Page 28 of Five Alarm Love
“Hey, as long as you’re not doing anything illegal, you’re right.Everything else is literally none of my business.”Talk about overreaction.Tuli sized him up and thought of the worst-case scenario.“By friend, do you mean a friend like Ryan West?”
“No,” he snapped.“You might think I’m a certain kind of person, but I wouldn’t do that to Louise.”
It’s Lou.“You alreadydid thatwhen you supported him while he hurt her last year.”
“You don’t know anything, Chief.”Hunter’s expression narrowed as three more meeting participants filed into the building nearby.He flipped an attitude switch and said loudly, “It’s always good running into you.”
The friendly conversational whiplash caught Tuli off guard.Then he caught the glint in Hunter’s eye.People were nearby.
Ah, acting.Two could play at that game.
“Same here.Great seeing you again.”Tuli gave a social yuck-it-up laugh and smacked Hunter on his thick, hard upper arm, enough to make the guy take one step to the side.“Hey, look at you, all dried now.”
“What?”he paused.“Oh, yeah.Dry.”The blowhard’s shoulders dropped.“Yeah.Because of the rain last weekend.Funny.”
Except it wasn’t.This interaction would make a good video demonstrating how to subvert a bully.What he’d give to have this interaction filmed and posted.But Tuli wanted more than clickbait.He wanted to figure out this guy’s agenda and keep him away from things that weren’t his business.He might be Lou’s cousin, but he could still hurt her.
“I don’t control the weather.”Tuli tapped his good foot on the gravel.“Hey, this gathering isn’t public.Why are you here?”
“Dad said there was a village meeting and that I should go.I have background in mine management, so I thought I might help.”
He had mine management training like Tuli had millions of dollars.“So, you weren’t invited.”
Hunter’s smile tightened.“I’m a member of the Koyukon tribe.”
“True.But you’re not an elder.”
He crossed his arms and lifted his cleft chin that begged for a knuckle kiss.“You’re not an elder, either.”
“Nope, but Grandma Ruth is.I’m her transportation.”He stuck one hand in a pocket and grinned.“Sometimes I’m also her hearing aid.”Tuli’s neck tingled as a few more car doors closed in the parking lot.
Hunter grunted and glared at him, then in a split second, his face morphed into a big smile.“Hi, Uncle Steve.Louise.”
Call her Lou, damn it.
Tuli turned.She preceded her father to the building entrance, with Maverick Steen trailing behind them.Seven p.m.Lou and Mav were in their navy-blue EMS uniforms.Must have just finished a shift.Or they were still on call for a twenty-four-hour shift and needed to both remain together and close to the vehicle to respond to a call.That made more sense.The crew pulled longer shifts from time to time.Occupational requirement in a rural area.
“Ooh, it’s a party,” Tuli quipped.
Lou’s small, warm smile did him a world of good.The neutral expression of her dad, a local elder?Not quite so much.Whew.Tough crowd.
“Tuli.”Mav brought up the rear of the group and patted him on the upper arm.“Long time no see.”
He laughed.“It’s been, what, twelve hours since you two coffee addicts dropped by my deli?”
“Meeting’s about to start.”Mr.Wright held the front door open, shooting Lou an inscrutable expression.
“Right behind you, sir,” Mav piped up, following him into the building.
As landowners with property adjacent to the Ray Mountains and the first citizens to be threatened by the speculators, Mav and his sister Deirdre had attended every meeting.
Lou paused before going in the door and half turned toward Tuli and Hunter.
Tuli took a deep breath before asking Lou to the Salmon Festival—
“Louise, I’ll catch up with you and Uncle Steve after the meeting,” Hunter interrupted.
She paused, her cheeks turning pink even in the twilight.“Okay.”She didn’t go in the building.As if she was creating space for Tuli and her to be alone.Good.
