“Is that also what you just told Walter Benson?”he inquired.“The way you were looking at him I thought I might have to break up a fight,” he chuckled, knowing the history.
“Nope, I only banned you,” Noel retorted.
Rainey reached for the button once more and turned his mouth toward his shoulder.“This lady is also withholding desserts from police officers.”
“Is it Mommy?”Levi’s voice asked while snickering.
“She’s a possible suspect,” Officer Rainey confirmed.
“Want us to arrest her?”Laney’s voice questioned authoritatively.
“Yes, but approach with caution; she may be armed and dangerous.”
Noel snuck away into the thickening crowd and began talking to folks; some she saw regularly and others she hadn’t seen since last year’s event.She remembered that particular Thanksgiving feast all too well.She and her elves had brought in the pies, and then she hid from everyone as best as possible.Noel quickly found that sitting alone at a secluded corner table caused her to stand out like the nearby Cape Lookout Lighthouse with a light swiveling on top of her head every fifteen seconds.People followed that beacon right up to her table, and as she quietly pushed the food around on her plate, they insisted on offering their well-meaning condolences.Meanwhile, the kids played as usual; however, they checked in more frequently due to newly acquired insecurities from their recent losses.When the kids were occupied, Noel often excused herself and ducked around the corners of nearby buildings to release the built-up tears.A couple of times, she wandered into a vacant restroom and dropped her head into her hands.She eventually went back to the candy shop early and left the kids with Mrs.Madelyn, who understood without question.
Shaking away that memory, Noel spotted Chelsea—tall with long blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a lean figure—walking from a nearby parking spot.Once her friend made it to the shelter, the two became lost in conversation.
Suddenly a handcuff circled Noel’s dangling wrist, and before she could turn around, it clicked.
“You are under arrest,” Levi announced proudly.
Laney grabbed Noel’s other wrist assisting Levi in the capture and pulled her aunt’s hands together behind her back.“You have the right to remain—” she trailed off searching her memory for the word.
“Silent,” Rainey’s wife whispered.
Noel shot her friend a look of betrayal.
“Silent,” Laney copied.
“If you talk, we will tell on you,” Levi stated while securing the second cuff on his mother’s other wrist.
Noel and Chelsea laughed out loud.
“You can hire a lawman,” Laney added.
Levi turned his attention to Mrs.Chelsea.“Do you know anything about the missing turkey?”he interrogated.
Chelsea held up her hands.“No, don’t arrest me, I don’t even know this woman,” she uttered, smirking.“In fact she tried to tempt me with the dessert table before the meal started.”
“You traitor,” Noel declared, shaking her head although unable to keep a straight face.
Rainey walked onto the scene, but before he could speak, a boisterous and familiar voice caused Noel’s head to turn.
“Hey, Sis, I’m usually the one in handcuffs,” Keaton Bradley protested.
5
“Iguess trouble with the law runs in the family,” Keaton added with a snicker, cutting his eyes at Rainey before wrapping his arms around Noel.
With her hands secured behind her back, Noel couldn’t reciprocate the hug properly, but she pushed herself into her brother’s embrace and caught a whiff of the alcohol on his breath.Thankfully, he looked halfway put together wearing a pair of jeans and a wrinkled, heavy button-up shirt with pockets on either side.She wasn’t sure if he left the top two buttons unbuttoned on purpose, but the chest hair spilling out begged for an undershirt.As for the thick black hair on top of his head, she couldn’t tell if he combed it or not since he and a lot of others often sported a messy look these days.
“Daddy,” Laney called out enthusiastically, clinging to her father’s leg like a koala bear.
“Hey, little bug,” he said, lifting her as far as his hands would stretch toward the white tent’s cathedral ceiling.“I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Daddy,” she replied with unadulterated joy lining her voice.
“Uncle Keat,” Levi chimed.
