Page 108 of Moonshine Kiss
“You don’t mind missing the tree decorating?”
She snickered. The Moonshine Tasting always ended with tasters drunkenly decorating the bottom six feet of the twenty-foot spruce on the square in front of the bank. Tomorrow town maintenance workers would undo the mess and decorate it the right way. But for one shining night, Bootleg Springs proudly wore its mess.
“I think I can skip a year,” Cassidy said, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth before pulling on my bottom lip with her teeth.
“If you don’t walk away right now, we won’t make it home. It’ll be in an alley with a chicken as a witness,” I warned her.
I was so hard I was going to have a zipper imprint on my dick.
Her eyes sparkled at me, and I realized I’d never seen a prettier girl in all my life. Lust and love coiled deep in my gut and bloomed like a fucking rose. With Cassidy, I had it all.
“Let’s go home,” she said, taking my hand and pulling me toward the mouth of the alley.
“Oh, excuse me. Sorry!” Cassidy stopped suddenly, and I rammed into her back, knocking her right into Judge Kendall’s arms.
51
Bowie
Icould feel Cassidy’s panic when she jumped back, yanking her hand free from mine. Judge and Mrs. Kendall looked back and forth between us. It was odd knowing that both our families were so tied up in each other. But given the circumstances, both sides had done their best to avoid each other since the news of the sweater broke.
“Mr. Bodine,” Judge Kendall said formally. “It’s nice to see you.”
“You too, sir,” I said, offering my hand for a shake.
“And Deputy Tucker.” His gaze flicked back to Cassidy. Calculating as if distantly interested. “My wife told me she shared those photos with you.”
Cassidy swallowed audibly. “Yes, sir.”
“I certainly hope you’ll be able to finally put this ugliness behind us. I’m sure Mr. Bodine and the rest of his family would agree.”
What in the hell was going on?
“The investigating officer was very interested in the photos,” Cassidy said. The tips of her ears were bright pink, but she managed a professional tone.
Mrs. Kendall let out a shuddery breath. “It’s time we let this matter rest. Mr. Bodine,” she said, addressing me. “Bowie. I’m truly sorry for the pain and suffering the selfish actions of my daughter caused your family. I don’t believe I ever met either of your parents. But I feel as though I owe them an apology as well.”
I had no idea what to say to that. The parents of the girl my father was suspected of murdering were telling me no hard feelings. Our lawyer Jayme would murder me if she caught wind of me talking to the Kendalls.
“Thank you for the kind words,” I said lamely.
Judge Kendall cleared his throat as if he were about to make a big speech. “I think both our families are ready for a fresh start,” he said. “And we’d both be served best by a swift resolution to this baseless investigation.”
“Yes, sir.” I had no idea what in the hell the man was talking about. But in West Virginia, you just nodded real polite and sir-ed or ma’am-ed your way out of the conversation.
“Deputy, I hope we can count on you to do what’s necessary, what’s best for both the Kendalls and the Bodines,” Judge Kendall said. The look he gave her seemed like it carried a message with it. But it was indecipherable to me.
Cassidy made some noise about telling them to enjoy their evening. The Kendalls turned away from the festivities and walked on into the night.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” She paced the mouth of the alley.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
“What are the odds the Kendallsaren’tgoing to tell Detective Connelly the next time he pays them a visit that they saw me making out with you?”
“Cassidy, this is Bootleg Springs. If the cops recused themselves from every case involving someone they know there’d be no one left to investigate anything.”
“I know that and you know that. But Connelly doesn’t know that!”
