Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy - Diana Palmer Page 0,129
who had told her he’d been up to check on Bacon, whom he’d taken quite a shine to. She went straight to see the piglet, who immediately climbed into her lap. She held him close, burying her face into his neck, and just breathed him in.
She should have stayed and had things out with Ted, but she hadn’t wanted to disrupt the wedding even more than she already had. Ted deserved to enjoy the day with people he loved and trusted, and she wasn’t sure she was one of those people anymore. She took down Bacon’s leash. She wished she could say she’d overreacted to Ted reading her text, but that wasn’t something she could control because it was so tied up with the person she’d been, and had tried to get past.
When he returned, she’d tell him everything, even though Sharon hadn’t yet gotten back to her. And then they could be friends again, wish each other well, and move on. She swallowed hard. He’d only asked her to be his girlfriend for the wedding after all....
Making sure she had her keys, she took Bacon out for his walk. The town was quieter than usual as almost everyone was still at Morgan Ranch enjoying the wedding. She didn’t see a single soul, which, in her present mood, suited her just fine.
By the time she got back, her face was chilled from the wind and the thought of crawling into bed with a mug of hot chocolate was incredibly appealing. She stomped up the stairs, her boots leaving wet patches of snow on the steps, and unlocked the door to the apartment.
There was a light on in the kitchen she was certain she’d turned off before she’d left. Hugging Bacon to her chest, she eased off her boots and walked through to find Ted sitting at the counter staring right back at her.
“Hey.” He still wasn’t smiling.
“Why aren’t you at the wedding?” Veronica asked.
He shrugged. “This seemed way more important.”
She held Bacon up like an offering. “I’ll just put him into the bathroom and then I’ll be back, okay?”
“I’ll make some coffee.”
She contemplated making a mad dash for the stairs but only for a second. This was Ted, her friend, and whatever else happened between them, Tucker was right. She could rely on him to at least hear her out.
When she got back, he was sitting in one of the chairs and had placed two mugs on the kitchen table in front of him. He gestured at her cup.
“I made you hot chocolate. You always like it when you’re cold.”
“Thank you.” She cradled the cup in her hands as she settled into the chair opposite him, and tried to decide where to begin. “About Leon . . .”
He held up his hand. “You said that didn’t have anything to do with what happened, so why don’t you move on?”
“But—” She took a good look at his face and sighed. “Okay, then I’ll start with Jason. I thought he was dead.”
“What?” He blinked at her.
“As in no longer living, but from what I’ve found out today, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”
“Did you . . . try to kill him?” Ted asked.
Despite the seriousness of the moment, it was such a Ted question that Veronica’s sense of humor surfaced, and she fought a smile.
“What if I did?”
He sat back. “Then you didn’t succeed, and you’re in the clear, right?”
“Doesn’t that worry you at all?”
“Look, I’ve already accepted that you stole his pig, so adding a probably justifiable homicide isn’t that big of a stretch.”
She stared hard at him as his lips twitched.
“You think if I had killed him, he would probably have deserved it?”
He nodded. “I’d still make you turn yourself in, but I suspect you’d get a minimum sentence.”
“You sound like my uncle Victor.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Ted sipped his coffee and then set the mug back down. “What exactly happened to make you think Jason might be dead?”
Veronica let out a relieved breath. Here came the hard part. “As I already told you, I went around to see how Perry and her piglet were doing. I still had my keys so I kind of ended up inside the house.”
“Ended up.” Ted raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“I looked through the back windows. Perry was lying on the floor with the piglet next to her. I thought Perry was dead. I rushed in without thinking or realizing that Jason had taken the day off and was still at home.”