Setting has something to do with it. When Annie was doing handyman work, she’d run all over town in paint-splattered jeans or coveralls, her face bare of makeup and her hair tucked up in a cap. Dealing with clients or stopping at the gas station dressed that way was okay; going to the grocery store was not. I know this because she used to kick up a fuss if I asked her to pick up something while she was out. “I can’t go to the grocery store looking like this!” she’d say, even though plenty of people had seen her looking like that already.
Apparently, building-supply centers belonged in the “get fixed up first” category for Seely. I didn’t try to understand it.
I collected my walking stick and mug and lifted my left foot off the extra chair. My knee was a lot better, but I still kept that leg propped up much of the time. I limped over to the coffeepot. “Want some more?”
Duncan shook his head. He was looking tired, I thought. Night shifts didn’t agree with him. Then, too, he’d pulled a double in order to free up time for the camping trip with Zach—a trip the weather had cut short. We’d had our first good freeze Saturday night, accompanied by a light dusting of snow.
Duncan’s gaze held steady on me as I refilled my mug. “Maybe you should tell me why you asked. If you suspect Seely has a criminal background—”
“Nothing like that,” I said quickly. “There’s something she’s not telling me, that’s all.”
His mouth crooked up. “More than one thing, probably. Women have been failing to tell men everything for a few thousand years. Police departments don’t generally consider that a good reason to run a background check.”
He made my curiosity sound like a man-woman thing, not employer-employee. Which was accurate but annoying. “I didn’t want you to do it as a cop.”
“Well, as your brother I’m advising you to drop the idea.” He put the mug down. “Nosing around will just get you in trouble. Though if you really have to know something, you could hire a P.I.”
No way. I’d thought maybe Duncan could find out a few things discreetly. Her father’s name, for example. Some hint of why she was working at jobs way below her skill level. But I didn’t want some stranger snooping around in her life. “Never mind.”
“You know, this is weird.”
“What?”
“You. You’re acting different.” He nodded toward the front of the house. “The living room. It’s always been white.”
“You don’t like it green?”
“It looks fine. Felt weird when I walked in and saw it, though.” One corner of his mouth kicked up, as if he were reluctantly amused. “Sort of like a kid who goes away to college, comes home and finds out mom and dad redecorated without telling him.”
Dammit, I should have thought about how he’d feel. Charlie and Annie, too. This house was their heritage every bit as much as it was mine. “I ought to have said something. It’s your house, too, and you—”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Of course it is. Mom and Dad left it to all of us.”
“Twenty years ago, yes. But you’re the one who has lived here all these years, taken care of the place. This is your home.” He took a deep breath. “Gwen and I have talked about this. We want to deed my share of the house over to you.”
I slammed my mug down, ignoring the coffee that slopped over the rim. “Forget it.”
“There might be some tax liability for you, but she thinks we can minimize that.”
“Aren’t you listening?” I demanded. “Just because your wife could buy and sell this house ten times over doesn’t oblige me to accept a handout.”
Duncan shoved to his feet. “This has nothing to do with Gwen’s money! Dammit, you hard-headed son of a bitch, will you listen a minute?”
“I’m not hearing anything worth listening to. If you don’t—”
“Whoa!”
That came from Seely. Startled, I looked at the doorway.
She stood there, shaking her head. “Good grief. I can’t be accused of eavesdropping with Ben bellowing like a wounded moose. I heard him from the stairs. Ben.” She fixed me with a firm stare. “Do you really think Duncan offered to give you his share of this house because he enjoys flinging Gwen’s money around?”
I flushed. “No. But—”
“Not your turn.” She sauntered on into the kitchen, stopping in front of Duncan. “And did you really think Ben would take your inheritance from you?”
“That’s not what this is about.”
“It is to him.” She put her hands on her hips and looked from one to the other of us. “This is none of my business, of course. But it seems pretty simple. Ben lives here. Duncan doesn’t. Ben, I don’t know how you’re fixed financially, but could you buy Duncan’s share?”
“Sure.” I turned some numbers over in my head. The business had done well the past few years, and I wasn’t exactly extravagant. “We’ll need to get the place appraised, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of its current market value.”
Duncan shook his head. “We don’t want to use the current market value. It’s worth three times what it was twenty years ago, and none of us are going to make a profit off you. Charlie suggested—”
“You talked to Charlie about this? What is this, some kind of conspiracy?”
“Exactly. Annie, too. The plan was to wait until we could all be home at the same time and tackle you together. I, uh, jumped the gun.”
Seely chuckled. “Safety in numbers. A legitimate military tactic.”
I glanced at her. Did she know that Duncan had been in the Army until a few months ago? Probably. If Duncan hadn’t mentioned it, Gwen would have. People told her things.
“If you’re all in this together,” I told my brother, “you need to drop this notion of giving up your shares in the house for little or nothing. Charlie won’t take a fair price for his share if you and Annie don’t. The two of you may not need the money, but he does.” He’d just sunk every cent he had or could borrow into a partnership in a landscaping business. I’d already tried to give him a loan. Twice.
Duncan frowned. I decided to let him chew on that a while and turned to Seely. “Looks like you’re ready to go.”
She looked a damned sight better than “ready to go.” All that gorgeous hair spilled over her shoulders and down her back, and I could tell she’d fussed with makeup, turning her eyes sultry and her lips scarlet. She wore dark jeans and a sweater with geometric shapes in red, purple and yellow.
That sweater fit more snugly than anything I’d seen her wear before. My body took notice of this. Of course, my body had been on yellow alert almost constantly for the past three days.
“Just let me get my jacket and purse,” she said, and headed for the hall.
“I’d better be going, too,” Duncan said, carrying his mug over to the sink. “What are you getting at the building supply store?”
“We’re going to put up some shelves in my office here.” “I take it the ‘we’ means you’re supervising?” “All right, she’s going to put them up. I’m not taking advantage of her. She’s keen on all this home fixup and decorating stuff.”
“Hmm.” He stuck his mug in the dishwasher. “I owe Seely a thank-you.”
“I’ll tell her you enjoyed the coffee.” He slanted me an amused glance. “I didn’t mean for the coffee.”
It felt weird