She didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful for everything his family had done for her.
Nate held up a hand. “No one wants to see you go, Lucy, but we’re all happy you’re moving on to a bigger, better job. We’ve enjoyed having you around, and we’ll be sad if you don’t come back every now and then.”
“Of course.” She just had to get the job first, and that might mean ducking every time she saw one of the Foster siblings until she had herself firmly established in the role. Once Mr. Roberts knew her better, she would feel more comfortable going to him with the evidence she had against Brock. “We’ll need to get away every now and then. And I’ll be back lots over the next month or so because I’m helping with Winter Festival.”
“Yes, we always have our festivals,” Nate said with a grimace. “They usually end up with someone being murdered.”
“We haven’t had anyone murdered in a while now.” It was true that Bliss had a pretty bad murder rate per capita, but it was almost all out of towners.
“I was very happy that Henry chose to kill all his guys down in Mexico.”
Nate seemed to be forgetting a big part of that story. “I don’t think he chose to. I think he was kidnapped.”
“Yes, and his friends killed the whole cartel in a place where I didn’t have to do any paperwork. I sent him a fruit basket to thank him. You get through Winter Festival with no deaths and you get a fruit basket, too.”
She could use a fruit basket. “I’ll make sure it’s on our list. No murders.”
Nate stood and reached for the Stetson that had been sitting on Zane’s desk. “All right. You tell Michael if he has any questions about this guy to call me. He also needs to call me if he shows up again. I know y’all have security up there, but I’m still the sheriff. He needs to let me handle the situation if I can.”
She agreed whole heartedly which was why she fully intended to tell Michael about Nate’s visit. But maybe soften it up a little, not mention the whole Brock-had-threatened-to-ruin-her-life thing. “Will do, Sheriff.”
She joined the rest of the staff and started her day.
* * * *
Michael wished he’d insisted on getting his vehicle before they came up the mountain. He wasn’t even sure why he hadn’t. Ty had mentioned he would drive him up and he hadn’t pushed back.
Probably because he was still thinking about the night before.
I love you, Lucy.
Watching Lucy and Ty together had done something he hadn’t thought it would. He’d been prepared to find it distasteful. He’d been prepared for jealousy. He’d been ready to admit that watching two other people got him hot.
He hadn’t expected watching them would make him long.
Ty put the Jeep in park and turned his way. “Maybe I should stop by the Trading Post and get some coffee. I know we can go down to the kitchen, but Luce is a badger before she gets some caffeine in her system. You’re not far behind her. At least I think that was a need for coffee this morning. It could be your usual morning grump.”
“Morning grump?” He knew he shouldn’t ask, but Ty often amused him. Well, he wanted to punch Ty less than most people.
Ty nodded. “Yeah, I’ve noticed you go through a daily series of grumps.”
“That’s not a word. I mean it is, but not the way you’re using it. Grump is a noun. I’m a grump. I can be grumpy. But I can’t have a grump.”
“Sure you can,” Ty insisted. “It’s a mood. It’s also something you do. Your morning grump seems to be cut off with shower sex, although that was so long ago. Did we slide back into the morning grump or are we pregaming for the afternoon session?”
“You’re an asshole.” But he was smiling as he got out of the Jeep.
No one joked with him anymore. Probably because for a long time he bit the heads off of people who did. Still, despite the fact that he came down off this mountain more often now, the people around town tended to give him a wide berth. It was kind of nice to have someone call him on his morose shit.
He didn’t have grumps. He had…moments of contemplation.
“Hey, Mike.” Ty had gotten out of the Jeep, and he nodded toward the side of the cabin. “It looks like you have company.”
Michael’s hand immediately went for his gun. And then he remembered he wasn’t carrying the sucker. He hadn’t wanted to scare Lucy, so he’d locked his semiautomatic in his gun case that was hidden in the floor of his cabin, and now that seemed like a bad idea. He held up a hand to ask Ty to go silent.