Red Velvet Revenge (20 page)

Mel stood and stretched and wandered over to the wall full of ribbons and awards. She saw several pictures of Lily and Shelby and a younger-looking Slim. There were also pictures of another woman that Mel assumed was Lily and Shelby’s mother, since she had the same eyes and smile.

Another picture, which looked to have been taken when Slim was just a teenager, showed a whole family sitting on the same split-rail fence that surrounded the pasture off of the kitchen.

Mel picked it up to study it more closely. She liked the faces in it. They were long, careworn faces of people who lived on the land they loved. Smiles were tucked into their eyes, and they all had the same wavy brown hair and dimples in their right cheeks.

“Those are the Hazards back in the fifties,” Lily said. “The heyday of ranch life.”

Mel liked that they were all wearing Western shirts, jeans, and boots. There was definitely a fifties feeling in the shoulder-length curls of the women and the stitched brims of their hats.

“That’s Daddy,” Lily said, and she pointed to a young boy sitting on the top rail.

“He looks like Opie.” Mel laughed. “But don’t tell him I said that.”

Lily laughed. “No, it’s fine. I said the same thing when I first realized it was my dad.”

“Who’s the girl next to him?” Mel asked.

“My aunt Hannah,” Lily said. “She was a famous barrel
rider in her teens.” She pointed to a picture on the wall, and Mel could see the resemblance between the pretty teen and the young girl.

“Does she live in Juniper Pass, too?” she asked.

“No.” Lily shook her head. “She was killed in a car accident in California when she was twenty. I never got to meet her. It broke my dad’s heart.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mel said. She carefully put the picture down.

“Time marches on,” Lily said. She traced the picture of a pretty woman holding two little girls. Mel knew without asking that it was her mother. “But some people, you never forget.”

Mel thought of her dad. He’d been gone more than ten years to the all-you-can-eat buffet in the sky, but still when she thought of him she could hear his laugh as clearly as if he were in the room with her. Charlie Cooper had one of those laughs that rumbled up from deep inside of him and roared out to bear-hug everyone who heard it.

She missed a lot of things about her dad, but most especially his laugh, or rather, the way his laugh made her feel when she heard it.

“I know how you feel,” she said. “Some people stay in your heart forever.”

Lily met her gaze, and she seemed to know without Mel saying it that Mel understood the sharp pain that came with the loss of a beloved parent.

Another picture caught Mel’s eye. It was Slim when he was middle-aged with a young man. From the electric smile and the dark hair, she knew it was Ty.

“Dad keeps that picture to remind him of the Ty he used
to know and love,” Lily said. “Dad took Ty in when his grandparents passed away, as both his parents had already died. He mentored him in bull riding. They used to be so close that sometimes I’d get jealous. I felt like Ty was the older brother I never wanted, and I used to wish he’d just go away. I never wanted this, however, not the rift with him and Dad and definitely not his death. Dad is really struggling with losing Ty, especially since they were at odds. I’m worried about him.”

They were both silent, giving a moment of respect to the slain bull rider.

“Well, I’d better go help Angie,” Mel said.

She turned and headed to the kitchen. She was tempted to ask Lily about her relationship with Tate, since they were sharing a moment and all, but she refrained, figuring it was none of her business, even though she was dying of curiosity.

She entered the room to find Angie snapping the phone shut. “We’d better move it. The boys are almost out of cupcakes, and there’s a dance in the arena tonight, so they’re expecting a big crowd.”

“Well, I guess this will be a good test for our cake pops,” Mel said.

“You’re going to be working in the van tonight?” Lily asked as she entered the kitchen.

“Yes,” Mel said. “The boys undoubtedly could use a break.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Lily said as she passed through the kitchen. “I promised Tate I’d teach him how to two-step tonight, and I’d love it if you could join us.”

Mel glanced at Angie, whose lips were pressed so tightly together, they formed a straight white line.

