Goose in the Pond - Earlene Fowler [83]
“Yeah, I sure do,” I said under my breath.
“You know, young lady,” she said, not looking up, “you harangue that boy way too much. If you keep givin’ him so much grief, someday he’s likely to think you aren’t worth it.”
I walked toward the bedroom, thinking, Nyah, nyah, nyah. Some advice from the haranguing queen herself.
“Don’t you make light of me, Albenia Louise Harper,” she said. “The Lord can hear your thoughts.”
I turned and looked at her, incredulous. Apparently He wasn’t the only one.
She narrowed one eye at me. “Get on with you now. Breakfast is at seven sharp. You’re going to need a good one tomorrow. I’m making chocolate-cinnamon pancakes and Louisiana hot sausage.”
My favorite breakfast. Geez, how can you love someone to pieces and still want to throttle her?
Easy, I thought when I walked into the bedroom and saw Gabe sitting in bed waiting for me.
I undressed and crawled next to him.
“What’s the news from the battlefront?” he asked.
“It appears to be a standoff, though I think the Razorback has got the Bruin on the run. Possession is still nine tenths of the law, right? And right now Aunt Garnet has captured Dove’s home. I don’t think that’s quite sunk in yet to Dove. Once it does, I don’t want to be around.”
“I’ll just be glad when our house is back to being our house.”
I snuggled next to him. “So, what now, Chief Ortiz?”
“What do you mean?”
“The note. What should I do?”
“Nothing. I’m going to beef up security for the festival. Just promise me you will absolutely stay away from discussing this with anyone.”
I thought about my talk with Grace tonight. “That’s not as easy as it seems.”
“Benni—” His voice was reproving.
I sat up and shook my fist at him. “Gabe.” I mocked his tone. “I can’t help what people tell me. I repeat, I have not asked any questions. But people do tell me things. They assume I know more than I do because I’m your wife. What am I supposed to do about that?”
He didn’t answer, but pulled off his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose. I leaned over and ran my hand across his bare chest. “Don’t worry, papacito,” I said. “I’m going to be fine. You’re overreacting.”
He pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “I’d never forgive myself if you were ever hurt because of my job.” He rubbed his lips across the top of my head. I felt my hair catch in his mustache.
“I won’t,” I said firmly. “You’ll find who did this. I have complete confidence in you.”
He sighed. “I’m glad somebody does.”
“The city council hassling you again?”
“The city council, the city manager, the mayor, citizen’s groups, the newspapers. So many people are roasting me right now, I feel like one of your dad’s steers on the Fourth of July.”
“Is that why you’re trying to pin it on Roy Hudson?” The minute the words were out, I knew they hadn’t sounded the way I’d intended.
“What?” He loosened his hold. “Who told you that?”
I scooted across the bed from him and cradled my pillow in front of me. “Grace caught me as I was leaving the pizza parlor tonight. She asked me if I thought she should get a lawyer for him. She said you were convinced he’d done it since they’d fought only hours before she was killed.”
His lips tightened under his mustache. “What else did she tell you?”
“That you’d confiscated all his ropes. That it was an anonymous tip that told you about the fight. Is it true?”
He frowned. “What?”
“About the ropes. The tip.”
“Yes, and that’s all you need to know.” I flinched at the sharpness in his voice.
I hugged the pillow tighter. “Gabe, why are you so angry?”
His face softened, and he reached over and pushed the pillow away, pulling me to him. “I’m not mad at you, sweetheart. I’m angry at people getting you involved when you shouldn’t be. Mostly, I’m afraid for you. As much as I’d like to, I can’t be with you every minute. Just try to stay around large groups of people for