Page 11 of Crossing the Line
Something outrageous?
He felt one brow lift up and a muscle tensed in his jaw.
He was just about to suggest that Janice take a break when she brightened her expression. "What did you want to say about the tree, Moira?"
Janice's tone wasn't short, but it wasn't her normal generous tone either.
If Moira noticed it, she didn't say.
Hell, her expression didn't change either.
Moira might be the biggest busybody in Saint Raphael, but she was usually pretty thick-skinned.
Maybe she'd missed the change in Janice.
He didn't though.
Not that he'd admit it openly, but he noticed pretty much everything about Janice.
Including when she'd started using a different shampoo and her hair was shinier.
It looked good on her.
Just like everything she wore.
Janice always looked good.
"... and I've been studying that oak in your yard-"
Moira stopped short and looked at him and then Janice in turn.
"Yards. With an 'S.'"
She smiled and the expression looked a little smug, like an animated snake. But not an evil one. A little silly perhaps, but still intent on getting her way.
"I just think you two should have an arborist come out and take a look at it. It looks... a little off."
"A little off?" Bixby couldn't seem to stop himself from mimicking her words. "I'm not sure what that means."
Moira turned and squared off with him. "Has anyone ever told you that you're infuriating at times?"
He couldn't help the smile that curved his lips as he looked past Moira at Janice.
When they'd been married, they'd had a number of times when Janice had been upset with him for one thing or another and she'd thrown her hands up in the air to tell him that he was the most infuriating person she'd ever known.
She'd never hit him or anything like that. Janice wasn't that person, but she was passionate.
Challenging.
Colorful.
"Yes, Moira. Some of the best people have found me infuriating."
She lifted her chin. "Then I'm in illustrious company."
The sensor chimed over the door to the butcher shop sounded and he knew he had new customers.
Smiling at Moira and casting a quick glance in Janice's direction, he prepared to give into Moira's pressure. It was the lesser of many evils including giving Moira the opportunity to run roughshod over him even longer.
