For Whom the Minivan Rolls: An Aaron Tucker Mystery - By Jeffrey Cohen Page 0,91
He looked up. “Your printing is getting much better.”
I walked out as he was shaking his head at his unexpected good fortune.
Chapter 26
“Are you really sure this is the best way?” Abigail asked. “I don’t like it.”
“I’m not nuts about it myself,” I admitted. “But as far as I can see, it’s the only way. Besides, I’ve already spent the day irritating people.”
“As only you can.”
I ignored her. “And the die is cast.”
She doesn’t often look at me the way I look at her: a little dewy-eyed, smiling wistfully. So when I caught that expression across the kitchen table, I knew what she was thinking.
“Relax. This isn’t the last time you’ll ever see me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure I’m sure. Unless you get hit by a bus on the way to Mahoney’s house,” I said, although I wasn’t the least bit sure of anything these days. Since yesterday, I’d followed an attorney and threatened him physically, been given a magical mystery tour through marriages, annulments, wife-swapping, child-swapping, and for all I knew, dog-swapping (although I hadn’t seen a dog at either house), I’d yelled at a murder suspect, I tried to blackmail a couple of political wannabes out of a half a million dollars, and I figured out that my son had cursed himself on our own sidewalk. This kind of stuff tends to shake one’s belief system just a tad.
Abigail stood. “It’s necessary for us to go to Jeff and Susan’s? We could all just stay upstairs. . . If somebody comes, it’d be easier for us to call. . .”
I walked over to her and put my hands on her shoulders. “Abby,” I said, “I’ll be fine. But I won’t be fine if I have to worry about you and the kids while I’m doing this. Go to Mahoney’s. I know you’ll be safe there, and I won’t have to think about that part of it.”
She gave me a long kiss, which is also somewhat unusual in the middle of the kitchen. Behind us, I suddenly heard Ethan going “woowoo.” That’s my boy. Abby broke off the kiss and looked around at him. Since our talk upstairs, Ethan had been a model citizen, and Abby, though a little suspicious, had decided, I think, not to question his good behavior. Leah sidled up next to Ethan, her shoes already on.
“You ready to go?” Abigail said.
“Yeah!” Leah cried. “Dinner at Uncle Mahoney’s house!” Ethan smiled and shook his head at his sister’s enthusiasm. He hadn’t gotten that jazzed up about anything since Keenan and Kel had starred in their very own movie.
“All right, then,” said my wife. “Let’s get going.” She gave me what I’m sure she’d refer to as “one last look,” and shepherded the kids toward the front door. I followed.
Leah looked up, a puzzled look on her face. “You’re not coming, Daddy?”
“Not this time, Puss. I have to work. But I’ll see you later.” Leah made her “disappointed” face, sticking her lower lip out, and I laughed in spite of myself. I made her give me an extra-long hug. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Then she turned and walked out to beat Ethan to the “good” seat in the car.
Ethan stopped at the door, too, perhaps sensing something unusual in how Abby and I were looking at each other. You never know what Ethan’s taking in, and what he’s not. “See you later, Dad,” he said, with a conspiratorial smile on his face. Then he came over and gave me a hug, which isn’t unheard of, but is also not terribly common. Either he was grateful I hadn’t grounded him or he knew something was up. I stroked his hair for a moment, and then he was out the door, too.
Abby was doing her best to look normal. She looked around for her keys, found them on the kitchen counter, and picked up her purse from the foot of the living room stairs. “Okay, then,” she said. I stopped her before she reached for the door and gave her a long, serious kiss. When I finally let go, she had that look in her eye again.
“That was for luck,” I said.
“I hope you don’t need luck.”
“Who knows? Maybe nobody will show up at all,” I said, knowing she wasn’t buying that for a second.
“I dunno,” Abby said. “You are awfully good at pissing people off when you want to. The right one, whichever it is, will probably come by. Do you know which one is coming?”