Pistols & Pies (Sweet Bites Book 2) (Sweet Bites Mysteries) (29 page)

“They’re both over here, and they’re going to be fine.” Tingey grabbed something from his trunk, paper ripped and he shoved some gauze against my arm. “Hold this before you bleed out, you crazy woman.”

I slid my hand over the gauze, holding it in place as the ambulance lights came down the road, two sets of red and white lights flashing at us like a beacon. “Tell me,” I said to Tingey as I rolled my head back to look at him. “Did I hear Jack King’s voice on that radio a minute ago?”

 “Yeah.”

I sighed. “That’s always my luck.”

Two figures trod across the ground to us, Shawn and Sheralyn, though I could barely make out their features well enough to tell. “She’s got a couple of nails imbedded in her skin,” Shawn said. “Nothing serious, though—arm and shoulder muscle, and they’re not deep at all. She’ll live.”

“Goody.  She tried to kill me, you know. And she did kill Eric. Said so.” I rested my head on Kat’s shoulder, feeling dizzy. “I don’t feel so good. And my side hurts now.”

Tingey flashed his light back on the side near my arm and swore loudly, calling for the trauma kit before the ambulance even came to a full stop.

The ride to the hospital was no fun at all. Jack had me all wrapped up like a mummy, saying that I had a lot of bleeding on my side—apparently the bullet had grazed me there as well as my arm, but deeper. The bleeding actually had him nervous. Me? I was too lightheaded from blood loss to be nervous.

I cursed him when he put in another IV—what was it with this man and needles, anyway? But I suffered the ignominy of being hooked to a bag of fluid and didn’t even threaten to take away his rights to shop at my place in the future. I guess I must have needed a doctor after all.

The hospital wasn’t a lot of fun either, but the doctor got to me right away. He stopped the bleeding and unfortunately there wasn’t a lot they could do about the graze. It wasn’t like a slice that could be stitched (I was actually grateful about this, since it meant no more needles. Wearing bandages for the next couple of weeks while the wound healed sounded positively pleasant compared to stitches.)

The oddest thing was dealing with both Jack and Shawn in the ER at the same time. Jack held back a little, as if reading Shawn’s possessiveness. On the other hand, Shawn barely seemed to notice Jack—why should he? As far as he knew, Jack was just the medical guy.

Technically he was right.

Finally, after much hassle and time, I received a discharge from the doctor. Kat had been released before me and after checking to see that I was fine, Lenny had taken her home to baby her. I was glad for them, very glad, and couldn’t believe how scared I’d been at the thought of losing Kat. 

When we exited the ER, Honey was waiting. She threw her arms around me. “George was worried about you, too. I’m so glad you’re safe. I can’t believe it. How could that happen?”

“I’m fine, really,” I told her, though my side ached and the thought of getting up for work in the morning was almost more than I could bear. I really needed to see about getting medical insurance. The premiums on self-employment couldn’t be worse than two ER visits so close together.

“She’s lying. She’s in pain and needs to go to bed,” Shawn told her.

“I know, I can tell. She’s always like that,” Honey agreed.

“Thanks, I appreciate you taking me at my word.” But I let them help me into Shawn’s car and see me home. After nearly an hour of hovering, I told her to go home, leaning against Shawn on the living room sofa, enjoying his closeness. I was getting dozy when the phone rang—it was Lenny.

“Hello, how is Kat?” I answered.

“She’s fine—just shaken up.” His voice sounded shaken as well, even though it had been almost three hours since he found us at the school site. “She’s been asking about you. You were hurt worse.”

“You’re going to be working full time for the next week or so, but I’ll be fine. The doctor said not to go into work tomorrow, and I need to take it easy—which means you get to do all the cleaning.” I let a note of teasing enter my voice. The pain pills were making me loopy again.

“Happily. Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it. You know you saved Kat’s life. That woman was crazy; she would have killed Kat. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”

Right, because it wasn’t my fault that she was involved in the first place. “Give me a break. You’re my family. You know that, right?”

Now it was my own voice that went shaky. I’d been feeling alone and disconnected, but now I knew I wasn’t alone. I may not have any parents or siblings, but in Honey’s brood, and Lenny and Kat, I have siblings, nieces and nephews, family that I could call my own, even if it wasn’t of the traditional sort.

“Yeah. I know. I’m glad to be your family too.”

I realized Kat and I were all he had. Maybe that’s why Lenny and I had bonded so tightly.

We hung up after another minute and I turned back to Shawn, snuggling into his chest. He didn’t need to stay any more. I was safe, but I was going to miss him—despite my irritation about his constant hovering. “Thanks for showing up tonight. You saved my life.”

“Are you kidding? After you got her with that nail gun, I seriously doubt she was a threat to you. You acted far more clear-headed when she shot you than she did with a little nail in her muscle. You’re a lot tougher than you think.” He tightened his arm around me.

