Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Ouray, Ouray, Ouray . . . It was a town not too far, I was pretty sure. “Nothing,” I admitted.
“It’s a date then. As long as I don’t have to cancel on you. Want me to pick you up or meet here?”
“Meet here?” I couldn’t see Mr. Rhodes being happy with me having her come over to his property, and I wasn’t willing to piss him off, even if I wasn’t going to be around too much longer.
She opened her mouth to tell me something before she leaned forward and whistled.
I turned around to see through the big windows I’d peeked through weeks ago too.
“You see that?” she asked as she made her way around the counter and headed toward the front.
I followed her. There was a truck out there, a truck that looked awfully familiar . . . And beside it was a man on a cell phone, and there was another man standing beside him in the same uniform.
Clara whistled at my side again. “I’ve always been a sucker for a man in uniform. Did you know my husband was a police officer?”
Sometimes . . . sometimes I forgot I wasn’t the only person to have lost someone they really loved. “No, I didn’t know that,” I said.
A wistful expression came over her face, and it made my heart hurt only imagining what she could be thinking of. Hoping it wasn’t the what-ifs. The alternate realities. Those were the worst.
“Police officers are cute, but I’ve always had a thing for firefighters,” I told her after a second.
Her mouth formed a little smile. “With their little pants and hats?”
I looked at her. “I like their suspenders. I’d give them a snap or two.”
Her laugh made me smile, but only for a second because the man on the other side of the glass had turned, and I finally got my confirmation that Mr. Rhodes’s butt was fantastic in his work pants. “Did you meet him the other day when he was here?” Clara asked.
“Which one?” I knew exactly who she was referring to even as I eyeballed the other man in the same kind of uniform. He was about the same height as my landlord but leaner. I couldn’t see his face though. I could see his butt though, and it was a good one.
“One on the right. Rhodes. He comes in sometimes. He was just here yesterday. He used to date my cousin a million years ago. His son is best friends with Jackie.”
No shit? I wanted to tell her the truth, but she kept on talking.
“Dad said he moved back here when he retired from the Navy to be closer to his son and—oh, he’s about to get into his truck. Let’s move before he sees us and things get awkward.”
He had been in the Navy? Well, that was another piece of the puzzle. Not that it mattered.
And actually, the way he talked now made total sense. That bossy voice. I could totally picture him bossing people around and giving them the stare down he’d given me. No wonder he was so good at it.
“He’s my landlord,” I told her as we moved away from the window before getting caught spying.
Her head whipped around so fast, I was surprised she didn’t end up with whiplash. “He is?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s the garage apartment you’re renting?”
“Uh-huh.”
“He let you rent it?”
“You’re not the first person to ask me that that way. But no, it was more like Amos did behind his back. Why?”
“It’s okay. He’s a good dad. He’s . . . quiet and private is all.” Her eyes widened. “This suddenly makes so much sense. That’s why Amos got grounded.”
So she’d heard from Jackie. Was that why she had been giving me funny looks when she thought I wasn’t looking? “Yup.”
It wasn’t until we made it back around the counter that she asked really quietly, “Have you seen him without a shirt on?”
I grinned. “Not yet.”
Her smile in return was pretty damn sly. “Take a picture if you do.”
I was early again that night. Two minutes ahead of schedule and holding a plate with a few Chips Ahoy cookies I was going to try and pass off as homemade unless one of them asked. It was the thought that counted, right?
My notebook was tucked under one arm, the beautifully wrapped crystal that Yuki had sent Amos was under my other arm, and I had a pen shoved into the back pocket of my jeans alongside my cell and key. I’d written out a bunch of questions while I’d eaten dinner and marked them in order of what I should ask, depending on how much information we could get through.
Hopefully a lot.
I’d only gotten one chance that day to use my newfound knowledge, and I’d been so damn proud. It had helped curb the edge for every other time I had to go bother Clara or pass a customer off on her. She was a fountain of information, and I admired her so, so much for it. Sure, she’d grown up in this business and lived in the area way longer, but it didn’t make it any less impressive. She had moved away; anyone else would have forgotten most of what they knew.