The Root of All Trouble (18 page)

I heard Bear say to him,
"So what did you do then?"

"
I moved out!"

"
And in with me," Kit grumbled.

Bear paused in what he was doing.
"Why'd you do that?"

"
I couldn't take another moment of how gleeful he was that he had a secret admirer. It's bad enough that he received the gifts, but he actually put the tie on last night."

"
Dude," Bear said, shaking his enormous head. "That ain't right."

"
I know," Mario agreed. "That's why I left."

Kit tossed an irritated look at Mario, who didn
't appear to notice.

"
But you still, you know, dig him, right?" Bear asked.

Ethan handed Bear a wrench, and seemed more focused on the job than the conversation.

Mario grumped. "I suppose."

"
Then you should go talk to him. Make up. Life's too short, man."

I smiled at what I was hearing, this little pep talk.

"Maybe," Mario said.

"
I think it's a good idea," Kit added.

Riley nodded.

Ethan continued to ignore everyone.

I decided now wasn
't the best time to barge in, so I backtracked up the stairs.

Plum
said, "They having any luck down there?"

Today she wore a skin-tight Reaux Construction v-necked tee and jeans. The vee of the tee had been altered to be even deeper than normal to accommodate her boobage. Her hair had been scraped back into a tight ponytail, and she wore enough makeup to keep Sephora in business for a long time to come.

"Define luck," I said.

"
That good, eh?"

"
Looks like Bear and Ethan have the water heater under control."

"
That's good."

"
But don't ask about the pipe."

"
I'll call my plumbing contractor." Her dark brown eyes narrowed on me and she leaned in a little.

"
Bear's giving Mario love advice," I said, fishing for more information on him. "Good advice, too."

"
He's a good guy."

Was he? Or had he lured Joey out of his house and killed him with a bedazzled hammer?

She patched a hole, then looked at me. "Jean-Claude mentioned you were something of a matchmaker. True?"

"
Me? No."

"
You didn't set up your neighbor with that one lady and also the girl at your office with that one guy...?"

She was talking about
Mr. Cabrera and Brickhouse and Tam and Ian. "Well, not intentionally. Not really. And my neighbor's relationship isn't going so well."

"
What about the girl at the office?"

"
Happily cohabitating." Tam had been together with DEA agent Ian for almost a year now. Together they were raising Tam's daughter, Nic.

"
Can I ask you something, then. Girl to girl?"

I fidgeted.
"Um, sure."

"
How do you get a guy to notice you? Right now I'm invisible."

"
To Bear, you mean?"

Her eyes widened in shock.
"How'd you know?"

"
Lucky guess," I said, not wanting to get into the fact that she'd practically ripped her heart out of her chest the day before and laid it on the table for him.

"
He seems to only want Delphine." She rolled her eyes.

"
Probably because she doesn't want him," I said.

Plump lips pursed.
"You think?"

"
It's possible. Some guys like the chase. But you'd probably be best just to talk to him. Some guys are also dense and can't see what's in front of them."

She nodded.
"I get it. I suppose it can't hurt any worse to try."

Suddenly I felt sorry for her, this tough girl. It was never easy to open your heart up to a guy who may or may not want it.
"Probably not."

"
Thanks."

"
If Kit comes up, can you tell him I had to run an errand and that I'll check in later?"

"
No problem, but we'll be leaving soon, too. We'll be back early tomorrow, though. Oh, one more thing."

Geez.

"Earlier I heard Mario talking about a fight he had with Joey. On the day Joey died? He was telling the guys about it..."

Kevin must have completely cleared him for him to be speaking freely about it.

"Anyway, he said he heard someone else in the house. A guy. And that he recognized the voice but couldn't place it." Thick lashes framed her eyes as they narrowed. "Your husband, the police guy, does he know who that is yet?"

Ah. I wondered if she had the same suspicions about Bear as I did.
"He's my ex and doesn't tell me stuff like that. Sorry."

Absently, she nodded.
"Okay."

I hurried out the front door before she could ask me anything else, like for any more relationship advice. Because considering the state of my love life, I was probably the least qualified to give it.

An understatement to be sure.

I spotted Mr. Cabrera chatting with Perry on my front porch. As I neared, Mr. C. said,
"Perry's agreed to come along, too. You ready to go?"

"
As I'll ever be," I said.

It was time to get Operation Help Mr. Cabrera underway.

***

T
urned out we weren't quite as ready to go as we'd thought. First, Maria came out and asked me to walk Gracie, then when I was done with that, she made me wait while she wrote out a grocery list so I could stop at the store on the way home. By the time we backed out of the driveway, she was tucked in for a nap, and the Reaux Construction crew was packing up for the day.

Kit was still working—he was determined to get Mario back into his own house as soon as humanly possible.

I couldn't blame him. Mario was a bit high-strung, especially when he was fighting with Perry.

Fortunately, our destination was only a few blocks away, and as the bell tinkled on the door of The Gem Shop, Mr. Cabrera froze in the doorway.

Perry gave him a good push, sending him tumbling inside.

