Young stiffened next to me, her hand going to the butt of her gun. The third man’s hand did the same with his. Just as I was afraid things might take a turn we couldn’t come back from, the saloon doors to the kitchen swung open.
A young woman with her blond hair dreaded and wrapped in a scarf appeared with two plates in hand, oblivious to what was going on around her. “I’ve got that breakfast burrito, extra steak, and the special. Who’s winning this morning?”
The appearance of the woman seemed to take the tension down more than a step immediately. The surliest of the men smiled at her. “You know I’m kicking their asses.”
She beamed at him. “It might be nice to let someone else win once in a while.”
“Don’t listen to him, Dahlia. I’m cleaning up,” the skinny man said.
“Let’s get to cleaning up these breakfasts. I’ll be back with yours, Jim.”
The men went back to ignoring me and started shoveling in their breakfasts. Sue snorted a laugh. “Hippies. They save my ass every time. And they grow the best herb.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Sue leaned back on her stool. “I’m sure they have a license.” She was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t see anyone like you described the day the Sweeney girl was attacked.”
“What about before or after?”
“Too many to count.”
I muttered a curse. “Thanks, Sue.”
“Don’t go spreading around that I answered your questions.”
“Your secret’s safe with me.” I inclined my head towards the door, and Young and I headed out as Dahlia appeared with the last plate.
She smiled at us. “Have a beautifully blessed day.”
Young’s lips pressed together to keep from laughing. She held it together until we made it outside. “What was that?”
“This county is full of interesting characters.”
“I thought for a minute it was going to go bad in there.”
“It could’ve. Don’t place your hand on your weapon in a situation like that unless you’re ready to use it.”
Young flushed. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry. Just learn with each callout.” I sent her a grin. “Maybe I should think about hiring Dahlia as a crisis negotiator.”
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I just don’t get guys like that.”
I beeped the locks on the SUV, and we climbed inside. “They don’t think rules and laws apply to them.”
“Think they could have something to do with what happened to Cammie?”
“Honestly, no. But there are bad apples everywhere. We just might have to turn over the whole barrel to find what we’re looking for.”
15
Everly
I shut the door of my SUV with my hip and pressed the button on my key fob to lock it. It was a habit after living so long in the city. But given the latest run-in with my brother, it was probably a good idea to keep it up. I wouldn’t put it past Ian to rig my SUV to blow.
I trudged across the gravel drive, my boots almost dragging through the dirt. The day had been nonstop from beginning to end. A full roster of appointments and then a handful of emergencies. Luckily, all of them had a happy ending.
I pulled my keys from my purse and found the one I was looking for. Shiny new silver for my brand-new lock. It was one of the first things I’d done after moving. You never knew how many old spare keys were floating around.