“Would you though? I know you want Kyle here, but would you really want to live your whole life in his shadow? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to have Ivy looking at you? Seeing you? Liking you?”
Pink painted his cheeks. “I’d be in heaven if she liked me. But I don’t think she will. If I tell her the truth, she’ll be hurt. Furious. She’ll probably never talk to me again.”
I sighed. “That might be true. I still think you should come clean though. If you really like her, you should go after her.”
He wrinkled his brow. “And what about Quinn? If he did hurt Kyle, he’ll just come after me too.”
“I don’t believe Quinn killed your brother. My gut says he didn’t. But, yeah, if you try to date Ivy, Quinn will probably be territorial about her. But he needs to wake up. She’s eighteen.”
“Yeah.”
“Someone is going to swoop in and capture Ivy’s heart. Why not let it be you? You already have a head start. She really loved the poem. She said you were sweet and romantic.”
“She thinks Kyle was that.”
“But he wasn’t, was he?”
“No,” he said quietly. “He went through girls like water. He wasn’t a bad person, but he didn’t want anything permanent with anyone. I… I think I do.”
“You have nothing to lose by being honest with Ivy. I mean, if you let her go on thinking Kyle was texting her, you’ve already lost her.”
He gave a sad smile. “True. I don’t know if I have the nerve though.”
“Then you’ll lose her for sure.”
Something akin to resentment sparked in his light blue eyes. “You sure don’t pull your punches, Sheriff.”
I shrugged. “Good advice can’t be given if you’re too concerned with hurting people’s feelings.”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “It’s obvious you’re not worried about that.”
I laughed. “I’m trying to help.”
“Maybe Dr. Thornton is rubbing off on you instead of the other way around.”
“Maybe.” When my phone rang, I pulled it out and answered. “Sheriff Callum.”
Penelope’s shrill voice came over the line. “Sheriff, come quickly. Lincoln Johnson has been murdered!”
“What?” Shock jolted through me, and I stood, bumping the table. “When?”
Penelope made a choking sound, as if trying not to cry. “I don’t know when. He invited me for coffee, and the door was open.” She panted heavily into the phone. “There’s b… b… blood everywhere.”
“Are you still inside his house?”
“Yes.”
“Listen to me carefully, Penelope. Get out of the house.” For all I knew, the person who’d attacked Lincoln was still there on-site.
“Oh, God,” she wailed.
“Now. Penelope. Go outside,now.”
“O… okay.”
“Call Gerald to come be with you. I’ll be right there.” I hung up and met Pervis’s startled gaze. “I have to go.”
“What happened?”
