Page 7 of Slay Bells

She pulled up in front of the home and walked up the wide steps to a huge porch that spanned the entire front of the dwelling. There were welcoming rockers, although not so much when it was so cold.

Although the front door had etched glass on both sides, she could not see in through the colorful stained glass.

She pushed the doorbell and heard a deep bell sound inside.

A tall thin blonde woman, who looked to have stepped out of a ranching woman’s magazine, opened the door. Her shoulder length hair was tucked behind her right ear, the other side swung forward as she leaned to greet her. Friendly hazel eyes met hers. “You must be Gabriela. I hope you didn’t have any trouble finding the place.”

“None at all Mrs. Hawkins.”

“Please call me Natalie. Welcome to Lucky Break.” She looked over her shoulder. “Come in, I’ll introduce you around.”

They entered a spacious kitchen-living combo. Surrounding the table were three men, each had some sort of dessert on a plate and a cup of coffee either in hand or next to the plate. Conversation stopped when she and Natalie walked in.

Two large brown dogs lay on the floor, both picked up their heads and studied her.

“Well hello there.” A tall man, who Gabriela figured to be Natalie’s husband, got up and came to greet her. He stuck out his hand. “Rick Hawkins.”

“Nice to meet you.” She looked past the man and her eyes rounded at seeing not only Officer Greg Williams, but also the man, Henry, who’d been naked on the street in Missoula.

“Hello,” Henry said.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Officer Greg Williams said.

“Uh,” Gabriela replied.

“Greg brought Henry over since he refused to do anything until he spoke to our son. He’s a police detective,” Natalie explained.

Gabriela looked to the table. “Henry is a police detective?” She couldn’t keep her voice from lifting a few octaves.

Greg laughed. “That would be a good one.”

“No, my son is,” Natalie replied while guiding her to the table. “Have a seat, I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Where’s Jeremy?” Greg asked between bites of pie.

“He had to go to the other side of town. Should be here any minute,” Natalie said and placed a cup of coffee and slice of cake in front of Gabriela.

Gabriela wanted to cry. The day was only getting more bizarre. Not only had she made a fool of herself at the airport, called the police after spotting a naked man out in broad daylight, but now here she was sitting in a kitchen, at a table with not only the naked man, but the police officer and her new hosts. Thank God for cake.

“Are you okay?” Henry asked.

“Just a bit tired. It’s been an interesting day,” Gabriela explained. “Certainly, didn’t expect to be seeing you both here,” she told Henry and Williams. “Strange trip so far.”

When the Hawkins’ look to Greg, he shrugged. “Gabriela was the one who spotted naked Henry and called us.”

Both nodded but didn’t say anything.

Footsteps sounded and everyone looked to the doorway behind her.

“Hey Jeremy,” Henry said with a wide grin. “Greg brought me here. Today is the day I’m supposed to be sleeping outside naked.”

Natalie rolled her eyes.

Rick put down his cup and blew out a breath. “Here we go.”

Greg shook his head. “I hate to do this to you bro, but with the new baby, Patty would kill me if I brought him to our house.”

There was a deep groan from the man behind her. Gabriela would wait to be introduced, then hopefully get Natalie to take her to her cabin.