celina said.

“Rogenstein's dead,” Debbie Sue told her. “Matt shot him.”

“Oh, Matt,” Celina broke into tears and wrapped her arms around his middle.

A fleet of police cars arrived, sirens wailing, lights flashing. Innumerable police officers and other emergency personnel piled out of vehicles. Cops were everywhere, stringing crime-scene tape, talking on radios, controlling oglers.

Two ambulances came and soon left, one carrying the deceased detective and the other carrying the cyclist Joseph.

Hours later, Celina found herself, along with Debbie Sue and Edwina, in a police cruiser on their way back to the hotel. Dinner plans forgotten, they all decided that the privacy of room service, with an abundance of liquor, was all they really needed.

When room service brought their dinner, Debbie Sue and Edwina rolled their cart into one of the bedrooms and closed the door.

Behind closed doors Matt and Celina sat in a large garden tub filled to the top with foamy scented bubbles tinted golden by the glow of candlelight. A bottle of champagne and two glasses sat on the tub's rim.

“I can't believe this whole evening,” Celina said. “When you left to check on Debbie Sue and Edwina, I could barely breathe. You don't know what it did to me when I heard that gunshot.”

Matt pulled her closer and kissed her brow. “I'm fine,” he said. “We're all fine. You don't have to worry. I know how to take care of myself.”

“I know, but just the thought of never seeing you again…” She didn't finish her sentence. She chose instead to kiss him, squelching the words she was afraid to say.

Pulling away from their kiss Matt said, “Speaking of seeing me again, we were going to discuss tonight when I could make it to Texas. Remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“I could get out of here in thirty days,” he said and kissed her left cheek.”

“Really? You mean on a vacation?”

He kissed her right cheek. “No.”

“I don't get it.”

“I mean forever, Celina.” His lips brushed hers. His fingers touched beneath her chin and his eyes looked into hers. “If Texas is where you need to be, then that's where I need to be.”

“Oh, Matt,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I love you. I was afraid to say it. I was afraid you didn't love me back.”

He laughed. “Know what? I love you, too. All of you. Back, front and everywhere in between.”

They laughed together.

D
ebbie Sue and Edwina bid a fond farewell to New York City and returned to Salt Lick. On the plane ride home they made an agreement that they would tell only an abbreviated version of their week in New York. They wouldn't really lie, but they wouldn't give all of the details, either.

Debbie Sue had a hard time hiding
all
of her activities since the episode of her on the sixth-floor ledge made national news and police bulletins. The result was that she was forced to tell Buddy most of the truth, minus a few details. Buddy tried to be open minded, as did Vic, but both women sensed that any chance of the Domestic Equalizers ever leaving town together again hung in grave doubt. They resumed their careers as hairdressers and partners in
the Domestic Equalizers, raising hell and the blood pressures of their spouses.

Buddy took the Texas Ranger exam and passed with flying colors. He was posted to the West Texas region, an assignment that allowed Debbie Sue and him to continue to reside in their home in Salt Lick.

Matt made good on his promise to Celina. He traveled to Texas and fell almost as much in love with Dime Box and its 381 inhabitants as he was in love with Celina. He applied for a job as a detective in Austin and was enthusiastically hired.

One of the first Texas Rangers he met was Ranger Buddy Overstreet. To his credit, Matt never mentioned the events during the week Buddy's wife spent in the city. Matt was sworn to keep the peace, and he could see that telling Ranger Overstreet the details of the New York City caper involving the Domestic Equalizers would have resulted in the direct opposite.

Celina and Matt married a few months later. The bride was given away by Granny Dee's new husband, Dewey. Debbie Sue and Buddy and Edwina and Vic traveled to Dime Box for the ceremony.

Celina moved the library to a new location in its own building and founded an annual book festival honoring Texas authors. Prompted by her relationship with the authors, she wrote a romance novel based loosely on her trip to New York City, where she had found adventure and love. It became a
New York Times
best seller.

Hotel manager Otto Pembroke was unable to keep the week of mayhem caused by the Domestic Equalizers' visit a
secret. Someone leaked the story to the New Yorker Hotel's board of directors, and Pembroke was reassigned to the hotel chain's struggling link located in Death Valley, California.

Homer Hess became the new general manager, and the hotel flourished under his watchful eye. He was written up in numerous publications and received many awards, most of which lined the walls of his large, cushy office.

Still later, Debbie Sue and Edwina were contacted by the Manhattan Police Women's Association. A reward of a thousand dollars had been offered for the capture of Detective Frank Rogenstein. Because of their heroic efforts, Debbie Sue and Edwina were presented with the reward.

They happily accepted the money and Edwina again became the proud owner of a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. Ruby-red satin trimmed with black and red crystals.

“It just goes to prove,” she told Debbie Sue over an ice-cold margarita, “you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't strip a killer pair of designer shoes off a country girl's feet.”

“Amen,” Debbie Sue said. “I'll drink to that.”

Cover design by Laura Klynstra

Cover photograph by Dennie & D.K. Cody/Jupiter