Page 16 of Seducing the Sheriff
I stood for a moment on the doorstop, allowing myself time to absorb the old place. Sometimes, I could be attuned to the atmosphere of a place, old houses specifically. For one that had undergone such a trauma, it seemed remarkably calm. Maybe it was glad to have given up its secret.
I didn’t say anything to Greg. Not everything would like their sheriff coming out with nonsense. But the house was content and that was good enough for me.
Then I realized Greg watched me intently.
“You too, huh?” His smile was cryptic.
Me too, what?
Chapter Five
Greg
I regarded Cash with a smile. Something about how he was vibing with the house made him more endearing to me, helped me to express myself more freely with him.
He furrowed his brow. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
My confidence faltered, but I was determined to recover. I didn’t want him to make an excuse to leave because he thought I was being weird.
“The house seems…” I shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. “At least to me anyway…” Clearing my throat, I willed myself to get a grip. “Less ominous. You know, as if it had been waiting for that body to be found.” My cheeks heated. “That sounds ridiculous.”
Cash laughed lightly. “Not at all. I was afraid to say out loud that I was thinking the same thing.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
He moved to the center of the living room, tipping his head back, gazing up at the wagon wheel light fixture hanging from the high ceiling. He pointed at it. “Didn’t notice that last night.” He slowly turned around, seemingly taking in the surroundings. “But yeah, its unique character strikes me as more lighthearted than gloomy.”
I nodded. “Exactly. Despite the setback with the closet, I’m more excited than ever to get to work.” I rubbed my chin. “I’d still really like to get hold of the old blueprints, though.” I let out an inelegant snort. “Not that I’m interested in restoring it to the original one-room shack, but there might be some historical architecture that could be reinstated.”
Cash rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, I have the day off on Wednesday, and I haven’t done as much exploring as I’d like since moving here. Why don’t we take a trip to the county office, see what we can find out?”
I shifted my weight from one hip to the other. This was a friend thing, right? Human interaction. Who knew?
“That would be great.” I didn’t want to overplay my hand by rambling on.
“Of course, I know how busy you are, so if you can’t make time in your schedule?—”
“I can make time.” I tried not to cringe at how the sentence burst from my mouth. “After all,” I said casually. “Those blueprints would be very helpful.” Shit. “Not that going for a day trip doesn’t sound cool, too. I’ve done almost no exploring either and…” Gah, why couldn’t I simply shut up? “Goodness, I haven’t gotten your tea. I’ll be right back.” I pressed my lips in a thin line as I glanced around the makeshift living area. “Sorry, there’s no real furniture yet.” I gestured to one of the folding chairs next to the air mattress. “Go ahead and get comfortable.”
I rushed from the room before I could shove my foot even deeper into my mouth. At this point, it would be coming out of my ass.
I quickly went through the tea ritual, trying to ignore the fact that the tea had indeed gone past the best-by date. I’d tossed a few basic items from the cupboards into a box when I moved, but hadn’t examined any too closely.
My reasoning was that I would at least have something in the kitchen when I arrived. While I had a decent idea of what the area was like from all my online research, I never truly understood what I was dealing with until I was there in person. In all my years of traveling around the Southwest and flipping houses, that had been one of my main lessons.
Fortunately, I’d also had the presence of mind to bring two mugs as well. I planned to hang on to the one with the quote, “Handymen Know How to Use Their Caulk”, so I could keep the saying facing me. My dad gave it to me one year for my birthday because he thought it was so hilarious. Cash could have the one from the Grand Canyon.
“Here you go.” I handed him the safe mug. “I’m afraid the tea is a bit on the old side. I put two bags in to make up for it.”
I assumed that was the right thing to do. The extent of my tea preparation knowledge was pouring boiling water on a bag, then discarding it whenever.
“Thanks.” Cash smiled as he accepted the mug. “That’s probably what I would’ve done.”
I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but I was starting to get a twinsies vibe from Cash. I perched on the edge of the other chair, careful to keep the naughty side of the mug so it was facing me. We both blew on our drinks, the silence stretching out to that point that always made me want to go and hide somewhere.
I held in a snort. I certainly couldn’t use the closet.
“So…” Cash leaned back and rested his ankle on his opposite thigh. “Besides working on houses, is there anything else you like doing?”
