The City PI and the Country Cop (19 page)

Teague snorted. “I’m hardly that rich.”

“I see. I guess I figured since you own the
agency, and it’s a large, well respected one, you probably weren’t
hurting.”

“I’m…comfortable. But I’m far from being a
Buffett or Trump.”

“And you’re probably a lot more down-to-earth
than either of them.”

“Good Lord, I hope so. Although never having
met them, who knows? They could be very nice men.”

“One of whom needs a good hair stylist,” Hoyt
said with a grin.

“There is that. And why are we talking about
them?”

“When we should be talking about us?”

“Exactly.” Teague stopped walking, turning to
look at Hoyt. “And deciding if it’s possible for us to make things
work. That is if we both want to.”

“I know
I
do,” Hoyt said unwaveringly.
“I haven’t been able to get you out of my head since you left.”

Teague winced. “I’ll admit that I tried to
forget you. It hurt too much when I thought about what could have
been, if things had been different.”

“Like the eight hundred miles separating
us.”

“Yes. That’s not commuting distance.”

“No shit.”

“On the other hand, Keir does have a point.
There are airplanes and it’s only four hours, give or take, with a
short layover in Denver. I should know. We flew in on Sunday.”

“And probably the same going from here to
visit you,” Hoyt replied, nodding.

Teague grinned. “Actually five hours, because
of the time difference.”

“Uh-huh. Not.”

They looked at each other, both realizing
what they were saying.

“Now we come down to the nitty-gritty,”
Teague said softly. “Is there really enough going on between us to
try making this work? Or was what we felt due to the stress we were
under while trying to find a killer?”

“I’d say it started that way because we
needed something to…distract us, I suppose. I mean…” Hoyt laughed
softly. “Just looking at you was a definite distraction even though
I didn’t want it to be. Then things changed. I wanted there to be
something more. I wanted you to see me the same way I saw you—as
someone who might become more than just a friend.”

“And I didn’t,” Teague admitted as they began
walking again. “Not a first. I picked up on what you were feeling
but I brushed it aside because I was so wrapped up in stopping
Irwin and discovering if and how he was connected to Chris’s
killer. I barely admitted to myself that I might be seeing you in
the same way. And when I did, I fought it since I knew I’d be
leaving as soon as the case was wrapped up. But then you know
that.” Teague smiled ruefully. “Even Keir picked up on what was, or
wasn’t, going on with us.”

“He’s pretty smart—for a straight kid. Why
didn’t you tell me that he
was
straight when I acted like a
jealous idiot about the two of you sharing a room?”

“If I remember right, he showed up in the
middle of our conversation and afterwards, it just never came up
because—” impulsively, Teague moved close enough to put his arm
around Hoyt’s waist, ignoring Hoyt’s surprise, “—the second kid was
murdered and everything got intense.”

Hoyt leaned into the embrace, saying with a
gleam of amusement in his eyes, “Now, perhaps, things can get
intense in a different way?”

Teague didn’t reply at first, only gazing at
Hoyt, studying his face. “It’s definitely something to consider,”
Teague finally replied. “We both want to try, I think. The thing of
it is, will a long distance relationship work or will we get tired
of it? Seeing each other only on weekends or holidays or vacations.
Presuming either of us ever takes a vacation.”

Hoyt’s smile was wry as he replied, “It would
certainly give us a reason to, when we get the chance. Usually I
take a day here and a day there until my vacation time is used up.
I think it’s been…Damn, ten years at least since I actually took
off and went somewhere. And then—” he laughed, “—it was to a police
convention in Atlanta. I came back smarter about my profession, and
very sunburned.”

“Now that’s funny.”

“Uh-huh. What about you?”

“Me and vacations?” Teague said. “I never
seem to have time for one. I think the week or so I spent here was
the longest I’ve been away from the office since the second year I
started the agency. I do tend to be a workaholic.”

“Not a bad thing, I suppose, if you have no
life. Or rather no life outside of work.” Hoyt frowned momentarily.
“I thought Keir said you were good at going undercover. Doesn’t
that require being away from the office?”

“Yep. But it’s still work so it hardly counts
as days off.”

“True enough.” Hoyt wrapped his arm around
Teague’s waist. “Maybe it’s time we slowed down a bit.”

