Page 108 of The Love Shack

So she swallowed her discomfort, stepped forward and stationed herself at his side. “Chad was just leaving.”

Before either man could speak, Betty charged in with Gladys, both of them gasping from their rush. Poor Betty didn’t look at all put together. She had a curler dangling from the back of her hair, her blouse was buttoned wrong, missing one button hole, and she didn’t wear a speck of makeup.

Just like that, Berkley’s problems seemed to disappear. Grinning, she handed Hero’s leash to Lawson and stepped forward to embrace Betty. Laughing a little, she fought grateful tears, and even dipped down to hide her face against Betty’s soft shoulder.

“There, now,” Betty said, awkwardly patting her back.

Then she did the most amazing thing.

She pushed Berkley behind her and said to Chad, “Young man, this is a private party. No boys allowed.”

Chad glared at her, then pointed at Lawson. “What about him?”

Startled, Betty finally noticed Lawson, but said to Chad, “He’s a man, not a boy. Now run along and don’t come back. You’re not welcome here.”

“This isn’t your house,” Chad stated.

“Oh, but this is my town, and you, sir, must leave.”

Berkley couldn’t stop grinning. And when she looked at Lawson, at the stupefied astonishment on his face, she grinned even more.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Chad demanded.

Berkley stepped around her. “She’s Betty Cemetery, descendant of the town founder, matriarch of Cemetery, Indiana, and she’s my very dearest friend.” She pulled the door wide, saying with a peace she hadn’t felt in years, “Don’t ever again bother me, Chad. Not for any reason.”

He fumed, glaring at all of them, and then especially at Lawson. “This isn’t the end of it!”

In evil delight, Lawson handed the leash back to Berkley and closed in on Chad, who had very little room to maneuver. “Oh, I think it is. See, I have you on my security cam, vandalizing Kathleen.”

Betty gasped. “What’s this?”

“She’s okay,” Lawson said. “Oliver and I cleaned her up and she’s in front of my shop again.”

Relaxing again, Betty said, “Clearly, he’s a troublemaker.”

For only a moment, Chad appeared stunned, maybe afraid, then his gaze shifted to Berkley. His smile held only contempt. “Any time I heard your name around here, his came up, too. I haven’t forgotten him, you know, how he butted in where he didn’t belong. How he threatened me.” He pointed at her. “And you, Berkley,no onehas forgotten you.”

Honestly, in this moment, she no longer cared.

“Press charges against me, and it’ll all come back up again, I guarantee it.”

Suddenly Betty surged forward, her small fist flying, and that got both dogs going. Berkley almost got yanked off her feet.

Aggrieved, Lawson caught Betty, gently swinging her up and back behind him before she could make contact with Chad’s face. “No, Betty.”Hissmile was blindingly sweet. “You’ll bruise your hand, and he’s not worth it.”

“No,” Berkley agreed, awed and a little amused by Betty’s violence. “He isn’t.”

Expression dangerous, Lawson turned back to Chad. “If he says even a single word more that sounds like a threat toward Berkley, I’m going to take him apart myself. How’s that?”

Harrumphing, Betty patted her hair, found the curler, and gasped as she pulled it out and tucked it into her purse. “That’ll do, thank you.”

There was a tick of heavy silence, before Lawson said, “It would be entirely my pleasure.”

Without another word, Chad stormed away. With him gone, the dogs subsided.

Within that moment of peace, it struck Berkley that Chad could no longer hurt her. She hurried to the door and shouted out, “Do your worst, Chad. Tell the world.” How freeing that felt. “In fact, I’ll tell them!” Here in Cemetery, she had nothing to fear, because she had true friends. A community. A home.

She had Lawson.

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