Page 41 of Rainbows Over Cedarwood

Chapter Thirteen

The next afternoon Colt wandered through his house. He’d had the locks changed and new keys made. Thankfully the spare keys to the diner were untouched in the safe. When he’d gone up to his restaurant to survey any damage, he’d had those locks changed as well. With Jordan’s help, he’d purchased another cell phone—a fancy one like he preferred. Ashley’s mother had done like she’d said and stayed with him. She’d helped him find the best ways to do his daily tasks without taxing his ribs too much. He winced as he exhaled. According to doctor’s orders, he was to take a deep breath at least once an hour to ensure he didn’t end up with pneumonia or a collapsed lung. When he rested, he’d been instructed to lie on the side of the damage. Doing so hurt like a son of a bitch, but he trusted the doctor.

“Kiddo, have you done your deep-breathing exercises?” Brenda asked. She lifted his shirt and checked the bruising. “Have you?”

“I’d do plenty more if Ashley was here.” He wriggled his eyebrows. “When he gets here, you can have a break. I’d like him to stick around.” He’d probably get the wrong kind of exercise, but who cared? He’d be happier with his boyfriend there.

She rested her hands on her hips. “He’s fond of you.”

“But?” He knew there was more to what she was about to say. “Lay it on me.”

“I’m sure he told you about Lane. He’s not very good at keeping things inside. Just be warned. He’s a strong man, but he’s not wild about getting hurt. I meant what I said. Treat him fair and don’t push. If this relationship is meant to last, it will.”

“So you’re saying don’t force it and be patient.”Don’t try to fuck the moment you’re well enough to do such things?He grinned and grabbed her in a one-armed hug. “I got the message, loud and clear. Nothing to worry about.” When he let her go, he noticed Ashley’s car in the driveway. T-minus fifteen seconds to heaven.

“Fine. I trust you.” Brenda gathered her purse. “I’ll be back.” She patted his shoulder as she walked past, then left him alone in the living room.

Colt strolled over to the kitchen door. He expected to see Ashley and Wyatt, but instead of only those two, Jordan and another officer were with them. So much for a private hot moment.

“Afternoon,” Colt said. He opened the door. “To what do I owe this visit?”

Ashley herded Wyatt into the house first. “Thanks for having us over.” His eyes glittered and he brushed his hand across Colt’s belly.

“Anytime.” He swatted Ashley’s ass. “You’re always welcome over here.” If he had his way, they’d be living together soon. He wanted his boyfriend in a safe environment and Wyatt out of the dinky apartment.

“Are we?” Jordan blushed. He crooked one eyebrow but didn’t say anything else.

He must’ve seen Colt’s gesture. Colt shrugged. “Of course. What’s up?”

“Besides you finally?” Jordan and the officer headed into the kitchen. “This is Detective Dye.”

“That’s a scary name.” Colt shook hands with Dye. “But I guess if you’re a detective, then it fits.”

Jordan rolled his eyes and Ashley groaned. Colt shrugged again. “I never said I was good under pressure,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. You were saying?” He made eye contact with Ashley and winked.

Ashley tried to hide the smile, but Colt noticed. The heat between them damn near set the room on fire.

The detective inched forward, seemingly oblivious to Ashley and Colt’s flirting. “The picketers aren’t leaving the diner, but we’ve made some advances with your assault case. One of the witnesses picked out one of the assailants in a line-up. When we brought her in for questioning, she turned on the other two. I don’t have many details for you, but I can tell you the investigation is progressing. Now, Hargrove has mentioned you’ve had other issues. Can you tell me about them?” He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to record this. Is that fine?”

“Sure.” Like Colt cared. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Ready? Go.” The detective swiped his thumb across the little microphone icon.

“I got a flyer stuck under my wiper at the diner. There’s the group that decided to dine and dash.” Colt eased onto the arm of the overstuffed chair. He dragged a deep breath into his lungs, winced then continued. God, his ribs ached. “They weren’t regulars, but I remember the name of the group. They reserved the largest table. The Sisters of Cedarwood. Sixteen ladies all wanting dinner at exactly two p.m. I thought nothing of it. We have large groups come in all the time.”

Dye shook his head. “So nothing out of the ordinary?”

“Not until Ash came in. Not that that’s odd. He’s been to the diner before, but this time I decided to make a move. Maybe I brought the problems on myself, but I wanted to tell Ash how I felt. I snuck into the bathroom after he went in. As far as I knew, no one saw. Now I know they were watching. I have the feeling they were planning on doing something no matter what. I just egged them on.” He grasped Ashley’s hand. He’d inadvertently thrown Ashley under the bus. Damn. He’d have to make up for it when he got back on his feet.

“If we had you look through a book of photos, do you think you’d be able to pick the women from that group out?” Dye asked.

“Even better. I can tell you who most of them are. They’re the ones picketing.” Colt toyed with the seam of his jeans leg. “They literally walked out of the restaurant out to the curb where they started their chants. ‘Gay, gay, go away. Clean up Cedarwood and toss out the trash.’” Colt sighed. He needed his pain meds and time to curl up with Ashley.

“Ah yes. We’ve heard the chants.” Dye turned off the recorder function on the phone. “Thanks for the information.”

Jordan nodded and shook hands with Colt. “Trust me, you did fine.”

“We’ll be in touch. Thank you.” Dye nodded to Jordan. “I’ve got enough.” He strode through the living room to the front door, leaving Jordan behind.

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