The question was enough to have Maddie snapping open her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous.” The question completely threw her. “I’m on the pill.”
“I know but ... I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the pill isn’t always effective.”
“It is if you take it correctly, which I do. Every single day at nine o’clock, right after I brush my teeth, I take my pill. I was a nurse, Nicky. I know how to make sure I don’t get pregnant.”
He studied her face for a long beat. “You know, if you were pregnant, it would be okay.”
She blankly stared at him for so long he thought she hadn’t heard him. When she finally spoke, it was a relief. “I know that, Nicky.” She laced her fingers through his. “I can’t wait to have kids with you. We agreed that we were going to enjoy married life for a bit before we added to our family, though.”
“You can’t plan everything, Mad. Sometimes things just happen. If that were to happen to us, it would be more than okay. We’re ready to be parents. In fact, I think you’re going to be the best mother this world has ever seen. You’re already the best wife.”
“Oh, geez.” She shook her head and shot him a rueful smile. “You really are the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“I happen to feel the same way about you. That’s why you’re going to the doctor when we get back, whether you like it or not.”
“Fine.” She knew when she was defeated. “He’s going to tell you nothing is wrong with me, though.”
“He might tell me you’re pregnant, though.”
“He won’t.”
“I think he might.”
“Well, he won’t.” She turned back to the business at hand. “Did you check on Granny?”
He nodded. The more he thought about the pregnancy possibility, the more he embraced it. For now, though, he decided to let it go. Maddie had enough on her plate. “She left a note with the front desk for us. She’s already out at Casper Creek.”
Maddie’s mouth dropped open. “Why?”
“I don’t know. She just said she had business to attend to.”
Maddie made a tsking sound with her tongue. “Those poor people.”
“Better them than us.”
“Yeah, I’m right there with you.”
MADDIE AND NICK WERE THE FIRST ONES up the mountain — well, other than Maude — and they were expecting a quiet town. Instead, Cooper, Boone, Hannah, Tyler, and Maude all stood in front of a storage building ... and they didn’t look happy.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked, tightening his grip on Maddie’s hand and tugging her so she had no choice but to keep up as he closed the distance. “Nobody else was killed, were they?”
Cooper shook his head, his eyes moving immediately to Maddie. She looked tired, and maybe a little pale. “Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine,” Maddie answered hurriedly. “I just had a rough morning. Too much caffeine yesterday. I guess my husband was right. I should’ve been cut off from the cappuccino about three drinks sooner.”
Cooper stared at her a beat longer and then shifted his attention to Nick. “We’re not quite sure what happened, but when Hannah went to the shed to get a uniform for Maude, she found it had been broken into.”
“The lock was broken and everything,” Hannah lamented. “I knew something was wrong the second I got here because the door was open. We never leave the storage room and shed doors open up here because snakes get in.”
Maddie wrinkled her nose and immediately looked at the ground.
Nick chuckled as he slid his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Mad. I won’t let any snakes get you.”
“That’s not what I was thinking,” Maddie replied hurriedly. “I mean ... that’s mostly not what I was thinking.” She paused for a beat and chewed on her bottom lip. “The snakes aren’t lethal, are they?”
“The rattlers are venomous, but they pretty much avoid town,” Cooper replied. “They prefer sunning themselves, although when it gets cold at night they sometimes slither into the sheds. We generally don’t have problems with them.”
“What about petty vandals?” Nick queried. “Do you have problems with local kids coming up here for some excitement? I would think this place would be quite the draw for teenagers looking to party.”
“In theory, that’s true,” Boone said. “In practice, though ... it’s just not that easy to get up the mountain. The kids would have to drive twenty minutes out of their way to hit the lot. Tyler and Hannah live up here full time. Heck, Cooper basically lives up here now, too. There’s no way for kids to party in this town without anyone being aware.”
“What about the lift?” Maddie pressed. “I would think that would draw kids, too.”
“It definitely would but it’s shut down every night. The controls are locked up. I mean ... I guess they could try to break in but that’s a lot of work.”
“Right.” Maddie absently scratched her cheek. “Do we think the break-in has anything to do with Velma’s death?”
“It would be one heckuva coincidence if the two crimes weren’t connected,” Cooper answered. “We simply don’t know, though. We were just about to search the shed and see if anything is missing but ... we just don’t know.”
“I’ll help you search,” Nick offered. “Maddie should go to the saloon and rest, though. She was sick this morning.”
Maddie glared at him. “I told you I was fine.”
“And I want you to stay fine.” Nick’s tone was no-nonsense. “You brought a Vernors with you. Just ... drink that and if you can make it another hour without throwing up again, I’ll ease up.”
“Fine.” Annoyance flashed across Maddie’s face, but it dissipated quickly when she remembered something Cooper had said moments before. “Wait ... did you say you were getting a uniform for Granny?”
Hannah nodded. “She wants to tend bar today. I
