Betsy parked her truck alongside the curb in front of Davina’s parents’ house.
“Wow,” the detective said. “Beautiful home.”
“Yeah, it is. Mom always told me I’m welcome to stay with her the rest of her life, but I always strive to survive on my own even if I would never want to live by myself.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” said Betsy as they exited the vehicle and went up the walkway.
The inside door was open, so Davina pulled the screen door open and walked in with Betsy close behind.
“Mom! Dad! We’re here.”
“In the kitchen,” Betsy heard a woman say.
They walked through a large living room and back into a kitchen that was also large.
Betsy saw a tall slender woman with curly honey blonde hair nearly to the middle of her back facing the sink. The woman turned off the faucet, shook water free from her hands, and turned to face them with a smile.
Betsy was stunned by her beauty. She wasn’t attracted to her sexually, but she found the woman to be extremely appealing from a physical standpoint without a doubt. She had very friendly eyes and one of the nicest smiles she had ever seen. She was also amazed by how young she looked. Davina said she was thirty-eight, having unexpectedly conceived her when she was just sixteen, but she seemed closer to thirty and more like Davina’s big sister. Their only differences were in their height and the fact that this woman had curly hair and blue eyes whereas Davina had straight hair and hazel eyes.
“Hey Mom,” Davina said. “Meet the wonderful detective who has been keeping me safe.”
Betsy laughed and said, “I’m definitely doing my best, though I assure you your daughter is helping.”
“Yes, I’m sure she is,” her mother agreed with a laugh and added, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. I’ve heard wonderful things about you, Mrs. Burns.”
“Oh, call me Laurina. Mrs. Burns sounds too old and formal.”
“Where’s Dad?” Davina asked.
“He’ll be back with Delmar in a little while. The guys are going to be working in the garage on Delmar’s bike. He really wants to train for racing.”
They took seats at the kitchen table and nibbled on homemade banana nut bread while they talked about life. They talked about the case a bit, work, weather, and things like that.
“I’d like to invite you over,” said Betsy, “but the general rule is that when you’re in any kind of safe house or protective custody, you don’t tell anyone where you are, and that includes friends and family.”
“I understand. The fewer people that know, the safer one is.”
“Right. In less than a month, I’m virtually positive this guy will be going away for a very long time, so it’s only temporary.”
The beautiful mother’s face turned from pleasant to serious. “I hope so. To think of what he did to his poor ex and my little one here who had to see it.”
“I still have nightmares at times, but it’s getting easier,” Davina assured her mom as she was about to take her seat after getting up to bring a dish to the sink. On her way, her mother reached out and hugged her, having her half-sit on her lap for a few minutes.
“Just keep my baby safe,” she told Betsy.
“Mom, I’m not a baby, and I’m not completely incapable of looking out for myself.”
Betsy chuckled, and Laurina said, “Yeah, I know, I know. But it’s a mother’s job to worry, isn’t it?”
Davina nodded, and her mother kissed her on the cheek and let her take her own seat again.
Car doors sounded a moment later, and Laurina said, “Here are the guys now.”
Betsy could hear them talking about parts they picked up at the store and parts they should have picked up as well.
Just then, two black men appeared in the kitchen, and once again Betsy was thrown for a loop. She had no idea, not that she had any problem with it, that any of Davina’s family was black.
“Hey,” said the older of the two. “There’s my flying princess.”
Davina said, “Hey Dad. Betsy, this is my dad. Can you believe he and Mom have been together since they were fifteen and sixteen?”
A peal of laughter broke out, then Betsy smiled warmly and said, “Hello, sir. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello. Nice to meet you too, Detective.”
“And that’s my goofy eighteen-year-old stepbrother Delmar,” said Davina.
Delmar rolled his eyes and said, “Goofy? You’re the one that’s goofy.”
Everybody laughed and settled around the table, but Delmar quickly dismissed himself after grabbing a chunk of banana nut bread and headed into the garage to get the project started.
“So, what are your plans tonight, ladies?” Davina’s mother eventually asked.
“Just hanging out together,” Davina said. “With the bastard out there, it isn’t good for me to be out and about unless necessary. It may not be literally necessary to be here, but I really wanted to see you after everything that went down and to introduce you to Betsy.”
Guilt crossed the physician’s features, and she said, “Yeah, I’m so, so sorry we weren’t around when things happened.”
“Don’t worry. You couldn’t have known, and you’re back now,” Davina assured her.
Laurina smiled lovingly at her daughter and said, “So it will be a night of TV or something like that then?”
“Actually,” said Betsy, “I have a couple of fellow law enforcement officers and friends coming over tonight. We’ll probably order pizza and wings, play some card games, and watch a movie.”
“Well, there you go,” said Davina’s father. “Now you’ll be even safer with all those cops around.”
After a while, Davina followed her dad out to the garage for a few minutes, and Betsy got to speak with Laurina alone.
“I watched one of your daughter’s performances, and she really is quite amazing.”
“Yes, she is. Very talented little lady. As I’ve tried to explain to her, though, sooner or later she is going to age, and all that impact is going to affect her joints. I suppose a part of that is the doctor in me.”
Betsy smiled. “So where do you practice?”
“I’m with Sloane Medical Group in a building off of Douglas and Clearwater.”
Betsy nodded. “I know where it is.”
“She’s also an amazing artist. Really brilliant. She can look at someone and draw them in no time.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that. We could use a new sketch artist perhaps one of these days down at the station.”
“She’s a good girl and very talented, but sometimes does silly things and doesn’t always think ahead. But she’s young. We’re not exactly thinking that far into the future in our early twenties.”
“She’s a live-for-the-moment kind of person, huh?”
“Mostly, and that’s a good thing as well.”
“I never thought to ask her when she left home.”
“She’s only been out for a little over a year.”
“Wow again. I didn’t know that either.”
“She went to school with one of her roommates, and another once worked with her. Not as a performer but behind the scenes setting up props and doing makeup and things like that. She said they were moving out, though, and you know there’s no way she could afford the place on her own. She wouldn’t want to either as she’d be very lonely living by herself.”
“I’m aware of that,” Betsy said with a nod.
“She’s spoken pretty highly of you and seems to enjoy living with you. She knows she’s always welcome to return anytime she needs to, but maybe you two will get along well enough that you’ll want to stick together after the trial.”
“Yes, I think that’s very possible.”
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