A Kendall O'Dell Mystery

Chapter2-1

CHAPTER

2

The traffic jam finally broke free as I snaked my way into Phoenix along with the thousands of other people who’d been stalled on the road for almost three hours. So far, the day was turning out to be far different than I’d imagined and I had to fight a sensation of gloom. Fritzy’s revelation was too much of a coincidence to ignore. My finger was poised over Ginger’s number, but I hesitated. Don’t put the cart before the horse, my wise grandmother used to tell me. Why upset her and Marcelene needlessly? I had nothing to go on but a hunch, but the uncomfortable feeling persisted. Against my nature, I urged myself to be patient, wait for more information and verification of identity.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the shopping center, found what I needed at the party store, made a quick lunch stop and then checked the plane’s arrival time on my phone. Fortunately for me, bad weather had delayed the flight from Pittsburgh, so I had a little breathing room. As usual, Sky Harbor International Airport was an annoying zoo of traffic. I circled the parking garage several times until I eventually snagged a space on the 4th floor. Then, it took me another fifteen minutes to get to the terminal where the “arrived” sign for their flight number blinked. I sighed with relief. Even with the three-hour traffic delay, I’d made it.

As the passengers flooded into the terminal, I searched faces until I finally spotted my mother holding a carry-on bag in one hand, her purse and heavy winter coat in the other. I could tell by her sour expression as she emerged from the gate area that something was bugging her. The corresponding smirk on my brother’s face conveyed the initial impression that he’d most likely been the cause of her aggravation. But knowing how hard-headed they both were—we all were for that matter—and knowing how hypercritical my mother could sometimes be, I felt instant sympathy for my younger brother. Apparently the old adage, ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is true, because I was genuinely happy to see them. I loved them all fiercely, even with their numerous imperfections, of which I certainly was not exempt. My mother turned to my brother, Sean, mouthed something I could not hear and his expression turned sullen. What in the world was going on? My initial curiosity as to the cause of their disagreement faded at the first glimpse of my father’s ruddy face and a wave of elation washed over me. But, my joyful anticipation turned to dismay when I noticed the crutches and the black boot on his right foot. I rushed towards him.

“Kendall!” My mother intercepted and enfolded me in one of her not overly effusive embraces. “It’s been such a long time!”

“I know!” I said, hugging her back before she suddenly pushed me to arm’s length.

“Look at you!” she marveled with a concerned frown. “You are so tan. And you have freckles on your nose. You’re getting way too much sun. That is not good for your skin. Aren’t you wearing any sunscreen?” Before I could respond, she concluded with, “You must take better care of your skin or your face will wrinkle like an old prune.”

I bit back a testy rejoinder. How typical of her to greet me with a disapproving remark. “I’m fine, Mom. Really.” In direct contrast, my family looked pale. My dad always joked that her blue-blooded English ancestry was the basis for her cool façade and the older I got, the more merit his theory seemed to hold. She had always been less approachable than my dad and definitely lacked the fiery Irish disposition that I inherited from the O’Dell side of the family.

“Let me see the ring.” She grabbed my left hand, her immediate expression of disenchantment predictable and mildly amusing. “Oh my. It looked so much bigger in the photos you sent.” A raised brow accompanied her thin-lipped smile and it was hard to miss the trace of sarcasm in her critique.

I knew she was comparing it to the enormous and pretentious ring Grant had bought for me. “Mom, it’s two-carats. What do you want?”

“Oh, it’s fine. It’s fine. And as long as you’re not disappointed, I guess that’s all that counts,” she responded airily. Her calculated barb made me feel right at home and I cautioned myself against giving it right back to her. “So, I’m assuming you’ve set the wedding date?” she inquired, still scrutinizing my ring.

“Not yet. Let’s all get through this engagement party first, okay? But, just so you know, it will probably be within a year.”

“Hey, Kenny.” Sean intervened, flashing me a conspiratorial grin before wrapping me in a bear hug, which I returned whole-heartedly. In the nine months since I’d seen him last, he looked more mature, seemed leaner and his once lush strawberry blond hair was cropped close to his head. It was also hard to miss the new skull and crossbones tattoo on his neck. By the time we pulled apart, my dad had hobbled up beside us.

“There’s my pretty Pumpkin!” His familiar sunny smile seemed to light up the entire waiting area and as I slid my arms around his waist he crushed me to his chest with one arm. It was a bit awkward with the crutches clattering in my ears. Sudden tears blurred my vision as I realized just how much I had missed my family, and particularly my dad these past nine months. I squeezed him hard and drew back, meeting his sea-green eyes. “Okay, Dad, what happened to your foot and why didn’t someone tell me?”

