Tracy and Carla laughed. Kelsey just shook her head.
“What makes you think he has a crush on me?” Kelsey asked.
“Well, for one thing, he’s asked a ton of questions about you. And then, every time you come into the dining room, he can’t take his eyes off you. His face gets all serious, you know, like he doesn’t want to miss a single moment of your presence.”
Kelsey felt her face heat, but at the same time a sense of discomfort washed through her. “Well, you’re right, of course. I don’t see him.” Then, because they were all looking at her avidly, she added, “I’ve got my hands full with the brothers Benedict.”
Since her staff was all present, she told them a little about Ginny and suggested that she might find employment with them at Lusty Appetites.
“That’s perfect! I was worried about leaving you short in the fall,” Michelle said. “Now I don’t have to worry.”
“Great. I’ll wait a couple of days to ask her if she’d be interested. She needs a bit of time to get her wind back.”
“I knew a woman when I lived in Philadelphia,” Carla said. “She didn’t get knocked around physically, but emotionally. Takes time to feel whole again.”
“I hope she decides to stay here in Lusty,” Kelsey said. “She’ll be able to feel whole again here.”
They all got busy, the waitresses checking to make sure the dining room was ready, and she and Tracy getting down to the serious business of getting ready to feed the town.
Before she knew it, the doors were open and people started flowing in for lunch. Mindful of good PR, but mostly because she loved this town and its people, Kelsey made certain to take several tours of the dining room.
By one, when the lunch crowd began to taper, she had healthy receipts and an overflow of flowers and well wishes to show for the day.
“I’m going to take a break,” she announced to her staff. “I should be back in an hour. If you need me—”
“We’ll just call down to the sheriff’s office,” Tracy said.
Kelsey shook her head at the silly grins facing her. She guessed there were no secrets in a small town, especially in a small town like Lusty.
Her men had asked her not to go anywhere alone, but it was a short walk to the sheriff’s office, which was right in the middle of downtown Lusty. The late summer sun burned down without the relief of a single cloud.
As she waited for the traffic light, the sound of a car’s engine caught her attention. The glint of sun on silver flashed in the corner of her eye and made her turn and look.
The late model Prius gleamed brightly, looking chic and expensive. Which made the sight of the driver, holding a handgun pointed at her, seem totally out of place.
“Get into the car, Ms. Madison. You and I have some unfinished business.”
Chapter 22
“How’d it go with Ginny?” Matthew asked the moment Adam came into the office. He’d felt too involved to handle the interview in his official capacity as deputy. Adam hadn’t minded doing it instead. Matthew knew his own emotions had become involved because he loved Benny. He also loved their woman, and she’d made her feelings on the subject of Ginny Rose very clear.
Matthew thought their Kelsey was one hell of a generous woman.
“I have Ginny talked into pressing charges against Deke. She’s scared, and I find I really can’t blame her. She knows she has to do something or else everything she went through these last few days will have been for nothing.”
Matthew stayed quiet then because he knew his best friend well. Adam was coldly furious and dealing with it in his own way. He’d only seen him this angry once before, but the memory hadn’t diminished in all the years since that incident. He hadn’t been sheriff then, but a college junior who’d come across some men who’d been forcing themselves on a young woman. There’d been three of them, and Adam had lit into them all before Matt had a chance to join him.
Adam reached the corner of his desk and just stood there, looking down at it. In the next instant, he grabbed his coffee cup, spun around, and hurled it against the far wall.
The china mug shattered into a thousand pieces, the crash of pottery against brick an eloquent scream of rage.
“She let me stay with her while Uncle James examined her at the clinic. We had taken pictures to document the evidence. Deke had used his belt on her the night she left Benny. She’s covered in welts.”
“Jesus Christ.” Matthew had suspected something because the woman had moved stiffly, and she hadn’t wanted to let him near her. He was rather surprised she’d allowed Adam that close. Then again, most women recognized the caretaker in Adam.