Chapter 13 #2
Adam’s hand rested lightly on the wood. “No. You might want to stay away from the Lodge-Freeze crew. I heard they all have the flu.”
“Yes, I heard that too,” Joan said. “It’s a pity. When it goes through that family, it goes through everybody except Quinn.” She licked her lips thoughtfully.
Mrs. Hudson pushed her shoulder. “Knock it off, Joan. He and Juliet are happily married.”
“For now,” Joan said lightly.
“They’ll last forever. Those two are still making googly eyes at each other,” Mrs. Hudson replied firmly. “And you stay away from my Henry.”
Bianca took a sip of her drink, still trying to understand what exactly she’d been pulled into. The strange card in her pocket felt heavy, but she wasn’t sharing it with this group.
“Are you working on anything new?” Mrs. Hudson asked Adam.
“Yeah.” He adjusted the guitar in his lap and strummed a chord. “How’s this?”
The notes rolled softly through the quiet bar, warm and steady. Within a few minutes he began to sing, his voice low and easy as the melody unfolded. The song drifted through the room, carrying words about rivers and valleys and wide Montana skies stretching over mountains.
Bianca’s mouth dropped open.
He was incredible. And sexy. His voice rolled through the quiet bar, dark and husky, and he looked completely relaxed while he played.
One boot rested on the rung of the stool, his shoulders loose, fingers moving easily across the strings.
The music filled the room in a warm, steady rhythm that seemed to belong there.
Bianca turned toward Mrs. Hudson. “Do you do this every day?”
“No, dear,” Mrs. Hudson said, smiling as she watched Adam. “Maybe once or twice a week. He doesn’t play all the time, but when he’s working on new stuff, he likes our input.”
Bianca suspected the truth was that the women simply enjoyed listening. She certainly did.
Warmth stirred deep in her abdomen and then rolled slowly through her, a quiet warning tick she couldn’t quite ignore.
Adam’s smile, the easy way he held himself, the way the music seemed to flow out of him was more dangerous to her heart than she’d realized.
The sound was romantic, and she wondered vaguely, maybe hopefully, that she’d inspired some of it.
She listened, completely entranced, losing herself in the low sound of his voice and the music he created. The hour slipped by almost without her noticing.
Finally, Adam finished the song and set the guitar aside as he stood. “I have to get back to work, ladies,” he said with a grin. “Thank you so much for dropping by. Any input?”
“Oh, Adam, it’s just lovely.” Mrs. Poppins clasped her hands together.
“I agree,” Mrs. Schiller added warmly. “I truly think you should record.”
Adam laughed and shook his head. “I’m not going to record.”
“I think you should,” Joan said smoothly. “If you want, I could help with that.”
Bianca just bet she could.
“All right, Joan, let’s go,” Mrs. Hudson said, tapping her arm lightly. “You stay here, Bianca. Have a nice chat with Adam.”
What a matchmaker. “Actually, I do need to speak with him,” Bianca admitted.
“Of course you do.” Mrs. Hudson gave her a quick hug. “Have a good day.” She winked at Adam, and the little group slowly made their way out the door, their voices drifting away onto the street.
The bar grew quiet again. Bianca looked across the room at Adam and then down at the empty glasses scattered across the table. Without thinking, she gathered them together in her hands and carried them over to the bar. “So you’re free entertainment, huh?”
Adam chuckled. “Yeah. We like getting together. Every once in a while it turns into a Mahjong game, but nobody brought their set today.”
Mahjong with elderly ladies. The thought made her smile. This guy had some surprising depths. She started rinsing the glasses in the sink.
“I can do that,” Adam said.
“No, I don’t mind,” she replied, drying one with a towel.
The quiet between them felt different now that the others were gone. The room still held the romance of the music he’d played, and Bianca could feel the steady pull of him standing so close.
“How was your morning?” he asked.
“Busy,” she murmured. “Not as fun as yours, though. You are really good,” she added, glancing up at him.
