“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Russ dragged a hand through his hair.
“Lani.” Gage’s tone said gotcha. He rested his hands on his hips. “And before you risk your detective shield by asking why I would say that, I’ll just give you the facts.”
“Please do.” Russ folded his arms over his chest and waited.
“If Anderson was here to report stolen cattle or inform us that a crime was committed, you would have happily shared that information. But he’s Lani’s brother, so the logical conclusion is that he came to confront you about your relationship with his sister.” Gage stopped and made a great show of examining Russ’s face.
“What?”
“I was just wondering where the black eye is. The fat lip.”
“And why would that be?”
“Because you courted his sister, and now you’re running out on her.”
Russ opened his mouth to dispute that assessment then realized there was a lot of truth in it. And it was pointless to ask how he knew all this. Rust Creek Falls had a gossip mill that was second to none.
“Let’s just say that Anderson is a very civilized man.”
“So you’re really not going to tell me what he said?”
“It’s classified.” Russ grinned at his friend’s obvious frustration. “Lissa will just have to find something else to blog about.”
“I thought we were friends,” Gage commented.
“We are.”
“Good. Then in the spirit of friendship I’m going to let you know that Lani is working tonight.” Gage met his gaze. “Go to the Ace in the Hole and buy your own damn beer.”
“Understood.”
Russ grabbed his leather jacket off the chair and headed out the door. It was always good when a friend’s advice coincided with your own plan of action.
Chapter Fifteen
“Hey, Lani, can I get a glass of wine for Kathy?”
“Sure thing, Wes. What’ll you have?”
“Beer.”
She opened a bottle of Chardonnay and poured some into a wineglass, got a longneck from the small refrigerator below the bar then set both on cocktail napkins in front of Wes Eggleston and his pretty brunette wife.
“Thanks,” they both said together.
“It’s nice to see you two in here. Where’s that adorable little girl of yours?”
“My mom is keeping Chloe overnight.” Kathy smiled at her husband. “This is date night.”
“Oh?”
“We went to counseling,” Wes explained.
Lani remembered talking to him about it just a few weeks ago, the day Russ had come in to ask for her help in solving the town mystery. Fortunately, things worked out better for this couple than they had for her.
“How did that go?” she asked. “Since you’re here I’m guessing it was positive?”
“It wasn’t as bad as I expected.” He glanced at his wife. “We have some things to work through. Make our relationship stronger.”
“And she suggested we make an effort to do something alone at least once or twice a month.” Kathy took a sip of wine. “And I have to say it’s working for me.”
“That’s great,” Lani said.
“I love my daughter so much,” she said, “but it sure is nice to have a break. Quiet time just for Wes and me.”
“I never knew she felt that way,” her husband said. He looked at the woman beside him with a lot of love in his eyes. “Communication is one of the things we’re going to work on. Sometimes that means just listening.”
“Makes sense,” Lani said. “I’m so glad for you guys. This is really wonderful.”
“Hey, Lani—”
She glanced over her shoulder and saw a cowboy at the far end of the bar, his arm around a tiny blonde. He was trying to get her attention. Holding up a hand, she signaled that she’d heard then said to the young couple, “Congrats. I’ll ring up your drinks when I get a few minutes. Gotta go.”
Annie had picked the wrong night to call in sick, Lani thought. The Ace in the Hole was always hopping on Fridays. The dinner rush had slowed but a lot of people were coming in for drinks. And by people she meant couples. They were smiling, laughing and cuddling. The PDAs going on were enough to make her wish they’d all get a room. Fate seemed determined to rub her nose in the fact that she was alone. She’d lost Russ. Although technically she’d never had him, which meant she couldn’t really lose him.
Her attitude sucked, but there was no way to take a timeout and adjust it. Sue me, she thought. It was hard to watch couples in love when the night before you’d had your heart handed back with a firm no-thank-you.
She grabbed two beers and handed them to the cowboy and his lady. He gave her a bill and told her to keep the change, so that’s what she did. Standing beside the cash register, she surveyed the bar. Almost every stool was taken, and she couldn’t see the tables in the main dining area. Just as well. It was probably full of more happy couples for her to envy.
A twosome right in front of her got up after leaving money with their bill. Before she could say boo, the empty stools were taken by her brothers.
“What do you want?” she said.
“Wow.” Anderson’s eyebrow rose. “If that’s the best you can do, your people skills could use some work.”
“My skills are just fine, thanks. I don’t have to be nice to you.”
“Says who?” Travis’s eyes twinkled. “I’m telling Rosey.”
“Seriously? You’d rat me out?”
“In a hot minute,” he said cheerfully. “What are brothers for?”
She put a hand on her hip. “Somewhere I read that brothers teach us you can love someone even though they irritate the crap out of you. Why are you here?”
Lani glanced at Anderson, and he nodded slightly, letting her know that Travis was aware of what happened between her and Russ. So this was a show of family support. It was all she could do not to cover her face and blubber like a baby. Along with so many other wonderful purposes, brothers were there to cheer you up when a man broke your heart.
