LITMIR.BIZ

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chess pawns. I’m dealing with this now. Before Aunt Jackie calls in the lawyers.” I broke off a piece of the battered fish. Tilting at windmills could wait until after lunch. I settled in to enjoy my food.

      Chapter 2

      “How did your day go?” Greg King, South Cove’s police detective and my boyfriend, was sitting next to me in the swing on my back porch eating fried chicken straight from the bucket. I loved how he’d just show up with dinner and not expect me to cook all the time. Apparently, according to tonight’s impromptu picnic, he didn’t require me to set a table either.

      “Besides finding out my store is a fire trap? Okay I guess. I had a good lunch.” I glanced up from the chicken I was carefully pulling apart to share with Emma, my golden retriever. “Wait, you already knew, didn’t you? That’s why you brought dinner.”

      “I might have talked to Amy, who filled me in on your fight with our esteemed fire chief.” He wiped his hands and face with a paper napkin. “Do you need a hug?”

      “I need someone to rein this guy in.” I fed the last piece of meat to Emma and tucked the rest of the food away in the box it came in. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about it.”

      “This must be serious if it’s affecting your eating.” Greg was able to dodge the biscuit I flung at him and Emma snapped it up.

      “Let’s talk about your work. Any hitches in preparing for the festival?” I put the box on the side table and gave Emma a shake of my head, warning her my leftovers weren’t fair game. I love my dog, but sometimes she has a one-track mind. Especially when she smells fried chicken.

      “We’re bringing in some off-duty officers from Bakerstown for the weekend, but mostly it’s business as usual. With a few thousand more visitors than a normal day.” He gave the rest of his biscuit to Emma and stood to take his box out to the trash. “Toby told you he won’t be able to cover any shifts that weekend, right? I’ve got him working full-time plus overtime this week. It’s not that I don’t trust the Bakerstown guys, but I know Toby and Tim.”

      “I get it. Toby’s last scheduled barista shift was today. He’s yours until the festival is over.” I thought about the upcoming schedule. “Oh, and I’m working Aunt Jackie’s shift tomorrow. She and Mary are going into town.”

      “Girls’ night?”

      “In a way. They both have doctor appointments in the morning, and then they’re doing lunch and a shopping spree. She’ll probably be home early evening, but I told her I’d take the shift. She’s been working a lot lately. She needed the break.” And, I thought, maybe she’d not be as grumpy if she got out of town for a while. My aunt was used to living in the city, where she could visit a museum or eat out at a fancy restaurant any night of the week. I loved having her here, but South Cove ran at a slower pace than she was used to.

      “No worries. I’ve got a final planning meeting for the festival with Darla and the council tomorrow anyway.” Greg and I were only dating, but it felt like more. Probably because we saw each other at least once a day. He lived in an apartment outside of town, but he liked hanging at my house more. And he loved Emma. All in all, it wasn’t a bad situation.

      * * * *

      The next morning, I called Amy to see if she had found the regulations. Her tone told me that the mayor was standing over her and she couldn’t talk. But I did get a promise to have a return call by the end of the day. The shop was empty after my commuter crowd had wandered in for morning java on their way to work. Aunt Jackie had talked to an electrical contractor who was coming in on Thursday for a look. I glanced at the list of “violations” and did the simple ones like unpacking the few boxes of books I’d stored by the back door. I even got on chairs and cleaned the dust off the ventilation covers. By the time Sasha came in for her shift, the place was gleaming, the bookshelves were all stocked, and I was beat.

      “The place looks amazing.” Sasha grinned. “Slow morning?”

      “That and too much energy from being anxious about this whole Barry issue. I swear, I’d like to tie him to a chair and shave off that long hair he’s so proud of. He looks like he’s lost in the seventies.” I sank on a stool, sipping the mocha I’d just made for myself. “But at least I can say we’re making progress on the issues.”

      “I heard Josh Thomas got a three-page list. Kyle says he thought Josh was going to have a stroke right there and then.” Sasha got settled behind the counter, washing up and putting on an apron before pouring her own coffee and joining Jill.

      “You and Kyle talk a lot.” I hid my grin behind my cup and took a sip.

      Sasha shrugged. “He’s becoming a friend. He really likes working for Mr. Thomas. Although, at first, he thought his boss had a stick up his butt.”

      “The kid’s a good judge of character.” I personally knew Josh actually had a stick up his own butt, but I let that slide. Are the two of you serious?”

      Sasha choked on the sip of coffee she’d just taken. “What, like dating? No way. He’s not my type at all. I go for a more alpha guy. Someone who knows what he wants.”

      “You’ve been reading too many romances.” I smiled at the reference to the popular hero type in the romance genre.

      “I did want to talk to you about someone though . . .”

      Darla burst into the shop before Sasha could finish. “I swear, I’m going to kill that guy.”

      I glanced at Sasha, who read my unspoken request and stepped around the counter to make Darla’s favorite drink, a double-shot mocha, extra whip. “I’d ask who, but I’m pretty sure I know. I take it Wild Fire Barry made his way to the winery.”

      “Not only the winery, but every business from midtown up to my place. They all have a list of violations and a threat from him to close them until after the festival at best. I’ve been handling calls all morning.” She grabbed the cup from Sasha and took a long sip. “Thanks, but give me another in a to-go cup. I’m heading over to camp out at the mayor’s office today until he calls off his dog and fixes this problem.”

      “He can’t close the entire town, can he?” Sasha set the to-go cup on the counter and came back around to sit with the group.

      Darla snorted. “He can try. And he’s making my life hell right now with all the phone calls I’m getting. Luckily, I already knew what he’d done to you, so I had some background when the calls started last night. Otherwise, I would have gone ballistic.”

      “Well, I’ve done all the corrections I can, and we have an electrician coming in tomorrow for a review of the rest, but I’m thinking he’ll clear most of these as nonissues.” I’d had the place gone over and any old wiring replaced before I’d opened the shop six years ago. Especially since I was going to live in the apartment above the store. Now that my aunt lived there, I was grateful I’d spent the extra time and money on bringing the place up to code. “I’ll let you know what I find out, but Amy’s trying to pull the city regulations and see exactly what power this guy has over South Cove.”

      “I don’t care what the regulations are. He’s not ruining my festival.” Darla slid off the stool she’d just climbed onto. To say Darla was short was an understatement. The woman couldn’t have been over five foot. But what she lacked in height, she made up in determination.

      I felt better somehow knowing Darla was championing the cause. Maybe the mayor would listen to her. My history with the mayor was more of a hate relationship than a love-hate one. And we both liked it that way.

      “Of course, Matt says I’m overreacting. He says Barry’s a pretty good guy, just a little intense. But he has to say good things about Barry. Matt’s still trying to get approved as a full-time volunteer for the crew.” Darla shrugged. “Did you know they get paid for every call out? He wants the money so he can save for his own place. He says we’re moving inland and starting a farm as soon as we can swing it. Can you see me as a farmer’s wife?”

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