“What was your first impression of the place?” he asked. “You haven’t seen it in a while, right?”
“It’d been years. It’s in even worse shape than I thought it was. We climbed up the dilapidated front porch and Laura knocked. A young beta guy opened the door.”
“What did he look like?” Ben wanted to know.
“Uh, I don’t know. Just a regular guy. Shorter than Colt, maybe your height, Ben. Dark hair.”
“What color were his eyes?” Ben asked, and I heard Colt snicker. He thought it was funny because he thought I wouldn’t be able to answer Ben’s questions. Bet he thought I didn’t noticedetails like that. Well, he was right. I didn’t. But I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
“They were brown. The color of that table over there. And he had a dent in his chin. What do you call it? A cleft. Anyway, we explained we were their closest neighbors and we’d brought a pie. Meanwhile, we were doing our best not to step in a hole in the porch and break our necks. He invited us in. Name was—” This I did remember. “Eric. Nice fellow. He and his alpha mate and two kids had just moved in a day or so earlier. Let me tell you, the inside of the place was just as bad as the outside, and the electricity wasn’t on. Remind me to make a call about that after I’m done talking, by the way.”
“What were the names of Eric’s mate and kids?” Ben wanted to know.
“Uh…Nora? No, Nova. The woman was Nova, although she was out mending fences when we first got there. The little girl was with her. Her name was Kate. And the little boy was Jeremiah. And Borders is their last name.” I was pretty proud of myself for remembering all that, especially since Ben seemed so interested in all the details.
“Describe the inside, Angus,” Colt said, and I shot him a murderous look.
But Ben was looking at me all bright-eyed and expectant, so I did my best.
“It was dusty as all get-out, and full of old furniture that had to have come with the house. The couch sagged and the fabric was faded. The only chair in the room sank in the middle. In the kitchen, it was a little brighter due to the window, although it was dirty. A long table was set up in the middle of the room, and the boy sat in a high-chair eating bread. Cute kid, with a head full of blond curls.” Ben opened his mouth to ask something, and I interrupted, “Don’t ask what color his eyes are, because I didn’t notice.”
“Be more observant next time,” Colt chided. “How old are the kids?”
I groaned, and from the doorway between the living room and kitchen, Laura laughed. I wondered how long she’d been standing there listening.
“Jeremiah’s three, and Kate is six. And Eric’s eyes are hazel.”
“Well, you certainly were paying attention,” I said. “I noticed you seemed awfully interested in them.”
Laura narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Anyway, as we stood in the kitchen talking, a sudden crash came from the front of the house, and we all ran to see what happened.”
“A crash?” Ben asked, eyes wide.
I nodded. “I heard Nova yell, ‘She fell through the damned porch!’”
“When we got out there, we saw it was true. Maddox pulled the little girl out, and she was okay, just kind of bruised up. Laura took care of her. We stayed for lunch and heard all about how they’d been duped by some real estate agent they can’t find hide nor hair of.”
“That’s awful,” Colt said, and Ben agreed.
“They’d come from Great Lakes region. Drove all the way in an old ranger,” I said.
“Describe Nova,” Ben requested.
I looked to Laura, eyebrow raised. “You want to take this one?”
Laura shot me the bird and went back in the kitchen.
“What was that about?” Colt asked, laughing.
I lowered my voice. “Nova was really checking Laura out while we were there. And I don’t think the good doctor minded it.”
“Really?” Ben’s eyes danced. “Is Nova pretty?”
“Handsome, more like. She’s nearly as tall as Maddox. Blond, green eyes.”
“Oh, so you remember the handsome lady’s eye color,” Colt said, poking me in the arm.