“We’re hardly running,” Teague replied.

“I didn’t mean it literally. Well, I did, but
I was talking about work. Maybe we need to take time for ourselves,
now that we have a reason to.”

Teague came to a halt, looking at Hoyt, a
smile on his lips. “I think that’s a very good idea. We won’t rush
things. Not until we’re certain this is what we both want. But
spending time together with nothing to worry about except what to
do to keep us busy…”

Hoyt laughed. “I can think of several things
along that line but yeah, we’ll take it one step at a time.
Starting with my inviting you, and Keir if he wants, over to my
place for dinner tomorrow night.”

“He’d probably be happier going up to the
resort.”

“He’s a skier?”

“A wannabe, according to him.”

“Oh boy. Well, he can make his choice. Good
food or freezing his butt off.”

“I’ll let you know. Of course it all hinges
on whether we’re going to be recalled by the prosecuting attorney,
and he won’t know until sometime tomorrow, he said.”

“If you’re not, you’ll be grabbing the next
flight home,” Hoyt muttered somewhat dispiritedly.

“I…” Teague shook his head. “No. We’ll still
be here until Wednesday. After all, I’m hardly going to turn down
an excellent meal prepared by a very interesting man.”

“Speaking of meals, you didn’t get to finish
yours and I never ordered mine. Carolyn insisted we get a booth
first.”

“Then let’s head back. Not that mine is
probably still sitting there but you should eat. I at least got
some of mine down before your unexpected appearance, so I’m not
really hungry anymore.”

They arrived back at the restaurant to find
Keir and Carolyn in a deep discussion about, it turned out, what
the town could and should do to help the homeless. They both moved
over to let Teague and Hoyt sit. Teague did, while Hoyt went to get
food, returning with two
quesadillas
and
posole
. For
the next half hour the quartet continued the homeless discussion
and then Carolyn excused herself, saying she had to get home.

After she left, Keir glanced between Teague
and Hoyt. “So, did the two of you work things out?”

“Yes, oh nosy one,” Teague replied with a
grin. “We’re going to give it a shot, starting with dinner at
Hoyt’s tomorrow night.”

“To which you’re invited, Keir,” Hoyt added.
“Unless of course you plan on going skiing.”

“Umm, no. Carolyn was telling me about some
of the injuries she’s seen skiers come in with. I’ve decided to
stick with something safer. Like undercover work.”

All three men laughed at that, and then by
mutual consent decided it was time to call it a night.

As they left the restaurant, Teague told Hoyt
he’d call as soon as he knew if he and Keir were going to be
recalled for added testimony at Irwin’s trial. Then, surprising
both of them, he hugged Hoyt tightly for a moment. “I just needed
to do that,” Teague murmured before stepping away.

“You should never resist the urge to do what
feels right. Like…” He planted a swift kiss on Teague’s lips. “And
that said, and done, I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Glancing at
Keir, who was watching with a delighted smile, Hoyt added, “And
that includes you.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Keir
replied with a wicked grin. “Someone has to be there to chaperone
the two of you.”

Hoyt and Teague both rolled their eyes. Then
Hoyt headed to his car, while Keir and Teague walked back to the
motel.

* * * *

Teague and Keir found out around two on
Tuesday afternoon that they weren’t going to be recalled as
witnesses during the prosecutor’s rebuttal in the Irwin trial. As a
result, Teague called Hoyt to let him know and find out when he
wanted them to be at his house for dinner.

“Maybe if I whine a lot I can get the chief
to let me off early,” Hoyt replied, chuckling. “Barring that, let’s
say five-thirty. That’ll give me time to start dinner and change
into something comfortable.”

Teague laughed, commenting, “That sounds like
a line from a bad risqué comedy, except it should be ‘slip into’.”
He envisioned Hoyt wearing nothing but a silk robe and decided that
would be fine with him, although he didn’t say as much to Hoyt.
Too soon to go there, even jokingly.

Hoyt’s laughter joined Teague’s for a moment
before he said, “On that note, work calls. I’ll see you tonight,”
and hung up.

