“I’m fine, Cliffy, but I saw you two over here and I wanted to talk to you and Betts without Cody around, so I hurried over. Y’all don’t see him coming this way, do you?”
We surveyed the area, but neither of us saw him anywhere.
“You want to go someplace else?” Cliff asked.
“No, no, I just want you both to know that Orly and I were having a discussion the other night, and it was only partially about rehearsals. It was about Cody. I’d heard he had a criminal record and I was worried. Orly assured me that all would be fine. Now, let me say that I don’t think that Cody killed anyone, but I just didn’t want him to know that that’s what Orly and I were discussing. You understand, Betts?”
“Of course.”
“And I didn’t even think about mentioning it to you until Betts asked me about it only a little bit ago,” she said to Cliff. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We know about his record, and it was nothing violent, so we aren’t concerned. Frankly, there are quite a few people in town who have some sort of arrest record, and we’re looking at them all. I appreciate the update, though,” Cliff said.
“Oh, good. Well, I’m going to go back into that party for a little longer, but I’ll be going home soon. I’ll stay in touch, Cliffy. We still need a family dinner while I’m in town. Gracious, I never meant to get this involved in things. I was just coming out for a visit.”
“We will definitely get together for dinner, Jez,” Cliff said.
“Jezzie,” I said before she could get away. “I have a horrible question for you.”
“Have at it,” she said, though she blinked uncertainly.
“Have you had any romantic interest in anyone around here, maybe Orly—or even Cody?”
I thought Cliff might hate me forever for asking his cousin such a question, but he gave no indication that he was bothered by my boldness.
“Oh, my! No, not even a little bit, my dear. Why in the world would you ask?”
“I don’t know. Conventions and things, and camping under the stars, with the romantic cowboy poetry adding to the ambience.”
Jezzie laughed. “No, my dear, I have no interest in those boys. I have me a good old-fashioned boyfriend back home that I would never even consider cheating on, even if whatever happened in Broken Rope stayed in Broken Rope. I’m sorry if I’ve given anyone a different impression, especially you.”
“No, I was truly just wondering. That’s all.”
“No problem.” Jezzie sighed. “I’m going back in there, but I bet I don’t last long.”
“We’ll see you later, Jezzie,” Cliff said as she turned and hurried away.
“Sorry, Cliff,” I said.
“No need to be. I don’t know why you were curious, but if you needed to know, you needed to know. I think she sounded like she was being honest.”
“I do, too.”
“Howdy!” another voice greeted us.
Cliff and I turned to the person attached to the happy greeting. If I remembered correctly, his name was Gary. He’d been the one to fetch Teddy’s truck.
“Hello,” Cliff and I said.
“You’re one of those police officer fellas, arn’t cha?” The man was short, but that was only the beginning of his unique looks. He wore a very old cowboy hat; I’d yet to notice many new ones. Strands of thick, short gray hair stuck out from under the rim and framed a sunken and wrinkled face. He didn’t have many teeth—I saw only one in front—and his tongue seemed to move around constantly. He dressed the part, but something told me that he always wore stained Western shirts and faded jeans; this wasn’t a costume for the convention.