Chapter Eight #2
It wasn’t the first time it had happened. People had been staring all morning, and it was bound to get worse once Park Art actually opened.
“This is Lexie,” Maxie said, stepping over to her lookalike’s side.
The lines of puzzlement on Becky’s forehead deepened, but then her eyes cleared. “Oh, you must be one of Zac’s cousins.”
Maxie’s jaw dropped.
“Once removed.” Lexie had a bemused smile on her face as she held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I saw your shop. It’s cute.”
Becky shook her hand with enthusiasm, but her gaze kept darting back and forth between the two of them. “Martin said you had visitors in town.”
Yes, Shimwell would have. Maxie raked a hand through her hair.
He and Becky were fast friends and, really, the two comprised the hub of Indigo Falls’ rumor mill.
If one picked up a piece of fresh news, the other would have it as fast as the airwaves could carry it.
She wondered how long it had taken Martin last night before he’d been on the phone texting.
Cousins. Sheesh. As if there wasn’t enough confusion already.
She took a wire butterfly from Lexie and stabbed its holder into the ground. She could hear Lexie fighting not to laugh. Still, a giggle escaped when she said goodbye and went into the booth with Roxie. The mirth only intensified when those two were together.
Catching Becky by the arm, Maxie pulled her farther away.
“Wow,” the coffee girl said, glancing over her shoulder. “What an amazing coincidence.”
One in five hundred thousand, actually, at least according to Wikipedia. It was one of the many things Maxie had learned yesterday when she’d been scouring old papers and skipping around the web.
“Is Martin here?” she asked.
“No, he called me last night when he got off his shift. I didn’t think he was telling the truth, but now that I see them…” Becky waved when Roxie poked her head out of the booth. “Well, I suppose he was telling the truth about you and the sheriff too?”
There it was, the question she’d been waiting for. The phone lines must have been burning up. “We did have dinner together,” Maxie said vaguely.
“Really? Well, pooh.”
“Excuse me?”
The coffee maven nudged a clump of grass with the toe of her sandal. “I just thought… Well, he comes to my shop every morning. I thought we had chemistry, and he said he’d be here today.”
Maxie didn’t know what hit her more, surprise or jealousy. Becky and Zac? Her stomach curdled as if she’d just taken a sip of Java Mama’s coffee.
“It’s new,” she confessed. Half of her felt the impulse to apologize, while the other half rejected that idea with vehemence.
She had nothing to be sorry about. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
Really, if she looked at things in a certain way, she’d asked the sheriff out on a date and he’d accepted.
Just because he liked coffee didn’t mean that he was interested in the vivacious blonde. Did it?
Maxie cocked her foot back onto its heel. The way he’d kissed her on the porch this morning said no. So did the events of last night, but that was a topic better left unsaid. “We’re having a nice time together.”
The understatement almost made her choke.
“You do make a cute couple,” Becky replied, although her heart just wasn’t in it. She had a face that showed everything she was thinking. “I wondered what was going on when he drove away with you in his squad car yesterday.”
Oh dear. She’d forgotten about that. “He wasn’t arresting me,” Maxie said in a rush.
Becky let out a tinkling laugh. “I’ll be sure to let my customers know.”
Which was exactly the problem.
These conversations were always so difficult.
She liked Becky, but she had to be careful what she said.
The smallest nugget of information could be telegraphed to the entire town within minutes, and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say about Lexie and Roxie yet.
Once she opened up the subject, she’d be peppered with questions, but she didn’t know what had happened.
She didn’t know the details of her adoption.
She didn’t know what their future plans were.
Right now, everything was in a state of flux.
Including what was happening between her and Zac.
She plastered a smile on her face. “Well, have a great day at your booth. I need to get back to work. It’s going to be busy.”
“Say hi to the sheriff when you see him,” Becky said, her perkiness returning. “Tell him I’ve got a cup of his favorite waiting.”
“I will.” Not. Lying was getting easier and easier. Maxie hadn’t known she had a possessive side, but there was no way she was sending Zac to a perky blonde who had a crush on him. She could play the role as well as he could, although it didn’t feel much like she was pretending.
Her walk was stiff as she returned to the tent, where she found Lexie and Roxie waiting. And grinning.
“Cousins.” Lexie chuckled. “Does everyone seriously believe that?”
