“So early?”
A glance at the clock on the wall. It’s three o’clock. Though it’s Saturday I usually don’t leave the ranch until about six, sometimes later.
But tonight is a special occasion.
I need to get home to shower and prepare dinner for Ellyn to come over. We’re decorating my house tonight. Since my kids had to disperse after Thanksgiving, I was going to put off decorating, but when Ellyn agreed to help me, something shifted.
The fervor I once felt to decorate came roaring back.
“Got plans tonight,” I say without thinking.
There’s a pause on the other end. I know when the wheels are churning in the mind of my former Texas Ranger turned private investigator son.
“What?” I bark out.
“It’s nice to hear you have plans,” he says, and I can hear the smile in his voice. “Will we ever get to meet these plans?”
“Don’t go questioning me, boy. Like you’re my father instead of the other way around. Do you know how many shitty diapers of yours I changed?”
A deep chuckle passes through the phone.
“Jodi!” is all I hear next.
I groan. “What’re you goin’ and callin’ her for?” I grumble.
“You were right. Someone’s taking up his time,” Micah says, ignoring me.
“I knew it!” she exclaims like she just won a damn prize. “It’s his pretty next-door neighbor, isn’t it?”
“Let me ask. Joel?”
“Don’t you two go talking about my love life like it’s neighborhood fodder. Am I a damn joke to you?”
“So it is your neighbor? What’s her name?”
“Ellyn,” I say, again not thinking.
“Ellyn, that’s right. Is she the one you got into an argument with a couple of months ago? Jodi,” he calls, not waiting for me to answer his question, “wasn’t he griping for a week after she told him she wasn’t going to participate in the neighborhood decorating competition?”
“He sure did,” Jodi’s muffled voice responds.
“Is there a reason you called me?” I bark out. “I’m busy.”
“I bet. You have to get home to get ready for your date.”
I almost yell out that it’s not a date, but the words stick to my tongue. Because they would be a lie. This damn sure is a date. And I want as many dates with Ellyn as possible … as many as she’ll allow me to take her on.
Even if this one is just to my home to help decorate.
“I’m hanging up on you?—”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he says, not sounding the least bit sorry.
This is the trouble I get for raising these boys. Teased to within an inch of my life.
“Actually, I was hoping to catch you. Unfortunately, this case we’re working on is a doozy. It’s taking a lot of our manpower, and our client would like us to get it done before the holiday.”
My stomach plummets. I have a feeling of where this is going and it ain’t nowhere fun.
