The Territory A Novel - By Tricia Fields Page 0,48
have this conversation streetside,” said Josie. “I explained that I have plans I can’t cancel. If you want to meet for lunch, stop by here tomorrow around noon and we can get a bite to eat.” She pulled a business card out of her front shirt pocket and handed it to her. “Just call first in case I’m out on a call.”
“Well, don’t let me hold you back, darlin’.” She turned from Josie and walked away, one hand in the air, the other on her hip. “It won’t take me nothing to find myself some entertainment tonight.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Josie had left her front door open and was hurrying to the bedroom. She threw her clothes, bulletproof vest, holster, and gun into a heap on her closet floor before jumping into a cool shower. She left her hair in a clip but soaped up, rinsed the day down the drain, and toweled off before stepping out.
“Josie?”
She smiled. His voice was coming from just outside the bathroom, in her bedroom.
“Five minutes, then I’ll get supper going,” she called. “There’s some cheese in the fridge if you’re starved.”
Josie swiped on concealer to cover up the dark circles under her eyes, brushed her teeth, and dressed in an ancient pair of Levi’s and a gauzy sleeveless white shirt that hung loose over her thin body. She took her damp hair down, brushed it, and pulled it back up into the clip. She found Dillon propped against the couch on the living room floor with her hound dog’s head in his lap.
“Chester missed me.”
Dillon smiled up at her with his sad eyes, and Josie’s chest tightened at the sight of him. She realized she had almost lost him. She let out a long slow breath and forced herself to relax into the moment.
She sat beside Dillon and stretched her legs out next to his. “I’m sorry about dinner. I don’t even have the bottle of wine.”
He reached around the dog and sat a grocery sack on his lap. “I have you covered.” He pulled out a six-pack of Killian’s Red and a plastic bag with whole avocados, red onions, lemons, and other ingredients she knew would turn into the best fresh guacamole in Texas.
“I heard you could use a smile,” he said.
“Oh, yeah?”
“As I was leaving work tonight, Otto stopped by. He said the Queen Mother made an appearance at the department. He also said if I wanted to eat tonight, I’d better bring my own food.”
Josie shook her head, not sure if she should be angry with Otto or touched that he had intervened in her behalf.
“Don’t be mad at him. I asked the questions. He just told the truth.”
“That would be Otto.”
“How long is your mom staying?”
She shrugged. “I talked with her all of two minutes.”
He stood, extended his arms out to her, and pulled her up to stand in front of him. “Let’s eat. Forget work. Tell me about your life the past six months. We’ll talk about Red and the Queen later.”
* * *
After he mixed up a batch of guacamole in the kitchen, Josie turned up the stereo to the best of Creedence Clearwater Revival and led Dillon to the back porch. She and her neighbor, Dell, had recently built a pergola out of local wood he had dried and cured in his barn. Four large posts supported eight-foot-long limbs that stretched across the frame to make a roof to shade the area from the harsh afternoon sun.
“This is nice,” he said, looking at the handiwork. “Dell build this?”
She nodded and rubbed her fingers along one of the smooth wood posts. “He’s proud of the roof. It’s hard to find a straight eight-foot length of wood out here that’s native.” She flipped a switch located by the sliding door, and a fine mist sprayed from a line that ran the length of the porch. The air cooled by ten degrees almost instantly.
Dillon sat the guacamole and chips on the redwood picnic table. “You’re moving up in the world.”
They ate side by side, facing several hundred acres of Dell’s ranch land that ran a gentle grade up into the Chimiso Mountains. Josie pointed out two red-tailed hawks, and Dillon smiled as one of them screeched, then swooped down to the ground, most likely for a field mouse. The muted browns and grays of the scrub that dominated West Texas spread across the land behind her home, but the mountains were streaked with red and copper that intensified with