“Is Martin here?”she asked.
“No, he called me last night when he got off his shift.I didn’t think he was telling the truth, but now that I see them…” Becky waved when Roxie poked her head out of the booth.“Well, I suppose he was telling the truth about you and the sheriff too?”
There it was, the question she’d been waiting for.The phone lines must have been burning up.“We did have dinner together,” Maxie said vaguely.
“Really?Well, pooh.”
“Excuse me?”
The coffee maven nudged a clump of grass with the toe of her sandal.“I just thought… Well, he comes to my shop every morning.I thought we had chemistry, and he said he’d be here today.”
Maxie didn’t know what hit her more, surprise or jealousy.Becky and Zac?Her stomach curdled as if she’d just taken a sip of Java Mama’s coffee.
“It’s new,” she confessed.Half of her felt the impulse to apologize, while the other half rejected that idea with vehemence.She had nothing to be sorry about.She hadn’t done anything wrong.Really, if she looked at things in a certain way, she’d asked the sheriff out on a date and he’d accepted.Just because he liked coffee didn’t mean that he was interested in the vivacious blonde.Did it?
Maxie cocked her foot back onto its heel.The way he’d kissed her on the porch this morning said no.So did the events of last night, but that was a topic better left unsaid.“We’re having a nice time together.”
The understatement almost made her choke.
“You do make a cute couple,” Becky replied, although her heart just wasn’t in it.She had a face that showed everything she was thinking.“I wondered what was going on when he drove away with you in his squad car yesterday.”
Oh dear.She’d forgotten about that.“He wasn’t arresting me,” Maxie said in a rush.
Becky let out a tinkling laugh.“I’ll be sure to let my customers know.”
Which was exactly the problem.
These conversations were always so difficult.She liked Becky, but she had to be careful what she said.The smallest nugget of information could be telegraphed to the entire town within minutes, and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say about Lexie and Roxie yet.Once she opened up the subject, she’d be peppered with questions, but she didn’tknowwhat had happened.She didn’t know the details of her adoption.She didn’t know what their future plans were.Right now, everything was in a state of flux.
Including what was happening between her and Zac.
She plastered a smile on her face.“Well, have a great day at your booth.I need to get back to work.It’s going to be busy.”
“Say hi to the sheriff when you see him,” Becky said, her perkiness returning.“Tell him I’ve got a cup of his favorite waiting.”
“I will.”Not.Lying was getting easier and easier.Maxie hadn’t known she had a possessive side, but there was no way she was sending Zac to a perky blonde who had a crush on him.She could play the role as well as he could, although it didn’t feel much like she was pretending.
Her walk was stiff as she returned to the tent, where she found Lexie and Roxie waiting.And grinning.
“Cousins.” Lexie chuckled.“Does everyone seriously believe that?”
“Of course,” Roxie clarified.“We’re once removed, after all.”
Maxie’s fists slowly unclenched.“I don’t even know what that means.”
She supposed the town couldn’t help it.There wasn’t a lot of entertainment to be had.People were going to talk—about her and Zac, and about these women who resembled her so much.But Zac’s cousins?Really?
Anyone looking at them should know they were sisters.
Zac didn’t make it to the park until after lunch.Despite the heat, a big crowd was milling about at the festival when he arrived.He was off duty and out of uniform, but most people called him Sheriff as he walked by.It was nice being part of a community that knew him, quite the change from working in the shadows.
When he found Maxie’s booth, he discovered she was on a break.He finally spotted her under the large tent where everyone had eaten.She was way back in the corner at a picnic table in the shade.He watched as she tied her hair up in a loose ponytail, the motion natural and surprisingly sexy.On impulse, he bought two lemonades.
“The Indigo Falls talent show will start in half an hour,” an announcer said over the loudspeaker.“Late entries need to put their names in now at the main stage.”
“Hey, Beauty,” he said as he walked up to her.“Got any secret talents?”
He slid the drink onto the table.It was cooler in the shade and a slight cross breeze brought some relief, but the heat was still sweltering.
