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"The people I'm boarding with."
"There's no one else, detective. This is your place."
Diana blinks. "This is Casey's house? But ... I get ... I have an apartment. It's less than half the size of this, with no yard and--"
"Essential services. If you provide one, you get better lodgings than those who don't."
"How's that fair?"
He turns those steel-grey eyes on her. "Casey will be working her ass off, twelve-hour shifts, six days a week, to keep this town safe. You work five hours a day sewing patches on jeans and new buttons on shirts. You want better? You work harder or train for a new position. That's fair." He heads for the door, calling back, "Eight a.m., Butler. Be ready."
Diana joins me for dinner but has to leave at nine.
"I have a date," she says, that glow returning.
I smile as we settle onto the sofa. "With your swimming partner?"
"Nope, someone else."
Her grin turns wicked, like she's sixteen and announcing that she kissed two different boys in the same weekend.
When I don't react, she jostles me. "Haven't you always said I need to date more? You should be happy for me."
"I am happy," I say. "This is my happy face, remember?"
She laughs. "Okay, okay. I'll admit, the male-to-female ratio in this town helps my popularity, but it's more than that, Case. It's the whole..." She waves her hands. "Atmosphere. It's like band camp. Which you never went to, and it's not like you needed that anyway. You never have a problem meeting guys. So I've been taking advantage of the opportunities before you arrive and they all forget my name."
"That's not--"
"When we walk into a bar, guys only glance my way if you shoot them down."
I protest. This topic of conversation comes up far too regularly for my tastes. I'm no femme fatale, and Diana is no wallflower. I joke that she's welcome to all the guys in town and then say, "Work will keep me plenty busy. And I'm ... not exactly looking." I absently finger the martini glass necklace.
"How's Kurt?"
"Doing okay."
"Good." A moment of awkward silence. Then, "Speaking of guys, how about that deputy, huh? He's just your type. Brawny. Gorgeous. Not likely to win a Mensa membership anytime soon."
"Hey," I say, with genuine annoyance.
"Oh, I'm sure Will is bright enough. Just not on your level. No one's on your level."
I try to keep my voice even. "Plenty of people are above my level."
"I'm not."
Goddamn it, Di. Five minutes ago you were glowing with confidence. And now this shit?
She makes a face. "Sorry. I'm a little scattered. It's great here, but ... After Graham ... I guess I'm a little on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"It won't." I'll make sure of it.
She twists her rings. "Maybe I should cancel my date. I agreed yesterday, when I didn't know you were getting in today."
"We have another hour. Then you're walking out that door and going on your date."
She struggles for a smile. "Is that an order?"