“Yeah, that’s too bad,” Mel said, stepping between Lily and Angie and ushering Lily through the opposite kitchen door. “We don’t want to keep you from getting ready for the dance. Make sure you drop by the cupcake van later.”

She whirled around and caught Angie’s arm right as she extended it back to lob a cake pop at Lily.

Twenty-two

“Angie, no!” she said as she wrestled her arm down.

“What?” Angie dropped the cake pop into its bucket. “I was just sorting them.”

“Uh-huh.” Mel was not fooled for one second.

Angie gave her a mutinous look but hefted up the large Tupperware bucket and headed to the truck. Mel glanced around the kitchen. They had left it as spic-and-span as it was when they arrived, which had been no small task, since that candy coating had gotten all over the counter.

She lifted her own box and followed Angie, and after three more trips, they were ready to go.

When they pulled up beside the cupcake truck, it was to find three very haggard men hanging out the window.

“How was business?” Mel asked.

“We are about cleaned out,” Marty told her. “You got here just in time.”

“Good thing,” Angie muttered. “I heard someone has a date.”

She shoved past Tate, who gave her a funny look and then glanced at Mel with his eyebrows raised. She shrugged, refusing to get into it.

“How did you hear about my date?” Marty asked. “Oh, man, is that the time? I have to go. Delia is going to be waiting, and I can’t pick her up smelling like…”

“A cupcake?” Oz supplied with a laugh. “If I were you, I’d go with it. Chicks dig cupcakes.”

Marty cuffed him gently on the head. “Ladies don’t like to be called
chicks
; mind your manners.”

Oz shrugged, and Marty leaned close and said, “I’m serious. They don’t like to be called
broads
,
dames
, or
honeys
, either.”

“I would never call a woman a broad,” Oz protested.

“Good thing,” Marty said. “The last time I did, I got a swift knee in the privates.”

All three of the men winced.

“And you deserved it, no doubt,” Angie said. “Honestly, calling a woman a broad.”

“Hey, it was 1958,” Marty said. “I’ve smartened up lots since then.”

“Go!” Mel ordered. “Delia is too nice to be kept waiting on you.”

Oz and Tate helped them unload the cake pops. Oz looked dubious until Mel coerced him into trying one.

“Amazing,” he said. “It takes all the work out of figuring out the cake-to-frosting ratio.”

Mel beamed at him. He was such a quick learner.

While Angie was setting up a display of cake pops, Mel took Tate aside and said, “So, you told me not to worry about you and Lily, and then I hear you have a date with her.”

“It’s not a date-date,” Tate said. “She’s just going to teach me some two-stepping. Why? Is Angie jealous?”

“Ask her,” Mel snapped, refusing to get into it. “Now, listen, since you’re going to be with Lily, it might give you a chance to chat her up about Shelby.”

“Why would I want to do that?” he asked.

“Because Shelby threw our boy Oz under the bus to the sheriff, and I for one want to know why.”

“We don’t know that it was her who told the sheriff she saw Oz in the stable.”

“Yes, we do,” Mel said. “Just like we know Marty wasn’t with Oz but lied to give him an alibi.”

“You think so, too?” he asked.

Mel looked grim. “It was noble of Marty, but if he gets found out, it will only make Oz look even more guilty.”

“Agreed,” Tate said. “Okay, so what should I be asking?”

“Anything about Shelby,” Mel said. “Let’s try to get as much info on her as we can. I don’t trust her, and I can absolutely see her killing Ty if he wasn’t giving her something she wanted.”

“That’s a strong accusation,” Tate said.

“She made a major mistake when she went after Oz,” Mel said.

“He’s lucky to have you,” Tate said. He rested his hand on Mel’s shoulder. “We all are.”

“Aw, shucks,” she said. She hugged him tight. “Go have fun but not too much.”

He ambled off in the direction of the road that would take him to the arena. Mel wondered what a non-date date consisted of besides two-stepping; then she shook her head, refusing to think about it.

The phone in her pocket chimed with her
Gone with the Wind
ringtone, and she dug it out and checked the tiny screen. It was her mother.

