Page 16 of The Harborer
Amy kept filling. The voices grew more animated as the train’s whistle grew louder and the clack-clacking of steel wheelson rails drew closer. The more the excitement ramped up, the more her anger dissolved. Her tray full, she hefted it, fighting to balance her load.
“Cade! Don’t just stand there!”
Amy whipped her head up to see Luanne, Cade’s mother, standing a few feet away, hands on her hips, foot tapping, her features furrowed with exasperation. Luanne knew about the service industry—she was one of Noah’s waitstaff at the Miners Tavern. She also did nails out of her home, and a myriad of other odd customer-service jobs to keep her kid and herself fed and clothed.
Cade, who stood at least six inches taller than his mom, flinched comically. Luanne shot him one more warning glare, then dropped her pose and rushed to Amy’s side. “I’m so sorry, Amy. I shouldn’t have let him go out last night. Let me help you.” She glanced over her shoulder, and her tone sharpened once more. “Well? Get your butt over here and get busy. Ms. Caufield isn’t paying you to just stand around and gawk.”
“You heard your mother!” came a booming voice over the sound system. Luanne looked up and blew a kiss to Aidan Mooney, the front man for the Celtic Knots. Aidan also happened to be Luanne’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. The relationship was on when he performed at Silver Summit or somewhere close, and off when he was back at his home base in Basalt, a four-hour drive from Fall River.
Cade’s face reddened, and he scowled but took the heavy tray from Amy. She thanked him, and he gave her a head bob and moved off toward the platform.
“I hope you don’t mind me interfering, Amy.” Luanne took over the assembly line of cups.
Amy sighed. “No, of course not.” Truthfully, she did mind, but only because she was embarrassed.Sheshould have been the one to bark at Cade. What kind of businesswoman left reprimanding her staff to an employee’s mother, for Gaia’s sake? But she’d used up all her fight on Micky. Nonetheless, she owed Luanne her gratitude. On her day off, the woman had jumped into help her without being asked. If only Amy could hire her. Between her handful of jobs and side gigs, Luanne’s schedule was already stretched to capacity, and then there was the inconvenient fact she was Cade’s mom. Human Resources 101: Never hire family members at the same business.
Luanne grinned. “There now. With Cade’s load and these, you should have plenty to hand out to the people when they disembark.” She looked up toward the train. “Oh! Looks like our deputy has his hands full.”
Amy reacted with a snap of her head toward the platform where a curvy, dark-haired woman had him in a lip-lock, her arms wound around his neck like a boa constrictor. When the woman pulled back and gave the deputy a sultry smile, Amy caught a glimpse of her face. She looked familiar.
“Who’s that?” Amy hissed beside Luanne.
“That’s Estelle, Deputy O’Brien’s dirty little Chicago secret.” Luanne smirked, a salacious gleam in her eyes. “I guess she came for the Big Event—and for our deputy. Looks like he’s getting lucky tonight. I just hope she doesn’t steal him away from us.”
Without her permission, Amy’s heart wobbled and sank. The woman grasped Shane’s face and pulled it to hers for another kiss. This time, his big hands landed on her waist in a gesture that broadcast he’d had those hands on that waist before. As their lips met, the train whistle let out a spine-decalcifying shriek, echoing the unwelcome wail deep inside Amy.
Chapter 7
Of Celebrations and Afterthoughts
Fucking hell! When didshe get here, and why didn’t anyone warn me? More importantly, how am I going to escape her this time?
Shane jerked back just as the whistle screamed, though it wasn’t the train that sparked his reflex. It was Estelle’s bright red lips assaulting his when they hadn’t been invited to. His jaw tight, Shane quickly removed his hands from Estelle’s hips. They’d kind of landed there to keep him from stumbling into her after she’d caught him off balance—physicallyandfiguratively.
“Hi, Shane,” Estelle purred as she ran her hands over the surface of his parka, down and back up again, before anchoring them around his neck. “Miss me?” Her brown eyes studied him from behind stylish glasses, her smile warm and seductive—like the last time he’d seen her.
“H-hey Estelle. When did you get in?” he stammered as he deftly removed her hands. Her smile transformed into a pout.
People began spilling from the train onto the platform. Among them was his boss, Sheriff Chesterton, which gave Shane the perfect excuse to step out of her reach. “Sorry. I’m on duty.” His words were nearly drowned out by the hiss of the train’s rolling cloud of steam. He dared a backward glance as he hurried toward the commotion beside the depot.
“Will I see you later?” she called.
Not if I can help it. He cupped his ear in the universal signal of, “I can’t hear you,” and sped toward the crowd swarming the platform. Once there, he scanned the surge of people pressing forward but didn’t see any reason to be alarmed. Everyone was in a good mood, smiling, laughing, excited to be close to the train and on their best behavior. Shane took the opportunity to fist-bump Noah Hunnicutt and hug Hailey. Next came Charlie, the youngest Hunnicutt brother and the guy responsible for the pristine depot. Shane pulled Charlie’s wife, Joy, in for a side hug. She squeezed his waist, then pulled back and playfully slapped his chest. “Did Estelle find you?”
He nodded. “Didn’t realize she was going to be here.”
“She wasn’t about to miss the Boarding Call once she found out about it,” Joy chirped. Then she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “And I might add she was a little disappointed to hear it from me and not you, but don’t worry. I smoothed everything over with her, and I’m pretty sure she’s over it.”
He wished Joy meant Estelle was overthem—not that there was a “them”—but he had a sinking feeling that wasn’t what she was referring to. “When did she get in?”
“Really late last night. Her flight into Denver was delayed, and she had some trouble with her rental car, so she didn’t pull into town until after midnight. She asked me not to tell you she was coming.” Joy elbowed him. “She wanted to surprise you.”
Mission accomplished.
Joy grinned as if this was the best surprise in the world. It wasn’t.
Estelle was Joy’s assistant and close friend, and she lived in Chicago where she helped Joy run her empire. After falling hard for Charlie, Joy had moved to Fall River. She claimed continuing her business remotely would have been impossible without Estelle’s help at her firm’s headquarters in the Windy City.
Shane had learned that after Joy had made the decision to move, she’d shown Estelle his picture, and ridiculous as it sounded to him, that one image had spurred Estelle to hop on a plane and visit their tiny mountain town. It hadn’t been her scene—too small, too cold, not enough shopping—but she’d been back a few times nonetheless. Joy liked to tease that Estelle returned because she had the hots for Shane and wanted to see if she could pry him out of Fall River.
