The Eagle and the Fox (A Snowy Range Mystery, #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

vertigo if he moved too fast.
    “Uh, no thanks. I have to get home to feed.”
    The big man still had his back turned. Marcus thought he might be embarrassed, that he might be struggling to find a way to ease out of being a friend, let alone a BFF. At the very least, he most likely wished he hadn’t said anything about asking for a favor, a favor he’d yet to lay on Marcus.
    It didn’t take a genius to guess what that favor was. It was the last Sunday of the month. In a couple days, invoices went out. He had Polly’s youngest girl, the one going to community college, come in and do the bookkeeping for him. Mostly that amounted to shuffling bits of paper, moving numbers from one side of the ledger to another. Lately the debit side was leaning harder toward barely making ends meet, for all of them.
    He could outright offer. Give the family the extension they needed. Hear the I’m good for it because most times it was true. And when it wasn’t, it was still tough to lay blame. But, without Josh saying the words, it was still just a guess. If he mentioned it, whether or not he was right or wrong, he’d risk the tenuous thread they’d built during their weird interlude. He’d rather keep his new friend than risk losing him by making assumptions and running his mouth off, no matter how well-intentioned he might be.
    Finally turning to face Marcus, Josh said, “Thanks for letting me stay over. I appreciate it.” His face was solemn and earnest, but then he grinned, the corners of his mouth tilting unevenly as scar tissue fought the emotion. “Haven’t tied one on like that in a long time. Don’t think Becca would’ve ’preciated me coming home in that condition.”
    Josh held out a hand. Marcus grasped it thankfully, allowing his new buddy to yank him from the recliner, then hold him steady until the world stopped spinning. Marcus asked, “You coming to the service later?”
    Josh sucked air and grimaced, “Shit. I gotta get home and get cleaned up. Becca’s gonna want to bring the coolers and whatever else she promised. If I don’t get a move on, my ass is grass.”
    Marcus looked down. They were still holding hands. When he looked up, Josh was looming over him, his head tilted down, the expression on his face once more intense and absorbing.
    “Thank you. For last night.”
    Marcus knew the man wasn’t referring to their buddy evening of binge drinking, so he just nodded and wondered if it was possible to stay like that a few minutes longer. Keeping contact, rough skin to rough skin. It was nice.
    But nice never lasted.
    Slowly withdrawing his hand, Josh backed away and headed toward the door. Before he disappeared down the dingy stairwell, he asked, “You coming?”
    “Yeah. I got tagged for a couple folding tables and the ice.”
    “Good. See you there.”
    Marcus listened to boots clomping down the steep stairs, the gait uneven and hesitant. When the sound diminished, then ceased, he blew out a breath and peered around at his few possessions. With a grin, he pushed the chair farther from the sofa, opening up more space. He had a couple hours before he was due at Polly’s restaurant. Usually he spent it downstairs, taking care of the endless tasks required around the store. But that morning, he decided it was time for him to pay attention to his own space.
    Just in case...
    ****
    T he odor of stale beer, fried food and charred steak hung heavy in spite of Polly having thrown the windows wide trying to air it out. Most times nobody complained but it had turned unseasonably warm for early spring. The air was heavy, like it got before a rain storm, holding in the smells.
    The sky held its secrets, keeping to a pale blue, but the wind curled everything into abstract patterns, changing directions with lazy grace.
    The prospect of bad weather moving in had the ladies concerned, their hands in constant flighty, nervous motion. To a one they were either swiping palms on aprons or smoothing over the plastic