Cal put an arm around her. “I thought you didn’t drink because of the senior prom. Remember when you puked on Principal Haley?”
“I need new friends,” Ellie muttered. She let herself be guided into the house, where the dogs rammed into her so hard she almost fell again.
“Jake! Elwood!” She bent down and hugged them, letting them lick her cheek until it was so wet it felt like she’d been swimming.
“You need to train those dogs,” Cal said, stepping away from their sniffing noses.
“Training anything with a penis is impossible.” She grinned at him. “And you thought I didn’t learn anything from my marriages.” She pointed to the stairs. “Upstairs, boys. I’ll be right up.”
She only had to say it another fifteen times before they obeyed. Once the dogs were gone, Cal said, “You better get to bed.”
“I’m sick of sleeping alone. Pretend I didn’t say that.” She started to pull away from Cal, then stopped dead. “Did you hear that? Someone’s playing the piano. ‘Delta Dawn.’ ” She started singing. “ ‘Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on?’ ” She danced across the room.
“No one is playing music,” Cal said. He glanced over at the corner, where her mom’s old piano sat, gathering dust. “That’s the song you sang tonight for karaoke. One of them, anyway.”
Ellie came to an unsteady stop and looked at Cal. “I’m the chief of police.”
“Yes.”
“I got drunk on margaritas and sang karaoke … in public. In my uniform.”
Cal was trying not to smile. “Look at the bright side, you didn’t strip and you didn’t drive home.”
She covered her eyes with her hand. “That’s my bright side? I didn’t get naked or commit a crime.”
“Well … there was that time—”
“I am definitely making new friends. You can go home. I won’t be seeing you anymore.” She turned away from him too quickly, lost her balance, and went down like a tree at harvest time. The only thing missing was a cry of “Timber!”
“Wow. You really hit hard.”
She rolled over and lay there. “Are you going to just stand there or are you going to hook me up to some sort of pulley system and get me up?”
Cal was openly smiling now. “I’m going to stand here. Us not being friends anymore, and all.”
“Oh, damn it. We’re back on.” She reached up. He took her hand and helped her to her feet. “That hurt,” she said, brushing dust off her pants.
“It looked like it did.”
Cal was still holding her hand. She turned to him. “It’s okay, big brother. I’m not going to fall again.”
“Sure?”
“Semi-sure.” She pulled free. “Thanks for driving me home. See you back at the station at eight sharp. The DNA will find a match. I feel it in my blood.”
“That might be tequila.”
“Naysayer. ’Night.” She lurched toward the stairs, grabbing the handrail just as she started to fall.
Cal was beside her in an instant.
“Hey.” She frowned, feeling his hold on her forearm. “I thought you left.”
“I’m right here.”
She looked at him. With her on the stair and him on the floor, they were eye-to-eye and so close she could see where he’d nicked himself shaving that morning. She noticed the jagged scar along his jawline. He’d gotten that the summer he turned twelve. His dad had come after him with a broken beer bottle. It was Ellie’s dad who’d gotten him to the hospital.
“How come you’re so good to me, Cal? I was crappy to you in high school.” It was true. Once she’d sprouted boobs, plucked her eyebrows, and outgrown her acne, everything had changed. Boys had noticed her, even the football players. She’d left Cal behind in the blink of an eye, and yet he’d never made her feel bad about it.
“Old habits die hard, I guess.”
She backed up one step. It was just enough to put some distance between them. “How come you never drink with us?”
“I drink.”
“I know. I said with us.”
“Someone has to drive you home.”
“But it’s always you. Doesn’t Lisa care that we keep you out all night?”
He was looking at her closely. “I told you: she’s gone this weekend.”
“She’s always gone.”
He didn’t answer. After a minute she’d forgotten what they were talking about.
And suddenly she was thinking about the girl again, and failure. “I won’t find her family, will I?”
“You’ve always found a way to get what you want, El. That was never your problem.”
“Oh? What is my problem, then?”
“You always wanted the wrong things.”
“Gee, thanks.”
He seemed disappointed by that. Like he’d wanted her to say something else. She couldn’t imagine how she’d let him down, but somehow she had. If she were sober, she’d probably know the answer.
“You’re welcome. You want me to pick you up tomorrow morning?”
“No need. I’ll get Jules or Peanut to give me a ride.”
“Okay. See you.”
“See you.”