“You have to go back to work, don’t you?”

“I got a buddy to cover so I can take one more day off first. I thought maybe we could do something fun while I was here, to make this trip about something more than just investigating and getting hurt,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll be up to a hike or anything like that.”

I chuckled. “I seem to do a lot of that getting-hurt stuff.”

“Yeah, and I still live too far away to be of any real use to you.” His fingers brushed along my hair, making my scalp tingle.

“That’s too bad. I enjoy having you here.” It was true, though twenty-four/seven had been too much. It was just as well that Shawn lived so far away, and maybe with my family all around me, I didn’t need to worry about relationships and what I should do as far as men were concerned. I still had time.

“I could be here a lot more, you know,” he suggested. “Maybe I could even get a job in the area. Tingey said he thought he could put in a good word for me when the next opening came up.”

The thought thrilled me, and made me nervous too. I didn’t respond, not sure what to say.

“Or not,” he said when the silence apparently went on too long. “You just have to say the word and I won’t bother you again, Tess, even if I did move back here.” His arms tightened around me, making me secure in his embrace, though his voice gave away his uncertainty.

I rubbed my cheek against his chest. “I really don’t know what I want. I wouldn’t tell you to get lost if you moved here, but I don’t want you to make any decisions about your life based on me. I want you to decide what’s right because it’s right for you.”

“And if
you’re
right for me?” he asked, his voice husky.

Shocked by his declaration, I pulled away. “I don’t think that we know each other well enough to decide that.  We’ve only spent a handful of days together, and they were months apart.” I took his hand, happy at the way it felt wrapped around mine. “I really like you, Shawn, I like the way we laugh together, the way we play together, the way you make me feel safe. But I’m still trying to figure out who I am, and I need more time before I make any more big decisions.”

“I can give you time. And I guess if the stars align just right, I’ll see you again before the year ends.” He had a secretive smile on his face.

As long as he was waiting for the stars to align and not planning to push them along, I thought I could live with that. “Sounds good to me.”

Shawn left after we spent our day together—watching movies in my living room and playing a heated game of Monopoly—and the following day I was back to work again. Though business was rather more brisk than usual—people were insatiable for details about what happened—I was still worried about a few loose ends.

When Tingey arrived in my shop later that afternoon, we had just experienced a lull for the first time in hours and I was sweeping around the tables—the most physical job Lenny had let me do all day.

“Care for a bit of refreshment, Detective?” I asked him.

“Yes. If you have a minute, I’d like to talk to you for a bit too.”

“Sure.” I got him the treats he requested, made his cappuccino, and sat beside him at the table.

He started munching before talking to me. “Well, I spoke with Gary Roper this morning. He’s feeling a bit embarrassed and upset about how everything happened, and he’s sorry that his wife is the reason that you were in his barn. Seems to consider the email a sort of invitation to be there, in fact—probably because I suggested it. He’s decided to drop the charges against you and Honey.”

That was such a relief. “Really? That’s terrific—thanks for the news.”

“And, though I know this isn’t why you took the case upon yourself,” he gave me an unhappy look so I knew that he didn’t approve. “There is a bit of a reward for information leading to an arrest on this case, so though it’s not much, it might pay your deductibles on your car and business insurance.”

“And my medical?” I asked hopefully.

“Don’t hold your breath.”  He chuckled lightly. “But maybe some of it.”

“That’s a relief. It costs a lot to keep Lenny in hair gel.”

“Hey, I heard that,” Lenny called from the other room.

I grinned. “Any other terrific news you’d like to share with us, sir?” I was exhausted and thought about taking a nap now that the shop had calmed down. I hadn’t gotten back to full strength after losing so much blood, even though they’d given me some in the ER.

“No. But I do suggest you leave the detective work to the experts. At least until you heal up completely and have skin everywhere it’s supposed to be.” His expression said he didn’t anticipate me to keeping my curiosity in check any longer than that.

“Some people are so picky about their amateur sleuths,” I joked.

“Yeah, something like that.” He took the last drink of his cappuccino and rose from the table. “You still have the best treats in town, even after being shot at, twice, and nearly blown up.”

“Thanks. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a great compliment.”

He waved and walked out as I headed into the kitchen, feeling a lightness in my step.

“So, boss, what’s next? Are we going to turn into full-time detectives and part-time bakers?” Lenny asked as he wiped down his counter with a rag.

“Nah, I think I’ve had my fill of investigating for a few weeks. I was thinking something along the line of a family party: You and Kat, me, Honey’s family and extendeds. We can plan your wedding and harass you about your earrings.” They didn’t bother me, but it was fun to tease him anyway.

“Or we could harass you about spending money on a manicure that didn’t last twenty-four hours.” He tossed the rag back into the bucket of bleach water. “Do you know how many hamburgers that would have bought me?”

I handed him my recipe file. “Get to work. Earn your own hamburgers.”