“You guys are the best.” She pointed at each of them. “Don’t let that go to your heads, or I’ll deny I ever said such a thing.”
“My lips are sealed.” Travis gave her an evil grin. “Until the next time you get me in trouble with Mom. Then all bets are off.”
“We’ll see about that. It will go badly for you.” She dragged the side of her hand across her neck, the universal sign for cutting his own throat. “What can I get for you troublemakers?”
“Beer,” they said together.
“Okay.” Lani retrieved two from the fridge and noticed the supply was getting low. She made a mental note to restock as soon as business slowed down a bit. Twisting off the caps, she set the drinks down in front of her brothers. “Cheers.”
Travis took a sip. “Speaking of troublemakers... I had no idea you were really sweet on that detective.”
“I’ll get over it.” She knew this was his last night in town, and her heart was breaking.
Rosey chose that moment to join them. Of course she’d heard everything. “I knew there was something bothering you. If these two clueless cowpokes are here to cheer you up, it must be bad. What happened with you and Detective Dreamy?”
There were customers sitting to the right and left of her brothers, and people with drinks in hand filling the open area behind them. All of a sudden it got very quiet, as if everyone in the bar was waiting to hear her answer.
“Well,” she started, “things didn’t work out.”
“That tells me exactly nothing,” Rosey informed her. “It didn’t work out for you? Or was it him? It makes a difference who the not-working-out part came from.”
If there was a God in heaven, Lani thought, the
earth would open and swallow her now. She waited, but nothing happened, and her boss was looking as if she expected a response.
She leaned over and whispered, “You know, Rosey, I don’t really want to talk about this right now.”
“It’s all right, honey. This is the best time to get it out. No one is listening.”
“What’d you say, Rosey? I can’t hear you from back here.”
Lani couldn’t see who’d said it, but the voice was male. She gave her boss a “really?” look.
“Everyone cares about you, Lani.”
“She’s right about that,” Anderson chimed in.
Lani pressed her lips together and again fought the urge to cry. People being nice to her was both a blessing and curse. If they were mean, she could get mad. For a little while, anger would fill up the empty place inside her. But all this caring threatened to reduce her to a puddle of goo, and that wouldn’t be good, since she was trying to keep a low profile over this whole thing. And she knew if she started talking about it, she would cry.
“Please, Rosey, about Russ and me? Let’s just call it a draw.”
Russ wasn’t the bad guy. She wasn’t enough for him. She wasn’t the one he wanted enough to take a chance with. And her heart cracked a little more when she thought about him being alone.
“That means it was him,” Rosey said.
“No. It’s just one of those things,” Lani answered.
There was a murmur from the crowd, and Anderson glanced over his shoulder at someone. There was an odd expression on his face when he said, “Stop protecting him, Lani. He doesn’t deserve it.”
“It’s not about being deserving.” She stared at her brother, who’d gone all negative and intense, which wasn’t like Anderson at all. “A person is entitled to their feelings. You can’t force something that isn’t there.”
“You’re too good for Russ Campbell,” Anderson continued. “He’s a fool to let you get away. Someday he’ll regret his bonehead move.”
Lani blinked at him. Something was wrong. She knew he’d come to the bar during her shift in a show of family solidarity and support. But it wasn’t like him to trash-talk publicly like this. She glanced at Rosey, who was staring out into the crowd around the bar.
“You’re one of the most open-minded people I know. And a good judge of character. Will you please talk some sense into my brother?”
“Can’t,” her boss said.
“Why not?”
“He’s right. I never knew what you saw in that outsider anyway.”
“Right on,” someone said. “Didn’t trust him at all.”
“Travis? A little help.” Lani was hoping for backup.
“Don’t look at me. I can’t say Anderson is wrong. The sheriff hired him, but I was never all in on that.” Her brother shrugged.
“I can’t believe this,” she said.
“He’s a snoop and a spy.” That was Skip Webster, aka the sucker-punching weasel. “Asking questions. Insinuating a guy’s guilty when he’s not.”
Lani thought he had some nerve criticizing Russ. After all, he was the one who’d started the fight on the Fourth of July. That guy was the reason she’d gotten herself arrested in the first place. Part of her wanted to thank him because otherwise she wouldn’t have some wonderful memories of Russ. The other part wanted to call him out for being a hypocritical jerk. The other part won and she snapped.
“Stop it, all of you. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Did someone spike your drinks again? Because this isn’t the way Rust Creek Falls folks act. How ungrateful you are! The only thing he’s guilty of is trying to keep you all safe. And this is the thanks he gets.” She glared at everyone in general and Skip Webster in particular. “You could take a lesson from Russ Campbell, you Neanderthal twit. That man is good and kind. Loyal and upstanding. He deserves your thanks for putting his life on hold. And the only thing he wanted was to help this town. You should be ashamed of yourselves. God knows I’m ashamed of you.”
