Ten-Gallon Tensions in Texas: A Kate on Vacation Mystery (The Kate on Vacation Mysteries Book 3) (7 page)

At the corner, Skip stopped and tugged her around to face him. He leaned down and brushed his lips to hers. Then he pulled back a little. “I wouldn’t change a thing,” he whispered.

She snaked a hand up behind his neck and pulled his face down. The kiss was long and delicious. Finally she broke away. “I love you, Mr. Canfield.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you too,” he breathed into her ear.

The sound of breaking glass shattered the night.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Skip let go of Kate and bolted down the sidewalk.

She raced to catch up as best she could in high heels. “Didn’t that come from Jimmy’s place?” she yelled.

“Yeah, stay back,” Skip called over his shoulder.

Kate kept running, pausing only to kick off her shoes and grab them up. By the time she reached the next corner, he was scaling the fence at Bolton Cars. The floodlights around the lot cast random shadows.

She ran across to the fence.

Skip dropped down on the other side. “Stay here,” he barked.

She really didn’t have an alternative. Scaling a chain link fence in either high heels or bare feet did not have much appeal. Heart pounding, she fumbled her phone from her purse and dialed 911.

“Beauford County Sheriff’s Department. What is the nature of your emergency?” a female voice drawled.

“Please send Sheriff Gutierrez to Bolton Cars.”

“What is the nature of the emergency, ma’am?”

“I’m, uh, not sure yet, but we heard breaking glass. Just tell him that Kate Canfield said to get here as fast as he can.”

“Ms. Canfield, what
is
the nature of your emergency?”

More glass shattering, then pounding footsteps.

“I don’t know, damn it! Just send José to Bolton Cars.” She plunged the phone into her purse, then dropped the bag onto the sidewalk. Grabbing the fence as far up as she could reach, she curled stocking-clad toes around a lower section. Pain shot through her foot. She dropped back to the ground.

“Skip!” she yelled.

Silence, except for the blood pounding in her ears.

“Skip!” she called out again.

He rounded the far corner of the dealership’s main building and jogged her way. When he got to the fence, he was breathing hard. “Lost whoever it was. Looks like five or six cars have their windshields bashed in.”

“What the hell?”

“Yeah…” He stopped to suck in air. “If Sam was the one sabotaging Jimmy’s business, who just smashed up his cars?”

 A siren wailed in the distance.

“You got Suze’s number in your cell phone?” Skip asked.

“Yes.”

“Call her and tell her to bring the keys to that gate. I don’t think José’s gonna be in the mood to climb this fence.”

~~~~~~~~

Skip hadn’t been able to talk his sister out of her plan, so he went with her. The morning sun glinted through the windshield of her pickup. He put the visor down on the passenger’s side.

Two miles out of town, they turned onto a dirt lane. The sign at the corner read
Purebred Rottweilers
.

“It’s what Jimmy wanted to do all along,” Suzanne said, grim-faced as she steered the truck over the bumpy lane. “But I told him it would seem too unfriendly-like. Well, damn it! It don’t seem like we got that many true friends in town anyway.”

“Come on now, Suze, the whole town’s not against you,” Skip said. “Don’t you think you’re overreacting? They only got a few cars, and the insurance should cover the damages.”

“They only got a few cars ’cause you happened to come along and chase ’em away. Whoever’s doin’ this has come damn close to puttin’ us outta business.” Her voice broke on a stifled sob.

Skip kept his mouth shut. They rounded a bend in the lane and pulled up in front of a small ranch house. Dogs barked and yapped as they exited the truck.

A short, squat woman came out the back door of the house and headed their way. “Good morning,” she called out.

Thirty minutes later, they were driving back out the lane. An elderly female Rottweiler was curled up, snoring, in the bed of the pickup.

“Well, what did you expect?” Skip said. “She’s a breeder. She’s got puppies or relics too old to breed.”

Suze ignored him, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

After a moment, he said, “Dog’s gonna need things, bowls and a leash and such.”

“Nothin’s open today. I’ll get ’em at the feed store tomorrow.”

He stifled a sigh.

“We’d best keep our mouths shut about the dog’s age,” Suze said. “Let everyone think she’s young and mean.”

“Okay, but she’s gonna need some shelter. Have you thought about where to keep her at the car lot?”

“Jimmy’s got some scrap lumber out in our garage. I suppose Junior and I could cobble together a dog house.”

Skip shook his head. “I’ll see if I can drum up a couple guys to help build somethin’.”

