Page 17 of Montana Heat

I unwrapped the foil and offered it to her, sitting down on the bench. She began nibbling at it like she wanted to make it last as long as possible. And damned if that wasn’t fucking adorable.

“How’d you end up here with Mrs. K?”

“She was here when I came by, and we started talking. We’d already been chatting a couple hours when you got here.”

“She’s a nice lady.”

Kenzie studied her brownie like she was trying to decide which part to eat next. “Very nice. Misses her husband very much. I enjoyed talking to her, and I was glad she was here.”

They’d talked for two hours? I had misjudged Kenzie. “How’d you end up here in the conservatory?”

“I had an…issue, and I had to go see Charlie. I’m sure you know him, right? The police chief?” She took another tiny bite. “Of course you do. He sent me over to you about the car.”

“Yes. And also, pretty much everyone knows each other here.”

Another nibble. “Small town.”

“That’s right. I assume you’re not from a small town?”

“Denver. Much bigger.”

I grunted in agreement. She took another little bite.

“Is everything okay? Did Charlie get you what you need?”

“Yes and no. Charlie reminded me of why I’m in Garnet Bend.”

I had to admit, I would love to know more about that. Not only out of sheer curiosity but because I’d like to know more about Kenzie herself. She obviously wasn’t the self-absorbed person I’d pegged her as yesterday. Not if she’d spent the afternoon talking to Mrs. Kimble.

But I also understood not wanting to have someone all up in your business when you didn’t really know them. So, I decided not to push for details. I took a much bigger bite of my own brownie.

“You’re not going to ask why I’m here?”

“I figure it’s none of my business unless you want to tell me.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What would be your guess?”

I leaned back against the bench. “My first guess would’ve been something to do with professional burnout. But since Charlie sent you to me with the car, and then you saw him again today, I’ll assume it’s something a little more than that.”

She nodded. “I’m impressed. You’re observant.”

“I’ve never been much of a talker, but I do try to take in details of what’s going on around me.”

She took a bigger bite of her brownie. “I ran into a…little trouble back in Colorado.”

“Someone trying to hurt you?” That did not sit well with me. At all.

“How do you know I wasn’t the one causing the trouble?”

“Not to sound all supersleuth, but I assume you wouldn’t have gone to our police chief twice if you were the big lawbreaker.” I finished the last bite of my brownie. “Do you want to talk about your trouble?”

“Not really. I just want it to be over and get back to my regular life. I’m here so that can hopefully happen.”

“Well, I’ll try to make sure your car is ready for you for when it does.”

She popped the rest of the brownie into her mouth and stood up. “Thank you. For dinner. For the brownie.”

“Thank you for the company.”

---