A Crying Shame: A Jesse Watson Mystery by Ann Mullen Page A

out. I heard the lock click.
    Athena and Thor, mutts that they are, obeyed his command.
They slowly walked back over to their resting place and lay down. They were
content to just be in the same room with me. I could see it in their eyes.
    “They’re such good dogs,” Mom said. “And that little Spice
Cat you made us take home turned out to be the sweetest thing. Actually Spice
Cat isn’t so little anymore. He keeps getting bigger and bigger every day. I
had no idea that a cat could get that big. Claire says he’s a Maine Coon cat.
She says he’s going to get as big as a small dog. Imagine that.”
    I laughed out loud. “I wish you could see the look on your
face.”
    A knock at the door interrupted our conversation.
    “I guess Billy must have forgotten something,” I said as I
got up from the sofa to answer the door. “He locks the door every time he goes
out. He’s done that ever since I moved in here. I guess he has this thing about
keeping me safe. That’s why I love him.” I opened the door.
    “Hello!” Claire squealed. “I’m so glad you’re okay! See kids,
I told you Aunt Jesse was fine.”
    “Hi, Ant Jess,” Benny said. He grabbed me by the legs and
squeezed. “Mom said you were a wreck.”
    I closed the door.
    Claire laughed and corrected him. “I said she was in a wreck,
Benny.” She ushered the kids inside and started removing their coats.
    I bent down and hugged Benny and his little sister, Carrie.
“I’m glad you two are home. I missed you guys. I was worried.”
    “Why were you worried, Ant Jess?” Benny asked.
    I looked up at Claire. She winked at me—which I took as a
sign for me to say nothing about the last few days. “Oh, you know folks worry
more when they get older.” I laughed.
    Benny smiled back up at me and said, “Yes, I know. My mom
worries all the time. She told me so. I don’t understand grownups sometimes.”
    “Who wants hot chocolate?” Mom asked as she headed to the
kitchen. “Come on, guys. I know you want some of Grandma’s delicious, yummy hot
chocolate.”
    The kids immediately ran after their grandma. They grow up so
fast.
    I turned to ask Claire if she wanted to sit by the fire with
me, but she had already walked back to the front door. She opened it, and Cole
walked in and stood by her side.
    “Hello,” I said when our eyes met. “How’s everything going?”
    “I’m doing fine, how about you? You look good for someone
who’s been hit by a dump truck.”
    “Thanks,” I replied. “Come on in and get out of the cold.”
    He bent down and started to kiss me, but I quickly backed
away. Memories of our short, but intense love affair resurfaced as it had done
many times since our breakup. I brushed those thoughts aside and gave him a
dirty look. I scanned the kitchen and then the living room to see if anyone was
looking. My own actions made me feel guilty. Fortunately, Mom and the kids were
busy with each other, and Claire had gone over by the fire and sat down on the
sofa with her back to us.
    “I had hoped that you and I could get beyond our past and
move on, but you keep pushing the envelope,” I whispered to him. “You need to
put our relationship in perspective. I’m married to Billy now.”
    “I have, but you haven’t,” he said, winking at me. He walked
over to Claire, sat down on the sofa beside her, and then leaned back. He
stretched out his arms and made himself comfortable.
    “What an insufferable jerk,” I said under my breath.
    “What did you say, dear?” Mom came up behind me and asked.
    I looked over at Cole and wondered how I could have been such
a fool to let myself fall for him. At first, he was such a dream come true. He
was handsome, had power—being a Greene County deputy and all—and he lavished me
with the attention I needed. I guess that’s what I found so exciting then, but
now he was a nightmare in the making. A bullet had changed him forever. He was
arrogant, obnoxious, and so full of himself, and he was