Part 22 (1/2)
”Ha, right,” Rose said, although she could picture it.
”He is a bit of a rogue, isn't he? I imagine he can be ruthless, too. Is he reckless?”
”Sean wouldn't continue to fight fires with him if he were.”
Myrtle nodded, thoughtful.
Dominique burst out from the kitchen, still in her hat and coat, her face red from the cold. ”Ever have one of those days you just want to bury yourself in work?” She pulled off her hat, her dark hair filled with static. ”I stopped by my house for a few minutes. I don't know what possessed me to choose the bathroom tile I did. I'm installing it myself. It's a total pain and looks so...wrong.”
”Sounds like a case of cabin fever to me,” Rose said with a smile. ”Don't change a thing until the maple sap is running full force. It's a rule I swear by.”
Dominique laughed. ”It's a good one.” She unb.u.t.toned her coat. ”I'm going to make something with lemons. Cheerful, yellow lemons. Pie, pudding, cupcakes, chicken, salmon. Something.”
”You miss having Beth and Hannah here,” Myrtle said, retying her ap.r.o.n. ”Nothing bothers Beth. She's like a mood stabilizer, unless she's fighting with Trooper Thorne. Then it's not so pretty.”
Rose debated how to raise the subject of Dominique's presence at the Whittaker guesthouse that morning and decided the only choice was to be direct. ”Dom, Zack Harper says he saw your car and Bowie's van at the Whittaker place this morning.”
”Zack must have happened along at just the right moment.” Dominique walked over to a window, adjusted a lock that probably hadn't been touched since cold weather had settled in for the winter. ”I saw Bowie and stopped to say hi. I didn't stay long.”
”What were you doing out there?” Myrtle asked.
”Curiosity.” Dominique stood back from the window, her dark eyes impossible to read. ”Aren't we all curious about what happened there? It's a beautiful spot. I hope one day it'll be filled with life instead of memories of violence and death.”
Myrtle scooped up a paper napkin that had fallen onto the floor. ”I imagine the Whittakers or someone acting on their behalf will put it up for sale as soon as possible.”
Dominique moved to another window, adjusted another lock for no apparent reason except to have something to do. ”The police came by here first thing this morning and asked me if I'd seen or heard from Robert Feehan. I hate the idea that the violence isn't over-that there's still someone out there....” She finally shrugged off her charcoal wool coat and draped it over one arm. ”Business was slow. I knew Myrtle could handle things. I so seldom get involved in anything in town. I cook. I work on my house.”
”Dom,” Rose said, ”I'm not criticizing you for going out there.”
”I know. I'm sorry.” She gave a feeble smile. ”I just know how a little thing like being seen with Bowie O'Rourke at an isolated guesthouse can get blown into something it wasn't. Never mind. I'm not making any sense. By the way, he said he'd be stopping back there this afternoon. He wants to get the last of his stuff cleared out.”
Before Rose could respond, Dominique bolted back across the cafe and swung behind the gla.s.s counter and into the kitchen.
”Maybe she has a souffle in the oven,” Myrtle said drily. ”Everyone adores Dom, but she is something of a mystery, isn't she? Any chance she and Bowie are seeing each other?”
”I guess there's a chance, but I'd be surprised if they were.” Rose got to her feet and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair. ”Even if Bowie didn't tell me-and I think he would-he'd have told Hannah.”
”Not if Dom wanted to hide their relations.h.i.+p. I swear there are more secrets in this one little town than in all of Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C.” Myrtle nodded out to the street. ”Mr. Southern California is pacing. He's too rugged to admit he's cold. He'll just say he's impatient.”
”I have to put away the fabric.”
”I'll get it. You go on.”
Rose thanked her and went out into the center hall, Ranger already up and eager to get moving. He led the way down the steps to the sidewalk. Nick had stopped pacing and was leaning against her Jeep, his jacket open, his arms crossed on his chest. Rose sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of him, the sun glinting on his hair, the casual, s.e.xy way he stood. All day, she'd kept remembering him making love to her. It might have been yesterday instead of eight months ago.
”Myrtle can run you up to the lodge,” she said as she opened up the back for Ranger. ”I have something I want to do.”
”You're going back out to the Whittaker place to check on Bowie. I'm going with you.” Nick eased up next to her and reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out her keys. ”My turn to drive. It'll be fun navigating all the potholes and curves around here.”
”What if I want a private moment with Bowie?”
”You can have one. I'll make myself scarce.”
”Oh, sure. Make yourself scarce where? Behind a s...o...b..nk?” Ranger hopped up into the back of the Jeep. ”All right, Nick. Go right ahead. Drive.”
Nick had no trouble with her Jeep or the roads, not that Rose had expected he would. When they reached the Whittaker estate, he continued down to the guesthouse turnaround and pulled in next to Bowie's van.
Rose released Ranger from the back and let him run off into the snow, down to a small, frozen pond. ”This is such a beautiful place,” she said as Nick joined her. ”I hope the Whittakers weren't here long enough to ruin it for someone else.”
”People will remember the good more than the bad.”
”I hope so.”
”You all rose to the occasion and rooted them out.”
They went around to the other side of the van. Bowie had the side door open and was rummaging in a wooden box on the floor. He stood up, watching Poe charge down to the pond with Ranger. ”Maybe Ranger will rub off on him. Better than the other way around, I guess. What's up?”
”Dom said you'd be out here,” Rose said.
He glanced at Nick, then at Rose again. ”I haven't seen Feehan, if that's what this is about. I'm not getting sucked into this business. I want to get my stuff and be gone.”
Nick watched the two dogs roughhouse with each other, but Rose knew his attention was focused on her and Bowie. She wasn't even sure why she'd come out there. Maybe Bowie had a point. Maybe she was worried he'd get sucked into whatever was going on. ”Actually,” she said. ”I've been meaning to ask you if you'd like to help with winter fest at the lodge.”
Bowie's eyebrows went up. ”Quick thinking, Rose. All right. What could I do?”
”You could help with sugaring. We have trees to tap and more to do on the shack. There's an old stone fireplace you could look at for us.”
He slid the van door shut. ”Yeah, sure, put me to work.”
”You're serious?”
”I'm serious. I can do sleigh rides, too.”
Rose smiled. ”I thought you'd find a way to be out of town that weekend.”
”That was the old Bowie.” He grinned back at her. ”The new Bowie is downright sociable.”
”Does that mean we'll see you at the dance at the lodge?”
”In a suit with s.h.i.+ny shoes?” He laughed. ”Well, you never know.”
”I've seen Dominique's dress. It's gorgeous. She has a great sense of style.”
Nick headed onto the walk to the stone guesthouse. Poe charged for him. ”Poe!” Bowie yelled. ”Get your four-legged self over here!”
His dog abandoned Nick and came running. Rose made a hand signal for Ranger to come, too. He responded immediately. Bowie just shook his head in amazement, opened up the van's front pa.s.senger door and got Poe inside.