“Are you going to let me see them?” Lucas countered.
A whirring sound erupted from the clock on the wall, followed by the appearance of a whimsical wooden bird. Lucas winced when the thing let out several teeth-jarring “cuckoos.”
“I’d have to kill that thing,” he said without thinking.
“Some folks might think that was a revealing statement coming from you,” Wade drawled. And then he pushed his chair away from his desk and stood. “I’m supposed to meet Emily for lunch at Cora’s. I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now. Why don’t you join us?”
Lucas rose from his chair. “You haven’t answered me about the files.”
“I’ll think about it. How about lunch?”
Lucas pushed his hands into the pockets of the leather jacket he hadn’t removed. “I doubt if Emily would enjoy her lunch with me there. Everyone in the place would be staring and whispering.”
“If you think Emily would care about that, you haven’t gotten to know her as well as I’d thought during the past couple of days. Are you going to hide from the gossips the whole time you’re here?”
Lucas lifted his head sharply. “I don’t hide from anyone.”
Wade chuckled. “Damn. For a minute there, you looked just like Emily when she’s in a temper. Come have lunch with us, Lucas. It’ll make your sister happy. You and I will look through the old files later.”
That sounded like a promise. Or maybe a bribe. For some reason, Wade seemed to want Lucas to make a public appearance. To find out how the townspeople reacted to him, maybe? Or how he reacted to them?
Whatever Wade’s purpose, Lucas didn’t see how he could decline. He motioned wryly toward the door. “After you.”
Cora’s Café was only a few blocks from the police station. Since it was a nice day, Wade and Lucas decided to walk. Lucas pulled his leather jacket tighter around his neck and stuck his hands in the pockets, making no effort to meet the eyes of anyone they passed. If any curious looks came their way, he didn’t see them. He wasn’t looking for familiar faces, and he would have been glad if no one recognized him.
The café was small, and two-thirds of the tables were occupied. Emily was waiting just inside the door. Her face lit up when she saw them.
“Lucas! What a nice surprise,” she said, rushing to his side to kiss his cheek. And then she turned to offer a kiss to Wade. “I’m very glad to see you both.”
Wade grinned and draped an arm around her shoulders. “Good thing you added that. I was beginning to feel slighted.”
“With your ego? No way,” his loving fiancée teased.
Lucas noticed that several of the diners had begun to look their way, smiling when they saw Emily and Wade, frowning in curiosity when they noticed Lucas. He could spot the people who recognized him—they were the ones whose jaws dropped or whose forks clattered suddenly on tabletops.
A broad-beamed, frizzy-permed waitress ambled toward them, carrying three plastic menus tucked under one arm. “Y’all ready fo
r your table?” she asked, smiling at Emily.
Lucas recognized the woman. Mindy Hooper. She’d been a couple of years ahead of him in school. She hadn’t changed much, though she seemed to have added thirty pounds or so, mostly below the waist.
Mindy greeted Wade with a “H’lo, Chief,” then glanced automatically at Lucas. She nodded, then did a classic double take. “Lucas McBride?”
“Hello, Mindy. It’s been a long time.”
“No kidding. Where you been keepin’ yourself, boy?”
“California, mostly.”
“Well, it’s good to see you,” Mindy said firmly.
“Never took much stock in all that gossip, myself. I just remember that you were always pretty nice to me when some people made fun of me ’cause I didn’t have much money or anything.”
Lucas didn’t quite know what to say. Mindy’s words touched him, and he’d never been good at expressing that sort of emotion. “Er, uh, thanks,” he muttered lamely.
Mindy nodded, turned and headed for a table. “Y’all follow me,” she said over her shoulder.
Emily squeezed Lucas’s hand as they walked toward their table. She must have sensed that he was feeling awkward. Lucas kept his gaze on her, ignoring the other people in the café. He’d always been pretty good at ignoring the people of this town.