4 Big Easy Hunter (2 page)

I pulled into the deli parking lot a tad faster than expected and hit the brakes in front of the plate glass window which advertised the weekly specials. I didn’t mean to aggravate Martin by flying up to his window, but I loved maneuvering the car and appreciated how it handled. It was controlled fun whipping into parking spaces.

The bell over the door tinkled as I entered, but there was no need for the bell to announce me. The 91-year-old man was standing with his hands on his hips, and he was frowning. “Susan Hunter -” he started to bark at me.

Before he could finish his sentence, I interrupted him with a laugh and said, “Martin, I’m sorry; really I am. I promise to be more careful, and you know I keep the car and the brakes in tip-top shape.” Even if he was going to yell at me, it didn’t matter. I was just too happy today. “And you know my name is Susan Raines now,” I chastised him gently.

“Well, you know it always gives my heart a little jump when you screech up to my windows so fast like that,” he said with less of a frown. “But I’ll forgive you like I always do. And I know your name is Susan Raines, but it will take some getting used to. When I see you, I still see Susan Hunter.” He smiled warmly at me. “What can I get for you today, dear? Your usual?”

My usual had swollen to two pounds of corned beef and one pound of Swiss cheese. “Yep. Darby and Nate are coming for dinner,” I told him happily as I walked over to the shelves for rye bread, sauerkraut, and kosher dill pickles. After the hard workout today, I had no qualms about also throwing a half gallon of java chip ice cream into the basket for dessert.

“Susan, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you’ve been out driving around at night,” Martin said as he started to ring up my items.

I was surprised by the question. “No. Nothing more than going from the racquetball club to the apartment. Why?”

“You know, I hear a lot of gossip here in the store, and there have been a few people talking about seeing you driving that beast of a car around town in the middle of the night,” he said with a slightly accusing tone.

“Martin, it wasn’t me,” I told him. “They must have seen another red car and someone else. Now that Mick and I are married, I wouldn’t leave the apartment in the middle of the night for any reason.” He gave me a knowing smile, and I blushed. That wasn’t what I meant by the comment.

“If I hear anything else, I’ll let you know,” he said still smiling.

I paid for my groceries and left the store. Behind the wheel of my car again, I thought about what Martin said. It was odd people thought they were seeing me and my car at night. The car had been restored by my dad, and he had driven it for quite a while before giving it to me for my 27th birthday over two years ago. At the time, he and my mom were moving to Dallas, and Dad wanted to leave the car behind with me. There wasn’t another one like it in town that I knew of, but I wasn’t going to worry about it now. I needed to get home and make the sandwiches.

“These sandwiches … are just … the best ever,” Darby mumbled with his mouth full. Nate and Mick were nodding and making noises in agreement as they had just taken big bites as well. I couldn’t help myself and laughed loudly at them. As usual, the sandwiches turned out just right, and they were good. Raspberry iced tea was our drink of choice with the Reubens, and a pitcher of the chilled tea with lots of ice was on the table.

“Nate, what happened at work today?” I asked with an excited edge to my voice. “Anything worth telling?” I knew it was gossipy, but his stories from his workday at the hotel were usually entertaining.

“People in hotels are the same everywhere, aren’t they?” he asked shaking his head and smiling. “I thought we had some characters in Florida, but I think they all followed me here to Ohio.” He was laughing now. “One woman called down to the desk this afternoon and asked how to work the
Do Not Disturb
sign. She was holding it in her hand, but she didn’t know where to put it.” That must have tickled Darby’s funny bone because he accidentally let out a little chuckle-snort. “And a strange man with hair looking like it was styled with an egg beater came down to the front desk a few minutes after he checked in and said he thought his room was haunted. He wanted me to come check it for negative energy.”

“What did you do?” I asked, eyebrows raised and eager to hear his response.

Nate’s eyes went wide showing white all around and said in a slightly higher-pitched voice, “I’m afraid of ghosts, and I wasn’t going to go into his room and find one staring back at me from the mirror.”

