“What makes you think it was poison?’’ Mama asked.

“Remember when that pack of wild dogs got into the strychnine at our cousin Bubba’s?’’

“The Bubba in jail, or the other Bubba?’’ Maddie asked.

“The good Bubba.’’

“Right,’’ Marty said. “He had it for the ranch where he was working; for the rats.’’

I nodded. “This animal showed the same symptoms those dogs did.’’

We all redirected our gaze to the dead raccoon. It had vomited. A bit of white foam still clung to its mouth.

A breathless voice came from the edge of the crowd. “Barbara sent for the detective. She wants him to examine the raccoon.’’

I looked up to see the same production assistant. While I was glad Carlos was being summoned, I was surprised Barbara hadn’t come back with the PA. I fully expected her to push me out of the way so she could take over. Even if the dead raccoon would likely be the first raccoon she’d ever seen up close, Barbara didn’t seem like the type to miss a chance to be in charge.

Soon, a stir in the crowd signaled Carlos’s arrival. People moved aside to make way. He wore his authority like a suit of armor. Was his armor also to keep me out? His face was steel; not even a flicker of recognition when he saw me. I felt the chill like an icy wind. Mama and my sisters must have felt it, too.

“Mace is the one who noticed the raccoon acting like it was poisoned,’’ Marty told him.

“She’s made sure no one has come near it,’’ Maddie added.

“And she made Jesse stay over there with what’s left of the sandwich until the crime scene folks can come collect it and test it for what might have killed the coon,’’ Mama said.

He glanced toward Jesse. She sat at the table, faithfully guarding the sandwich. He gave me a curt nod, like I was a helpful stranger. “Everybody move back, please. This is police business. Just go back to whatever you were doing.’’

The crowd started to shuffle this way and that. Sal arrived, adding his voice as high-volume backup to Carlos’s order. “Dat means go, people. Move along. Nuttin’ to see here.’’

Sal physically pushed against some of the more reluctant looky-loos. Between his natural Bronx megaphone, and his broad chest, he was a one-man crowd deterrent. When Mama, my sisters, and I made no move to leave, Carlos focused those black lasers on me.

“You and your family go away, too. Please.’’ His voice was drained of emotion. “We need to clear this area.’’

I tried to fight the resentful remark making its way up my throat. I lost the battle.

“If I hadn’t noticed the way the raccoon died, you wouldn’t even know to suspect poison,’’ I said.

“Yes, your powers of observation are quite keen, when it comes to animals.’’

That didn’t sound like a thank-you to me.

Marty tugged at my arm. Sucking the Apricot Ice off her bottom lip, Mama regarded Carlos and me with worry in her eyes. Maddie said, “C’mon, honey. Let’s go back and finish our brownies. I saved the last cookie for you.’’

Carlos turned his back, dismissing me. He squatted down to examine the raccoon. I started away. “Thank you, Mace,’’ he said coolly.

“You’re welcome.’’ Relief flooded my body. I turned to him. “I figured it was best to keep people away from the raccoon and the sand …’’

“No,’’ he interrupted. “I meant thank you for leaving.’’

A knife twisted in my heart.

_____

I pushed my untouched cookie in a circle around a paper plate. My appetite was gone.

“Mace, don’t play with your food, honey. Someone else could still want that cookie, if you’d keep your dirty fingers off it.’’

I didn’t even snap at Mama to stop treating me like a six-year-old. When she got no rise out of me, Mama furrowed her brow at Maddie and Marty. “We have to fix things, girls. Mace and Carlos are meant to be together. They just happen to be the two most stubborn people on God’s green earth.’’

“You better take things into your own hands.’’ Maddie’s voice was soft. “You do not want Mama trying to fix things.’’

She tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. Such unaccustomed tenderness from my big sister made my eyes sting with tears.

“Oh, honey!’’ Marty offered me a tissue. “Swallow your pride and tell him you’re sorry about Jeb.’’

Running my knuckles under my eyes, I waved away Marty’s tissue. “No. There’s nothing between Jeb and me. I don’t have anything to be sorry for. Carlos is the one who should apologize to me, for being such an overly sensitive wuss.’’

Maddie gazed across the way at Carlos—his chest broad, his jaw firm, his black eyes smoldering with intensity as he considered where the dead raccoon fit into his puzzle. “You can call Carlos a lot of things, Mace, but no one in their right mind would ever use the word ‘wuss’ to describe that manly specimen.’’

Shaking her head, Mama rose from the table. She walked over to Sal, who was still doing crowd duty. Pointing toward me, she stood on tiptoes and whispered in his ear. Oh no, what was she cooking up?

As she returned, Sal dutifully did her bidding. I watched him from the corner of my eye as he approached Carlos. They had a short conversation, and then Sal looked at me with an expression that seemed pitying.

The big man shuffled back, looking like a child heading to the doctor for a shot. In his most blaring voice, he reported to us, and to anyone else within a fifty-yard radius, what Carlos had said.

“He said he’s too busy right now to worry about some on-again, off-again relationship. He’s got more important things on his mind, what with a murder investigation, a poisoned raccoon, and an army of Hollywood reporters breathing down his neck.’’

“That’s fine, Sal. Thank you.’’ Mama patted his hand, glancing nervously at me. “You can tell us the rest later.’’

Sal plowed ahead, a rookie officer undeterred from finishing his first verbal report. “Carlos said, and I quote: ‘Mace is going to have to get her head on straight without my help. I’m sick of trying to deal with a woman with the emotional maturity of a seventh grade girl.’’’

Sal looked at me. The expression was pitying, with a bit of apologetic thrown in.

“That part about the seventh grade was his words, not mine. Sorry, Mace.’’

I winced. The truth hurt.

“I’d say you’re at least as mature as a high school girl,’’ Marty said.

Maddie nodded loyally, and then narrowed her eyes to a spot over my shoulder. “What are you doing here?’’

I turned my head. I’d been so focused on what Sal was saying, I hadn’t noticed Jeb Ennis come up. How much had he heard?

“Howdy, Maddie.’’ He tipped his hat to my sister. “Always a pleasure. You know, that Carlos fellow must have left half his mind in Miamuh. He doesn’t know what he’s turning his back on.’’

I guess Jeb had heard enough.

“Any man in his right mind would be happy to have Mace, hang-ups and all.’’

As I sat there, surely blushing with embarrassment, Jeb put a hand on my shoulder. It seemed like a friendly gesture, but I could feel him caressing my skin through the fabric of my blouse. He looked at me, desire sparking in his blue eyes. The fire must have been catching, because I began to think along those same lines.

Maybe I needed something more simple than what I had with Carlos. What did I have with Carlos, anyway? Hadn’t he just dismissed me without a backward glance, and then disrespected me on top of that?

Jeb had some problems, no doubt about that. With him, though, all his hang-ups and shortcomings were out in the open. Jeb wasn’t complicated. He wasn’t moody. He wasn’t Carlos.

“I’ve got a cooler in my truck. What say you and me go grab a few beers and sit by a cow pond?’’ A devilish smile lit Jeb’s face. “I’ll even collect some rocks so you can toss ’em into the water.’’

Why not, I thought. Why the hell not?

Standing, I ignored Mama’s disapproving glare, Marty’s worried frown, and Maddie’s loud tsking. I didn’t even try to scoot away as Jeb tossed a casual arm around my shoulder.