by Lexi Blake
When he’d decided to have this conversation over lunch, he’d thought he could use it to get to know her in a low-key setting. He hadn’t realized they would be the center of attention.
Damn town.
She shook her head and folded her menu, shoving it back in the holder. She’d ordered a salad and taken off the cheese and eggs and then put them back on. Twice. He still wasn’t sure which salad would show up, and he wasn’t sure Dixie knew, either.
“I can’t take that much time,” Lila explained. “I actually have a couple of patients this afternoon. Apparently they called while I was in with Noelle. I’m doing physicals and drug testing for an oil company on a couple of new hires. It’s very exciting. Is it wrong that I’m kind of hoping I find something horribly wrong with one of them? Not like cancer. That would be terrible. But something curable would be nice.”
She was odd. He wished that made her less attractive to him. And then there was the fact that when Noelle had come out of her checkup, she’d had the biggest grin on her face. He glanced over at her. His daughter was sitting at a table with Beth Burns, her best friend. They were leaning in and giggling while waiting for lunch to be delivered.
She’d been tense lately, as though something was bothering her, and Lila seemed to have set her mind at ease.
He hated that he was about to shake Lila’s calm. “It’s hard when things are slow. It can be difficult to get used to the pace of life around here. I know it was for me when I came back. It still is sometimes. I often pray for tourists to get lost and fly through town so I can at least say I wrote a ticket that day.”
She stared at him. “Yes, you do that a lot.”
She was cute when she got mad. Not that he wanted to make her really mad. He got the feeling she could be mean. He should get her to forget the ticket. “So I mentioned I went out to visit Carrie Petrie.”
“And?” She said the word with the expectation of someone who wasn’t sure she would like what he had to say.
“Something’s going on with that family. Carrie’s hiding something,” he admitted. “I don’t know what it is, but she was nervous about me being out there. Normally I would chalk it up to nothing more than not enjoying surprise visitors. People who love being social don’t typically isolate themselves on an island.”
“Did you know her before she got married?”
“Vaguely, and I know what your next question is going to be. No. She wasn’t like this when she lived in town. She’s quite a bit younger than me. I know what I know from the few times I met her before she married Bobby. I know him, though. I know I was surprised he married a woman so much younger than him.”
“Has he been married before?”
“Yes,” he replied. “He married a woman he met when he was working a job in Biloxi. He’s got some relatives who run a fishing charter business there. He used to spend his summers helping out before he graduated and he and his brother took over the shrimping business from their father. Susie moved here, but it didn’t work out. She divorced him after a few years and moved away.”
“Why?”
“The divorce decree merely cited irreconcilable differences. That’s all I know. There’s nothing else official. When I got back from the visit, Roxie and I looked through old records and couldn’t find anything beyond a couple of traffic tickets and some complaints about Bobby’s boat waking people up at odd hours of the morning, but that’s how the family gets around. I know it might sound weird to be on a boat at three in the morning, but shrimp don’t catch themselves.”
Lila leaned in. “How did she react to you showing up?”
“Her mother-in-law certainly wasn’t happy to see us, but that’s not unusual. Lorna comes into town as little as possible. I think she sees herself as the queen of that particular kingdom.”
“If she’s the queen, is Carrie a princess or her servant? They’re the only two women out there? You mentioned a brother.”
“Yeah. Bobby’s got a brother but he’s never been married. Carrie didn’t handle it well when I asked her if everything was okay. I’m afraid I might have made things worse since she immediately realized you were the reason I was out there.”
“There’s nothing else you could do,” Lila said. “I was the reason you were out there. I wish you could have caught her alone, but I understand. She was angry with me?”
“She said she would find another doctor to help her next time.”
“And her mother-in-law was there?”
“No, I had Roxie distract Lorna, but I didn’t have long,” he explained. “Her words didn’t match her initial reactions, in my mind. My gut tells me you’re right and something is going on out there.”
“But you can’t do anything without proof.” She sat back with a long sigh. “I know how this game is played, Sheriff, and you’re the one in a bad position. Carrie is very likely going to take the brunt of it, but we can’t force her to talk to us. It’ll be worse now. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, but I’ve seen what happens.”
He hated that he couldn’t give her more. “I’m sorry if I made things tougher for you.”
“I hate the thought of her not getting the medical attention she needs, but honestly, even if she did everything right, she could still end up getting hurt.” She glanced out at the street, seemingly lost in thought.
He wanted to get her mind on something better, but he had one more thing to get out of the way. Perhaps if he apologized, they could talk about more than all the ways he’d screwed up. “I’m sorry Miranda confronted you like that. I went out with her on a few dates. Nothing serious.”
Her eyes were back on him and there was no question she was curious. “Before the accident?”
“Yes.” He didn’t want to talk about that time, but she should know since she was dealing with his past. Not that he’d really known his past was a problem.
“I got that feeling. She seems to think that once Noelle is out of the house, you’ll resume your previous affair.”
