He whispered, “Thanks for takingreallygood care of me, Charley.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“Wyatt? Where are you? Wyatt?” Charley called for the puppy the week of Thanksgiving. He popped out from under the sofa in the log cabin and scampered to her. She was certain he was already twice the size he’d been when she’d first found him. Clad in a sweatshirt, jeans, and tennis shoes, Charley was wielding a broom as she swept the living room floor of her cabin. Receiving a text, she read it and walked out to the porch. “Sully, the moving van is on its way,” she called excitedly. “The delivery truck won’t be far behind it.”
“Okay,” Sully called with a wave. He had just placed the last of their few remaining smaller possessions from the cabin on the back seat of his truck. It was chilly again today, and he wore a denim jacket lined with wool over a brown flannel shirt. His jeans were snug against his thighs, and he wore brown work boots. Even watching him move at a distance, Charley could almost feel those muscles in his hard body. Thankfully, his concussion had been cleared by his physician. His wound would leave a scar, but it had healed. Charley was so in love with Sully that she pictured running to him. The puppy did so, scampering past her, full speed ahead.
With the beautiful log cabin facing the main road, the short drive leading straight from the highway to the welcoming porch, and oodles of land for parking spaces, ten thousand acres to be exact, Charley had decided to move her flower shop business to the country. She’d received ahell yeahfrom her handsome, sexy business manager. With Sully by her side in Old Colorado City, she’d packed up her clothes and any other personal items she wanted to keep from the duplex. The two apartments would be sold furnished.
That job having been accomplished, she’d put the Old Colorado City shop and duplex up for sale with a realtor friend whose office was also located on Colorado Avenue. Per Sully, her decision was an excellent step in a safe direction. As to the direction their relationship was headed, they continued to make steady progress. All these exciting new changes had helped Charley keep her mind off deaths and murderers.
Rod Vaughn was still in jail. The eyewitness who had escaped the suspected Cave Killer had viewed Rod in the lineup but as anticipated, could not positively identify anyone due to the attacker’s ski mask. Shortly thereafter, DNA results confirmed Vaughn was not the Cave Killer.
Regarding the death of Charlotte Fleming, Rod had plea-bargained his way down from first-degree murder to second-degree murder with a signed confession. Colorado had repealed the death penalty in 2020, but by all accounts, Rod Vaughn would be going to prison for fifteen years to life. Though Charley’s mother was dead with no second chance offered, Rod Vaughn however, would be allowed to live and could be eligible for parole at some point. Fair or not, that’s the way it was according to the law.
The Cave Killer’s victim who had survived had even worked with a CSPD sketch artist. But there was nothing which made the man stand out. The artist’s rendering of the woman’s descriptionof her attacker was generic enough to fit countless men. In any event, there had been no additional stranglings in Old Colorado City since Rod Vaughn’s capture and confession. Odd.
“Good thing I got my uncle’s car up and running,” Leon said, walking from the older model vehicle to the cabin porch. Even wearing a jacket, his arms appeared thin, wrapped around a box of delicate plants which he’d insisted on transporting from Charley’s shop. “Would have been difficult trying to help you move with just my scooter.”
Charley nodded, even though he’d only transported the one box. Sully hadn’t necessarily wanted Leon’s so-called help. But Charley had pointed out that Leon had backed off since she’d admitted to him the feelings she had for Sully. Maybe Leon had thought there was hope for the two of them and realizing there was none, had accepted just being friends. Leon had not acted out of place with her, and he was pleasant enough to Sully as well. Leon walked onto the porch and passed Charley on his way into the cabin. Sully, who had scooped up Wyatt, swaggered toward her as only he could. He stopped on the porch and gave her a kiss.
