just saying that for the free skeet lessons.” She smiled.
He smiled back. “Don’t forget the reloading.”
The tears surprised her. She didn’t fight him when he gathered her close for a comforting, brotherly hug.
After a moment, with his arm still draped around her shoulders, they continued through the cemetery until they reached her grave.
She unwrapped the flowers and knelt down, tucking them into a small vase built into the gravestone. As she sat back on her heels she rested her hands on her knees and took a deep breath. She knew her mother’s spirit wasn’t buried in the ground beneath her. The marker simply indicated the final resting place of her bones.
Countless nights, she’d lain awake and thought about what she’d say if she ever got a chance to come back here. Now, she had it, and every idea had flown from her mind.
Across the cemetery, a flutter of movement caught her attention. A flock of doves took flight, landing in a nearby tree, a sea of brown and tan and black.
Save one.
One red male cardinal.
She clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle the sob. “Thanks, Mom,” she whispered when she trusted her voice again. “I love you, too.”
* * * *
They were somewhere west of St. Louis when she finally found the guts to broach the subject. “You and Tarzan,” she said without preamble.
Ellis was driving, so he couldn’t take his eyes off the road. “Yeah?”
“I mean…how is that working? Are you guys jealous?”
“Not that I mind discussing this with you, but can I get a little context as to why we’re discussing it now?”
“You won’t understand.”
“Uh, I saw a lot of weird shit happen that helped keep you and Mandaline from getting killed. Needless to say, I’m far more open-minded on the topic than I was before I met you and Mandaline, so try me.”
She admitted about seeing the auras, about John and Oscar. And what Mandaline had done by putting her in charge of the investigation, forcing her into more close contact with the two men.
He slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Not going to bust my balls about this?”
He smiled. “No more than usual. But she’s right that you should take a chance.”
“So back to my question.”
“Well, I can’t answer for anyone but myself and Brad. We’ve been friends a lot of years. Since we were kids. Like brothers. I was always more worried about finding a woman who would accept my relationship with Brad. It was a good kind of shock to find a woman who fell for both of us, and we fell for her.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m getting there. Give me a minute. I think if your senses are right, and it leads to something between all three of you, it will depend on how close the men are. If they’ve been friends for years, they might be okay with it. If not, maybe not so much.”
“You’re not jealous of Brad?”
“No. He’s the happiest he’s been in years, and he’s been through a shit-ton of crap. He’s lucky to be alive. I’m the happiest I’ve been in my whole life. I’m not saying life’s perfect, but we sit down and talk and we each get our private time when we need it, and it just keeps working. I wanted it to work more than I wanted it to fail. Isn’t that what you guys kept telling me, that I needed to manifest it or whatever? So I do that. I focus on it succeeding.”
“Ah, that’s the lawyer I know and adore. Using my own words against me.”
“Okay, so think about this. What’s the best-case scenario? They both like you, you like both of them, and they both say yes they’re okay with a triad. Bonus for you. What’s the worst-case scenario? That either they don’t like you, or you don’t like them, and you walk away from it. Anything in the middle of those two extremes isn’t bad, either, you know. Like maybe clicking with one and not the other.”
“Settling?”
“Maybe you’re seeing available guys, not just those two.”
“I haven’t seen any other guys,
He smiled back. “Don’t forget the reloading.”
The tears surprised her. She didn’t fight him when he gathered her close for a comforting, brotherly hug.
After a moment, with his arm still draped around her shoulders, they continued through the cemetery until they reached her grave.
She unwrapped the flowers and knelt down, tucking them into a small vase built into the gravestone. As she sat back on her heels she rested her hands on her knees and took a deep breath. She knew her mother’s spirit wasn’t buried in the ground beneath her. The marker simply indicated the final resting place of her bones.
Countless nights, she’d lain awake and thought about what she’d say if she ever got a chance to come back here. Now, she had it, and every idea had flown from her mind.
Across the cemetery, a flutter of movement caught her attention. A flock of doves took flight, landing in a nearby tree, a sea of brown and tan and black.
Save one.
One red male cardinal.
She clapped a hand to her mouth to stifle the sob. “Thanks, Mom,” she whispered when she trusted her voice again. “I love you, too.”
* * * *
They were somewhere west of St. Louis when she finally found the guts to broach the subject. “You and Tarzan,” she said without preamble.
Ellis was driving, so he couldn’t take his eyes off the road. “Yeah?”
“I mean…how is that working? Are you guys jealous?”
“Not that I mind discussing this with you, but can I get a little context as to why we’re discussing it now?”
“You won’t understand.”
“Uh, I saw a lot of weird shit happen that helped keep you and Mandaline from getting killed. Needless to say, I’m far more open-minded on the topic than I was before I met you and Mandaline, so try me.”
She admitted about seeing the auras, about John and Oscar. And what Mandaline had done by putting her in charge of the investigation, forcing her into more close contact with the two men.
He slowly nodded. “Okay.”
“Not going to bust my balls about this?”
He smiled. “No more than usual. But she’s right that you should take a chance.”
“So back to my question.”
“Well, I can’t answer for anyone but myself and Brad. We’ve been friends a lot of years. Since we were kids. Like brothers. I was always more worried about finding a woman who would accept my relationship with Brad. It was a good kind of shock to find a woman who fell for both of us, and we fell for her.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I’m getting there. Give me a minute. I think if your senses are right, and it leads to something between all three of you, it will depend on how close the men are. If they’ve been friends for years, they might be okay with it. If not, maybe not so much.”
“You’re not jealous of Brad?”
“No. He’s the happiest he’s been in years, and he’s been through a shit-ton of crap. He’s lucky to be alive. I’m the happiest I’ve been in my whole life. I’m not saying life’s perfect, but we sit down and talk and we each get our private time when we need it, and it just keeps working. I wanted it to work more than I wanted it to fail. Isn’t that what you guys kept telling me, that I needed to manifest it or whatever? So I do that. I focus on it succeeding.”
“Ah, that’s the lawyer I know and adore. Using my own words against me.”
“Okay, so think about this. What’s the best-case scenario? They both like you, you like both of them, and they both say yes they’re okay with a triad. Bonus for you. What’s the worst-case scenario? That either they don’t like you, or you don’t like them, and you walk away from it. Anything in the middle of those two extremes isn’t bad, either, you know. Like maybe clicking with one and not the other.”
“Settling?”
“Maybe you’re seeing available guys, not just those two.”
“I haven’t seen any other guys,
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