LITMIR.BIZ

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and started gathering up his things from his desk to take to the guesthouse. There wasn’t a box, but the trashcan was empty so he used that. He also grabbed his spare jeans and shirt from the closet, and he draped those over his arm. He kept a clean set there just in case someone dropped in for a meeting. Of course, he’d have to eventually go to his room and pack some toiletries and other clothes, but that could wait.

      “I’m busy,” he snarled when there was a knock at the door.

      But it opened anyway, and Sophie came in. “Are you okay?” she asked.

      “Why wouldn’t I be?” He didn’t bother hiding the sarcasm.

      “Failed marriage. The six widows in the house. The dead body. You had to put your extension plans for the ranch on hold.” By answering that seriously, Sophie was adding her own sarcasm. “You haven’t had sex in months.”

      “I’m not talking sex with you. Just had a little chat with Roman about that very subject.”

      She flexed her eyebrows. “I would have thought you already knew about the birds and the bees.”

      He was so not in the mood for her attempts to cheer him up. Garrett intended to wallow in it while he came up with a fix for this. “Don’t you have some other place to be right now?”

      Sophie gave a smile that only a kid sister could have managed. “Nope.”

      “Well, I do. I’m moving to the guesthouse. That means you’ll be inconvenienced until those women leave.”

      She shrugged, started to help him gather up his things. “FYI. Mom’s trying to hook you up with Nicky.”

      Apparently everyone in the known universe was aware of that. Well, maybe everyone but Nicky. Maybe if he mentioned it to her, she’d go running. It was worth a try anyway.

      “Mom thinks you and Nicky have this permanent spiritual bond since the two of you had sex,” Sophie continued. “I told her if that were true, then Roman would have spiritual bonds with half the county. She didn’t like that.”

      “I’ll bet. How the heck did she find out about Nicky and me anyway?”

      “Gossip. She has selective acceptance when it comes to the things she hears, though. If it’s about me having sex, then it’s a vile rumor. If it’s about you, then it’s true. She believes you’ve had sex with the other half of the women in the county that Roman missed.”

      “Not even close,” Garrett grumbled. He tossed his laptop charger and some files onto the stash, then added his laptop on top of the pile.

      “It was pretty sucky, though, what you did to Nicky,” Sophie added.

      Garrett lifted his head, looked at her. Or rather glared at her. “How do you know what I did to Nicky?”

      “Please. I’ve got ears, and I might be four years younger than you, but I still heard the gossip.”

      Yeah, and he was betting none of that gossip had painted him in a good light. Not that it should. But there were things about that whole encounter that the gossips hadn’t known.

      Well, one thing anyway.

      But Garrett didn’t intend to share that with Sophie.

      Grabbing the filled trash can, Garrett headed out. Part of him felt like a riled kid who hadn’t gotten his way and was now running away from home. But it was more than that. He wanted his privacy, didn’t want to have to face anyone new who would give him “poor pitiful Garrett” looks.

      Sophie picked up some of the books on his desk and followed him out. Maybe to resume a chat he in no way wanted to resume. In fact, right now he needed to focus on work, and that meant contacting the work crew and rescheduling. Contacting Clay, as well, to find out if he had a timeline for this investigation. Also calling the cattle broker to postpone delivery of the Angus he’d bought.

      He encountered no widows along the way, but as soon as Garrett made it to the backyard, he spotted Kaylee. Hard to miss her since she was right there just a few inches from the steps, and she was holding a cicada shell in her hand.

      “Boog,” she announced. Clearly, she wasn’t a squeamish kid since the shells always looked a little creepy to Garrett. “Mama twit puking.”

      “That’s good.” He heard himself say the words, but it didn’t actually register in his head. But what did register were some bad flashbacks. Bad because they were good. Memories of Meredith being pregnant. Of the ultrasound where he’d first seen his daughter.

      Oh, man.

      It felt like a punch to the gut, and Garrett had to get out of there. He needed to get behind a closed door so he could stuff all of these emotions back down. No way could he deal with this now. Maybe not ever.

      He hurried past Kaylee only to encounter another obstacle. Nicky. She was lugging a suitcase that she’d apparently just taken from her SUV.

      “Sorry if Kaylee was bothering you,” Nicky said, and it seemed as if she was about to walk right past him. But then she stopped, maybe because he looked as unsteady as he suddenly felt. “Are you, uh, going to throw up or something?”

      Hell. He must have looked really bad. So bad that Sophie took the trash can from him. “I’ll put this stuff in the guesthouse,” his sister offered. She headed that direction, glancing back as if waiting for him to follow. And he would have, but Nicky stepped in front of him.

      “Are you sure you’re okay?” Nicky pressed.

      “Fine. I’m just busy. How about you? Kaylee said you quit puking.”

      She nodded, mumbled something under her breath that he didn’t catch. What she didn’t seem to realize was the effect her daughter was having on him. Thankfully, Kaylee hurried into the house, babbling something about showing off the boog. Too bad Nicky didn’t go with her.

      “Yes, the puking seems to have run its course,” she explained. “I told you I didn’t have the stomach for bones, blood and such. Not for puke itself, either, which was why it went on for a while.” Nicky paused, took in a weary breath. “Look, I know we got off to a bad start, but I’m asking you not to fight the lease.”

      Even though it was hard to think, Garrett forced away the flashbacks. He managed it, sort of, and came up with one argument he hadn’t given her yet.

      “You really want to live in a house where someone died?” he asked.

      Nicky shrugged. “Your great-grandfather died there. So did his wife.” She looked reasonably strong about that until she shuddered. “But yes, this does creep me out. It’s one thing to have your great-grandparents die there, but this guy might have been murdered. In boxers with hearts on them.”

      Yeah. That’d been disturbing to Garrett, too. “Underpants like that suggest a lover’s tryst.”

      She made a sound of agreement. “Or maybe he had bad taste in boxers. Or he could have just run out of clean undies and those were his last option.” She stopped. “But you’re right. It feels tryst-y. Which, according to Loretta, points to your Aunt Matilda.”

      “Loretta told you about her?”

      She nodded. “While I was puking. It’s possible I missed a word or two of what she was saying, but I caught the gist. Your aunt had h-o-t p-a-n-t-s, and I don’t think Loretta meant they were really short shorts.”

      “No,” he had to agree. Even though Garrett had never met his great-aunt, it was unsettling to think she could have killed a man. That “unsettling” wasn’t limited to just her though. “I’m holding out that the guy died of natural causes.”

      Nicky smiled. “And here I didn’t think you were a rose-colored-glasses kind of guy.”

      Her smile quickly faded. Probably because she remembered there wasn’t much to be happy about. But while it lasted, he got a glimpse of the cute flute player she’d once

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