Page 42 of Hidden Fears
He laughs, scratching his chin. “I’ll make sure to ask her next time.”
“You do that.” I give him a stern look, making him clamp his mouth shut. He still has that smug look on his face, and there’s nothing I can do or say to erase it. People here live for drama when it doesn’t involve them.
“Do you have keys?”
“I think they’re in the car.” I nod toward the tin.
“Alrighty then.” He walks to the car, pulls a small set of tools hooked to a keychain, and goes to work. Once it’s open, he gets inside, complaining about the seat being so close to the steering wheel he nearly breaks his back. I suppress my smile because that was exactly my thought when I did the same. After shifting to neutral and leaving it like that, he climbs out. My eye starts twitching due to safety concerns, but Bobby’s been around the block and knows how to pull a car out of the mud.
“Can you do it all without damaging it?” I ask carefully, trying to sound professional and not too eager.
“Yeah,” he takes off his cap, scratches his head, and puts it back on. “The car is light. I’ll just pull it out and put it on the bed. It’ll be fine.” Before walking out, he sends me a smirk. “Worrying about your girlfriend sending you to the doghouse?” Giggling he adds in a giddy voice, “So good to see you being just like the rest of us.”
I don’t know what he means, and quite frankly, I rarely listen to Bobby because he, Marina, the local diner owner, and Paul, her boyfriend, are the local gossipy bunch. Which means he’ll blow this story out of proportion by the time he reaches the body shop.
I sigh, checking my watch. Eight twenty-five.
When he’s done, and Josie’s car is loaded onto his truck, he tells me that he’ll drop it off at Justin’s and drives off.
I get to my cruiser and head toward the coffee shop. Jennica has been doing me a solid by holding the front, and I owe the woman her favorite coffee and donuts. For the rest of her life.
When I walk into the shop, I’m greeted by a couple of people in line, and they quiet down the instant they see me, feeling guilty as if I caught them red-handed with theft.
“Sheriff!” Donna, the owner of the shop, calls out. Well, it’s technically Dunkin’, but it only sells Donna’s goods—it’s a complicated story. “Here for a cup of joe?”
“Make it your fancy-schmancy latte Jennica loves so much. The largest cup, please.” And then I add, sighing, “And a box of donuts.”
“Oh!” She brightens. “Got some sins to wash away?”
I send her the lopsided smile I know she loves. “You got it right, ma’am.”
“You boy!” she swats her hand my way. “Your mama raised a flirt.”
I smile—shyly this time—and shrug my shoulders. I need Jennica to have the best coffee, and Donna can make the best coffee when she’s in a good mood.
She busies herself with two other orders, giving them to the others in the shop, and then shoos them away. With my order, she takes her time. While she’s mixing the oat milk my best-in-command loves so much, she sends me a curious look.
“So, Kenny,” she starts, fishing, more like it. “I heard something interesting this morning.”
“Does it happen to be what you were discussing when I came in?” I raise a brow.
“Well,” she giggles. “Iwasn’t discussing anything.” She bats her eyelashes at me, making me snort. Right. “But I heard something.”
“What have you heard?” I place my elbow on the counter, leaning against it, pretending to be calm.
“I heard that you and your lady were doing some naked activities on your front porch.”
“Did we?” I deadpan.
“Yes.” She nods enthusiastically. “Very much so.”
I sigh. “Have you already spoken to my mother, Donna?”
Her cheeks pinken enough to give me an answer.
“Give me that coffee, Donna.” I sternly point at the plastic cup in her hands and put cash on the counter.
She passes the cup of iced coffee to me, fills another with steaming hot coffee, and places it in a to-go tray. Then she fixes a few donuts in a box and carefully places it in front of me.
