Colorado 01 The Gamble (41 page)

My eyes went outside and I saw my vandalized
rental car.

Then more than likely from stress, mild
hysteria and just Mom being Mom, I burst out laughing.

* * * * *

Max’s phone rang after I walked out of Max’s
bathroom, dressed, made up, hair done and ready to face the
day.

Max and Steve left to talk to Dad after
“breakfast” which tasted mostly of strawberries, thank God, but the
rest of it didn’t bear thinking about. Mom said she’d clean the
kitchen so I could get a shower. I left her to it and now was done
and Max’s phone was ringing.

I had no idea what to do, whether Max
would want me to answer and take a message or if maybe it
was
Max, calling me to tell me he
was in jail because my father was a big jerk and pushed him to lose
control and Mom and I had to come down and post bail for him and
Steve.

As I was making up my mind, the answering
machine, which was at the roll top but could be heard throughout
the house, switched on. I heard Max’s voice order, “Leave a
message,” there was a beep and Bitsy’s voice could be heard.

“Max? It’s Bitsy, listen, I was hoping you’d
be home. You aren’t answering your cell. I wanted to talk to Nina,
could you ask her to…”

I ran to Max’s nightstand and picked up the
cordless, hitting the on button and I heard the noise of the
answering machine beeping off.

“Bitsy?” I said into the phone.

“Oh, Nina. Hi.”

“Hi, sorry, I just got out of the
shower.”

“That’s okay.” She was silent for a moment
then she asked, “Is Max there?”

“No, do you want me to have him call
you?”

“No, uh…” she paused then said, “really, I
wanted to talk to you.”

I wasn’t sure how to react to this so I gave
myself a second and walked to the railing. I looked out and saw Mom
sitting outside on the front steps, her legs stretched out in front
of her crossed at the ankles, her hands back behind her, body
resting on her hands face tipped to the sun. It must be another
warm day and the snow was fast disappearing.

Then I said, “Sure, Bitsy, what can I do for
you?”

“It’s just that, uh… Harry came by. He told
me about last night.”

“Oh.”

“And, uh, so did Brody. He told me about
last night too.”

It must have been a busy morning for
Bitsy.

“Oh. Yes, well, it was an interesting
night,” I said to her.

“You should know, Shauna lied to Kami. Max
never took Shauna ring shopping.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“He, well, I don’t know why he hooked up
with her. She’s gorgeous, of course, and I don’t think she ever
showed him her, you know, true face until, you know, they got
together.”

“Bitsy,” I broke in softly, hearing her
hesitation, knowing it had to be hard to talk about the woman who’d
been sleeping with her husband in her bed when her husband was
murdered, “you don’t have to talk about this.”

“I know,” she said softly back then she
suddenly asked, “Your brother lost his legs in the army?”

This hit me hard and I sucked in breath. How
she knew this, I didn’t know. Could be Max. Could be Mindy. Could
be Mindy telling Brody who told Bitsy.

It didn’t matter, she knew so I said, “Yes,
Bitsy, Charlie lost his legs.”

“Brody says Mindy says you looked after
him.”

So it was Mindy-slash-Brody.

“Yes,” I answered.

“So, I think…” she paused then said on a
rush, “you’d get me.”

“I’m sorry?”

She was quiet a moment then said softly, “No
one gets me, Nina.”

I walked backwards to the bed, feeling my
way with my feet and when I hit it, I plopped down.

“Bitsy, I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“I know what happened to Charlie, Nina,”
Bitsy said gently. “So, I know you’d get me.”

I felt tears hit my eyes at what she was
saying and I whispered, “Bitsy.”

“I had my moments, Nina, it’s terrible to
admit but I understand Charlie.”

I swallowed and whispered, “Okay.”

“I’m sorry for you and for him.”

“Thanks.” I was still whispering.

“
But my husband was fooling around on me,”
she whispered back. “And I don’t blame him because, you know, the
way I am. But I have to talk to
someone
about it. Someone who
gets
me.”

I heard the tears in her voice when she
stopped talking so I said, “Oh, sweetheart.”

“And you also get what it’s like to have
Shauna involved, seeing as she was after my man and she’s after
yours too.”

“I’m not sure Max is my man.”

