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The sheriff turned and sauntered to the head of the table at her left. Before sitting down, he held out his hand to her and she stood and shook it, firmly squeezing his hand and making direct eye contact with him before she let go.
Satisfaction flared through her body when she saw the pink tint on his cheeks.
She sat once again, and the sheriff blustered with something on his tie then sat uncomfortably. She glanced at Henry, who wore the most gorgeous smile she'd ever seen. His eyes sought hers and she couldn't stop the grin from forming on her lips. He saw it. But he didn’t say anything to the sheriff about it. He let her handle it in her way. Points to the blue-eyed knight for not treating her like a damsel in distress.
"Can I get either of you something? Water? Coffee? Juice?"
She smiled. "Water would be wonderful. Thank you."
Sheriff Cranford reached forward to the phone in the middle of the conference table and pushed a button.
"Yes, Sheriff." A faceless voice responded.
"Bring us in some waters, Carrie."
Sheriff Cranford held his hand out toward Henry, who nodded in return.
She booted up her laptop and folded her hands in front of her waiting for the meeting to begin.
The door opened and Carrie entered with a bucket filled with bottled water on ice. She set it on the sideboard behind her, pulled three waters from the bucket, and set two on the table near Everleigh’s left arm. She carried the other to Henry in the back of the room, greeting him a bit flirtatiously, "It's nice to see you again, Henry."
"It's nice to see you too, Carrie."
Carrie giggled and Everleigh had to force herself not to roll her eyes.
As Carrie left the room, she gave Henry a last glance, then closed the door. The sheriff busted out laughing and his eyes landed on Henry.
"You have a way with the ladies, Henry."
For his part, Henry's shoulders rose and dropped in a shallow shrug, but the grin on his face irritated her.
5
Henry listened as Everleigh and the sheriff discussed what, from his point of view, he wanted to see happen with the negotiations. Everleigh listened intently, asked pointed questions and wrote things down.
His phone alerted him to a text. Zander Zamora's name appeared and his stomach flopped. He hadn't slept last night thinking about this situation. He stood and glanced at Everleigh first, then the sheriff.
"I have to make a couple of calls. I'll be back soon."
Quickly exiting the building, he jumped in his truck and dialed his mom's phone.
"Hi, honey, how are you?"
"I'm good. How are you and dad doing?"
"We're good. What's going on?"
He settled into his truck seat and put his phone on speaker. "So, a couple of days ago, I looked at a farm here in Glen Hollow. It's run-down. The old man who owns it hasn't been able to keep it up over the past few years. He hasn't had animals for fifteen years or so. His memory has faded."
"Oh, Henry, how wonderful."
"Well, yes and no. I spoke with the realtor, Zander Zamora, and he's pulling a fast one here. He called me yesterday and told me my verbal offer had been accepted. But, I didn't make a verbal offer."
"Oh. Interesting."
"Right. Now he wants me to come in and sign papers."
He heard the rustling of paper before his mom said anything. "So, here's the thing. Tell me what your terms are and I'll write up the offer. That way we know he isn't pulling something shady."