So what do we do to kill some time?
Deciding it wasn’t exactly hiking weather, Teague went down to
Keir’s room to suggest they take in a movie. They found an
action/adventure one that suited both their tastes, and killed the
rest of the afternoon at the theater. Something, Teague commented,
he hadn’t done in ages.

“Our timing is perfect,” Keir said as they
left the theater. “If we hurry, we should be at Hoyt’s place on the
dot of five-thirty.”

They were. Teague rang the bell and a moment
later Hoyt opened the door. He smiled a bit too brightly when he
let them inside, the smile turning to a worried frown moments
later.

Now what’s wrong?
Teague hugged Hoyt,
asking aloud, “What’s wrong?”

“I was checking something while I was waiting
for you two.” Hoyt walked over to his computer, on the desk in the
corner of the living room.

Teague and Keir followed and the second he
saw what was on the screen, Teague nodded. “Flying is
expensive.”

“Four-fifty roundtrip,” Hoyt grumbled.
“That’s…” He shook his head. “I knew it wasn’t going to be cheap,
but damn.”

“If you split it,” Keir said, since he was
aware of what the two men were planning, “it still comes to…” He
leaned over to tap the ‘calculator’ button on the taskbar.
“Four-fifty times fifty-two comes to…whew. Over twenty-three
thousand, or almost twelve thou each for one year. You could buy
your own plane for that amount.”

Teague tapped his lip thoughtfully, looking
at Keir. “Perhaps. Or the agency could. Considering the amount of
traveling some of our people do while running an
investigation…”

“You have to be kidding,” Hoyt said. “I mean,
come on. Buy a plane just so we can spend our weekends together?
You’re out of your mind. Besides, it takes more than a plane.
Someone has to pilot it.”

“Cal, he’s one of my investigators, has his
private license and he’s a certified trainer. It would take a while
probably, but I could get my license with his help. And then we’re
home free, well, more or less free.”

“As I said, you are out of your mind,” Hoyt
reiterated.

Teague chuckled. “I’ve been told that a few
times in my life. But short of my pulling up roots to move here, or
vice versa, it’s seems to be the only viable option.”

Hoyt nodded doubtfully. “We’re nowhere near
that option yet.”

“My learning to fly?” Teague asked.

“No. One of us moving in with the other,
halfway across the country.”

“The joys of being in a relationship,” Keir
commented with a grin. “The logistics.”

“Let’s think about it while we eat,” Teague
suggested. “That is why we’re here.”

“And dinner should be ready. I hope you like
pork chops and mushrooms.”

“Sounds good to me and—” Teague sniffed,
“—smells good, too. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Mash the potatoes?” Hoyt replied, leading
the way into the kitchen. “And since you brought along slave labor,
Keir can set the table.”

“My specialty,” Keir said with a grin.

Ten minutes later, the three men were seated
in the dining room, full plates of food in front of them. Teague
cut a bite off his chop and chewed it thoughtfully. “This is damned
good.”

“You sound surprised,” Hoyt said.

“Not really. You said your mother taught you.
If everything you cook is this good maybe I’ll have to reconsider
where I’m living. Commuting here daily for dinner could get very,
very expensive.” Teague winked when Hoyt looked at him in shock.
“I’m kidding.” Then he added quietly, “Mostly.”

Keir arched an eyebrow. “Don’t get carried
away. You can’t move the agency here.”

“Yeah, I know. Besides, as much as we’ve been
teasing about things, and considering options, Hoyt and I are
nowhere near the point where living arrangements need to be
made.”

“Well, hop to it,” Keir responded with a
grin. “The anticipation is killing me.”

“You put up with this every day?” Hoyt asked
Teague with a shake of his head.

“Just weekdays. He gets the weekends
off.”

“Thank God,” Keir said fervently. “I’d never
get to see Mel otherwise.”

“Speaking of people who should move in
together,” Teague said, looking pointedly at Keir.

Keir grinned. “We’re working on it.”

The three men got back to eating after that
announcement, and talking ceased for a while. When they finished,
Keir offered to clean up and then go back to the motel so that
Teague and Hoyt could have some time to themselves. His offer was
accepted, although all three of them cleared the table. When they
were finished, Teague tossed Keir the keys to the rental car. “I’ll
get Hoyt to bring me back.”