Knox made coffee and then filled Bally’s bowl with food, carried fresh water and food out to Cheeto, and came back to make breakfast. “You need to be extra careful and watch your step wherever you go. That old rattler was a grandpa. He had at least a dozen buttons on his tail, so there could be more of his family members in the area.”
Lottie shivered again. “I will. I promise.”
“Have you never seen one on a construction site before?”
She shook her head. “Only a couple of little garden snakes, and I’m scared of them too.”
“So”—he grinned as he set up a small waffle maker—“I’m a hero? Does that mean I can go from being a fake boyfriend to a real one?”
“It does not!”
“That took the quiver right out of your voice,” he said.
* * *
Knox practiced what he preached as he and Lottie walked away from his trailer that morning. He scanned every whichway and checked under and around Lottie’s trailer while she changed into work clothes.
The rest of the guys were already at the rec hall and sipping what might have been their third or fourth cup of coffee. Thomas waved from the table where they were sitting and pointed at a couple of empty chairs.
“Did you hear that gunshot this morning?” Eddie asked.
“Sounded like it came from down near your trailer,” Gabe said. “We wondered if one of your old girlfriends or one of Lottie’s old flames had come back with a jealous streak and killed both of you.”
“I haven’t got one that would care enough to spend the rest of her life in jail,” Knox said.
“Neither have I,” Lottie told them.
“I figured it was some kids with firecrackers,” Thomas added.
“No, it was a gunshot,” Lottie said. “Knox killed a rattlesnake on his steps. I don’t know how big it really was, but in my eyes, it looked like a granddaddy python that could swallow the whole trailer.”
“You are terrified of snakes. What happened when you saw it?” Jack asked.
“I slammed the door, screamed loud enough to make Grandma Johnston rise up out of the grave, lost my footing, and the fall knocked the wind out of me.”
“What happened to the snake? I hope it didn’t crawl away and decide to live up under my trailer,” Eddie said.
“Knox shot it and then threw it into the lake,” she answered.
“It’s fish food,” Knox said. “I checked under my trailer and Lottie’s to be sure there weren’t any more critters, but it wouldn’t hurt for all y’all to do the same every day. They’re looking for nice warm places at this time of year.”
“I always thought if the devil himself popped up in front of you, that you’d fight old Lucifer to the ground,” Lance, one of the second crew, said.
“I would,” Lottie declared, “but a snake is an animal of a different kind altogether, and they terrify me.”
“Keep a sharp eye out,” Jack said. “Time to get to work. If we don’t get Mandy’s retirement home done by deadline, I might be in some seriously hot water.”
“We’re on it,” Knox said and extended a hand to Lottie. “We’d hate for you to start off your second honeymoon sitting in boiling water.”
Lottie put her hand in his and stood up. It wasn’t the first time, and probably wouldn’t be the last, that he wished they were in a real relationship.
Chapter 15
Lottie was halfway from Knox’s trailer to hers on Saturday night when she heard the distinct sound of a vehicle driving slowly up the gravel driveway. She slipped into the shadows between two trailers and sure enough caught sight of a pickup truck heading down the gravel road with its lights turned off.
“That can’t be good,” she whispered.
She pulled her phone from her hip pocket and sent Knox a quick text:Come quick. Trespassers.