~~~~~~~~

Carrying a pitcher of sweet tea, Kate walked through the gate into the car lot. The Sunday afternoon sun beat down. Heat radiated from the asphalt through the thin soles of her sandals.

She followed the sound of hammering and swearing to the service area. Two shirtless men were helping her husband build a lean-to shelter at the far end of the service building. One was on the short side, barrel-chested with swarthy skin. It took her a moment to recognize José Gutierrez. The third man was fencepost lean and almost as tall as Skip. His fair skin was rapidly turning pink in the June sun.

As she approached, they stopped work and wiped sweat from their brows. She handed around the plastic cups her mother-in-law had provided. As she poured the tea, Skip made the introduction. “This is Jake Davis. He was one of my buddies in high school.”

The tall, skinny guy tipped a straw cowboy hat at her. Then he guzzled his glass of tea.

“It’s great to meet you,” Kate said. “Sorry we missed you at the reunion events.”

Jake looked down at his dusty boots. “I didn’t go. Got no desire to relive high school.”

Skip grabbed a towel lying on the pile of leftover scrap wood. He wiped it over his sweaty chest.

Kate averted her eyes. One of the few things she disliked about visiting her mother-in-law was their self-imposed celibacy. She was still enough of a Catholic girl to not be willing to moan and groan either in her parents’ or her in-law’s house. And Skip was inclined to agree when his mother was sleeping on the other side of a thin wall.

The last time they’d visited her parents in Florida, they’d ended up renting a room in a B and B for an afternoon. They’d gotten the evil eye from the desk clerk when he’d learned they had no luggage.

Wonder if there’s a motel near here?

When she looked up, he was grinning at her. She shook her head at him and snickered softly.

“Who ya think smashed up them cars?” Jake was saying. “Willy Carlton?”

“Nope,” José said. “He was still at the dance when I got the call. I’d been keepin’ my eye on him.”

“I don’t recall Sid Collins bein’ there last night,” Skip said.

“Could’ve been him,” the sheriff said, “but I wouldn’t have thought he’d have the gumption to do that on his own. I went to his house last night. He swore he’d been home all evenin’.”

Kate poured refills all around.

Skip took a couple sips. “Let’s get this done, boys, before that sun gets any hotter.”

Kate decided to walk to the Boltons’ house and see how Suzanne was doing.

Junior and his brother were in the front yard, playing frisbee with a big black dog. Frankie tossed the disc and the dog lumbered after it in slow motion. It hit the ground long before she got to it. She picked it up and brought it back to drop at the boys’ feet.

“Y’all get in here!” Suzanne yelled from the front door. Kate climbed the porch steps. The boys and dog barreled past her and shoved through the door.

Suzanne shook her head, her ponytail swinging in an arc. “That’s just great. Now all the neighbors know that dog’s a pussycat.”

“She didn’t even bark at me,” Kate said, “but maybe she’ll get more territorial once she’s been at the car lot for a while.”

“Hope so.” Suzanne fanned her face with her hand. “Come on in outta the heat.”

They settled around her kitchen table with their own tall glasses of iced tea. Kate didn’t know what to say. How does one comfort a woman whose husband may have committed murder?

“I’m fixin’ to go to the car lot tomorrow,” Suzanne said.

Okay.
Kate still wasn’t sure what to say.

“Used to do Jimmy’s books back when he was just gettin’ started, before the kids came along.” She swiped an errant strand of hair back from her face. “I think I can run the place.”

“It should only be a few days,” Kate said. “Once they do a ballistics test on that pistol, they’ll see that it wasn’t the one that shot Sam Beauford.”

“Even so, I’m gonna work at the lot for a while. Help Jimmy take care of things.”

She’s worried about his drinking.

Kate couldn’t blame her. If the car lot went under, her sister-in-law would have no way to feed her kids. She thought about offering a loan, but decided against it. If it came down to that, the Boltons would probably accept help from Skip easier than from her.

Instead, she said, “You know we’ll do all we can to help out.”

“I’m glad y’all are here. It’s made things easier.”

