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Raising a hand, Sawyer drove slowly past more gnomes, a few deer, toadstools, and his personal favorite, a gnome raising two middle fingers, and out onto the road.
“I saw that outside Mr. Rohan’s house the other day,” Ally said.
“Yeah, that gnome sure gets around.”
Sawyer hadn’t slept because he couldn’t stop thinking about Birdie McAllister and what kind of trouble she was in. The girl he’d always known was not someone who talked dirty to strangers via the phone because she enjoyed it. Unless she’d been fooling them for years, and he didn’t think she was that good an actress.
When he got home last night, he’d searched for Madame Fleur’s Flirt Line and found a website that could make all his fantasies come true. He’d then called the number, and the voicemail had been the one he’d heard at Birdie’s house.
What the hell was her deal?
Beside him, Ally slurped her hot chocolate, bringing Sawyer back to what else was bothering him.
“So, what’s up with you, kid? You really sick, or just don’t want to go to school?”
Ally sighed.
“You being bullied?” The thought made his blood boil. No one bullied his niece.
“I have a sore throat.”
He shot her a look. She wore one of her daddy’s ball caps that had the Duke Timber logo on it, and a tail of rust brown hair came out the back.
Her father, Sawyer’s brother Brody, said she had more attitude than any kid he’d met, including the Dukes. Sawyer loved her spunk.
“Sure you do, and I have a sunny nature.”
She sighed again.
“Just tell me what’s going on, Ally.”
“I had a project due today, and I didn’t finish it,” she said in that sullen tone she’d perfected. God help them when she hit her teens.
“How come? You like schoolwork and usually ace stuff, or so your father told me. Spill, you know I’m good for it, Ally.”
He drove down the road and through the area he and his brothers called the posh part of Lyntacky. Bigger houses and well-manicured lawns.
“But you’ll tell Dad, and he’ll talk to Nana and the others. Then Uncle Asher and Uncle Dan will find out.”
“They will not arrest you for failing to turn an assignment in, Ally. Uncle Asher is the Sheriff here, and Uncle Dan a deputy, but I can’t remember a time they’ve put a kid behind bars for that. Especially seeing as I never handed in any.”
“I know that. But it’s hard, disappointing Uncle Asher.”
“You mean because he gives you the look?”
She nodded. “Dad has it too.”
“I remember that look. You want the ground to swallow you,” Sawyer said.
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I get that, just not why you haven’t finished the assignment.”
When Sawyer’s phone rang early this morning, it had been Brody. He was a single dad to Ally and took care of the financial side of things for their business. He had an early appointment, so Sawyer volunteered to pick the kid up and deliver her to her nana, who was working at the library this morning.
“Just cus,” Ally said, shrugging. She took a large bite of muffin and looked out the window.
“Okay, I’ll take a guess.”
