Kinley
Kinley had her arms elbow-deep in dishwater when she spotted the police cruiser through the window. Her shoulders tensed instantly as irrational fear gripped her. Had Lee Daniels decided the best course of action was to arrest Kinley for plowing into the sign?
“Wonder what Murph is doing here,” Tillie mused, reaching for a plate from the dish rack to dry.
Kinley watched through the window, wishing it was cracked open, as Ryder met Murph in the driveway, away from Chase. Something akin to sympathy was painted on her face. Ryder glanced over his shoulder, the smile from earlier gone. Then he turned his back completely to the window.
“Murph from here?” Kinley asked, mostly to keep conversation flowing so her nerves didn’t fray with anxiety. The hair at the back of her neck raised anyway. Murph might be delivering a hefty bill that’d wipe out Kinley’s savings.
“No, she came from Indiana a few years ago.” Tillie slipped the last dry plate in the cupboard, joining Kinley in the spying session. “Wanted a fresh start for her and her son. Ryder has nothing but praise to give her anytime I ask. She’s like him. Fair and good with people. Just what this town needs.”
A tinge of jealousy shot through Kinley, but it seemed petty to ask if Murph was married. She shook it away. None of it mattered if she wasn’t staying.
When Ryder glanced back at the window a second time, his expression forlorn, Kinley pulled her arms from the sink. “I think I need to see what this is about,” she said to Tillie. “Sorry—”
“I got this covered. Go get whatever it is straightened out.” That Tillie sensed this matter was about Kinley too only made the whole situation feel more ominous.
“Kinley James?” Murph called out to her.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry to have to spoil your vacation.” Pity was written all over Murph’s face. Kinley hated pity more than anything. The town had been full of it after her mom died, convinced that she and Fiona would struggle to make ends meet without Cassidy. Theyexpectedher to fail. It was her desire to prove them all wrong that set her down the rebellious path she’d traveled.
Joining the Army, though a spontaneous decision, gave her the chance to make something of herself. Gave her a sense of pride this town never allowed her to have. She hated that this one moment was causing all these old feelings she’d suppressed to bubble to the surface now.
Ryder touched her elbow. “Kinley, I’ll talk to Lee.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it,” Kinley said to Murph, ignoring Ryder’s attempted heroics and shaking away his fingers. “Am I getting arrested?”
“No, but I am giving you a citation.”
Kinley ripped the ticket from Murph’s outstretched hand. “Careless driving?” Her fist balled automatically, crumpling a portion of the paper. “I swerved to avoid hitting a moose. Was I supposed to plow into Ed instead?”
“Kin,” Ryder said gently, “she’s just doing what she’s been told.”
Of course, Lee Daniels would find a punishment for anaccident. Had it been anyone else in town, she doubted the outcome would be the same. She marched toward the Buick, determined to set this straight once and for all.
“Kinley, wait,” Ryder called. “I’ll go with—”
She slammed the door shut and cranked the ignition. Her hands shook as she backed out of the driveway and gunned down the road. If Lee wasn’t in his office, she’d go to his house. One way or another, this was getting settled face-to-face rightnow.
Kinley rocked the Buick to a stop outside city hall, snatching the citation off the front seat. With a clear line of sight through the window of the mayor in his office, she marched inside. Her pulse was double its normal rate. Emotions she hadn’t experienced since she was a teenager flooded back.
Lee was still punishing her all these years later. It had to stop.
“Kinley James, heard you were back in town.” Melba Daniels’ voice was as razor-sharp and irritating as Kinley remembered, causing her to take a step back once inside the building. The only person in town who disliked her and her familymorethan the mayor was his mom. Melba had always harbored a particular hatred for Kinley’s mom. “Of course,everyone’sheard that by now. Curious how there’s so little damage to that junker your aunt calls a car when you used it as a battering ram on our town sign.”
Defending herself to Melba was futile. The woman had a knack for belittling people and painting a picture to her liking. “Why do you hate my family?” Kinley stabbed at the heart of the matter, toes curling in her shoes to prevent an accidental step forward.
“Excuse me?” Melba took a step back, closer to the door, clearly unprepared for Kinley’s hostility.
Through the glass wall, Kinley spotted the mayor on the phone. “Forget it. I havenothingto say to you. My mom wouldn’t want me wasting my breath.”
Kinley flung the mayor’s office door open and slapped the citation on his desk. When Melba moved toward the doorway, as if she were inviting herself to be a part of this confrontation, Kinley slammed the door in her face.
Lee mumbled something through the phone about calling back and hung up.
“What is this?” she barked.