A crash came from the living room. The dog rumbled into the kitchen, then stopped, panting, in the middle of the floor.

Suzanne shook her head. “Don’t tell my brother I said this but he may have been right. This critter’s close to useless.”

“They’re probably about done with the shelter by now. Do you want me to walk the dog down there?”

“No, I’ll take her in the truck in a little bit. Thanks for comin’ by, Kate.”

When she got back to her mother-in-law’s house, there was no sign of the kids or their granny. But the shower was running in the hall bathroom and Skip’s shirt and jeans were in a sweaty heap on the guest room floor.

Kate’s heart rate kicked up a notch when he came around the corner, in fresh jeans but once again shirtless. He stuck a towel-covered finger in his ear, then shook his head. Droplets flew from his wet hair. “I hate it when I get water in my ears.”

Kate sidled up to him and ran her hand up his bare chest. “Hey, cowboy.” His skin quivered under her touch.

“Cut that out. Who knows when Mama and the rug rats will come poppin’ back in here.”

“You’re not willing to take the chance?”

“No, because I have a better idea. I was going to take my gal on a picnic. It’s June in Texas. We don’t need a bed and four walls when there’s a whole lot of open country out there.”

“Hmm, I like that plan.”

“There should be an old blue blanket on a shelf in the mud room. It’s the picnickin’ blanket. Grab it, will ya?”

Kate grinned at him. “Meet you at the car.”

“Oh, first you might want to put on long pants and somethin’ sturdier on your feet.”

Tilting her head, she said, “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”

Once clothes had been changed and the blue blanket retrieved, they were in their rental car and headed out of town. On the outskirts, Skip pulled into a parking lot under a bright red and white Dairy Queen sign.

“Boy, you really know how to treat a girl right,” Kate said.

He grinned at her as he put the car in park.

At the outside carry-out window, a teenaged girl shoved the glass open. “Three chili cheese dogs to go,” Skip said. “You want a second one, Kate?”

She stared up at the menu. “No. One’s enough.” She was getting heartburn just thinking about it. “What the devil is a dilly bar?”

One corner of Skip’s mouth quirked up. “Ya got chocolate soft serve today?” he asked the girl.

“Sure do.”

“One double chocolate dilly bar for my chocoholic Yankee wife and a vanilla and butterscotch for me.”

The girl flashed a smile, revealing a mouth full of braces. She closed the window and disappeared into the bowels of the shop. A few minutes later she returned with a paper bag and what looked like two donuts on sticks. One was dark brown, the other a sickly shade of yellow.

Skip handed her the brown one, along with a fistful of napkins. “Life is short, eat dessert first.”

She stared at the chocolate-covered object as Skip paid and picked up the bag.

He gingerly took a bite out of his butterscotch dilly bar, then held it out in front of him so the ice cream could drip harmlessly on the asphalt. “I was serious. That thing’ll melt fast in this heat.”

She leaned forward slightly and took a careful bite of hers. The double whammy of cold chocolate melted on her tongue. She’d just found the chocoholics’ corner of heaven.

She licked at the drips and the broken pieces of coating threatening to fall off. Then she took another bite of the ice cream bar and rolled her eyes in pleasure. They walked slowly back to the car, gobbling down the dilly bars before the Texas sun could melt them.

When she was done, it took three napkins to get all the chocolate off of her face and hands, but it had been so worth it.

Once in the car, she was happy to sit back and relax while Skip drove out into the countryside. Grassy prairie unfolded on either side of the road. She spotted clumps of cattle grazing in the distance. Now and then, an oil well or two would be planted out in the middle of a field.

“It’s kinda startling when one of those suddenly pops up,” Kate said.

Skip glanced to where she was pointing. “The pumpjacks? Ya get used to ’em.”

“You’re developing quite the Texas twang there,” she teased.

 He shot her a grin. “I’m just talkin’ normal fer a change, ’stead of that funny talkin’ y’all do back in Maryland.”

“Reminds me of when we went to Ireland when I was a teenager, to visit my folks’ family there. My dad’s brogue was so thick by the second day, none of us kids could understand a word he said.”

Skip chuckled as he swung the car off the road onto a dirt lane. They were now headed toward a strip of trees in the distance.

When they reached the trees, Skip stopped the car and turned it off. The gurgle of running water could be heard over the clicking of the cooling engine.