Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Tej, Saturday

Al immediately grabbed for the walker they sent him home with, which was sitting beside the basement door, and he wheeled himself more confidently over to them. Tej smiled, in spite of her discomfort at the news that Al desired her, and said, "There he is! Up and about!"

"Hi, Tej," Al said, and Tej noticed his eyes appraising her, something she might not have noticed before because all men's eyes appraised her; knowing of his interest now made things awkward when they were fine just a few minutes ago. Rachel either didn't notice his roaming eyes or had become inured to them after Lauren. It only reinforced that maybe this whole arrangement was a bad idea; if they opened their marriages once, why not again, and again?

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Pretty good actually." He tapped his walker. "This is just to keep me upright when I get tired, but I'm getting more stamina every day."

"Fantastic!"

He looked around and asked, "Where's Sunny?"

"Coming later. He's wearing his Councillor hat at a City committee meeting this morning."

"That's right, he won his election. Do you know Rachel had to tell me? The guy's too humble."

"I agree. It's a wonder he got enough votes, his campaign was so low-key aside from his opener. Maybe it took being a hero to put him past the finish line."

Al chuckled and said, "He didn't tell me about that either. I was looking right at his sling when he visited me and I never thought to ask him what happened."

"Don't beat yourself up, Al. You'd just woken from your coma."

"Maybe that's it. I'd also had the reappearance of this woman in my life." He gestured to Agnes, who smiled sheepishly. "It made my head spin."

"Come out on to the balcony, Al," Lauren said, hobbling over to the sliding door. "There's a table set up there, where us mobility-challenged folks can eat." 

"I could use the air, actually," Al said. "I've been indoors for far too long."

As Lauren, Al and Rachel went out on to the balcony, the doorbell rang, and Tej decided to play hostess again because everyone else seemed occupied.

She opened the door and was surprised again to see Al's mom standing beside Joanie. The two made an incongruous pair and, as if she'd sensed Tej's confusion, Mrs. Mackenzie said, "Joanie and I both live in Coquitlam, so I asked her for a ride."

"Oh, the two of you have met before?" Tej asked.

"We met at the hospital," Joanie said. She was looking uncomfortable for some reason. "Now, Mrs. Mackenzie..."

"Please, call me Gladys, I think we're familiar enough, now."

"Gladys. I've brought you here, but I'm going on shift soon, so you'll need to find your own way home."

She turned to go, but Gladys caught her arm and said, "Aren't you going to come in and say hello? All your friends are here."

Tej wondered the same thing. Didn't she want to see Joe, at least?

Joanie looked pained, but she nodded and said, "A quick hello, and then I need to go."

"Come in, come in," Tej said, standing aside for them. "Al's on the balcony with Lauren and Rachel, and I think Joe's downstairs on the patio, grilling meat on the barbecue."

Gladys made for the balcony, and Joanie went with her. Tej found that interesting. Either she didn't want to give herself away by running straight to Joe, or she wanted to see Lauren; the two were oddly close in spite of the fact that Joanie slept with her husband. Or maybe she just wanted to congratulate Al on leaving the hospital.

Al, Rachel and Lauren were leaning over the balcony rail, looking down on the kids playing badminton in the yard. When Joanie slid the door open, they all turned. Al opened his arms to his mother for a hug, and Lauren brightened when she saw Joanie. "Hey, girl, where've you been?" she asked. "We heard you came to see Al at the hospital, but we always missed you."

Joanie shrunk back and said stiffly, "I've been busy. I've taken on a new role at the detachment."

"I heard! I saw you on TV!"

"Ah. Yes. I'm already a hashtag, too, and it's a little embarrassing."

"A what?" Gladys asked.

Before Joanie could answer, Tej heard a voice behind her say, "Joanie."

Joanie turned, and Tej saw her face fall. "Hi," she said, so quietly Tej barely heard her.

Tej turned. Joe stood there, holding a tray of cooked meat, looking gut-punched. "Hi," he said. "It's good to see you."

Joanie cleared her throat and said, "I brought Al's mom to see him. That's all."

"Oh." Joe was trying and failing to keep his composure, and Gladys was looking confused.

Joanie turned to look at Rachel. Her jaw stiffened, and she turned back to Joe and said, "It's a big day, today. You're surrounded by everyone you love."

"I am," Joe said. "That hasn't changed."

Yikes, this was getting awkward. Lauren was looking anywhere but at Joanie or Joe. Rachel was looking down at her feet. Al was the only one looking at them with any compassion.

To everyone's surprise, Agnes said, "You're Joanie?"

Joanie blinked in surprise and said, "Yes, that's me. I'm sorry, have we met?"

"No, I don't think we have." Agnes offered her hand. "Agnes Marinville."

"Marinville," Joanie said dully, a little slow to take her hand.

"You probably know my husband... well, soon to be ex-husband, Patrick."

Joanie suddenly blushed guiltily and said, "Uh, yes, that's right. New transfer, yes? From Kelowna?"

"That's right. I hear he's moving on already, dating a coworker. That's Patrick's M.O., unfortunately. When he dates coworkers, it doesn't end well."

Joanie swallowed hard, turned to Al and said, "I'm happy you're home." Then she turned to leave. "Excuse me," she said to Joe, who stepped aside to let her pass, but placed the tray of meat on the table and followed after her.

Tej could hear him calling to her, asking her to talk for a minute. She looked to the four of them, then to Gladys, who was looking confused and embarrassed herself, not looking at Agnes at all, perhaps because her generation never aired their dirty laundry like that.

Lauren saw the meat, looked at Tej and said, "Oh, shoot, we haven't brought out the salads yet."

Tej couldn't help it. What Lauren said was so absurd, following on the heels of that cringeworthy exchange, that she started laughing. That got everyone else laughing, too, even Gladys after a moment; maybe they were just all relieved to dispel the tension among them. 

Thanks for reading this far! With all those revelations, the tension on that balcony could have been cut with a knife, couldn't it. If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

To see what Sunny walks in on when he arrives at the house, click on "Continue reading."