The carver scratched the back of his neck. “I make a lot of different kinds of things. Some are custom, some just little ideas I have. I’m sure there are flowers out there I’ve done that are less intricate, different shapes and size, completely different flowers.”
“What about roses?” Eve asked. “The ones left for me have been roses in partial bloom.”
A dark cloud passed over the woodworker’s face. “About this big?” He indicated a length of about an inch with his thumb and forefinger.
“Yes, about that big.”
“And all the same?”
“Pretty much. Has someone made an order from you recently including flowers of that description?”
“No, but I know someone who made the same damn flowers over and over again. He’d come by and talk to me about what I was working on. He had talent, and I always encouraged him to do something new. Try to make something different. He spouted nonsense about the simple and natural beauty of roses. How he didn’t need to make anything more elaborate because he just liked using his hands.”
A wave of excitement pushed her on her toes. “Do you know his name?”
“His first name, yeah. Tyson. He was a bull rider. We were on the circuit together for a while. When his marriage fell apart, he disappeared. Figured he went home to his old woman to make things right. At least that’s what I’d do if my Edith put her foot down. I’d burn all this to the ground if it meant making her happy.” A wistful smile showed beneath his beard, softening his edges to show the teddy bear he must be inside.
“Do you remember the last time you saw him?” Reid asked. “The last city you were in when he left?”
“It’s been at least four, five months since I’ve heard from him. I can’t pinpoint the exact location, but I can give you a few cities I was in around that time.”
“That’d be really helpful,” Reid said.
“Give me a second.” The man rounded the corner of his booth and disappeared except a glimpse of his boots as he shuffled around.
Hope tripled her heart rate. “If we can figure out who this guy is, it could lead us right to him.”
“It will help, that’s for sure. Once we get a list of cities, I’ll get ahold of Madden. He knows more about how this world worksthan I do. He might know who to contact to find more details about this guy.”
“And the more details, the better. Then we can find him and lock him up and my life can go back to normal.”
Reid flattened his lips in a tight smile, and a flash of disappointment mirrored the dread climbing up the back of her neck.
She didn’t want to live in a constant state of fear, but she also didn’t want to stop spending so much time with Reid. Peeling back his layers revealed he was more than a womanizing flirt, but that hadn’t been easy. Once they returned to their normal lives, his shield would go right back up and he wouldn’t be forced to be around her long enough to tear it back down.
And at the end of the day, she didn’t want a man who wouldn’t freely open up to her. She had too much on her plate to have any leftover energy for a relationship with a man who was anything less than supportive and willing to be what she needed.
Even if every fiber of her body told her what she needed—what she wanted—was Reid.
Chapter 13
A quick call to Madden pointed Reid in the right direction for information. He quickly verified the full name of the bull rider who had a penchant for whittling roses.
Tyson Brown.
Eve sat in the chair he’d dragged around his desk to sit beside his leather rolling chair. “I can’t believe that was so quick.”
Reid studied the face on the computer screen. The rugged cowboy with the full beard and dirty hat leaned against a split-rail fence with a piece of hay between his lips. He stared at the camera as if issuing some kind of silent challenge. “Wasn’t hard once Madden told me where to find the registered riders from all the rodeos in the cities we were given.”
“I think we should alert the authorities,” Eve said, gaze fixed on the screen. “If he’s a murderer as well as my stalker, he might already have a rap sheet or at least a way to pinpoint where he is.”
Agreeing, he grabbed his phone and made the call directly to Deputy Silver. She’d given him her card the night Eve was attacked.
“Deputy Silver,” she answered in a clipped tone after the first ring.
He activated the speaker option and set the phone on the desk between them. “Hi, Deputy. It’s Reid Sommers. I’m here with Eve and we wanted to touch base. We’ve got a name for the man stalking Eve. Wanted to pass it along.”
“Oh,” she said, shock clear in her voice. “What’s the name?”