“It wasn’t an affair.” He knew he didn’t owe her an explanation and she hadn’t seemed angry about the incident. He was discovering that not much got to her. Still, he found himself nearly falling over trying to explain. “It was a couple of dates. Three, maybe. It never got past a single good-night kiss. I knew there wasn’t anything between us. It was . . . boredom, maybe. I was restless when I first got here. I never intended for it to become a relationship.”
“But you never had that discussion with her? Because she did not sound like a woman who’d been dumped.”
“I was going to talk to her,” he explained. “It’s sad, but I planned that conversation with far more care than I ever planned a date with her. But then Noelle was in the accident and the problem pretty much faded away.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “I don’t understand. Your daughter was in a horrible accident. Where was Miranda?”
“She backed off.” He’d been relieved. The last thing he’d needed was to have to deal with the situation in the middle of all that chaos. She’d stopped calling and given him some space. It was only in the last couple of weeks she’d started being overly friendly again. Now that he really thought about it, he could see Roxie was right. Miranda had been slowly but surely trying to work her way back into his life. “She knew I needed to concentrate on Noelle.”
Lila shook her head. “You lucked out, Armie. You understand that if she cared about you she shouldn’t have backed off. On the romance stuff, of course. But you needed help. You needed support.”
The passion behind her words warmed him. She seemed ready to do battle with a woman she’d barely met. It was sweet and reinforced some of the things he’d learned about her. She was prickly, but not the kind of woman who folded when times got tough.
“I had support,” he said, wanting to reach out and hold her hand. “My dad had passed by then, but my mom rallied in th
ose early days after the accident. So much of it’s a blur. I had to deal with the fact that my ex-wife died. She didn’t have any family left. I made arrangements for the funeral and handled her house in New Orleans. And there was Noelle. My mom was a rock. I swear she lived to see my baby get better. It’s weird to think about it now because those were terrible days.”
She was the one who reached out, covering his hand with her own. “And they were precious, too.”
Damn. He needed a moment because no one else had understood that. It had been days of mourning and pain, days when he wasn’t sure his daughter would live. And yet his momma had been right there. She’d gotten out of her bed, thrown aside her own grief, and supported him. He’d been certain he would lose her shortly after he’d lost his dad, but she’d lived months beyond the doctors’ estimates, and he knew it was all because she couldn’t leave him alone like that. Only when she was sure her son and grandchild were okay had she rested and joined the love of her life.
He thought his mom would like Lila Daley.
“Why did you come home? Was it your mom?” Lila asked. “You were a detective in New Orleans. It can be hard to leave that kind of adrenaline behind for some people.”
He could imagine it was hard for her. The trauma department she’d worked in was legendary for the work it did. “Yes. My parents’ health declined to the point that they needed assistance. It just so happened that the man who’d held the office for twenty-seven years was retiring. I’d gotten divorced the year before. I didn’t want to be apart from Noelle, but I couldn’t leave my parents alone, either. Papillon is only a couple of hours away from New Orleans, so I moved back and took the job.”
“I can understand that. Not about the parents, though. I never met my father and my mom and I are just beginning to find our way. She wasn’t a good mom. She liked drugs more than she loved any of us. But I would do anything for my siblings. Anything.”
“I figured you picked this place because you wanted to be close to Lisa.” The sisters were awfully different from one another, but it was easy to see they were close.
She shrugged as her hand played with her coffee mug. “Will and Laurel have each other. They also have a big group of friends. I was on the outside of that. It’s my fault I am, but it’s still true. I thought maybe Lisa would need me. I was probably wrong about that. She’s well on her way to finding her own big group of friends and family. I don’t do that well.”
But she wanted to belong somewhere. It was there in the bittersweet tone of her voice, in the wistful way she looked at the families who walked in the door. “I think you’ll find it easier to fit in here than you think. It just takes a little time. Getting that contract from the oil company is a great start. We have a lot of oil rig families who live here. If you take care of the husbands, the wives and kids will follow.”
“Well, it’s not like the company has a lot of choices unless they want to bring in their own. It’s not a big deal. I’m only doing the checkups for their new hires out here, but they pay well.” There was the self-satisfied look of a business owner who knew she’d made the right choice. “That contract alone will help us stay afloat. So how are you going to handle the Mirandas of this town?”
They were back to that? “I can talk to her.”
It would be terribly uncomfortable, but he didn’t like the idea that Miranda had confronted Lila. He definitely didn’t like the idea that she could hurt Lila’s business.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lila proclaimed. “Any way you go you lose. If you’re too soft with her, she thinks there’s still a chance. If you’re too hard, you’re an asshole. It’s the classic rock and a hard place. Do you want to let her know you’re not interested?”
“Yes.”
“Are you really interested in me or are you restless again, Armie?” The question came out of her mouth like pure temptation.
Maybe he should play it cool, but there was nothing cool about the way he felt. “I’m madly interested in you.”
