Page 43 of Panty Dropper

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know.” Nadia waved her hand in front of her. “He’s…a Comfort. They’re…well…”

“Wow,” I deadpanned. “If you ever have to testify, remind me to coach you beforehand.”

She laughed, put her hand to her forehead. “I know, I know. I never realized until right now how much there is about this town that’s just kinda understood. Trying to put it into words appears to be failing me.”

“So, what’s so bad about the Comforts?”

Nadia thought for a moment, then said, “It’s not that there’s anything so bad about them, per se. I think it has a lot to do with the first generation of Comfort men. I never met Mr. Comfort’s brothers, but I’ve heard a lot of rumors. And I’m sure you know that after Mrs. Comfort passed away, James Sr. drank. A lot. He couldn’t look after the boys, he was always being picked up for public intoxication. And I guess he just developed a bit of a reputation around town.”

There was that word again. “Reputation. That sounds tragic to me, not scandalous. I know it’s a small town, but isn’t one of the selling points about living in small towns that people look out for one another? Did anyone offer to help?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Before my time. I’m just telling you how people see them. And, I mean, obviously, there’s the bad blood between Mr. Comfort and Mr. Abernathy.”

I had to laugh. “What bad blood?”

She shook her head. “Right! Shit. It’s just so hard to remember that you know absolutely nothing.”

“I’m going to go ahead and assume the phrase, ‘about local history,’ was supposed to be amended at the end of that sentence and agree with you. I know nothing. Start from scratch.”

“Okay. How do I put this? There’s kind of like two factions that run this town. The two sides of the track, if you will. There’s the country club set. The people with money, and influence. The mayor, the city council. Prominent business owners. That whole crowd. Jennings Abernathy—who I don’t have to remind you is the name of the senior partner at the firm where you are currently employed—is what you might consider the de facto king of that crowd.”

“Yeah, I had sort of picked up on that when Stew mentioned that his family was one of the founders of the town.”

Nadia’s face lit up. “Right! See you do know something, Jon Snow!” I stuck out my tongue at her GoT reference and she continued, “Then, there’s the other crowd. Or, I guess you could say the other side of the tracks.”

“The wrong side, you mean.” I was very familiar with that side.

Nadia grimaced. “I hate to say it, but, yes. That’s how they’re seen. At any rate, people from that group tended to congregate at Southern Comfort and James Sr. pretty much sat at the top of that heap.”

I waited to hear more, but when she didn’t continue I prompted, “Okay, go on.”

“Not much more to tell. Just that Mr. Comfort was an outspoken man, I think the booze made him even more opinionated. He and Abernathy butted heads many times over the years. It sort of trickled down to the second generation. Hank and Abernathy’s oldest son had an epic fight that landed Tanner in the ICU. And rumor has it that Billy deflowered his only daughter Greer. And Jimmy and Landry, his youngest son, were caught with enough acid to be charged with distribution. So needless to say, your boss is not a fan of the Comfort boys.”

“Good to know.”

We finished up the coffee and Nadia filled me in on some of the other colorful dates she’d been on. Before going our separate ways, we made plans to go to a crab feed that kicked off spring break.

On my way to the office, I digested everything I’d come to learn about Billy Comfort.

He was a client. He had a reputation with a capital R. His nickname was Panty Dropper. And now, come to find out he and my boss were as good as enemies.

The reasons to stay away from him were piling up fast and furious.

But that wasn’t all I knew about him. I also knew how his soft lips felt gliding along my neck. I knew how his heartbeat felt against my chest. I knew how shallow his breaths were when he slept. And I knew how deep and soulful his eyes were when his attention was focused directly on me.

I also knew the smartest thing in the world I could do would be to forget I’d ever met the man, and take any feelings I had for him and nip them right in the bud. But as I entered the office and was greeted by Daisy, I knew deep down that wasn’t going to happen.

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