The Map Home (Collier’s Creek Christmas)

Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

Tad

Digging his cellphone out of his bag, Tad texted his brother and quickly learned he was in town at the Seed and Feed. Perfection.

“He’s picking up salt licks for the winter barns,” Tad told Kota.

When they arrived, Tad’s brother was easy to find. He was aimlessly wandering the pet aisle, picking up cat toys, examining them, and putting them down again. They watched him for a minute, and Tad, who found his brother very irritating and didn’t want to feel sorry for him, sighed.

“What is he doing?” whispered Dakota.

“No clue. This is Boone, remember? Heya, Boone,” Tad called out.

Ignoring them, Boone continued his search through silver bins full of bouncy balls of all sizes, colorful feathers, and shiny things to chase.

“What do you two want?” he finally asked. Unsurprisingly, he sounded dispirited.

“Wondering if you’re missing something,” Tad replied, moving closer to him.

The muscles around Boone’s jaw tightened. “Like what?”

“Come on, Boone,” Tad said, “you’re not fooling us. We saw Amanda last night.”

Tad was kind of surprised it was only last night that he and Kota had seen Boone’s girlfriend after picking out their first tree. It seemed like a lifetime.

His brother turned to face them, and it was then that Tad realized a tiny black fluff of kitten-beast was tucked into his forearm. It was purring.

“Oooh, kitty,” Tad crooned.

Boone looked down at the feline.

“Are you adopting it?” Tad asked.

The Seed and Feed often worked with the Humane Society, finding homes for abandoned and stray animals. Once when Tad was about eight, they’d had a miniature pig. But Penny had put her foot down.

“Yeah, this is Henrietta,” Boone said quietly. “I’ve been missing Samwise.”

Tad suppressed an inner sigh because Boone loved animals, and almost without hesitation, they loved him back. No doubt the kitten had been feral until the moment it had laid its golden gaze on his brother.

“What are you doing here?” Boone repeated, giving the kitten a scritch under the chin.

Oh, right. Focus, Tad. “We found Grandma’s ring, so you can quit dressing up in Santa costumes and avoiding Amanda. And whatever else you’ve been doing. Stealing stuffed animals.”

Boone’s hand stopped moving, but the kitten just kept rubbing its cheek across his knuckles. “I don’t know wha?—”

“Knock it off. We figured it out, Dakota and I, so don’t even try to pretend otherwise. Boone , why didn’t you just ask for help in the first place?”

Boone caved. “Why do you think?” he asked. “Because I felt like a huge idiot. ‘Oh, hey Mom, I lost Grandma’s ring. And by the way, Amanda, I’m a loser.’” Instead of looking at them, he was stroking the kitten’s head.

Tad and Dakota exchanged a glance. Boone needed more help than either of them had realized. But they still needed to know exactly what had happened so they could plan the next steps.

“So, you… broke in and took the toys and then...?”

“I panicked,” Boone admitted, “looking for the ring. I thought it would be easy to find, but obviously it wasn’t. And anyway, the door was unlocked. I didn’t break in, I let myself in. How did you find it?”

Tad was biting his lip to keep himself from not going into the legal definition of breaking and entering. He was going to get enough of that from their parents and the sheriff.

“Somebody reported the mess,” answered Dakota. “Ben and I went and collected them all and took them to the station, and Ben thought to use a metal detector. It was kind of hidden and tangled up in the cotton stuffing.”

After glancing at Dakota, Boone returned his attention to the kitten. “How much trouble am I in?”

“I’m no expert on this kind of thing,” Dakota said, his expression impassive, “but I’d say Penny is going to be the sticking point. You need to start with her first. If your mom can look past your failings—” Tad punched him in the shoulder. Reluctantly, Dakota did not finish his thought.

“He meant we , Boone. The best plan is to explain to Mom what happened, pretty much begging forgiveness, and then offer to pay for replacements. If you get Mom on your side, the mayor and sheriff will—okay, so I don’t know about the sheriff. Dakota, what do you think?”

Dakota shrugged. “Most likely, he’ll accept an apology or admission of guilt. He’s been on a community service kick lately, though.”

A gusty sigh escaped Boone, and the kitten squeaked.

“What about Amanda?” he asked in a small voice.

“Talk to Mom and Dad first. One thing at a time. But honestly, after talking to her last night, I think you don’t have much to worry about. And hey.” Tad pointed at the ball of fluff. “Now you have a new ring bearer. Much better than a teddy bear.”

“With my luck, it would run away, and I’d never see the ring or the kitten again.”

“Think positive, big brother.” Tad turned to the bins of cat toys, randomly picking out several colorful and fluffy gadgets and handing them over to Boone. “Go pay for these and then go home and talk to Mom and Dad. Your attack kitten will protect you.”

Together, he and Dakota watched Boone drive off with Henrietta tucked into a soft carrier on the passenger seat.

“Did that just happen?” Dakota asked.

“Yep,” responded Tad. “That really just happened. I kind of wish we could be there for the groveling, but I guess knowing it’s happening is just as good.”

“I’m never forgetting this Christmas, ever.”

“And I’m sure that’s because it’s our first together and not because Boone was… Boone.”

Turning his gaze from the road to Tad, Dakota’s lips curved into a smile, the special smile that was reserved just for him.

“Of course that’s exactly what I meant,” he said.

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 poked her 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 then when 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 if he 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.