He thought they were racing to greet their Aunt Faye but he would immediately discover they weren’t when they both came to rocking halts in front of him, tipped their heads back and spoke in unison… loudly.
“Show us your badge!” Jarot demanded on a shout.
“Gun!” Robbie screeched.
Apparently, it had been shared with the boys he was a cop.
“Um… can Detective Keaton show you his badge after you say hello to your Auntie Faye, I introduce you to Detective Keaton and maybe he gets a drink, sits down and relaxes?” Faye suggested in a practiced-sounding tone that was mixture of mild exasperation and “aren’t my nephews adorably naughty?”
“Right,” Jarot backed down, moving toward Faye and allowing her, with a soon-to-be nine year old’s obvious reluctance, to give him a short hug and an even shorter peck on the cheek.
“Gun!” Robbie repeated on a screech, ignoring his aunt completely.
“Robbie! Mind your manners!” a woman reproached and Chace’s eyes went to the stairs.
Chace had seen Faye in town with her sister, Sondra and Silas and it was her sister, Liza, who was approaching.
God had seen fit to grant Faye with her father’s unusual blue eyes and her mother’s unusual auburn hair. He’d seen fit to grant Liza Newman with her mother’s dark brown eyes and her father’s dark brown hair. Both were nice but Faye’s combination was a knockout while Liza’s was simply appealing.
That said, she was attractive but her hair was cut short. A style that she wore well and it suited her but it was something Chace did not often find appealing. She’d had two children but her ass and tits were less abundant than her sister’s on a frame that both women inherited from their mother. Same height, same tiny waist, body meant to be hourglass, not streamlined. This meant she took more than passing care of herself and therefore likely dieted. She didn’t look gaunt or in a bad mood because she needed a sandwich since she’d only had a protein bar between breakfast and now. But it wasn’t a look that Chace found appealing either.
Last, Faye was wearing a little jeans skirt through the belt loops of which she’d threaded a bright scarf that she’d tied off to one side in a bow. Up top, she had on a dark green, lightweight sweater under a canvas jacket. The sweater fit well and its neckline had bits that draped in interesting ways making the sweater do what only Faye could naturally do. It hinted at skin and curves without highlighting either at the same time drawing your attention to both.
She was wearing a pair of cowboy boots he’d never seen before that were sweet in their own right but even sweeter on Faye. Fawn suede heavily embroidered with bright stitching. The stitching included yellow and orange that was random detailing, there were some green stitched vines and last there were vibrant pink flowers.
In her outfit, Faye looked what she was. A native Colorado mountain girl who worked in a library and her native was native seeing as a line of her people had been there for thousands of years.
Her sister was in wide-legged black slacks that fit tight on her narrow ass, a complicated blouse she got either in Denver or New York City and a pair of high, spike-heeled, shiny black shoes that probably cost more than Faye’s entire outfit. Her makeup was somewhat heavy and her hair took her far more time than Faye’s to arrange. This was partly because Faye’s hair dried in the gleaming straight sheets so she didn’t have to do anything but shove a bobby pin in it somewhere if she felt the urge. It was mostly because Liza not only spent time on her hair but her entire appearance and it looked it.
Normally, Chace didn’t like to spend time with women like this mainly because he didn’t find them attractive and they usually proved to be the kind of women who thought he would, in a big way.
But when Liza made it to the top of the stairs, her eyes came to him and they were warm, there was an outgoing, friendly smile on her face and her appeal ratcheted up significantly.
It ratcheted up more when she stuck out a hand toward him, saying in a welcoming voice, “Chace, awesome to meet you. Been looking forward to it since I heard you were dating my baby sister.”
He shook her hand and replied, “Liza. Good to meet you too.”
She let him go and nabbed both her boys by the tops of their heads, tousling their hair, “These are my two crazy bugs, Jarot,” she tousled his hair again, “and Robbie,” another tousle for Robbie. “Boys, say hello to Detective Keaton then back downstairs with the both of you.”
Jarot raised a hand in a quick wave, and muttered, “’Lo, Dee-tetive Keaton.” Then he did as he was told and raced away.
Robbie stared at him and repeated, “Wanna see the gun.”
“Sorry, bud, didn’t bring my gun,” Chace replied on a lie since he did but it was in his truck.
Robbie kept at it. “Then wanna see the badge.”
Liza’s hand slid down to the back of his neck, she bent over him and ordered, “Badge later. Now, say hello then go downstairs, honey.”
He looked at his mother and narrowed his eyes, clearly peeved.
Then he looked back up at Chace and said a sulky, “’Lo,” before he also raced away.
Liza looked back at Chace, sharing, “I tell myself he’s in a stage but this is denial. He’s my baby and I spoil him. I should probably stop doing that but I can’t. So his future wife will have to sort him out and I’m just going to enjoy myself.”
Faye got close, leaned into him and up in order to whisper, “This is not a good plan.”
“As usual, I agree with my girl Faye,” a deep male voice came their way.
Chace looked to the stairs to see a shortish, stocky, prematurely graying, good-looking man walking up them wearing a welcoming smile and a mountain man uniform of jeans and a flannel shirt that clashed violently with his wife’s apparel. He also looked like a man who didn’t give a fuck. He was who he was and she was who she was and even though they didn’t go together, taking them in it was clear, in their way, they fit.
He had his hand up before he made it to Chace but only continued talking when Chace’s hand gripped his.
“Boyd Newman,” he introduced himself, still smiling.
“Chace Keaton,” Chace told him something he already knew not only because he was seeing the man’s sister-in-law and this was undoubtedly reported to him but because everyone in the county knew who he was.
“Good to meet you, man,” he gripped Chace’s hand tight but not combative, just friendly then they broke the hold.
“Uh… you want to let the man come down and get a beer or what?” Silas called from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’ll take your coats,” Liza muttered and Chace moved to Faye to help her with hers before giving it to a now beaming, didn’t miss the help with her sister’s coat, Liza.
Then he took off his own and gave it to her. She tucked both under her arm and moved to a door on the landing that was clearly the coat closet.
Faye grabbed his hand and walked him down the stairs at the bottom of which she let him go because she had no choice seeing as Silas engulfed her in a bear hug that included several hearty claps on the back and a couple of swings. He let her go and stuck out a hand to Chace.
Chace took it and got a, “Chace, beer, bourbon, vodka or what?”
“Silas. Beer,” Chace answered.
Silas let his hand go but lifted his, clapped him stoutly on the arm, moved away and Sondra was there.
“Chace, happy to have you here,” she beamed up at him, offering her hand. Chace took it and squeezed while wondering if, when Faye got older, her hair would turn that attractive silvery-white just around her face like her mother’s was. He also hoped it would.