Page 51 of Of Spice and Men
She shrugged.“It depends on her part in all this, but I hope she doesn’t see any jail time.I liked her.”
I nodded.“I liked her too.”
After the arrestof Rebecca Hansen and Callie Caldwell for the murder of Sebastian Caldwell—a pig and a real piece of crap, but still a human being—Augusta admitted to hatching a scheme to get revenge on him.Poor Carl loved her so much that he went along with the crazy scam.The plan was to bilk Sebastian out of what little money he had left, leaving him destitute and desperate.Killing him hadn’t been part of the program.
With the help of her biological daughter, whom she’d reconnected with a few years back, Augusta set the wheels of tragedy in motion.What they hadn’t accounted for was the fact that Callie had been living like an ostrich since Billy died—head in the sand and high on benzodiazepines most of the time.And when she finally woke up and realized that the man she’d been sharing her bed with had tortured and tormented the love of her life in her name, she’d completely lost it.
She said she’d seen one of the maintenance men with rat poison, and she’d never known a bigger rat than Sebastian.Using a little sleight of hand, she’d picked up working at an opening act for a third-rate magician when she was a teenager.She’d brazenly snuck pellets of rat poison into the olives in front of the whole table when she was putting them on his plate from her salad.
“He inhaled the olives without even chewing,” Callie had told the FBI agents.“He made it so easy.”
By the time Sebastian started feeling the effects, it had been too late for him.The poison had zinc phosphide in it, a coagulant that poisoned him quickly and had an added side effect of elevating his platelets.
Once he was dead, Rebecca felt she had little choice but to cover the whole thing up.She knew the cruise company was notorious for listing any death, not obviously murder, as an accident or natural causes—saved them a lot of legal hassle.All she had to do was get Sebastian and Callie off the boat without anyone looking too closely.
But they hadn’t seen us coming.
Charise’s presence had been a coincidence.The ill-treated songbird decided to quit the cruise line and find a place where she could enjoy anonymity once more.Ramone, it turned out, hadn’t been having an affair with Callie.What we’d seen in the perfumery had been nothing more than some harmless flirting.
With the investigation behind us, we jumped headfirst back into our planned sun, fun, and no more murder.
We got off the boat in Cozumel in the morning.Gilly and Scott did their adventure dive, Jordy and Pippa snorkeled with the turtles, and Ezra and I—well, we parasailed.Ezra was concerned about my heart, but I managed to get through the whole terrifying thing without any angina attacks.I’m calling it a win.
Did I enjoy parasailing?Absolutely not.
Am I glad I did it?Nope.Not even a little.
Would I do it again?If Ezra asked me?Yeah.Probably.
He would do anything for me, and in turn, I would do the same for him.Love went both ways, and he proved every day he was a man I could trust with my heart, damaged or otherwise.After Augusta, Carl, Callie, and Rebecca were removed from the ship, I didn’t have one single chest pain again.Not even a twinge.I promised Gilly, Pippa, and Ezra I’d see a cardiologist when we got back home, but I had a feeling my angina had been a side effect of the broken-hearted visions.Only time would tell.Until then, I wasn’t going to let fear make decisions for me.
On the last night of the cruise, we watched the final sunset with our friends.Other than the first two days, the whole vacation had been magical.Ezra took me dancing, and I hadn’t had that much fun on two feet in forever.Of course, my legs were sore the following day, but it had been worth it.Now that I knew my guy could dance, I planned to make it a regular date.
As we cuddled in bed, I knew I’d hit the life-lottery jackpot.
I had a great life with fulfilling work, loyal-to-then-end friends, and a wonderful man who loved me.
I met his sleepy gaze.
“Thank you,” I said.
He smiled.“For what?”
“You always ask me that.”
He shrugged, his thumb brushing over my knuckles.“I like hearing your answers.”
“Thank you for teaching me what it means to have a real partner.”I kissed his neck.“Thank you for loving me so well.”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.He kissed me, his lips warm and soft as they moved against mine.When he finally spoke, his voice was rough with emotion.“Sometimes I think that’s what I was put on this earth for, Nora.Just to love you.”
My eyes stung as tears clouded my vision.“You’re going to make me cry,” I whispered.
He kissed me again.“Because you’re happy.”
“Because I’m happy,” I confirmed, my voice barely above a breath.
And I was.
The End
