Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic #1)(10)

It was sexy as hell.

“Everyone’s okay,” I assured him. “No one’s hurt. Can you tell me anything specific you heard Dan and Chris say?”

He ran one hand over his tousled hair and tipped his head to one side, finally bending his elbow and resting his head on his fingertips. “I wasn’t really paying attention. I tend to tune Dan out. He was angry. Demanded to see Chris. Chris didn’t seem upset—you know how he is.”

I nodded.

“He offered Dan a free beer. That made Dan angrier. I think Dan told Chris he was a liar, a cheater, and was trying to put him out of the running in the drink category by bribing judges.” He shook his head. “Why did they add so many new categories to the rhubarb contests?”

“To spark more community involvement. Which appears to have been wildly successful,” I said dryly.

“I hate rhubarb,” he muttered.

“So do I. But it draws people together to argue over family recipes and triples the business in town. That’s the foundation of a civilized world. Was that all you heard?”

“There was some sort of dramatic accusation at the end of it all. Dan yelling that as God is his witness he would do whatever it took to keep Chris from winning the prize.”

“And how did Chris handle that?”

“He smiled and told him something like ‘good luck with that.’ No—he told him, ‘Bring it on.’”

“Anything else?”

“Like what? It would help if I had an idea what you think I might have heard.”

I didn’t answer yet. “One last thing: did you see a woman having drinks with Chris?”

“Blonde, mid-twenties, French accent? Wore a silk western shirt mostly unbuttoned and a lacy sort of thing under it. Um…wet designer jeans?”

It was always interesting to see what details a person noticed. Apparently Ryder noticed underwear and designer labels.

“Wet? Is that a brand?”

“Wet as in water. I think I heard her say she got caught by a sneak wave along the jetty.”

Well, that would explain why she was wearing Chris’s T-shirt on his boat.

“You are a very observant man, Ryder Bailey.”

“Habit of an artist. I like to people-watch. I saw her at the bar. I don’t know when she came in—eleven, maybe? But she was still there when I left. From the way she was flirting with Chris, I didn’t think she had plans to leave.”

Spud made a whining sound. He was headed my way, but a lot slower than before. That was because he was trying to carry a stuffed whale the size of a couch.

“And who’s a big ol’ show-off?” Ryder said to the dog.

“That’s a…uh…big whale. Is he supposed to have that thing?”

“Look at who took down the biggest whale in the sea for his new friend.” Rider sat forward and scratched at Spud’s head as he passed. Spud tried to bend in half so both his butt and head were available for Ryder’s strong scratches, but the whale sort of got jammed between the chair and couch and Spud had to straighten out and back up to get in the clear.

“Where did you even find that silly thing?”

“Craigslist.”

“They sell whales?”

Ryder barked out a laugh. “I thought you meant Spud. The whale I picked up in Seattle. He only drags it out when he wants to really impress a girl with his hunting skills. So what is this about?”

“The whale?”

“The third degree. What happened?”

“There was an explosion.”

He was no longer sitting. He flowed up onto his feet and stepped out so neither the coffee table nor the whale-hauling dog were in his way. “Explosion?”

“You didn’t hear it?”

“I was sleeping really hard. Might have been a little drunk. What exploded? Where? When?”

I wanted to ask him why he had been drinking. Maybe he had just wanted to blow off some steam and have some fun. But I’d heard through the grapevine—namely my youngest sister, Jean—that Ryder’s last ex-girlfriend, Char, had tried to hook up with him. She had made a messy scene in his office that ended with her crying and flipping him off before she drove away.

“Rhubarb exploded,” I said, answering his first question.

“You don’t often see that in the heritage strains,” he said.

I fought back a smile. “At Dan Perkin’s place. Early this morning.”

“Oh. Hell. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine. So are his neighbors and his house. It looked like a small blast. Intended to wipe out his rhubarb.”

“You really think Chris is the kind of guy who would blow up another man’s garden patch?”

“I really think I’m going to consider all the angles and get to the bottom of it before something worse happens.”

Spud shook his head and successfully dropped the whale on my boots. His tail was pounding a million miles a minute and his mouth was open in a happy dog smile.

I gave him an extra-long rub on the head and he flopped down, content to prop his head on the tail fin.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, Delaney,” Ryder said. “But you should know that if I’m asked to be a character witness for Chris or for Dan, I’m throwing in with Chris.”