Mick and I looked at each other, and my own eyes went a little wide trying to hold back laughter. Mick seemed to be stifling laughter as well.

“Don’t laugh,” Nate said. “I’m serious. I’ve seen ghosts before, and I don’t need to be all freaked out at work. I checked on the internet for ghost hunters and gave the guy a number to call.”

Mick and I both burst into laughter at the same time, and Darby almost did a spit-take when he started to laugh after just taking a big swig of his drink. He managed to get his napkin to his mouth before we were the recipients of his tea. With tears in his eyes, he mumbled, “
ghostbusters
.”

Nate was an easy-going, fun-loving guy, much like Darby, and he allowed us our laughter before saying, “Listen you guys, I was camping one time, and we were all sitting around the campfire. I had to go to the bathroom, so I went into my buddy’s cabin, because it was closest to the fire. I didn’t turn the light on in the bathroom, but it wasn’t very dark anyway, because there was a full moon. So, I’m standing there doing my business, and I look up in the mirror, and I see my face, but I also see someone else’s face behind me. When I turned around, there was no one there.”

I was hanging on every word. “What did you do?” I asked with my eyes wide again.

“I made a mess all over myself and the bathroom and ran screaming out of the cabin like a little girl.” We all burst into a second round of laughter. “I’m not proud of it, but I’ve never been so scared in all my life,” he said shaking his head at the memory.

Nate was always fun to be around, and he was good-looking in a more cute than handsome kind of way. Where Darby often looked like a model with his blue eyes, tousled sandy-colored hair, and muscled but lean build, Nate was taller, thinner, and had dark reddish-brown, wavy hair with a smattering of freckles across his tanned face. His face showed tons of expression when he talked, making his stories even more fun.

I stood up, still chuckling, and went into the kitchen to dish the java chip ice cream into bowls. A few minutes later, Mick came in to give me a hand, but he first ran his arms around my waist and pulled me against him for a kiss. My heart started to race, and he had me breathless once again. Before releasing me, he whispered “
I love you
” into my ear. Darby called out from the table, “You know, we can see you guys.” I felt myself blush, but Mick laughed as he gathered up three of the bowls and carried them to the table. I followed with the last bowl of ice cream and sat back down in my chair.

“Did you send in your RSVP yet?” Nate asked looking at me and Mick as he started to shovel ice cream into his mouth. I almost laughed at him. I could never eat something so cold so fast.

“Not yet,” I said. “We’ve been waiting to see what Mick’s schedule looks like.”

“Yeah, we’re starting a new project in Cleveland that week,” Mick said hesitantly, “and I don’t think I can get away until the night before the wedding.”

“But you’ll miss all the fun,” said Darby. “It’s a destination wedding, and Dell and Lisa have events planned for the entire week.”

“It can’t be helped,” said Mick. “I have to be at the site to make sure the work gets started on time. We’ll definitely be attending the wedding; we wouldn’t miss it for the world, but we can’t fly out until Friday night.”

Darby looked at me with a mischievous glint in his eye, turned to Mick and said, “Well, how about letting Susan fly down on Monday with me and Nate. The three of us can join in the festivities all week, and we’ll tell you all about what you missed when you show up on Friday night.”

I gave Mick a hopeful look, but he said slowly, “I don’t know about that. I don’t think it’s a good idea to turn Susan loose in New Orleans all by herself.”

“She won’t be by herself. She’ll be with us, and we’ll watch out for her,” Darby said continuing to present his case.

Mick still wasn’t convinced and said, “Darby, not to be contentious, but she’s been with you before when things went all haywire.”

“I know,” Darby agreed nodding his head, “but this is a lot of people in a highly-orchestrated atmosphere, and there simply won’t be time for any of us to get into any trouble. We’ll keep her on a tight leash, I promise,” he said winking at me. He knew he was breaking Mick down. “Besides, Susan, didn’t you say your mom and dad would be flying in on Thursday?”

“Yep,” I said nodding. I really did want to be in New Orleans for the entire week and participate in the fun. We had met pro hockey player Dell Grady when we were in Las Vegas in January, and he and his girlfriend, Lisa, had attended our impromptu wedding. They were now getting married in New Orleans in three weeks. We had all been invited, and I was up against the deadline to get our RSVP in the mail.

