Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130991 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 655(@200wpm)___ 524(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
“In fairness, they brought us wonderful mineral wealth,” Kosandion said, his eyes hiding a smile.
“I don’t mind that you helped yourself—galaxy knows somebody should have saved them from themselves—but I don’t understand why you left the other two unattended. You should convince them to join you, my dear, by whatever means are necessary. Frame it as a rescue of the Dominion’s dear brothers and sisters. It would help your image and give the military something to do before they get antsy and start dreaming up a coup. Nothing ventured, nothing gained…”
Two kids came down the path and stopped. A girl around fifteen or so and a boy a couple of years younger. Caldenia saw them and fell silent.
“They know,” Kosandion said softly.
She didn’t answer him.
“Would you like to say hello, aunt?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
Kosandion offered her his arm and led the Empress to meet her niece and nephew. I stayed where I was, giving them the privacy they needed.
Nobody was in danger here.
24
When we last left the warm embrace of Gertrude Hunt, Sean departed to put out the latest Dushegub fire and Kosandion and Caldenia had a lovely chat. But the spousal selection marches on, and now Kosandion must date. Mandatory flirting. Ah, the lives of galactic rulers. So eventful. So busy. So tragic.
But life goes on. Let’s check in and see what is happening.
I dragged my hand over my face. “Sean is a werewolf. He is new to this whole innkeeper thing. But you are like me. You were born into this business. You know better.”
Tony didn’t even have the decency to look apologetic. “They are uninjured. No harm is being done to them. They just can’t move.”
On our back lawn, hidden from view by the house, five Dushegubs stood frozen in weird poses, arranged in a picturesque manner. They must have really pissed Sean off because he got Tony to freeze them in place.
“Harm doesn’t have to be physical. It can also be emotional.”
“Dushegubs don’t have emotions. Besides, I think this looks festive. Just view them as holiday decorations.”
“For which holiday?”
“Halloween. It’s only 3 months away.”
Ugh.
Something was happening by the driveway. Something involving raised voices. I concentrated. Marais, standing just inside the boundary. He wouldn’t have stepped on the inn’s grounds unless he wanted to alert us.
“This conversation isn’t over,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
“No worries. They’re not going anywhere.”
I went out of the inn the old-fashioned way, through the front door and down the steps to the driveway. Beast followed me, ever so vigilant.
At the bottom of the driveway Marais stood next to his cruiser. A dark-haired plump woman faced him, her arms crossed over her chest. Her face was in profile, but there was no mistaking that body language.
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t.” Marais didn’t sound convincing.
Uh-oh.
“You said you were going to work. I went by the station, Hector! They told me you were on vacation!”
She sounded really angry.
“I have a side hustle.”
Wrong choice of words.
“You have a side something, alright.”
“It’s a job, Donna.”
“You are a workaholic. In the past three years you took one vacation, and I had to twist your arm to do it. Do you expect me to believe that you voluntarily took vacation time to work another job?”
“As you said, a workaholic…”
“You are parked in front of someone’s house!” She shook her head. “Stop lying to me. How could you do this to me? To us, to our family?”
Marais held his hands up. “It’s not what you think.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore. I thought we were a team. I thought we talked to each other. It was us against the world. Now here you are sneaking around. Lying to me, to our kids, to your job. What happened to you?”
Hector’s marriage was exploding in slow motion in front of me. Someone had to throw themselves on that grenade, and Hector wasn’t going to do it, because deep inside he was still the Officer Marais who promised to keep our secret. He looked desperate.
I started down the driveway.
“I love you very much,” Mrs. Marais said. “But I can’t deal with cheating or lying. I won’t.”
“Donna, please…”
“You know what hurts the most? It’s not even the cheating itself. It’s that you were so unhappy that you looked for comfort with someone else, and I had no idea.” Her voice caught. “You didn’t trust me enough to let me know.”
There was so much hurt in her voice. Ouch.
Marais looked like he wanted to fall through the ground under his feet.
A green Honda passed by, the driver craning his neck to get a better look at what was happening. They were standing right next to Marais’ cruiser. People were conditioned to pay attention to police cars. It was a minor miracle that nobody from the subdivision across the street had shown up to watch the show and film all of this with cell phones. I had to get the two of them off the street.