July Fireworks Sky
Link: https://tinyurl.com/y8mgcpb2
Cat Collier finds herself in a disturbing, life-altering situation after her brother’s trial for murder. No one expected this, especially Cat. The outcome will have far reaching effects for not only herself, but Carter, Spencer, and others. Will Cat finally find the honesty she’s looking for?
#femaledetective #relationships #mystery #girlsleuths
EXCERPT:
Carter looked around and spied a young man wearing an old black hoodie with a college insignia on the back.
“Psst! Hey! I’ll give you $50 for your hoodie.”
“You nuts, man? Do you think I got this beauty at Goodwill?”
“$100 then,” said Carter.
“I don’t know. I really like this hoodie. It’s broke in just right. It’s my fave.”
“$150.” “Mmmm.” “Are you in a hurry?”
“No.”
“Okay, $150 to rent your favorite hoodie. I’ll give it back as soon as I’m done. See that pair by the window?”
“The hot babe and the old guy?”
“Yes. Hot babe is my girlfriend. And I want to sneak up close behind them to overhear their conversation. And I need your hoodie to do it.”
“Hot babe’s cheating on you with the old guy?”
“Maybe.”
“Ahh, that’s sick, man. Sure. Here. I’ll wait over there,” Hoodie Guy said. He gave Carter his hoodie. Carter slipped him cash. Carter pulled the hoodie up and walked quietly to the front of the coffeeshop with his head down. He slid into a chair facing the back of the shop, but close enough to his grandfather to eavesdrop.
“Yes, Yvette, I realize he’s still angry at the world. But he’ll settle down soon.”
“But he’s so miserably unhappy.”
“I know it seems that way right now. But it’ll pass.”
“I hate to see him so sad.”
“Yvette, Erick changed for the worst when he moved to Heaton Valley with Mary Catherine Collier and chummed around with that immoral degenerate Detrick Bittmor.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“He became so giddy and giggly. Those are not good traits in a New York City lawyer, or any man, really. Didn’t you see it?”
“No. He was never giddy or giggly around me. He was… quiet.”
“Well, it was annoying at best. He’d go on and on about the beautiful shade of blue of the sky and the pretty clouds. He’d rave about how delicious the food tasted that he bought on the corner from a street vendor. He dressed like a hippie-beatnik-flower child. Pink shirts!”
Erick Carter Larsen looked down. He pulled the hoodie tight across his chest to cover his Ralph Lauren Classic pink dress shirt.
“And he was always smiling. No, over-smiling. All the time. It was like he joined a cult or something. Damn it, my brilliant, serious-minded lawyer only grandson turned into a silly pre-teen girl. Aren’t you glad he’s back in town?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you two spend time together?”
“Well, yeah. We go out to dinner or see a show. He escorts me to all my work-related functions.”
“That’s good.”
“He’s not in the least bit affectionate toward me.”
“Was he ever? Erick was never one to wear his heart on his sleeve.”
“Yeah, that’s true. But he pulls away from me whenever I try to… touch him.”
“We had to step in and do something. We had to do something to get him back on track before he wasted his whole life skipping through the park, marveling at the pretty clouds and butterflies, and holding hands with Little Red Riding Hood.
“Our plan was a simple one. You go to Heaton Valley and seduce him in his office while his hick-town girlfriend watched from the adjacent doorway. She leaves him because she sees she can never compete with a drop-dead gorgeous woman like you. It worked perfectly, even better than we planned. I’m sure he loves you, Yvette. How could he not? You’re beautiful.” “Yes, that’s true,” agreed Yvette.
“Erick is an intelligent young man. You know, sooner or later, he would have come to his senses on his own,” said Granddad Larsen. “We just gave him a little nudge.”
“A little nudge?” shouted Carter as he spun around to face his grandfather.
“A little nudge! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve ruined my life. You destroyed my happiness. And in the process, you’ve hurt Cat, a sweet and gentle soul who wouldn’t understand this kind of treachery, especially coming from my own dear grandfather.”
“Erick, what are you doing here?” asked Yvette. “And what is that dirty, disgusting thing you’re wearing? Bleth!”
Carter ignored her and focused on his grandfather.
“So this was all your idea, Granddad?”
“Calm down, Erick. You causing a scene.”
“I don’t care.”
“You were way off track. Your mother would’ve…”
“Leave my mother out of this. Your hatred for my father was one of the reasons they weren’t together.”
“Is that what Bittmor told you? That’s a boldface lie from that delusional psychotic. Your mother had more sense than to waste her life on the likes of him. He’s full of dirty tricks. He’s devious.”
“Oh, really? He’s devious? He’s full of dirty tricks? So are you!”
“Calm down, Erick. Your mother only wanted the best for you.”
“Well, she’s gone now, and we’ll never know what she wanted for me and how much of an impact your interference had on her relationship with my father. But you have absolutely no right to interfere in my personal life. Cat and I were happy together. Very happy.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to put on my daisy crown and love beads and ride my unicorn back to Heaton Valley in my pink shirt to see if I can fix this horrible mess you two nasty creatures created.”
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