“There she is.” Harry pulled his wife close and kissed her head. “Your brother has quietly done more for this town and this family than anyone realizes.” Harry leaned over and caught Roxie’s gaze. “It’s good he has someone who sees him. I’m happy for the both of you.”
Up ahead, Sylvie Martine was taking her place at the long table onstage, and Armie greeted her. There were three microphones. One of those was for Zep.
They didn’t really need the microphones. It was a small hall, but Sylvie had told her once it made them seem more professional.
Roxie stared straight ahead because she was worried if she didn’t, she might get emotional. “And Zep would never replace water with vodka. He’s a whiskey man. Or rum when he wants to dance.”
Harry nodded. “She’s right about that. He is not into the clear liquors. Speaking of the man. Hey, brother. How’s it going?”
Zep looked surprisingly respectable in his church clothes, but she couldn’t help but think about how he’d looked without the shirt on. She’d sat on the bed with Daisy and Sunny and watched him get dressed. He’d been nervous, but he had nothing to worry about. Not looks-wise. He was a gorgeous man dressed up or dressed down.
He had a notepad in his hand. She’d helped him carefully craft his statement, and they’d gone over a few of the questions he would likely be asked.
He deserved to be taken seriously.
“Good,” Zep said, his eyes finding hers. “I think it’s going to go . . . it’s going to go as well as it can.”
His brother had followed him in. “It’s going to go great. He’s ready.”
At least she didn’t have to go up against Remy. “He is.”
“Hey, Zep. Haven’t seen you in a while,” a feminine voice said. Debbie Griffiths worked at the courthouse. She was a pretty woman in her early thirties, and Roxie had always gotten along with her. Sure, she sometimes got drunk off her ass and liked to pit men against each other, but who didn’t have a hobby? “You look good, boy.”
Zep nodded her way. “Debbie.”
Remy settled in on the other side of the chair Luc was currently bouncing his body up and down on. He was talking to the kid behind him about his dog. Remy formed a secondary barrier to keep Luc from straying off.
“I hear you’re practically on the force now,” Debbie said, giving Zep a long once-over.
If Zep noticed, he didn’t show it. He merely shook his head. “I’m just helping out. I should go—”
Debbie put a hand on his chest. “Hey, maybe after this meeting, you want to go grab a—”
“Move along, Debra.”
Every head in earshot swiveled Roxie’s way because she’d used her cop voice. And not her happy, “let’s not scare the kiddos” cop voice. She had one of those, too, but she’d used her “let’s scare the crap out of everyone and force them to comply” voice. It had served her well over the years.
Debbie’s eyes had gone wide, and her hand had moved right back to her side, where it should have been all along. “I . . . I was going to ask Zep if he wanted . . .”
“He doesn’t have the time to party tonight. And he’s got things to do for the foreseeable future. You should take your seat.” Roxie didn’t move from hers, merely stared at the woman, who should know better than to touch a man who didn’t belong to her.
Debbie nodded. “Yes, of course. I’ll go join my friends. It’s about to start.”
She hurried off.
“Damn, Deputy,” Lisa said with a whistle. “I need to work on that. There are women in this town who think my husband is on the menu, if you know what I mean.”
Zep grinned at Roxie. “Thanks. She can get handsy.”
She better not. Was she already possessive? That was a stupid question, given the fact that she’d run a woman off and had already thought about ensuring the lady parked properly. Every single time. Nope. That was petty and she wasn’t going there. She’d done her duty and warned Debbie off her man.
“You’re welcome,” she said with a wink. “You should get up there. Armie’s got his frowny face on.”
“Doesn’t he frown most of the time?” Zep asked.
He needed to get to know the boss. “He has twenty different frowns. That one is his ‘I want to get this over with and get home to my wife’ frown. It’s one of his fiercest expressions.”
“She’s right about that look,” Lisa agreed. She gave Zep a thumbs-up. “You look great. You’re going to do so well.”
Sera had gotten up and worked her way to her brother. She smoothed down the collar of his shirt. “You are going to be so good at this, Zep. You were always good at talking.”