Not that she thought Javi would kiss her. But maybe he would.
“Looking for something?” Hailey asked when she carried the basket of mushrooms to their end of the bar.
“Just admiring the way you have everything set up. I heard you did a lot of work on this place.”
Well. That was one way to introduce the subject of Javi, see if he was attached before she let her imagination run too far ahead of her.
“You heard? I thought you were just passing through?”
“Um, Sergeant Saldivar mentioned it when he checked on us and called the tow truck.”
Hailey’s brow furrowed. “Sergeant—Javi? Oh, well, sure, I guess he would tell you about this place. He and our group of friends come out every Sunday, play some washers, listen to some music, drink some beer. They’re part of the reason I can afford to have a band on weekends now, if we’re honest.”
Group of friends. That didn’t tell Espy a lot.
“Espy is meeting him here to go over maps of the area, so we have a better idea of our options when the storms hit,” Angelica clarified, clearly understand Espy’s motivation for asking.
Hailey held out her hands in front of her. “That’s a lot of information. First of all, the storms are coming here?”
“Data indicates that tomorrow afternoon will be a big day for storms, yes.”
Hailey’s face was drawn in concern. “But tornado storms? We have had tornado watches before, but never a tornado since I’ve lived here.”
Angelica took a sip of her drink. “Sorry to tell you, you should expect hail and high winds, possibly a tornado.”
“Should we, I don’t know, warn the town?”
“I mean, maybe they know already? If they watch the news?”
“But what if they don’t? I don’t watch the news, and this is new information to me.” Hailey’s expression was stricken.
“I mean, sure, let them be as prepared as possible. You can’t predict where a tornado will drop, though you could probably better prepare for hail.”
Espy had witnessed this conversation before, as well. People didn’t really like seeing them show up in town. “In all fairness, there’s not much chance the tornado will drop on the town. There’s a lot of empty space around where it could descend.”
Hailey’s frown deepened. “All that empty space belongs to someone, and some people are pretty isolated out on the ranches.”
“Okay, well, how do you usually reach people like that, if they don’t watch the news?” Angelica asked, and Espy could hear the frustration in her voice. “You don’t have to go door to door, do you?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe we need to.”
“Does the town have a tornado siren?”
“A flood siren,” Hailey said. “There was a bad flood here a few years ago, and some kids died, so they installed a flood siren. I’ve never heard it though.”
“Maybe the DPS has a system,” Espy said, popping a mushroom into her mouth and instantly regretting it because it was very hot. “You can ask Sergeant Saldivar when he gets here.”
“He’s not going to answer to that for long,” Hailey said with a laugh. “Just call him Javi. I don’t think anyone calls him Sergeant, not even at work.”
Espy had so many more questions she wanted to ask about him, but instead bit her tongue and turned her attention to the mushrooms.
CHAPTER3
Javi was uncharacteristically jittery about going to The Wheel House. Maybe Esperanza had only invited him to meet to go over the maps, but he was pretty sure she had another motive. He hadn’t gotten a good read on her, and while he prided himself on being able to read people in most situations, he hadn’t mastered reading pretty girls.
And Esperanza was the prettiest girl he’d seen in a long time. He liked her sassy tone, he liked her wild curls, he liked her confidence.
At the same time, that unnerved him. She was confident, and he wasn’t. Not when it came to women.
