Now that was a loaded question.He evaluated the concentration on her face.“I guess it depends on the situation.Sometimes they’re your best friends, but at others, they can get under your skin worse than ticks.It just depends on how you click together.”
“Do they live in Chicago?”
“All but Mikey.”
She glanced again to where Lexie was still shopping, and the weight in the air had nothing to do with humidity.“Do you think Lexie, Roxie and I click?”
“Are you kidding me?”She’d been at the pool.They clicked like frenetic dolphins.He slid his hand to the nape of her neck.“You’re thinking too much again, Beauty.”
His gaze dropped to her lips.They both knew how he liked to fix that.He leaned closer, but the speaker overhead crackled, startling them both.Maxie’s spine went ramrod straight, and Zac winced.
“Last call for talent show entrants.Come on, Indigo Falls, show us what you’ve got!”
She glanced wistfully at the stage, but a commotion in the tent had them both turning around.
“Finish your drink, Martin.We’re going to be late.”Audrey Shimwell walked past their table, rushing her son along, but she paused when she saw the two of them sitting so close together.Her face pinched.“Sheriff Ford.”
Zac didn’t let the sour look faze him.“Good afternoon, Mrs.Shimwell.Are you enjoying yourself?”
The woman scrunched her nose, but her eyes softened when she looked at Maxie.“Good afternoon, dear.”
“Hello, Audrey.I look forward to hearing you and Martin sing.”
“I hope you like it.We have a lovely duet selected.”The stiffness in the woman’s face seeped into her lips, and they twisted oddly.“I’m sorry your grandmother isn’t here to compete anymore.”
“Thank you,” Maxie said.“I miss her, especially today.”
“Yes, well… Have a good afternoon.”The woman tugged at her son’s elbow.“Stop dawdling, Martin.”
Martin tossed his Java Mama coffee cup into the trash and followed in his mother’s trail.“Hey, Maxie,” he called over his shoulder.
Zac’s upper lip twitched into a snarl, but he let it go.
“Do librarians patent that look?”He understood the coolness towards him.Mrs.Shimwell had obviously been hoping for a pairing of her son with Maxie, but her aloofness seemed like more than that.“What was that about?”
Maxie rolled one shoulder as if it didn’t matter, but it clearly did.“Oh, it’s one of those small-town feuds.She’s always been nice to me.She’d put aside books for me at the library, but she and my grandmother didn’t get along.They’d battle it out every year here at the talent show.”
“Battle?”Zac tried to get past the image inside his head.Battle of what?Frowns?Arched eyebrows?“Okay, I’m liking the sound of this.What did your grandmother do?Sing?Play an instrument?”
A small smile pulled at Maxie’s lips.“Magic.Every year she’d have a new trick to wow the crowd.”
He set down his lemonade so fast, the ice cubes clunked.“Are you serious?”
The smile widened.“She usually won.”
“I’ll be damned.”The light bulb finally clicked on inside his head.“Is this the first year that she isn’t here?”
Maxie nodded, her expression turning wistful again.
“Well, hell.Do you know any of her tricks?”
Her hair swung around her shoulders as she turned to look at him.“What?”
“You can’t let those two win.”The Shimwells had already worked their way to the entry table, and onlookers were starting to gather.Apparently, this talent show was a main event.It had been important to Maxie’s grandmother.It had to be important to her.“You’ve got to defend her title.”
The statement flustered her, and the straw in her drink kinked as she fiddled with it.“Oh, I couldn’t.I can’t perform in front of people.”
“So, youdoknow a trick or two.”
