Page 70 of Home Town Knight

“Eh, there’s always Hartley. It has a way of pulling people in.”

“That’s what Jessi said.”

Hartley had a lot to offer. More than anything, Sheriff Owen Douglas.

I wanted to explore what we’d started together. But what did that mean? I’d known the man for a couple of days. “I can’t give everything up to move here based on the experience of a few days. That would be…ridiculous.”

“That’s what Aiden did. He’s kind of an oddball, though.”

“And you’re not?”

“Sure, but a different kind of one. For me, moving to Hartley was a little like coming home. I used to spend my summers not far from here as a kid.”

“With your family? Like Owen did at his grandparents’ ranch?”

“Not exactly.”

“Kind of vague. You’re not going to elaborate?”

“Not that much to tell. Weren’t we talking about you?” River went back to his computer, pushing his glasses up his nose. I shook my head at him. If he didn’t want to tell me, fine, he didn’t have to.

He’d been talking about me staying in Hartley. But no. I had to put that idea out of my mind.

“Not that much to tell,” I parroted. I went to the fridge and opened it, looking for that drink he’d offered earlier. “What do you eat? There’s nothing in here.”

“Another benefit to living above the saloon. Their kitchen issmall, but it’s open late. And they make decent lasagna. The bulgogi is iffy, though. I do havesomestandards. I grew up with two grandmothers constantly shoving delicious food at me and saying I was too skinny. One Italian grandma and one Korean.”

I perked up at the new details about River’s background. He somehow managed to be unassuming and compelling at the same time, with his lustrous dark hair and striking features that spoke to his combined heritage. “So you were spoiled and never learned to cook for yourself?”

“That’s one way to look at it. I’d say I chose to focus on other things.”

“Computers?” I supplied. But he just shrugged, going quiet again.

River was a tough one to figure out, and I assumed he liked it that way.

I wondered about Owen’s family history and origins. He’d shared some of it, but I wanted to hear all about his childhood. His grandmothers. I hadn’t even told him about my mom, who’d left me and my dad when I was a toddler.

It was yet another reminder that Owen and I didn’t really know one another. Not as well as I wanted. I hoped we would get the chance before my time in Hartley was up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Genevieve

Grabbing a glass of water,I sat on River’s couch and scrolled my phone. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.

Owen said, “It’s me.”

River didn’t react, too absorbed in what he was doing, so I went and checked the peephole, then let Owen inside. “Hey there.” Owen’s voice was all sexy and deep, giving me pleasant shivers. Right away, he reached for my hand and squeezed it. As if he’d been missing my touch.

Our hats bumped as he leaned in for a quick kiss. Then another. I was tempted to make it three, but when I glanced over my shoulder, River was smirking at us.

“Quit it with that cowboy magic.” I fit the snapback onto my head again and fixed Owen’s hat, which had gone crooked. “Tell us what happened.”

Owen recounted his conversation with Trooper Sykes and how Rossiter had most likely taken the coin. “The more I consider it, the more I think it was an impulse. Rossiter saw the coin, picked it up, not thinking ahead to us finding out. His calling in sick today suggests the same. He’s reacting without a firm plan.”

“I’m familiar with the type,” River said. “The idiot who’s somehow convinced he’s the smartest person in the room. I mean, Iamoften the smartest person in the room, but that’s different.”

I snorted. “Whatever was in Rossiter’s mind, he thought it was worth the risk of getting caught. We just don’t know why, or if he knows what the coin really means. Somehow, that coin wound up in Ace Tucker’s hands, and that guy hardly seemed like a sophisticated criminal either.”

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