Patrick laughed the same as Jake, too.
“You come by and see me tomorrow and I’ll fix you up with something. My wife never throws anything away.”
“Can I take you up on that too, Patrick?”
Cubby shook the hand of Declan O’Donnell as he joined them.
“The famous author DJ O’Donnell, wearing my clothes. Tell me a man who would say no to that?”
“How are you doing, Sheriff?” Declan asked.
He was subjected to a steady look from them. Combined, it was really something, from these men who had raised children and lived a life he could only imagine.
“It’s been hard, I can’t deny it, but we’re still waiting on reports to come in.”
“Are the bullets a match?”
Declan O’Donnell was a crime writer.
“That’s some of the information we’re waiting on.”
He respected these men and so he listened to and answered the questions they asked. They were both insightful, and at this stage he was open to anything.
“Have you had coffee yet, Sheriff?” Patrick asked him. “You look to me like a man who hasn’t.”
“Not yet.”
“Go.” He motioned for Cubby to leave. “Declan and I will discuss this some more and let you know if we come up with anything beyond the ramblings of two old men.”
“I’d appreciate anything you have,” Cubby said, and headed for the kitchen, doing a sweep of the room on his way. He still couldn’t see Katie.
She was in the kitchen, her hands in the sink. He admired her curves in that skirt before speaking.
“I hope he’s paying you?”
She shot a look over her shoulder before returning to the dish in her hands.
“We’ve worked out a reciprocal system: dishes for food and coffee. Both Buster and I are happy with it.”
“I keep him safe.”
“There you go, always trying to go one better on me, Sheriff.”
“You look beautiful today, princess.”
She looked at him again and he saw the surprise on her face, and he wondered why more men in her life hadn’t called her beautiful before him.
“Thanks. This must have been a tough day for you?”
“Harder on the family,” he said, coming to stand behind her, and because he needed to touch her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She smelled of something soft, the scent filling his nostrils and easing some of the tension out of his body.
“I just saw Sinclair drive out of town.”
“Yeah, I saw him earlier.”
“I don’t like him.”
“I’m not that fond of him either, but he’s a colleague, so at least now I can work beside him without wanting to poke him with a sharp stick.”
