Page 38 of Justice & Liberty

But...I turned to him. “No one else works in the shop at all?” I assumed that was why he was kicking everyone out, anyway.

“No one,” Hunter answered for him, nodding.

And that was all I really needed to know. The man couldn’t be expected to run a whole coffee shop on his own. It wasn’t like Mom’s shop, with just the register to worry about. Someone had to make drinks too. One person couldbarely do it all in the off hours, but the busy times? No chance.

I frowned in thought, crossing my arms over my chest, and turned to him. “You know all about how everything works? Open, close, bank drops, paperwork, ordering?”

He was still scowling as he turned to me, but when he found Hunter and me facing him, he just...went lax. “No. I mean, most of it. But Sabrina did all the paperwork herself. And...” he looked away, head down, but then seemed to brace himself, drawing his back straight again. “What if me keeping the shop open only makes things worse? If...if she’s found guilty of killing him, she can’t inherit the shop. So any money I make here will only make everything more complicated with his estate, won’t it?”

Hunter cocked her head, squinting at him. “You think she did it?”

“No!” The response was almost explosive, and the main result was that for the first time, I had a twinge of real like for Walter. “Of course she didn’t kill him. But people are accused—and probably convicted—of murders they didn’t commit all the time.”

Which was probably fair; I honestly didn’t know the statistics on that, but it was why I was fundamentally opposed to the death penalty.

“You get paid a salary?” Hunter asked him.

“Yeah.”

She nodded. “You should probably keep working so you can keep getting paid. You’re going to need money to hire a lawyer.”

He groaned and slumped back against the counter. “We make coffee. Even with the whole take from the shop every day for the next month, I don’t think we could afford a lawyer.”

“You’re also going to have to hire someone to help yourun the place while Sabrina isn’t here,” I said, wincing. “Which is no easy feat in South Liberty. But no one could expect you to run the place yourself.”

He turned to look at me, his expression utter confusion. “I—I thought you beat her boyfriends up. I thought, like, maybe you didn’t like, um?—”

Hunter interrupted his words with her deep husky laughter, which...damn that was hot. She was...wait, no, I had to defend my honor.

“I only ever beat up the one who hit her,” I insisted. “I don’t know what the people in this town say about me, but?—”

“It was her grandfather. He said . . .”

For some reason, he didn’t seem to want to explain what her grandfather had said, and well, I’d mentioned that Ephraim Collins was an ass, right?

A huge ass.

Hunter leaned in, as though she had to impart a secret. “Let me guess, the big bad lesbian was coming back, and Sabrina was secretly also a lesbian, so they were going to screw around behind your back?” The words were all in English, but together, they made about as much sense as a squirrel water skiing show. Walter winced, glancing over at me but not saying a word, which was answer in and of itself.

I stared at him for a minute, mouth open, before snapping myself out of it. “You—you know Bree is straight, right? She’s not even bi. No women at all. I mean, I had a huge crush on her in high school, but that was years ago, and it was never anything. She’s not even my type, now that I’ve figured out what that is.”

I got a whiff of oak moss, and realized Hunter was closer to me than before. “No?” she asked. “Not into brunettes? How about blondes?”

I could feel my lips curving into what I dearly hoped wasa flirty smirk, even as distracted as I was by the whole mess of a situation. “Love all the hair colors. Prefer women I don’t have to worry I might accidentally snap in half.”

Walter huffed and seriously, stamped his foot in annoyance. It didn’t get less weird when he spoke. “Okay, you know what, this is really pissing me off, because this is actually cute, you two, but can we focus? Sabrina is in prison.”

“Jail,” Hunter corrected, turning to him. “And you’re right, people get convicted of things they didn’t do, but that’s not going to happen here. First off, Sabrina’s a very pretty white girl, and secondly, we’re not going to sit here and let it happen. Also, I know someone who can fix your bookkeeping issues and who knows how to run a restaurant, if you’re willing to work with her.”

He blinked repeatedly, then shook his head. “Are you joking? You’re telling me you can fix everything, and you’re worried I won’t be okay with it?”

“She’s not what you’ll be expecting.”

“I don’t care if she’s the queen of England. If she’s in, she’s hired. I’m sure Sabrina will agree. Does she know how to work an espresso machine?”

“She does,” Hunter agreed. “She worked her way through college as a barista, and she’s a certified public accountant. She’s just having a hard time finding a job right now.”

“Send her to me,” he said. “You’re vouching, she’s hired. It’s not like there’s a giant pool of applicants around here for me to look into. But...for now I really am closing. I can’t run the place by myself.”

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