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Here went nothing. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I was out of line during darts.” How I managed to not gag on the words was a mystery to me.
“For last night. That’s what you’re sorry about.” Her voice was as flat as her expression.
“Absolutely. I never should’ve said what I did. And you had your vengeance with Deputy Meier this morning. I appreciate a good tit for tat.”
She frowned. At least that was a reaction. “No clue what you’re talking about.”
“Sure. Regardless, I’m here on business. Nothing else. I’d like a few moments of your time, and if you’re busy now, tell me when to come back. I have an offer—”
Evie spun the post digger in her hands like it was a lightweight baton, and it swiped inches from my leg. The tip struck the concrete floor near my feet with a loud clang. “Let me make this clear,” she said. “Pay attention this time. There will never be a good time. I didn’t ask Rohde to pull you over this morning, but if you come back, I can make sure you and he become best of friends. Maybe you can turn him bi with the sexy charms you seem to think you have, and then you can fuck him too.”
A uniformed man had never done much for me. “So you do think I’m sexy.”
Evie narrowed her eyes and scraped the tip of her digger closer to my shoes. “Get out, Mr. Rawlings.”
I wouldn’t drive her to shout this time. Instead I gave her a bow and walked out. I’d give her time to cool down and come back tomorrow morning.
It felt silly to drive across the street to get wings for lunch, so I left my car while I walked to Joystick’s. The food wasn’t nearly as good as the night before, mostly because they gave me the wrong flavor the first time, and not nearly enough sauce when I complained. When I came back to my Z24, there was a warning ticket on the windshield, for safety. It said get your tires checked.
Was this going to be an ongoing issue? I couldn’t wait.
The next morning I decided to drive one town over for coffee and breakfast. As I pulled back into Haddarville, the flashing blue and red lights appeared in my rear-view mirror.
The cop who pulled me over wasn’t Rohde, and he ticketed me for having a taillight out.
The girl working the counter at Evie’s was new to me, and she refused to give me any information. She also told me if I took one more step into the store, she’d scream and call the police.
Apparently, they had my number anyway, because another cop pulled me over on the way back to my motel for going twenty-seven in a twenty-five.
Fuck this. I was walking everywhere in this town, the rest of the week.
Thursday morning, I wasn’t surprised that my coffee order was wrong—every restaurant order I’d placed for the last two days had been. I held the barista’s gaze as I downed half of the too-hot, too-sweet drink in a single swallow.
I was cock-blocked at Evie’s again.
I needed a different approach. Maybe going back to my room and slamming my head against the wall would work better. Then again, I’d probably get a ticket when the neighbors complained about the noise.
Sinking into self-pity wasn’t the answer. Giving up was never the answer.
When I’d gone back to work at the family agency, it didn’t take long to remember how competitive things were there. It was the reason my husband had asked me to leave originally.
I’d fallen back into the routine because it was better than staying locked inside my own head. The longer I worked there, the more I remembered why business came first. About six months ago, something happened between Dad and Hudson. Neither of them gave me details, but it was enough that Hudson stepped back in his role, and Dad talked a lot more about me taking over the business when he retired.
I felt a little stupid being closer to fifty than forty-five and just barely pushing for control of the family company, but better late than never. At least this was a chance to rebuild my life. Remember how to not give a fuck. Cement my place in the world.
Because one thing I’d learned from my husband’s passing was that giving up wasn’t an option. He had, and it cost me everything that mattered.
If I couldn’t get Evie to talk to me, I’d go through one of her friends. The tattooed blonde who ran the clothing store was my first stop.
I had a foot in the front door when she kicked me out.
Adam had seemed nice, and on Monday night he mentioned he worked at the antique store. When I got there, Adam wasn’t in. Deacon, the owner, made it clear I wasn’t welcome.
Sebastian ran a new age tea shop. He sounded like a chill guy.
Nope. He gave me the cold shoulder too.
Fuck it. I’d start at one end of Main Street and walk up and down, going into every shop, until someone was friendly and willing to ask Evie to talk to me. But in the spirit of slamming my head against the wall, I was in front of her place again, I might as well give it one more shot.
