After leaving the sheriff’s office, James drove aimlessly around town for a while. He knew he should quit right now before he made things any worse. What had he hoped to accomplish with all this, anyway? Was he so arrogant that he thought he could pick up where his father had left off on the case and solve it just like that?
So far all he’d done was stir up a wasp’s nest that was more than likely going to get him stung. If he hadn’t left Melody in his trailer, if she hadn’t rented it, if the renters hadn’t blown it up, if he’d gone to a motel and never gone to his father’s office...
He reminded himself that getting involved with Melody was all on him. He thought of one of his father’s lectures he and his brothers had been forced to endure growing up.
Life is about consequences, Del would say. Whatever you do, there will be a repercussion. It’s the law of nature. Cause and effect.
What are you trying to say? one of his brothers would demand, usually himself most likely. ’Cause the effect I’m getting is a headache.
His father would give him a reprimand before adding, Don’t blame someone else when things go wrong because of something stupid you did. Take responsibility and move on. It’s called growing up.
He and his brothers had made fun of that particular lecture, but it had never seemed more appropriate than right now.
His stomach growled. He looked at the time. Two in the afternoon. He hadn’t had breakfast or lunch. He drove downtown. There was a spot in front of the sandwich shop. He took that as a sign.
“Tell me you aren’t going to make a habit of this,” Lori said when he walked in, but she smiled when she said it.
He smiled back at her. Distractedly he studied the chalkboard. The special today was a turkey club. He shifted his gaze to her. “I’ll take the special and an iced tea.”
“Do you want that on white, wheat or rye?”
“White.” He hadn’t been that distracted that he hadn’t noticed her. Today she was dressed in a coral blouse and black slacks. The blouse was V-necked exposing some of the freckled skin of her throat and a small silver heart-shaped locket that played peekaboo when she moved. Her hair was pulled up again, making him wonder if it would fall past her shoulders if he let it down. “With mayo.”
“It will be just a few minutes,” she said, straightening her blouse collar self-consciously before hurrying into the back.
He took his usual seat. His leg was better today but his ribs still hurt. He kept thinking about his father’s case, wishing he hadn’t opened up this can of worms. Now that he had, what choice did he have?
Which meant he would have to talk to Karen Wilkins. Her stepdaughter wouldn’t like it. Of that, he was certain. He just hoped that neither was involved. He liked Lorelei. He always had. Her stepmother owned a workout studio in town. Widowed, Karen was active in the community and had been as long as James could remember. He used to think “stepmother like stepdaughter.” So why did Del have Karen on his list?
Deep in thought, he started when Lorelei set down the plate with his sandwich in front of him. She gently placed the glass of iced tea, giving him a worried look.
“You all right?” she asked. “You seem a little skittish.”
He smiled at that. “I’ve been better.”
“Is it true?”
“That’s a wide-open question if I’ve ever heard one.”
“Are you really applying for a private investigator’s license?”
He chuckled. Thanks to the sheriff, he was. Probably also thanks to the sheriff everyone in town now knew. “Yep. How do you feel about that?”
She seemed surprised by the question. “It has nothing to do with me.”
He nodded, hoping it was true. “Still, you seemed to have an opinion yesterday.”
Lori looked away for a moment, licked her lips with the quick dart of her tongue, and said, “I was going to apologize for that.”
“Really?” he said as he picked up his sandwich and took a bite. He chewed and swallowed before he said, “And I thought you were going to apologize for trying to kill me with that sandwich you made me yesterday.”
Her cheeks flushed. “You didn’t have to eat it,” she said defensively.
He held her gaze. “Yes, I did.”
The bell over the front door jangled. She looked almost relieved as she went to help the couple that came in.