Page 19 of Dark Side of the River

But she knew her butting into his investigation was only part of the problem. It wasn’t her interfering in the investigation that bothered Stuart as much as her investigating with Cooper.

Stuart was jealous. Jealous of Cooper McKenna? Was he a complete fool? She and Cooper? Ridiculous. They could hardly stand each other. The only reason they were doing this together was that he was the one who’d found Oakley. He’d been there when she’d needed his help. No matter what Stuart said, she wasn’t going to stop looking into her sister’s shooting.

But meeting Cooper for breakfast was more out of spite. They had no reason to hide. If Stuart didn’t like it, too bad. Nor was she going to stop looking for the shooter.

Yesterday afternoon, she’d made a few calls. Her mother had a number for CH4 since they were the company who’d put in the methane well on the ranch. She’d used her “sweet” voice and within minutes had the name of the pilot of the blue-and-white CH4 Piper Super Cub.

She could have gone to talk to Howie Gunderson alone, but she needed to see Cooper anyway. Also, if Howie’s passenger had been the one who’d shot Oakley, then it might be nice to have the cowboy along for backup.

His pickup was already parked outside of the café when she arrived. It was early enough that there weren’t many people inside. She found Cooper sitting at a small corner table in the back. There were two menus and two cups on the table. His cup was half-full of coffee.

He looked up and started to get to his feet, but she was too quick. She’d already pulled out a chair and sat down across from him. “You ordered yet?”

“I was waiting for you.”

She tried to tamp down her annoyance. It made it easier to remember why she didn’t like him when he wasn’t being so polite. The waitress arrived with a pot of coffee, filled her cup and asked if they needed a minute.

“Chicken-fried steak, eggs medium, hash browns and whole wheat toast,” she said in answer. It was going to be a long day, and she wasn’t sure when she’d get to eat again. Also, she’d skipped supper last night. She’d lain in bed thinking about the big bowl of popcorn Stuart had made her and wishing she hadn’t stormed out of there so quickly.

“I’ll take the same,” Cooper said, and handed the waitress the menus with his thanks as he made eye contact. The woman beamed, her cheeks reddening.

Tilly wanted to groan. Not that it was anything new, the way women responded to Cooper. “I’ve been dating Stuart.” Why had she said that? She felt her own cheeks redden with embarrassment. It made her sound desperate that she felt she had to tell him she’d been dating someone. Not just someone. His best friend. After her argument with the sheriff last night, she wasn’t even sure it was true anymore. But, she told herself, she’d said it because she didn’t want Cooper to think she’d been keeping it from him.

“Okay,” he said, showing no emotion.

“I just thought you should know.”

“Okay.” He looked confused, which only irritated her more.

“It’s just that if we keep looking for my sister’s shooter together...”

He seemed to be waiting to see where she was headed with that thought, as if almost daring her to finish it. If she saw even the hint of a grin, she swore she would dump his coffee over his head on her way to the door.

“So what’s the name of the pilot we’re going to see?”

COOPERCOULDN’THELPbeing confused. Had Tilly thought hearing that she was dating his best friend would upset him? He and Tilly had been adversaries from as far back as he could remember. Even in kindergarten he remembered the two of them competing when it came to everything. Even coloring. She had seemed to think that she was the only one who could color inside the lines.

He’d found himself mentally shaking his head, unsure why she had felt the need to tell him she’d been dating Stuart. Fortunately, he’d hidden his reaction.Tilly and Stuart?Sorry, but he couldn’t see it. Stuart was his best friend, but the sheriff was analytical, approaching everything in life with caution—just the opposite of Tilly. Also, Stuart lived by the letter of the law.

Tilly was a free spirit, a wild young woman excited about life, willing to try anything, and while she had been able to color inside the lines in kindergarten, she didn’t approach living that way at all. Which was probably why Cooper had always been drawn to her, he realized.

“Howie Gunderson,” Tilly said, keeping her voice down although there weren’t any patrons close by. He must have frowned as if he couldn’t remember what they’d been talking about, because she added, “That’s the name of the pilot. The plane is his, apparently, but he works pretty much full-time for CH4, flying their executives as well as geologists in and around the area.”

“Do we know if he had a passenger with him that day?” Cooper asked.

“Not yet. That’s why we’re going to talk to him.” She was all business again. When food came, she dug in.

He couldn’t help but wonder why she seemed... What? Disappointed in his reaction about her and Stuart? How had she expected him to react? She’d said they were dating. He started to wonder exactly what that meant but stopped himself. None of his business. In fact, after talking to the pilot, he didn’t see any reason he and Tilly had to see each other again. He thought of it as fraternizing with the enemy. Wasn’t that the way Treyton would have put it, had he known?

That was another problem with him and Tilly doing this together. It would be hard to keep it a secret. Especially after having breakfast together here in town. It would be impossible for word not to spread throughout the county by noon. This kind of news moved faster than a grass fire.

His gaze went to Tilly. So why had she suggested meeting here? She wasn’t trying to make Stuart jealous, was she?

“There’s something else,” she said between bites, as if just deciding to tell him. He braced himself. She and Stuart weren’t getting engaged, were they? The thought hit him hard, harder than he would have expected. He tried to imagine what would be worse. Pregnant?

She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Stuart let it slip, so it’s just between you and me?” He nodded. She leaned toward him. A teasing pleasant scent crossed the table. Not perfume. Maybe her body wash. Maybe her shampoo? He breathed it in a little deeper. “Oakley was shot with a 270 rifle.”

That took him by surprise, but no more than how relieved he was that she and Stuart weren’t engaged, let alone having a baby together. It would have just been wrong, not that he had a dog in the fight.

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