I jumped up, Ian having already slipped off me to lie on his back.
“I won’t be long,” I assured him and asked, “Are you hungry?”
“I’m starving, Pep,” he said with a teasing smile.
“Same here. I’ll hurry,” I assured him, and I did, getting both animals fed in record time while apologizing to them for being late with their supper.
I turned to rush back to Ian and almost bumped into him. He swept me up in his arms.
“Finally, all mine,” he said in a voice that was definitely hungry but not for food.
He carried me to the bedroom, dropped me on the bed, returned to the door to turn the lock, and began to slip off his sweatshirt as he headed back to the bed.
“Now we won’t be disturbed,” he said with a broad smile.
That’s when we both heard the vehicle pull up in my driveway.
Ian groaned loudly as he slipped his sweatshirt back on and we both hurried out of the room.
“I’m sorry,” Amy said, rushing in when I opened the door. “I texted but you didn’t answer, neither of you did.”
Ian and I both looked to our phones on the kitchen island, something I might do, leaving my phone somewhere, but Ian rarely did.
Beau’s eyes went wide behind Amy as if offering an apology. “We were on our way to have supper when Amy heard that her dad had been here, and she insisted on seeing you.”
“Wine time!” Ian declared.
And everyone called out, “Yes!”
I insisted Amy and Beau sit while Ian saw to the wine, and I quickly got together corn chips, homemade salsa, and freshly made guacamole dip, having made it earlier to share with Ian later.
The four of us were soon gathered in the living room, Beau and Amy on the sofa and Ian and me comfortable on several pillows on the floor while Mo and Roxie stretched out by the fire Ian had revived.
Beau was already pouring Amy a second glass of Sauvignon Blanc when I started on my first glass of Pinot Noir.
“My father had no right bothering you, Pepper,” Amy said.
“No worries, Amy. I set him straight. He knows I’ll protect you from him no matter what. I doubt he’ll waste time again trying to convince me he’s here to make amends. I made it clear how I felt about him.”
“I should tell him to leave,” Amy said, taking the chip with guacamole on it from Beau.
“You know you don’t want to do that,” I said, though I would have preferred otherwise, but I recalled how my dad said she’d regret it if she didn’t. “You need closure and the only way you’ll get it is to talk with your dad.”
“I have to agree with Pepper,” Beau said. “I think it’s the wise thing to do, but not alone.”
“I agree as well,” Ian said joining in and making it unanimous.
Amy reached beside her and took Beau’s hand, and I don’t think she even realized she’d done so.
“His sudden appearance has me so twisted. I’ve never felt so confused in my life,” Amy said.
“You’ve felt this way before,” I reminded, remembering it clearly. “It was when you realized your dad wasn’t coming back. And now that he has, he’s got you feeling the same way.”
Amy shook her head. “I’m allowing him to hurt me all over again.”
“No,” I said. “It’s the little girl he left twenty-two years ago that feels the hurt and is confused. The independent woman you’ve become is the one who will demand an explanation and then send him on his way.”
Amy smiled. “You have more confidence in me than I do.”
I laughed. “Right back at you since you have more confidence in me than I do.”
“I don’t know, I have confidence in myself. What about you, Ian?” Beau asked jokingly.
Amy jabbed him playfully with her elbow and laughed. “Men, they don’t have a clue.”
“You’re right about that, but any clue you could give me into a woman’s mind, and I’ll gladly take it,” Beau said and raised his brow in anticipation.
“I second that,” Ian said.
“I’m a woman and I don’t always understand what goes on in my mind,” I admitted.
“That settles it,” Beau announced and raised his wine glass. “We’ll all be confused together.”
The rest of us raised our glasses in agreement.
“Anything new with the murder case?” Beau asked.
“Nothing major,” I said. “The bones have to be positively identified and the interviews back then repeated with possibly some new people of interest thrown in.” I smiled at Amy. “Josh doesn’t think I’ll be able to solve it, but he wouldn’t bet on it with me.”
“Wise man,” Amy said with a chuckle.
We all tossed around some possible scenarios.
“I got one,” Amy said.
I was glad to see she got her mind off her dad, at least for a while, and eagerly urged, “Share.”
“Principal Hugh Summit killed him. He was fed up with Travis’s bursts of anger at the school, he confronted him and in a fit of anger killed him. Rita caught him burying the body and he had to kill her too, but he didn’t have time to bury her.”