The bel over the door jingled as they walked out, Dad throwing an eye rol over his shoulder as he fol owed, carrying his latte.
Once they’d gone, Hank curled me so I was facing him and I looked up.
“I gotta go to work,” he said.
I nodded.
“What time’s Daisy’s party?” he asked me.
“Seven o’clock. Come with your bel y empty, I’m havin’ a secret buffet in the kitchen for VIPs,” Daisy answered before walking away.
I put my arms around Hank as he watched Daisy walking away.
“The Rock Chicks have claimed you. You’re stuck now,” he said, looking down at me.
“Funny, I was thinking that about you, being stuck I mean.”
He rubbed his nose against mine, clearly not feeling stuck.
When his head came away I said, “I need to talk to Annette, tel her what’s going on and I need to cal my clients. I don’t think I’l lose any of them. I don’t need to be in Chicago to do my work. After I got that award I recruited clients outside Chicago, in Des Moines and Cincinnati.
They should be cool. I need –”
“Award?” Hank cut in.
I waved my hand between us. “Nothing, it was just some design award.”
He grinned at me.
The way he was grinning made me feel funny, al warm inside, like I’d done something great.
“Stop grinning at me, Whisky. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Any award is a big deal.”
“This one wasn’t.”
“Sorry, didn’t you say you recruited two clients because of it?”
“Wel , yeah.”
“Then it was a big deal.”
“Whisky –”
“Sunshine, quiet,” he said, then he gave me a light kiss so I’d do as I was told. “I’l see you, and your folks, at my house at six thirty.”
“Do you have a suit?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay.”
He gave me a squeeze and started to let go but I held on.
“You hear anything about Bil y –”
His eyes locked on mine and he interrupted me. “Yeah.” I sighed. “For a while there, I forgot about him.” Hank’s arms tightened and his face dipped close.
“Sweetheart, I promise, soon he’l be a memory.” I nodded because I believed him.
My body fitted itself close to his.
Hank’s head came down the rest of the way, this time, not for a light kiss but for a deeper one.
When I was dizzy, he let me go and then he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mom Bombed
I was looking out the window of the black Explorer processing my day and preparing for my night.
I was in Fortnum’s when Luke walked in ten minutes ago, eyes on me and he said one word, “Home.”
I guessed that meant he was my ride.
Annette and Jason had been spending the day casing the other head shops to check out the competition. I cal ed to tel her Hank and I had sorted things out and I was moving to Denver. She was ecstatic. We’d been trailing each other for seven years, Indianapolis to Chicago and now to Denver.
“Bitch,” she said. “With you and me in the ‘hood, Denver isn’t going to know what hit it!”
I thought it was more the other way around but I didn’t tel Annette that.
I’d also cal ed al my clients and my landlord.
My clients were cool; they didn’t care where I worked, just as long as I worked. My landlord was freaked out. The cops had cal ed him about the break in and he thought my mutilated body was buried six feet deep in some woods somewhere. I calmed him down and convinced him I wasn’t a voice from the grave. He wasn’t too upset I was leaving, considering he’d never had a tenant who’d had their furniture torn apart and went missing for two weeks, presumed (by him) dead. Anyway, I was month-to-month and he was going to let me out of the lease at the end of November.
Simple as that.
In fact, everything seemed simple.
Al that had to be done was find Bil y.
No word from Hank, which I figured meant no good news. Also, there was no bad news so I decided that no bad news was actual y good news and I went with it.
“Babe,” Luke said, pul ing me from my thoughts.
I turned to him. “Yeah?”
His chin went up, pointing over my shoulder, and I realized we were parked in front of Hank’s house. I looked toward the house, my hand going to the door handle, and I stopped dead.
“Good God,” I whispered.
The air in the Explorer changed as Luke went into alert mode.
“What?” he asked.
“Look at the house,” I breathed.
“What?” he repeated.
“Look at the house!” This time, I yel ed.
I got out of the car, slammed my door and stood on the sidewalk staring at the house.
“Roxie,” Luke, suddenly beside me, said, his fingers curling into the waistband of my cords. “Talk to me. What?”
“Pumpkins,” I said.