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“Are you ready to go?” she asked Jeff hopefully.
He was staring sadly toward the back of Dana’s head. He caught himself and smiled. “Of course.”
Jeff left a tip under his tray and nodded toward the couple behind them. He didn’t say good-bye. Neither did Meadow.
Jeff caught Meadow’s hand in his as they walked out of the restaurant. He seemed to do that deliberately, so that Dana would see. Meadow was getting a definite suspicion that Jeff had a case on the pretty florist.
Good luck to him, she thought, because Dal Blake was formidable competition, and he obviously liked the woman. God knew why.
“It was a lovely meal,” she said when they were back in the car.
“There are a couple of good movies on at the cinema. Want to see one?” Jeff asked.
Meadow remembered that Dana had mentioned they were going there after they ate. “No, I don’t think so, thanks,” she said abruptly.
He chuckled. “Me neither. Dal might think we are following them around. He’s possessive of Dana,” he added with a bite in his tone.
“He’s got no staying power,” she said when they were standing on her porch. “He plays the field. If she’s not careful, he’ll break her heart. Dad said once that he was a real rounder.”
He glanced at her, surprised by the venom in her tone. “You don’t like him at all, do you?”
“No,” she said shortly. “He’s like a tray of hors d’oeuvres that’s been passed around too much at a party. Not my sort of man. Not at all.”
He sighed. “I’m sort of the opposite. I don’t get out much.”
She laughed. “Neither do I.”
“So we might stick together, just for survival, like Chris Pratt said in that movie,Jurassic World,” he teased.
“Not a bad idea,” she agreed. “You know, you’re a nice boss. And I like going places with you.”
“I like going places with you, too, Meadow.” He drew her to him, bent, and kissed her very gently.
She smiled. He smiled. He kissed her again, a little harder. But there was no spark. Not for either of them. And it was painfully obvious.
“Well, I’ll get to sleep. See you at church tomorrow,” she added, because they both attended services at the local Methodist church.
“Count on it. See you there.”
“Thanks. I had fun.”
“Me too!”
She waved him off and went back inside.
Chapter 5
Jeff’s undersheriff, Gil Barnes, was working on a cold case that had ties to the theft of the Victorian lamp that Meadow was investigating.
He was a little taller than Jeff, built like a rodeo cowboy, with blond-streaked brown hair and black liquid eyes and a somber expression.
“This pipe organ that was stolen suddenly showed up in an antique catalog online at an auction house in New York City,” Gil told her. “I think it’s tied to the lamp theft.”
“It’s possible,” she had to agree. “But it’s been, what, four years since the theft?” she added.
He nodded. “Probably the thief fenced it,” he said sadly. “But it might be possible to trace it. I’m going to see if the sheriff will let me fly back east and interrogate some people.”
“It would be nice if you could find a link to the lamp. Do you think it might turn up at the same auction house?” she added.
