A deaf man could hear Maggie Romano when she spoke in her “mother” tone. His mouth was as dry as good vermouth and his tongue felt hairy, so his answer came out as a croak. “Yes, ma’am.”
He sat up, stifling a groan. He tried to recall how he’d ended up here, but the pounding in his head made it difficult to think.
“I truly thought I was done bailing my children out of jail when Max graduated from college.”
“You’re not bailing him out, Mom,” Gabi corrected. “We didn’t actually arrest him.”
“A technicality.” Maggie waved a dismissive hand. “You know that a mother shouldn’t have to see her son like this. I’m disappointed in you, Lucca. This is a disgrace. I raised you better than this.”
Lucca dragged a hand down his bristled jaw. Memory of the events of the previous night returned as he climbed to his feet from the uncomfortable cot. He felt like hell. He needed to take a shower. He wanted to get away from the disapproving stares of his brother, sister, and mother.
He gratefully accepted the bottle of water Zach handed him and made a stab at self-defense by saying, “I entered this office voluntarily last night, and I did nothing that would warrant an arrest.”
Zach shrugged. “Could have hit you with public intoxication.”
“I was sitting on a bench beside the creek, not making any noise, minding my own business.”
“At three o’clock in the morning with four empty beer bottles at your feet!” Gabi snapped.
“So what, you saying the night shift deputy hauled me in for littering?”
She braced her hands on her hips. “I’m saying that you were too drunk to find your way back to your house.”
“What sort of an example does that set, son?” his mother asked.
Annoyance slithered through him. He was no longer in the business where setting examples mattered. Of course, Maggie Romano wouldn’t care to hear that he didn’t give a crap about what people thought of him. From the day her children were born, the woman had high expectations at all times for the way they behaved. Yet, this was her home, and Zach and Gabi’s home. He should respect that.
Respect didn’t keep the chill from his voice as he offered a sincere apology. “I didn’t make a public spectacle, but I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. This town is now your home, and I need to remember that. So, have I forgotten a family meeting or something this morning? If not, I’d like to head home and grab a shower.”
His mother shared an uncertain look with Zach and Gabi. Zach raised his hands, palms out, and stepped away saying, “I need to get started on my workday.”
In other words, his oldest brother was washing his hands of the situation. Zach was still new at the sibling business. He still had a lot to learn.
Gabi said, “No meeting. Mom and I met for breakfast, and she walked back with me to bring Zach a blueberry muffin. We didn’t expect to find you sleeping off a drunken binge.”
Mother, apparently, decided the time had arrived to offer a truce. With a tentative smile, she offered, “I have an extra muffin. Would you like one?”
“Thanks, but I’ll take a rain check.” Lucca picked up the blanket from the cot and folded it. He handed it and the pillow to Gabi, saying, “I appreciate the sheriff’s department’s hospitality. Now, if you ladies will excuse me?”
He leaned down and kissed his mother’s cheek, but before he could leave the cell, she grabbed his hand. “Lucca, can I have just a moment?”
He wanted to say no, but not even the worst hangover in history would cause him to be blatantly disrespectful of his mother. His father would rise from his grave and whip his ass if he did. Lucca waited, unconsciously squaring his shoulders and stiffening his spine.
Maggie didn’t speak until Gabi left them alone. “Honey, I want you to know how thrilled I am that you agreed to make an extended visit to Eternity Springs, and I meant it when I said I wouldn’t be a bossy, buttinski mother once you arrived.”
She paused, her teeth tugging at her lower lip. He waited for the “but.”
She gave it to him. “But, I’m worried about you, Lucca. I’m really, really worried about you.”
The look in her eyes said
Why that caused his heart to twist and his throat to tighten, he didn’t know. But then, he didn’t know much about anything these days, did he?
Leaning down, he kissed his mother on her cheek. “I love you, too, Mom. That’s why I agreed to come to Eternity Springs.”
“Is there anything we can do for you, Lucca?”
He looked away from the sudden pool of tears in her eyes. “I appreciate the patience, Mom. I’m just trying to get things figured out. It’s nothing to fret over, I promise.”
Following a long pause, she nodded. “You’ll come over to the house later? I bought a new sledgehammer and there’s a non-load-bearing wall with your name on it.”
His mouth lifted in a wry grin. “Well, what red-blooded man could resist an offer like that? I have something to do this morning, but I’ll be by this afternoon. Okay?”
“Excellent.” She smiled brightly, if rather falsely. “I’ll see you later, then.”
Lucca gave finger salutes to his sister and brother as he sauntered out of the sheriff’s office into the sunlight—the bright, brilliant sunlight that stabbed into his eyes like a fiery sword. Confidently, he turned north, although in all honesty, even stone cold sober, he wasn’t exactly sure how to find the house his family had rented for him. Since Gabi and Zach had dragged him here three … no, make it four … days ago, he’d done little exploring. He’d been too busy sleeping.
Jet lag, he told himself. Or exhaustion. He’d gone at it hard and fast those first months he’d been gone. In Rio, Buenos Aries, Cancun, and places in between, he’d lost himself in sun and sea and sex. About a month ago, he’d run out of steam in a little beach town in Quintana Roo, Mexico, and that’s when he’d quit shaving and eating regularly and started drinking more and sleeping a lot.
Reaching an intersection, he noticed a carousel of sunglasses inside a convenience store. He checked his pocket to see if he’d managed to keep his wallet the night before, and then looked inside it to see if he had any cash. “Excellent,” he murmured, finding three twenties, four tens, and three ones. He bought the first pair he tried on, a big bottle of water, and a small bottle of ibuprofen. Hydrated, medicated, and shielded, he stepped back out into the sunlight and tried to find his way back home, figuring he’d get there eventually. The town wasn’t that big.
The fresh air and the exercise proved to be helpful medicine, too, and once he spied the bank on the corner of Spruce and Fourth, he knew which way to go. Fifteen minutes later, he stood in a steaming shower and remained there until the water ran cold. He toweled dry, brushed his teeth, then crawled naked into his bed knowing another couple hours of shut-eye would finish off the hangover. He yawned into his pillow and prepared to drift off to sleep.
That’s when he heard the noise. Shrill, keening sounds. Mewling. Lucca’s eyes flew open. What the hell?
Rats. This house must have rats. Great.
Thinking to scare them away, he reached for the book on his nightstand and threw it hard against the closet door from where the noise appeared to be originating.
“Grrrr …” Sighing heavily and mentally flipping his family the bird for putting him into a rat-infested dwelling, he rolled to his feet, grabbed the iron poker from the tool set beside the fireplace, then approached the closet’s half-open door. “I warned you. You should have run when you had the chance.”
