Town Darling (15 page)

“As much as the old biddies
in town try to get it off the docket, it’s back by popular demand,” he replied
proudly.  “My Melanie and Dina are the only volunteers this year.  Think you
can get Casey to volunteer?”

Grey, Diesel, and Ruger
eyed one another then burst out laughing.

“Obviously you’ve never met
Casey,” Ruger teased.

“She’s not exactly the
‘friendly’ type,” Grey added.

Diesel cleared his throat.

“Except on rare occasions,”
Grey politely added.

Ruger glared his
disapproval at Grey.

“It’s kept clean,” Lance
informed them.  “Wiley’s in charge of the kissing booth.  He keeps an eye on
the ladies--and the guy’s hands.  Maybe you’ll get her to reconsider.”

“Yeah, and maybe she’ll
bake a pie too,” Grey said while barely holding back his laughter.

All three men again
chuckled.  Lance smiled and shook his head.  They were having a little too much
fun at Casey’s expense.  The bell above the door dinged as Dina entered.  Lance
glanced at Dina then looked back at the three men.

“You boys have fun,” he announced
while grinning.  “I’ll talk to you later.”

The mayor nodded to Dina as
he passed her to leave.  Grey’s smile twisted into a sneer as his piercing eyes
followed Lance across the shop and out the door.  Dina smiled cheerfully as she
approached the men with a paper bag in her hand.  Grey’s attention shifted to
Dina, and his charming smile returned as if on cue.

“I saw you guys working and
thought you might like some sandwiches,” Dina announced.

Diesel practically lunged
for the bag and snatched it.  “Great.  Thanks.”

Grey and Ruger watched
Diesel walk away with the bag without a care.

“And once again we starve,”
Grey muttered.

“Do you guys need any
help?” she offered.

“Plenty of rags and even
more dust,” Ruger cheerfully informed her.

Dina took a clean rag from
the box and began dusting a nearby chair.  She appeared oddly curious about
their last visitor.  “What did the mayor want?”

“The usual,” Grey replied
with little reaction.  “Attempting to get others to volunteer so he’ll look
good.”  He appeared defeated, sank into thought, and sighed softly.  “What I
really need is for Casey to volunteer.”

“I could talk to her,” Dina
replied without hesitation.  “What do you need?”

“Her in the kissing booth.”

Dina looked at Grey and
appeared almost horrified.  “You’re kidding?  That’s asking a lot,” she
remarked.  “Last year, I had to kiss all four Harford boys
twice
.”

Ruger attempted to hide his
smirk.  “Considering one has a fractured jaw, that’s one less,” he teased.  He
seemed a little too proud of the fact.

†

I
t was nearly one o’clock by
the time Casey and Vaughn left the diner together while Casey carried a large
take-out bag.  As they paused on the sidewalk just outside, Vaughn casually
turned to face her and smiled gently.

“Thanks for lunch, Casey,”
he said.  “I appreciate the effort even if you were pressured by your
brother.”  There was a moment of hesitation.  “It would be nice if things could
be civilized between us for a change.”

Casey shrugged.  “I give it
a week.”

He snorted a laugh.  “I
figured three days, but I appreciate your optimism.”

Casey hid her smile and met
his gaze.  As she stared into his dark eyes, she saw flashes of him holding her
as he lowered her to the kitchen floor while she bled and sobbed.  Casey
suddenly looked away while fidgeting.  She had to keep those memories
suppressed.  If she let her emotions get the best of her, the consequences
could cost her dearly.   

“I’d, uh, better get food
to my guys before Diesel eats the weaker one.”  As she turned away from him,
she wiped a tear from her eye then hurried for the antique shop.

Vaughn watched Casey hurry
along town toward the antique store then frowned.  Someone was standing over
his shoulder.  Vaughn glanced behind him and saw Mayor Lance watching Casey as
she disappeared into the antique store.  Lance shook his head and hid his
smile.

“There’s just something
about that girl,” Lance remarked and added a soft groan.

Vaughn rolled his eyes and
focused his attention on Lance.  “Something I can do for you, Mayor?”

“I heard you had a little
disagreement with my brother-in-law this morning,” Lance remarked.

“Oh, that,” Vaughn
snapped.  “No, no disagreement.  He was in the wrong.  Would you like to
threaten my badge as well?”

“What?” he suddenly
announced then chuckled.  “Heavens no!  The people of Darwood Falls respect
you.  If anything, I want you to beef up security for the fair this weekend.  I
mean, I want everything patrolled.”  He sighed with defeat.  “I’ll be honest
with you, Sheriff.  My nephews are out of control, and I don’t want any of
those jug heads doing anything to ruin the fair.  It’s too important.  I don’t
care if you have to knock them on the heads and ship them to Siberia.  It’s an
election year coming up, and I don’t want those boys ruining this for me.”

“Everything is under
control,” Vaughn reported while appearing skeptical of the mayor.

“Good, I’m glad to hear,”
he announced and began walking past Vaughn.  He suddenly stopped and gave him a
firm look.  “And, uh, don’t tell my wife we had this discussion.”

Vaughn smirked and nodded.

R
uger stood by the front
desk in the antique store and ate a sandwich while casually watching Casey and
Grey across the room in a heated exchange.  Their conversation was loud and
clearly heard by everyone.  Casey was wild and animated while Grey pursued her
persistently.

