She frowned. "Nobody seems to know anything new. If Cameron has any leads, he's keeping things close to his chest. I've heard that he's not only questioned Rusty a couple of times, but also Junior."
"Junior?" Daniel looked at her in surprise. "I don't want to sound offensive, but I wouldn't think Junior was mentally capable to pull off a murder without leaving any evidence behind."
Lizzy nodded with a frown. "That's true, but I know Candy didn't hide the fact that she thought Junior was creepy and stupid. More than once she said ugly things to his face."
"Did you tell that to Cameron?" He could smell her familiar scent despite the savory odors of the café. Immediately he thought of nuzzling her neck, of getting up close and personal with the fragrance that drove him half-wild.
"I told him, but like you he pretty much dismissed the idea that Junior is responsible." She leaned closer to him. "You are thinking naughty thoughts. I can see it in your eyes."
He leaned back and laughed and then quickly sobered. "You have no idea how nice it is for me to have naughty thoughts. It's been a very long time since I've indulged myself in any kind of pleasant thinking."
Her gaze softened and she lightly touched the back of his hand. "I'm so sorry that life hasn't been kind to you."
At that moment all Daniel could think about was how unkind he'd been to Janice just before she'd stormed out of the house. Thankfully at that moment one of the customers at the other end of the counter called for her attention.
He was falling for Lizzy, and even though he knew it would lead to nothing but more heartache, he seemed helpless to stop the tumble of emotions she stirred in him.
He thought of what she'd told him about Cameron taking a second look at both Junior and Rusty. Although Rusty had been working for Mary for about three years, Daniel knew very little about the man other than he lived in one of the cabins out back and wasn't prone to friendly small talk.
It was difficult for him to consider anyone in his town capable of doing what had been done to Candy. It was just as difficult to try to comprehend why anyone would half strangle Lizzy and warn her to get out of town. Why? It just didn't make any sense. She wasn't a threat to anyone. She hadn't been able to give the sheriff any information about anything concerning Candy's murder.
By the time she returned to deliver his meal, he couldn't sustain any negative thoughts with her bright smile shining on him. She set his plate before him and then leaned toward him across the counter.
"I think we should start our day tomorrow with a sunrise horse ride," she said. "I'm missing Molly."
"She's missing you, too. She told me so this afternoon after you left for work, and I think a sunrise ride sounds great. If you take her a couple of slices of apple she'll be yours forever."
She gestured toward his plate. "You'd better eat before it gets cold."
"Who's working the grill tonight?" he asked.
"Rusty. Why?"
"I just want you to be careful walking to your car. Until we know who is responsible for the crimes here, I worry about you taking more than two steps alone in the dark."
"I'll be careful," she replied, obviously touched by his concern. "Cameron usually shows up here around closing time. I'll ask him to watch me walk to my car." Then another customer needed something, and once again she moved away from him.
He was halfway through his meal when Sam and Adam Benson came through the door. Adam took the empty stool next to Daniel and Sam sat on the other side of his brother.
"How's it going?" Adam asked.
"Not bad. How about at your place? Things going well?"
"Cattle are getting fat and the corn is almost knee-high." Adam smiled at him. "What more could a rancher want?"
Sam leaned forward to look at Daniel. "Heard any news about the mini-crime wave that's struck the town?"
"Nothing worth repeating," Daniel replied as he cut through one of the large meatballs on his plate. "What about you two? Heard anything?"
"We've heard that Kevin is still the number one suspect and Cameron is trying to find a way to break his alibi. If he can find one person who saw Kevin out the night of the murder after ten o'clock, then the kid is busted."
"But that doesn't explain who attacked Lizzy. Kevin would have no beef with her." Daniel's gaze shot down to where Lizzy was pouring a cup of coffee for Robert McKay, an old-timer who had lost his wife six months ago.
"I think Cameron is looking at them as two unrelated incidences," Adam replied.
"Personally, I can't figure out why anyone would want to hurt Lizzy, but I also don't believe her attack had anything to do with Candy's murder," Sam said.
Although the conversation had been easy, Daniel felt the sorrow that still simmered in the air among the three of them, all who had suffered the tragedy of that car accident almost two years before.
At that moment the object of their conversation returned to take Adam's and Sam's orders. Lizzy was good at her job, friendly but not flirtatious, and she made each and every diner she served feel as if they were her number one priority.
Why hadn't she married? She was open and loving, fun and beautiful. Why hadn't some lucky man snapped her up long before her mother had died and she'd made her bucket list?
It was a question that he suddenly felt he needed answered. She was from Chicago, for God's sake, a city with plenty of single men, and yet she'd told him she'd never been seriously involved with anyone.
She was getting more and more tangled in his heart, and he was beginning to wonder if there was any way he could talk her out of leaving town, talk her into forgetting the rest of her bucket list.
For the first time in a very long time, Daniel was looking for a future, and when he looked ahead he couldn't imagine his days without Lizzy in them.
This thought didn't bring him joy but rather settled a shroud of faint depression across his shoulders. He had a feeling there was no happy ending for him and Lizzy, and if he were perfectly honest with himself he knew he didn't deserve one.
* * *
It was just before closing time that Sheriff Evans came into the café. Daniel had left hours before and the café was almost empty of people. Lizzy was seated at the empty counter having a glass of iced tea before leaving for the night.
She got up and greeted Cameron with a tired smile. "How's it going?" she asked as she poured him a cup of coffee.
"To be honest, I've never felt so frustrated with everything. We just can't seem to catch a break on anything." His frown of discouragement instantly arranged into a tired smile as Mary joined them. "I just wanted to stop by and see that you were doing okay," he said to the pretty blonde.
Lizzy believed Cameron showed up each night for a cup of coffee, but more important so that Mary was the last person he saw before going home alone.
It was obvious to Lizzy that the man was heartsick, but it was equally obvious that Mary didn't feel the same way. Whenever she looked at Cameron there was a guarded distance in her eyes, a slightly wary gaze.
For the next few minutes they all talked about the crimes and the discouraging lack of leads Cameron and his deputies suffered.
"My gut still tells me Kevin is good for Candy's murder, but I've got no evidence I can use to make an arrest. Anything I have on him is circumstantial, and he's got an alibi that I have yet to break." He looked at Lizzy once again. "As far as the attack on you, I don't even know where to begin to find answers. Since we can't come up with a motive, it's hard to know where to look for the perpetrator."
"You'll figure it out," Mary said with encouragement.
He nodded and cupped his hands around his mug, his gaze going back to Lizzy. "What I just can't understand is how the attack on you relates to Candy's death."
Lizzy raised her hand to her throat, for the space of several breaths captured in that moment of terror. That arm, wrapped so tight around her neck, slowly cutting off her precious air supply, had been the most frightening experience of her entire life.
She drew a deep breath, shoving past the memory, and dropped her hand back to the counter. "Maybe there's no link to Candy's death. Maybe it was just somebody who didn't like the way I served them that night, somebody who just doesn't like me at all."
"That's impossible," Mary said without hesitation. "You're everyone's favorite waitress."