Page 52 of The Map Home
Then, before Tad could register what was happening, right there in front of the Seed and Feed, Dakota kissed him.
“See ya later,” he said with a wink before sauntering toward his truck.
The nurse pokedher head into Curtis’s room again. “Visiting hours are almost done.” This was the second time she’d stopped by to remind them their time was almost up.
“Yes, we know. Just a few more minutes,” Curtis acknowledged without looking at her.
Catching Tad’s attention, she raised one eyebrow, and Tad responded with an infinitesimal nod. He’d try and hurry things up, especially because they needed to put a wrap on this story. While it wasn’t international news, the fact that Peter Kline and DreamDwell had been trying to pull a fast one was a warning for folks in Collier’s Creek to remain vigilant, to check sources. If something sounded too good to be true, it probably was.
And, amazingly, it was mostly thanks to Honey Sweeting that they cracked the story. She was sitting in a chair on the other side of Curtis’s bed, clicking away on her laptop.
At first, Curtis hadn’t believed it was true, that Honey had already been on the story. Not because land development was something she normally wrote about or even particularly cared about, but because Peter Kline had approached her, wrongly assuming she was a weak link in The Chron newsroom and thinking he might be able to get some positive press for his “venture”—even though there really was no land and no deal.
He was playing a kind of shell game, pretending he had land and permits and talking it up so local investors wanted to shower him with money. He almost didn’t have to ask for it. And thenwhen he had what he wanted, he planned to disappear and start again somewhere else.
Not this time though. And with any luck, hopefully never again.
Kline hadn’t counted on Honey being almost as suspicious as Curtis Lewis, as well as being a family friend of Carter Pickering’s elderly widow, who was Honey’s deceased husband’s aunt, maybe a cousin. Honey had been aware that the will was still in probate and figured she’d give him just enough rope to incriminate himself and then she’d call in the authorities. Which apparently had happened the weekend of the tree lighting. What Tad had thought was Honey lurking suspiciously had in fact been her gathering the last bits of information she needed, a statement from Pickering’s widow and the probate paperwork. Since she hadn’t wanted Kline to see her there, she’d used her connections to get into city hall after it closed.
“Do we all think that Peter Kline is an alias?” asked Honey. “Unfortunately, it’s not that unusual of a name.”
“Maybe so. I think once he’s behind bars, we’ll learn a lot more about him,” said Curtis.
“How is that even going to happen, getting him behind bars?” Tad asked. “You two aren’t planning some kind of Collier’s Creek-style sting operation, are you?”
Curtis and Honey exchanged a glance that immediately had Tad on edge.
“Seriously? No way.”
“Have a little faith, grasshopper,” Curtis began, “that it’s not going to be difficult because he thinks he’s fooled us all. Kline, if that is his real name, is a greedy asshole, and he won’t be able to resist a new investor. He is working under the illusion that we’re all stupid.”
Tad shut his eyes for a moment, took a breath, opened them again, and asked, “What new investor? It can’t be either of you two, can it?”
“Kline is still working under the misapprehension that Sweeting has money to spend on this project. He’s going to ‘let’ Honey give him the first official check.” Curtis sounded disappointed that he wouldn’t be the primary person to bring down the DreamDwell house of cards. “The state is in on the game now, so as soon as Kline has the money in his grubby hands, they’ll nab him. The rest of the investigation is completely out of our hands, but The Chronicle will break the story.”
Honey lifted one hand and Curtis leaned over to give her a high five. It seemed that there was a truce between them. For now, anyway.
“Nice work on your part too, Tad. Honey and I have been talking. You know we can’t offer you a full-time position, but we’d like to keep you on the payroll for special events and the like. Should’ve done this earlier.” Curtis shook his head. “I can’t take pictures worth shit, and Sweeting needs to stay focused on her community reporting.”
They were both staring expectantly at Tad, waiting for his reply.As ifhe would say no.
“Of course, I accept, I’d love to work for The Chron. Thank you so much!”
“Well then, happy damn holidays and get out of here already. Go spend time with that boyfriend of yours. I expect Holiday Bash photos ASAP.”
Tad’s smile was huge as he left Curtis’s room practically walking on air. Life was good, he and Dakota were together, and he had a foot in the door for the job he’d always wanted. The best Christmas ever.
He couldn’t wait to tell Dakota the news.
SEVENTEEN
Dakota
Teeth-rotting,cheerful music bombarded Dakota as he strode along the square and tried to avoid bumping into other last-minute shoppers attending the Collier’s Creek Holiday Bash, the traditional insanity held the last weekend before Christmas.
He avoided bulging bags of gifts and shoppers while also glancing into every window he passed by, hoping something would pop out at him. Fucking anything at this point.
He was meeting Tad at Odette’s in their outdoor cocktail garden in less than twenty minutes and still didn’t have a gift for his boyfriend. Tad had been irritatingly secretive about what he’d picked out for Dakota. Not even morning blow jobs had gotten him to confess. What was Dakota supposed to get the boyfriend who already had everything?
