The Promise (Thunder Point #5)(76)

“Oh? What are you helping with?”

He lifted a bowl. “This here popcorn.”

“We were just watching football. Come in the living room, sweetheart.”

“But, Rawley, who’s minding the bar?”

He turned the volume down and gave her his attention, looking a little animated. “Ain’t you heard? We got us a part-timer. Kid by name of Troy. School teacher by day, bartender and sweeper-upper by night four nights a week. Cooper can manage those three nights Troy isn’t around. Troy Headly is the kid’s name.”

“I hadn’t heard that. When did that happen?”

“About the time that baby kept Cooper and Sarah up half the night a couple weeks running, he got serious and hired himself some help. He can’t do without help around there. Besides, if Cooper’s honest with himself, he likes putting up those houses. It’s not like he does a lot of the physical labor, but he can’t be accused of letting the builder do it without plenty of advice.” He had some popcorn and said, “I prefer the mornings. I ain’t never been interested in taking care of all those people, but I’ll serve a little in the mornings, do the supply runs and keep it cleaned up, now that Landon’s quit.”

“It turns out Rawley enjoys cooking. And since he’s promised not to share my best recipes, I’ll accept his participation,” Carrie said.

“Had me sign a document,” Rawley said. “Confidential agreement.”

Carrie laughed. “I didn’t.”

“In blood,” Rawley said.

My God, Gina thought. They’re made for each other! And no two people could be any more different. Her domestic, all-business, independent mother who dealt with people all day and this old soldier who didn’t like people. Did they talk about things? Snuggle? Kiss? She coughed suddenly. “So, you two have been dating a couple of months or so now....”

They looked at each other with nonplussed expressions. “Dating?” Carrie said. She shook her head. “This sure isn’t the way I remember dating!”

“I can’t remember it at all,” Rawley said.

“We cook, watch TV, eat. Rawley helps around here or the deli if there’s something that needs to be done. If I ever go out to eat, I’m normally with Ray Anne and Lou—Rawley has very little interest in public places.”

“I go to the stores,” he said. “I get all the supplies for Cooper and Carrie. I ain’t called upon to be real friendly at the stores.”

Gina shook her head. “And I bet they just love to see you coming.”

“I reckon they do love it. I bring ’em plenty of money, buying up supplies for two businesses now.”

“Gina, Ashley said Mac got his promotion,” Carrie said.

“He did. He’ll be supervising a couple of units or squads of deputies, and his office will now be in Coquille—not a bad commute. And since he lives here, I suppose they’ll take advantage of him when they need help around here. But his schedule will change, and he’ll be working nights. Two to midnight.”

“Should we throw him a party?” Carrie asked. “It’s such an achievement.”

“I never thought about it, but maybe we should. We can have a backyard thing on a Sunday afternoon right before he leaves his Thunder Point office.”

“Oh, let’s,” Carrie said. She reached for her handy notebook. “Picnic-style barbecue or something else?”

“Barbecue chicken, crab and pasta salad, spinach and cheese stuffed French loaves...” Gina said.

“Stuffed mushrooms, braised red potatoes, vegetables cooked on the grill. Broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, carrots?” Carrie asked, writing down the possibilities.

“Oh, this sounds wonderful! I wish I’d thought of it. Maybe we should ask Mac what he’d like, since it’s his party.”

“Don’t be silly—I know what Mac likes as well as you do,” Carrie said.

“If we do it in a couple of weeks, it’ll still be warm enough. And the new guy will be here. The new guy is Seth Sileski, by the way.”

“That’ll make his mother so happy,” Carrie said. “We’ll invite the Sileski family! And while we’re turning the chicken, we can upend Norm and pull that bug out of his ass.”

Gina burst into laughter. “Perfect!”

Sixteen

Peyton folded her freshly laundered clothes on the bed while Adele sat in the rocker, nursing the baby. “I have to admit, I’m going to miss the city,” she said.

“You’ll have to come back on a weekend,” Adele said. “Bring Scott and his kids. Except...”

“Don’t worry,” she said with a laugh. “We’ll get a hotel room. We should show the kids the pier, cable cars, the sea lions.... Wait till you meet them. The kids were so excited at the farm, they were speechless. Papa was feeding them from his plate, talking the whole time, telling his lies and spinning his tales. Then he had little Will dancing with the men.”

“A little different from the time Ted and his kids visited?”

“Oh, just a little! That didn’t work out the way I thought it might, but I have to let go of it. It’s time to move on.”

“You’re sure this time?”

“It’s everything I ever wanted. Scott is everything I’ve ever wanted, though I have to figure out what’s bothering him so much right now. He’s so glum, so unlike him. It’s probably just the fact that he misses me, and no matter what I say, he worries that I’ll leave Thunder Point and we’ll never see each other again.”