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Authors: Vonna Harper
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she going to spend hers stuck in Forestville the way her mother was.
Well, she was back. And it was too late to apologize to her mother.
“Where’s your wife?” she asked Joe. “Isn’t she always with you?”
“Deana’s been sick. Well, not sick. She needs a knee replacement. That keeps her off her feet.”
“I’m sorry. Will she be having surgery—”
“Not unless I win the lottery. We’re self-employed, don’t have insurance. Don’t have anything except this.” He indicated the bar.
After a minute, Joe left to tend to the needs of his other customers. Wishing she knew what to say to Joe, Rane continued to sip her wine. Even with the TV blaring, she could hear rain hitting the metal roof. No matter that she was tired and hungry, she couldn’t quite talk herself into going home. If only the small, well-built place her mother had loved didn’t feel so empty.
Sighing, she looked toward the front door, then shook her head. Surely she hadn’t been hoping Songan would walk in, and even if she had, it wouldn’t happen.
Enough with the sexual energy building at the base of her spine.
Enough with asking herself if the grizzly might be contributing to her mood.
“You didn’t get married, did you?” Chip asked. “I thought for sure you would.”
Chip’s unexpected question accomplished what she’d been unable to do on her own, which was get her mind off sexual matters. She turned toward him, then was sorry because he hadn’t brushed his teeth for a while. Apparently dental hygiene took a backseat to keeping one’s work equipment running. But if the company was that important, shouldn’t he be heading for Eagle Pass since the city was a good hour and a half away?
“I didn’t realize my marital status mattered to you,” she said.
Chip shrugged. The gesture sent his beer belly to jiggling beneath his padded flannel jacket. “Just making conversation, Rane. You were the best-looking girl to come out of these mountains. Too good for me, remember? I figured someone would have snagged you by now.”
“Guess I didn’t take the bait. Mom told me you married Kathy Framer.”
“Had to,” Chip muttered. “Got me two sons and a daughter, not that I see much of them since the divorce.”
Another wave of sympathy for Chip caught her by surprise. Maybe he could have done a better job of planning his life, but this was what he was stuck with. Logging with his brother put food on the table and paid child support right now, but what about after the current government contract was over?
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling inadequate. Did everyone in town have financial problems? Enough to make them do reckless, crazy and illegal things? Enough to turn them into killers?
“Just like I’m sorry about what happened to Jacki,” Chip said. “I thought I knew everything there was to about these mountains, but she… Just goes to show what an education will get you. She had a career, a damn secure one. Now she has nothing.”
Much as she hated hearing that, Rane couldn’t disagree with Chip. For all the bureaucracy that went with working for the Forest Service, it could turn out to be a life-long career.
Unless the employee was murdered.
Rane stayed at the Sawmill for the better part of an hour, sipping slowly and talking to several other people from the past. A couple of men offered to buy her drinks, then backed off when Joe gave them the evil eye. When Joe privately asked why she was putting up with this, she decided to tell him the truth, that she needed to learn as much as she could about the people who had made up her mother’s world.
“I’m not a detective,” she’d said unnecessarily. “I’m hoping someone will say something that, I don’t know, will trigger something in my memory. Mom and I talked a lot, which means I got all the gossip.”
She hadn’t mentioned the possibility that her mother’s killer might have been in the Sawmill.
Joe had hugged her to his sticky
Well, she was back. And it was too late to apologize to her mother.
“Where’s your wife?” she asked Joe. “Isn’t she always with you?”
“Deana’s been sick. Well, not sick. She needs a knee replacement. That keeps her off her feet.”
“I’m sorry. Will she be having surgery—”
“Not unless I win the lottery. We’re self-employed, don’t have insurance. Don’t have anything except this.” He indicated the bar.
After a minute, Joe left to tend to the needs of his other customers. Wishing she knew what to say to Joe, Rane continued to sip her wine. Even with the TV blaring, she could hear rain hitting the metal roof. No matter that she was tired and hungry, she couldn’t quite talk herself into going home. If only the small, well-built place her mother had loved didn’t feel so empty.
Sighing, she looked toward the front door, then shook her head. Surely she hadn’t been hoping Songan would walk in, and even if she had, it wouldn’t happen.
Enough with the sexual energy building at the base of her spine.
Enough with asking herself if the grizzly might be contributing to her mood.
“You didn’t get married, did you?” Chip asked. “I thought for sure you would.”
Chip’s unexpected question accomplished what she’d been unable to do on her own, which was get her mind off sexual matters. She turned toward him, then was sorry because he hadn’t brushed his teeth for a while. Apparently dental hygiene took a backseat to keeping one’s work equipment running. But if the company was that important, shouldn’t he be heading for Eagle Pass since the city was a good hour and a half away?
“I didn’t realize my marital status mattered to you,” she said.
Chip shrugged. The gesture sent his beer belly to jiggling beneath his padded flannel jacket. “Just making conversation, Rane. You were the best-looking girl to come out of these mountains. Too good for me, remember? I figured someone would have snagged you by now.”
“Guess I didn’t take the bait. Mom told me you married Kathy Framer.”
“Had to,” Chip muttered. “Got me two sons and a daughter, not that I see much of them since the divorce.”
Another wave of sympathy for Chip caught her by surprise. Maybe he could have done a better job of planning his life, but this was what he was stuck with. Logging with his brother put food on the table and paid child support right now, but what about after the current government contract was over?
“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling inadequate. Did everyone in town have financial problems? Enough to make them do reckless, crazy and illegal things? Enough to turn them into killers?
“Just like I’m sorry about what happened to Jacki,” Chip said. “I thought I knew everything there was to about these mountains, but she… Just goes to show what an education will get you. She had a career, a damn secure one. Now she has nothing.”
Much as she hated hearing that, Rane couldn’t disagree with Chip. For all the bureaucracy that went with working for the Forest Service, it could turn out to be a life-long career.
Unless the employee was murdered.
Rane stayed at the Sawmill for the better part of an hour, sipping slowly and talking to several other people from the past. A couple of men offered to buy her drinks, then backed off when Joe gave them the evil eye. When Joe privately asked why she was putting up with this, she decided to tell him the truth, that she needed to learn as much as she could about the people who had made up her mother’s world.
“I’m not a detective,” she’d said unnecessarily. “I’m hoping someone will say something that, I don’t know, will trigger something in my memory. Mom and I talked a lot, which means I got all the gossip.”
She hadn’t mentioned the possibility that her mother’s killer might have been in the Sawmill.
Joe had hugged her to his sticky
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