“Do you sees an-an otter?” Therrolled for several seconds. The man was drunker than a skunk, and several patrons watched from the windows. At least the chilly evening kept the deck closed for diners tonight.
“Where’re you staying?” he asked, hoping this tourist had a room. With any luck, it wasnotat the Sunset Ridge Lodge. The Whitmore sisters didn’t need to deal with this mess.
The man spun ninety degrees so suddenly he bounced against the wooden railing when he tripped over his own feet, kicking off one flip-flop completely. “What do ya wants with—”
“Ryder, I got it.” Murph, in full uniform, stepped around him. “C’mon, bud. Time to get you anywhere else.” She led the man off the deck by the arm, leaving Ryder with one warning look before leading the man toward her cruiser. It felt wrong not to help, but Murph was tough as nails. No one would dare pick a fight with her. They’d lose.
Aware that the table he left was peering at him through the glass, he let out a sigh. He turned, ready to make apologies, but was stopped one step later by a man in jeans and a sport jacket. His dark, thinning hair was slicked back, and day-old stubble covered his cheeks. Ryder’s hackles rose instantly.
“Are you Ryder Grant?”
“Who’s asking?”
“Clark. Clark Matthews.” Clark extended his hand but Ryder folded his arms over his chest. Ryder didn’t need the business card Clark fished out of his wallet to know he was Chalmer’s lawyer.
Frustration bubbled in his chest, but he kept his expression void of those traitorous emotions as he took a deliberate step forward, ignoring the card. He towered over most people, but he hadseveralinches on Clark. If the man had any sense, he’d be intimidated. But crooked lawyers chasing a buck didn’t often have the good sense to be afraid.Should’ve gone fishing today.“Excuse me, I have a dinner to get back to.”
“Sure you couldn’t spare a few minutes?” Clark asked as Ryder brushed past him. “I promise not to cause a scene. Lots of people watching, you know.”
“You can speak to my lawyer, Mr. Matthews. I don’t have anything to say to you.” Ryder stomped off, wishing he could unleash his true feelings on the shady man who would sooner defend a criminal for a buck if he thought he could make one. A criminal who’d endangered a child’s life on several occasions.
Ryder was the only reason Rhett Samson hadn’t fallen to his death. Unlike Chalmer, the boy wouldn’t have survived such a brutal fall.
“Everything okay?” Chase asked after Ryder took his seat.
A sip of his beer left him annoyed that it’d grown warm. He crunched on a chip instead. “Yep. Nothing to worry about.”
“Ryder, we’re trying to convince Kinley to extend her trip one more day for the alumni event.” Ava leaned into the table, her bright eyes filled with hope that he’d, no doubt, help convince Kinley to stay. “You had fun last year, right?”
“Sure.”
“Ryder hadfun?” Kinley teased. “I’d pay money to see that.”
Chase’s phone chimed, effectively interrupting the conversation. “I need to head back to the fire hall.” He waved the server over for the check, handing him a card before anyone else could grab money. “Dinner’s on me, kids.”
Ryder emptied his ice water, uncertain what the night held for him. His mom might be on to something—maybe he should get a dog.
“I have to head back to the shop and help Glenda close. She’s still not comfortable with cashing out the drawer,” Ava said as the group vacated their table and headed toward the door. Chase grabbed his card on the way out and followed them to the gravel parking lot, now twice as full as when they arrived. “Kinley, we’ll have to do that pier walk another night. Unless Ryder wants to go? Hedoeshave all that free time on his hands right now.”
Distractedly scanning the parking lot for grubby lawyers, Ryder wasn’t prepared for the suggestion. Not enough to make an excuse.
“You up for a walk?” Kinley asked, surprising him. She’d grown more comfortable around him over dinner tonight, but he hadn’t expected her to fall back into old routines so quickly. Maybe they could be friends once again.
“Yeah, why not?” It’d be the first time he took a stroll down the pier in civilian clothes in a couple of years, maybe longer. He waited as the girls exchanged their good-byes, convincing himself he only agreed to keep Kinley safe.
Kinley held on to the purse strap slung over her shoulder with both hands. “Ready?”
They covered the short distance from Warren’s to the pier in silence. Stepping onto the wooden pier brought Ryder a sense of relief he hadn’t realized he sought. Better above the planks than below them.
Below them, while the sand sucked in their toes, Ryder had given away his first kiss to Kinley. It was odd how vivid that memory was all these years later. He couldn’t recall his first kiss to the woman he almost married, even before she left.
“Why aren’t you at the fire department meeting?” Kinley asked when they reached the halfway marker, noted by benches on either side. “Isn’t that something the police chief usually goes to?”
“Not if he’s on vacation.” Ryder’s smile was harder to find tonight. He didn’t mean to be short with Kinley. The brief encounter with the pesky lawyer still had him riled up. He’d expected a few phone calls, and maybe even a surprise visit at the house. He should’ve known the man would attempt to corner him in a public place.
“You never mentioned the wholevacationthing this morning at breakfast. When did you decide that?”
Ryder scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck, evading her question by replacing it with another. “You like fishing?”
