Crazy Heifer (The Valentine Boys 2)

Desi’s eyes went wide. “I don’t want to do that by myself!”

“Why?” Malloy asked. “It’s easy.”

“But what if it goes off when I’m not paying attention?” she asked. “And then the police have to come out?”

“Then the police come out,” I snorted. “But they’re not going to come out. They’re going to stay at the station. You’re going to change the alarm on your own. Easy peasy.”

Desi shook her head, then looked at Malloy. “Since you’re buying it, maybe we should just do the switch today.”

“What switch?” Malloy asked. “And you can stay here until you find something else.”

She was already shaking her head. “No. That’s a terrible idea. Mal’s going to come by here once a day until he either gets what he wants or succeeds in making me move out. I’m not doing it.”

“I’m guessing that me changing the locks is not going to help?” I asked curiously.

“No,” Malloy shook his head. “It will. He won’t be able to drive up here, and once he does the walking bit once or twice, he’s not going to want to do it anymore. The locks being changed will be a good thing. I’ll help her with the alarm after you leave. But she’s staying. He’ll get over it.”

“I’m going to rent an apartment in town tomorrow,” Desi blurted.

“He’ll just visit you there,” Malloy said. “And be happy that he’s driven you from your house. What you need is to stay somewhere where you can’t be found, if that’s what you’re aiming for. The pool house…”

Desi was already shaking her head.

“That’s not going to happen,” she immediately disagreed. “That’s where I found him and Margie…”

“Goddammit,” Malloy growled. “I’m sorry.”

My brows went up.

“I went over to his dad’s place, looking for him one day,” Desi explained at seeing my confusion. “I found him and Margie in the pool house. After I found his clothes outside.”

Malloy winced.

“Then if not there, where?” Malloy asked. “And the sale of this house will take weeks. There’s no reason in the world you can’t just stay here… how about you humor a dying man.”

Desi’s eyes filled with tears.

“That was low,” she said, sounding sick to her stomach.

“I want you to be safe,” he said. “I want to make sure that you’re in a nice place and Mal can’t touch you after I’m gone. Because once I’m not here to corral him and keep him in line, he’s going to be hell on wheels.”

“It’s time for him to grow up,” Desi suggested.

“Well,” I hesitated. “We have an old house that’s on our land.” I paused. “You’ll have to have an SUV to get to it, though. The place is nothing special. One bedroom, one bath. Fairly decent size kitchen, but I’m not sure it’s going to be big enough for you to do cakes in.”

Desi’s eyes went wide.

“You’d let me stay in a cabin on your property to get away from Mal?” she asked.

I shrugged. “My brother mentioned Codie staying in it, but I’m fairly sure he’d rather her just move in with him. I’ll talk to him about it.”

“I’d still need an SUV. And a place to cook these cakes that I have to…”

Malloy cleared his throat.

“About that,” he hesitated. “Now don’t be mad, but that place you were checking out a month ago? That storefront? I… bought it.”

Desi’s eyes bugged out. “You what?”

“Bought it,” he repeated.

“What?!” she screeched. “Why?”

“I’ve known about the cancer for two months,” he said softly. “When you asked me to come look at it with you, I knew that it had to be yours. I… honey, all of this money will do me no good when I’m dead and in a grave. I wanted to buy it for you. I did buy it for you.”

Desi swallowed hard and looked like she would burst into tears at any moment.

I escaped while I could.

When I came back, the kitchen was tense and silent. Desi was furiously stirring batter in a large mixing bowl. Malloy was watching her with an amused smile on his face.

“Oh, good.” He grinned. “You’re back. Now we can tell you what we decided.”

Desi outright glared at Malloy, which caused my mouth to twitch into a small grin. A small grin that quickly wiped off my face when she turned to me.

I blinked innocently at her, and she narrowed her eyes, as if she knew what I was thinking.

She probably had no clue.

Her confidence level was non-existent.

But if I could tell her exactly what I was feeling, and have her believe it, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

“After talking this out, we decided that she’d sell. Move into your little cabin for the time being, allow me to find her a house in town, and also use the new storefront to cook her cakes in.” Malloy clapped.

I glanced at Desi to see her scowling hard.