Her Cowboy Distraction(12)

At that moment Dana arrived at their table with his orders. She placed  the soup in front of Lizzy and the burger and fries in front of Daniel.  "Let me know if you need anything else," Dana said just before she  hurried to tend to the needs of other diners.

"Murder is good business," Lizzy said as she looked around the café.  "I've never seen this place so busy at this time of the day." He was  pleased when she picked up her spoon and dipped it into the soup.

She ate several spoonfuls of soup and then set her spoon down to open a  package of crackers. "I don't know what's drawing more attention, me for  finding her body or you just sitting across from me right now." Her  gaze held his steadily. "What are you doing sitting across from me right  now?"

"I heard about the murder while I was in the hardware store. Leah, the  store clerk who was working, didn't know who had been killed but knew it  was somebody who lived in the cabins." His throat seemed to narrow a  bit. "I was afraid it was you. I just wanted to make sure that you were  okay." He was surprised by how difficult it was for him to admit that  not just to her, but to himself.

Her hand reached across the table and covered the back of his. He was  pleased to realize her fingers had warmed up in the past few minutes.

"Thank you," she said simply. She glanced down at their hands for a long  moment and then pulled hers away from his and once again leaned back as  if in an attempt to get a little distance from him.

"I was going to give Mary my two-week notice this weekend, but I'm  wondering if maybe this isn't a sign that it's time to move on from here  right away."                       
       
           



       

"Surely Cameron is going to want you to stick around for a while," Daniel protested.

She looked at him in surprise. "I don't know why. I've told him  everything I know about the whole situation. All I did was have the  misfortune to be the first person to knock on her cabin door this  morning."

"But, now isn't the time to leave." He glanced toward the counter and  wondered what in the hell he was doing. He looked back at Lizzy. "Mary  needs you right now. She's just lost one waitress, and she's looking  pretty fragile."

As she turned to gaze at Mary, once again Daniel wondered why in the  hell he was trying to talk any woman, but especially this woman, into  staying in Grady Gulch.





Chapter 5

The day was hellish and Lizzy thought it would never end, but end it  finally did. When Mary turned the sign in the door from Open to Closed  at ten that night, all Lizzy wanted to do was curl up in a fetal ball  and sleep for at least the next twenty-four hours.

The only people left in the café were Mary, Cameron, Lizzy and Courtney,  who held her sleeping son in her arms. The sheriff looked as if he'd  aged ten years throughout the day. They all sat around a table as  Cameron sipped the last of the coffee before heading out for the night.

"We processed the scene and got every fingerprint, hair or fiber we  could. Hopefully we've got something that will identify the killer," he  said.

"Did you talk to Kevin Naperson?" Courtney asked.

Cameron nodded and expelled a weary sigh. "I've got to tell you, when I  spoke to him he seemed shocked and genuinely broken up about her death."

"Yeah, but did he mention where he was between one and three last  night?" Lizzy asked. She'd heard the town coroner had pinned Candy's  death between those hours of the early morning.

"In bed at his house. According to what Kevin told me, he and Candy went  to The Corral last night, but they had a big fight and he dropped Candy  off at her cabin around ten. I've got dozens of witnesses that saw them  arguing and then leave the bar around that time."

The Corral was a bar on the other end of town. Lizzy had been there a  couple of times since arriving in Grady Gulch. It was a huge place with a  large dance floor that on the weekends was filled with two-stepping or  line-dancing cowboys and cowgirls.

"Anyway," Cameron continued, "according to Kevin, he went back home,  where he said he and his father watched a couple of movies and then went  to bed around one. Tom, Kevin's father, confirmed the story, and I have  no reason to believe Tom would lie to cover for his son, but we're  going to look at everything and everyone until we have an answer."

He took another sip of his coffee. "And Candy never talked about another  man? Maybe somebody giving her trouble here at the café or around  town?"

Almost in unison the others told him no. "And if there was anyone giving  her problems, trust me, Candy would have said something about it,"  Lizzy said. "Candy wasn't one to hold things inside."

"Are we safe staying in the other cabins?" Courtney asked.

"There's no reason to believe you aren't," Cameron replied, his  expression dark. "The method of the kill looked … personal. But, I'll have  one of my deputies do hourly drive-bys all night long just to make you  feel comfortable."

He drained his coffee cup and stood. "I've got to get out of here. I've got reports to write and a crime to solve."

Mary walked him to the door as Lizzy and Courtney remained seated at the  table. "I don't want to sleep in my cabin tonight," Courtney said  softly. "I'm just so creeped out about all this, and an hourly patrol  doesn't make me feel any better."

Lizzy knew exactly how she felt. "Why don't we stay together tonight in my cabin? We can have a slumber party."

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" Courtney looked down at the sleeping  little boy in her arms. "I can't guarantee that he'll be this quiet all  night long."

"I don't mind at all, and if he wakes up and wants to play, then we'll  play. Neither of us has to come in tomorrow morning, so it will be  fine."

Lizzy realized she didn't want to be alone through the rest of the long  night. She'd almost hoped that Daniel would have offered to stay with  her, or would have invited her home with him when he'd left after  dinnertime. But, a small part of her knew that either scenario would  have been foolish for both of them.

He'd been right about one thing. There was no way she would tell Mary  tonight that she was leaving town. As Mary returned to the table, Lizzy  noticed how achingly fragile her boss looked, how her hands trembled as  she picked up the cup Cameron had recently held.                       
       
           



       

"What a day," she said, her blue eyes still haunted.

"It's like a horrible nightmare," Courtney said. "Only when we all wake  up tomorrow morning, we'll realize it wasn't just a bad dream."

"Hopefully by this time tomorrow night Cameron will have the person  responsible in jail and we can all relax," Mary replied. "I can't  imagine what Candy's parents are going through."

Her face paled and Lizzy knew she was probably thinking about her own  son, Matt, who had gone to bed only minutes before. Mary got up from the  table. "Either of you want anything from the kitchen before I call it a  night?"

"Not me," Lizzy said. Courtney shook her head. "Courtney and I have  decided to have a slumber party tonight and stay in my cabin together."  Lizzy got up from the table and touched Courtney's slender shoulder.  "Come on, girl, let's get out of here so Mary can go to bed."

It was nearly an hour later that Garrett slept peacefully in the playpen  Courtney had set up next to the sofa sleeper in Lizzy's cabin and the  two women sat on the pullout bed in their pajamas, talking in low tones  so as not to disturb the little boy.

"I still can't believe she's gone," Courtney said. "And no matter what  Sheriff Evans says, I think Kevin did it. It's the only thing that makes  any kind of sense."

Lizzy nodded and desperately tried to keep her last vision of Candy out  of her head. "Hopefully it will be like Mary said, by tomorrow night  we'll know who killed her and whoever it is will be behind bars."

"I'm just glad we're staying together tonight," Courtney said with a  glance at her son. "I was just too freaked out tonight to want to stay  by myself."

Lizzy pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.  "Trust me, I wasn't looking forward to being here all alone tonight."

"If you'd played your cards right you might have had a handsome man here  in this bed next to you instead of me," Courtney said teasingly.  "Everyone who was in the café all day couldn't miss how Daniel and you  were together."