Chapter 3

Monday Morning …

D oreen woke Monday morning with a smile on her face, as she remembered Mack’s parting comment. It had been hard to go to sleep last night. She’d been completely exhausted and still couldn’t believe all that had happened. It was one thing to wonder where their relationship was headed but entirely different to hear his declaration. She had absolutely no doubt in her mind that he meant it. Did she want him to say it again and again? Absolutely.

She pondered what he’d revealed as she dressed and then headed downstairs to put on coffee. She stepped outside to her deck, while the coffee brewed. She’d never heard those words from Mathew. She wasn’t sure she’d ever heard them even at the wooing stage. She still pondered the young woman she’d been who had married the man who had made her very wary of trusting her own judgment. After fourteen years of marriage, he wanted her out of the house, since he was seeing Robin at the time. Over these last seven months, living apart from Mathew, she’d grown up a lot. More than grown up, she’d changed as a person. She had seen so much more in life now that she was less concerned about making a poor decision.

Besides, Mack was a very different person from Mathew, as different as two men could possibly be. And, if nothing else, she owed him a thank you —Mathew, that is—for being such a greedy, spiteful, conniving, mean person from whom she’d finally managed to separate herself. She was pretty sure it had nothing to do with what he’d wanted out of the relationship, but it had gotten her exactly what she had needed, a chance to regain that part of herself that had become so lost. As a result of all that, she’d found Mack, and that meant her future looked very bright indeed.

Doreen plopped down onto a patio chair, waiting for her coffeepot to finish brewing. Of course she and Mack had a lot of talking to do, plenty of things to sort out, but right now it was all green lights for her. She burst out laughing yet again, knowing that, to anybody else out there, she probably sounded like a crazy lady.

Sure enough, Richard poked his head over the top of the fence and glared at her. “What is your problem this morning?” he asked. “I don’t know what you’re reading, but all that giggling is darn irritating.”

She gave him a beaming smile because not even his bad temper could ruin her day. “Good morning, Richard,” she replied in a high singsong tone. His frown deepened. “That’s okay. I know you’re having a tough day.”

“How would you know that?” he scoffed.

“You’re grumpy as usual, so I presume it’s a tough day. Otherwise how can you be grumpy on a day like today?”

He stared at her. “And what’s so special about today? No murder on your hands?”

She shuddered. “I hope not, although I will try to coerce Mack into sharing about one of his cases.”

Richard rolled his eyes at that. “Why he wants anything at all to do with you, when you drive him so crazy, I’ll never understand.”

“Driving him crazy apparently doesn’t bother him,” she noted, with a chuckle. “As a matter of fact, I think he rather likes it.”

Richard gave her a dry look and shook his head. “ Ya think ?” And, with that, he popped back down on his side of the fence.

She had to admit that she was probably the only one in town who hadn’t seen the depths of how Mack felt about her. She’d been constantly pushing him off, blocking anything and everything that could be deemed as progress in terms of their relationship, but why? She wasn’t even sure at this point in time. Well, she did understand—waiting for her divorce to be final—but all those obstacles were gone.

Obviously some things needed to be sorted out, but the big one was done. Mathew was gone, she was free, and Mack loved her. She held that secret close to her heart, and, yes, if she finally admitted it to herself, she loved him too. That didn’t mean she would give in too easily, mind you. After all, that might change their relationship in some way, and she didn’t want that. She was really enjoying what they had right now and valued their friendship as it was.

Of course he would want more, and that was normal, that was life, and she was more than happy to take things a step further, but she didn’t want to be pushed. She wanted it to happen naturally. Although what naturally meant or looked like, she wasn’t quite sure. She frowned as she contemplated that idea.

When her phone rang, she looked down to see it was Nan. She smiled and answered in a bright, happy tone. “Good morning!”

Silence came on the other end. “I don’t know what you’re drinking,” Nan groaned, “but I want some.”

Doreen burst out laughing at that. “I’m having coffee, and, if you want some, come on up.”

“Or you could come down perhaps. I’m feeling kind of tired today.”

Immediately the smile fell from Doreen’s face. “Are you all right?”

“Of course I’m all right,” she scoffed. “Just a little on the tired side. I didn’t have a good night.”

“Oh, Nan, I am sorry.”

“It’s okay. We have days like that. But you, on the other hand, are obviously having a good day.”

“I am. A good couple of days. The rest, the time off, has been good for me.”

“It’s hardly been a rest. You’ve had what, three or four days with no chaos now? Still, you have Mathew’s estate and everything to get through.”

“Yes, but an awful lot of that will be fairly simple, since Nick will deal with the majority of that. Plus some of it was in my name already, and basically everything of Mathew’s comes to me. All I really need to do is to give things some time to process, then get ready to start selling stuff.”

“Are you taking care of Mathew’s remains?”

She winced at that. “Mathew’s lawyer told me that he would take care of that. Mathew is being cremated and buried beside his brother, down on the coast.”

“Good,” Nan stated in a harsh tone. “I’m glad you won’t have to deal with that too.”

“I did offer to take care of it, but his attorney declared that Mathew had made his wishes pretty clear, and his attorney could do it.”

“Good to know, and much more consideration from you than Mathew deserved, after the way he treated you.”

“I don’t know about all that,” Doreen murmured, feeling some of her good humor fall away at the discussion. “All I really know is that I’m free and clear of all that old business, and I have a whole new life ahead of me.”

“I’m glad to hear that you’ve finally got that straightened away in your head,” she murmured.

