with this information.” Patience drew the box toward her and replaced the documents. “For all we know, he may have the files in his office. He said he’d do some preliminary work before I arrived.”
She slammed a box lid down. “I didn’t even let him know I was in town. I probably could have saved myself a lot of trouble by going to see him first.”
She pushed her hair out of her eyes and twisted it back on her head. Cade had the urge to touch the wayward strands, but he made himself pack up the rest of the boxes.
“Don’t beat yourself up. You were excited about getting started.” Cade did his best to be encouraging.
“Don’t pander to me, Cade. I made a mistake. A rookie one, I’m sure. Now I need to backtrack and do what I should have done this morning when I got here.”
“That’s a good idea.” Cade ignored her comment about pandering. He had a feeling she wouldn’t believe him if he tried to explain that wasn’t what he meant to do. “If he didn’t take the files, then that’s a clue for us. Don’t you think?”
Patience pursed her lips. “Definitely. I’ll stop by the station and ask him, but first I need a shower. I feel like I have ten layers of dust on me and I haven’t even checked into the B and B yet.”
The image of Patience naked with warm water and soap sluicing down her body was almost more than he could take. Cade returned the boxes to where they found them. “You said you were staying at the B and B?”
“Yes. Staying at a B and B takes me into the life of the townspeople, which is helpful when you’re trying to understand the local culture. You said you were hanging around for a few weeks, where are you staying?”
“Same place, just around the corner from the diner.”
A small smile turned up the edges of her mouth. Could she possibly be happy about staying in the B and B with him? “If you want to follow me, my truck is across the street.”
“Sure.” She glanced up but there was no trace of the smile he’d seen there.
As they rolled up in front of the B and B, Cade jumped out to help her with her bag.
“It’s okay,” she said refusing to let go of the suit case.
“Trust me, I need you to let me do this. When we get inside you’ll understand.”
She gave him a curious look but relinquished the bag. “Why?”
Holding open the door, Cade ushered her in carrying both of their bags.
“My stars, if it isn’t my errant grandson come home, and with a woman.” His grandmother held her hand to her heart. “Are there any great-grandbabies out there for me to hold?”
Dressed in her jeans, denim shirt and cowboy boots, GG hadn’t changed a bit. Her long white hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore the silver belt buckle she’d won bull riding forty years ago. She’d always been a woman before her time.
Cade scooped her up in a big hug, and she planted a kiss on his cheek. “Missed you,” he said as he put her down.
After his mom died, his grandmother was the one person in the world who kept him grounded. She was the reason he went to college and why he didn’t give up when the chips were down. He owed everything to her.
She slapped his shoulder. “Now who is this beauty you brought in with you?”
“Hi, I’m Patience Clark.” She held her hand out to his grandmother.
“Well, you are as pretty as they come,” his grandmother said. “I’m Dorothy Randall, this one’s grandma, and I own this money pit.” She winked. “Everyone calls me GG. Now, how did you meet my grandson?”
Cade knew what he would say would ruin his grandmother’s good mood, but it had to be done. “GG, she’s the woman who discovered what happened to Dad. She’s helping the sheriff with the investigation.” The last bit came out hoarse with emotion. He still had a hard time believing what had happened to his father.
GG pressed her lips together and sniffed once. No tears were shed. It wasn’t her way. Then she hugged a surprised Patience.
“Bless you child for bringing my son back home to me. People been throwing tacks at his reputation ever since he disappeared and now they’re all ashamed. I knew my boy wouldn’t run off. I just knew it.”
Patience cleared her throat. “Thank you for letting me stay here,” she said as she changed the subject. “I’m not fond of motels, or even hotels, for that matter. You have a lovely home here.”
His grandmother let go of her and headed behind the front desk in the lounge area. “Damn, money pit. Hailstorm two weeks ago did some damage to the roof, and the toilet is running in room six where you’re staying tonight.” She pointed at Cade. “You’ll have to jiggle the handle.”
Cade smiled. That was her way of saying he needed to fix the roof and the toilets, and he didn’t mind a bit. “I’ll make a run to Tom’s Hardware later and pick up what we need.”
“I’ve got Patience in room five, the rooms are adjoining. Is that going to be a problem?” GG had a twinkle in her eye. Was it that obvious he liked the beautiful blonde next to him? Nothing much ever made it past GG.
He noticed her erasing the fact that she’d originally had Patience in room one, at the other end of the hall. He couldn’t help but laugh to himself. The woman never stopped.
Patience smiled sweetly. “No, I don’t mind.” She’d missed GG’s intimation and for that he was grateful.
“I’ll take her bags up and show her the ropes.” He paused. “Is that chicken and dumplings I smell?”
“Might be, but they won’t be ready until six. Ya’ll look like you’ve been rolling around in a dusty field. Maybe you ought to clean up?”
“Oh, yes,” Patience said. Once again missing his grandmother’s double meaning. “We’ve been in the basement of the courthouse. If you don’t mind my saying, it’s very dirty down there. The town should better preserve its history.”
“Ha, I’ll have to talk to the mayor about that,” GG said as she chuckled.
Cade laughed as he pulled the bags upstairs and motioned for Patience to follow him.
“What’s so funny?” she asked as they walked along the second floor hallway.
“GG is the mayor.”
PATIENCE FACE-PALMED HERSELF. “Great, I’ve insulted your grandmother who is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met.”
Cade took the key GG had given him and opened the door. “Nah, she thought it was funny. And I bet the next time we go down to the courthouse basement it will be clean as can be. This is your room,” he said as he opened the door.
Patience walked in front of him and gave out a small gasp. “It’s beautiful.” The walls were painted a soft cornflower-blue, and everything else was white, the furniture, comforter and linens, even the vase holding
