“You. You’re tense and behaving weird, and I don’t think it’s just my masculine beauty doing it.”
“Have you always had a monumental ego?” Her eyes were on the stage as she whispered the words.
“Pretty much.”
“I’m not tense, and you don’t know me well enough to understand if I’m behaving weird.”
“Your knuckles are white.”
“Sssh.”
“That was an extremely loud sssh.”
She ignored him. Strangely, sitting here next to her made his mood lighten. No way was Noah examining that thought.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Lake Howling.”
The man who spoke was tall, and if Noah had to use one word to describe him, it would be slick. His hair was perfect, he wore a suit that screamed money, and his leather shoes were polished to a perfect sheen. Looking left, Noah noted the toe of Ethan’s worn trainer that did not scream money, even though the Texan could afford to buy Lake Howling.
“My name is Dr. Tobias Trask.”
“Congratulations,” someone called. “Now tell us what the hell you’re doing in our town!”
Noah smiled. If Mr. Slick thought he was going to walk in here and be greeted with smiles, he needed a rethink. Howlers weren’t pushovers, nor were they dumb. They wouldn’t be railroaded with a bunch of letters after a name.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Trask said with a smile that reminded Noah of a snake.
Beside him, Lani muttered something. “You need to relax there, sweet cheeks. The end of your finger will fall off if you don’t stop gripping it.” He reached over and untangled her hand and placed it flat on her thigh. A rather lovely thigh, he remembered. He then tried to focus as Trask talked in detail about what they were doing at the “research facility,” as he’d called it.
“We came to Lake Howling as you have superior soil quality and a wonderful unpolluted lake—”
“And we want to keep it that way!”
Cubby sighed from his place beside Willow, then got to his feet and made his way out of the row and down the aisle. He stopped before the stage and looked at everyone seated. The rumbling stopped.
“I’ve always admired that ability in him,” Buster whispered.
“How he can shut a person up with a look?” Noah said.
Buster nodded.
“It’s impressive.”
“Now you all need to let the man talk. We can’t understand what’s happening in those houses if we don’t listen and get all the facts straight.”
“I know it’s bad, Sherriff. You should just run them out of town!”
Cubby’s expression didn’t change but Noah could tell he’d just sighed again.
“They’ve been there for two months and no one’s said a word, Jed, so simmer down. This is not the Wild West. We don’t run people out of town anymore. Now you shut up and listen or I’ll lock you up.”
“Can he do that?” Lani whispered.
“Yes, and not many people will tangle with our sheriff.”
“He is intimidating.”
“And a pussy cat. In third grade, he got beat up by Louise Galler. It’s fair to say he’s never recovered.”
