27
~ Jenny ~
Iheardthe news from councilman Freddie Barns, the first to arrive at Vincennes. Soon after the bar and restaurant were jam-packed, everyone wanting to get in on the latest big story. The gossip was flying, and who knew what was true and what wasn’t? Until I heard it straight from Dylan, I’d take most of it with a grain of salt.
What was apparently true was that Dylan and Gene Lanier were hailed as heroes for finding Beauregard, now and forever after to be known as The Drifter. For six years, two families had hated each other for no good reason.
All the waitstaff were run haggard trying to keep up with orders, while Angelo worked in the kitchen, helping to get the food out. Apparently crazy bull stories made people hungry for pizzas, pasta, and beer. The bar was three-deep, and Angelo had called in Brandy from her day off to help me. At the end of the night my boss was grinning like a madman as he counted the day’s receipts. I thought he wished bizarre things would happen every day.
We were an hour later than normal getting out for the night, but I’d racked up a week’s worth of tips in six hours, so I wasn’t complaining even though my back and feet were. My plan was to go straight home and luxuriate in a hot bubble bath, a glass of wine by my side. That changed when I walked out to my car to see Dylan leaning against it. Sitting at his feet was a skinny black dog.
“A friend of yours?” I asked, walking up to Dylan. He looked worn-out, and I had the crazy desire to sit on a sofa with his head in my lap while I soothed the tired lines from around his eyes.
He glanced down at the dog. “This is Daisy. Daisy, meet my friend, Jenny.”
At the sound of her name, she looked adoringly up at him. I knelt. “Hello, Daisy. What a beautiful dog you are.” She wagged her tail as she arched her neck, sniffing the fingers I held toward her. “Labrador?” I asked, peering up at Dylan.
“That’s what the vet said.”
“They’re good dogs. I had one growing up.” I scratched Daisy around her ears, and her eyes rolled back in ecstasy.
“Never had a dog before. She adopted me.”
I stood. “Can’t say I blame her. Hear you had an interesting day.”
He chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly.” His gaze locked on mine. “Daisy and I came to invite you home with us. She thinks I need some TLC considering I spent the afternoon chasing an ornery bull.”
I leaned forward and sniffed him. “You stink.”
“You would too if you’d been wallowing around in manure. After delivering Beauregard the Bull back to his rightful owner, I spent the evening negotiating peace between the Hatfields and McCoys. Guess I should have taken the time to go home and shower first, but I didn’t want to miss you.”
I lifted onto my toes and kissed him, then wrinkled my nose. “Go home, take a nice hot shower, and I’ll be at your place in about an hour. I need to run by my apartment, get the smell of pizza and garlic off, and grab some clothes.”
“Thank you, Red.” He took a step away, then paused. “If you…” He shook his head.
“If what?”
He hesitated before saying, “If you want, you can leave some things at my place. You know, some toiletries and spare clothes.”
I blinked. That one had caught me by surprise. Did I want to do that? It felt like a step toward commitment. A part of me wanted to do a little dance because that would mean he wouldn’t bring another woman to his apartment. The other part dinged warning bells in my head. Ones that said,This is a man you could fall head over heels for. Can you take off for parts unknown if you do?
“Forget I said that,” he said when I hesitated.
“No can do now that it’s out. I need to think about it, okay?”
He did pull me roughly into his arms and kissed the daylights out of me. “Think hard, Red.”
With that, Blue Ridge Valley’s stinky police chief and his new dog walked away, leaving me sucking air into my lungs. I still hadn’t come to a decision by the time I pulled into my parking space. I wanted to take some things to his place and I didn’t. No man had ever wormed his way into my head the way Dylan had, not even the jerkface who was leaning against my front door.
I sat in my car, staring at Chad. Why couldn’t he just go away? Since the last thing I wanted was to get into another fight with him, I locked my doors, then called Dylan.
“Please don’t say you’re not coming over,” he said on answering.
“Could you head to my place? I have unwanted company waiting for me.”
“Your ex?”
“The one and only. I’ve locked myself in my car.” The sound of a siren came through the phone.
