Page 10 of Santa of the Creek

It’s only as Echo is wheeled away that I realize he hasn’t been given any pain meds. And he likes my eyes.

Hebe stares at me over coffee. It’s two hours after Echo’s fall because bingo was late, and I stayed to help because I didn’t want to disappoint the old ladies. Mind you, they were more excited about Santa being taken to hospital than the usual prize fare of chocolates and soap, and it was hard to get them to focus. But finally it’s over and I escape to the safety of Hebe’s office.

Oh, how wrong I am. I squirm under her knowing expression. “Spit it out.”

“So you and my nephew.”

“I’m feeding his cat, not proposing to him.” I stare at her over the rim of my cup, daring her to say more.

She scowls at me. “Don’t get snippy with me, young man. Echo is a wonderful man. He deserves to be treated right.”

I sigh as I put down the cup. “Hebe, you know I love you dearly, but whatever you’ve got going on in that head of yours, stop.”

“Nothing’s going on,” she says.

Like I don’t know that innocent tone is totally false. We’ve been friends for years, since she arrived in Collier’s Creek. A few decades separate us but we both recognize a soul in pain when we see one. She just hides it better than me.

“I just can’t, okay?”

I didn’t even need to say what I was talking about. Her expression softens.

“Honey, when are you gonna let someone back into your heart?”

“Never. That way lies madness.”

Once was enough. There is a reason my closet door is padlocked shut. I know the other gay guys in Collier’s Creek don’t understand. How could they? I never told them. But I told Hebe because she’s been through the same pain.

“Echo likes you too,” Hebe repeats, then rolls her eyes at my scowl. “Oh, don’t give me that look. You know he likes you.”

“I need to go.”

“Don’t forget the cat.”

Like I could forget.

“I don’t even know where Echo lives,” I confess.

“He’s renting Deputy Ben’s house. He’s not supposed to have a pet, but she decided Echo was her human, and Ben fell in love with her when he met her the first time.”

I nod, adding that to my notes, although I know where Ben used to live until he moved in with Sheriff Morgan. “Okay, I’ll swing by and feed Ariel now.”

“You’re a good boy,” she says fondly. “Heather will make you her mac ‘n cheese when she gets home.”

“You could make it,” I point out.

“It wouldn’t be as good as hers.”

I smile at her wistful expression. “You’re missing her, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea. Never marry a wanderer, Dean. They’re never at home.”

“Heather is on a business trip, Hebe. She’ll be home on Monday.”

Her sad sigh tells me it isn’t soon enough.

“Maybe you should talk to her. Suggest she finds a job where she isn’t away so much.”

“Like I’m going to do that,” she scoffs. “Get out of here. It’ll be dinner soon and Brenda will suggest you have a tête-à-tête together.”