Butch rubbed his jaw, his brows wrinkled in the middle. “You and Claire want to buy The Shaft?”
“Yes.”
“Together?”
Mac nodded.
“That sounds like a serious case of ‘commitment’ from Claire,” Butch said, his forehead smoothing out.
“You don’t say?” Mac couldn’t hold in his grin. He’d found a way to skirt Claire’s issue with exchanging vows while still tying their futures together for years to come.
Next up, a house in both of their names.
“Well played, Garner.” Butch toasted to Mac again.
“So, what do you say? You want to sell The Shaft?”
Butch’s smile reached his ears. “Hell, yes!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Friday, January 4th
“Kate’s crazy,” Claire told Natalie and then tugged her Mighty Mouse hat down lower on her head.
She pulled a small handful of screws from her tool belt pouch and stuck them to the magnet on her drill. The railing and deck steps were coming along smoothly. At this rate, Natalie and she would be wrapping things up by tomorrow, which would leave Sunday morning free before Mac and she headed to Tucson later that day to pack him up for good.
Claire smiled at the idea of Mac sleeping next to her every night, eating breakfast with her, building a new life together here in the desert. Things were about to get busy around here, and just in time for birding season, too. She’d have to figure out how to balance her time at the RV park and The Shaft. Ronnie and Jessica were going to need to step up to help more. Too bad Natalie was heading back north. They could use her help around here. What was Natalie’s brother up to these days? She hadn’t seen Luke in years. She wondered if he needed a job.
Natalie looked up from the electrical box she was installing under the edge of the deck. “You say Kate’s crazy as if that’s news to me. I’m the one who ended up on a deadly race to chase down a serial killer because of her insanity.”
Claire scoffed. “Quit your crying, baby. You didn’t even have a gun pointed at you at any time during your so-called deadly race.”
“I’m not getting into a pissing contest with you today about who’s suffered more from your sister’s bouts of insanity.” Natalie set her wire-crimping tool on the edge of the deck. “So, why are you calling Kate crazy now?”
“Careful using that C-word,” Chester called from his supervisor’s chair. “I saw Porn Star’s Volvo pull up around front a few minutes ago.”
“Remember, Coop’s not here anymore to take the bullets fer you two,” Harvey added.
Claire looked at Natalie to see her reaction to Harvey’s words. It was hard to tell if her cousin was frowning about Coop’s absence, Kate’s craziness, or the deck’s wiring situation. Maybe it was all three.
“So the detective headed north this morning?” Claire asked, fishing.
“Yep.” Natalie nudged her chin toward Coop’s uncle. “Since Harvey wanted to stick around a little longer to hang out with Chester the Molester, I let Coop drive my pickup home. I’ll ride back with Harvey early next week.”
“For the record,” Chester said, cracking a beer. “I only molest the ladies who sexually proposition me first.”
“It’s self-defense,” Harvey agreed with a snicker. “Speakin’ of sex—”
“Nobody was,” Natalie cut in.
“Now that yer lovin’ man is gone, I’m takin’ my bed back tonight. You can have the couch.”
“Fine,” Natalie said, her cheeks a little pinker than they’d been a moment ago.
“I need my beauty rest,” Harvey continued.
“Okay,” Natalie said, her frown and blush now mixing.
“And you two lovebugs had that bed squeakin’ last night like a windmill needin’ oil. I was gettin’ seasick from all of the rockin’ and rollin’ comin’ from the front end of the camper.”
“Jeepers creepers, Harvey!” Natalie scowled at Coop’s uncle. “I gave you ear plugs.”
Harvey’s smile widened until both of his gold teeth shone. “I couldn’t hear anything fun with ’em in.”
Natalie grumbled something under her breath about filling Harvey’s backside with birdshot next time.
“You kicked a poor old man out of his bed?” Claire joined in the teasing, laughing at Natalie’s glare.
“Fer two nights in a row, even,” Harvey bellyached.
“We didn’t kick you out,” Natalie said. “And your nephew paid you per night, remember?”
Chester hooted. “Now that’s using your noggin to make some quick cash.”
“Sex pays,” Harvey added with a nod.
“When are you and Mac taking off?” Natalie asked Claire, changing the subject.
“Sunday.” Claire secured a piece of the railing to one of the deck posts she and Mac had installed yesterday while Natalie was out hiking with Coop. The two lovebugs had spent their last day together playing instead of working. “Between you and me and Mac, we’ll have this deck done by tomorrow, I’m thinking.”
“If not, Gramps and I can finish the last bit Sunday afternoon,” Natalie said. “Chester and Harvey are going to help me with cleanup, aren’t you, boys?”
“Don’t be getting too rambunctious now,” Chester said.
“Ya need to come to Deadwood sometime,” Harvey told Chester. “We could stir up plenty of trouble in the Hills if ya get tired of bird watchin’ down here.”
“Let’s make it so.” Chester held up his beer, clinking cans with Harvey.
Natalie groaned. “The last thing Deadwood needs is you two coyotes hunting trouble together.”
The back door opened and Ronnie stepped out on the new deck. She wore a pair of Kate’s yoga pants and a faded yellow Dancing Winnebagos RV Park T-shirt.
“Natalie,” she said, walking over to where Natalie was working on the junction box. “Katie wanted me to tell you that the drugstore in Yuccaville left a message on her phone about that camera film you guys turned in last week. They weren’t able to develop the film. Something about it looked like it’d been overexposed.”
“That was the film you found in the old electric box under the deck?” Claire asked.
Natalie nodded. “One and
