Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments
Page 18

“No. Remember when I told you that most police work is boring? Consider this my pathetic attempt to try to liven it up.”
He wasn’t telling me the truth, but I wasn’t sure calling him a liar was going to help matters. “If I see someone lurkin’ at my farm, I’ll call you straight away.” Especially given the mounting evidence that someone was still intent on hurting Mason.
“Good.”
He finished filling out the paperwork and Bruce Wayne pulled up with the tractor a few minutes later. Deputy Miller helped Bruce Wayne pull Mason’s car out of the muck and onto the shoulder, and soon Muffy and I were back in the front seat of the car where we’d started. I said goodbye to Deputy Miller and arranged to meet Bruce Wayne back at the farm.
Thankfully I’d gone off the road only a few miles from the farm, but I still beat Bruce Wayne by a good five minutes. I met him out at the barn and helped him get the tractor put away. He was quieter than usual and it worried me. We shut the barn doors and started down the small incline to the house. “Why don’t you come inside for a few minutes? Maeve sent home half a carrot cake yesterday, and Mason and I can’t possibly eat it all ourselves.”
He shrugged. “I wouldn’t want to put you out.”
“Put me out? You just went out of your way to help pull Mason’s car out of the mud. It’s the least I can do.”
He gave me a sheepish grin. “Well, when you put it that way.”
“Good. It’s settled.”
We walked in silence for a few seconds, Muffy romping around like a crazy dog, before Bruce Wayne asked, “What were you doin’ driving Mason’s car?”
I shrugged. “I took Neely Kate to get colored streaks in her hair. Mason thought it would be easier for her to get in and out.”
“So how’d you end up off the road, anyway?”
I told him everything, including my suspicion that someone had thought I was Mason.
“He’s not gonna like that you didn’t call him,” he said as he followed me into the house through the back kitchen door.
“I know. I’ll deal with it when I have to.” I kicked off my muddy shoes, then slipped off my coat and put it over a chair. “Coffee or hot tea?”
“Coffee if you have it.”
“Sit on down,” I said, gesturing toward the kitchen table as I headed for the coffee maker. “You’re not wrong, but I hate makin’ him worry. He had to come bail me out at the Piggly Wiggly this afternoon and I interrupted him from doing something important. He gets upset if I don’t call him, but I hate draggin’ him away from work.” I held the coffee pot under running water and turned to look at him.
He chuckled. “He’s gonna see that mud plastered all over his car. Better to tell him straight away and not look like you’re hiding anything.”
I grinned. “You’re a pretty smart guy, Bruce Wayne.”
His cheeks reddened. “I ain’t never been accused of that before.”
“Well then that just makes everyone else fools, doesn’t it?” I asked, pouring the water into the coffee maker and scooping coffee grounds into the filter. After I turned on the machine, I grabbed up a couple of plates and forks and took them to the table.
He laughed. “Ain’t you ruinin’ your dinner eating a piece of cake at nearly six o’clock?”
“Seeing as how I don’t have much else to cook, why not?” I cut a generous slice and put it on his plate. “Besides, there’s carrots in this cake. That means it’s practically a vegetable.”
He laughed.
“And I could say the same to you. What about your dinner?” I asked, cutting my own slice and putting it on my plate.
“Well, Maeve’s carrot cake beats canned soup any day.”
I sat down across from him and picked up my fork for a big bite of cake. “Now you sound like me after Momma died. I thought David did most of the cooking.” Bruce Wayne was living with his long-time best friend, David Moore, but David was about as reliable as a drunk surgeon.
“He hasn’t been around much.”
I lifted my gaze, suddenly worried. “Where’s he been?”
“He spends most of his time with that new girlfriend of his.”
“They’re still together?” According to Bruce Wayne, David had never had a girlfriend for longer than a month.
“Yeah…” He looked down at his cake and took a bite.
I got up and grabbed the coffee pot and a couple of mugs before returning to my seat. “Is he still livin’ with you?”
“His stuff’s still there and he’s payin’ his share of the rent and utilities, but it’s like I said—he’s not around much.”
“So his new job at the convenience store is workin’ out?”
“Yeah. He works the evening shift, so I hardly see him now,” he said, his voice quiet.
Bruce Wayne was lonely. I’d suspected, but this confirmed it. At least David was still helping with the bills. I wasn’t sure I could handle another financial crisis, even if it wasn’t my own. I poured our coffee and took another bite of my cake.
“Rose?” Mason’s voice called from the other room.
“In the kitchen.”
He came through the doorway and smiled when he saw who was with me. “Hi, Bruce Wayne. I saw your car out front.” He bent over and gave me a kiss. “Are we having cake for dinner?”