Page 89 of Sweet Home Louisiana

“Apparently one of our guests didn’t take kindly to the whole gun thing, even with free soda.”

Owen blew out a breath and turned back to Maddie.

She was off the desk and coming toward them.“Well, of course,” she said.

“He needs to follow up on the complaint.I’m not sure anything’s really gonna happen,” Sawyer said.“And if it does, we’ll handle it.”

Owen felt a crazy sense of satisfaction at that.Not only was Maddie here, loving and protecting his family, but they were doing the same.He put his arm around her and squeezed.“We’ve got your back.”

She nodded.“I know.”

Yeah, he liked that, too.

The three of them headed for the front office together.George was sipping a root beer and chatting with Kennedy as if he was out here for a fishing trip instead of following up on a complaint.

But he was in uniform.

“Hey, George,” Maddie greeted as she stepped into the building.“It’s been a while.”

George chuckled and straightened from where he’d been leaning on the countertop.“I heard you were back in town and was wondering if we were gonna run into each other.”

“You mean you were wondering when I was going to do something that you’d have to cuff me for,” Maddie said.

“I never cuffed you,” George said with a smile.

No, but after she’d burned the shed down, he had put her in the back of his squad car.

“So I guess you heard about my alligator encounter,” Maddie said.

“Alligator encounter.”George nodded.“Yeah, he mentioned a gator.But since you didn’t hit it, I’m not so worried about you hunting without a tag and more interested in the complaint against you.”

“What was the specific complaint?”she asked.

“Reckless endangerment.”

“Now hang on,” Owen said, stepping forward.“There was no endangerment.She shot exactly where she’d intended to shoot.No one was at risk.She shotata gator that she considered to be a threat, which would mean she was protecting everyone.”

“Guy said—” George pulled his notebook out of his pocket and flipped the cover open.“She was clearly unprepared for the encounter.She brandished the gun over the heads of several passengers and her hands were shaking so bad he thought for sure someone was going to accidentally get shot.”

“That guy is a dick,” Owen said.“He was never in danger, of any kind.”

“How about you?”George asked Owen.“Guy said the shot came really close to you.”

“Because the gator was close to me and she was trying to keep me safe.We carry guns on the boats for a reason,” he pointed out to George as he had Sawyer.All the boats had guns and all of the captains knew how to safely handle them.Including Maddie.

George looked up at Owen.“Was it Wilma or Fred?”

Fuck.George had been out on their tour and he’d fished with Owen in that part of the bayou.“Betty,” Owen admitted.

George nodded.“Uh-huh.”He flipped his notebook shut.“So the gator wasn’t a threat at all.”

“No,” Owen admitted.“But Maddie didn’t know that.”

“Fair enough,” George acknowledged.“But she pulled a gun out and peopleperceivedthey were in danger.”

“Come on, George,” Sawyer scoffed.“Someoneperceivingthat they’re gonna get robbed isn’t the same thing as getting robbed.”

Owen was surprised by Sawyer’s defense.He’d been concerned just a few minutes ago.Then again, his concern had been about Maddie and Owen’s safety, not the fact that some tourists had been spooked.

---