Queen (30 page)

"I'm taking the boys to school," Cody said.

Queen nodded. She'd expected it, as well as the reaction she'd had last night when she'd told him about the man.

"Why don't you come with us?" he asked.

"No, I'll be fine. I have things to do while you're gone. And I did all my shopping yesterday."

Cody paused, wishing he had a good excuse for making her come. He didn't want her out of his sight.

"They're going to be late," Queen said.

He got the message.

Donny came through the door with his backpack in one hand and his jacket in the other and took a good long look at Queen, suddenly remembering his friends and the sexual innuendoes they'd made regarding her.

She'd absently piled her hair into a topknot, and some wayward curls were dangling around her face and neck.

She had on one of his dad's old sweaters and a pair of blue jeans nearly worn through at the knees. On her feet she wore no shoes, just socks, and she still had a smear of flour across her knee from the pancakes she'd made them for breakfast. He stared long and hard and even squinted his eyes and took a step back, as if assessing her from a different angle.

"Something wrong?" Cody asked, noticing Donny's intent gaze.

Donny flushed and shrugged. "Naw," he said. "Just thinking." He put on his jacket while Queen held his backpack. When she handed it back, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. It was a quick peck, but unexpected.

"What was that for?" Queen asked, pleased but surprised by the gesture. She'd learned to expect Donny's affection to come in the form of teasing.

Donny wiggled his eyebrows. "One of my buddies thinks you're a babe. I was just checking to see if he knew what he was talking about."

Queen's face turned red, and her mouth dropped open. "He said I was a what?"

"Babe. You know, hot… good-looking, whatever it is you old guys call sexy." He grinned.

"Dammit, Donny. You tell that—"

Donny laughed aloud at the anger and jealousy on his father's face. "Oowee. I was right. I told them not to get any big ideas. That you'd already scored too many points for them to have a chance."

Now Cody was at a loss for words.

"Oh, man! What do you think we are, Dad… lame?" Donny asked, seeing his father's blank stare.

"Yeah… lame?" Will and J.J. echoed their big brother without catching the innuendoes in between.

Queen started to laugh. "Well, you tell your friends I said thank you… but no, thank you."

Donny grinned. "I already did."

Cody yanked them through the door and pointed toward the car, issuing orders without words in the manner of a true military officer. Then, before she could speak, he turned and gathered her in his arms, kissing her hard and drawing more than the breath from her body in the process.

"So… 'babe,' will you wait for me while I'm gone?" His eyes crinkled at the corners as he gave her a mock leer.

She laughed and closed the door in his face.

As soon as she heard the motor start, she made a run for her room and pulled the partially finished sweater from beneath a pile of quilts and resumed knitting where she'd left off.

In two short weeks Halloween would be here. It had to be ready by Christmas. That didn't leave her much working time to complete Cody's surprise. Her fingers flew, up one row and down another, as the yarn took on a different shape. And so her morning passed.

"Abel, I want to talk to you."

Sheriff Miller looked up, caught the angry glint in Cody Bonner's eyes, and waved him into his office. "Been expecting you," he said, motioning for Cody to take a seat.

"Queen said—"

"I know all about it," Abel said. "Stanley Brass called me from the school yesterday."

"Yes, but do you also know that Queen thought she was being followed yesterday? She saw a man staring at her, and then when he noticed he'd been caught, he broke and ran like a thief."

"Well, hell, Cody. Your sister… who's not a real sister, mind you… is a looker. I'd think lots of men stare at her."

Cody glared.

Abel sighed. "I was just joshing you, man. I've already done some checking. There is a man in town who's been asking questions. But they haven't all been about Queen. Some of them pertain to you and your boys."

"Pertain how?" Cody asked.

"Like, do they run wild? Do you take good care of them? Do you and your… do you and Queen," he amended, "ever act like there's more between you than there ought to be."

The flat of Cody's hand hit Abel's desk. "Damn if she wasn't right on target," he muttered.

Abel frowned. "Did I miss something here?"