“And you’re in love with him,” Rosey said as if she’d known it all along.
The time for discretion had passed, Lani realized. She didn’t care who was there, who knew how she felt. She stared at her boss and said, “Yes. I’m in love with him. So there. Now the whole town knows, and I don’t give a flying fig.”
There was movement in the crowd near the bar, and everyone was whispering as they parted to let someone through. When she looked to see what was going on, Russ was standing in front of her.
“Hi, Lani.”
Her heart stuttered. “Russ... I didn’t see you there.”
Russ wanted to jump over the bar and pull her into his arms and never let her go. He’d almost been stupid enough to walk away from her, from the best thing that ever happened to him, without trying. Without telling her how he felt.
“I know you didn’t see me,” he said to her. “But Anderson did. That’s why he was dumping on me.”
“Anderson?” Her eyes went wide as she snapped a look at her brother.
“It’s true,” he admitted. “Rosey, too.”
“That’s right,” the older woman said.
Lani looked at first one then the other, clearly astonished that they would publicly put him down. “But why?”
Russ knew the answer to that one but let her brother respond.
“Even though you’re ticked off at him right now, I knew you’d defend him. Because you always do the right thing, no matter what. That’s just the way you roll.” Anderson looked at Russ, daring him not to blow this opportunity. “I thought you should know just how special my sister is.”
“I knew it before I walked in the door.” Russ nodded his thanks. “Someday I hope you meet a woman even half as remarkable.”
“I’m done looking.” Anderson’s vow was laced with the bitterness of his betrayal.
“I thought I was done, too.” Russ figured it was a waste of breath to try to change the other man’s mind. No one could have convinced him that he would ever meet a woman as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.
A woman he could count on.
Travis was watching the exchange with an expression that was equal parts amusement and confusion. “Well, chap my hide and slap me silly.”
“Maybe later.” Russ looked at Lani, hoping he could undo the damage he’d done. “Lani, we need to talk—”
She shook her head and backed away from the edge of the bar. “Rosey, I’m taking a break now.”
“Take as long as you need, honey,” her boss said. “I’ve got this.”
As an officer of the law, Russ couldn’t say that he always got his man, but he’d be damned if he was going to lose this woman. Lani quickly moved to the end of the bar and flipped back the top to make her escape. But Russ was waiting for her. Blocking her exit. She tried to pass but he didn’t move.
“Let me pass,” she ordered.
“Not until you hear me out.”
“You’ve already said more than I want to hear.” She tried to maneuver around him, but he sidestepped and checked her.
“It can’t be overstated that I admire your loyalty, but this stubborn streak of yours is kind of annoying.” But cute, he thought. As long as she used it for good, and by that he meant being on his side. Somehow he had to get her there.
“Isn’t it lucky that you’re leaving Rust Creek Falls and won’t have to deal with me any longer, Detective?”
“I’m not going anywhere until we clarify some things.” Now he was getting frustrated. And everyone in the crowded bar was watching and listening to what they were saying. Probably taking notes for the gossip column. It didn’t escape his notice that some of the spectators were pointing, whispering, and money was changing hands. If he didn’t miss his guess, they were betting on the outcome of this standoff.
What Russ had to say should be said in private, and he knew just the place. He reached for her hand and said, “Come with me.”
She pulled away. “I don’t think so.”
“Wrong answer.” Russ scooped her into his arms.
Lani made a surprised little sound, but he ignored her and turned toward the door. A man on a mission. It must have shown on his face because the customers standing around the bar with drinks in their hands parted like the Red Sea. He moved to the screen door and someone opened it for him. Russ appreciated that, since his arms were full of wiggly woman.
“Let me go,” she said angrily.
“No.”
“This is humiliating. Obviously, you haven’t finished making me a joke in this town, one that I can never live down.”
“This isn’t a joke to me. All I want is for you to listen to what I have to say.” He turned left and carried her down Sawmill Street, past the Rust Creek garage and gas station. “So I’m taking you somewhere you can’t run away.”
Apparently, she was getting a clue about what he had in mind because she asked, “Are you arresting me?”
“Yes.”
“What for?”
“Failure to yield.”
“Oh, please. Don’t pretend you’re not relieved that I turned you down.” Her tone dripped sarcasm even as her arms sneaked around his neck.
“If I was relieved, would I be carrying you through town?” Their faces were inches apart. “I mean this in the nicest possible way, Lani, but you’re not a feather.”
“Well, excuse me for not losing five pounds on the off chance that you were going to trump up charges and arrest me again. If I’m so heavy, just put me down.”
“Nope.”
Russ carried her to the door of the sheriff’s office, and Gage opened it. Thank God he was still there.
“Got a citizen’s tip from the Ace in the Hole,” he explained.
“Here’s another one for you,” Russ said. “Go home.”
“Understood.”
“Wait,” Lani said. “This is false arrest.”
Grinning from ear to ear, the sheriff let himself out and closed the door behind him.
An Officer and a Maverick Page 19
