Home to Whiskey Creek (Whiskey Creek #4)(22)
Author: Brenda Novak

But today, quitting time couldn’t come soon enough. Nearly everyone who came into the store wanted to know more about how he’d found Milly’s granddaughter and his theories about why she’d been kidnapped, which kept his own curiosity front and center. He’d heard that Chief Stacy had discovered a knife in the bushes by her bedroom door and was looking for its owner. A weapon showed serious intent. Surely, now she’d stop protecting whoever had hurt her.

Noah wanted to talk to her, make certain. But after locking up for the night, he hesitated about going over to Milly’s. He wasn’t confident Adelaide would be glad to see him. She hadn’t acted as if she liked him very much—until he’d carried her to bed. Then she’d given him that sleepy, “I’ve got to have something you want.”

That could’ve been interpreted as flirting, couldn’t it?

Even if it wasn’t, he chose to take it as evidence that he could, with effort, win her over. After all, she’d found him attractive in high school, and he hadn’t changed that much.

Actually, that he hadn’t changed more sort of bothered him. He knew part of it was his profession. Riding bikes was almost too much fun to take seriously. But it wasn’t just that. So many of his friends seemed to be growing up ahead of him. In the past couple of years, Cheyenne, Gail and Callie had all married and settled down. Gail had a stepson and a baby, with another baby on the way. Sometimes he felt his friends were leaving him in the dust. Baxter wasn’t married, but he seemed older now, more like the others.

Isn’t that what you usually want to talk about? How hot your latest conquest was?

God, was he really that immature?

He didn’t want to answer that question, not honestly. He hadn’t shared what he’d shared with Baxter just to brag. He’d been trying to fend off the sneaking suspicion that his best friend had a thing for him. That justified his behavior, didn’t it? It wasn’t as if he talked about the women he dated with anyone else.

Just in case it would make a difference, he drove over to Nature’s Way, the closest grocery store, and bought Addy several magazines, along with some candy, crossword puzzles and a couple of five-dollar movies. She probably had all the sweets she could eat. She was living with Milly, after all, who made those decadent desserts for Just Like Mom’s. But if he showed up bearing gifts he might be able to convince Addy that he hadn’t meant to disappoint her fifteen years ago when he failed to notice she was even alive.

He’d certainly noticed her last night, in more ways than one. Maybe she’d been unremarkable in high school—shy and awkward—but he could tell, despite her injuries, that she’d improved a great deal since.

Fortunately, her grandmother answered his knock, so he knew he’d at least get inside the door. Milly loved him.

“Noah! How nice of you to come by!”

He cast a surreptitious glance over her gray head but couldn’t see Adelaide. “How is she?”

“Holding up. Slept most of the day. But her poor eye.” She adjusted her walker to allow the door to open wider. “The swelling’s going down but it’s all black-and-blue.”

“She in bed now?” The thought of being unable to see her disappointed him but Milly shook her head.

“No, she’s in my office, on the phone with Ed.”

“Ed?” he repeated.

“Hamilton. Over at the paper.”

“Of course.”

“He’s going to print her story. Maybe it’ll prompt anyone who saw anything to come forward.”

“I hope it does.”

“Me, too.” She stepped back even farther. “Come in. She’ll be off in a minute.”

“I wouldn’t want to bother her if she’s too tired….”

She scowled at his words. “Don’t be silly. You’re her knight in shining armor. I’m sure she’d love to say hello.”

He doubted he could take Milly’s word for it, but he’d come this far….

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Why not? It won’t take me long to whip up a fresh pot.”

“Well, if you don’t mind…”

“Of course not.” The walker thunked and dragged, thunked and dragged as she left him sitting in the living room and made her way to the kitchen.

After she was gone, if he listened carefully, he could hear Adelaide’s voice, drifting out of a room down the hall. She told Ed she had no idea who her assailant was, that he’d been wearing a mask and gloves and, again, she insisted she hadn’t been raped. She even downplayed the threats she’d received and the beating. But she couldn’t come up with any good reason a man would break into her bedroom just to hit her a few times and drag her off to the Jepson mine. She admitted nothing had been stolen. That led Noah to believe the culprit had to be someone who hated her and was hoping to punish her for something.

His mind returned, once again, to her ex. She’d said it wasn’t him, but on those true-crime shows, it was always the husband.

Noah decided to see if he could get the name of the restaurant where she’d worked. Davis was an hour and a half away, but it would be worth the drive if he could meet her ex. Maybe the guy had scraped knuckles or showed some other evidence of having been in a scuffle. That wouldn’t be conclusive, but it would give Noah some indication whether Chief Stacy and his officers were wasting their time looking for the culprit in Whiskey Creek. And it would solve the mystery of her behavior, which had him baffled.

“Okay, Gran. I talked to Ed,” Addy called out after she hung up.

“Good.” Milly answered from the kitchen. “Did you mention the knife?”

“Didn’t have to. He’d already heard about it.”

“From who?”

“Who knows? I guess I’m the talk of the town.”

“Probably from Chief Stacy. He’s excited to have found it, says it shouldn’t be hard to figure out who such a special knife belongs to.”

Addy didn’t respond, but the floor creaked in the hall, suggesting she was on her way to the living room. Noah wished Milly would hurry and announce his presence.

She did—but it was about two seconds after Addy had seen him.

“Oh! Um, hello!” Eyes wide—even the one that was still swollen—she came to an abrupt stop. “I didn’t realize we had company.”

Noah couldn’t help noticing how much more obvious her bruises had become, especially those on her face. “How are you today?”