Heart Of A Lawman

“In the flesh.”

Josie couldn’t help but follow. She stepped back inside just as Alcina rushed over and gave the man a warm hug. Inexplicably bothered by the way he responded, with a quick grin and arms snaking around the other woman’s waist, Josie whomped the sacks of groceries to the counter and swept back outside to get the litter.

The moment she stepped onto the back stoop, Miss Kitty rushed to her chicken-wire fence several yards away and protested the recent inattention.

“It won’t be long now,” Josie promised, stooping to stick her fingers through the wires and scratch a kitty ear. “Though you can’t have the run of the house. Just the mudroom and the ironing room. We’ll have to share that. But don’t worry, I’ll give you plenty of attention. You can even sleep with me if you want.”

She thought she’d like that—having the cat’s warm little body to cling to throughout the night. She took comfort in the thought that she wouldn’t have to be alone, at least not for now.

Unbidden came another image of her with a much larger, human companion, limbs tangled together…

Shivering she opened the trunk. The twenty-five-pound bag of litter inside would last one little cat a month.

“Alcina must expect you to be around for a while, Miss Kitty.”

Which made her feel a bit better about the situation, just in case she wasn’t able to find the cat’s real owner right away.

Still hurting, she carefully hefted the large bag of litter. A familiar weight, she thought, handling it easily once she straightened. It was mostly her side that bothered her when she lifted anything more than a few pounds. But she certainly wasn’t helpless. Closing the trunk, Josie thought about putting up some Found Cat signs around town. She could make a bunch that night, then tomorrow morning do double duty. Post signs and look for a job. If that suited Alcina, of course.

Josie stepped back into the mudroom, expecting to hear Alcina and Bart in the kitchen talking together like…what? Old friends? Lovers?

Why the second possibility should bother her, she couldn’t imagine.

Thinking she would remain in Silver Springs only long enough to get some folding money in her pocket and an idea of just how far it would take her, she muttered under her breath, “Makes no never mind to me.”

Not that there was anyone to hear. The kitchen was empty.

Good. She didn’t need any complications. Had no use for them. Especially not when a certain complication seemed bent on knowing more about her than she did about herself.

Even so, she was a bit disappointed to find that Alcina had moved her “gentleman caller” to the parlor. She could hear their laughter ring out from the other room.

She couldn’t help herself. After fixing up the litter pan in the mudroom, she moved to the door that led to the dining room, which led to the parlor. Holding her breath, she leaned into the wooden panel ever so slightly—cracking it open just enough to get an earful.

“So what do you know about her?” Bart was asking.

“Just that she needed a roof over her head.”

Good Lord, they were discussing her. Maybe she had been the reason he’d invaded Alcina’s home.

“Are you always so blindly trusting?”

A beat of silence was followed by Alcina’s asking, “Do you know something I should, Deputy Quarrels?”

Pulse thundering, Josie backed off into the kitchen as he said, “It’s just that I’d keep my eyes wide open if I were you.”

Deputy!

So Bart Quarrels was the law…she’d been right, then. But he obviously didn’t know about her or he wouldn’t be sniffing around, asking all these questions. If he had facts, he would have arrested her by now. Obviously he had his suspicions. Instinct made her want to run again.

But run to where?

She had no one to run to…no place to go…no money to get her there.

And why should she leave this safe haven? Bart didn’t know anything for sure. What she needed to do was to find a way to defuse him.

Clenching her jaw, Josie started unloading the supplies. She was in the middle of trying to figure out how exactly to do that when the kitchen door swung open.

“Josie, would you mind making some tea? Earl Grey, I think. And you’d better brew it strong. I can’t imagine Bart drinking it any other way.”

“Sure, Alcina,” she said, thinking she couldn’t imagine Deputy Quarrels liking tea at all. She figured the lawman would consider it a sissy drink. Then, again, perhaps he’d take anything Alcina cared to offer.

“And afterward, could you check on the Raton Room—that’s one of those two smaller guest rooms in back that has the shared bath.”

“I remember.”

Josie had noted that Alcina named all her rooms—two suites, two rooms with private baths and two with shared bath—after New Mexican towns. The fancier the room, the fancier the town it was named after.

“Could you air out the room, maybe fluff up the pillows and lay out a set of fresh towels?”

“Yeah, sure. I didn’t realize you were expecting another guest.”

“I wasn’t. I met him at the gas station, actually. Tim Harrigan’s his name. A stroke of luck that he was looking for a place to stay for a few days and I just happened to have a room available.”

More than one, Josie knew. Only two couples were currently staying at the bed-and-breakfast, and one of them was checking out the next morning.

“I’ll take care of everything, Alcina.”

“Thanks.”

When Alcina went back to the parlor, Josie realized their conversation had given her adrenaline a rest. She felt far more relaxed than she had a few minutes before. Filling the kettle gave her additional breathing room. She needed time to think was all…on how to allay Bart’s suspicion of her before he stumbled onto the truth.

She could lie outright, of course. Tell him what he wanted to hear. Feed him false information. If she could get away with lying without revealing her hand. The only problem was that Josie suspected she was far better at evasion than lies, and she didn’t seem to be doing too well in that direction to begin with.

The only option left to her was to charm the boots off the man. Maybe if she could loosen up…act more naturally around him…stop acting like someone had stuck a prickly pear under her saddle.

Saddle…she was riding a flaxen-maned sorrel past scores of people….

Josie blinked and the moment was gone. Where had that come from? she wondered, hard-pressed to shake off the weird feeling it gave her.

While the kettle was on the boil, Josie found the cabinet that held an assortment of teapots. Her gaze landed on one that had charm potential. She pulled it out and set it on the counter, then found a tray. By the time the kettle whistled, the tray was loaded. She filled the pot, then carried the tea tray into the parlor.

Alcina was saying, “My daddy isn’t what he used to be, either—not that I would ever suggest as much to him. It’s hard on us, isn’t it? Our parents getting older.”

“Older, but not necessarily wiser. At least not in Pa’s case,” Bart said as Josie set down the tray on the low table between them. “He doesn’t know how to wave a white flag, I guess. And teaching him is gonna be an experience I’m sure I’ll never forget. At least I hope I get that chance. He’s as much as said he could go at any time.”

“What does his doctor say?”

“Haven’t talked to the doc yet.”