She and Sully had been busy transforming the great room of the log cabin into a shop soon to be filled with flowers and plants. Two ceiling-to-floor decorative screens hid the kitchen from view and converted part of it into her office area. Not only did the kitchen provide water for her plants and flowers, but she had kept it intact, knowing it would come in handy for lunchtime breaks and bookkeeping, on her laptop, between customers. For now, the bedroom would be used for making wreaths, arranging flowers, working on plants, and storage. Later on, if need be, a wall could be knocked out to enlarge the flower shop.
The movers were dropping off displays and merchandise from her shop and picking up the living room and bedroom furniture in the cabin. The Coopers had insisted Charley keepher father’s furniture. Sully had a large, unfurnished family room and bedroom in the basement at his house and the furniture was perfect for it. Since the cabin had more square footage than her shop in Old Colorado City, Charley had also ordered some new displays, wall hangings, pottery, and silk arrangements to add to the live flowers and plants. In addition to those items, the delivery truck was bringing new Christmas pieces for her new shop. She could hardly wait.
Earlier, Sully had supervised a couple of workers who had done an excellent job of hanging a second sign right below Triple C Ranch-South.Cash had been there as well to see the new wooden sign installed, which readPretty Petals.The signs above the arched entrance were a perfect match. Charley’s heart sang.
Standing on the porch with Sully, they saw the moving truck approaching. Sully walked down the steps and waved the movers from the highway onto the ranch. The truck, carrying the furnishings and displays from Flemings Flowers, pulled in and stopped near the porch.
“Let’s get the furniture here out first,” Sully said to the two movers.
“Yes, sir,” the mover who’d driven the truck agreed. “Show us what you’ve got, and we’ll get it out of your way. Won’t take us long.”
“This way.” Sully handed Wyatt over to Charley and teased her, “Who scheduled the movers and the delivery truck all in the same day, city slicker?”
“You did?”
“I don’t think so,” Sully replied and chuckled. “Cash arranged for the sign guys to hang your gift from all the Coopers, and I arranged for the movers. But you,” he touched his index finger to her chest— “you scheduled your new deliveries on the same day.”
“Oh yeah.” Charley giggled and grabbed his finger. “Now I remember, thatwasme.” Sully pulled his finger from her as Leon joined them on the porch. “But hey, it will all be somewhat in place by the end of the day.”
“Yeah,” Sully said with a pat to her fanny and disappeared into the cabin.
The sofa came out first, and then the chair. The movers were efficient, and with Sully in charge of them, Charley and Leon stayed out of the way. When the two moving men hauled the mattress out of the cabin, Leon looked confused.
“Are you not livingandworking out of your shop? Sort of like you did on Colorado Avenue?” Leon asked. “I assumed that’s why you kept the kitchen intact. I thought the movers were bringing more furniture here from your apartment, not clearing out the cabin.”
“No,” Charley replied in surprise. “Even though this cabin is a lot bigger than the Old Colorado City shop, there’s no reason for me to be cramped here when I can live with Sully.”
“Sully,” Leon echoed under his breath.
Charley nodded at Leon and found Sully in the bedroom. Keeping Wyatt out of the way, she watched the movers tote the headboard and frame of the bed out of the cabin. She smiled at Sully, so thrilled at how well things were going. As he walked toward the footboard, Charley warned him not to pick it up. It was too heavy for one person. He gathered her and Wyatt up instead, set them aside, and plucked up the footboard. Chuckling as she fumed, he headed past her, strode out of the cabin, and set the footboard beside the moving truck. When the cabin was emptied of all items marked for Sully’s house, the movers switched gears and brought in the items from her Old Colorado City shop. With everyone pitching in, they were soon done.
“I need to leave with the movers so that I can let them into my house and show them where we decided to put the cabinfurniture,” Sully told her, and as the moving truck departed, the delivery truck arrived. “And I need to check on the horses.” With a guarded glance around outside and motioning to the delivery truck driver, he said, “But I don’t like leaving you alone which is why I didn’t want this to all happen on the same day.”
“I’ll be fine, and I’m not alone,” Charley assured him.
“I’ll stay until you get back,” Leon said to Sully.
