“I’m thinking he might be too busy fending off all the single ladies that read his article.” One of Midge’s drawn-on eyebrows rose.
“Not my article.” Everett held up his hands.
“It was a good article.” Christina’s smile was sympathetic.
“There was an article? All I saw was something about you being a bachelor.” Joe chuckled.
Everett sat back and took a deep breath. On the one hand, no one was arguing anymore. On the other hand, he hadn’t had near enough coffee for this. If he was going to make it through the first hour of training, let alone a whole morning of it, he’d need caffeine. Since Libby was nowhere to be seen, it should be safe.
“If you’ll excuse me a sec.” He stood and headed to the back of the room, eager for the breathing room. If dealing with that sort of negativity was part of the job, was he seriously considering running for mayor?
“Everett.” Jed Dwyer was refilling his coffee cup. His two older sons stood along the back wall—looking about as fed up as Everett was feeling.
“Jed.” He took a cup, added a packet of sugar and creamer, then filled it from the stainless steel commercial coffeepot. “How’s your morning going?”
“Better than yours.” Jed nodded at the table. “Looks like a lot of bitching and whining going on from back here.”
Everett’s laugh slipped out before he could stop it. “Yeah, well.” He sighed. “Everyone’s on edge.”
“Hmm.” Jed sipped his coffee. “The whole damn county is here.” His gaze swept the crowd. “Perfect time for troublemakers to cause all sorts of trouble.”
“Fair point. We’ll have to hope they’re not smart enough to figure that out.” Everett frowned. “Lucky for us, they seem to wait until it’s dark, and this will be long over by then.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” Jed finished his coffee and threw his cup away before joining his sons.
Everett refilled his cup, in no hurry to go back to his seat. His gaze swept over the crowd, watching the good people of Lewis County watching Sheriff Myers take his place at the podium.
“Good morning.” Sheriff Myers was a big barrel-chested man with a big presence. He was, for the most part, a likable man. “I know each and every one of you would rather be out enjoying your Saturday than sitting in here, am I right?”
There was a murmur of agreement.
“But you being here—well, that means something to our community. The mayors and I were just saying this means we’ve got each other’s backs.”
The room was silent as Sheriff Myers delivered an account of what had happened in the neighboring towns and the estimated cost of the damages so far. As expected, there was a fair amount of outrage. But a couple of reactions stood out.
At one point, the Dwyer brothers exchanged a look. The middle brother, Donny, mouthed what looked likeI told you, but Everett couldn’t be sure. Eddie, the youngest, looked nervous. But Clay just scowled at both of his brothers, and the three went back to staring straight ahead. Unfortunately, Jed Dwyer caught Everett watching his boys—and the warning packed into the man’s hard-eyed stare was unnerving as hell.
Great.
The other was Wes Hobart. Everett thought the kid had dozed off. The boy had rested his head on the table, but as soon as Sheriff Myers detailed the damage in Rose Prairie, the boy sat up and grinned. It didn’t mean the boy had anything to do with the vandalism, but it did mean the kid was on his way to surpassing his father when it came to being a Grade A ass.
He’d almost resigned himself to going back to his chair when his phone started vibrating. He glanced down at the screen. His sister, Jenny.
Sheriff Myers was beginning the slideshow for the training—no one would notice if he stepped out for a minute.
He answered as soon as he was standing in the hall outside the packed cafeteria. “What’s up?”
“Well... I know you’re super busy, but I’m sorry, I really need help.” Her voice was strained and anxious.
“What’s going on?” He frowned, peering into the cafeteria.
“Gramma Dot. She sort of... Well, she’s stuck in a tree.”
Everett ran a hand over his face. “Literally?”
“Yeah...” Jenny sighed, the unmistakable bleating of goats in the background. “And Hoyt, Mom, and Dad went to that goat auction this morning—they’re probably still on the road. They won’t be back until late.”
“I’ll be there as quick as I can.”
