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He hurried to do so. “Are we talking again? I thought you were just going to keep giving me those, ‘Stay back, peasant,’ looks until you moved out.”
“I can’t imagine what you’re talking about.”
Before he could reply, he noticed Caroline had stopped moving and was staring ahead, a wary look on her face. He followed her glance and realized why.
“Hi, Louise,” he said.
The woman gave them both a nervous, apologetic smile. “Hi there.”
“Are you armed?” Caroline asked, taking a tiny step back.
Louise shook her head. “I’m awful sorry about that. I’ve realized how stupid I was that day. My pastor’s been helping me find better ways to direct my need to help people,” she said with a self-deprecating smile.
Mick chuckled softly. “Forgiven.”
“Thanks, Mick.” Louise gave him a look of gratitude and he was pleased to notice she didn’t look all worshipful as she had the last time he’d seen her. Good. Hopefully she’d come to her senses. Pastor Bob was a nice guy, in spite of his mean-spirited sister, and he’d probably be very helpful to Louise.
“Well, I have to go,” Louise said. “I’m an extra.” She rolled her eyes. “And so are my brothers. I have to make sure they’re not up to any…mischief.”
Knowing her brothers, they’d probably already tied up the camera crew and taken the production trailer for a joyride.
“Have fun,” Caroline mumbled. Then she added, low and under her breath so only Mick could hear, “Try not to kill anyone for real on the set.”
Louise nodded. “Thanks. Bye!”
The other woman walked away, leaving Caroline staring at him, looking bemused. “You just let her get away with it and that’s that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“In other places what she did might be called assault with a deadly weapon.”
He shrugged. “This is Derryville.”
As if that explained everything—and really, it did—she nodded in understanding. Then she started walking again, the purposeful, busy executive. Her cell phone, which was clipped to her purse strap, began to ring. She glanced down at it, frowned when she read the number, then proceeded to ignore it.
As he walked along with her, he could see Caroline looked frazzled and frenzied. He didn’t like the look. What she needed was to be kidnapped for a day of fun and relaxation. Not that she’d appreciate it. Not that she’d probably ever be alone with him in private again after what he’d done to her Thursday night.
He was about to mention it, to try to apologize somehow without really saying he was sorry—because that would be a lie, since he wasn’t so much sorry as he was regretful—when they were interrupted. One of the girls who usually waited on him at the bank approached from the other direction. She gave Caro a quick, dismissive glance, then Mick a much more friendly one. “Hi, Mick. When you going to come make your next deposit?”
He gave her a noncommittal smile, nodded hello and continued walking.
Caro had grown a few degrees cooler.
“She works at my bank,” he explained.
“Isn’t the bank closed on Saturday?”
Cooler? That was pure ice. That voice could put Frigidaire out of business. “You wanted to talk to me?”
But before she could say another word, Diane, who cut his hair for him, stepped up onto the sidewalk in front of them. “Hiya, Mick. Aren’t you due to visit me soon?” She reached up and playfully tugged his hair, which was almost brushing the collar of his shirt. “You need me, honey.”
He would have groaned, wondering what Caroline made of this. “Sure, I’ll call.”
“Be sure you do,” she said with a wave as she sauntered away, her swing a little more exaggerated than usual.
No, he’d never asked her out. No, he’d never even been tempted. And maybe he had a chance of making Caroline believe that. Maybe he’d also have a chance of hitching a ride with the fat guy in the red suit come Christmas, too.
“Caroline?”
