Concealed Hearts (Hometown Jasper #4) - Nicky James Page 0,70
him. Anyhow, he said—” Matthew paused. “Well, he tried to say—I’m interpreting the best I can here—that he heard from Kelsey that Belinda was going to officially invite you for dinner. He said that Kelsey said that Belinda said it was time to step up and make a move because she was getting too old to wait for you to take the initiative. Tonight was a golden opportunity, and she was taking the bull by the horns—or something to that effect.”
“Josiah said that.”
“No, Belinda did. She was talking to Nally, but Kelsey overheard and told Josiah. Actually, she told Shay who told Josiah, and Josiah made a fumbling attempt to tell me so I’d warn you.”
I blinked at my new office administrator, working through the chain of gossip. “What does it say about me that I completely understood you?”
He grinned. “That you’re a true Jasper resident.”
I sighed and shook my head. “So, I’m being targeted by Belinda tonight?”
“Correct. I thought you’d want to know because Harriet told me that she and Julie were talking, and apparently, John spilled to Julie about your secret lady friend. Julie told Harriet, and Harriet told Lucas and me. So, if the secret lady friend isn’t Belinda—which, with this new turn of events, seems unlikely—then I thought you’d want to know. Is it Belinda?”
I stared at Matthew, blinking, parsing through the long stream of word vomit, muddling through the ‘He said, she said’ of it all. “Is who Belinda?”
“Your secret lady friend.”
“No, and John needs to stop spreading rumors. He knows better.”
Matthew’s grin took up his whole face. “Well, John’s out twenty bucks then, so that might teach him.”
“I’m sorry?”
“We have an office pool going on. John had twenty bucks on you secretly dating Belinda. I never thought so. It’s Melody from the craft store, isn’t it?”
I frowned. “An office pool?”
Matthew clamped his mouth shut and blinked innocently. “Or not. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I glared. “People are betting on my love life?”
He nodded. His slicked hair didn’t budge, but his cheeks turned rosy with his guilt.
“And what if you’re all wrong? Then who gets the pool of money?”
Matthew’s gaze slipped sideways as he thought. “That’s not likely. Odds are, we’ve covered the most eligible women in town. Is it Melody?”
“Get back to work,” I snarled, not answering him. I turned to walk away then flipped back around. Matthew was still in the doorway. “And dissolve this pool. Today. I don’t want to hear about it again.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I headed to my cruiser, I went through all the potential women in town, trying to figure out who my staff considered eligible. Melody? From the craft store? I didn’t know if she was the heavier-set woman who wore the scarves all the time or the one with the heavy jewelry and excessive makeup. Both of them had a good ten or fifteen years on me. Not that there was anything wrong with their ages, but was that the best my officers thought I could do?
An office pool. Why was I not surprised?
So every one of my constables knew I was seeing someone. Thanks, John. Were they keeping tabs on where I went every day after work? If they were betting on me and I refused to come clean, eventually they’d step up their game so they could declare a winner.
I didn’t like it. It was dangerous.
We’d increased our patrols around town with the summer months. Not only did we have an influx of tourists in the area with decent weather, but with the kids out of school, there was a higher potential for problems. There wasn’t enough for teenagers to do around town, so they liked to get into trouble.
I radioed John the minute I was on the road.
“Go ahead, Chief.”
“Y’all are betting on who I’m dating now? I oughta fire your ass.”
His laughter came through as he spoke. “Shit. You weren’t supposed to know about that.”
“Yeah, well, Matt’s a motormouth when he gets going.”
“You’re just noticing that? Boy, that kid can talk. I think he gets lonely at the desk all day. Get him going, and he never stops.”
“I see that. Look, any chance you want to go to the town meeting tonight?”
If I could avoid an uncomfortable encounter with Belinda, it would be best. There were only so many times I liked disappointing people, and she was a sweet woman. Besides, if I had to let her down gently, it would be better without an audience.