Page 9 of The Map Home
Privately, Tad thought that when Boone had been standing in line for brains, he must have gotten distracted and turned the other way. His brother was good with the horses and cattle—all animals trusted him. He definitely seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to the weather. And women, for some reason, seemed to like his company—he’d always had a girlfriend, almost as if having one was a necessary accessory for life.
But Boone was also the guy who’d put diesel in a regular gas engine. Twice. And the second time it had happened was only a few months ago. In college, he’d almost burned down his dorm trying to heat up a frozen pizza still in the box. Once, when trying to make popcorn, he hadn’t had vegetable oil and decided to substitute corn syrup—thinking, Tad supposed, that the syrup was made from corn? Who knew. The pot had to be thrown away. The list went on and on.
“Please, just say you’ll be here.”
“Fine.”
“Fine is not yes.”
Dakota chuckled and Tad smiled. He smelled victory.
“Yes, Tad the Persistent, I will show up tomorrow night. But I don’t know when I’ll get off shift.”
Tad tamped down the urge to jump up and down while pumping his fist and yelling,Yes!
“Cool, see ya then.”
Tad clicked off and set the phone beside him on the couch. Frowning, he plopped his head back against the cushion and released a heartfelt sigh. What was it going to take for Dakota to admit he might have feelings—romantic ones—for Tad? Tad wanted to give Dakotaeverythingand instead stubborn Dakota just stood outside the Tad-shop with his nose pressed againstthe metaphorical windows, not paying attention to who was inside.
“Okay, that’s a bit dramatic,” he muttered, “but, dammit, it’s how I feel.”
Mildly irritated at both himselfandKota, Tad picked up the TV remote and pressed Power. The TV blinked on.
“Yes,” he hissed.
Love Actuallywas streaming—he’d indulge in one of his favorite Christmas movies for a couple hours. But first he needed to make some popcorn.
FOUR
Dakota
Dakota’s phone rang overly loud in his studio apartment. For the briefest of moments, he regretted joining the Sheriff’s Office. The requirement to leave the damn thing on 24/7 and answer if it was Morgan or the dispatcher calling sometimes felt like just too much, particularly in the mornings.
Glancing at the screen, he saw it was a 360 area code. Washington State. He had to answer this call too. Could be his half brother, Niall. But even more likely, it was Niall’s husband, Mat, calling to check in and wish him a happy holiday.
“Dakota here.”
“Well, that’s a step up fromwhat,anyway,” Mat said with a deep chuckle. “I’ve given up on reforming Niall, although Ryder still gets on his case about it.”
“‘What’ is a perfectly reasonable way to answer the phone,” Dakota retorted. “Cuts out the unnecessary chitchat.”
“Ah,” Mat chuckled. “There’s no question you and Niall were cut from a similar piece of cloth. How’s the new job? I assume you worked today. How’d it go?”
Mat was the Sheriff of Piedras County in Washington State, so he was very familiar with small budgets and long hours. He’d taken it upon himself to act as a sort of deputy-mentor to Dakota. Which Dakota wanted to resent, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so, even if it gave him an annoying feeling in the center of his chest because it was similar to how Tad made him feel. But—thank god—he didn’t want to bang his half brother’s husband.
“It’s good so far.” Officially, Dakota had been a deputy for about two months now. “I mean, most of the time, it’s fender benders, people doing stupid stuff, loose dogs or livestock.” He paused, then added, “We might have a missing person right now though.”
“Huh. Those are tough. Maybe whoever it is decided they’d had enough of small-town living?”
“Maybe,” Dakota said. “But her landlady says she left her cat behind. The cat’s name is Pound Cake.” For reasons unknown to himself, Dakota was convinced that a person who named their cat after a dessert would not abandon it.
“Maybe that means she plans on coming back.”
“The landlady’s concerned. She’s the one who reported her.” Dakota was too. In his experience, a missing person didn’t have a happy ending.
“No luck yet? No sign of her?”
“I’m not assigned to the case. There sort of isn’t one, but we’re keeping our eyes out. The missing person is an adult with no known medical conditions and appears to have left of her own accord,” he quoted Sheriff Morgan. Ifher own accordmeant leaving no notes and not alerting her landlord. And leaving behind her cat.
