Page 108 of Kylo
“Crocodiles like human bodies more than alligators do, dear,” Claudia said, making my eyes widen. “But, no. There’s a good chance of discovery with that if you’re not careful. Better to start a garden club,” she said, her eyes twinkling, making me glance across the street toward the sprawling gardens of the assisted care facility. “Sure, bones might be found someday. But we’d be long gone by then,” she added, a wicked smirk toying with her lipstick-smeared lips.
“Noted,” I said, nodding. “But I have no plans of hurting Rue.”
To that, she gave me a nod.
“Now let me get back to my show,” she said, gesturing toward Dixon.
“They are shameless,” Rue said, standing near the corner of the house, shaking her head at your grandmother and her friends.
“Dixon is playing it up for them. You could have slept in longer,” I said, sliding an arm around her.
“I’m not used to the sounds of the house yet,” she admitted. “The air clicking on woke me up,” she added with an eye roll. “I came looking for Ernest.”
“Eddie took him to the store to get supplies.”
“I hope Eddie has a good back. He’s going to be carrying that dog.”
“He can handle it. Did you grab some breakfast?” I asked, knowing Eddie left a spread before he headed out.
“I did. I also caught Mackie on the counter eating a pancake. I put him back in the cage. With the pancake.”
“Sucker,” I said, giving her a squeeze. “And that’s coming from someone who already gave him some of the hash browns.”
“I know you don’t want to give me all the details, but are things… happening?”
“That’s why it’s quiet around here. Huck and the older club members are out making sure this is all over. And you’re going to be cutting ties with the supplier at Vital Greens.”
“Happily,” Rue agreed. “That was what I wanted to do from the beginning, but Marco made sure I knew that wasn’t an option.”
“I know it might be a pain in the ass to find a new supplier, but you don’t want any kind of connection to people who are smuggling shit into the country.”
“Agreed. There are plenty of other options.”
“Do you mind keeping the store closed today? Maybe tomorrow too? Just so we can concentrate the area we need to cover for protection until this is all over.”
“I could use some time off. I can put a post up online. Traeger might be a harder sell,” she said as we moved back into the kitchen. “He has so many orders coming in and needs access to the kiln.”
“About that,” Traeger’s voice greeted us as we moved inside.
He was in the process of scrubbing the coffee pot. But, seeing his chance to talk to Rue, he set it down and rinsed the suds off his hands.
“About what?”
“The kiln. You see, when I heard from Teddy, it was clear I really needed to scale up. I, uh, rented a space that has the juice for two larger kilns. An office in the back, a bathroom, and a large front room with enough space for tables and wheels.”
“Plural?” Rue asked.
“Well, Teddy suggested that I make my business work for me even when I am not actively making pottery myself.”
“You’re opening a studio,” Rue said.
“I am.” Traeger looked close to bursting. “I know that I should have told—”
“Shut up,” Rue cut him off. She broke away from me and ran toward her friend, wrapping him up in a tight hug. “I’m so happy for you! This is amazing. I mean, I am going to miss your coffee horribly. It’s going to be a real nightmare. But this is so great. You’re going to be so successful.”
“Thank you. I think I can probably teach your man how to make the coffee for you.”
Your man.
