Discombobulate

Chapter Thirteen

"What was that about?" Andy asked with a mouth full of chicken. 

"It was Sheriff Winston. He wanted to confirm my phone number." 

Technically, it wasn't a lie. Sheriff Winston wanted to know if it was her number. Denise decided it would be best to keep the rest of the conversation to herself. If Andy found out they were exhuming the bodies, she'd insist on staying longer. 

"He's kind of cute."

Denise blinked taken back by her friend's statement.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not lying. Sheriff Winston is very attractive."

"He's working on my family's murder case. I'm not comfortable talking about his looks."

"But he looks good."

Denise ignored her friend and shook her head. "Anyway, what's going to happen to you? I'll go back to writing stories and working with Sheriff Winston and Detective Mullen. What are you going to do?" 

"I'm going to go back to my parent's house for an unknown amount of time. I'll be trying to figure out what to do from there. I don't want a repeat of my last job. I was in the office a lot. I didn't get a chance to see my parents as much as I wanted to." 

"I think you should stay in Kansas for a while. You seem to like it there. Maybe you'll find the love of your life." 

Andy snorted, "yeah, right; that's wishful thinking. I have missed my parents a lot. I might stay for a few months unless they kick me out." 

"Your parents wouldn't kick you out, they love you. Did you forget about what happened when you went to college? They made me come over to their house and we all shared stories about you. They acted like you died." 

Andy chuckled, "they care about me more than I'd like to admit. I'm almost thirty and they can still be a little overbearing at times." 

Denise took a sip of her Sprite. "You can say that again." 

"If we swap numbers, we'll still be able to keep contact, right?" Andy held her breath. 

Denise nodded and a grin appeared on Andy's face. "Write down my number and you won't lose it." 

"Maybe I'll get it tattooed on my arm before I leave town," Andy shrugged. "It could be a surprise for my parents." 

Andy didn't have any tattoos. She had her ears pierced at one point. Eventually, she let the holes close because she kept forgetting they were pierced. 

Denise, on the other hand, had three tattoos. The three birds were smaller and under the left side of her collarbone. Each one represented a family member she lost. When she turned nineteen, she got one for her dad. Two more joined last month. 

She originally wanted the first one there, so it could be close to her heart. She never thought she'd have to put two more there almost a decade later. 

"Well," Andy got up from her stool. "I guess I should be heading back home. It's almost one and if I hurry, I can make it a few hours before it gets too dark. I'll stop at a hotel before it turns pitch black." 

"Wait, I have something for you!" Denise scampered back to her bedroom. She snatched her wallet out of an empty dresser drawer.

She hurried back out to the kitchen. "I went to an ATM before I stopped at McDonald's. Take this and use it for gas money." She handed Andy a small stash of bills. 

Andy's eyes widened as she counted the money. "How much money are you making from writing?" 

Denise let out a small laugh. "Enough to live on and have some left over."