“Darned grandson of mine,” the tall, gangly man with slicked-back hair and a Marines Kick Butt T-shirt grumbled. “He got called into work just when we were picking out our turkeys at the store. He just up and left.”
“We told him we could get another ride. And here they are. But Myra’s right.” Penny frowned at the fire truck. “Don’t see where there’s room for all of us.”
“Uh, Tom Thursday is—” Roman’s voice sounded dazed even to him.
“Their Thanksgiving turkey.” Frankie patted his arm as she shooed the women away as if they were teenagers entranced by their favorite boy band.
“We got two birds this year,” Myra announced. “So the men would stop fighting over the legs.”
Silently, Roman groaned. He was never going to hear the end of this, was he?
“Now you guys, we talked about this,” Frankie chided. “What if someone really needed us for an emergency, Delilah?”
“That’s why you use Dwayne,” Delilah, her flowered shirt bright enough to be used as a landing beacon, tsked and shook her head. “Did you forget and get in the wrong car, Frankie? I’ve done that. Memory’s tricky sometimes.”
Roman opened his mouth to answer for her, but Frankie stepped back and planted her heel firmly on top of his foot. He couldn’t really feel it, not with the steel reinforcements, but he got the message.
“I suppose I must have. Chief Salazar wanted to give the engine a bit of a run—you know, his first important call and all. We’ve got reinforcements coming to get you all back to the house.”
As soon as she said it, the department SUV circled into the parking lot. Roman closed his eyes for a brief, mortifying moment. What he wouldn’t give for a manhole cover to crawl under right now.
“Oh, it’s Kendall. Isn’t that sweet? Shame she didn’t bring that adorable little girl of hers.” Delilah tapped her palm on Oscar’s stooped shoulders. “And Ozzy. And is that Kurt? Goodness, you really did send for the cavalry, didn’t you, Frankie?”
“Oh, this is all thanks to Chief Salazar,” Frankie assured them. “Are you going to show me the turkeys you bought?”
“Over here!”
Roman felt as if he’d somehow been transported into an episode of The Golden Girls, complete with male extras. He’d completely missed the other woman sitting on a bench by the entrance, half a dozen grocery bags resting at her feet. She had her hands folded primly in her lap but even from a distance, he could see the telltale tremble of Parkinson’s.
“What’s going on?” Ozzy reached Roman first, the confusion on his face adding to Roman’s humiliation. “Someone hurt?”
“Turkey run,” Frankie called over her shoulder. “Everything’s fine.”
“Well, that’s just...perfect.” Roman turned to the strained voice in time to see Kendall breathe a sigh of relief and discard the yellow safety jacket. As she had on Saturday, she wore snug jeans and a black tank top, even in the cool November weather. He couldn’t help but notice the extensive burn scars covering the right side of her face, shoulder, neck and arm. “Glad no one’s hurt. We didn’t get a chance to really meet the other day with all the zaniness. Kendall Davidson-MacBride.”
“That is such a mouthful,” Ozzy teased and earned an elbow in the ribs.
“I’m still getting used to it.” She offered a slightly tense smile. “Kurt, it’s okay. False alarm.”
Roman recognized the third person as a customer from the diner and offered a grimace of sympathy as Kurt struggled to get his jacket on. The bespectacled man dropped to the ground with a sigh of relief. “Whew. Have to tell you, that’s a load off my mind. Wasn’t sure what to expect.”
“Kurt just got his EMT certification last month,” Kendall told Roman under her breath. “Needs to work out the nerves still.”
Roman nodded and made a mental note. “Thank you for coming. It seems we have some transportation issues to deal with.” Roman stepped back as Frankie hefted up the grocery bags and headed his way. “Ozzy, why don’t you load up the SUV. We’ll take the bags, Kurt and Kendall.”
“Hot dog!” Oscar was already rattling forward on his walker. “Shotgun!”
“You going to be able to fit everyone—” Roman broke off at Frankie’s stern look. “Right. Your call.”
“Phoebe’s going to be disappointed,” Kendall said. “She thought for sure I was being called in to fight a forest fire or a towering inferno.”