“Hi, Mom,” she answered.

“Now, I don’t want to worry you,” Joyce said without a greeting, which made Mel’s short blond hair stand straight up in a full-on panic. “But Captain Jack is missing.”

“What?” Mel cried. “What do you mean, missing? Did he get outside?”

“I don’t think so,” Joyce said. “But he didn’t come when I called him, and I can’t find him in any of his favorite spots. He didn’t even come when I opened up a can of tuna for him.”

“That’s not good,” Mel said. “Have you looked everywhere?”

“Hang on, Mel; dear Joe is here,” Joyce said.

“Wait. Joe is there? What is Joe doing there?”

“Well, I called him, naturally,” Joyce said. “You know how much Captain Jack loves him.”

The phone went quiet, and Mel knew her mother had put it down to go and answer the door.

She paced around the outside of the cupcake van. Her chest felt tight. If anything had happened to Captain Jack…No, she couldn’t even go there.

“OMG! These are yummy!” a young female voice said from the front of the truck. She was holding two cake pops, a vanilla and a chocolate with a bite taken out of both of them.

“I have to get two more,” she exclaimed, and got back in line.

At any other time Mel would have done a cartwheel of joy, but not right now. Not when her baby was missing.

“Mel?” Joe said into the phone.

“Joe, what’s going on? How long has he been missing? Do you think he got out?”

“Mel, breathe,” Joe said. “It’s going to be all right. I’m going to search the house top to bottom until we find him. You know how he is.”

Mel’s throat was tight. She felt so powerless being so far away. “Yeah, remember when he got stuck in your shirtsleeve?”

Joe laughed. It was a warm and reassuring sound that made her miss him desperately.

“The fur ball was squeezed in so tight he looked like blue sausage with whiskers.”

Mel had a picture of the Captain Jack sausage on her phone. He’d wedged himself in so tightly, they’d had to cut him out of the shirt to free him.

“You think he got into Joyce’s closet?” she asked.

“Maybe,” he said. “But don’t worry; I’ll find him. I’m not his kitty daddy for nothing.”

“Thanks, Joe,” she said.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“I miss you,” he said.

His voice made her insides buzz, and Mel felt as reassured as if he’d hugged her.

“I miss you, too,” she said.

“How are things at the rodeo?” he asked.

Mel had called him daily and kept him up-to-speed on Slim’s shooting and Ty’s death. Joe had not been happy about any of it, but he knew that she had to stay, not only for business reasons but because it would look mighty suspicious if they packed up their cupcakes and left.

“It’s been interesting,” Mel said. “I’m on my cell, so I don’t know how much I should say.”

“Good idea,” Joe said. As an assistant district attorney, he had a healthy paranoia about security. “Listen, I’ll go look for Captain Jack, and I’ll call you as soon as I find him. And then we can have a longer chat later when you’re in your room on a secure line.”

“Thanks, Joe,” she said.

“See ya, Cupcake,” he said.

“Bye,” Mel said. She ended the call and slid her phone into her pocket. Captain Jack loved Joe almost as much as he loved her. If anyone could find him, it would be Joe.

She climbed up into the back of the cupcake truck to help sell the cake pops. She glanced out the window and saw that the word had gotten out amongst the rodeo people. A line twenty-five deep wound itself out to the road and back toward the barbecue pit.

Angie gave her a gentle nudge and pointed to where Billy and Bob were standing behind the smoker, as if Mel and Angie wouldn’t be able to see them, and they were frowning.

“I hope they are shaking in their snappy red bandannas,” Angie said. “We are killing here.”

Mel glanced at the window to see Sheriff Dolan standing there.

“Not exactly the best choice of words,” she said to Angie as the sheriff gave them an interested look.

“Do tell,” he said.

“We have a bet with the Bubbas over there,” Mel explained.

“Yeah, whoever sells the most wins, and the loser has to spend the last day of the rodeo working in the other’s booth,” Angie finished.

“Well, I hope those boys like pink,” Sheriff Dolan said.