of red hair named Rooster.
Talk about community spirit. It was something you’d only see in Good Riddance.
Lars peeled off a C-note and slid it across the table to Rooster. Rooster was the bookie. He’d take a bet on most anything. “Who’d you want to put your money on?”
Lars leveled a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look Rooster’s way.
The man held out his hands, palms up. “I have to ask. And hell, you might even want to go with the long shot.”
“I’m putting my money on me.”
Rooster grinned. “So is everyone else.” He lowered his voice as if he was sharing a confidence, even though everyone in the room could clearly hear him...well, except for Dwight. “I put a few bucks on Delphi. I had to. She’s such a long shot. Besides, I sort of felt sorry for her. It’d suck to have every bet against you.”
“No worries. I just hope you didn’t bet too much on her.”
“I’m here, ain’t I?” Rooster said with a toothy grin.
Lars clapped Rooster on the back. “Yep. And I sure appreciate it.” He looked to Merrilee for instructions. “What can I do?”
“We’re finishing up the last hundred now. You can take these over to the businesses. Start with Alyce’s bed-and-breakfast and work your way up one side of the street and then down the other. And of course, no one wears them until tomorrow morning. We’re cutting it close. It only gives you two days.”
“Yeah, but it’s two days of relentless attack.”
Bull smiled quietly. He knew that you never went into battle doubting the outcome. You went in to win.
“She’ll dig in her heels and put up a good fight,” Lars said. “I wouldn’t love her if she didn’t. But I’ll win.”
“And if you don’t?” Merrilee asked the question quietly.
“Then I’ve lost this particular battle, but I will ultimately win the war.” He almost felt sorry for Delphi, but it was for her own good. The woman was going to be miserable without him. And he was damn sure going to be miserable without her. He was just trying to save them both a lot of misery. Hell, one of them had to be in charge.
Juliette laughed at him across the table. “You sure changed your tune fast for a man who, just a few days ago, was referring to marriage as a ball and chain.”
“I’m a quick study. When faced with Delphi, why would I be stupid and ignore the obvious? The woman obviously is crazy about me. And I’m obviously crazy about her.”
“Lars always has been a rebel,” Dirk said. He looked at the buttons covering the table. “This suits you.”
“It’s unorthodox, that’s for sure,” Norris said, her admiration clear.
Delphi loves Lars. Simple. Direct. And maybe if she saw it often enough she’d realize it was the truth.
* * *
DELPHI DIDN’T WANT TO be paranoid, but it felt as if the whole town was watching her...and waiting for something.
She knocked on Skye’s door. They had a few minutes before the day started. Skye sat behind her desk sipping a cup of decaf. No more high-test for her.
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.”
“Uh, I don’t want to sound paranoid and I know you’ve lived here for a couple of years and you love it, but I’m getting this really weird vibe. I don’t know—it’s hard to explain.”
Skye, usually so composed, squirmed in her chair. “You know Good Riddance is a very involved community, Delphi. It’s a totally different culture than where we come from. People in Atlanta are friendly enough but they don’t get involved the way people here do.”
“Okay.” Delphi waited on the rest.
Finally Skye spoke again. “If you don’t want that pumpkin muffin, do you mind if I have it?”
That was it? “Sure. I mean, no problem. I don’t mind.”
Skye was pretty much inhaling anything that wasn’t tied down or wouldn’t fight back. Those twins of hers were ravenous.
“Skye...”
She looked up from peeling the paper off the bottom of the muffin. “Yeah?”
“You were talking about the sense of community and involvement in Good Riddance....” Delphi trailed off, hoping Skye would pick up the conversational thread.
“Uh-huh. That was it.”
That was it. Apparently the twins were sucking out her brain cells, as well, because her advice had been a bunch of nothing. And it seemed to her that Skye was avoiding her.
Fine. She’d landed in some Alaskan bush version of The Twilight Zone. Whatever. They had another jam-packed day. And the day after tomorrow was Nelson’s last day.
It was also the day that Lars left. She