Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery) (26 page)

“Don’t
look now but here comes Jake,” said Esme.

Jake
stopped by Fiona’s side. “Are these ladies bothering you?” asked Jake,
addressing Fiona.

“No. They
are excellent conversationalists and first rate gossips.”

“Myself,
I wouldn’t believe a word they say. Better be careful.”

She smiled.
“I’m always careful.”

That
declaration set Rosemary and Esme into gales of laughter. Fiona found she liked
teasing with them. It didn’t take much to amuse these gals.

“If
you’re afraid,” Jake said, “I’ll be glad to walk you up the knoll to your new
home when you are ready to leave. But you won’t want to leave yet. The dancing
should start soon.”

Rosemary
and Esme grinned.

“You are brave, Fiona, staying up there by
yourself,” Rosemary said. “I think you should take Jake up on his offer. Remember
what we told you.”

Fiona
smiled. “You gals can come visit me and the ghosts anytime.”

* * * * *

Jake
liked the feel of Fiona in his arms. It had been too long. As a matter of fact,
the times he had held her in his arms he could count on one hand. He had waited
long enough for her to decide to come out here. She sure had a mind of her own.

They
moved easily around Opal’s huge living room. They had pushed the furniture to
the walls when the dancing began. That was two hours ago. Fiona had caught on
to the two-step fast, but then again she had a natural grace about her that he
found only too attractive. He wanted to monopolize her, but other gents were
always butting in, especially Hoover.
Not that he didn’t like
Hoover.
He was an old friend. But he was feeling a little threatened
with all the attention to Fiona, and he contemplated taking Hoover aside and
telling him to butt out. Not that he had any claims on Fiona, and therein laid
his hesitation.

He wondered
if Fiona were enjoying herself. He sure was now that she was finally in his
arms. How he was going to get her into his bed was another matter. So far she
had managed to repel all his suggestions and advances. Maybe he should just
throw her over his shoulder and waltz her off to his room.

“Who’s
that woman dancing with Hoover?” Fiona asked as they circled the floor.

There
was a good crowd on the dance floor with sparse groups of people on the
sidelines huddled in conversation.

“Where?”
asked Jake, looking over his shoulder in the direction of Fiona’s gaze. He frowned.
“That’s Suzie Parker.” He turned them in another direction and headed away from
Suzie and Hoover.

“She
keeps looking over here.”

“Let
her look. No harm in that.”

“I
heard she’s your girlfriend.”

Jake
missed his footing and stumbled but quickly recovered and kept them turning
around the floor. “She’s not my girlfriend. Where’d you hear that? Don’t tell
me.
Rosemary and Esme.”

Fiona
smiled. “You never mentioned anything about her.”

“Wasn’t
anything to mention.” He looked into Fiona’s beautiful, dark eyes. Was she
teasing him or could it be possible that she was a little bit jealous? “Besides,
when did we ever talk about anything personal back in Virginia? We were always
chasing or running from someone.”

She
smiled again, one of those soft, sexy smiles. Was she flirting with him or
wasn’t she?

 
“That’s true,” she said. “I’m just giving you
a bad time, Jake.
Just a little fun.
She is pretty
though. I could understand you’d be interested in such a lovely little thing.”

The
dance ended, and Jake reluctantly released his hold on Fiona. “You’re the one
I’m interested in. I like tall, willowy women.” He held her gaze. She didn’t say
anymore, and those mysterious eyes said even less.

“I
could use something to drink,” she said, breaking the spell he thought was
beginning to weave around them.

“I bet
you want wine.”

She
smiled.

“Okay,
let’s scare some up.”

He
pulled her toward the kitchen where he figured Opal might have a few bottles
sitting out. This was a beer and whiskey crowd, but Opal was always
accommodating. In the kitchen, which was rather an understatement as it ran
half the length of the house and included the long dining table where the
picnic had been laid out, some partiers sat at one end of the table talking.
There was a pinochle game going on at the other end. Opal and some of the other
ladies, mostly nieces leaned against the island counter.

“Got
any wine for Fiona?” he asked Opal.

