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CHAPTER4
Abby came backto collect the dinner dishes from the table.
“Is it possible to get a smaller table in a more secluded area?” Drake asked.
“Sure,” Abby said. “Let me see what’s available.” A couple of minutes later, she returned. “Come with me.”
She led the way to a booth with high sides in the far corner of the tavern. “This is about as secluded as it gets.”
Now that he’d found the perfect spot, out of view of everyone else, Drake worried it was so out of the way that Cassie wouldn’t find him.
“Abby,” Drake stopped her before she got away.
“Is there something I could get for you?”
“Not yet,” Drake answered. “Do you know Deputy Douglas?”
Abby’s eyebrows formed a V over her nose. “Cassie Douglas?” she asked.
“Yes,” Drake said with a smile.
“Sure do. Why?”
“If you see her enter the tavern, will you send her my way?”
Abby’s brow smoothed with a smile. “Is she your date?”
Drake started to say no; Cassie wasn’t his date. But it was easier for Abby to understand a date than to tell her their get-together was just for conversation. Anything more than conversation would be pushing things way too fast.
Over the next fifteen minutes, Drake leaned out of the booth no less than twenty times.
About the time he decided to relax and let whatever happened happen, he heard Abby say. “He’s been waiting for you for the last fifteen minutes. I have you two in the booth farthest from the bar, the large family in the opposite corner and the kitchen. You shouldn’t be disturbed here. What can I get you to drink?”
“I’ll have a whiskey neat, please. How’s your mother? I haven’t seen her around town in a while.”
Abby’s smile faded. “She’s been sick and confined to her room. Dad takes her meals to her, so I don’t catch whatever she’s got. I barely see her between work and studying at the library.”
“I hope she feels better soon,” Cassie said as she slipped onto the bench across from Drake.
“Me, too,” Abby said. “I’ll be right back with your drink.” She started to walk away, stopped and turned to Drake. “Sorry. I meant to ask whether you’re ready for something.”
Drake nodded. “I’ll have what she’s having.”
Abby nodded. “Two whiskeys neat.” And she left them.
“Did you get the sleep you needed?” Drake asked.
Cassie shrugged. “Some. I didn’t want a full eight hours because I have to transition to the day shift in a few days. I slept for four hours and helped out in the barn. I just had enough time to shower off the smell of horse manure before I came.” She gave him a crooked smile. “Yeah. I’m not the kind of woman who primps and spends a lot of time in front of the mirror. What you see is what you get.”
“I like that about you.”
She snorted. “You’d be the first man who does.”
Drake frowned. “I take it someone didn’t appreciate you the way you deserve?”
“It’s not important. I’m learning to leave the past in the past. Except when it involves a woman sealed in a hidden room. Now that’s some past I want to sink my teeth into.”
“Heard anything?” Drake asked.
