He's Got Her Goat (5 page)

Her chest felt hollow and her throat tight, but she refused to allow herself to cry. Biting her bottom lip hard enough to distract herself, she pivoted and rushed to the bathroom. Turning the water on full, she splashed her face as much to wash away tears as to pull herself back from her depressing thoughts. The cold water extinguished her burning cheeks. After a minute she turned off the faucet, feeling decidedly better. Reaching for the towel on the rack, she paused. It was folded.

She grabbed the towel, recalling the events of that morning out loud so Dunn could hear them. “I used my new blend of cardamom soap this morning for the first time. It’s supposed to relieve stress, but it wasn’t working. I was so worried about Blanche because I wanted her gone. I’d washed my hair and was drying it with this towel when I heard one of my goats bawling through the window.”

She spoke as much to the police officer as herself. “Then I threw the towel into the bathroom and ran out to the barn.” She rushed to Dunn’s side. “Blanche was milking and had clipped the doe’s ear in the stanchion, don’t you see?”

His face was blank.

She held up the folded towel. “Here’s the evidence. I threw the towel on the bathroom floor. I'm sure of it. Now it’s folded.” Dunn seemed to be processing what she said, and she could feel hope lifting her. “See? She was here. I told you.”

“The bathroom, huh?” Turning, he walked back out to the living area before facing her again. He rubbed his chin while scanning the room once more. “The way I see it, we might want to let this one go,” he said at last.

“What are you talking about?” Paige clutched the towel.

“Well, Ms. Lindon, a woman who no one else has seen, who is older and shorter than you, who was volunteering to milk your goats for free, broke into your house to use the bathroom. Did I leave anything out?”

In the pause that followed Paige accepted how hopeless the situation was. Still, she couldn’t swallow that letting it go was the right thing to do. “If this is officially reported, I suppose that’s good enough. Then if something else happens, I have documentation.”

He nodded. “Alright, but I have a few more questions.”

Paige felt her mind beginning to clear. She took out her cell to check the time and remembered it was dead. She had to get back. “How much longer do you think this will take? You see I left my booth with a stranger and . . .”

The deputy lifted his hands as if stopping traffic. “Wait, you let a stranger milk your goats and another watch your booth? Don’t tell me you took candy from one of them.”

She didn’t respond to his belly laugh except to fold her arms.

Dunn grew serious again. “I’d suggest you hightail it back to your booth, close it for the day and then return here. I can watch the place till you get back. Then get a good night sleep, get your thoughts together and head down to the station for an official statement tomorrow. From the way I see it, you could use the break.”

“No.” Losing two days of work was something she wouldn’t consider. And what if Blanche was looking for her next target right now? Someone else to lie to and steal from? No matter how tired she was, she couldn’t let that happen. There was only one decision. “I want to go to the station now.”

“If you’re sure.” Deputy Dunn headed to his car. “We could do a search of mug shots if she’s in the system and maybe even get a composite drawing. It could take a while.”

“That’s alright,” she said even though she knew it wasn’t, but what other choice did she have?

Chapter Five

M
URKY WATER SWIRLED DOWN
the open storm drain as Sterling walked over to the faucet to rinse out the wooden bucket and fill it again, so the pump would be ready for the next morning. There were still a few vendors closing up their booths. He guessed it was nearly eight, but that was only a guess. In his hurry to get this assignment over with, he’d forgotten his cell on his bed stand. One thing he knew— he was done waiting. Once he replaced the water, he’d catch the bus back home and be finished, whatever the consequences. Unlike the other assignments he’d taken, this didn’t feel right. The sooner he put this whole mess behind him, the better. It was Friday night. Certainly, the buses would run 'til at least ten.

Without a handle, the full bucket was awkward to carry. He sloshed cold water against his shirt twice before he figured out he had to watch the water’s surface to keep it steady. Unfortunately, that’s why he didn’t notice the man standing by the goat soap booth until he was only a few feet behind his back. Paige was there too. Her face shown in the moonlight. She stared at her visitor with a look that seemed alien to the confident woman he’d met that morning. Neither seemed to notice Sterling in the shadows.

Paige scowled. “I’d say yes to dinner, but tonight isn’t good for me.”

The guy was wearing all black. He took her hand, talking in a deeper voice than sounded natural. “You said we would. I need to talk to you. I want to.”

Paige lowered her eyes. “I know, but I can’t tonight. I’ve got things I need to do.”

The prospective boyfriend took the liberty of running the back of his hand down her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

She was literally shaking. Was she afraid of him? Whatever it was, she was not having a good time, and Sterling determined not to watch this a second longer. Although protocol would direct he stay put and get more information, human decency took over.

“Sorry, buddy.” Sterling wedged himself between the two of them like it was another day at the office. “She can’t go with you because she’s going to dinner with me.” He knelt and placed the bucket beneath the pump.

Sterling peered over his shoulder to gage her reaction and was a little surprised to see a full, genuine smile flashed his direction. Was it one of relief at getting rid of her unwanted suitor or anticipation of spending time with him? Why did he even care? This was only an assignment. He wasn’t going to get involved.