“Of course,” Roxie clarified. “We’re once removed, after all.”
Maxie’s fists slowly unclenched. “I don’t even know what that means.”
She supposed the town couldn’t help it. There wasn’t a lot of entertainment to be had. People were going to talk—about her and Zac, and about these women who resembled her so much. But Zac’s cousins? Really?
Anyone looking at them should know they were sisters.
Zac didn’t make it to the park until after lunch.
Despite the heat, a big crowd was milling about at the festival when he arrived.
He was off duty and out of uniform, but most people called him Sheriff as he walked by.
It was nice being part of a community that knew him, quite the change from working in the shadows.
When he found Maxie’s booth, he discovered she was on a break.
He finally spotted her under the large tent where everyone had eaten.
She was way back in the corner at a picnic table in the shade.
He watched as she tied her hair up in a loose ponytail, the motion natural and surprisingly sexy. On impulse, he bought two lemonades.
“The Indigo Falls talent show will start in half an hour,” an announcer said over the loudspeaker. “Late entries need to put their names in now at the main stage.”
“Hey, Beauty,” he said as he walked up to her. “Got any secret talents?”
He slid the drink onto the table. It was cooler in the shade and a slight cross breeze brought some relief, but the heat was still sweltering.
“Me?” She shook her head. “Hardly.”
He chuckled. “I’d argue with that, but you’re right. This probably isn’t the best place to show them.”
Her gaze dropped in embarrassment, but she accepted the drink. “Thank you. That tastes wonderful.”
He took a drink too. He’d only just arrived, but the heat was already uncomfortable.
The lemonade tasted tart and sweet against his tongue, but best of all, it was cold.
He climbed onto the picnic table with her, straddling the bench to face her.
It put her right in his line of sight, the way he liked it. “Where are your carbon copies?”
“Roxie went to get something to eat, and Lexie and Cam are debating over a couple of paintings.”
“How are sales?”
“We’ve already sold out of the dried arrangements, so Laura’s pushing the garden decorations.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“It’s great. We didn’t expect things to go so fast.” She pulled her ponytail over her shoulder to get it off her neck. “How are things down at the station?”
“Slow, but in my field, that’s a good thing.” His gaze slid over her bare shoulders. She wore a lightweight summer top with spaghetti straps and shorts, but she looked sapped. “Okay, today you do look overheated. Are you feeling okay?”
“I thought it would get better the longer I stayed out in it.”
“Are you telling me it doesn’t?”
“Sorry.”
He popped the plastic lid off his lemonade and fished out an ice cube. They were the cylindrical kind with the hole in the middle, the kind that kids liked to stick their tongues through. He popped it into his mouth but nearly swallowed it whole when he saw the expression on her face.
Wow. One look. One spark, and he was charged up and ready to go.
He sucked the juice off the ice and spit it back out into his palm. She was staring as he slid the tube of ice over his middle finger. He held up his hand innocently. “Need to cool off?”
Her mouth worked, but no sounds came out.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He ran the smooth cube over the base of her neck, and she let out a squeak.
Flinching away, she looked over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Well, there isn’t a pool around, and I’m not partial to you skinny-dipping in the falls in front of all these art lovers.”
Her face was flushed from the heat, but her cheeks turned a bit pinker.
He held his hand inches above her spine, waiting for permission.
She took her time giving it. They both watched as the ice melted.
A drop of water gathered at its base, collecting and growing bigger.
When it dropped with a splash onto her skin, she jumped.
“Too cold?” Damn, his voice sounded like sandpaper.
“No, it feels good.”
He touched her, and her head dropped forward.
The ice melted faster against her warm skin, but the cool wetness was sexy.
Tempting. She sat, compliant, as he stroked the smooth chunk over the back of her neck, along her shoulders and between her shoulder blades.
They loosened, and she sighed in relief.
She was right with what she’d said last night. Skin on skin was much better.
“So, I made some progress down at the station this morning.” His voice hadn’t gotten any better, but he kept his tone low so nobody else would hear. Back in the corner of the tent, near the trees, it was as private as they could get with so many people nearby.
“Progress on what?” she asked.
“I did some more digging into Cam’s background. He checks out all right.”
“Is that why you left?” Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you had to work.”