“Oh he is. Never seen him like that with
anyone except Anna.”

I sucked in a silent breath and my body
locked.

She kept speaking. “The whole town’s talkin’
about it. We’re all real glad. Thought Max’d never find anyone
after Anna died. It’s been ten years, that’s a long time. Lord
knows, I know that.”

I couldn’t think of her open talk about
Anna, I had bigger things coming at me from her words.

It seemed now I was up against my own
idiocy, my mother, Steve and the whole town of Gnaw Bone. My only
ally was my father and right then Max and Steve were running him
out of town.

I wasn’t in trouble, I was screwed.

“Bitsy –”

“Brody told me all you’ve done with Mindy
and, I gotta say, I’m glad you’re nice. Anna was my best friend and
I loved her. She’d want Max to end up with someone nice.”

Yes. Screwed.

“I don’t know what to say. Um… thank
you.”

“Thank me for you bein’ nice?” she had a
smile in her voice.

“Yes, I guess, and thank you for trusting me
to talk to.”

She was quiet for long moments then she
asked, “Do you think I’m crazy not to be mad at Curt?”

“I can’t say you’re crazy for anything you
feel right now.”

“These past ten years, even though… you
know.” She stopped and I didn’t know but I didn’t get the chance to
ask before she went on, “I wasn’t much of a wife.”

I thought this was hideous if Curtis Dodd
made Bitsy feel that way but I didn’t tell her that.

“Things are hard, when this happens, on
everyone,” I told her.

“
He loved me, people don’t get that. We had
a good marriage, considering. We were… uh… you know….” she
hesitated and then said, “
active
that way it’s just that it wasn’t the same as, you know…
Shauna could do.” Then when I didn’t speak, she repeated, “You
know?”

“Of course,” I said, thinking I kind of knew
but mostly I didn’t and I said a little prayer of thanks for
that.

“And he’s a man,” she went on defending her
husband.

“Well, that explains a lot,” I told her and
she gave a short laugh.

“Yeah.”

“Bitsy, darling,” I said, “you should feel
free to feel how you want and don’t think of what people
think.”

“No one liked him anyway, he died and his
mistress phoned the police. It’s hard not to think of what people
think since everyone’s thinkin’ somethin’.”

“Well, try. Anyone who truly cares about you
will let you have your feelings, whatever they may be.”

She was silent a moment, letting this sink
in then she said, “Yeah.”

“Do you want me to come and visit with you?
My Mom’s here and she loves coffee. She’d really like one of your
lattes. She’s also a really good listener.”

“Your Mom’s here?”

“
Well my Dad came and he was being, well,
my Dad, which means he was being a jerk to me and to Max. I told my
Mom and Mom, being a Mom and in particular,
my
Mom, who’s a little nutty, decided to bring her
husband and have him help Max take care of Dad. So she’s here, my
stepdad Steve’s here and Max and Steve are in town probably
threatening Dad and maybe earning themselves a lawsuit.”

“Good thing you’re a lawyer,” she said,
again sounding like she was smiling.

Well, there it was again, news travelled
fast.

“Hey, speaking of that, would you help me
draw up my will?” she asked. “George is covered in work but he’s
reading Curtis’s tomorrow and he said I should have one drawn up
straight away after Curt’s is read. He wants to do it for me but
says it may take awhile because he has some big case pending so he
referred me to a guy next town over but I know him and he’s a
weasel. I’d rather you help me do it.”

“Bitsy –”

“I’ll pay you.”

“It isn’t that.”

“What is it?”

“Um…” I tried to think of what it was then
when I couldn’t I said, “nothing. Sure, I’ll be glad to help.”

“It’ll be easy. Just wanna make sure Shauna
never gets her hands on any of it.”

“Bitsy –”

Bitsy’s voice got low and I realized
Brody
really
shared
when she said, “The kid’s Curt’s, I’ll put some money aside for him
to get when he comes of age. ‘Til then she can blow.”

And there it was. Bitsy was a good woman,
through and through. She was also a woman scorned.

“Okay, darling, we’ll tie it up tight,” I
assured her.

“I want a DNA test, though.”

“Okay.”

“Maybe three, who knows who she’d fuck to
get the test results back that she wants. We may need to go out of
state.”

