LITMIR.BIZ

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      Jessie was the first to recognize the threat. “Now, Daisy. She didn’t mean nothin’.” His knees groaned as he got up and approached the table, but no one paid him no mind.

      Especially Daisy. She was too busy seeing red—or in this case, blue—the blue blouse that was showing off Reba Sue’s cleavage.

      “That’s. My. Husband.”

      Everyone but Reba Sue winced with each word. She was oblivious to the threat standing before her in the eighty-some-year-old body. She dismissed the elderly woman as easily as if she were a just another woman trying to get some attention.

      “Daisy, you know darn well the man is a menace,” Reba Sue said, and then took a sip of her tea like she’d made a comment about the weather.

      And just as I thought Daisy was going to reach for a handful of Reba Sue’s perfectly coiffed blond hair, Reba Sue let out a horrible noise that could compete with a herd of screeching cats on a hot tin roof. She pushed her chair back from the table with so much force, the table drove into Daisy and knocked her back into her chair. Reba Sue went the opposite direction, but our store had old wooden floors that had seen more than a little wear and tear through the years, and Liza just happened to find a divot in one of the planks with the right back leg of her chair.

      Her legs flew up in the air, and her frilly skirt had a new hem length…at her waist as the contents of her glass went directly in her face, and she crashed against the floor.

      Her screeching came to an end as Daddy ran back up the stairs.

      “What in the—?” His mouth gaped for just a fraction of a second before he choked down a laugh and moved to help Reba Sue, who was sputtering and spitting tea from her position flat on her back with her legs up in the air displaying a pair of…granny panties.

      Mateo was right there with Daddy to help Reba Sue get upright and decent, and despite Reba Sue’s harsh words directed at the town’s octogenarian rodeo star, Jessie ran over to assist her any way he could. Most of the women, however, wore smirks or giggled. I picked up the glass before someone stepped on it. It was only then that I caught sight of movement on the floor scurrying behind Scarlet’s legs.

      “Someone kicked me and knocked me over!” Reba Sue yelled as she pulled tea-drenched hair out of her eyes and yanked her left arm then her right away from Daddy and Mateo.

      All eyes turned toward me. I’d been sitting directly across the table from Reba Sue.

      Fuzz buckets. Trouble was synonymous with my name—my nickname, anyway, which was Princess. But it wasn’t me who had knocked Reba Sue on her back. It was our pet pink armadillo who just happened to be named Princess as well.

      I saw the real culprit make her way downstairs as her toenails clicked on the stairs all the way down to the first floor. She’d committed her crime and made her getaway without anyone being the wiser.

      Chapter 2

      Mateo stuck around after my daddy and the others left. There wasn’t much to pick up, but I was avoiding the tearoom, the boxes in the corner, and any conversation they might inspire. Mateo was clearly waiting for the right time to bring it up. I was hoping that time never arrived before I had Cade’s permission to talk about the reason the tearoom was closed for business. I’d done a pretty good job of deflecting Mateo’s attempts at an interrogation for the past twenty minutes. Except now the loft was back in order, and we were alone.

      Mateo reached around me and took the book from my hand, placing it down on the table. Then he pulled me back against him and nuzzled my neck as his arms wrapped around my midsection. I couldn’t resist holding them in place.

      “Do you realize that none of your friends know we’re dating?” he asked.

      “What are you talking about?”

      “You haven’t told a single person that we are dating.”

      I spoke up without hesitation. “That’s not true.” I turned around in his embrace and looked him in the eyes. “Daddy knows, and Scarlet knows. Everyone else would have to be blind not to know.”

      “And yet not one of them felt uncomfortable talking about you getting back together with Cade in front of me.”

      I heard the front doors open and glanced down to see who was coming in the store. When I saw her signature purple clothing, I sighed. Liza Twaine was back. I squirmed in Mateo’s arms. His gaze followed mine, and he tightened his grip. “If she sees us together, she won’t bother you about Cade.”

      I pulled away. “If she sees us together, the gossip will be like wildfire. That’s not the type of PR we want for the store.”

      Mateo looked skeptical.

      “Besides, I don’t think that’s type of PR you want either, going into your next election.”

      Mateo didn’t have a chance to respond before Liza Twaine’s heels clicked up the stairway. “There you are. I was hoping to get a quote about your relationship with Cade Calloway for the evening news. I understand the mayor’s moving in with you?”

      I groaned as Mateo picked up one of the boxes I didn’t want him to notice. I saw him frown as he stared at the shipping label.

      Fuzz buckets.

      Liza didn’t seem to notice since she was on a mission. She stuck her phone in my face, and I could see a voice recorder app ticking away the time. Even Liza would have had more tact then to blatantly accuse me of infidelity in front of Mateo…if she knew Mateo and I were dating.

      I glanced at Mateo. He was wearing an I-told-you expression. Drat the man.

      “Mayor Calloway moved some of his belongings”—Liza moved her phone closer to my mouth as I spoke—“from the old barber shop down the street into our tearoom. He’s remodeling the building and needed some storage space. We were more than happy to help him out after everything he’s done for the Book Barn Princess and the town.” To finish my interview, I turned toward Mateo and put my arm around his waist after he set the box down on the table. Although his grin was barely visible, his arm snuck around me. My silent announcement of our relationship squelched any questions he had.

      Liza took notice, then turned the direction of her interview. She moved toward Mateo with her purple phone. “Did Mayor Calloway apply for permits to remodel the building, or is it another behind the scene private negotiation between friends like what he did with the Enchanted Inn?”

      Mateo’s smile disappeared. His arm dropped. “Don’t move, Liza.”

      “I hardly think my question rises to the point of being bullied, Sheriff. The people have a right to know if the businesses of Hazel Rock are making deals under—”

      “Liza, if you know what’s good for you—”

      Liza sputtered. “Are you threatening me, Sheriff?”

      I looked at Mateo wondering what the heck he thought he was doing. She was recording for Pete’s sake! Mateo, however, wasn’t looking at either of us. Nor was he focused on her phone. He was looking at Princess who had just arrived at the top of the steps with a friend—her friend. Not mine. And her friend didn’t talk, it waddled like her. But her guest wasn’t another armadillo. It was a skunk.

      “Holy schnikes. Shut up, Liza,” I whispered.

      Liza was about to argue until I pointed behind her.

      “Don’t move.” Mateo inched away from me and reached for the box he’d set on the table. The box was filled to the brim with stuff I didn’t want anyone to see. Especially Liza. Nor did Cade for that matter. Besides, dumping the box without spooking the skunk was next to impossible.

      “Not that box,” I ordered, but Mateo ignored me.

      To make matters worse, Liza had never listened to anyone telling her what to do a day in her life. As a former kindergarten teacher, I knew exactly which kid she would have been in my classroom—the

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