She moved, her torso coming up over the table and her face leaning toward his. “Then make a statement. I suspect this place is a gossip hub. They heard the rumor that you spent the night last night, but some people won’t believe you’re interested in the new girl until you show them.”
So show them. The challenge was clear in her eyes. Gorgeous eyes and lips he could kiss for days. His daughter was here, and apparently Noelle had been his shield against several women showing their interest. Kissing Lila with Noelle in attendance would make a statement.
It was one he wanted to make. He pushed his body up and leaned over, meeting those lips of hers with his own. The kiss was swift, but his body lit up the minute they touched.
It felt good to be alive sometimes. He’d forgotten that in the last few years. His world had revolved around responsibility and sacrifice. It felt damn good to want something for himself.
“Dad, eww. Get a room.”
He glanced over and Noelle was grinning his way.
Lila sat back down. “That should do it. I won’t be getting Miranda’s cookies anytime soon.”
Suddenly the idea that everyone was looking at them wasn’t so bad. They were looking at him because he had the prettiest lady in the diner. “That’s a shame, actually. She makes delicious lemon meltaways.”
Her mouth twisted into the most sweetly cranky expression. “They were chocolate chip.”
A little gasp drew his attention and Dixie was standing there. She put his burger and fries in front of him. Dixie seemed to get herself under control as she placed Lila’s salad on the table. “Well, chocolate chip cookies are nice. Sorry. I couldn’t remember if you wanted the eggs and cheddar or not, so I put them on the side. I can take them away if they’re offensive.”
Lila huffed, an irritated sound. “I know her chocolate chip cookies are an insult. I don’t understand why y’all think food can be used as an insult or be offensive.” She took the small bowl of grated egg and cheese and dumped it on top of the salad. “And you forgot the bacon I wasn’t sure I wanted until now.”
Prickly. She was prickly, and he wished that didn’t do something for him.
“Then I will get that for you because I believe in customer service and I am polite.” She turned on her sneakers and strode away.
He was going to have to deal with that prickliness or she was going to be in trouble. “Just a tip—politeness goes a long way around here.”
Her eyes narrowed as she turned back his way. “You’re not always polite.”
He wasn’t. He could be irritable, especially when he was working. “They expect a certain degree of surliness from me.”
“I know Remy can be short with people,” she pointed out. “I’ve heard him argue with local vendors, and no one tells him to smile more.”
He hadn’t actually told her to smile more, but he let that go. “Again, people are used to Remy.”
“And I’ve met several men who were downright rude,” she pointed out.
How did he explain this? “You have to work with the public. It’s different.”
She nodded and he worried he’d fallen into a trap. “Different for a man.”
That wasn’t at all what he meant. “If there was a new male professional taking over the clinic, I would say the same thing.”
But would he? If a new man had come into town, every woman in the county would stop by to either meet his wife and kids or size the new guy up as a potential partner. Had anyone welcomed Lila?
“Sure you would,” she said.
He was on a slippery slope, and he wasn’t sure how to stop from falling. “I was only saying Dixie is very popular in town. It wouldn’t hurt for you to be a little softer around her.”
A sound that was something like a laugh but held no amusement huffed from Lila. “Because she was nice to me? She wasn’t. And let me tell you, the women might be pol
ite, but they’re not nice. There’s a difference. They say one thing and mean another. And how am I not polite? I say please and thank you. I didn’t just then, but she was being passive-aggressive. I’ve been told that’s not a good way to be. I should know because I was that way for years, so I know it when I see it. I have zero fucks to give, Armie. They’re all gone. Those fucks I was born with should have lasted a lifetime, but I used them all up and the fuck tank is empty.”
Everyone was staring again. Noelle’s friend looked like she’d never heard those words before. Of course, Noelle was grinning broadly, like this was the best show she’d ever seen. His daughter had a perverse sense of humor.
A hum was going through the diner, and he knew the gossip mill was at work again.
“Could you keep your voice down? Everyone is listening, and some of them are not used to that language.”
She glanced over and her face flushed. Maybe she still had a few fucks to give. “I’m sorry. I’ll watch my language.”
He leaned over, his voice going low. “I was only trying to point out that you’re attempting to fit in.”
“I’m not trying to fit in,” she replied. “I’m trying to build a life. That doesn’t mean I have to make friends. I might be too old for this, Armie. I don’t think I can be the good girl you apparently need.”
“I didn’t say that. And you’re not old.” Things were starting to spiral out of control. He should have put it better, been more smooth. “You’re younger than I am.”
“I might not be old in years, but I assure you I feel it. If you need a polite woman who says all the right things and lets her rage simmer under the surface, only coming out in the form of insulting baked goods, go back to the Mirandas of this world. I’m not going to be that woman. I think you’re restless again and I’m the new girl in town.”
He couldn’t help but frown her way because now she was getting under his skin, and not in a good way. “You’re making assumptions.”
