Page 5 of The Moment He Saw Her

“You try and make a run for it, and they’ll lock you up. Our mayor, Tripp Lyntacky, had an aunt who loved square dancing. You may have seen Shelly’s statue on the way in?” Ryder looked down at the woman he was nudging toward the door, and she shook her head. “Well, you’re going to know everything about her before you leave.”

He opened the door and urged her out into the cold morning air.

“I really don’t want to dance,” Libby said.

“Anyone unlucky enough to be within Lyntacky’s borders at this moment has to dance the grapevine twist or be locked up. You see, Shelly used to practice for the national square dance championships in the streets here, and when she died, her relatives decided to honor her memory by tormenting us.”

“I have no idea what to say to that, and your little town is not my town, so I don’t have to do anything.”

Ryder was often annoyed about his town, but no way in hell did he tolerate anyone looking down their nose at it. There had been a definite sneer in Libby Gulliver’s words when she’d said the words “little town.”

“Well, you go on, then, and take a walk up the street and see how far that gets you,” he muttered.

People were stomping out of warm buildings, puffs of white coming from their mouths as they cursed under their breaths.

“I’ll put something on Tripp’s next pizza that makes him sorry he dragged us out here in these temperatures,” Enzo Barone, the pizza shop owner next to Ryder, said as he towed his wife, Aria, toward the small group forming.

“Good morning, everyone. A little exercise will start your day the right way.”

“LouJean, no offense or anything, but not everyone is a morning person,” Ryder said. “This is not the way I want to start the day.”

The woman tsked but added nothing further. Her eyes then moved to Libby Gulliver, and Ryder saw the wheels turning in her head.

“This is Libby. Her car broke down, so I made her coffee. She’s thinking of walking and not dancing,” he said, stomping out any gossip before it started that she was his girl and setting LouJean on her.

“Libby, hello, dear. How unfortunate that your car broke down,” LouJean said. “But you can’t walk away when the music starts. Everyone has to dance to honor Shelly.”

Shock was the only word he could label Libby’s expression with. Her eyes went to him, then around the people milling before them. Some were stomping their feet; others blowing into their hands to warm their noses.

“I hope Bob can fix your car for you, dear.”

“Thank you.”

At least she had manners under that makeup and tan.

“Right. Just follow me, and don’t trip,” Ryder said brusquely.

“I could just watch, then, and not walk away.”

“You think I was joking about being arrested?” She nodded. “My uncle is the chief of police, and my brother a deputy. Trust me, it will happen.”

“You’re not serious?” Her eyes locked on his, and he noted one had a patch of hazel to the right of the pupil.

“Deadly. Small towns, sweetheart, there’s a whole lot of crazy that goes with the good.”

“Amen.”

These words came from Luca Barone, eldest son of Aria and Enzo. He was bundled into a thick jacket and had his eyes on Libby.

“We’ve had this conversation, Luca. No women until you finish your studies. Your mom’s orders, remember?” Ryder told him.

The kid muttered, his mother cuffed him, and they danced.

“No one would believe me if I recounted this,” Libby said, gripping his fingers tight.

He wasn’t sure why the words annoyed him, as they mirrored his thoughts, but something about this woman did exactly that, and again, he wasn’t sure why.

“Have you been doing this all your life?” she asked.

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