14 Tennyson

Ten popped a freshly baked snowball cookie into his mouth. The powdered sugar hit his tongue first followed by the ooey-gooey chocolate chips. This was his and Everly’s favorite recipe to make together and was very simple to put together. Snowballs were chocolate chip cookies, minus the leavening agent, so that when the dough was rolled into balls, they didn’t flatten out or spread.

“If you keep eating those, there won’t be any left for the party,” Barb said, as she warmed Delta’s bottle.

“Quality control is a very important part of the baking process, at least that’s what Ronan always tells me.” Ten shrugged. He knew his husband was a cookie monster, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Ten was too. He could eat the entire batch right now with a frosty glass of milk.

“Uh, huh.” Barb grinned. “Quality control is one or two cookies. You’ve had five.”

“Six,” Ten said with his mouth full of cookie.

Barb turned from the stove and handed Delta to Tennyson along with her bottle. “Feed your niece. I’ll wrap up the cookies.” She snatched the plate away and pulled out a roll of clingwrap. “So, you want to tell me what’s got you stress eating or do I have to use my mommy mind powers on you?”

Ten chuckled. “You know what’s wrong with me. Murder seems to follow us around everywhere we go. Just like Jessica Fletcher on Murder, She Wrote . Why didn’t any of her friends realize Jessica showing up in their town was a harbinger of death?”

“I think she was the murderer. In fact, I’m sure she was the one who bumped off her husband so she could start her life of crime.” Barb waggled her eyebrows. “She was a brilliant serial killer, setting up other people to take the fall for her insidious deeds. If they’d written the show like that, it would still be on the air with Jessica’s niece taking over for her aunt when her knees were too creaky to add to her kill count.”

“You’ve really thought about this.” Ten laughed. His mother never missed an episode of the show. It was wholesome family entertainment, in Kaye’s words.

“It was my mother’s favorite show when I was growing up. If I’m flipping through the channels, I always stop when it’s on.”

“I’m the same way with The Holiday. I love Jude Law’s character in that movie.”

“Yeah, you love his character and not the way his ass fills out his pants.” Barb rolled her eyes.

“That and his sexy accent,” Ten agreed with a sigh. “But back to my own Jessica Fletcher. All I wanted was to have a great Christmas with our kids and Ronan’s off working another murder case.”

“If Patrick Marsh killed his first wife and is the one poisoning his second, he needs to be in jail, not here at our Christmas Eve party. He’s worked with River for eight years, Ten and neither of us had any idea his first wife had been murdered. Hell, we didn’t even know he had a first wife for the first few years we were friends.”

“Didn’t River vet him before he hired Marsh’s company to work with him?” Ten asked. The first thing he would have done was Googled Patrick’s name.

“He spoke with customers who used Marsh’s landscaping services and they all said his work was top notch. None of those other customers mentioned Jillian’s murder. I suppose it never occurred to either of us to look into Patrick’s private life.”

“Before I met Ronan, it wouldn’t have occurred to me either.” Ten had grown up in a town where people didn’t lock their doors. The only crime in Union Chapel were the print patterned dresses the women wore to church on Sundays. Even when he moved to Salem, he hadn’t been concerned with crime, unless it was something he could help out with, like finding a missing child. Other than that, Ten never worried that murder would touch his life. Now, it seemed like all they dealt in was murder.

“Are you angry that Ronan’s involved with this case?” Barb asked, bringing two glasses of lemonade to the table.

Ten thought about the question before he answered. “Ronan didn’t even know about the Jillian Marsh case until Fitz brought it up on the plane. He’d printed copies of the case file and filled Ronan and Jude in on what had happened ten years ago. I get that Fitz was all in on this investigation because Patrick Marsh lives here in St. Pete, but why the hell couldn’t he have waited until after Christmas to bring up that fact? He, Ronan, and Jude could have stayed here after our vacation ended and worked it then. Jace and Cope are as annoyed as I am with this situation.”

