Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(47)

Havoc’s parents—well, his father, really—had been active in turning people against the Horde, speaking out several times, at town meetings, at Marie’s, even at Havoc’s funeral. Seeing Havoc’s mother, Badger didn’t know what he should do, but he decided on politeness. Politeness came easily to him.

“Hi, Mrs. Mariano.”

She smiled sweetly, genuinely. “Hello, Justin. And Adrienne, right? You’re Shannon’s girl.”

Adrienne held out her hand. “Yes, ma’am. Adrienne Renard.”

“Nice to meet you, honey. I’m June.” Then she seemed to see something behind them, and her face took on an aspect of shock and sadness. Also something like…hunger. “Oh,” she whispered. She glanced around her as if she was about to get caught doing something bad.

Badger looked, too, and saw Cory and Lilli walking down the path, their brood with them. Cory was holding Loki, who was ten months old and starting to walk. He was pitching a minor fit now, obviously not into being held.

Loki was Havoc’s son, born two months before he died. Thus, Loki was Mrs. Mariano’s grandson.

Badger didn’t know much about what was going on between Havoc’s wife and his parents, but he knew that Mrs. Mariano didn’t get much chance to see her grandchild. Mr. Mariano wouldn’t allow it.

“Cory? Honey?” she called out.

Badger pulled Adrienne out of the way, but he didn’t go far, just in case the situation went south.

Because Cory looked over, and about one thousand different expressions hit her face simultaneously, none of them friendly.

“Cory? Please?”

Lilli put her hand on Cory’s arm and said something; after a couple of seconds, Cory nodded. When she turned and came toward the booth, Lilli hung back, but she gave Badger a look. Badger and Lilli had been through some real shit together, and he knew how she thought. He knew that look meant You and me, we’re keeping this cool.

He bent his head close to Adrienne’s ear. “Babe, step back a bit.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ll explain later, but there’s something happening that could get a little hot. Not big, but some drama.”

She nodded and did what he asked.

Although Loki had been yelling and squirming, something must have changed in the way Cory held him, or the vibe she gave off, because he’d gone still. He was a cute kid, with Havoc’s light olive complexion and black eyes. He had dark, curly hair. Badger had no idea whether Havoc had had curly hair; he’d shaved his head for all the time he’d known him. But he was a loud, rambunctious kid, definitely taking after his old man in that regard and already giving Princess Gia a run for her money in the attention-seeking department.

When Cory got up to the booth, she said, her voice flat and calm, “Hello, June.”

Mrs. Mariano started to cry. “Can I hold him? Oh, hi, sweetie. You are the spittin’ image of your daddy.

Cory, please. Can I hold him? Please?”

They were drawing a crowd. The other church ladies, three of them—horrible gossips all, with sharp, nasty tongues—were lined up behind Havoc’s mother, watching avidly, without any compunction about intruding into this scene.

Other people around were stopping to watch, too. Although a lot of people from out of town were at the Fest, and they moved on unconcerned, the townspeople knew all the business there was to know, and they were all interested. Badger caught Lilli’s eyes again, and she gave a subtle shrug. There was nothing they could do about the looky-loos. This scene was playing out in public.

Cory nodded and handed Loki over the booth’s counter. June took the boy and clutched him to her chest. Loki fought immediately for freedom, but his grandmother wasn’t letting him go. She held him close and sobbed.

Having collapsed completely following Havoc’s death, even trying to kill herself, Cory had taken a long time to come back to life. Havoc had died in September; now it was May. She was working again, and she was out in the world again, but she was different. Maybe she always would be. A light had gone out, maybe forever. She watched Mrs. Mariano hold Loki and weep, and she could just as easily have been watching grass grow. Her face showed no emotion or interest at all.

Lilli walked up to the booth, leading her own son, Bo, by the hand; Gia followed behind, looking both curious and bored. Lilli put her other hand on Cory’s back. “I’m sorry to intrude, but a crowd is drawing up. If you want, I can take you someplace where you’ll have some privacy?”

Cory turned to her friend. “No.”

At almost the same time, Mrs. Mariano said, “No, I can’t. But thank you, honey. For letting me hold him for a minute. He’s beautiful. So like his daddy.” Sniffling, she handed him over. “Bye, Luke. Be a good boy.”

“Loki. He’s called Loki.” With that, Cory turned and walked away. Lilli cast Badger a reassuring look and followed.

The crowd dispersed. Havoc’s mother turned and was swallowed up by a ring of hugging church ladies.

Adrienne pulled on Badger’s arm.

“I feel gross that we stood and watched that. Like all those vultures. Why didn’t we go?”

“I’ll tell you as much as I can later. The reason we stayed is to diffuse it if it got too hot. The Horde doesn’t need a scene like that.”

“Is that because Havoc died?”