Page 33 of Tempting Fate
“No thanks.”
“Where are your folks?” He hopped up on the counter and sipped his drink.
“They left with Logan’s mom for the Lumber Barron. Is that Dink guy really performing the service?”
Gabe laughed. “That Dink guy is the mayor.” And a vaunted member of the Nugget Mafia. Why Annie chose the old coot to officiate was beyond Gabe. But she danced to the beat of her own drum. “You see Raylene?”
“She and my sister are already at the inn. What’s her deal, anyway? She’s hot.”
“She’s not for you, son.” Gabe clapped him on the back and tried to remind himself that she wasn’t for him either. But he had to admit that hanging out with her these last few days hadn’t been the burden he’d expected. Truth be told, he thought about her a lot. Naked. Not something he wanted to share with his buddy Logan.
“Should we head out?” Chad put the cheese in the fridge. “Logan’s riding with Nick.”
“Let’s do it.”
Gabe straightened his tie in the hallway mirror and grabbed his keys off the hall tree. They made it to the square four minutes faster than it usually took to get downtown. Annie and Logan had decided to hold the ceremony at the Lumber Baron because it would be too difficult to turn the farm stand around fast enough for the reception.
Gabe had to admit the place was beautiful. Big stained-glass window in the entry, a staircase that knocked his socks off, and fancy moldings that wouldn’t quit. His mother would’ve gone apeshit for the inn.
He wandered around, looking at the pictures on the wall. A bar had been set up so guests could have drinks and a few nibbles before the ceremony got underway. Annie’s idea. Otherwise, a hotel like this…well, it might’ve felt stuffy.
Dink had set up a podium near the altar. Rows of seats had been swagged with ribbons and bows and flowers. There was even an organist who’d come all the way from Yuba City, where the Sparks family went to church.
He still couldn’t believe Logan was getting hitched. A year ago, they’d been in some shit hole in Afghanistan, freezing their balls off, talking about starting their own security firm. And here they were. Logan never could’ve predicted that they’d set up shop in a small mountain town in the middle of nowhere, though. Strange as it was, it had been a good choice.
“Hey.” Rhys sidled up alongside him. “Where’s the groom?”
“On his way with his stepdad. The inn looks great.” Rhys’ wife, Maddy, and her brother, Nate, owned it.
“It’s a nice spot for a wedding.” He grabbed a stuffed mushroom off a platter and popped it in his mouth. “I got a call this morning. Drew Matthews thought he saw a stranger in his yard and found a knapsack and canteen under a tree.”
“In Sierra Heights?” The planned community seemed like an odd spot for a hiker or camper. “You think it’s related to the trio you spotted?”
“Don’t know. Could be related, could be nothing.”
“What was in the pack?” People were starting to arrive, so Gabe pulled Rhys into an alcove.
“A couple of IDs I’m running down, a hunting knife, a necklace, and forty bucks.”
Gabe heard murmurs of congratulations and suspected Logan had arrived. “Hey, I’ve gotta perform best-man duties, but keep me in the loop.”
“Jake’s back, but I’ll let you know what I find from those IDs. In the meantime, keep your eyes open.”
“Will do. Hey, before I forget, you think it would be weird to ask Clay if he’d board Raylene’s horse for a while?” When Rhys looked at Gabe like he didn’t know what he was talking about, he said, “It’s a long story.”
“You’d have to ask him, but no one’s in a hurry to help that woman, not after the mark she left on this town. I thought she was leaving right after the wedding anyway.”
“She is,” Gabe said. “Only her horse is staying. We just need a place to stash it until we can get something built at the farm.”
“Talk to him, but don’t be surprised if he says no.”
Gabe was surprised. It was no secret that Raylene was persona non grata in Nugget, but her horse? The one thing he’d learned in the short time he’d lived in Nugget was that the residents would give you their left nut if you needed it, and above all else they loved animals. Gabe nodded like he understood, even though he didn’t. Clay surely had enough room for one more Wilbur in his barn. It wasn’t like the horse had done anyone wrong.
But now wasn’t the time, so he went in search of Logan and found him and Nick in a plush room off the lobby.
Gabe noted the big medallion on the ceiling and the marble fireplace. “Nice digs.”
“Hell yeah.” Logan stared at himself in the full-length mirror behind the door.