“Thank you.” He moved around the bar and stepped closer, reaching for her before she had time to react. His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her gently toward him, brushing a kiss across her lips. “That’s the proper way to greet somebody.”
Her lungs stuttered. “You’re being proper now?”
“Ah,” he said lightly, “I have my moments.” His thumb brushed slowly along the side of her face, his expression shifting as he studied her. “What’s wrong?”
She blinked. “How could you tell something was wrong?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Gut feeling.” He cleared his throat. “I heard Ellen is looking for a partner in the florist shop.”
Bianca blinked. “Huh?” The change of subject caught her completely off guard.
“Yeah,” Adam said, shifting his weight. “I thought I’d mention it.”
“Oh.” She took a small step back, the damp glass still in her hand. “Adam, I don’t want to own a florist shop.” Was he trying to get her to stay in town? The idea was oddly sweet—and a little overwhelming.
“It was just a thought,” he said. “You enjoy flowers.”
“No, no, no.” Bianca set the glass down and wiped her hands on the towel.
“I enjoy planting shrubs and flowers in gardens. I don’t want to own a florist shop, and I don’t want to be a landscape designer.
” She shook her head, trying to explain it clearly.
“I just like to garden and plan a movie scene or two.”
Adam nodded slowly. “Oh.” His shoulders lifted in a faint shrug. “It was just a thought.” He seemed to withdraw without being obvious about it.
“Yeah,” Bianca said, clearing her throat. “Speaking of flowers, I received more this morning at Mrs. Shiller’s. Red ones.”
Adam frowned. “That’s getting weird.”
“You have no idea.” Bianca reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded card, handing it to him.
Adam took it and read the message. Every muscle in his body seemed to visibly tighten. “What the fuck?”
“That’s what I thought,” Bianca said quietly.
He looked up, his gaze burning. “You didn’t think I sent this, did you?”
“No,” she said immediately. “Honestly, not for a second.” She wrapped her arms around herself, the uneasiness that had been creeping through her all morning settling deeper now. “Somebody knows we spent the night together. I’m a little creeped out.”
Adam’s jaw tightened. “I’m a little creeped out too.” He set the card on the counter between them. “I think we should call the sheriff.”
Bianca hesitated. “It’s not exactly a threat, though. Can the sheriff really do anything?”
“Quinn can do a lot,” Adam said. His voice carried quiet certainty.
“And we’re pretty much family. At the very least, he needs to know.
” His phone buzzed on the counter. He glanced down at the screen.
“Oh,” he said. “It’s about your car.” He answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear. “Hey, Elbert, what’s up?”
Bianca watched his face as he listened.
For a moment he didn’t say anything. Then his expression shifted sharply. “Are you shitting me?” He straightened, one hand bracing against the bar. “Okay. Yeah.” Another pause. “No, I need to go down and talk to Quinn anyway.”
Bianca’s stomach tightened.
“Yeah, thanks, buddy. See what else you find out.” Adam ended the call and lowered the phone slowly.
“What’s going on?” Bianca asked. “Is it just destroyed?” She should have bought the insurance.
“Yeah,” Adam said, his eyes glittering with a hard light. “It’s not looking good. The front and side are pretty crumpled. Elbert’s going to give us a bid and then you can decide what you want to do.”
Bianca swallowed. “Okay?”
“But he did find one other thing.” Adam spoke through clenched teeth.
She gave an involuntary shiver. “What’s that?”
Adam held her gaze for a second before answering. “Your tire was blown out with a bullet.”
Bianca stilled from head to toe. “What?”
Adam rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “We didn’t see it last night because the tires were all muddy when I pulled you out of the ditch.” He glanced down at the phone still in his hand. “But once Elbert washed everything off and really looked at it, he found the hole.”
The air left Bianca’s lungs.
“Somebody shot out your tire,” Adam said quietly. “They made you wreck on purpose.”