It was my turn to talk through a smile.
“Might be a good idea.”

“Maybe you know someone in England, she’s
never been to England, would better our chances, seein’ she’s been
outta state.”

I laughed and heard Bitsy laugh too.

I also heard the front door open and Mom
call, “Neenee Bean, let’s go hiking!”

“Be down in a sec!” I called back.

“That your Mom?” Bitsy said in my ear.

“Yes.”

“You can come over, bring her too, anytime
you want. Just give me a call, ‘kay?”

“Okay.”

There was a hesitation then, “Thanks,
Nina.”

“Bitsy?”

“Yeah.”

“You just give me a call too, anytime. Here
at Max’s or I’ll give you my cell, but it’s an international number
so –”

“Honey, I’m loaded, haven’t you heard?” I
laughed again and she said, “I got a pen and paper right here, sock
it to me.”

I gave her my number, she read it back and
then I offered, “Anytime, Bitsy, okay?”

“Thanks Nina.”

“No, Bitsy,” I said softly, the tears
hitting my eyes just as I fought them back. “You don’t know how
many times I tried to get Charlie to open up to me. So thank you
again for trusting me.”

“Oh honey,” she laughed in my ear, “my
pleasure. I’ll lay all my troubles on you, you like it so
much.”

I laughed back which helped the tears
subside and said, “Take care.”

“Yeah, you too. Hope to see you soon.”

“Bye.”

“Later, honey.”

“Who was that?” Mom asked and I looked to
see her standing at the top of the stairs.

“A friend of Max’s,” I told her, hitting the
off button and vaguely hearing the answering machine beep again.
“Sounded like a friend of yours.”

I sighed because there it was again, Max,
his friends and the whole town sucking me in.

“Well, I guess, now she’s a friend of mine
too.”

Mom grinned and walked into the room, threw
herself on the bed and bounced.

“
This room is
divine,
” she remarked, throwing out a hand then she
looked at me. “Tell me all about your new friend.”

“Well... I can’t believe I’m going to say
this but it involves murder.”

Mom leaned forward and her eyes got wide.
“No kidding? Do tell!”

I stood up and took the phone back to its
charger. “Let’s get coffee.”

“Okay, bring mine up here, I feel like
lounging,” she said and rolled to her back.

“I thought you wanted to hike?” I asked, Mom
gave me a look, lifted up a leg and showed me a slender foot in a
strappy sandal.

“In these shoes?” she asked back, I smiled
and she finished, “Temporary Colorado insanity.”

“Your wish, Mom, my command,” I replied,
leaned into her, kissed her forehead and then walked to the stairs
to get my Mom coffee.

Then I took it back up to her and we lounged
on Max’s bed and I told her about rape, parking lot fisticuffs,
restaurant wrestling, ice queens, sweet and wise twenty-four year
old girls, mountain men and murder.

* * * * *

“
Oh my
God,
” Mom breathed, standing by my side on Max’s porch, staring
at Cotton walking up the steps, “is that
Jimmy Cotton?
”

“How do you know what Jimmy Cotton looks
like?” I asked her.

“
Internet,” she whispered, making her “I
don’t
do
e-mail and
internet” even more of a lie, her eyes still glued to Cotton and
she appeared to be swaying.

“She swoons, Cotton, you’re the male in this
scenario, you’ve got to catch her,” I told Cotton as he stopped in
front of me.

“She wears fancy clothes, like you,” Cotton
observed, giving Mom a once-over and giving me further evidence
that my shopping with the goal to blend in during my Colorado
adventure failed.

“She’s my mother,” I replied.

“I can see it,” Cotton remarked.

“
Oh my
God,
” Mom breathed, staring at Cotton and looking like she was
either going to faint, drop into a curtsy or throw herself in his
arms.

Cotton looked at me and asked, “She say that
a lot?”

“
Twice as much as me and I say it
a
lot
, a lot.” Or these
days, I did in my head, but I didn’t share that with Cotton, I just
told him, “She introduced me to your work. She’s a fan.”

“No kidding,” Cotton mumbled and I smiled.
“Came by to see where you two hung the pictures,” Cotton told me,
dipping his head toward the house.