“NOAH!” ALMA SAID. “You have to do something.”
Too late to hide, Noah thought ruefully, and strode over to Alma. “Afternoon, Alma. What do I have to do something about? I’m not even on duty right now.”
“Ha! You’re the county sheriff, you’re always on duty. Besides, you know young Terry’s still wet behind the ears. This woman would chew him into little pieces.”
The idea of anyone chewing his six-foot-three-inch, two hundred twenty pounds of muscled deputy into little pieces made Noah smile.
“What woman, Alma?”
“The one over in my café. She’s been hanging around Darwin Crossing for two days now. She doesn’t belong here.” Alma’s seamed face creased even further.
“Where does she belong, Alma?”
The older woman sniffed. “City woman. Now I ask you, what business could she possibly have here in Darwin Crossing? As the sheriff, you should talk to her. Find out what she’s up to.”
He tried to keep amusement out of his voice as he tipped back the brim of his Stetson and tilted his head.
“You mean you haven’t pumped her for in-formation already?” There was no better source of information in town than Alma Underwood. The woman lived for gossip.
“Hmph. Not that one. You can’t pump her with a twelve-gauge. She’s real cool-like. Cuts you dead with a look. Good lookin’ broad, I’ll give her that, but only if you like the snooty type. She comes into my place and just sits there watching.”
“Sitting’s not illegal, Alma. Neither is watching. And you do own the only café in town.”
The older woman scowled. “She doesn’t come there to eat. She orders perfectly good food and then sits there playing with it while she looks out the window or scribbles away on this pad she carries.”
Alma took her food seriously. Noah kept his grin hidden and glanced over at his pickup to be sure it wasn’t blocking anyone.
“I guess city women are picky eaters, but I’m afraid that isn’t illegal either.”
Alma set her jaw and eyed him from beneath thick round glasses. “Okay, I didn’t want to say this right out, Noah, but if you’re gonna take that attitude, now I will. She seems to be watchin’ your Lauren.”
“What?”
Amusement vanished at the mention of his daughter’s name. Noah came away from the fender of her SUV. Tension took a two-fisted grip on the base of his stomach.
“Thought that might get your attention.”
From the day Beth and he had adopted Lauren, he’d always secretly feared that one day Lauren’s birth mother would come and try to take their little girl away.
“Are you sure about this, Alma?”
“’Course I’m sure.”
Who would be watching his daughter?
“A woman,” he said almost to himself. The adoption had been perfectly legal and nearly twenty years ago. Still, Beth’s death had strengthened the fear. What if Lauren’s biological parents learned that Beth was dead? What if they decided they’d made a terrible mistake? He’d never understood how anyone could give up a precious baby like Lauren in the first place. His fear had not abated after Beth’s funeral. It even played a small role in his moving out here in the middle of nowhere after he found himself a widower. Strangers were always noticed here in Darwin Crossing.
“’Course she’s a woman, didn’t I say as much?”
“Who is she?” he demanded.
“That’s what you need to find out.”