Page 109 of Secrets Hidden In The Glass

“Fanny just called in.”

He clenched his jaw as he paused midstep. “Tell me this isn’t about that damn dog.”

“I could but then I’d be lying.”

“Send Mac out to deal with it.”

“Unfortunately, she’s requesting your presence. Apparently, this is a job for our sheriff.”

“Fucking A,” he muttered before he squeezed the button again. “I’ll head out in a couple of minutes.”

“I’ll let her know you’re on your way.”

He shoved the radio back on his belt and kept walking toward the deli. Fanny could hold her damn horses, because the latest shenanigan with Tobias’s dog was far from an emergency. He slowed as he approached the storefront, smiling as Callie held the Hannigan’s baby girl in one arm and knelt down next to the Hannigan’s preschooler eating his chocolate chip cookie and talking as he pointed at the paper he was holding—maybe some sort of drawing. Callie was grinning, glancing from the baby to little Tommy as she conversed with the child. She was beautiful—warm and kind when life hadn’t returned the favor. Yesterday she’d been dealt a blow and today she made little boys smile. She glanced up and met Nate’s gaze, her grin now for him.

Nate waved and remembered the tape he held.

She motioned for him to come in.

He shook his head, not wanting her to see what he had—to bring the troubled light back into her eyes. He tapped his watch and motioned toward the sheriff’s office.

Gaining her feet, she walked behind the counter and took a cupcake from behind the glass. She settled her cheek on the baby’s head and wiggled the pretty baked good, enticing him to come in and eat.

He opened and closed his mouth, signaling for her to take the bite for him.

She frowned and shook her head.

He nodded.

She nibbled her lip then bit into the frosting. Her eyes went soft as she chewed and held the pink cake up for him to see.

“A little girl,” he said, beaming. Gwen was giving him a niece.

Callie nodded and lifted the baby’s hand, kissed her tiny palm, and blew him a kiss.

He reached for it as if he grabbed it and pressed it to his cheek.

Callie laughed as she shook her head.

He winked and pointed toward the office, then waved and started back. Grabbing his phone, he found Gwen’s number, and sent off a text.

Another girl. I’m surrounded by them!

His phone dinged with Gwen’s reply.

Aren’t you the lucky one?

He chuckled and typed, Totally. Congratulations, sis. This is worth celebrating. I’ll hug you tomorrow.

His phone rang, and he half expected it to be Gwen, but he recognized the Virginia area code as he stared at his screen. He clenched his jaw, knowing what that meant. Silencing his ringtone, he sent Paul’s call to voice mail as he approached the Tahoe and got in. First he would deal with Tobias’s dog. Then he would see what information Paul had for him. If they had a positive identification, their conversation was bound to take a while.

~~~~

Callie set cubes of white cheddar in their designated spot on the meat and cheese platter she’d volunteered to make while Molly decorated the last of the cookies for tomorrow’s town council meeting.

“You know you don’t have to stay,” Molly said as she stood straight with the piping bag in her hand and wiped her forehead with her forearm. “Thanks to you, there’s hardly anything left to do to get ready for this thing. I might actually get a night off.”

“I don’t mind.” Callie picked up hunks of Havarti dill she’d sliced and added them in their section across from the cheddar. “I don’t have much to do out at the house so I might as well stay and help you.” The last thing she wanted to do was to go home and sit in the quiet and drive herself crazy. She’d spent the day keeping herself busy with projects Molly needed crossed off her list: taking inventory, calling in orders for ingredients and supplies they were running low on, baking pita chips and mixing up Molly’s homemade hummus they could hardly keep on the shelves—anything to take her mind off what was going on in her life. Her busy brain had found moments of reprieve during the afternoon lunch rush and when the Hannigan family stopped in for chocolate chip cookies, but otherwise she was doing everything she could to keep from falling apart.