Hours later, after it grew dark outside, Reid offered to take the kids out in the snowcat to see the neighborhood Christmas lights. They jumped up and down at the opportunity. Aunt Zoe, Mom, Dad, and Harvey went along with them, which left Doc, Cooper, Natalie, Cornelius, and me to hang out in front of the Christmas tree.
And that’s when my goofy grin fell on Cooper.
I looked over at the soft, glowing lights of the tree again, my heart feeling fat and sappy. For the moment, besides Susan’s surprise Christmas gift of a dead husband, life was good. My coffer overflowed with the wealth of friendship, family, and love.
My focus returned to the puzzle, finding a piece of the fireplace that Cooper was putting together. I held it out across the card table. “You need this, Cooper.”
He took it, stared at it, and fit it into place with a grunt.
“You’re welcome, law dog.”
“You two working on that puzzle together is so sweet,” Natalie teased from where she was sprawled out on the loveseat. “Look at them, Doc. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they actually liked each other.”
Doc looked up from a book on World War II weapons that he’d borrowed from my dad’s man-cave library. “Neither of them are biting each other at the moment. Must be the alcohol keeping their snarling at bay. What do you think, Cornelius? You’re on the front line over there.”
Cornelius was helping put the puzzle together from an upside-down view. When I’d offered to turn the table around, he’d told me that his third-eye chakra saw more clearly when items were rotated 180 degrees.
He held up a puzzle piece with Santa’s red velvet suit, turning it this way and that in his fingers. “Two equally assertive members of a pack will find themselves in constant conflict unless they can develop mutual trust.” He fit the piece into the puzzle. “I’d theorize that the detective and the Executioner have bonded over a common goal.”
“You’re wrong, Dr. Frankenstein,” Cooper said. “My goal is to catch the bad guys. Parker’s is to kill them.” He tossed a piece of a stocking onto my side of the table. When I glanced up at him, he pointed out where it should go.
“I can see where it belongs, Cooper.” I fit the piece in place. “Puzzle solving is one of my specialties. It’s why I’m so good at solving your cases for you.”
Natalie laughed. “Ka-pow! My girl isn’t pulling her punches tonight.”
I met Cooper’s steely glare with a grin. “I’m kidding, Coop. We all know that you’re an amazing detective with skills that would make Sherlock Holmes green with envy.”
“Shut up and do the puzzle, Parker.”
“Hey! You didn’t correct me on your name.”
A small grin played at the corner of his lips. “I know. Merry Christmas. That’s your gift from me. Tomorrow, it’s back to ‘Cooper’ or I’ll shoot you.”
Chuckling, I stood and stretched. “I love you, too, law dog. Anyone want a refill?” I held up my empty glass. Aunt Zoe’s famous whiskey slush was starting to make my limbs feel nice and loose. “Coop?” I asked, using my present.
At his stiff nod, I grabbed his glass. Doc and Cornelius declined, still nursing theirs.
Natalie followed me to the kitchen. “Do you really think Susan will deliver on her promise to fix her mess?” She pulled the tub of whiskey slush from the freezer.
I’d filled in Natalie, too, about Susan’s story. “I’d like to, but she doesn’t have the best track record.” I joined her at the counter, pointing at her nearly empty glass. “You need any more of that?”
“No. I’ve found my happy place for the moment and am going to sip this and then chill here for a while.”
My happy place was back up in Deadwood with Doc and my kids by my side. It was fun being with my family all afternoon and evening, but I’d grown to love the sights and sounds and smells of Deadwood, snow or not.
At the moment, I didn’t even mind all of the problems waiting for me up there, but that was probably the whiskey slush talking. I scooped a dollop of slush to keep my problems fenced in the background for a little longer.
I leaned closer to Natalie, shooting a glance at the doorway leading back to the living room. In a low voice, I said, “I double dog dare you to kiss Cooper under the mistletoe tonight.”
She reached out and flicked my forehead.
“Oww!” I pulled back. “What’d you do that for?”
“Because you’re being a drunken dipshidiot.”
“I’m not drunk.” I added another scoop of slush into my glass. “Just feeling more relaxed than usual.”
“You deserve it tonight after the day you’ve had, what with getting married and losing your husband so quickly. I can feel your grief.”
I scoffed. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever gone through a man in my history of dating.”
“Your soiled history.”
“Like your history is any more clean and sparkly than mine.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” She frowned toward the living room. “Yet another reason I need to keep my hands to myself.”
“You don’t know how things will go with Cooper until you give him a try.”
“If they don’t go well, how’s that going to affect our little group? It’s awkward enough with me trying to hide that I’m hot for his bod. If I stoke that fire and then the flames go out later, we have a bigger problem than what we’re dealing with now.”
“So you’re not even willing to try?”
She stared down into her glass. “I don’t know.”
“What are you going to do about the tension between you two?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you know?”
She took a sip of her drink. “That I need to head south for a couple of weeks and put some
