On Thursday morning, Noah had to run over to the store to help his tech finish a bike repair he was having trouble with, so Addy decided to get started on revamping the menu for Just Like Mom’s. Although she no longer planned to suggest that Gran sell the restaurant—she feared it would be too much for her grandmother on the heels of everything else—she still wanted to improve it. She’d been keeping herself busy bringing the accounting up to date, cooking and cleaning and creating new recipes, but she was going stir-crazy staying in so much. She was afraid she might have to move back to Davis in order to live a normal life. But she didn’t know how long her mother would stay with Gran. Helen had been talking to her husband at night on the phone. Addy had heard bits and pieces of their conversations and thought they’d probably reconcile. Not that it would last, even if they did. They fought all the time.
Then there was Noah. She didn’t want to leave him. They’d grown so close the past few days. It was all she could do not to tell him how much she loved him. She would have, except she wanted him to feel free to change his mind about her....
She’d just finished the first draft of the menu when the doorbell rang. Wondering whether or not it would be wise to open it, she hurried to the window but couldn’t see more than one muscular arm and some denim. “Who is it?” she called out.
“Dylan Amos.”
Aaron’s brother. She opened the door right away. “Dylan, how are you?”
“I’m fine. I have some good news.”
She blinked in surprise. “You do?”
He grinned. “For you and Noah. Is he around?”
“He’s at the store.”
“I peeked in but didn’t see him.”
“He must be in the workshop.”
“Then I’ll stop by and talk to him on my way back. But I wanted to tell you it wasn’t Mayor Rackham’s car.”
She gripped the door frame. “How do you know?”
“Because I finally found what I’ve been looking for.” He handed her a facsimile of a work order from A-1 Auto Repair, which had a Sacramento address.
“What’s this?”
“It’s where Stephen Selby took his Chevy to have it fixed after hitting that retaining wall as he was driving you to the mine.”
“How do you know he took it to this place?”
“They told me.” His smile turned devilish. “I’ve been calling every auto body shop in Northern California. Some of them didn’t want to take the time to mess with me, so I pretended to be a P.I. investigating a rape, which made them much more eager to do what they could.”
She couldn’t help laughing. “I hope you can’t get into trouble for impersonating a private investigator.”
“Even if I can, as far as I’m concerned it’ll be worth it.”
She doubted Cheyenne would feel so cavalier about that. She was too much in love with her husband not to want to protect him. But Dylan was definitely his own man and made his own decisions. “So...it was Stephen,” she breathed.
“The little bastard,” Dylan muttered. “I knew it had to be him.”
“Makes sense, since he was the only one with a white vehicle.”
“But the others could’ve gotten access to one. I knew it was him because, out of the four you named, he’s the only one who’s ever hung out with Aaron.”
“That’s how he got Aaron’s knife!”
A muscle flexed in Dylan’s jaw, giving her the impression that he was tempted to punish Stephen himself. He nodded.
“I knew he wasn’t a nice guy,” she said, “but...as far as I’m concerned, none of them are.”
“We won’t let them discredit you.”
We. She liked the sound of that, except she knew she was splitting the town in two. “But if Chief Stacy isn’t going to go after him or the others, will anything we do really help?”
“Sure it will. I’m about to call Ed over at the paper. If we put enough pressure on him, Stacy will have to investigate.”
“He won’t be happy you’re trying to force his hand.”
“I’m going to do more than try. Chief Stacy has been so eager to bust my balls, I’m finding this a pleasure.” With a wink, he added, “Give Milly my best.”
* * *
When he learned that Callie was back, Baxter felt the first sense of relief he’d experienced in several days. She’d called as soon as she landed in San Francisco to let him know she was coming. She must’ve dropped Levi off at their ranch once she hit town because she stood alone on his porch when he answered the door.
“I leave for eighteen days and all hell breaks loose,” she complained in lieu of hello.
“And I’m not sure you’ve heard the latest,” he said, eager to take the spotlight off himself.
She hugged him before coming inside. “You mean about Cody and his baseball buddies committing a felony at that grad night party? I’ve heard.”
“Do you believe it?”
“Don’t you?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“Noah is siding with Adelaide Davies.”
“I’ve heard. But you realize he was seeing Adelaide when the news came out, right?”
“I do. He’s still seeing her. He’s smack in the middle of the whole thing. Poor guy. But...”
“But?” Baxter repeated.
“Goes to show you’re not the only one who has problems.” She surveyed his living room. “Jeez, would you look at this place?”
He shrugged at the mess. He’d never let his house go before. But it just wasn’t in him to care anymore.
“You’ll never be able to sell it like this,” she said.
“That’s all you’ve got to say? I got drunk and kissed my best friend, who doesn’t have a homosexual bone in his body. I took a whole bottle of sleeping pills because I didn’t want to deal with the reality of my situation anymore. My parents have learned that I’m g*y and my father hasn’t spoken to me since. And you’re worried about me selling my house?”
He’d finally said something that surprised her. He could tell by the way she cocked her head. “Who told your parents?”
“My mother said Noah paid them a visit last weekend.”
“Wow, he’s on a roll.”
“Making friends all over.”
He expected her to be upset with Noah. He was. But she pursed her lips, studied him for a moment and said, “He did the right thing, Bax.”