“Sure
do. There’s a bottle of red and a bottle of white down at the end of the
counter.
Should be glasses there, too.”
She indicated
with a point of her chin.

“Are
you having a good time, Fiona?” she asked.

“The best.
Everyone’s been very nice.”

“Of
course,” Opal said. “We’re nice folk all around. You got yourself a nice dance
partner there, too. You help yourself to the wine.”

Opal
had been encouraging Jake and Fiona to hook up since they met in Virginia. He
appreciated her encouragement, but it didn’t seem to be working with the
unfathomable Ms. Marlowe.

“Red
wine?” said Jake, holding up a bottle of Oregon’s finest. Fiona nodded, and he
tipped a good pour into a gigantic wine glass painted with sunflowers.

“Nice
touch, the sunflowers,” said Fiona, taking a sip from the glass.

“A local
artist does those for wine tastings. Opal collects them.”

“I
didn’t know Opal was a connoisseur of wine.”

“She’s
not, but she’s not opposed. She’ll lift a glass every now and again but her
drink is whisky. She swears by a pour on her cereal in the morning.”

“She
doesn’t.”

Jake
laughed. “I’m kidding. But she does like her whiskey.”

“She’s
an amazing woman, given her age.”

“Her mind’s
pretty good, too. Although she seems to be slipping since Albert died. I hope she
has everything in order. I’d hate to be the one to unravel the holdings of this
ranch.”

Out of
nowhere, Suzie came up to them and slipped her arm through Jake’s. “I thought
you’d never get off that dance floor, Jake, honey. “ She smiled at Fiona. “I’m Suzie
Parker. I understand you’re the new girl in town.”

“I
guess. My name’s Fiona.”

Suzie’s
smile was one of her weaker efforts. “Opal says you’re going to remodel her
house.”

“That’s
the plan, if Opal will ever sit still so we can discuss what she wants done.
I’m a designer not a remodeler. I do the design, someone else does the work.”

Jake
shrugged out of Suzie’s grip. “Let’s walk outside, Fiona. It’s a pretty night.”

“I’ll
join you,” said Suzie.

“You
two go on,” said Fiona. “I need to take a trip to the powder room. Catch up
with you later.”

Jake
watched the love of his life walk away and sighed.

“Such a
big sigh,” said Suzie. “She’s tall, isn’t she? How about we take in that pretty
night, big guy? I haven’t had a chance to talk to you in a while. Have you been
avoiding me?”

* * * * *

Opal
watched the interplay between Jake, Suzie and Fiona. She didn’t dislike Suzie.
She’d known her all her life. But she was a real man hog and that got tiresome.
Her nieces had a lot to say about Suzie stealing boyfriends if given half a
chance. The girl must have some psychological deficiency that was beyond Opal’s
ability to understand.

The
nieces, who were from Henry’s side of the family, were chattering on, something
about Suzie. But Opal’s mind couldn’t stay interested. Lately, she’d been
forgetting things. Even she noticed, let alone the people who told her about
it. She had
a weariness
in her bones she couldn’t
shake. She should get her will updated, get things tidied up legally. She
wasn’t getting any younger. But she had no children, and Henry had long since
passed away. All the nieces and nephews on Henry’s side were waiting to fight
over the place and tear it to pieces. She wished she had someone to leave the
whole operation to who would keep it intact, run a good ranch,
keep
up what she had worked so hard to build.
 
She had been thinking a lot lately about Jake
taking it over. He could run the ranch. He loved it like she did. But he wasn’t
kin, and she knew the nieces and nephews wouldn’t stand for it. So she kept
putting off and putting off what she knew had to be done. She loved her
relations, but, Lord, they could be a trial.

“What’s
got you so worried?” asked Tillie, one of the more aggravating of the nieces.

“I’ve been
thinking about the ranch is all,” said Opal. To change the subject, she said,
“Why aren’t you dancing with your hubby?”

“You
know perfectly well why I’m not. Damn fool is drunk again.”

“What
about Roy?”

“What
about him?”

“Are you
still seeing him on the side?”

She
shrugged.
“When I get a chance.
I got to have some good
time in my life.”

