Charley and Sully waited for them beside the porch steps. As the hay wagon neared, Cash and little Carly waved to them. Cash hopped down from the driver’s seat and turned to Carly, who’d been beside him. A middle-aged man who Sully identified for Charley as Sam Reynolds, Cash’s ranch foreman, handed Carly to her father.
“Happy Halloween,” Cash called to them as Derek strode onto the porch.
“Happy Halloween,” Derek called to everyone. His costume consisted of a buckskin vest over his shirt, jeans, boots, and a buckskin cowboy hat. “Welcome. Where’s Tracy?”
“Coming in the car with Kellie,” Cash said.
“Who’s Kellie?” Charley asked Sully.
“Sam’s wife. She manages the restaurant at the Lodge.”
No sooner had Sully spoken than a car carrying the two women just mentioned turned onto the ranch. Kellie parked the car, and Cash helped Tracy out. Cash introduced Sam and Kellie to Charley, and then the two senior employees of Triple C Ranch-East assisted Derek in ushering the dude ranchers inside to the party.
“I love the hayrides,” Tracy said to Charley and Sully. “But we decided with me being just over eight months pregnant, I should travel by car this Halloween.”
“You and Carly look absolutely adorable, Tracy,” Charley said.
“Thank you. So do you,” Tracy said. She and Carly wore matching pumpkin costumes. “This costume was conducive to my pregnant belly.”
“It’s perfect,” Charley agreed.
Cash was dressed similarly to Sully and Derek, but with a white mask across his eyes. A truck pulled into the driveway next. Chase and Jade were in the front seats, along with nine-year-old Colton and seven-year-old Courtney in the back seat. Two weeks prior, Chase and Jade had taken Charley and Sully to dinner at the Lodge so that Charley could meet Jade and the kids.
Charley found Jade as kind and gracious as she was beautiful. In past years, Chloe said Jade had come to the Halloween party as Marilyn Monroe, and that would certainly fit the woman whom Chase called his blonde bombshell. As for Chase, he was handsome and formidable as always, a man clearly devoted to his wife and children. This evening, Chase wore a black mask over his eyes. Jade, with her blond hair, was a perfect Glenda the Good Witch fromThe Wizard of Oz. Courtney as Dorothy, her hair in pigtails, wore a blue and white dress and sparkly red shoes. Colton, doing his own thing, was a ninja.
“Happy Halloween!” Chloe Cooper Brevard said in greeting.
Dressed like a lady from the wild and wooly old West, Chloe stood in the doorway of the big country house. Earlier that week, the Brevards had treated Charley and Sully to a backyard barbecue. Like she had with Colton and Courtney, Charley had fallen in love with the Brevard children: Cooper, who was ten, and the eight-year-old twins, Austin and Abilene. Entering the house, for the next few minutes it was a veritable free-for-all as everyone, including the dude ranchers, greeted everyone. The children had put together special treats for each other, and those were busily exchanged, too, along with hugs.
“I’m Miss Kitty tonight and you remember my husband, Marshal Matt Dillon,” Chloe Brevard said to Charley, referring to Derek as they stood near a unique indoor fishpond in the foyer. “Your costume is adorable, Charley. As you know, we are big fans of dogs and cats here.”
“Yes, thanks. It’s nice to see you both again, Chloe,” Charley said. “Marshal Dillion, I believe you have something in common with my date, Marshal Earp.”
“Glad you could make it, Sully,” Derek said with a grin as they shook hands.
At that point, the kids made note of Charley’s puppy dog costume and wanted pictures taken withBingo. Sully grinned and winked at her as she posed with her little cousins. The Coopers’ Aunt Rachel and her husband, Martyman, as everyone called him, introduced themselves and said they had reprised their recent roles as Bonnie and Clyde. Owen Custis arrived and threatened to take the bank robbers to jail. But instead, Bonnie and Clyde showed him, along with Sully and Charley, to their speakeasy, otherwise known as the wet bar in the den. Charley took a glass of wine as Sully and Owen accepted beers. They mingled as they moseyed from room to room, talking to folks and sampling appetizers.
The party snacks were as festive as they were tasty. In the dining room, a variety of crackers surrounded a cheese ball in the shape of a scarecrow wearing a noodle hat above his olive eyes and pecan nose. Deviled eggs were tinted orange with sliced sweet pickles for a stem, making them look like miniature pumpkins. Individual pizzas with pepperonis for eyes and a mouth peeking from behind mozzarella strips looked like mummies. A favorite among the children were the rattlesnake bites, which were hotdogs baked in crescent rolls. Cut into pieces and shaped into slithering snakes with red bell peppers sliced into a forked tongue, they were gone in a hurry. Bowlsof popcorn, candy corn, and chips were placed throughout the house. And since this was a night for sweet treats, there were desserts such as pumpkin bread in the shape of a pumpkin, severed green witch finger cookies with an almond nail and red jam for blood, and zombie brain cupcakes, which the Brevard kids helped decorate, hence the crazy frosting oozing out of the top. Chloe, a cat lover, said her personal favorite were the chocolate cookies with cat ears and whiskers.
Sully introduced Charley to the veterinarian who had taken care of Rain. Jill Henderson’s husband, Don, was also a veterinarian who cared for the Cooper livestock. They were both polite and friendly. As the party wore on, Charley figured she and Sully had visited with just about everyone there. When Sully excused himself to return their empty glasses to the kitchen, Charley was in the foyer as she noticed a late arrival. The woman named Trish Potter stopped Sully in the hallway. Though a pang of concern jabbed Charley, not wanting to stare, she looked away. When she glanced back, Trish and Sully were gone.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” came a woman’s voice on Charley’s right.
Charley turned to the woman who had spoken. “Hello, Trish.” Her long black hair was teased into a beehive, and she wore an extreme version of an Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, costume. Her breath reeked of alcohol. “We met briefly in Sully’s kitchen.”
“Yeah,” Trish said. The woman’s costume was cut so daringly low cut in the front, her cleavage was on display almost to her nipples. A wide slit up the front of the dress stopped just below the vee in her legs. Charley did not consider herself a prude, but this was not an appropriate outfit to wear to a party with children in attendance. Trish eyed Charley’s costume with a definite smirk and asked, “So, you’re Sully’s bitch tonight?”
“Excuse me?”
“A female dog is a bitch,” Trish said. When Charley didn’t comment, Trish ran a hand with long black nails over her breasts, reached into a small purse, and pulled out a flask. She tipped it to her mouth and took a precariously close step to the fishpond. “Didn’t Sully tell you about the two of us?”
“No,” Charley said, feeling uncomfortable.
“Sully and I are a thing, and your whole damsel in distress charade is causing trouble,” Trish hissed under her breath and waved the flask before shoving it back into her purse.
Charley didn’t view herself as a damsel in distress, and her situation certainly wasn’t a farce. “Really?” Charley replied to Trish’s statement as to her being with Sully. Though she’d rather wait to see if Trish fell into the fishpond, Charley took a step to leave.
“Stop!” Trish spat and splayed a hand in front of Charley. “Yes, really,” she replied to Charley’s question. “I’m pregnant, and Sully is my baby’s daddy.”
