“I was just trying to help,” she whimpered. “That thing is a death trap.”
“I know, Cuddlebug. You were doing a good thing.”
“Ha!” Josie scoffed.
“She’s so mean and hateful. I could have very well saved her life, and she doesn’t even care!”
“She cares, Cuddlebug. But you have to understand, she’s had Delilah for years. It’s hard to say goodbye.”
“I’ll show you goodbye,” Josie snapped, jumping to her feet, racing over to the bars keeping them apart. “You sold my car without permission! Who does that?”
“Josie, she was just trying to help. She was worried about you,” Sawyer said placatingly.
“She’s a thief!”
The gasp that left Scarlet’s lips could be heard two towns over. As if Josie had committed some crime, Sawyer very calmly got up from the bench and walked over to his sister.
“I’m going to pretend you did not just call the woman I love a thief. She was only trying to do what was best for you. Can’t you see that?”
“No, what I see is that she can’t find a man her own age, so she’s going after you! They have a name for that, you know!”
“Maybe we should take some time apart,” Sawyer sighed.
“Go ahead. Take your skank and leave!”
“No, I meant…” He sighed heavily, and I watched as Josie visibly crumbled in front of him.
Dammit, I hated being involved in any way, but it was clear that whatever was going on, Josie was about to lose everything.
“You know, how about I take Josie to the bar with me for a little bit. Give you all a chance to cool down.”
“That sounds like a fantastic idea,” Maverick grinned, clapping his hands together. “Josie?”
She turned and nodded slightly, and that’s when I saw it.
The letdown.
Aw, fuck. This was gonna be one hell of a day. I wasn’t prepared for tears or sadness. Hell, I didn’t even do too well with smiles. But I’d already said I would take her with me. I couldn’t very well leave her in the jail cell.
Could I?
Maverick led her out of the cell, his arm wrapped comfortingly around her shoulder. “Don’t worry about a thing, darlin’. The trade isn’t legal. I’ll get it all sorted.”
“Thanks, Mav,” she whispered, brushing the tears from her cheeks.
Mav stepped behind her, gripping both biceps, and pushing her into my arms. I stood there completely speechless, clueless as to what I was supposed to do.
Maverick mimicked wrapping his arms around her, like he wanted me to do the same. But that just wasn’t about to happen. Patting her awkwardly on the back, I cleared my throat.
“Well, we should get going. I’m already late for work.”
Maverick rolled his eyes at me, but that was just tough shit. I didn’t do tears. I didn’t do crying women, and I definitely didn’t comfort them. She’d just have to find someone else’s shoulder to cry on.
It wasslow as hell tonight. The usuals ran off the moment they saw Josie crying, and the few who did stay, ordered quickly and got out as fast as they could.
She was killing business, but that wasn’t the worst part.
I’d washed every glass, refilled the lemons, the limes, restocked all the liquor, and yet, there was nothing left to keep me from listening to the ramblings of the woman at the bar who refused to drink.
