Page 6 of Two Wrong Turns

“New York. I’m traveling and needed a change of pace. Found this place by accident. It pretty much came out of nowhere after my GPS stopped working.”

The man’s eyes trailed down my body and back up, like he was cataloging everything in great detail. I knew I wasn’t the most attractive man around, but I wasn’t all that bad. People often said my curls were adorable and that my few freckles made me unique.

I’d also been called plain and boring. It was my art that drew attention, not me.

“Your GPS wasn’t working?”

“Yeah. Strangest dang thing since it was brand new. It was like I was meant to end up here or something.” I laughed to cover up the awkward silence.

He hummed. “Does seem that way. Mind if I join you?”

“Be my guest.” I pointed to the empty seat, then discreetly wiped my mouth after realizing I could have been messy from eating. Didn’t need to give this attractive man a bad impression.

After he joined me, the noise in the diner picked back up. It felt a bit like a scene in a movie or something, how it all went still and then sped up again. I was dizzy from it all.

Or maybe it was simply the presence the man had.

Another person walked up to the table. “Guess you’re ditching me tonight, huh, Boss?”

I flushed at the implication of him already having plans. “I can take this to go?— ”

My words were cut short by a growl. My eyes widened.

Guess that’s a no.

“Tell Lindsea to add your food to my check as way of apology. I’m sure you won’t want me to interfere with your time there anyway,” he replied.

“Give it a rest. You know it’s not like that.” The guy turned my way. “I’m Robbie by the way. Nice to meet you, Barrett. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around.”

He left before I could ask what he meant by that ominous statement. Maybe he figured I’d be staying in town or something. I’d been tempted pretty much from the start. It was too dark to get a good look at things, but I had a feeling I’d love this place just as much during the daylight hours.

“Sorry for him. He loves to give me shit.”

“It’s no problem. I just didn’t want to interfere or anything. Do you two work together? He called you boss.”

Nosiness was one of my worst qualities. I’d been told I was far too curious my whole life. I’d often argue that the world was meant to be explored and navigated. If we didn’t ask questions, we’d never get anywhere.

“We do work together,” he answered carefully, his eyes never leaving mine. Holy eye contact! It was intense.

“What do you do? And what’s your name? I already told you mine. You should tell me yours, unless of course, you want me to call you boss too.”

He smiled at my teasing tone. “My name is Nolan. I’m the sheriff here. Robbie is one of my deputies.”

“Sheriff Nolan. Nice to meet you.”

His eyes flickered in the light of the diner at my use of his name. I could have sworn they went golden for a minute. Must have been the exhaustion throwing me off.

People’s eyes didn’t change colors like that.

Lindsea brought out Nolan’s food a few minutes later, saving us from the silence that had come once there was nothing left to talk about. At least, that’s what I thought.

After taking a few bites of food, he leaned forward. “You mentioned needing a change of pace? May I ask what led you to travel?”

I stuffed the last bite of pie in my mouth, then pushed the plate away. As I took the time to chew my food thoroughly, I decided honesty was the best policy here. While I didn’t often begin by sharing my art with others, I figured it wouldn’t hurt where the sheriff was concerned.

Not only was I not planning to stay all that long, but if he really wanted to, he could do a background check on me and get the information anyway. Why start off on a bad foot when I could simply tell the truth?

“Back in the city, I’d found myself unable to keep going with the life I’d built. I’d lost my inspiration to work.”

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