8 Bodies is Enough(61)

Hannah winced and held out her beringed left hand. “Chance and I got married!”





Chapter 29





“I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH for doing this,” Carlotta said over the aisle to Coop.

He shrugged. “Staying a couple extra days in Vegas to fly back with you and Valerie and Prissy and Birch? That’s no hardship.”

“It’s an inconvenience,” she said. “But it makes me more calm to know you’re close by if we need you.”

“That’s a given,” Coop said. “No matter where you are.”

She smiled. “You’ve been good to me and to Wes.”

“Really happy to hear all those charges were dropped and Wes is back in Atlanta.”

“I think he and Dad have been having fun fixing up the house before Mom and Prissy get there.”

“Is Birch okay with relocating?”

“I guess so.” Then she squinted. “There’s a story there.”

“Are you and Wes going to live in the Buckhead house, too?”

“I’m sure we’ll be there a lot, but we’re going to stay in the townhouse, maybe fix it up.”

“Any chance you’ll have time to help me with some body moving jobs?”

“Call me. And you know Hannah’s always up for a dead body.”

“Wow, I can’t believe she’s married.”

Carlotta laughed. “I guess she got tired of waiting for you.”

“Hm,” Coop said with a little smile. “Maybe I’m waiting for someone, too.”

The flight attendant announcement to fasten seatbelts saved Carlotta from responding. She turned to help her mother with her belt.

“Did you bring a paper thing?” Valerie asked, nodding to the binder on Carlotta’s lap.

“It’s like a book. It’s a family photo album. I thought maybe we could look at it during our trip home to Atlanta.”

“I’d like that,” her mother said. “What is your name again?”

“Carlotta.”

“Right. And you’re my daughter.”

“That’s right.” Carlotta remembered something and pulled out her phone. “Mom, do you remember writing this on a wall in a coffee shop bathroom?”

“No. What is it?”

“That’s your name. Valerie W. You wrote it one day when you were in there, and then I saw it. That’s how I knew you were close by.”

“Valerie knew you’d come looking for me.”

Carlotta squeezed her hand.

“Young lady?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“That nice friend of yours over there with the stethoscope. Is his name Cooper Craft?”

Carlotta glanced across the plane aisle at Coop, and her heart expanded with affection. She looked back to her mom. “Yes, that’s right.”

Valerie pointed to the picture Carlotta had shown her. “Why is his name written on the wall above mine?”



-The End-