she’d felt ashamed after Roy died and they lost the ranch. She knew she’d failed her family, and she’d figured everyone else knew it too. But she couldn’t bring herself to hang her head in shame, so she’d tossed her hair and walked away whenever folks tried to throw her a pity party.
She resisted the urge to toss it now and set off down the street. She’d crossed about three sidewalk squares before Eddie caught up with her.
“I got it all taken care of now.” Eddie wasn’t the brightest dog in the kennel, but he was the good-natured one that never snapped back when the others chewed his ear. “I put another dime in yours too, just in case. Mel don’t have much to do but watch them meters, so you gotta be careful.”
“Mel’s still the sheriff?”
“He likes folks to call him the Marshall. He’s got the first five seasons of Gunsmoke on DVD, and he can make that squinty face good as James Arness. He says it gets criminals to confess just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“Two Shot has criminals?”
“Naw. Mel does all his squintin’ at folks who forget to feed the meters.”
Sarah paused to wait for the light at the corner of Main and Jewel Streets, but Eddie jaywalked without even looking right or left.
“How long have we had a traffic light?” Sarah asked.
“Two weeks. Nobody pays any attention to it ’cept Mel. Between that and the parking meters, he’s like a dog chasin’ his tail. He quit the poker group, you know. Says he got no time for games.”
“You’re kidding.” The poker group had been running as long as Sarah had been alive. It included the town barber and a couple of retired ranchers.
“Yep. And now he says it’s illegal to gamble in public places, so they can’t play in the diner anymore.”
He escorted her up the diner steps and held the door, causing the cowbell dangling there to clang out its usual announcement of a new arrival. Fortunately, everybody looked up and saw Eddie, then went back to whatever they were doing. It gave her a chance to step inside and take a deep breath, remembering all the resolutions she’d made. She wasn’t going to talk about Carrigan. Not this first day. She was going to reestablish herself as part of the town first.
Scanning the spinning stools and vinyl booths to the left of the door, she felt an acute sense of déjà vu. There was Mr. Jenson, who’d retired from teaching English at the high school a year before Sarah had graduated. There was the poker group, looking bored without their cards to distract them. There was Joe Reynolds, slouched at the counter all by his lonesome. Joe had never had a regular job that she knew of but had a talent for fixing stuff that kept him busy all around Two Shot. He didn’t talk much, which was a blessing because he’d seen under everybody’s sink and into their basements over the years. He probably knew more secrets than the CIA.
There were a few people she didn’t know at the counter and in the booths, probably truckers and tourists passing through. She let the door swing shut behind her and glanced to the right. There were only two tables over there, and one of them was reserved for the staff so they could drink Suze’s rotgut coffee on their breaks. The other one was occupied by…
Lane.
He was sitting by the window, chatting companionably with Trevor over scrambled eggs and toast. He hoisted a thick white mug of coffee to his lips, his eyes fixed on her over the rim. Telltale crinkles at the corners told her he was smiling as he sipped.
Dammit. She’d been glad he was gone, but now he’d never know it. He probably thought she’d tracked him like a bird dog running for a downed duck.
Reflexively, she backed away and slammed into the door, setting the bell to clanging. Everybody in the place looked up to see what the racket was about this time and she froze, plastered against the glass.
***
Lane watched Sarah bounce off the diner’s front door to the accompaniment of the clanging cowbell. Every head in the place turned toward her. He waited for the usual greetings, the inside jokes and backslapping comments that acknowledged every Two Shot native, but the diner was remarkably silent. Evidently Two Shot didn’t like her any better than she liked Two Shot.
She had her best smile on, the one she always