"Queen thinks that my ex-mother-in-law is behind this. They came for a visit a while back and didn't like anything they found, including her."

Abel nodded. "That would be the Whittiers. I remember their names from the report your boys filed when you went missing."

"So, what can I do about this?"

Abel shrugged. "It isn't against the law to ask questions, Cody. And if that's all the man does, you can't do a thing."

"So help me God, if he goes back to school and frightens my boys, I will do something, and you can count on that."

"No, I'll be the one doing something about it," Abel warned. "You'd be well advised to stay out of it. If the Whittiers are trying to get something on you, then starting a fight will be playing into their hands."

Cody cursed.

"My sentiments exactly," Abel said. "How about a cup of coffee?"

Cody stood and shook the other man's hand. "No, I'll take a rain check. I want to get home. I don't like to leave Queen alone."

"She's a fine woman. Be a shame to lose her."

Cody stuffed his hands in his jacket and had started to walk away when something made him change his mind. He stopped and turned. Now was as good a time as any to start letting people know that she wasn't actually related to him.

"I don't intend to lose her," Cody said. "I intend to marry her."

Abel grinned. "Then it's a damned good thing that she's not really your sister, isn't it?"

"For an old man, you're a real smart-ass, aren't you?" Cody asked, and watched the smile spreading across Abel Miller's face.

"My wife thinks so," Abel said.

"My sympathies to your wife, Abel," Cody said, and shut the door behind him with a sharp click.

Abel dropped onto his chair, laid his head back, and started to laugh, slapping his leg now and again with glee as he remembered the look on Cody's face, then laughing all over again at the memory.

"It's me."

Lenore Whittier inhaled. "What do you have?" she asked.

Wally Morrow stared at himself in the mirror, testing the tender territory above his nose with a fingertip. "Other than a black eye, not much," he grumbled.

"I don't pay you to get into trouble," she snapped.

Wally rolled his eyes. "About the report," he said, interrupting the woman before she got started on another tirade. The last two times he'd called she'd been furious when he'd hung up. He couldn't figure out what the hell she wanted him to do—make something up?

Lenore sighed. "Continue."

"Not much to report that's different, other than the fact that Miss Houston has visited a pharmacist and done the odd shopping around the town."

Lenore heard the sarcasm in his voice and wanted to scream. This wasn't getting her the results that she'd hoped for.

"And," Wally added, "my questions are starting to raise notice. Yesterday when I asked a local if he knew anything about her, he punched me in the nose. People around here like her, I tell you. And although it's fairly busy during the tourist season, Snow Gap operates on small-town mentality. They don't like strangers butting into the business of one of their own."

Wally was amazed at what he was just about to suggest. He'd never thought he'd turn down business, but something told him he'd just about worn out his welcome in Snow Gap.

"Look," he said, "why don't we just call it quits? It's fairly obvious that they're a model family. I even heard someone say"—he paused for effect—"understand this is unverified, but I heard that Cody Bonner was getting married. Now what can be more normal than that?"

Lenore gasped. Rage filled her breast at the thought of that woman in complete control of her grandchildren and their futures. "Find out!" she shrieked. "Find out if it's true!"

Wally gulped, suddenly aware that he'd unleashed the bitch he'd been trying to contain. "Yes ma'am," he said. "But it may take some time. I need to lay low for a while, maybe change my appearance."

"I don't care if you have a complete face lift!" Lenore shrieked. "Just do what I said, and call me as soon as you know."

"Yes, ma'am," Wally said, and then winced when she disconnected sharply in his ear. "You old bitch," he added, just to make himself feel better, fully aware she couldn't hear.

"Now what?" he asked himself.

It was hard to hide his face, his features being what they were. He hadn't shaved since Queen Houston had spotted him on the street corner. But the blond, scraggly three-day growth of whiskers didn't hide a damned thing. And Snow Gap wasn't exactly brimming with stores selling special effects.

