Buzz Off - By Hannah Reed Page 0,42

exactly a heavyweight.”

“A head injury indicated she was struck with a flat object, possibly the kayak paddle. Then held under.”

“Oh.”

“Johnny Jay is going to be pissed when he finds out you withheld information,” Hunter said.

“That’s why I came to you. Can you help me?”

“I’m not a miracle worker, but I’ll see what I can do. It would be best if you went to him voluntarily.”

“I will, but at least soften him up a little?”

Hunter’s eyes went smoky. “Let’s get you out of the middle of this mess as soon as we can.” He reached across the table and took my hand in his. I could definitely feel a connection through our fingers.

Then he touched my face, gently and caressing, and I knew exactly where this was heading. And at the last second, to my dismay, I remembered Carrie Ann.

I jumped up from the table. Part of me, the immature me, thought Hunter was a cute flirt. The other part thought he wasn’t behaving much better than Clay had. He didn’t have any excuse for coming on to me when he was involved with my cousin, in case he’d forgotten.

“Jerk,” I said, spitting a little of my own kind of venom, just enough to sting.

The look on Hunter’s face was one of stunned disbelief, but I didn’t hang around to talk it out. Men! So dense! Were there any good ones left in this world?

I stormed out and almost hit his truck when I swung my car around. Not that that would have made a difference to my rusty truck, but it would have served Hunter right.

The Wild Clover came into sight before I calmed down enough to realize I had handled the situation badly. Apparently, my scars from Clay’s infidelity were deeper than I thought.

Sixteen

Carrie Ann was sitting on a bench outside The Wild Clover with an unlit cigarette dangling between her lips. She quickly removed it and tried to hide it in her palm when she saw me coming.

“I wasn’t going to light up,” she said when she saw my eyes following her hand. “Honest. Search me if you want. I don’t even have a lighter with me.” She stood up in case I wanted to frisk her, but I had other things on my mind.

There were enough cars on the street to indicate that business was booming inside the market. “Did you leave Holly inside alone?”

Carrie Ann must have figured that I wasn’t going to scold her for the cigarette because she stuck it back in the side of her mouth, unlit, and talked around it. “She’s a whiz at the register. And I needed a break. I’m not used to working straight through without stopping for a few smokes.”

“Looks like we’re really busy,” I said, looking at all the cars and spotting my grandmother’s car parked close by. Then I remembered.

Every Monday afternoon a group of seniors played cards in the old choir loft. My original vision of the market had included community events like this one. It made me feel good to know the store was like a second home to them.

“What’s today’s game?” I asked.

“Sheepshead,” Carrie Ann said. “As usual, all the old fogies drove themselves here, whether they lived two miles away or two doors down. Business has been steady, but not too much to handle.”

Sheepshead is Wisconsin’s state card game, brought over by all the Germans who settled here. If you live in Wisconsin, you know how to play sheepshead. That’s the Monday group’s favorite card game, with rummy coming in a close second.

Carrie Ann took the cigarette out of her mouth, looked at it longingly, and rearranged it in her mouth. “Are you ready for the showdown at the Town Council meeting tonight?” she asked.

“As ready as I’ll ever be. Will you come for support? I need your vote.”

“I’m really sorry, but I can’t.”

“You could bring Hunter along.”

Carrie Ann’s mouth dropped open and the cigarette hung on the edge of her lower lip for a moment before she tucked it back in with her tongue. If nothing else, my cousin was a professional cigarette juggler. “How did you know about that?”

“It’s obvious,” I said.

“It is?”

I nodded.

“Don’t tell anybody, okay.”

“’K,” I said, sounding like my sister. “It’s our secret. So are you coming tonight or not?”

“Not,” Carrie Ann said.

I don’t know what possessed me, it must have been all those emotions bouncing around inside my body, the anger and frustration, because I reached out and grabbed that stupid dangling cigarette from her mouth