Free Fire and Ice: A Paranormal Romance by Cindy Adkins

know, but you don’t want to put our guest on the spot, do you?”
    “I’m sorry, Sarah,” he apologized.
    “No need, Harris,” Sarah assured him.  “I was just wondering if you were going to buy bait, too.”  She grinned at him.
    “I like this girl, Billy,” said his father slapping him on the back.  Harris was good-natured.  “We need someone like her around here.  She’s a treasure.”
    “All I know is that I’ve never seen my son look so happy,” Alise looked at Sarah smiling.
    “You mean in four years, right Mama?” asked Billy.
    “No, I mean ever ,” said his mother.  “Maybe I look at things differently because I am an artist, but you two just look as if you belong together.”
    Alise had never told Billy that about Jessie.  What had gotten into her? 
    “Well, we actually wanted to talk to you about something else.  But, it has to stay here right between us,” said Billy.
    “Harris,” Sarah looked directly at Billy’s father.  “You were friends with Eddie, Jessie’s dad, right?”
    “For years,” said Harris.  “Eddie and I went way back.  Why?”
    “Do you know anything unusual about Charla?”
    “It depends how you mean it,” said Harris.
    “Well, she sure knew how to spend Eddie’s money whenever he made it,” interjected Alise.  “She kept him in the poor house for nearly thirty years.”
    “What did she buy?” asked Sarah.
    “No one knows,” Alise told her.  “I used to wonder if she socked it away without Eddie realizing it.”
    “Why do you ask?” Harris was surprised she knew about the family.
    “We’ll get to that later, Daddy,” Billy assured him.  “Do you know anything else about Charla?”
    “Only what the guys on the boats said,” Harris remarked.  “News spreads like wildfire among fishermen, believe me.”
    “What did they say?” asked Billy.
    “They said that she kept begging Eddie for a computer.  He actually bought her several throughout the years.  She’d sit there on that Internet and talk to strangers ’til all hours of the night.  Sometimes she’d still be up when Eddie left for work in the morning.”  Harris may have been onto something.  Sarah needed to know.
    “Whom was she talking to?” she asked.
    “Damned if I know,” replied Harris.  “She had men calling her all the time, too.  Eddie, poor bastard, it broke his heart.  Sometimes I thought he was lucky that he drowned in that water.  It may have been better than drowning in his own tears.”
    “Jessie never mentioned a word of it to me,” remarked Billy. 
    “She was too busy chasing you to notice what was going on under her own roof,” said Harris.
    “Harris, that’s enough!” cautioned Alise.
    “Well, it’s true.  Why shouldn’t I say it?”
    “Because the girl is gone.”
    “Telling a lie won’t bring her back,” he told wife.  “Sorry, Billy.  I don’t mean to hurt you.”
    “It’s okay, Daddy.”
    Sarah put her hand on Billy’s shoulder.  “Oh, my God, Billy.  Remember the computers?”
    “Jesus, Sarah, you’re right.”
    “What are you two talking about?” Harris wanted answers.
    “Daddy, we’ll explain in a few minutes.  What else do you know?”
    “Know?  I know that Charla was out whoring around.”
    “Harris, watch your language,” Alise warned him.  “There are ladies present.”
    “Well, she was,” insisted Harris.
    “She’s a widow.  Why not let sleeping dogs lie?” suggested Alise.
    “Because my friend Eddie suffered for years because of it and the only reason that he wouldn’t leave her was because she threatened to turn him in for tax evasion.”
    “What?” asked Sarah.
    “Eddie was a fisherman.  He spent his entire life on the water.  He worked hard to support his family.  Sometimes, he made money, but didn’t report it.  That was a long time ago.  Cash deals.  Charla had him by the balls.  When Eddie died, the sorrow went with him.  I think that she robbed him blind the whole