“I hear what you’re saying Ten, I really do.” Barb patted his hand.

“But?” Ten asked. “I know there’s one coming.”

Barb grinned at her brother-in-law. “ But Patrick Marsh is a part of our lives. We’ve had dinner out with him and Mabel. They’ve come to dinner parties we’ve hosted. Wouldn’t you rather know what he’s accused of now, rather than after you’d met him?”

Ten sighed. Barb had a point. “You’re right. I know you are. It’s just that I wanted this vacation to be work and stress free.”

“Out of curiosity, how many spirits have you spoken with since you got on the plane the other day?” Barb’s eyes twinkled as she spoke.

“Busted,” Ten muttered. “About seven, give or take. There are always more spirits around during the holidays, since those days are usually among the fondest memories people have and when they’re missing their loved the most.”

“Soooo,” Barb drawled out the word, “it can be said that you’ve spent the entire vacation working too, right?”

Ten frowned. Barb had him and he knew it. “Okay, fine. Yes, I’ve been working too, but that work hasn’t gotten in the way of my time with our family.”

“Of course it has, Ten,” Barb said gently. “We’ve been chatting in here for fifteen minutes when you could have been outside in the pool with the kids.”

Ten looked out the sliding glass door and saw Everly balanced on the edge of the diving board. He watched as she gathered up her courage and threw herself off, executing a wobbly dive. Cheers went up from River and the others. “You’re absolutely right. Can’t argue with you there. I guess I was just looking for someone to sympathize with me.”

“If Ronan were a stockbroker or lawyer, I would absolutely sympathize with you,” Barb paused, looking as if she were gaging Ten’s reaction. “Ronan’s doing important work here. I’d feel the same way if he were a doctor. He’s helping families, just like you’re doing with your gift. I can’t fault him for that, especially since Shane was one of his partners. To hear Ronan tell it, they were more like brothers, having each other’s backs and whatnot.”

Ten knew that was true. Ronan had a similar relationship with Tony Abruzzi and with Jude and Fitz. They would be brothers to the end. He was about to tell Barb as much when the door alarm sounded and the detectives walked into the kitchen.

“We brought lunch,” Ronan held up two large bags.

“We can eat out on the patio.” Barb took the bags from Ronan and motioned for Jude and Fitz to follow her outside.

“You okay?” Ronan asked, pulling Ten into a hug.

“I’m an asshole.”

“What?” Ronan snorted. “You? Never.”

“I’m just upset at you working during the vacation, but Barb helpfully pointed out that I’ve been doing the same thing, helping spirits cross over and reuniting families for Christmas.”

Ronan hugged his husband tighter. “We’re helpers, Ten. When there’s danger, we’re the ones running into it. When there’s pain, we’re the ones trying to soothe it.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry for being an asshole.”

“Me too,” Ronan agreed, cheerily. “But I can’t promise you I won’t be an asshole again in the very near future.”

Ten laughed. “I’d bet money on it.”

“Let’s go eat and spend the afternoon with the kids.”

“What happened with Captain Richmond?”

Ronan sighed and shot Ten a look that asked if he really wanted to know. When Ten nodded, he continued, “He’s got detectives at Shane’s house now looking for clues to who did this, you know disgruntled customers or angry spouses. He’s also going to have people on Marsh, so we’ll have backup outside tonight if there’s trouble. Richmond wants us to speak with Marsh tonight if we can, but doesn’t want us to blow our cover, but all he needs to do is Google any of our names and he’ll know we’re with the Salem PD.”

“Maybe not,” Ten said. “Barb mentioned that River never Googled Marsh before they started working together. All he did was speak to professional references. It’s possible Marsh won’t know who you are.”

“If he’s the one who killed Shane, he’ll know exactly who I am.”

Ronan’s prediction chilled Ten to the bone. He didn’t like the sound of it one bit, but would do whatever he could to keep his family safe.