“No.” Dane smiled, but there was no denying he was concerned. “I came all this way to sit here in case you, I don’t know, wanted to talk.”
Everett covered a yawn with his hand. “I’ve already done too much talking.” He didn’t know what sort of consequences his too-loud, too-public exchange with Libby would lead to, but there’d be some. Libby was right about talk in small towns; it spread faster than wildfire. He could only hope the story didn’t get too twisted along the way. If it did, by the end of the day people might be thinking he was a fool for Libby, not Rosebud. “You said something the other day. I keep thinking about it.”
“What’s that?” Dane asked, taking a gulp of coffee.
“How big of a jackass I am.” Everett laughed as Dane spewed coffee all over the table.
At this point, there wasn’t much else he could do except laugh. Yet again, he’d made a fool of himself. While he’d like to think [email protected] might overshadow this morning’s standoff with Libby, he wasn’t going to hold his breath. All he could do was breathe and laugh and hope the worst was over.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ROSEMARYWOKETOsomeone jostling her arm. She sat up, a crick in her neck bringing her up short. “Ow,” she murmured, pressing a hand to her neck and slowly rolling.
“Sorry to wake you, Rosemary.”
She pried her eyes open and blinked. “Kerrielynn? Leif?” She yawned, trying to orient herself as Leif grinned at her. She didn’t remember dozing off. But she must have because she was still in the kitchen. The table was covered in last night’s creative frenzy. Now, she had an almost finished story for Everett. Almost. “What time is it?” She shifted a page aside, pleased with the images she’d pored over for most of the night. Her gaze shifted to the kitchen clock, then to the two teens. “Isn’t it a school day?”
“Yes.” Kerrielynn glanced at Leif. “It’s eight, and we need to get to school, but I wanted to show you something first.” She held out her phone.
“You guys don’t want to be late.” Rosemary stood and stretched, trying to ease the discomfort in her neck. “You can show me after school. I’ll be here.”
“I really think you’ll want to see this.” Kerrielynn held the phone out again. “Now.”
Rosemary took the phone, glancing between the two teens. “Is everything okay? You two look awfully serious.” Too serious for this time of the morning.
The front door slammed, making Leif and Kerrielynn both jump. “Did you hear?” Astrid came hurrying into the kitchen. “Did you hear that Everett caught the kids? [email protected]?”
Rosemary set Kerrielynn’s phone on the table. “He did?” Of course, he did. “That has to be a huge relief.” Good for Everett. She was so proud of him and relieved for him—for all of them.
“Who’s yelling?” Tansy came skipping down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Leif? Kerrielynn? Why are you two here? Don’t you have class?”
“We do.” Kerrielynn nodded. “But we wanted Rosemary to know—”
“[email protected] been apprehended,” Astrid repeated for Tansy, all smiles. “Thank goodness.”
“Really?” Tansy rubbed at her eyes, still puffy with sleep. “That’s amazing. I mean, I was certain Honey would be next.”
“Me, too,” Rosemary nodded. And she dreaded what the vandals would do to her beloved town.
“Who was it?” Tansy asked, turning to Astrid. “Who caught them? Tell me everything.”
“Um, Rosemary.” Kerrielynn picked up her phone. “I’m really sorry to interrupt, but...”
“Just play it,” Leif said, reaching forward to press Play.
Rosemary paused. Libby and Everett. In a booth at Delaney’s, from the looks of it.
“When was this?” Astrid whispered, standing close behind Rosemary.
Libby leaned forward, an especially inviting smile on her face. Rosemary couldn’t breathe.
“This morning.” Leif nodded at the phone.
Rosemary didn’t like the way Libby traced the back of Everett’s hand. “Why are we watching this?” She shoved the phone back to Kerrielynn. “That seems a little too personal to film, don’t you think?” She didn’t want to see what happened next. Her imagination was all too happy to fill in the blanks.
“I know.” Kerrielynn’s cheeks were red. “It’s just... Libby was up to something. I could tell.”
“Just watch, will you?” Leif’s tone was impatient, but he slid his arm around Kerrielynn. “You’ll see.”
