| |
She’d talked to Mel instead of Margo that morning. Mel wasn’t exactly a counselor, but she had seemed to seek Bailey out after Bailey had been shot. She’d understood, the other woman had said.
And she appreciated Mel’s no-nonsense approach to everything. Has Mel still be on the job when Bailey had worked at the Finley Creek branch, she had no doubt she would have liked her.
She liked all of Kevin Beck’s daughters.
What she didn’t really like were the big gabfest sessions where they sat in a circle and talked about what had happened lately.
She didn’t need a support group—she just needed someone besides Bert and Jake to talk to about things that were bothering her.
Mel was good for that.
Except for today. The first thing she had asked had been about Clay. No surprise, considering he was her cousin by marriage.
Bailey had resisted the urge to growl. Since they’d had that first meeting with Elliot Marshall, Clay had been avoiding her. Not just in the physical sense, though he’d done that when he could, too. It was more an emotional distance—unlike even the one that had been between them before.
He hadn’t wanted to say what he had. She had no difficulty understanding that.
So Bailey was finding other ways to use her work hours without getting in his way.
She didn’t need to be distracting him again, after all.
Mel was waiting for her answer. “I haven’t seen him much lately. We’ve both been busy, but the sheriff seems...fine.”
“Yeah. Sure, he does. And I’m not asking how your boss is, Bai, but how is Clay? The guy you find attractive, the man so hot for you I’m surprised he hasn’t gone all Barratt on you and dragged you down to a Mexican beach somewhere.”
Bailey felt the heat flood her cheeks at that.
One thing about Mel Barratt, the woman could be very, very blunt. “It’s not like that between us.”
Mel literally rolled her eyes. “Of course, it’s not. Yet. Do you want it to be?”
She started to say a resounding no. But the word backed up in her throat. Finally, she pulled in a breath and then shook her head. “I have no clue. I’ve never even considered it.”
Even when she’d been a green newbie first assigned to the Value TSP, she hadn’t let herself think about it.
Yes, she’d been attracted to him. It had been hard not to be. Back then.
Now she wasn’t so sure she ever had known what she felt back then. Or even now.
“The man is the most confusing man I have ever met.”
“It’s in the Barratt blood—that’s for sure. I spent months all tied up in knots after Houghton...”
“I just want to do my job, Mel. That’s all. And Clay...he’s making that more difficult then I want to think about. I’m seriously considering transferring to forensics at Finley Creek. I have an offer—an open-ended one—from Elliot Marshall.”
“Then you’re good at what you do. Or Elliot wouldn’t have offered. The man’s extra picky with his staff choices. What happens if you take the offer?”
“I have more of a commute. But I’m not in the center of Value now with the Dillons anyway. I’m away from Clay and the problems he presents. There’s more room for advancement if I work at Finley Creek than if I stay at Value. I don’t want the sheriff’s position—but I don’t want to be a deputy forever. And I enjoy the forensics side of things. I like the people at the lab and I’m familiar with it. I respect the man in charge, and Haldyn is a friend, of sorts. It’s a totally different atmosphere at Finley Creek. One I do like.”
“And if you stay?” Mel leaned forward a bit. “What are the benefits of staying right where you are?”
Bailey couldn’t answer that. Not yet. “I don’t know. What I do know is that I have a meeting with your father in twenty minutes regarding old missing persons cases from twenty years ago. And I don’t want to be late.”