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“I’ll be paying for the items myself.”
He raised an eyebrow.
Seeing that, she paused, asking, “I am allowed, aren’t I?”
“Well, most of the wives here use their husband’s accounts. I’ll need Doc to say it’s okay.”
That a store owner would balk at taking her money wasn’t something she’d expected to encounter. “You’re pulling my leg.”
“No.”
By then every ear in the place was listening; some discreetly while others made no bones about eavesdropping overtly.
She tried again. “Mr. Miller, maybe you’re not understanding me. I’m going to pay for my purchases with my money. Mine.”
“I understand you, but I need to make sure Doc knows what you’re doing so you and he won’t be butting heads over what you’re spending.”
She wanted to throw up her hands. “So, shall I bring you a note with his signature?” she asked icily.
He offered her a tight yellow-toothed smile. “Have him stop by when he gets the chance.”
“But I’d like to shop now, Mr. Miller.”
“I understand that, but I need to talk to the doc first.”
Were Regan a cursing woman the air would’ve been hot with brimstone. Instead she turned on her heel, left the store, and angrily marched down the walk to her husband’s office.
When she stormed through the door, Colt and the sheriff paused in their discussion about yesterday’s shooting.
“What’s wrong?” Colt asked.
“I apparently need your permission to use my own money to purchase items from Mr. Miller’s store.”
Whit smiled but the hot glare she threw him quelled it immediately.
“Did Colton tell you Anna and I were shot at yesterday?” she asked him pointedly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I assume you’re going to start an investigation today?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.”
Colt wondered if the rest of the women in her family exhibited the same fire. He thought about last night and turned his mind to calmer waters. “What’s Chauncey want from me?”
“For you to stop by at your convenience. He doesn’t want us butting heads over you not knowing how much I spend.”
Colt asked gently, “Would it help if I told you that most women here don’t have their own money, and so rely on their husbands?”
She didn’t reply, so he assumed it didn’t help.
Colt was certain Paradise’s male business owners had never met a woman with her own money, let alone one as wealthy as Regan claimed to be. And knowing her the way he did, Colt was pretty sure she was going to have the place in an uproar before long. To head off the current one, he got to his feet. “I’ll talk to Chauncey and be right back.”
“Thank you.”
Whit moved to the door as well and said to her, “I’m going to ride up and talk to Dun Bailey. I know he’s going to say he had nothing to do with yesterday’s shooting, but I want him to know he’s in my sights.”
