Page 16 of The Woman By the Lake

But he had no life.

As usual, Harry glossed over that and asked, “You in town for a while?”

Riggs nodded. “’Bout a month.”

“We’ll set something up, go fishing.”

Riggs nodded again.

Harry headed toward the door to the coffeehouse, Riggs got out of his way so he could do it, but as he moved, a thought occurred to him.

So, as Harry opened his mouth to say something to end their brief conversation, Riggs said, “Some chick moved into Weaver Cabin.”

The night before, he’d had his fair share and then some, smoked some weed, got ridden hard, so he came harder, and then he’d been woken up a couple hours after he passed out to a beautiful, but bitchy, woman up in his shit.

He wasn’t as sharp as he normally would be.

Even so, he didn’t miss how Harry’s body jolted, then stiffened, and how his movements seemed wooden when he turned back to Riggs.

“Yeah, I heard,” Harry replied.

Riggs was referring to his friend’s reaction, not his words, when he asked, “She trouble?”

“Not that I know,” Harry answered.

“You had a weird reaction when I mentioned her, man. You know her?”

Harry shook his head and asked, “You meet her?”

“Yeah, twice. The first time, she told me not to run through her yard during my morning runs, and the last time was a coupla hours ago when she got in my face about the party last night. So, warning. She said if it happens again, she’s calling the cops. It’s gonna happen again, and this woman, how she is, I know she’ll call the cops.”

“Your job done, do you have some time to talk right now?”

It was Riggs who stiffened at this invite.

Therefore, he pushed, “I’ll ask again, Harry, is this bitch trouble?”

“You had breakfast?” Harry pushed back.

“No,” Riggs told him.

“On me,” Harry said, then, without Riggs agreeing, he took off toward the Double D diner.

It was Princess Solitary Coffee’s big rack, sweet ass and head of thick, long, blonde hair that made Riggs follow his friend.

Oh yeah.

And those bright-blue eyes.

Fuck him, but all of that was so good, even though she’d demonstrated she could be a serious pain in his ass, he was curious.

They hit the Double D, were seated, and Heidi, the waitress, gave his Aromacobana cup a look, but he ordered another mug because he knew after last night, he was going to need it. He also ordered a full stack of pancakes with a side of bacon, because it was arguable, but he might need that more.

Harry went the granola, fruit and yogurt route.

In normal circumstances, Riggs would give the man shit for his healthy habits.

Not liking Harry’s vibe, he reined it in.

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