He grabbed his sunglasses, slid them up his nose to hide the worst of his spreading bruise, and traded his slouch hat for a baseball cap. But he only had the two coats, and the October wind precluded eliminating either. He'd have to take a chance on no one spotting him, he thought as he slid his arms into the droopy trench coat. He had a new mission. Was Cody Bonner about to pop the question, or was that simply another small-town rumor about a pretty woman and a virile, attractive male?

Cody parked the Blazer and then went around to open the door for Queen, who had accompanied him into town.

A cold front was moving in, and some intermittent snow was being predicted for the next few days. She knew it might be her last opportunity to get out of the house for some time and didn't want to miss the trip, as well as the chance to be with Cody.

He helped her out, taking the time to fasten the top button on her coat and let his gaze linger on the rosiness the sharp wind had spread across her cheeks.

"Sure you don't want me to come with you?" he asked.

Queen smiled. "And sit and fidget while I try on shoes? I don't think so."

He grinned and shrugged. "I'd do it for you."

"My hero," she said, and couldn't resist squeezing his arm, although public displays of affection with Cody made her nervous. Especially since half the town thought that she was his sister and the other half suspected she wasn't.

But Cody had no qualms about letting people know what he thought of her; he bent down and kissed her with a gentle, lingering caress.

"Cody! What will people think?"

"They will think I love you," he said. "They will be right."

She rolled her eyes. When he was in one of his obstinate moods, there was no stopping him. She patted her pocket to make sure she had her list and started to walk away.

"Do you have enough money?" Cody asked. "I deposited your paycheck directly
to the bank a couple of days ago, as usual, but if you're a little short, I
can—"

"I have my own money, remember?" Weeks ago she'd finally confided to him that she'd opened up a bank account with her share of the sale of their home in Cradle Creek.

"That's your money. What I give you, you earn."

She looked away, and he could tell by the way her jaw tightened and her shoulders stiffened that she was uncomfortable with what he'd just said.

"I don't feel right about taking your money anymore," she said. "Not since we… not since I…"

"Look, honey," he said, and grabbed her by the arm before she could escape. "The fact that our emotional relationship has changed does not change the fact that you still earn every cent that I put in the bank for you."

She glared at him. "It makes me feel kept."

He laughed. "That's a good one. How do you think I feel? You're the one who's been keeping us, lady. You kept my family from being taken away. You kept me from losing my sanity when the nightmares wouldn't stop. And because of you… I may even still believe in Santa Claus."

The laughter was rich in his voice. He teased her into a smile by poking his fingers at the corners of her mouth and then pushing upward.

She couldn't resist him, and it didn't surprise her. She'd been unable to tell this man "no" almost from the start. "Okay," she said with a sigh. "You win. And to answer your question, no, I don't need any extra money, and I will meet you back here in time for you to buy me lunch."

"Yes, ma'am," Cody said.

"Don't pretend that you aren't happy you just got your way," Queen said. "Lying doesn't become you." She made a face and walked away.

Cody watched her until she stopped at the corner, turned back, and waved. She was smiling. It was what he'd been waiting for.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and started across the street to the diner. If there was one thing he knew about women, it was that their shopping expeditions lasted longer than some wars.

Cody alternated between cradling his cup of coffee between his fingers and staring up at the clock on the wall of the diner. She'd been gone almost two hours. How long did it take to pick out shoes? Either they had them or they didn't.

He suspected it was beyond the male psyche to understand about things like compromising on color when one had been set on a certain thing.

He remembered last night, and the way that her eyes changed colors when they made love, from dark to bright, from wild to sleepy. And then he groaned softly, wishing he'd thought of something else.

The ring. That was a safe topic on which to ruminate. It was safely tucked away, waiting for the right moment at which to present it. Cody smiled to himself. He could just imagine what she would do. And if she cried, he was going to delight in kissing away every single tear.

"Hey there!"

Cody looked up and then smiled a welcome as Abel Miller entered the diner.

"Mind if I join you?" Abel asked.

Cody shook his head. "Got any news for me?"