When we'd both drained our mugs, Claire reached for her bag.
"I've got this." I pulled out my wallet.
"No." She already had cash in her hand. "You paid for the stuff to fix my window. The least I can do is buy you breakfast."
"Claire—"
"Torin." She leveled me with a look that said the conversation was over.
I held up my hands in surrender and watched as she walked to the counter and paid Ruby. The older woman said something that made Claire smile, a real one this time, not the guarded version she'd been wearing since we walked in.
Outside, the morning sun shone bright. Claire stopped on the sidewalk and turned to face me, the sunlight playing across her hair. She crossed her arms over her chest. "So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?"
I didn't pretend not to know what she meant. "You mean Mrs. Davis?"
"Yeah. She said something to you on her way out. I saw her from the hallway."
I looked down the street toward the sheriff's office, then back at her. "This town likes its stories simple."
"And if they're not?"
The question hung between us. I thought about Helen's warning. About the old cattle ledger I'd seen Dawson and Slade looking at last month. About Claire's aunt leaving her land that could make or break the rodeo deal. And about the way everyone in this town had been choosing sides for so long they'd forgotten why the lines were drawn in the first place.
I met Claire's gaze. "Then things get messy."
She studied me for a long moment, her brown eyes searching for something I wasn't sure I could give her.
Finally, she nodded. "Thanks for the coffee."
"Anytime."
"You still want some help with that window?"
Her lips curved up on one side. "Haven't I taken advantage of you enough already?"
She needed to stop saying shit like that before I showed her exactly how I wanted her to take advantage of me. Instead of leaning in and kissing that damn grin off her face, I shook my head.
"I've got a couple things to do but can stop by in an hour or two."
"Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not at all."
"Okay, then. I'll see you soon." She turned and headed back toward the parking lot where she'd left her car.
I watched her go with that same pull in my chest I'd felt last night when I helped her through the window. I'd spent my life holding lines in this town. I was a deputy, a keeper of the peace, and the guy people called when they needed someone steady and reliable to show up and handle things.
But standing there on Main Street, watching Claire Hollister walk away, I realized something that made my gut clench.
For the first time, I wasn't sure which line I was standing on. The one that kept the peace in Mustang Mountain? Or the one that was starting to form between me and a woman who'd always been on the other side of every boundary this town had ever drawn?
I headed back to my truck and climbed in, but I didn't start the engine right away. Instead, I sat there and watched Claire's car pull out onto the street and disappear around the corner.
Don't let them turn cruel.
Helen's words echoed in my head.
Whatever was coming, I had a feeling keeping the peace wasn't going to be an option much longer.
