Cordell took a sip of his beer before he answered. “Are you asking as sheriff? You do know I can’t legally give out information about my guests without a warrant?”
Max rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“I can tell you this. He’s paid up for a week but registered for two.”
That surprised the sheriff. “He must be interested in the café then.”
Cordell lifted a brow. “Or its owner.”
THE NEXT MORNING, a little hungover, Max couldn’t help but think about what his brother had told him. His concern for Goldie had nothing to do with him being jealous, he assured himself. It was about his fear that she might be getting herself into trouble. He knew firsthand how little experience she had with men, since he’d been her first.
After their breakup, he’d been afraid she might do something foolish like rebound by falling for some smooth-talking guy driving a fancy sports car and get her heart broken all over again. It had seemed a long shot at the time.
But now it might be coming true. He felt afraid for her as he made his usual walk around town, only this time taking note of the license plate number on the sports car parked in front of the hotel. The residents he passed gave him the same pitying look he’d gotten from his brother the night before.
It seemed everyone had heard about Goldie’s date and just assumed that Max would be hurting over it. This was what he hated about small-town living. Everyone knew everyone else’sbusiness. The townspeople all assumed he was still in love with Goldie.
He couldn’t help but think about the talk his soon-to-be sister-in-law Josie had with him a few months ago.
“Trauma can make people do something they later regret,” she’d said. “You almost died recently. Maybe worse, the truth about your and Cordell’s childhoods came out.”
“We had a mean stepfather,” he’d said, trying to brush it under the rug as if it was something he’d put behind him.
“It was more than that and we both know it,” she’d snapped. “He almost killed the two of you and would have if you hadn’t stopped him all those years ago. Cordell is living with what he did and so am I. I’m worried about you though, Max. Have you thought about seeing someone you can talk to about this?”
“You think I need a shrink?”
“I know you still love Goldie. Don’t punish yourself by not being with her.”
“If that’s all…”
“Max.”
He’d turned to look at her.
“You’re making a mistake,” Josie had said quietly.
“As everyone keeps telling me. But maybe she’s better off without me and maybe I’m better off alone. Have you ever considered that?”
“She isn’t and neither are you. Max, for years, you did everything you could to protect yourself and your brother. That’s a heavy burden, especially when you were only a child yourself. But that’s behind you. Your brother is a man now, capable of taking care of himself. You deserve to be happy and not anxious about what tomorrow might bring. Don’t let your chance for happiness pass you by because of fear. You’re too strong for that.”
With that, she’d walked out. For months, he’d been more than aware of how people felt about his breakup with Goldie. Everyone seemed to agree: Sheriff Max Lander was making the biggest mistake of his life.
But now there was a new undercurrent that unsettled him. He saw it in the residents of Dry Gulch’s pitying looks, heard it in their whispers. Not only was he making the biggest mistake of his life—he was about to lose Goldie forever.
Back at his office, he ran the plates on the red sports car. A bank owned the car for some years to come, but a man named Donovan Cole was making the payments. Armed with a name, Max typed it into the law enforcement database. Was he really going to do a background check on the man?
Hell, yes, he was.
GOLDIE FELT GOODthis morning after last night—even with the disapproving looks now coming from the three elderly women sitting in a booth at her café. Armed with a pot of coffee and three cups, she approached them warily.
“Have a nice evening?” Penny Birch inquired in an accusatory tone, as if Goldie had been cheating on the sheriff.
“Yes, thank you, I did.” She put down the cups and proceeded to fill them.
“A bit flashy, isn’t he?” Carla Wilson asked and pursed her lips.
“I like the sheriff better,” Emily Danvers blurted, making the other two women give her an impatient look. Apparently the three had had a plan when they’d come in this morning and Emily had ruined it. “Don’t look at me like that. We all like Max better.”
