“I didn’t really want it to, though,” she said. “Especially now, having the beautiful deck and the fancy patio.” She stepped onto her new patio that had been poured and did a little jig. She laughed. “It’s such a great addition to the place.”
He nodded with a big grin on his face and asked, “So now would you like to come up and eat?”
“Sure,” she said. Mack got the pizza and a couple plates and set them up on the table on her deck. As she walked back up the steps, she asked, “What’s happening with the kid who left the threatening notes?”
“Abner?”
She nodded. “I have mixed feelings about him, since he is also the one who led us to Isaac. Did anything ever happen to him?”
“The chief has him doing a community service assignment in order to stay out of jail and to keep him on the straight and narrow.”
“Good,” she said. “I don’t think he’s a bad kid.”
“Nope, and he was just following what a bad adult did.”
“Yeah, that guy was a piece of work,” she said. “I still don’t understand why Snoz bothered putting the rocks there in the first place.”
“We also don’t know for sure it was him. And not likely to confirm it now that he’s dead either.”
“Well, Abner identified him,” she said in surprise.
“I know, but, like you said, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
He looked over at her and said, “Go ahead. You can choose the first piece.”
She picked out a big slice of pizza, folded it slightly, and took a bite of the melting cheesy tip. “Oh, my gosh,” she said, with her mouthful. “This is really good.” And, in spite of eating cake not that long ago, she scarfed down the entire piece. She sat here, still moaning in delight, when he pushed the pizza toward her.
“Look. We have the whole thing for dinner.”
She looked at him in wonder and immediately snatched up a second piece. With the two of them sitting at her new table on the deck, they managed to eat three-quarters of the pizza.
As he looked at the rest, Mack said, “I don’t think I want any more of this tonight,” he said. “I’m pretty full, and, if you are too, that leaves you a meal for tomorrow.”
“Thank you. That’s great,” she said. “That was wonderful pizza too. I liked it a lot better than what we had last time.”
“I did too,” he said, with a grin. “But we won’t tell the guys that. Just something about a beer-and-pizza night doing work for a friend that makes it all very special.”
“Everyone did a ton of work too,” she said. “I’m still trying to fix little bits and pieces, collecting things and moving gravel, but it’s just so wonderful. Next year the garden will be even that much better. It’s just”—she gave a happy sigh—“perfect.”
Chapter 7
Sunday Evening into Monday Morning …
Doreen and Mack deliberately didn’t talk shop throughout the evening, and she didn’t even grill him before he left. She prided herself on the fact that she hadn’t bugged him with any questions regarding Robin’s murder, and Doreen figured it was in part because he hadn’t bugged her with questions about her ex. As soon as Mack was gone though, she pulled out her phone and sent him a text. I forgot to ask if you found out anything new.
He answered. You were very good tonight.
She responded with a smiley face. You were too. You didn’t even ask about my ex.
Let’s hope there’s nothing to say about your ex.
Does it matter?
There was a long moment of silence, and finally he responded. Yes, it matters.
She stared down at that confirmation with a happy smile on her face.
“Okay, Doreen,” she said to herself. “Talk about taking it slow.” Mack had been very slow about the whole thing, but then she had thrown off all kinds of negative vibes early on, telling him more or less to get lost, so she couldn’t really blame him for taking his time. On the other hand, she wasn’t against it. She hadn’t had anything like a slow intentional courtship with her ex-husband. On the contrary.
She wasn’t sure that this was actually a courtship with Mack either, but it was definitely something special. With that thought in her head, she went to bed with a smile.
When she woke up the next morning, she felt like her normal self for the first time in several days. As she stretched, her shoulder didn’t make her bite back a scream. She got up and had a hot shower and didn’t feel like she needed to stay there forever to move about pain-free. When she got dressed, she had both the interest and the energy to put on something pretty. She bounced down the stairs instead of slowly dragging her sorry butt one step after another. In the kitchen, she put on coffee and opened up the back door to the outside world. She stood on the deck, took a big stretch in the sunshine, and cried out, “Good morning, world!”
Her neighbor on her left asked, “What’s good about it?”
She chuckled. “Hello, Richard. How are you today?”
“I’m fine,” he said, “especially now that you’re in trouble.” Then he laughed and laughed.
“Oh, I’m not in trouble,” she said. “I didn’t kill her.”
Immediately Richard climbed up on whatever chair or stool he kept on his side of the fence for these situations, popping his head over the fence, so she could see him. “Didn’t you?”
“No, I most certainly did not,” she said, with a beaming smile.
“Why didn’t you?” he said. “She was miserable. A horrible person.”
“Yes, but you know something could be said for enjoying that misery,” she said, with a laugh.
Richard considered that, looked at her with approval, and said, “You know what? I like that thought.”
“See?” she said. “I didn’t kill her, but it’s interesting that she died.”
“Why is that?” he asked, frowning.
“Because it makes you wonder if
