Page 70 of Rescuing Dr. Marian
I scrambled to correct myself. “Or him. Or anyone. I’m not waiting for anyone. Or him.”
He did a shit job at hiding his smirk. “I see.”
Before I could respond and most likely make the situation worse, the door chimed again, and this time, it was a tiny force of nature in outdoor-chic hiking pants, a designer puffer vest, and a cloud of expensive perfume.
As soon as I recognized her from Hawaii, I turned my head away in hopes she wouldn’t notice me. Unfortunately, today was not my day.
“Well, well,” she said, climbing onto the barstool next to mine with surprising agility for someone who had to be pushing ninety. “If it isn’t Sheriff Beefcake.”
“Ma’am,” I murmured with a polite nod before staring back into my beer.
Alex closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.
“Ma’aaaaamm.” She said the word slowly, as if testing it on her tongue. “If we’re going to start with insults,I’llbe the one to throw the first volley.”
She opened her mouth to unload, but Alex stopped her before she could begin. “Aunt Tilly, what are you doing here? I thought you were at the lodge with everyone else.”
“Why yes, thank you, Alexander. I’d love a drink.” She flipped a hand toward the bar like a queen granting an audience. “Whiskey. Neat. The good stuff, not the swill you serve the tourists. And get Biceps of Justice another, too. He looks like he’s going to start crying into that beer any minute, and salt never did a craft brew any favors.”
I inhaled and let out a breath. “It’s domestic. And I’m pretty sure the last time I cried was over a decade ago.”
It wasn’t true, but I got the sense that if I gave this woman any indication I owned tender human feelings, she’d fillet them and lay them over a clothesline in the town square to bake in the sun.
No, thanks.
Alex handed over the drinks and took one last look between the two of us. “Foster Blake, this is my great-great-aunt Tilly. Aunt Tilly, this is Foster Blake, Sheriff of Majestic, Wyoming, and head of Search and Rescue at SERA.”
“We’ve met,” I said. I tilted my hand side to side. “Ish.”
“Squat Rack here means I rescued his dignity from the jaws of a slow-motion train wreck starring Tommy, a very suggestive shirt, and several dozen lei-wearing Marians with opinions.” She gave me a saucy smile. “Saved him from Granny’s walker, too. When the woman’s on a tear, she’s like a Roomba on Red Bull, bless her.”
Alex winced. “Uh. Foster, you should consider calling it anight,” he warned before moving away to help one of his servers.
“Nonsense. Don’t listen to him,” Tilly said. “I’m only here to buy you a drink for helping to get my girl out of that vehicle last night. I heard you assisted the local first responders.” Her eyes met mine. “I’m incredibly grateful, Foster.”
I blinked at her while I replayed her words over and over, looking for the trick. She seemed sincere. “Uh… thank you?”
She nodded and took a sip of her whiskey, savoring it before swallowing. “Now, some might say it’s the least you could do for ruining my Tommy’s wedding…”
And there it was.I gritted my teeth but remained silent.
“But I’m inclined to give you a pass on that,” Tilly declared. “I always thought Kari was a bit… dramatic.”
I goggled.Thiswoman had a problem with people being dramatic?“You don’t say.”
“And I’m glad Tommy’s moving back to California,” she went on, eyeing me in a calculated way. “In fact, I have a few people I’ve been dying to set him up with.”
Right. Time to go. I stood and reached for my wallet. “Well, good luck with that?—”
“Shame, though,” she interrupted. “That Tommy never found out Kari slept with her brother’s best friend last summer. I wish that had come out when all the shit hit the fan in Hawaii.”
I froze before slowly turning back to her. “Kari cheated on Tommy?”
Tilly pursed her lips and nodded. “You can’t tell him, though.”
“Why not? He deserves to know! And how do you know Kari cheated if Tommy doesn’t?”
Tommy had carried guilt for kissing me—it had been written all over his face, that night in Hawaii, along with his regret at pushing me away. But he’d done the right thing the second it happened. And he’d never intentionally hurt anyone.
