watched him.
Finally, he met my gaze. He waved his fork at my chicken burger and fries. “Aren’t you hungry?”
“Why aren’t we talking about what happened to Frank? I thought that’s why we were doing lunch today.”
He stopped eating, picked up his water, and took a long drink. Then he took my hand. “The reason we’re not talking about what happened is, I wanted just a little time with my girl before I go headlong into this investigation. You know how things can get when I’ve got an important case going. I don’t come home for dinner. If I come home, I’m late, and I leave early. I just wanted one hour where I could pretend that the next few days aren’t going to be total crap.”
Now I felt like a jerk. I squeezed his hand. “Sorry. I should have trusted you. I just want to clear my head of the memory, and right now, I’m trying too hard to keep everything in my head. I don’t want to forget something important.”
“You already gave me plate and vehicle information. If we’re lucky, the BOLO I put out before I left the station will have him in some jail north of us by the time lunch is over.” He nodded to my plate. “So are you going to eat that and talk to me about sweet little nothings?”
“Sure, why not.” I cut my sandwich in half so I could get my hands around it. No matter what happened in my life, I could always count on Lille’s food being outstanding. And this chicken sandwich was no exception. “Did I tell you I’m planning the women’s section of the party?”
He choked on a sip of water. “Are you kidding? Does she even know you?”
“Of course she knows me. We’ve been friends forever. Oh, you were dissing my mad party planning skills.”
“Honey, you hate planning the book events that come to your bookstore. You already told me you put all the event planning onto Deek as soon as you hired him.”
I shrugged, enjoying my sandwich. “He’s good at it. It’s a shame not to use an employee’s talent when you can.”
“That’s your story…” He laughed, pushing away the empty plate and leaning back in his chair. He checked his phone.
“You’re going to have to get going, right?” I knew that look. Playtime was over.
He drew out his notebook and clicked his pen. “Tell me what happened.”
* * * *
After Greg left, I stayed at Lille’s to finish my lunch and, just because I was feeling a little depressed, I ordered some apple pie à la mode. I’d run tomorrow. By the time I got home the mail had come, and I took the pile to the back porch, where I could hang out with Emma after she made the yard safe from any roving wildlife or bunnies. My dog hated bunnies. I think they teased her when I was at work and she could see them from the back window.
I flipped through the mail and opened a large envelope with Keller Construction on the return address. I unfolded the papers and started reading. Emma had joined me, so I read aloud just so she could know what was going on. “‘Dear Ms. Gardner. We are starting the process for developing a large water park in your area. Due to your house’s proximity to the highway, it’s in a prime spot for us to consider purchasing and building our project on your land. If you are interested in selling, please contact me and we can set a time to talk about our offer.’”
I folded the paper back into the envelope and tossed it onto the swing. “What is it with all the drama around the house lately? First that writer stops us and wants to write about the wall. Then the wall isn’t going to be approved, then maybe, then Frank dies, and now someone wants to buy the house? Way too much stuff going on around here for my taste.”
Emma barked, but it was at Toby coming in the driveway. He hustled over to his shed apartment and unlocked the door. I watched him disappear into what could only be described as an ultratiny house. Twenty minutes later, he came back out, still dressed in uniform and headed back to his truck.
I was waiting for him at the gate. “What’s going on?”
“Jeez Jill, you scared me to death.” He tried going around me.
“Hold up, buddy, what’s going on, why are you here?” I studied