front of his house and greeted me with a warm hug. “I’m so glad to see you.” He was already wearing his red trunks. “But we could always go skinny-dipping,” he joked, well, sort of joked. Maybe there was some wishful thinking going on.
I changed into the bathing suit I kept at his house and we went out into the dark yard. Spike looked at us like we were nuts and climbed up on the leather couch and went to sleep. Mason’s backyard was dotted with little lights and was magical at night. The water was warm from the sun and felt refreshing as we slipped in. For a few minutes we swam back and forth and then hung by the side talking.
I began to tell Mason about my evening. He started laughing when he heard the story about the gun. “I wish I could have seen the detective’s face when you walked in holding the gun with the Pinchy-Winchy. I hope he at least cracked a smile. He’s usually so serious.”
“Don’t worry, he laughed,” I said. “He seems to be loosening up a bit. I think the whole experience of being shot and being off work has affected him. He never would have sat outside drinking tea and talking before. Or if he had, he would have gotten a call in the middle and had to leave.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s probably not permanent,” Mason said.
“I wasn’t thinking about that. We’re done. Once he moves back home, I’ll probably never see him. If nothing else, Detective Heather will make sure of that.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Mason said with a little shiver. “Let’s move over to the whirlpool.” He helped me out of the pool and we walked over to the tub of churning hot water. It was surrounded by jasmine and gardenia plants and the air was filled with fragrance. I noticed that Mason had started rubbing his temple and I asked if he had a headache.
“Yes, and her name is Jaimee,” he said. He climbed into the tub and helped me in. “We’re running out of time. We still don’t have a location for the wedding. She is impossible. Pretty soon, it will end up being a weenie roast at the beach.” He looked at me with a tired smile. “I’d rather hear about your sleuthing.”
I finished the story about the gun and Mason got a good laugh about the episode in North’s trailer.
“Maybe the gun wasn’t the murder weapon, but he’s still lying. Why wouldn’t he admit to knowing Kelly?” I said.
“Just a guess, but it sounds to me as if he’s trying to keep himself from being a suspect. If he doesn’t admit to knowing her, how can he be accused of killing her,” Mason offered.
“Barry’s right. Detective Heather would never check out North based on anything I said. Besides, she still only has eyes for Dan. She ought to check out Nanci’s house. Maybe the murder weapon is there.”
“You should tell her,” Mason said.
“Right,” I said with a laugh. I told him it looked like there was trouble in cutchykins land because Adele’s motor cop boyfriend didn’t want her playing detective. “Good luck on that one, Eric,” I said with a knowing shrug. “Nobody tells Adele what she can’t do. I know that firsthand.”
“I love hearing about your life.” Mason grinned and then pulled his hand out of the water. “I don’t know about you, but I’m turning into a human prune.” We got out of the water, went inside and changed back into our clothes.
“Since you seem to like tea so much,” Mason said when I came back into his den. He gestured toward the elaborate tea setup he had put out. No tea bags for him or grocery store tea. Instead, a cast-iron pot brewing a special oolong tea sat over a warming candle. There were handleless cups from Japan and a plate of bakery cookies. When the tea was brewed, he poured us each a cup and we sat together on the couch.
There was a certain amount of tension, for me, at least, as we sat next to each other. We were two consenting adults, both free and clear, but still something was holding me back from giving myself fully to our togetherness. There was nothing like a little crochet to get past a nervous moment. I rummaged around in the tote bag I was still using for a carryall and pulled out a hook. I went back in for