“I know,” Eli said.
“Well, you look too interested. There’s nothing to be interested about.”
Sadie’s expression turned placating, which only irritated him more. “Of course not.” She reached into her offensive orange bowl and started digging around for candy. “It is very nice that you’re doing this for her.”
“You all have the wrong end of the stick,” he said, pointing at the group. “You would not be reacting like this if I offered Jack a place to stay. And if Jack needed me, I would have him stay here, too. And he’s a way bigger pain in the ass than Liss.”
“True,” Kate said. “On all counts.”
“See? Katie agrees with me.”
“Not,” Kate said, her tone filled with warning, “if you keep calling me Katie.”
A smile tugged at his lips. “Whatever you say, Katie.”
It was Kate’s turn to reach into the bowl. She pulled out a couple of M&Ms and hurled a couple at his head. “Serves you right,” she said when one clocked him in the temple.
“Oh, no,” he said, in mock terror. “You threw candy at me.”
“Beaver candy,” Sadie said.
“Okay, ladies, let’s get out of Connor’s hair,” Eli said, showing an uncharacteristic amount of sensitivity. Eli usually thought nothing of running roughshod over him. Mainly because Eli always seemed to think he knew how other people should live their lives, and Connor was no exception to that.
Eli lifted Sadie from his lap and stood, raising his arms behind his head and stretching. “I need to sleep,” he said. “With the election so close now, I’m not doing very much of that.”
“But you’re going to win,” Sadie said, her tone confident.
“You are,” Kate agreed.
Both women looked at Connor. “You are,” he said, and he wasn’t just saying that to stroke his brother’s ego. He was the best choice for the county; there was no question about that.
Eli was a professional at sacrifice. He had sacrificed for Kate when he’d been a teenager. Had sacrificed his safety when he’d agreed to wear the uniform. And Connor knew, and never took for granted, the fact that Eli had sacrificed by being the one to come and tell him about Jessie’s accident. Connor knew that no one in the department would have ever asked it of him. But Connor also knew that Eli would have never given the responsibility to anyone else.
For those reasons, and for so many more, Connor knew his brother was the man Logan County needed as its sheriff.
“Well, I appreciate the votes of confidence. Just make sure they’re also physical votes on election day.”
“Are you kidding? I’m going to go stand by the ballot drop boxes with my shirt off and my chest painted,” Connor said. “A big painting of your face.”
“I will arrest you. And I’m not joking,” Eli said, lacing his fingers through Sadie’s and heading toward the door.
Kate stood up and followed after them, offering him a goodbye wave.
“Goodbye, Connor,” Sadie said as they headed out, shutting the door behind them.
And he was left alone again, by himself and in his big empty house.
But that was about to change.
Disquiet lodged itself in his gut. He’d had quite enough change over the past few years, and this was more of it.
But he wouldn’t be alone. He was really fucking tired of being alone.
But he was alone now so he took another beer out of the ice bucket. A couple more drinks would help drown out the silence. Would help him fall asleep.
And there was no one here to tell him no.
* * *
“I THINK I SOLVED my rental problem,” Liss said, sliding a paper clip onto a stack of papers and looking up at Jeanette, her coworker, who sat at the desk opposite her.
“You found someone to rent to you?” Jeanette asked, licking an envelope and smoothing it closed.
“Not exactly. But Connor has a lot of empty rooms, and he’s agreed to let me stay with him until I can find a place.”
Jeanette arched a dark brow and looked to the left to make sure no one else was lingering nearby. Maria and Sandra were the only others in the office today, but the older women didn’t necessarily enjoy listening to her and Jeanette gossip. “Is this fine-ass Connor? The one with the bulging forearms and very delicious tattoo? Your friend? The one who’s been by to pick you up from work a few times?”
Jeanette had been in town for only a couple of years, so she didn’t know everyone’s life or life story in as much detail as most of the locals did.
Liss cleared her throat. “Yes, that Connor.”
“Get it, girl.”
Liss’s face burned, and she knew full well that she was blushing. “There will be no getting of it. He’s just helping me out. And he really is just a friend.”
Jeanette frowned. “Sorry. I did not imagine for one second that you were really only just friends with a man who looked like that. I just thought you were slow on the rebound after that jerk left.” Jeanette never remembered Marshall’s name, or at least, she pretended she didn’t remember his name. Because Jeanette was a goddess like that.
“It’s not like that with us. I was really good friends with his wife. Him, too. But Jessie and I were friends for...years and...well, that would be weird. And you know. Too much baggage.”
It was a refrain she had repeated to herself often.
“Yeah, that makes sense. That’s a lot of history.”
“A book full of it. That’s the problem with small towns,” Liss said, sighing heavily. “There’s history everywhere. That is perhaps why I’ve been single for so long.” Except she knew it wasn’t just that.
“Thankfully, I came with a man in tow.” Jeanette and her husband, Tom, had been married for five years, and Tom had come to Copper Ridge to work as a fisherman.
“It was a better plan than mine. Which was to grow up here, never leave and ensure every man in my age group knew me far too well to see me as anything other than a friend. I’m thinking Copper Ridge could almost single-handedly cause a boom in the mail-order-husband market. Maybe I could get myself a nice biddable Russian groom. One who would chop wood and open jars for me.”
“Let me know how that works out. I might sign up.” Jeanette winked and pushed a stack of papers beneath a hole punch, pressing it down firmly. “Not that I need another husband. It would just be nice to have someone around the house to do hard labor when Tom is out on the boat.”
“I
