had some trouble with teenagers.”
“Apparently.” She mimicked his previous tone.
“Did you see anything?”
She jumped at the sound of Sheriff Blaine’s voice behind her. “Did I see anything that looked like somebody had been there?” She moved mentally through the areas she had seen this morning. “No. But there are a lot of different ways to go from that first room.”
A blast of voice and static came over the sheriff’s two-way radio. “Sheriff, there’s been a wreck in front of the bank in Draffenville. No one’s hurt, but one of the drivers is drunk.”
Sheriff Blaine pulled the radio from his belt. “I’ll be right there.” He zipped up his leather jacket, which stretched tight over his paunch. “Hate to break up the reunion, but, Ms. Rawlings, we need to get you back to your car. I’ll stop in Draffenville and send you the rest of the way with Deputy Howard.”
Before Kyndal could answer, Chance waved away the suggestion. “I’ll take her back to her car.”
“Your stuff’s at the front desk.” The sheriff nodded his head toward the front room. “Hope I don’t see you again.” He smiled, and Kyndal heard a pleasant tone to his voice for the first time. “Unless it’s social.” He winked and clapped Chance on the back as he passed.
The sheriff’s exit cut her humiliation in half. If only Chance would leave, she could wallow in what must be a ten-ton vat of self-recrimination hanging in her stomach.
Instead, the weight increased when he crossed his arms and frowned. “Now, what were you really doing at my cave? I’m not aware of any problem it might be creating for Kentucky Lake. No pollution, no chemical dumping—unless it’s pot from the kids, which I’m trying to get stopped.”
So he’d heard about True Tennessee. She squared her shoulders, determined not to shrink from his tense look. “I told you why I was there. I need photos of a cave. A tourism magazine is starting up.”
“Tourism, eh?” He smiled then, but a smirk seemed to hang around the edges of his lips. “Does that mean you’ve left the dark side?”
“I was never on the dark side,” she huffed.
“Liberal environmentalists who stir the shit that closes companies and causes good people to lose their jobs are the dark side personified.”
“On the contrary, Counselor, liberal environmentalists save lives by enlightening the public about the way these companies ravage our natural resources.”
“Damn, Kyndal.” He wiped a hand down his face in a gesture she’d seen him make thousands of time. “Have you forgotten completely about who you are and where you’re from?” He bent toward her, bringing his eyes level with hers. “You’re a Paducah girl, and Paducah’s a river town. The Ohio means industry. Jobs—”
“Birth defects…cancer.” She raised on her tiptoes, causing him to straighten. “And death if we sit back idly and allow the dumping of poisons into our rivers to continue.”
He peered closely at her. “You’ve changed,” he said, making it sound like an accusation.
“And you haven’t.” She allowed a smirk of her own. “I hear you’re working for your dad.”
His jaw tightened. “With, not for. I’m a partner in the firm.”
“Well…good for you.”
The small office was getting awfully warm and the conversation had moved into a sparring phase she wasn’t up to at the moment. Pretty soon, he would start questioning her again about the new magazine and figure out how far she’d actually fallen. What category ranked below “Total Loser?” Oh, yeah, that would be “My Dad Was Right about You.” She couldn’t face that on top of everything else today.
She moved toward the door the sheriff had closed behind him. Escape seemed to be the best plan. “By the way, thanks for offering the ride, but Jaci’s on her way to pick me up.”
Chance moved more quickly and claimed the doorknob. He didn’t turn it immediately, pausing momentarily as if weighing his next comment. “I’m sorry, Kyn. This is no way for us to act. Are you in town long?” His free hand touched her casually below the shoulder blade.
There was nothing casual about her body’s reaction to his touch. Her nipples tightened as though they had no memory of his walking out of her life without a backward glance. A thin line of perspiration popped out along her upper lip and made her cringe. Before answering, she camouflaged a quick wipe of the area with a cough. “No, I’m going back to Tennessee this afternoon.” He removed his hand, and she immediately felt the loss.
“Ah. Well, I was hoping I could make this up to you somehow.”
This he wanted to make up for. Not for breaking up with her and breaking her heart. Not for his major role in the whole men-as-deserters drama of her life.
“This isn’t something you need to make up for,” she snapped.
He smiled. Nothing forced this time. A genuine, tender, gorgeous, all-the-way-into-his-eyes smile that indicated he took her at her word instead of reading the nuance in her voice.
She considered another comment. Something more pointed than the last. Something that would wipe the smile from those yummy lips. But he opened the door, and a welcome rush of air cooled her face. This would all be over soon. She let her comment drop.
The lady working the outer office placed Kyndal’s bags on the counter with a curt “Here’s your stuff” then went back to typing without giving them a second look.
“We need to get together sometime, and you know…catch up.”
Yeah, sometime when I’m gainfully employed…in an awesome job…and married to an awesome guy. Kyndal unzipped her bags and made a cursory check of their contents. She didn’t expect to find anything awry, but it was a good way to avoid eye contact. “Um, yeah. That’d be nice. Sometime.”
Chance’s cell phone rang before he could follow up, and Kyndal sighed her relief when the yellow of Jaci’s VW Beetle flashed through the window blinds.
“It’s all in the file on Alice’s desk, Dad. I finished it last night.”
Hearing Chance address his father stirred up memories, but Kyndal had no intention of allowing them to surface, considering how the rest of her day had gone. She inclined her head toward the window to indicate Jaci’s arrival, gathered her bags and hurried out the door.
Chance was close behind her, still talking, with obvious irritation. “I told you I’d be there before two, and I’m on my way.”
Jaci’s eyes widened when Kyndal and Chance exited the sheriff’s office together, and Kyndal answered her unspoken question with a don’t-you-dare-ask-any-questions-yet glare.
* * *
JACIGAVEATIGHTSMILETO indicate the message had been received although her brain was spinning at the sight.
Kyndal and Chance Brennan? Had hell frozen over?
She popped the trunk open and rolled her window down as Chance shoved his phone into his pocket. “Hey, Chance.” She forced a smile. “Haven’t seen you in forever. How are ya?”
“I’m doing well, Jaci. How are you and Bart?”
“We’re fine.” But what have you done to my best friend? If you’ve hurt her again, so help me, I’ll—
“I’ve been hearing good things about Décor and More.”
“That’s music to my ears.” She grabbed a few business cards from the stash in the sun visor and handed them to him. “Keep spreading the word.”
A worried look crossed his face, and he seemed about to say something else when Kyndal slammed the trunk. He hurried around to the passenger