One Foot in the Grave - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,47
drawl. “I’ll be sure to give it some thought.”
Sasha’s bottom lip stuck out. “You can’t just tell me now?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Nah, I need to think it over a bit.”
“If you think you have to ask Carly if it’s okay, she’s given us her blessing. She even said she’d try to get Max to help us.”
That wasn’t exactly how things had gone down, but his eyes lit up. “Did she now?”
“How long have you two been a thing?” Sasha asked. I could practically hear what she wasn’t saying: And how long until you’ll be movin’ on? Because I’d like to submit my application.
Or maybe my imagination was getting away from me. She didn’t look overly flirty.
Marco looked like he was about to burst out into laughter.
Before he could correct her about our relationship, I said, “I told her you were taken.”
If possible, his smile spread even wider. “So you’re ready to share us with the world now?”
“You’ve been keepin’ your relationship with this man a secret?” Abby asked behind me. “Why?”
“I can’t say that I blame her,” Marco said. “I do have a reputation for cycling through the ladies, but I don’t plan on ending things with Carly anytime soon, so she and I will need to have a discussion about me posin’ for anything.”
I stared at him in shock, then quickly realized he was backing up my story. “I wanted to make sure he stuck.”
He gave me a sweet smile. “I’m good and stuck.”
This was getting cheesy quick, so I walked around to the passenger door and got in.
Marco started the engine.
“I’ll be sure to get back to you…?” His voice rose at the end.
“Sasha,” she said. “You can call me here at the clinic. Or stop by.” She batted her eyelashes.
“Will do, Sasha,” Marco said as he rolled up the window. When he backed out, Sasha was still standing there, waggling her fingers, but Abby had headed back inside.
Marco headed toward Drum.
“So you told them we were a couple?” he asked with a grin.
I nearly told him I’d only done it because they’d wanted him to pose half naked, but I didn’t want to lie, especially after his proclamation that he wouldn’t lie to me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You know word’s gonna spread,” he said.
I felt my cheeks burning. “Feel free to tell people we broke up. In fact, I can spread the word tonight at the tavern. I’d hate to put a damper on your love life.”
“I haven’t been out with anyone in months,” he said. “No damper.”
Months. I’d noticed this last month or so, but I hadn’t realized it had been that long.
“Why not?” I asked, scared to hear the answer.
“Dunno. I guess I’ve cycled through everyone.” He shot me a grin, having used the phrase he’d used with Sasha.
“You haven’t cycled through Sasha or Abby.”
“I’m runnin’ out of women,” he said with a chuckle. “I decided to pace myself.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror. “Looks like Wyatt’s back.”
“Oh, he never left. He drove past the clinic, then turned around and parked down the road.”
I shook my head.
“Did Mitzi agree to meet with you?”
“Yeah. I got her address and phone number. As soon as you drop me off at my car, I’m going to head to Ewing to meet with her.”
“And where will you go after that?”
“I’ll have some time to kill, so I might stop by the nursing home.”
He flashed me a smile. “You bringin’ Gladys another puzzle?”
“Maybe.”
I’d met Gladys in December, on a visit to Greta’s grandma, Thelma, at the Greener Pastures nursing home. Gladys had given me and Marco information about one of the nursing home’s employees. I’d taken to visiting both of them whenever I was in Ewing, but today I had an ulterior motive. Today I planned to finally ask Thelma—who seemed to know a lot about the happenings in Drum decades before—what she knew about Heather.
“Tell her I said hello.”
“I will.”
As he crossed the bridge over the creek into town, he said quietly, “You said you had time to kill. That means you’re plannin’ to see Emily Drummond, doesn’t it?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yeah.”
“Please be careful, Carly. And call me as soon as you get to the tavern. Since I’ll be out on patrol, I likely won’t get the call, but I’ll check my messages as soon as I get to a spot with cell reception.”
“Okay.”
He was silent as he pulled into a parking spot a few spaces from my car. “You must be