Nice Buns (Cheap Thrills 7)

Leaning on the fence, DB looked over his shoulder at me. With the light coming from Evie’s house and the lights in her backyard, I could make out his expression perfectly.

“If you don’t ask her out soon, someone else is going to see how special she is and sweep her up. You need to move quickly.”

Keeping my expression blank, I said nothing back, leaving the silence between us to drag out until he gave up.

Blowing out a breath, he looked back at his wife. “Is it just me, or was that one of the weirdest conversations ever?”

Oh, if only he knew.

So I decided to educate him on how weird it got.

“Evie adopted eight chickens because she felt sorry for them. Her dad and Roque built that chicken coop in two days from scratch for them all. Now she has chickens called Bob Ross, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Cher, and Weird Al.”

He straightened up and leaned over so he could see the wood and wire monstrosity at the back of her yard. It wasn’t actually an atrocity, it was just totally over the top for eight chickens.

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

Eyes still on the coop, he asked, “They built that in two days?” At my nod, he shook his head. “It’s huge.”

“I know.”

Frowning, he thought about what I’d just told him. “That’s only five chickens’ names. Did she lose any?”

“Nah,” Evie shouted, obviously having overheard the conversation. “I just couldn’t decide on names for the others. One keeps trying to escape, though, so I’m going to call him El Chapo.”

There was a loud gasp, and one of the women put her hand over Evie’s mouth.

“Sorry, Officers. She was only kidding.” Then, glaring down at Evie, she snapped, “You can’t say that name around the fuzz. It’s a sensitive subject.”

“Not for us, it isn’t,” DB called. “Call it El Chapo.”

Pulling away from her friend’s hand and sticking her tongue out at her, Evie tried to get up from her position on the trampoline and failed. Every time she got to her feet, she’d lose her balance and fall back onto her ass. After six attempts, she gave up and laid on top of it instead.

“I just need two more names.” She held up her hand with her fingers spread, like she was counting out five instead of two.

“Jesus, these guys are wasted,” DB snickered. “Jose has Sheena for the night because she wanted to play with Liv and see baby Jack. I’m thinking that’s probably a good thing because her momma’s gonna be feeling shitty in the morning.”

Just a mention of my granddaughter made me smile. I loved that girl as much as I loved her daddy. Joined with Tabby, they were my whole world.

“I’ll come and see her tomorrow afternoon and spend some time with her.”

Looking over his shoulder at me again, he chuckled, “You might be busy with Ms. Evie.”

He wasn’t wrong there. There was no way I’d leave her on her own in this condition in case she hurt herself, but I wasn’t going to admit that to him.

“Know what, Dad? You deserve happiness more than anyone I know. You gave up a huge chunk of your life on that case with Luli, and you gave up your happiness. Don’t you think you’re due a good woman and a happy life now?”

“I am happy. I’ve got you, my beautiful grandbaby who makes me smile just by breathing, and Tabby.”

Straightening up, he turned to face me and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s all fair and well, but you deserve to go home at night to a home, not just a house. I know you’ve got Bernice, but that’s not a life, it’s an existence. Moving here was meant to be the beginning of your life starting over, but you’re not allowing it to happen.”

Gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb, he added, “I reckon Evie would fill that space that’s been empty since we lost Mom. And you can’t deny it, she’d definitely make life interesting, and that’s what you used to enjoy.”

He was right. After we lost Lisa, I’d made sure life was full of excitement and good times so that DB never felt like he was missing anything. That was how I preferred things to be, full of laughter and fun. I’d given it all up almost eight years ago when I’d agreed to go undercover.

I’d given him up, too. It might have been for his own good, but still.

Knowing he’d just keep going on about it until I gave in, I smiled at him. “I’ll think about it. Now, are you going to take your beautiful wife home? I think she’s asleep.”

Sure enough, when DB looked back at Tabby, she was spooning Evie on the trampoline.

Sighing, he jumped over the fence and moved over to where the other two women were standing laughing at the other two.