Free Love’s Bounty by Nina Pierce

the only thing that makes any sense in this whole mess. I dump the refuse from my jobs at the school, and they use it as mulch on their farm project. Most of the time I leave the one-ton right there on school grounds.” Deirdre shrugged before continuing. “They could’ve planned to pick up the drugs tonight while the truck was parked. Everyone knows I don’t bother to lock the equipment. There’s never been a reason.” She sipped absently at the scotch. “Mark’s pulled the kids from the job. They won’t be going back to the Jameson estate. He’s figuring, with the arrest, we’ll likely lose the job, anyway. Hadn’t thought that far ahead, but he’s probably right.” Deirdre thought about all the things she’d intended to do with the extra money. She knew better than to make plans. It only caused heartache.
    Deirdre looked at Austin. “It’ll be for the best,” she said. “But it makes me feel like shit. I suppose I should call Shawn before I go traipsing up there tomorrow. How’d this happen?” Tipping her head back, Deirdre downed the scotch. She knew it wasn’t the answer, but the numbing wash of alcohol would be a welcome relief from the overwhelming sense of doom beginning to envelope her.
    Austin said nothing. He seemed focused on something else.
    She couldn’t stand the uncomfortable silence hanging between them. He probably thought she was guilty. “Mark’s not going to inform the Delmont authorities just yet. Hopefully, no one will find out about the arrest for a couple of days. Tomorrow, he and the principal will question all the kids, try to figure out if any of them might be involved.” Deirdre scrubbed her hands over her face. “What I still can’t figure out for the life of me is where they got the drugs in the first place, or how they found their way into my truck.”
    “Anyone else had the truck?” he asked, but didn’t look away from the pans.
    Hope flared. “Rachel had it over the weekend to haul some yard waste, but other than that, it’s been at the school or with me at Jameson’s.” Shaking her head, Deirdre slammed her palm on the bar. “Heroin, for chrissake! High school kids can’t be into that kind of crap, can they?”
    Austin didn’t respond.
    She sat in silence watching him strain spaghetti onto two plates and ladle the heated sauce from the jar over the pasta. Her stomach grumbled. It felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. She was suddenly ravenous.
    “So, it was Jameson’s lawyer who sweet-talked the police?” he asked quietly and set the two plates on the bar before settling on the stool next to hers.
    “Thanks. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.” Deirdre twirled her fork on the plate. “Yeah, I guess. Shawn was there, then this guy, and suddenly the police are tripping all over themselves to get us all out of there.”
    “Why didn’t you go home with him?’
    “Who, Shawn?” Tilting her head, her brows winged together. “ Austin, I hardly know the man. The truth is, I never met him before Saturday, and that was only by luck. I started talking to him about the property and landscaping, and the next thing I knew, he offered me a shitload of money to do his fall cleanup.”
    Ayden didn’t want to sound anxious, but he was beginning to believe her story. “How’d you end up at his party?”
    “A friend of a friend sort of thing. Rach, the woman I was working with today, thought I needed to stop pining over my ex; Emilio agreed, and he extended the invitation. But how the hell he knows Shawn is beyond me. Anyway, the party led to the job, which got me arrested and … what the hell have I gotten myself into, Austin?” The fork clattered on her plate as the tears started all over again.
    “Deirdre, don’t.” Ayden turned on the stool, pulling Deirdre into his arms. Her sadness ripped at his heart. He wanted so badly to believe her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.” He lifted her chin, only intending to wipe away the tears, but her satin