“Well, I’m excited for you both.I hear Hugo is a good strong name for a boy,” I joke.
“So is Thor, but I’m sorry to say neither are on our short list of names.”
As a kid I hated my name and was teased mercilessly growing up.But when your middle name is Ferdinant, Hugo is the lesser of the evils.Family tradition demanded I be named after my grandfathers, a tradition I gladly broke when we had Carson.I wasn’t about to burden the kid with a name like Theobold Walter Alexander.
“Oh, and when the time comes, feel free to hit me up for any tips on how to deal with adolescent boys,” I add.“I feel I’ve got enough material for a book by now.”
These days things have settled down tremendously with my son, but there have been some rough spots over the years.
“I bet you do, and I’m sure we’ll be taking you up on that when the time comes, but let me carry the kid to term first.”
“That’s fair.”
“So…what did he want?”She steers the conversation back to the mayor’s visit.
“He’s worried Main Street is not tourist-friendly with two boarded-up buildings and wants us to hurry the investigation.Oh, and he’s not happy about the neighborhood watch.”
I don’t mention what he said about Savvy herself, because that’ll just raise her blood pressure and she doesn’t need that right now.
“I bet he’s not happy.Dad told me this morning Keith Jespers tried to stop him from getting behind the wheel at two o’clock this morning.It was in the alley that runs between Main and Victoria Street, and Don Merrick appeared to be unsteady on his feet, possibly drunk.”
“That’s not the story he gave me,” I share, chuckling.
“I’m sure it wasn’t.Also, according to Keith, it was not his Lexus parked in the alley, but Merrick junior’s truck.And guess where he’d come from?”
“The Kerrigan?”
I mention the pub on the other side of the street from Strange Brew, because that’s where I’ve seen the mayor stop in for a drink before.
“Oh no.He was coming out the back gate of a house on Victoria Street.Missy Gentry’s house, to be more specific.”
Missy Gentry is the forty-something widow of Arthur Gentry, who owned the Lizard Peak cattle ranch about ten miles north of town.Arthur had been almost eighty when he fell off his horse herding cattle and broke his neck three years ago.Missy sold the ranch before his body was good and cold, pocketed a nice chunk of change, and bought one of the old, stately townhomes on Victoria Street.
I never understood why that woman would want to stick around Silence, since she’s not from here originally, and spends a lot of time putting down what this town has to offer.But perhaps now it makes a little more sense.
I wonder what Missy’s best friend, Aurelia Merrick, thinks of the mayor’s late-night visit.
“Can’t say it surprises me,” I admit.
“Me neither,” Savvy concurs.“Those two are a perfect match, although I feel for his wife.”
I can’t argue with that.Betrayal sucks.
“Talking about wives…” Savvy gets to her feet.“I just stopped by the coffee shop to check on Bess.”
It takes me a second to clue in, then I stand as well, leaning forward with my hands on my desk.
“Bess?What’s she doing at the coffee shop?She was supposed to call when she went anywhere.”
“She’s fine, she met the insurance adjuster and Emmet is with her.She did call and left me a message when I was getting my ultrasound.She said she left you one too.”
I immediately grab for my phone, which I usually keep in my pocket, but come up empty.
“Shit, must’ve left it in the cruiser.”
“Wait,” Savvy calls after me when I start for the exit.“What about the commission proposal!”
“Check your inbox,” I yell back before darting past the front desk and out the doors.