“Nan, you really don’t sound as if you’re having a good day.”

“No, I’m not,” she agreed. “I’m just calling to check in and to ensure all is well in your world. I think I’ll head back to bed for a bit.” And, with that, she ended the call.

Doreen sat here for a long moment, worried because Nan had seemed a bit off. She definitely sounded tired, exhausted really. As Doreen recalled how done in she herself had been for a few days after overdoing it, it made sense in a way.

She got up and had breakfast, wondering how she could squeeze more information out of Mack on his case. When her phone rang again, she thought it was Nan because the call came from Rosemoor, but it wasn’t. When she answered, Richie was on the other end. “Is Nan okay?” Doreen asked.

“I think so,” he replied cautiously. “She’s just… She seems really tired today.”

“I know. I spoke to her earlier, and she didn’t sound good. I’m not happy about it at all.”

“Oh, trust me that she’s not very happy about it either,” he noted in a joking tone.

Doreen winced. “You’re right. She told me how she’d had a bad night and was heading back to bed. Is that why you’re calling?”

“I do know that she’s pretty worried about you.”

“Why is she worried about me now?” Doreen asked in astonishment. “We’ve just come through that whole mess with Mathew’s murder and all that trouble. Things are really coming together now.”

“That you have, but I think she’s more concerned about the fact that, if and when she goes—no if about it, is there?” he corrected himself. “But, when she goes, she wants to ensure that you’re taken care of.”

“She’s done everything anybody could possibly imagine to ensure I’m in a good, safe place, even giving me her home, for heaven’s sake. And one stuffed with valuables. And now with the auction money coming soon, finances won’t be a problem at all.”

“Yet that’s not enough for Nan.”

Doreen sighed. “This is about Mack, isn’t it?”

He chuckled. “I’m just letting you know that she’s worried things won’t get settled before she passes.”

Doreen stared down at the phone. “Please tell me that I have no reason to be worried about that right now.”

“No particular reason to be worried,” he replied, “but I can’t tell you that she’ll see another day, any more than I can tell you that about myself. We tend to get fatalistic around this place. We get up one morning and find that somebody didn’t make it through the night. You should know that better than anyone, with all these murder cases you work on.” He took a deep breath and added, “We’ve come to the point where we appreciate life on a day-to-day basis, and, while I can tell you that she’s having a bad day, it doesn’t mean that she won’t make it through the night.”

Doreen struggled with the shock of something like that. “I’m so not ready to lose her.”

“I don’t think she’s ready to let you go either,” he added. “I’m just telling you that she’s worrying even more than normal because you’re not settled with Mack.”

“Maybe I won’t ever get settled with Mack,” Doreen declared, with a bit of spirit. “So what? Lots of single people live a happy and safe life too.”

He hesitated and then murmured, “That is your right, but honestly we would all very much like to get answers about your relationship with Mack.”

She stared at the phone. “Please don’t tell me that she’s got bets on that too.”

He chuckled. “She’s your nan. What do you think?”

Doreen groaned. “I was really hoping she would stop doing that.”

“Maybe when she goes,” Richie suggested with spirit. “In the meantime she keeps all of us alive and laughing, and that’s worth a lot.”

“Oh, I get it,” she muttered. “It’s just not been the easiest when it comes down on me all the time. Betting on my relationship is crazy.”

He laughed. “I’m just saying that maybe you could give your grandmother a break and let her know how you’re doing with Mack.”

“Right. … Will do.”

She sat here a long time after the phone call ended. She understood that Nan and Richie were worried, but what Doreen didn’t know was how worried she was supposed to be. Not liking anything about the scenario, yet unsure whether this was just about betting or whether her grandmother really was sick, Doreen decided to take the animals for a walk down to Rosemoor. She had that on her mind now, and, as soon as she was reassured that her grandmother would be back on her feet again, it would be better for Doreen’s peace of mind.

She and the animals went down every day or every second day for tea anyway, so this time Doreen would just show up and see how Nan was doing. The last thing she wanted was to lose her grandmother now that Doreen had finally found herself.

She hadn’t gotten too far down that mental pathway when her grandmother called back again. “Wow,” Doreen replied, hearing her grandmother’s voice. “You didn’t even get enough time between phone calls to sleep.”

“Actually I did,” she shared, sounding much more refreshed. “I’m powered up.”

“If you can power up at your age, you’re still doing pretty well.”

“Oh, I’m doing just fine,” Nan stated. “Anybody who tells you differently is lying.”

Doreen winced at that. “Nobody’s telling me any differently, but you scared me a little this morning when you sounded so exhausted.”

“I probably shouldn’t have called just then, but you were on my mind, so I did,” she muttered. “I should have just waited until I woke up the second time.”

Doreen privately agreed with that, but it was hardly for her to say, and she was always up for a visit, if Nan wanted to call. “I’m just happy you’re doing okay,” she replied warmly.

“Will you come down for tea?”

“I was thinking I would,” Doreen said. “I was wondering how you were doing by now.”

“I’m back up and fine as can be,” Nan declared. “I’m putting on the teakettle, so come on down.” And, with that, Nan disconnected the call, leaving Doreen with no doubt that Nan was feeling better—at least as normal as could be expected from her right now.

Doreen had just been through quite a few weeks of nonstop excitement, with no small amount of danger. So, if she were honest about it, the stress of all that and Nan’s health had worried Doreen. If there was ever a reason to quit doing what she was doing with the cold cases, it would be because of Nan.