Page 31 of Seducing the Sheriff
“My house wasn’t built until later on,” I said, pointing to what was clearly desert on the map.
We moved onto a case with a fading silk wedding dress. The woman must have been tiny by the size of the dress. It looked as if it would fit a child.
Greg read the inscription. “Look, they found love letters wrapped in the dress between the bride and her groom. He was a soldier in World War I. Oh…”
His voice cracked and I turned to look at him. I wasn’t much interested in weddings and had focused on an old jukebox.
“What’s wrong?”
“She never wore the wedding dress. Her fiancé died on the battlefield.” Greg sounded genuinely upset.
I wanted to put my arm around him, but we were in public, Marisa chatting to someone by the entrance. I brushed his back, a light touch, but from the way he pressed back he understood and took comfort from my gesture.
He sniffled a little. My new friend had a tender heart. I had to remember that.
“Come look at the jukebox,” I urged, hoping to distract him.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
“No need to apologize,” I assured him.
I smiled at Greg and just for a moment I wanted to kiss him, to show him he wasn’t alone. Then I realized his gaze was focused on me. To be more specific, my mouth.
Chapter Nine
Greg
I stared at Cash’s tasty-looking lips for a millisecond too long, I was sure of it. He knew. Somehow, he knew I was falling for him, that I was racing past friendship village to romance metropolis.
“Umm…” We were in a public place. With people. I glanced around. Well, not at that exact second, but Marisa or another history nut could appear at any second. “So, should we try Jim Brannigan again?”
Cash abruptly straightened, his body tensing. He averted his gaze, fishing for his phone in his pocket. As he turned from me, what felt like a boulder landed in my stomach.
“Of course,” he said. “It’s getting late anyway. Maybe if we’re lucky, we can catch up to him before the day is over.”
Over.
Cash made his way toward the entrance, and I wanted to kick my own ass so hard, I’d be propelled into orbit. I trailed behind him, taking several deep breaths. More than anything else, I worried that I’d insulted him, hurt his feelings. I was used to disappointment, but I didn’t want to cause someone else to feel that way.
But that didn’t mean I had to admit defeat. I could salvage the situation.
I waved at Marisa as I breezed past, then stepped outside, the sunshine blinding me for a sec before I spotted Cash. He was standing next to a row of sagebrush lined up in a bed of white rocks along the side of the museum. His voice was friendly and animated, so it seemed like he’d finally gotten hold of Brannigan.
This was a good development if that was the case. A stop at the historical society in Charming meant there was a chance to salvage the day, maybe bring us back to the easy flirtation we’d begun earlier.
I approached him but hung back a little in case the conversation related to something that wasn’t meant for me. I was close enough to hear Cash end the call with a ‘Great, let me check with Greg, but we should be there within the hour’.
A good portion of tension drained from my body, replaced by a decent amount of hopefulness. Cash closed the small distance between us, smiling.
“I got hold of Jim. He’s at the station right now visiting and said we’re welcome to stop by.”
“He’s going to take us to the historical society?”
Cash shook his head with a laugh. “No, it’s small, but it’s there at the station. I don’t know if you’ve been out that way, but there’s an old, brick building that’s the original firehouse next to the modern station. Volunteers man it on the weekends and help him out with maintenance.”
“Oh, wow. Sounds like it’s his baby.”
Cash nodded. “What do you say? Still have enough energy to pursue this mystery?”
