Ridiculous, I know.
I’d told myself I kept it out where I could see it because it was the only picture I had of Bobbie Jo and I together. But in it, I’d gazed up at Cowboy with wide, admiring eyes and a full-on smile, while he looked straight ahead, unaware of the pitiful, lonely girl at his side. God, I’m pathetic. The arm slung over my shoulders in the photo had meant nothing to him.
Forcing out a deep breath, I slouched against the shelves and shook my head. So what if I felt foolish. Maybe I was a fool. After all, what woman in her right mind would still get butterflies in her stomach from just being near a man she’d had a crush on ten years earlier? Especially when the same man all but accused her of arson.
I sighed. Me, that’s who.
“Do I have bad breath or something?”
I jumped, flailing my arms, then clutched my heaving chest. I wheeled around to see Cowboy leaning lazily against the shelf as he eyed me curiously. “Good Lord. Don’t scare me like that!”
A triumphant grin played on his lips as he stepped closer. In an evasive maneuver, I tried to hurry past him, hoping to escape with my dignity somewhat intact, but he stepped in my path. “Anna, wait. I just want to talk to you for a minute.”
I stopped, but refused to look him in the eye. “What do you want?”
“Well, to start off, I’d like to know what I did to deserve the cold shoulder from you. If I upset you by calling you Sparky last night—”
“No,” I said, glancing down at my feet. “It has nothing to do with that.”
It wasn’t like Cowboy even knew the significance behind the camp nickname the other counselors had teased me with. He hadn’t been there to witness my freak-out the night of the bonfire. Thank goodness.
Instead, he’d been sucking face with Kelly Deter in the woods. With both hands up her skirt, according to her testimony the next day. Bobbie Jo hadn’t been at the bonfire, either. Probably because she’d been doing the same thing with Jake.
“If I offended you last night by asking you to come down to the station…”
I shook my head. “I wasn’t offended. I just found the whole thing unnecessary. I didn’t start the fire.”
“Never said you did.”
“No, but you insinuated I could have, which was close enough. I have no idea why you’d even think that, anyway. Do I look like the kind of person who goes around starting fires?”
He held up his hand, showing me the book on household fire accelerants. “You knew exactly where this book was located. The exact location.”
“It’s my job to—”
“I also remembered where else I’ve seen you,” he interrupted, crossing his arms. “Last week, you were at the big brush fire we had out on County Road 320.”
I sighed. I hadn’t realized he’d spotted me. “I was driving past when I saw the smoke. I hardly think that’s a crime, though. Lots of other people were stopping to take a look as well.”
“Yeah, but you’re the only one who climbed on the hood of her car with a pair of binoculars. Let’s just say you stood out in the crowd.”
I mentally cringed, but kept my face even. “So what? I was just curious. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, add all of those things in with you dodging my questions and refusing to come down to the station, only to have me find you at the cemetery visiting a grave of a man you supposedly didn’t know—one who happened to be my chief—and I think you can see why anyone would be a little suspicious.”
“I didn’t know him!” I whispered loudly.
He shrugged. “Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. But since you’re avoiding my questions, it’s not like I would know that, now would I?”
My eyes narrowed. “Fine. You want to ask me something? Then do it.”
“Anything?”
I couldn’t stop the irritation from leaching into my voice. “Yes, anything.”
Cowboy didn’t hesitate. “Why would you visit a dead man you don’t know?” He lifted a brow, waiting for my answer.
My heart pounded furiously against my rib cage, as if it were sounding an alarm to alert my brain to Cowboy’s underlying motive. He was obviously trying to make a connection between me and the chief. As suspicious as he already was, I’d be an idiot to give him any ammunition to use against me.
But I had said I would answer, and if anything, I was a woman of my word. Here goes nothing. “I—”
A loud siren suddenly pierced the air, rendering me silent. It was coming from the black pager on his belt loop. Thank heavens. His cell phone chirped three times in a row, and Cowboy glanced at the information on the screen. He cursed under his breath and handed me the book he held. “There’s a bad accident out on the highway. We’ll finish our conversation later.”
He turned and, not looking back, hurried for the exit. As I watched him disappear from sight, only one thought entered my mind.
God, I hoped not.
Chapter Four
“Thanks again for inviting me to the chili cook-off,” I said as I climbed into the passenger seat of Bobbie Jo’s tan Ford truck.
“No problem. I thought it would be nice for the new girl in town to meet some of the other locals.” She pulled out of the driveway and cruised down the dark narrow back roads, lined with thick red oaks and barbed wire fences.
Coming from the opposite direction, a car’s headlights shined directly into the truck’s cab. I glanced into the empty backseat and frowned. “You didn’t bring Austin with you?”
“No, I was afraid the noise and lights might be too much for him, so my mom is keeping an eye on him. When I get back, I’m sure he’ll be sleeping soundly in her arms. She hardly ever puts him down. Spoils him rotten.”
“That’s sweet she helps you with him.”
Bobbie Jo nodded. “I don’t know what I’d do without her. I mean, I guess I’d figure it out, but I’m glad I don’t have to. If only Jeremy would…”
“Jeremy would what? Come around more, share the responsibilities, support his child, or maybe grow up and be a man?”
She grinned. “All of the above.”
Up ahead, the bustling fairgrounds came into view and my eyes widened. Bright and colorful carnival lights flashed as swarms of people milled around beneath them. Bobbie Jo slowed the truck to turn left into the parking area where a man wearing a fluorescent orange vest directed traffic with a yellow cone-shaped wand. With a sly wink, he waved us straight ahead where there was a closer parking space. Bobbie Jo gave him a friendly smile.
Being raised in the anonymity of larger cities, I found it fascinating that the people recognized and knew each other so well in this close-knit town. From my understanding, most had lived their whole lives there, growing up together, then raising their families alongside one another. As new residents moved in, they were taken under the locals’ wings and treated as one of their own.
I should know. I’d only been the librarian for two weeks, and I’d already been brought more home-baked goods than I could stand to eat. All the older women had formed their own unofficial welcoming party. Such a lovely gesture of the inherent kindness and goodness of the people in Liberty County.
Too bad I’d have to leave it behind in a few months.
Bobbie Jo maneuvered her pickup into a tight space where we both had to squeeze out just to ensure we didn’t hit the truck doors on the vehicles on either side. We met at the tailgate. “Not much room to park,” she said with a laugh. “These things are always so packed.”
“You were lucky your secret admirer over there reserved you a closer spot,” I said, motioning to the guy directing the traffic.
“Fred? Nah, he’s just a friend from school.” She wrinkled her nose. “I can’t bring myself to date a guy I grew up with. It’d be like dating my cousin or something. Gross.”