Tillie
was tall, thin, and smoked too much. She could use the money she’d get when
Opal was gone, if the ranch were sold off and the proceeds split among the
relations. At least, her relations were still talking to her. Sometimes they
didn’t talk to each other. Tillie was smart, but her life was hard. Ranch life
was always hard. As Henry used to say, “I’ve been a gambler all my life. I’m a
rancher.”

The
climate in Harney Valley was harsh and unpredictable. The high altitude made
for a short growing season. Some ranchers were owned by the banks, and beef and
hay prices were often too low when selling or too high when buying or feeding.
It was a rare breed that stayed with ranching full time. The family ranch was a
dying institution. That’s what worried Opal. The younger ones didn’t seem to
have the grit it took anymore to make a go of ranching. They moved away to the
city looking for the jobs this small community couldn’t provide.

Tillie
said, “Where’d you go, Aunt Opal?
 
You
seem to get lost more and more these days.”

Opal
frowned. “You notice, too. I worry even myself.”

“You
shouldn’t be throwing big wing dings like this,” said Tillie. “You’re getting
up there. You need to take it easy. Retire. Get some of the nephews to run
things around here.”

There’s
the problem, thought Opal. “Who would you suggest out of all the nephews? They
have jobs and their own problems or their own ranches to run.”

Tillie
shook her head. “You’re right about that. I wish my Howie was better suited but
he likes the bottle better than anything else.”

* * * * *

Fiona
took her glass of wine, walked out the open front door, and stood on the
covered porch, breathing the cool night air. She took a careful sip of wine. Should
she be jealous of Suzie? She knew she was leading Jake on maybe a little. It
was obvious how he felt. But she wasn’t sure she was ready to jump back into a
one-on-one, not after her disastrous relationship with Rob Calloway. In hindsight
it was sheer stupidity to get carried away with Rob, but at the time her
hormones were spiraling out of control and had taken up residence in her brain.
That was long ago and far away, or so it seemed now. But she still had a hollow
feeling where her heart was, which made her dance away from commitment. Maybe she
wasn’t the settling down kind. There were so many people yet to meet, places to
go, experiences to live.

She
sighed. Things were not going as she had envisioned. The bunk house was a mess.
Opal was stalling on the house re-design. Maybe she didn’t have the money. Maybe
it had been a fabrication to lure her out here. Maybe Jake had pressured Opal
to get her to come. There were too many maybes. This country had its
attractions though. She liked the big, wide openness of it. She should explore
and enjoy it while she could. And what about those murders?

She
went back inside, drawn by the sound of music starting again. An ensemble of
guitar players and fiddlers had struck up a tune. This one had a loping cadence
which put her in mind of the old west and a cowboy meandering along a dusty
trail. It fit this country. Couples did the two-step around the dance floor. She
stopped in her tracks when she saw who was singing. Jake. Jake Manyhorses was
strumming a guitar and singing in a mellow, baritone voice. Something about his
easy stance and the way he closed his eyes when he came to the chorus told her a
lot about this man. He had passion, a passion for life and living it that she had
seldom seen in anyone. She watched, mesmerized. The two other guitar players
harmonized at the chorus. A stand up bass kept the beat, and the fiddler played
a solo. When the song was over she clapped along with the others.

Jake
looked her way and winked. The group played a few more songs, one a lively instrumental
that featured Jake finger picking the guitar. Fiona had no idea the man had
such musical talent.

When
the set was over he walked over to her.

“I’m
very impressed,” she said with a smile framing the words.

“At last.”
He grinned like a happy puppy.

“No, really.
You sounded great. Where did you learn to play
and sing like that?”

He
shrugged. “I’ve been around musicians all my life. That’s what you do when you
don’t have TV or other stuff. You sit around with your buddies and play songs.
I fill in sometimes with the worship team at church.

“You go
to church?”

He
laughed. “Sure, doesn’t everyone? I don’t go very often. It’s too hard to get
away from ranching.” He shrugged. “I enjoy playing gospel hymns.”

“I’m
learning a lot of things about you that I didn’t know before.”