Firebreak (Josie Gray Mysteries #4)(43)

She sighed and smiled. She missed Dell. She had been selfish and unreasonable the other night when she found the woman in his house. If Dell had found love, then good for him; it was well deserved.

Josie hung her gun belt in the pantry and followed Chester into the living room, all part of the nightly ritual. She watched as he lay down on his rug and turned expectant eyes up to her. She set a rawhide chew between his front paws and he continued to stare at her until she said, “Well, go ahead,” and then he picked it up and spent the next ten minutes chewing excitedly like a kid with a piece of bubble gum. She’d grown up with dogs and cats, most of them strays, but none of them had a personality like Chester’s.

After she changed into shorts and a T-shirt, she and the dog walked to Dell’s house at 7:00. It was still ninety-five degrees out, but the hard edge of the heat had dissipated and a slight breeze made it a comfortable walk.

She stepped onto the front porch and knocked on the screen door. This time she waited for him to yell, “Come in.” Chester beat her through the door and ran into the kitchen with his paws scrabbling against the wood floor. Dell laughed like Chester was a long-lost grandchild instead of the dog that spent every afternoon following him around the ranch.

Dell had been sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. He pitched his glasses onto the table and went to the stove to dish up the bean soup.

He opened the pot and steam billowed up. “That’s got some flavor in it. A ham hock and onions and peppers and a shot of butter and mashed beans for substance.” He whistled like he was looking at a pretty girl.

Josie joined him at the stove and watched as he dished up the soup. “It smells like heaven.”

“I thought maybe you disowned me after the other night,” he said.

“I’d never disown you. You’re my best friend.”

“Me and the dog.”

They carried their soup to the table, where a plate of corn bread was sitting. Halfway through dinner and small talk, Dell said, “Tell me about your dead body.”

“How’d you hear about the body?”

“Otto said you had a homicide.”

“When did you talk to him?” she asked.

He glanced up from his soup, his eyes bright.

“He called you, didn’t he? That’s what dinner is about. He told you to babysit me tonight. Didn’t he?”

“I ran into him in town. He said he thought you were still feeling blue since Dillon left. How can you fault a man for watching out for your well-being?”

Josie shook her head, her expression incredulous. “Dell, I’m a cop. Have been for years. I can handle a little stress in my life without falling apart.”

“Fine, you badass, what if I just wanted to have dinner with you?”

She laughed. “Badass?”

“Since you brought up the subject of the missing boyfriend, give me an update.”

Avoiding the question, she asked, “You have any beer in the fridge?”

“No beer.” He looked embarrassed. “There’s a half bottle of wine in there that’ll never get drank. It’s all yours.”

She raised her eyebrows.

“Just pour yourself a glass and tell me about Dillon. I don’t feel like talking tonight. Tonight I listen.”

Josie convinced Dell to let her clean up while he started a fire outside. She wanted to sit beside the fire and finish the conversation without the face-to-face scrutiny and harsh lights of the kitchen. And Dell never missed an opportunity to sit outside by a fire.

Josie washed up the few dishes and dried them. She opened the cabinets for the plates and bowls and found them as orderly as they had been any other time she had opened a cabinet. Dell was as predictable and stable as anyone she knew, and those two traits alone made him a hero in her eyes. She’d found very few people through the years that she could say that about.

She washed the countertop and found him standing over orange flames with two camp chairs set up. Once they were seated, Josie suffered through half a glass of dry red wine, and then said, “Things are getting better with Dillon. If I didn’t have this nagging guilt that I’d destroyed his life, I’d be okay.” She put her hand up, not wanting a lecture. “But I get it.”

“You were both out of your league, Josie. The only way you two were going to survive is to move on. He’s got way too many nightmares here to do that. And you have too much guilt to ever be able to help him. I’m glad he left. I’m glad for both of you. You’ve been moping around for two months. It’s time to stop it.”

They sat quietly staring at the flames and Josie said nothing.

Dell finally spoke. “Besides, you’ve been such piss-poor company I had to go find a lady friend to talk to.”

Josie grinned. “And? Where’s the lady friend?”

“She’s back in Presidio where she belongs.”

“Dell! You didn’t give her much of a chance, did you?”

“It’s got nothing to do with chances. She didn’t like you, and she didn’t like Chester, and I didn’t like her.”

“You could just go out as friends. Someone to hang out with every once in while.”

“Look. I don’t hang out. I’m not cut out for relationships. I’ve been a bachelor my whole life and I can’t go changing that now. No sense dragging her along for something that won’t work out in the end.”