He had a couple of minutes. “Are you all right, Carrie?”
She glanced the way her mother-in-law had gone. “I’m fine. The nurse fixed me up. I’ll be out of the sling soon.”
“Is Bobby treating you right?”
Her eyes flared and then her gaze wouldn’t meet his. “I said everything is fine.”
Damn it. Lila was right. Something was going on. “If he’s hurting you, I can help.”
“I’m clumsy. That’s all.” Her chin came up, and he saw a grim resolve in her eyes. “I should have known that woman would be trouble. Tell that nurse to keep her nose out of my business. I’ll find another place to go if I get hurt again. She’s got no right to make accusations.”
“She’s an expert, and she sees a pattern of injuries that don’t work with your explanation,” he pointed out. “If you’re worried no one will believe you, you’re wrong.”
“Is there a problem, Sheriff?” Lorna was back, her stare going from him to her daughter-in-law as though assessing the situation.
“There’s no problem, Mother Petrie.” The calm smile was back on her face. “Apparently the new lady at the clinic is very thorough.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t mention that it wasn’t Doc you saw.” Lorna managed to make the statement into an accusation.
“I told Bobby about it,” Carrie replied. “It wasn’t a big deal. Now, Sheriff, please let the nurse know that I’m fine. I’m feeling much better and won’t need to come back for a follow-up.”
Lorna huffed. “Follow-up? What an idiotic notion. She’s fine. She’s already working. The girl’s tough. She don’t need some uppity city nurse to turn her into a whining baby like the rest of them. Now go and get out of here. We have things to do before the men get back. And tell that deputy of yours that we’re unincorporated land here. She’s got no right to check on anything at all. Only code out here is the Petrie code.”
Roxie simply smiled. “The coop’s perfectly fine to me. Not that I know a lot about them, but the chickens seemed happy, too.”
Lorna shook her head. “Ridiculous rules.”
“Unincorporated land or not, I’m still the law here, and you would do best to remember it.” He turned and walked away, knowing Roxie was right behind him. He got on the boat and looked back.
Carrie stood in the doorway, half in and half out, a shadow over her face.
Lila was right and something was happening with that girl, but damn if he knew what to do about it.
“We can’t bring the husband in if the wife won’t tell us anything’s wrong,” Roxie pointed out as she pulled the rope in. “Unless you want to start asking around. See if anyone’s seen something.”
He started up the motor. “No, I would have heard by now. They keep to themselves. I thought it was because they simply liked to live that way. Now I have questions. But they’ll have to wait.”
He wasn’t going to be able to avoid Lila.
He steered the boat away from the pier, his brain working on the problems.* * *• • •
Another day, another list of canceled appointments. It was enough to make a woman wonder if there was something wrong with her deodorant.
At least she had a friend now.
“You know, for a dog who managed to make it all the way home, you don’t seem like you want to stay there.” She stared down at Peanut, who thumped his tail against the floor and gave her a big doggy grin.
She’d spent her morning cleaning him up. He was in surprisingly good shape for being on his own for months. She’d pulled two ticks off him and his hair was short enough it hadn’t matted. He’d needed a bath and food and water, but he was going to be fine. When the time had come for her to go to the clinic, he’d followed her to the door. When she’d closed him in, he’d whined and cried so loud, she’d gone back to check on him. He’d taken the opportunity to run out to her car and jump around like he knew they were going for an adventure. She hadn’t been able to leave him behind.
She should start looking for someone to take him in.
Not today, of course. He’d been through a lot and needed TLC. In a couple of weeks she would start looking around to see if anyone needed a pet.
“Oh, he’s attached to you now,” Mabel said, leaning over to give Peanut a pet. “That dog went everywhere with Bill. I’m not surprised he found his way back home, and now he’s imprinted again.”
“I can’t keep him.” It was what she’d thought about as she’d tried to fall back asleep the night before. She’d thought about the dog and the man who’d been occupying her living room, and how she probably couldn’t keep either one of them.