“He won’t beat me,” Fin bragged.
“So did you see us in the paper today, Lani, theBrook Chronicle?” Ethan asked.
“Pardon?” The words made her heart race.
“We looked pretty good, to be fair. Even sweaty from the potato race. Not sure how the guy got the shot, but it’s a good one, you can see each of our faces clearly.”
Stay calm, Lani, it was a local paper; no one would read that, he wouldn’t see it.
“I have it in the buggy. I wanted to show Jake how ugly he looked.” Ethan bent and retrieved it. Then he spread the paper out on the table and everyone crowded in to take a look.
There she was with Noah. They were running down Main Street in the potato run. Anyone who knew her would recognize her instantly, even with black hair. Her name was printed on the bottom. Lani was close to what it had once been.
Stay calm, he won’t find you.
“I think they ran it because we had the drug bust here too. It’s probably going to go global.” Jake laughed. Lani didn’t join him.
This was her fault. She’d let herself relax, and now he’d find her. Searching for the date, she saw it was printed four days ago. How had she missed this?
“Here’s your man,” Katie said from across the table.
Looking to the stage, she watched Noah walk out with a sexy smile on his face. His eyes found her, and she managed to smile back. Managed to hide what she was feeling.
Did she need to run? Should she talk to Cubby and Katie?
“Noah likes water sports, and snuggling before the fire,” Mr. Hope said.
“Snuggling before the fire, really?” Jake asked.
Lani felt the old fear slowly fill her veins. What if he had seen this when it was first printed and had come looking for her. Glancing around the table and room she saw so many people she now knew… now felt were her friends. She’d put them in danger if he came here. He’d do what needed to be done to see her dead; he’d tried once.
“You doing okay there, Lani?’
“Oh hey, sure, Cubby.”
“You’re pale, and your hands are shaking.” He touched her fingers.
“I’m good.”
“Nope. But I’ll just stand here beside your seat until you are. Then we can talk.”
She watched Noah push his hands into the pockets of his trousers, clearly uncomfortable with the commentary from Mr. Hope. Mrs. C yelled out for him to take it off.
“The seniors in this town cause me the most trouble,” Cubby said. “You shut that down, Mrs. C, or I’m arresting you for disorderly behavior.”
She waved at the sheriff. “I’d enjoy that!”
“See what I mean.”
Lani couldn’t find a laugh.
“Aww hell, what are they up to now?”
Lani followed Cubby’s gaze to where two men were arguing.
“Idiots. Excuse me, Lani. You stay right here, and I’ll be back soon.”
“How much do you want to spend on Noah? I’ll bid for you and he’ll think it’s me,” Jake said with a wicked smile.