"
Donatelli!" the man behind the counter gushed. "Long time, no see."

"
Hey Saul."

"
Nina," he grabbed his heart, "my bella! It's been too long." He grabbed my hand to kiss my knuckles.

"
Hi, Saul." I wrenched my hand free. Saul Simeon was as smarmy as men came, but he meant no harm. I'd known him just shy of forever—he was an old family friend. His gray hair had been slicked back, and he wore a badly tailored suit and gaudy gold rings on both hands.

Saul rubbed his hands together, the rings clinking.
"To what do I owe this pleasure? How can I help you folks today?"

Perry had already wandered off, his attention diverted by something shiny. I poked Mr. Cabrera in the ribcage.

He coughed and said, "I'm here to look at rings. Eng—" He coughed some more. "Engagement rings."

"You sly old dog!" Saul cried. "You're finally going to tie the knot again. Who's the lucky ball and chain? Is it Ursula?"

Weakly, Mr. Cabrera nodded.

"Lucky lady!"

Mr. Cabrera looked a little pale as Saul motioned him over to a display case. Behind the glass, dozens of diamond rings winked under the bright lights.

I linked my arm in Mr. Cabrera's and leaned in to whisper, "You love her, right?"

Wiping his brow, he said,
"More than anything."

"
Then you're doing the right thing."

He frowned at me.
"Easy for you to say. You're not tying yourself down for the rest of your life."

"
Suck it up, Mr. Cabrera. If you want your happily ever after, this is the way to do it."

"
What kind of moral support are you?" he asked, a horrified expression in his eyes.

"
One that's going to tell you the truth."

"
Oh. My. God. Nina, look at these cufflinks," Perry gushed. "They're to die for. To. Die. For!"

I said,
"We're supposed to be helping Mr. Cabrera, remember?"

"
Yeah, yeah," he said, his eyes glued to the display case.

Saul was pulling out little velvet boxes and setting them on the counter.
"Do you know what style Ursula likes?"

Mr. Cabrera said,
"An affordable one."

I elbowed him again.

"Ow!" He stepped aside. "Why'd you do that?"

"
This is no time to be cheap."

"
No," Saul quickly agreed. "It isn't."

"
Pony up, Mr. Cabrera," Perry said.

Mr. C. groaned.

I leaned down and examined the rings. "It needs to be something simple. Ursula is not a frou-frou woman. But she has style...she won't want something cheap." I threw Mr. Cabrera a look.

He looked like he wanted to toss his cookies again.

Saul held up a finger. "I have just the selection." He reached into the case and pulled out a tray of rings elegantly pinned to velvet.

All were round diamonds in different settings. Some stood on their own, and some were encircled with smaller diamonds. Some had diamond bands, some had designed bands, some had plain.

"Do you see one you like?" I asked.

One of Mr. Cabrera
's eyebrows lifted. "Meh. Not quite. He tapped the glass. That one."

Saul
's eyes lit up and he greedily reached into the case. I smiled as he brought out the ring Mr. Cabrera had pointed to. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Saul held it up.
"A one carat oval cut center diamond, surrounded by a half carat of smaller round diamonds that also trail down the platinum band. It is—" he kissed his fingers "—sublime."

Perry wandered over and
ooohed
. "I've never seen an oval diamond before."

"
It's unique," Mr. Cabrera announced proudly, "just like my Ursula."

I nudged him.
"That's the spirit."

"
Wrap it up," Mr. Cabrera said in one quick breath.

"
Don't you want to know how much?" Saul asked.

Mr. C. pulled out his wallet and passed over a credit card.
"No. I don't want to change my mind."

I intercepted the card as he handed it over.
"But, I'm sure you'll give Mr. Cabrera the friends and family discount, right, Saul?"

His beady eyes gleamed.
"Of course! Of course!" He snatched the card.

Perry cleared his throat.
"How much for the mother of pearl and ruby cufflinks?"

"
Ah!" Saul practically salivated. He pulled out the cufflinks in question and placed them on the counter. "You have exquisite taste."

"
I know," Perry said.

"
These are also unique, a trait reflected in the price."

I sighed.
"Saul..."

He shot me an irritated glance.
"Twelve hundred."

"
I don't think they're in your budget," I said to Perry.

He looked between me and the cufflinks.
"I hate the budget."

"
Think of your house. The quartz countertop. The hand-scraped oak floors."

He pouted—he
'd definitely been taking lessons from Maria. "Mario would kill me."

"
Yes," I said. "Yes, he would. And you're not exactly on his favorite-person list right now."

"
You want?" Saul said to him.

Perry let out a deep sigh.
"Yes, but I can't have them. Not today."

Saul
tsk
ed. "Such a shame. I'm unsure they'll be here when you return."

Perry s
hot me a look.

"
Saul," I said.

He said,
"You can't blame a man for trying." Picking up the ring, he swept through swinging doors with Mr. Cabrera's credit card firmly in hand.

"
I don't feel so well," Mr. C. said.

"
Me, either," Perry added, peering at his beloved cufflinks.