Hometown Honey

Luke went around the living room and dining room opening the blinds.

“It’s like a cave in here. And it doesn’t smell too good, either.” He opened a couple of windows. “There.”

“What sort of rumors have those two women been spreading?”

“They haven’t talked to anyone but me, as far as I know. But, Cindy, it’s obvious to everyone what’s happened. Ed LaRue is not a quiet man. Apparently Marvin Carter made up all kinds of lies about you, the town and the café. LaRue is repeating them.”

“Is the café still open?” Cindy asked. She’d been afraid to call or drive by.

“No. Ed closed it up and fired all the employees. He has an extended family he plans to give full employment to.”

“Oh, no. Poor Kate and Iris and Tonya—and Manson! What will they do?”

“What will you do?”

“I’m fine. I was going to sell the restaurant anyway. I’ll be happy not to ever bake another biscuit as long as I live.”

“You’re not fine, Cindy. If Marvin Carter followed his usual MO, he wiped you out.” He took her by the arms and looked straight into her eyes. “C’mon, honey, snap out of it. You have to do something. You have to take action. It’s not just you anymore. You have a child to support.”

“Adam is being well taken care of, thank you very much.” She shook off Luke’s touch, though in truth it was tempting to just fall into those strong arms, to lean against Luke’s muscular shoulder and cry her little eyes out. “Okay, maybe Dexter’s…unexpected and inappropriate actions have knocked me a little off balance. But I’m taking good care of Adam.” She’d bathed him every day, even if she’d been less scrupulous about her own grooming, and he always got clean clothes and three healthy meals a day.

Instead of believing her, Luke walked into her kitchen, past more piles of dirty dishes and empty cereal boxes and milk bottles, and opened the fridge.

“It looks a little meager.”

“I need to go to the store. Big deal.”

“And how will you pay for the groceries?”

“I have money.” But not as much as she’d thought. The seven hundred-plus dollars in her checking account had dwindled down to under two hundred once her last mortgage check had cleared. She’d figured she could afford another week’s worth of groceries—another week she could pretend that Dex was coming back.

Luke looked at her, his disbelief evident in those deep, knowing eyes of his.

“I’ve got lots of equity in my house. I can get an equity loan to tide me over while I regroup.”

“I hope you’re right.”

The chug-chugging of a diesel engine reverberated outside, coming to a pause in front of Cindy’s house. Curious, she returned to the living room and looked out the window. A huge Ryder truck was in the process of backing over her lawn, the rear headed directly for her front porch.

“Oh, my—” She ran out the front door and up to the truck’s cab, beating on the driver’s door.

The window slid down and Ed LaRue was behind the wheel, grinning ear to ear. “Well, hi, there, sweet thing. Thought you’d be long gone to your new house in San Francisco.”

“What do you think you’re doing?” Cindy sputtered. But she knew. Oh, Lord, she knew. Dex—Marvin, dammit—had sold her house, too. She was not only penniless, she was homeless. Next thing she knew, the insufferable Ed LaRue would claim her car.

Luke convinced LaRue to give Cindy another twenty-four hours to clear out of her house. To seal the deal, he pulled out his wallet and handed Ed a wad of cash. “Dinner’s on me, okay?”

Slightly mollified, Ed took the money. “I’ll agree to this, you being a lawman and all. But this house by God, better be empty by tomorrow morning, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

He closed the window and the truck lumbered out of the front yard and down the street.

Cindy just looked at Luke. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I want to help. That’s the main reason I got this job, you know. To help people. To resolve conflicts.”

“How much did you give him? I’ll pay you back.”

“Don’t worry about that. The main thing is I bought you a little time, but not much. I get off at three and I can get a horse trailer from my brother’s place and help you move.”

Where? Where was she going to move? She’d sold her parents’ house. She had no other relatives in the area. She couldn’t possibly move in on Tonya or Kate or Iris—they had enough trouble, what with their sudden unemployment and all.

But she couldn’t admit her dire straits to Luke. He was the one who’d warned her about Dex—Marvin, dammit. She was so humiliated, felt so stupid, and she just couldn’t bear to rely on his kind, compassionate help a moment longer.

Plus, she was going to have an emotional crash. She’d been holding back a colossal crying jag for days, and she didn’t want him to witness that.

“I do have a place to go,” she said. “And I’m not going to worry about moving furniture. It’s all garage-sale stuff anyway—let Ed LaRue have it. I’ll take our clothes and a few personal items, nothing that won’t fit in my car trunk. I appreciate your offer to help, Luke—I really do. But I’ll be fine.”

He looked as if he didn’t believe her.

She forced a smile and made shooing motions with her hands. “Run along. Go catch some criminals. I have a little packing to do.”

“If I find out you’re lying about this, I’m coming after you,” he threatened. “Call me when you’re settled someplace.”

“Sure.” When hell froze over.

“Oh, and you need to contact those women—Brenna and Sonya?”

She sighed. “Why?” She didn’t want to wallow in shared stupidity with these other women, women who’d loved Dex or whatever name he’d given them, women who’d probably slept with him, who’d thought they were marrying him. “I want to move forward, not dwell on past mistakes.”

“Well, they want to catch Marvin and get their money back, or at least enjoy the satisfaction of putting him behind bars. I’ve agreed to help them. You have the most current information on Marvin. You could help a lot.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, though she hadn’t yet managed to summon up enough anger toward Dex/Marvin to want vengeance. She was still in disbelief with more than a hint of denial. Part of her expected Dex’s familiar lemon-yellow Porsche to come hauling up the street, the trunk full of presents for her and Adam.

“Just one more thing.” Without warning, he hauled her into his arms and hugged her fiercely.

“Luke!”

“Hush. You need this.”

The security of his embrace, the warmth of his body, felt way better than it should have. She knew she should end it, but for a few moments, all she wanted to do was empty her mind and drown in his warmth, his caring.

She’d always been able to count on his caring. Even when she’d treated him not so nicely, back in high school, he’d had a seemingly inexhaustible ability to forgive her, even if he couldn’t understand exactly what made her tick, what made her want to wander the world in search of new sights, new adventures.

After a few moments, it was Luke who loosened his arms first. She pulled back reluctantly, realizing as she did that hugging her might not be that pleasant given that she hadn’t bathed in two days. “Thanks, Luke,” she whispered, perilously close to tears again as she escaped inside her house.

Which wasn’t really her house any longer, she reminded herself. Cindy mentally shook off her lethargy. She couldn’t take refuge in inactivity any longer. She had to move, make decisions.

When she’d told Luke she had someplace to go, she’d thought she was lying. But maybe there was someplace.