He let the two of them finish their conversation while he retrieved a roll of greenish paper from a box beneath one table and dumped the remaining handful of soap cakes on the other. Flattening out the long sheet, he began to count the names on the list but stopped when he heard the sigh behind him.

Turning, he found Paige staring at him with an expression not close to the smile he’d seen earlier. “You were here all day and didn’t even try to sell the rest?”

He blinked in an effort to hold back the cutting remarks that were his first reaction, but it was no use. He couldn’t help but speak his mind. “And you didn’t even
try
to get back here on time? Seven hours is not twenty minutes by anyone’s clock.”

She didn’t apologize. In fact, the opposite. “Then, leave. Just go!” She stood with her pointed finger unmoving. At least her confidence was back.

He’d done what he set out to do and was content. “Fine.”

“Wait.” He hadn’t even taken a step before she recanted. “Do you need me to pay you for your time?”

Sterling couldn’t help but laugh. “You’d pay me when you think I did nothing?” His boss would be interested to know this broke soap maker was so free with her money.

Paige softened. “I mean, you did wait here most of the afternoon, and frankly, you look like you could use some cash.” Nearing the table, she touched the paper he had spread out. “What’s this list you have?”

He lifted the page and straightened his shoulders. “It might be the sales I made this afternoon.”

Her gaze flit to the leftover soaps, and she crossed her arms. He could tell she wasn’t buying it.

“If you had looked more closely at the soap that remained,” he lifted one and held it in front of her nose, “you would have seen that each cake has two little words written below them.”

Paige touched the writing as she read it, “Display only?”

Sterling made a clicking sound with his cheek like one would make to get a horse moving. “I told the women who were interested that their soap would be custom made and ready for pick up tomorrow morning.”

“Really? That’s pretty good.”

Sterling fished a wad of cash from his pocket. “And this is even better.”

She took it but didn’t count the bills or even look at them. She was staring at him, wagging her head in amazement. “You collected money?”

“Only half up front.”

“Now I know why Austin admires you. His instincts have always been stellar.”

“Austin?” He wondered if she was referring to the guy that wanted to take her to dinner.

Her eyes narrowed. “You know, that person who introduced us?”

“Oh, the inter—esting guy we both like so much.” He had almost said the intern.

She laughed. “That’s exactly how I’d describe him. Interesting.” She took the list and fingered the parchment-like texture. “This is different paper.”

He was surprised she'd noticed a detail like that. “Actually, I didn’t have anything to write on, so I asked the florist next to us if I might use some of hers.” He omitted the part that the older woman had charged him a five dollars for it.

Obviously impressed, she put the display soaps back in the box under the table. “If you’re really up for dinner, I know the perfect place, but we’ve got to make it quick. I wasn’t lying to Joe when I said I have something else to do.”

“Lead the way.” As he walked behind the goat girl, he realized how hungry he was.

A New York style deli around the corner had a note in the window that said it stayed open late on the nights of the farmers’ market. The salty smell and sudden warmth from the chilly night made Sterling feel at ease for the first time since he got up that morning. They ordered and sat at a booth in the corner. He meticulously unwrapped his sandwich, folding the paper down to reveal the part he would eat, and rewrapped the rest, so it wouldn’t fall on his clothes. He was determined to take control of the situation, both the one in his hand and the one across the table.

He swallowed before speaking. “Now are you going to tell me what took so long?”

She opened her sandwich, picked it up unwrapped and took a big bite while a bigger chunk of innards fell on the wax paper wrapping. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she said between chewing.

“Try me.” He still hadn’t touched his sandwich.

She swallowed then put the sandwich down. He thought he saw her eyes mist a little, and her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. “There was a stranger in my house when I got there.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant. “Like an unexpected visitor?”

She clasped her hands together, her eyes glued to them. “An intruder. I had to call the police.”

His lungs deflated. His previous remarks must have stung. “I’m so sorry. Were you hurt?”

“No.” Every muscle in her face seemed to tighten. Her eyes, only slits, still stared at her clenched hands.

He thought he knew that look. “Scared then? I understand.”

“No.” She hadn’t moved.

“Then what?”

Her gaze lifted and caught his. He saw fire in her eyes. “Angry. How could someone come into your life, extend a hand of friendship and then totally betray you? What kind of a person does something like that?”

Sterling wasn’t going to touch that question with a ten-foot pole.

She picked up her sandwich, took a huge bite, and kept on talking. “At least Deputy Dunn was on my side. When I went down to the station, his captain had the nerve to question my sanity. At first he wouldn’t believe that Blanche even existed. In the end, he said it didn’t matter because no crime had been committed. No crime. My neighbor breaks into my house, knocks me to the ground, and admits she was trying to steal from me. But, do you know what the biggest crime of all was?” She stared at him, expecting a reply.

He’d barely taken a bite and felt like he was at the dentist’s office when the dentist asks you a question while your mouth is full of cotton. He chewed and swallowed as quickly as he could but had forgotten the question. “What?”

She was in full rant mode. “Lying. That’s the biggest crime. I mean, this woman told me she wanted to help me from the goodness of her heart. When I think of how I let her into my life. I trusted her, and it was all a lie. That’s what hurts the most.”

Not hungry anymore, Sterling put down his sandwich. Wasn’t that what he was doing to her? “I’m sorry.”