Mick was quiet, and I knew what he was thinking. I understood his apprehension. Trouble seemed to follow me around at times, and I’m sure he was nervous about my being away from him for a week.

“Mick, I’d like to at least be there when Mom and Dad arrive,” I told him, “but if it bothers you too much, I’ll wait and go down with you on Friday. Why don’t you think about it, and we’ll let the guys know in a day or two.”

“No,” he said slowly. “I know I’m being paranoid, and I know you can take care of yourself. Go ahead and go down with Darby and Nate. If I can get away sooner than Friday, I will, but you guys go and have a good time.”

I reached over and grabbed his hand to give it a squeeze. After some of the predicaments I’d gotten myself into, I knew how hard this was for him to send me off to yet another unknown city where we didn’t know what awaited. But I planned to mind my own business and simply follow the crowd. I couldn’t get into trouble if I was doing what everyone else was doing.

“Susan, do you want to come with me to grab the game?” Nate asked as he stood up from the table.

“Yes! Wait for me,” I said hurriedly while getting up and going into the kitchen. “Let me make a little sandwich first.”

Darby and Mick started clearing the table and cleaning up the dishes while I made a little corned beef on rye sandwich. I walked out of the apartment with Nate, and we hurried down the wide hallway to his door. He opened it to a smiling and exuberant Joe, an eight-year-old black and tan coonhound with red ticking on his chest.

“Hi, boy! Did you miss me today?” I asked happily as the 80-pound hound jumped all around me and barked his greeting. I plopped down on the floor and held my palm out with the little sandwich. He was overly excited but took it from my hand gently. After wolfing it down, he started rubbing his head into my shoulder and neck. I scratched behind his ears and all down his back. “You’re a good boy,” I told him while nuzzling the top of his head with my cheek. “What did you do today, Joe? Did you chase any rabbits? Did anybody love you today?” We were practically rolling around on the floor together now.

“Susan, I don’t know what you do to that dog,” Nate said shaking his head and laughing. “It isn’t just the little treats. He really loves you, and he livens up so much when you’re around.”

“Oh, I luv Joey, too,” I said in a baby-talk voice to the dog while rubbing his belly with both hands. “Where’s his leash?” I asked Nate. “I’ll take him out for a quick run around the building and a potty break. Come on, Joe. Let’s go outside,” I said with excitement as I stood up from the floor. The dog scrambled to all fours and looked up at me with light in his eyes, his tongue hanging out, and a smile on his face.

Nate was still laughing as he handed the leash to me and said, “That poor old dog hasn’t had this much attention in years.”

“Well, I think he’s wonderful,” I told Nate. “I never had a dog, and I never knew how much personality they could have. If Mick would let him in the apartment, I’d let him sleep at the foot of our bed.”

“He wouldn’t stay at the foot, Susan. Trust me. It gives you a jolt to wake up in the morning and realize you’ve opened your eyes to a hound dog with his head sharing your pillow. Or you’ll find him under the blankets and up against your legs on a cold winter night.”

I smiled at the thought of Joe under the blankets as we ran down the three flights of stairs and out into the parking lot at the back of the building. We kept on running past the carport, the small yard, and out into the freshly mowed field. Mick had allowed Nate to mow down a large section of the field, so we would have a place for Joe to run and do his business. After frolicking with the dog for a good ten minutes, we headed back around the carport, and I took him for a brisk walk around the apartment building.

As we rounded the front of the building, I thought I heard a familiar sound and was surprised to see a red Chevelle go speeding by. From what I could tell, it appeared to be exactly like mine. This must be the car Martin was talking about earlier. I had no way of knowing who it was, but they were going to be getting a lot of speeding tickets if that was the way they were going to drive. I chuckled to myself. After Dad had given the car to me, I collected more than a few tickets that first year and was even in danger of losing my license. I finally settled down and stopped driving like I was in a race every time I got behind the wheel.