This scene takes place in A Darcy Sweet Mystery – Book 1 – Death Comes to Town.
“Go ahead. I’ll wait for you here.”
Grace had to wonder at how stubborn men could be sometimes. Her husband, Aaron, had a knack for knowing when he should just go along with what she suggested. That’s why she married him.
She hadn’t had the choice when Detective Jon Tinker was hired by the chief and made her new partner. She’d have to train him a little better. “You’re going to have to meet the rest of the town sometime, Detective Tinker,” she reminded him. Again.
He leaned up against the side of their black and white patrol car—stubbornly, of course—and made himself comfortable there. “I’m good here. Thanks. Go ahead.”
She mumbled under her breath about how good looking men were always the worst, and stuffed her hands into her pockets as she stalked away. Jon had a body male models dreamed of and a face that was gorgeous, with that dark hair and those piercing blue eyes of his. Her blue pantsuit swished and she rolled her eyes and she blew out her breath in a huff. Pretty men. The worst.
In Helen’s café and bakery, she ordered the coffees and waited for them, chatting about nothing in particular with Helen. The mayor’s wife liked to work behind the counter of her own shop. Had to admire that. Taking the two cups of coffee in their cardboard carry tray, she made for the exit. And bumped into someone walking in.
Darcy.
“Oh, sorry! Sorry,” her sister kept apologizing, obviously completely unaware who she had just stumbled into.
“Darcy! Where is your head?” Her sister looked up, a surprised look on that heart-shaped face. Long hair even darker than hers fell loose around her slender shoulders. They’d always been close, and Darcy had always found new ways to be annoying. “You almost made me drop these coffees.”
Grace tried not to scowl at her little sister, but it was hard not to. Darcy was always so flighty. She was always getting involved in things she shouldn’t, meddling where she didn’t belong, and in the process making everyone’s life better. Sometimes Grace wished she was more like Darcy. Most days, she wished her sister would open her eyes and live in the here and now, instead of in the world of…well, the world of Darcy Sweet.
“Grace, what on earth are you doing here?” Darcy asked her.
She looked down at the coffees in her hand, wondering how much more obvious the answer to that question could be. “Well, I don’t know Darcy. Maybe I was digging for gold or working on my car or something.” She tilted her head to one side, pushing back her long dark hair. “What do you think I’m doing here? It’s a coffee shop. I’m getting coffee.”
Darcy shrugged and bit her lip. Grace sighed. “What’s up with you today? Has it got anything to do with…you know?”
She wiggled the fingers of her free hand. They rarely talked about the special things Darcy could do, her sixth sense or whatever it was supposed to be called. Certainly never in public. Darcy’s childhood had been rough enough. They’d learned to keep it between themselves. Grace didn’t even think Darcy’s ex-husband Jeff knew about it.
After a moment, her sister kind of shrugged. “I just had a strange dream, that’s all. It’s probably nothing.”
Grace looked at her watch. If that was all her sister wanted to say about it, then that was her business. “Okay, then. If you say so. Are you getting a coffee? Go ahead. I’ll wait for you. You can come and meet my new partner. We just hired him away from the city.”
Jon was going to meet people, whether he wanted to or not.
They talked about this and that as they went outside together and walked up the sidewalk. Jon was right where she’d left him, leaning against the patrol car, looking bored out of his mind. Misty Hollow might not be the big city, where he’d worked before transferring here, but he didn’t have to wear his feelings out in the open like that…
Darcy lost a half step next to her. She was staring, and it was obvious she was staring at Jon. Well, well. Maybe she was ready to move on after that lousy ex-husband of hers, after all.
“That’s your partner?” Darcy asked.
“Well. Nothing gets by you, does it?” They reached the car, and Grace handed the coffees to her partner. She figured it was the least he could do after making her go get them. “Jon, this is my sister, Darcy Sweet. Darcy, this is my new partner, Jon Tinker.”
She waited for one of them to say something, and when neither of them did she nudged Darcy in the ribs. Jon was being his usual stand-offish self, but Darcy wasn’t usually this rude.
Prompted by Grace’s elbow poking her in the side, Darcy finally spoke. “Hi, um…Jon. How are you?”
Grace lifted an eyebrow. As first impressions went, she’d heard worse. She just couldn’t remember when.
She waited while Jon shook Darcy’s hand. Then he took one of the coffee cups from the tray and took a sip, turning away. She was a little offended that he’d treat her sister so cold…oh. Huh. Men were so stupid. They always thought they were being so cool. Jon was attracted to her sister.
Well, well.
“So, Jon,” Darcy was saying to Jon. “What do you think of our town?”
“The town’s okay,” he said, his voice turning sarcastic. “And all this mist doesn’t bother me at all.”
He turned away with another sip of his coffee. Grace pursed her lips. If he was going to work in this town, he couldn’t keep these walls up. He was going to have to make friends, and be friendly. Especially with her sister. Might have to explain that to him. Again.
Darcy looked over at Grace, her expression angry. “Well, I guess that’s great then that you love the mist so much.” She twisted the heirloom ring on her finger a few times. “I’ll see you later, Grace. I’ve got to get to the book shop.”
Grace watched her walk away, a mixture of emotions radiating from her body language. Taking her own cup of coffee she held her hand out to Jon. “Give me the keys. I’m driving.”
After they pulled away from the curb, Jon took another sip of his coffee and spoke casually while facing toward the side window. “Your sister works at the bookstore?”
“No,” Grace said. “She owns it.” She watched him out of the corner of her eye for his reaction.
He managed to keep his face neutral, but she wasn’t fooled. It might be worth getting those two together again sometime. Grace had a feeling that there was more to their story than just this one chance meeting.
Death Comes to Town is the first book in the Darcy Sweet Mysteries and is free on Amazon, iTunes, B&N and Kobo and several smaller retailers.
