Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (best non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

“Congratulations, sweetheart,” my mom hugged Vicki. “Oh, and I love that ring on you. I haven’t seen it yet.”

Vicki held out her hand for my mom to admire.

“It just fits you so well,” my mom smiled and she winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. My mom also worked as a midwife, and I had had the whole grandkids lecture from her a couple of times now.

“Aww, thank you,” Vicki smiled.

“Your dad’s not here,” my mom told Phoenix. “But, that will give you some time to settle in before dinner.”

“Oh, I’m not staying,” he told her.

The smile faded from my mom’s face.

“You’re not staying?” she repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Landon Verhelst offered me his RV until I get my own place,” he said. “Henry said he’d take me over there.”

My mom shot me a dirty look and then turned back to Phoenix. “You’re moving out?” she asked.

“I think it’s time,” he said. “I’ll just be down the road.’

“To an RV?” the disapproval was thick in her voice.

“Well,” I slapped Phoenix on the back. “I’ve got to get back to the office. Call me if you need anything.”

“Sure,” he said.

Vicki and I quickly walked out the door, and I sighed as I unlocked the car door.

“Your mom’s not happy about that RV,” Vicki shook her head and snickered.

“Honestly,” I said.  “It’s not all that bad of an idea. It’s just that he’s the baby.”

We buckled in, and I gunned the engine.

“He’s not a baby anymore,” she said. “That is a grown ass man.”

“Noticed that, did ya?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, whatever,” she laughed. “I’m so high maintenance, you’re the only man in Sedona that could handle me.”

“You’re right about that,” I smirked.

“Well, you’re no walk in the park yourself,” she teased back.

“I never claimed to be,” I laughed. “That’s why I had to leave Sedona to find a woman that would put up with me.”

She laughed heartily. “I have noticed that. There’s not a trail of old girlfriends popping up around town.”

“No,” I said. “I knew what I wanted, and I knew it wasn’t in Sedona.”

She took my hand over the center console and we drove back to the office in contented silence.

We arrived back at the office, and AJ had already come in. Our office was a small storefront in a revitalized downtown strip center. We were sandwiched between a smoothie shop and a vintage record store.

Lately, I had noticed an ad in their window stating they had original Beatles records. Every day on my way into work, I think about stopping by to see if they had anything my dad would want. Every evening on my home, I forget.

Our office, so we’ve been told, was built in the 1900’s, and I think that historic appeal was attracted me to it in the first place. It was all tiered windows in the front, and a glass door with a green wooden frame. The inside is two rooms with wooden floors. The main room is where we have desks set up for the three of us.

Vicki decorated it with sleek white desks, and chrome task lamps with a minimalist contemporary office look. One one wall, I had an eight by ten framed and matted photo of a vandalism incident. We had once had a break in, and the vandal spray painted in red letters: Sedona to Irving--Go home. I love that photo.

We got to the bottom of the incident, and it turned out our break in was just the tip of the iceberg on a monster case. Now the guilty parties were all rotting in jail for the better part of their lives. But, I keep the photo as a reminder of how much of a difference we were making in this town.

To the other side of the room, we had a small kitchenette. It had a single serve coffee maker, and a mini fridge that the two women I work with constantly discuss cleaning out.

I have never once cleaned it out, but I have noticed my leftovers frequently disappear. I don’t enter the conversation for fear that I might get handed a spray bottle and a rag.

On the other side of the main office, is the conference room. Vicki had spent the whole decorating budget on the main room, so she had only bought a second hand dining table as a placeholder until we could get a chance to get something nice.

Lately, Vicki and AJ had been online shopping for a good conference table, but I secretly had grown attached to that old table. There had been a lot of crap go down in that room around that table.

We arrived at the office, and AJ emerged from the conference room. At nineteen, AJ stood about five foot six, and had long dark hair, and pulled off the professional emo look with an ease that impressed me. Today she wore a flared black skirt, a white button down blouse, paired with white knee high stockings and black platform wedges.

“Hey guys,” she greeted us. “How did it go today?”

I let Vicki talk as I unloaded my bag onto my desk. Vicki talked about the trial and how it had all gone.

“So,” AJ said once Vicki filled her in. “While you guys were in Tahiti and your engagement hit Facebook, every wedding planner in Sedona sent messages to the firm’s Facebook page. Some of them have been following up.”

I sighed. AJ managed all of our social media for this reason. I didn’t want to deal with it.

“A wedding planner,” Vicki sighed. “I hadn’t even thought about what we want to do yet. We haven’t even set a date.”

“I don’t know,” I said as I powered up my laptop for what remained of the workday. “We