Page 48 of Perfect Harmony

“Now I know why Wanda got you to volunteerfor donation solicitations.” Grace stared at the neat stack of cheques andcash on the table between them. “You got, I don’t know how many cashdonations, plus a dozen items donated for the silent auction. And not justfrom local businesses.”

Georgia poured more coffee in both their cupsbefore disappearing again. Gideon shrugged. “It’s for a good cause.”

She studied him as he sipped at his freshcoffee. Over the last hour or so, she’d seen a side of Gideon that she hadn’tseen in a long time. Three years to be exact. Since the night of his parents’funeral, he’d been slowly but steadily pushing her away, distancing himself untilshe no longer saw his true self.

She hadn’t realizedhow much she’d missed the real Gideon until now. She’d sat back and watched himtalk to the others. She soaked in his laughter, his smile, the way he gentlyteased some of the folks who joined them.

Soaked it in like she was a thirsty flower andhe was the rain.

“Why do you do it?” she said. “Why do youshow up at Nan’s every morning knowing that you’ll be hit with a barrage of complaintsand gossip and people just looking to talk?”

“It’s a part of my job,” he said. “A bigpart of it. People want a sheriff who is accessible to them, who knows whothey are, and what they need. I won’t know what’s happening in my community ifI’m not a part of the community.”

She hadn’t thought about it that way. Hadn’treally sat down and realized how much of Gideon’s job was about showing thefolks of Harmony Falls that they could trust him to keep them safe.

“You’re really good at your job,” she said.

He shrugged. “I love my job. That makesit easier to be good at it.”

“It’s a lot of work,” she said. “You neverget a break.”

“Sure, I do. I have a good team of peopleworking with me – although Sean is right in that we do need more deputies – andthey work just as hard as I do.”

He smiled at her. “And on the plus side –it cuts down on some of the legwork of asking for donations.”

She laughed. “I can’t argue with that.Although I’m feeling a little useless right now. You really didn’t need mehere at all.”

“I’ll always need you, Princess,” Gideonsaid, his voice low and weirdly intimate.

She froze, staring at him as his face reddened.

“Sorry, that was, uh... I mean…” Gideonstared into his coffee cup like he’d never seen the dark liquid before.

Hating that she could see the regretwritten all over his face, she said, “Don’t worry about it. Excuse me, I’m goingto use the ladies’ room.”

She used the bathroom and washed her handsbefore splashing some cool water on her cheeks.

Gideon didn’t mean anything by it, she toldherself. He was just being… weird. Just a little blip in his brain that didn’tmean a single damn thing.

She patted her cheeks dry and left the bathroom.It was almost noon. She’d ask Gideon if he wanted to take a walk down mainstreet and stop in at a few of the businesses before grabbing a bite to eat. Inthe afternoon, they could drive –

She slowed to a stop, dismay turning the coffeein her stomach to battery acid. She swallowed hard, her throat burning fromthe bitter bile that was now coating it, before glancing at the door. She wastempted to just make a run for the door before they saw her. Gideon wouldunderstand.

“Grace! Sweetheart, over here!”

Shit. Too late.

She took a deep breath and walked over tothe booth, smiling at the two people sitting side-by-side. “Hey, Mom. Hey,Dad.”

“Hi, sweetheart!” her mother said. The braceletsthat went up to nearly her elbow jingled as she pointed to the empty side of thebooth. “Sit down.”

Grace sat, her stomach still churned, and shewished bitterly that she had made a break for it when she had the chance.

“Sweetheart, you haven’t been by the housein ages. Why not?” Her mother was wearing an off the shoulder peasant blousewith an ankle length skirt and Birkenstock sandals. Her face was free of makeup,her long curly hair cascaded down her back, and a fake flower headband circledher forehead. She looked every bit the part of the hippie artist that she was.

“I’ve been pretty busy lately,” Grace said.

“That’s no excuse,” her mother said. “Tellher, Rick.”

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