He exchanged a meaningful glance with my mother who answered for him with a sniff of disdain. “Your father didn’t want to worry you. Two days ago he decided to be a hero and chase after that silly old dog. I thought we were going to have to cancel our trip.”

My brother chimed in, “Dad took one hell of a header on a patch of ice trying to keep Bozwell from getting flattened by the garbage truck.”

“Quit talking about me like I’m not here. I can speak for myself,” my dad griped, eyeing them both with irritation. “I fractured my ankle not my mouth.” Wow. They all seemed a bit grouchy today. Sean’s reaction to my dad’s outburst was to give him an indifferent shrug and insert his ear buds, effectively tuning him out while my mother fussed needlessly with her coat. Turning back to me, my dad explained, “Poor old thing is almost deaf and blind now. I wasn’t going to just stand there and do nothing.”

Nope, that was not his style. I leveled him a look of sheer adoration. “Way to go, Dad!” Laughing, we exchanged a high five and then I asked, “How long do you have to wear that thing?” I nodded at his booted foot while linking my elbow through his, feeling grateful to once again be included in the give and take banter of my much-missed family circle. “It looks uncomfortable.”

“It is. Doctor said another six weeks or so, but I wasn’t about to let this stop me from seeing you.”

“Oh, boy. I’m guessing the walking tours and the trail ride I had planned for you are out of the question.”

“Not at all,” he firmly insisted. “It’s just a fracture. I’m up for just about anything unless you have hiking the Grand Canyon as part of our itinerary.”

I matched his conspiratorial grin, but caught his grimace when he put weight on his foot. “Dad, are you in a lot of pain? Do you want me to get a wheelchair for you? It might make it easier to get to the car. It’s a pretty long walk to baggage claim.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to be babied. I’m not going to let this get me down. Lead the way.” He clomped along faster, but couldn’t quite hide the look of discomfort in his eyes. Yep. He was just as stubborn as me and I knew he’d tough it out even if he was in screaming agony.

I caught my mother’s glance of resignation and gave my brother a wink. Nothing much had changed. At least that’s what I thought at that moment.

By the time we reached the baggage claim area, my dad’s face was brick red and beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. I didn’t want to hurt his pride, but insisted that he sit down and rest while I went to get the Jeep and drive it to the closest exit. It kind of worried me that he didn’t protest too much and I experienced a twinge of guilt knowing he’d just flown 3000 miles to see me when he probably should have stayed at home to recuperate. My heart also ached a little to notice that both my parents seemed to have suddenly aged. The lines on my mother’s oval face appeared deeper, my dad’s red hair looked thinner and a touch more faded than I remembered.

I pulled the car keys from my purse and turned to leave when my brother stepped to my side. “Wait up. I’ll go with you.”

“What?” My mother slid him a withering glare. “You’re going to leave me here to handle all this luggage by myself? That’s so typical of your selfish, irresponsible behavior.”

His lips hardened and I could tell he was stifling a rude retort. “I’ll be back to get it. Just lay off me for a few minutes, will you?”

Whoa. What the hell was going on between these two? Puzzled, my gaze flitted between them until my mother turned her back to him. “Let’s go.” Sean’s tone was clipped.

I hesitated in the ensuing silence. Neither of them offered an explanation for their ultra-touchy exchange. I was tempted to demand an explanation right then and there, but decided against escalating the argument inside the terminal. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said, unable to miss the look of weary forbearance shadowing my dad’s face.

As we weaved our way through the throngs of travelers crowding the terminal, Sean was furiously texting someone on his phone. “Everything okay?” I asked after he jammed the phone into his jeans pocket.

A simultaneous scowl and shrug. “Not really. My girlfriend’s turned into a real bitch.”

I frowned. “You mean Robin? I heard she’s really sweet.”

“Used to be. But, I’m tired of her bullshit and I’m gonna dump her when I get back home.”

His pronouncement puzzled me. According to my mother, the young woman was pleasant, attractive and serious about her college career. I waited a few seconds to see if he’d elaborate, but he didn’t. “Oh. Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not.”

He fell silent and several minutes passed before I caught his eye. “Let me guess. It’s not so much that you wanted to visit with me as you wanted to get away from Mom, right?”

His faint smile looked a tad sheepish. “That obvious, huh?”

“Yeah.” I said nothing else until we reached the elevators. I punched the button and then turned to meet my brother’s hazel eyes. “So, do you want to tell me what’s going on between you two? You could have cut the tension with a really dull butter knife.”