“Are you out of your mind?”
Casey lashed out.  “No, absolutely not!”

“You’re being
unreasonable!”

Diesel approached Ruger at
the desk and poked inside the food bag.  He removed a sandwich and indicated
the exchange with little interest.

“What’s with Bonnie and
Clyde?” Diesel asked.

Ruger casually shrugged. 
“Grey just asked Casey to volunteer for the kissing booth.”

Diesel glanced across the
room and appeared more interested now.  “Huh?  She’s handling it rather well.”

“Yeah, I thought so too.”

“Come on, Casey,” Grey
pleaded while dancing around with frustration.  “This is so important to me.”

She glared at him with her
arms folded across her chest.  “If it’s so damned important then you do it!”

“The guys don’t want me in
the kissing booth, they want you,” he informed her sternly while wildly
gesturing then turned more sincere and lay on the puppy dog eyes.  “Think of
Mom and Dad.”

Horror crossed her face,
and she immediately became defensive.  “Oh, no you don’t!” she cried out while
pointing a warning finger at him.  “I’ve done everything you’ve asked up until
now.  I even made nice with Sheriff Holt, but this is asking too much.  Don’t
hold Mom and Dad over me!”

Grey looked at Ruger across
the room and pleaded with his eyes.  “A little help here, please.”

Ruger appeared innocent and
held his hands in the air.  “I can’t even stand her kissing this one,” he said
while indicating Diesel.  “Why would I condone her smooching half the men in
town?”

“You’re absolutely no help,
you know that?” he snapped.  “We need the people in town to see we’re one of
them.”  Grey looked back at Casey.  “This is why we’re here, Casey.  I’m making
an unbelievable sacrifice.”  He gave her his best sorrowful eyes.  “All I’m
asking is to let a few old guys kiss you.  You kiss Ruger and Diesel like that
all the time.”

Ruger looked at Diesel and
appeared curious.  “Did he just refer to me as old?”

“I think he did.”

Dina dusted some trinkets
on a shelf and appeared to ignore the conversation, but she was obviously
listening with great interest.  Grey looked at Dina and practically lunged for
her.  Dina jumped with surprise.

“Help me out here, Dina,”
Grey pleaded.

Casey groaned lowly while
shaking her head.  “Yes, Dina, tell Grey I would not be a good choice for the
kissing booth.”

Grey looked at Dina and
clutched her elbows, forcing her to look into his sorrowful eyes.  “Come on,
Dina; tell her it’s just a quick peck.”

Dina uncertainly looked
between both, appeared uncomfortable, and fumbled over her words.  “That’s
usually how it works,” she said timidly.  She hesitated a moment then appeared
more confident.  “Want me to demonstrate?”

“If you must,” Casey
groaned while rolling her eyes.

Ruger and Diesel suddenly
looked up from the desk with surprise and appeared interested.

“Is she going to kiss
Casey?” Diesel suddenly whispered to Ruger.

“Shh--” Ruger hushed him
and stared at the women with anticipation.

Both men watched in
complete silence and with great interest.  Dina turned to Grey and kissed him
quickly on the lips then looked back at Casey.  Ruger and Diesel both frowned
with disappointment.  Grey was rendered momentarily speechless.

“Like kissing your
grandmother,” Dina announced.

Casey wasn’t convinced then
muttered, “You and your grandmother must have been real close.”

Dina frowned and appeared
disgusted.  “I’m determined to beat that bitch Melanie at something just once,”
she scoffed.  “Apparently, I’m the only women in town brave enough to take her
on.  I’m sick and tired of her treating me like a second-class citizen just
because my father abandoned me and my mother is the town whore.”

There was an odd silence
around the room.  Casey stared at Dina and felt sympathetic.  Her best friend
had been tortured with her mother’s less than respectable reputation from a
young age.  Casey had been so consumed with her own tortured existence; she
couldn’t feel her friend’s pain.

“You want to take her
down?  I’ll help you,” Casey announced firmly then looked at Grey and groaned. 
“Sign me up.”

Grey appeared excited. 
“Yeah, that’s my sister!”

Dina hugged Casey.  “Thank
you, Casey,” she said softly then pulled away and appeared excited.  “I’ll
spread the word at the tavern.”

“I’ll post it on the fliers
in the store window,” Grey announced as he hurried across the store.

Ruger rolled his eyes. 
“And I’ll just stand here feeling nauseous,” he muttered.

“I think I need to find
some extra cash,” Diesel remarked.  “This fair sounds expensive.”

Dina excitedly took Casey’s
hand and led her to the back of the shop.  “We have to decide what you’re going
to wear.  We’re going to be so hot.”

“Don’t I just need a breath
mint and lip balm?” Casey protested as Dina pulled her away.

All three watched Dina
guide Casey into the back then appeared oddly silent.

“Dina could be a problem,”
Diesel informed them.

“What if we gave her a job
here at the shop?” Ruger suggested with a curious tilt of his head.

“Do we really want to
include her?” Diesel asked while poking through the paper bag for another sandwich.

“She’s been Casey’s best
friend since kindergarten, and she loved my parents,” Grey informed them.  “We
can trust her.”

“Someone’s got a hard on
for Casey’s friend,” Diesel remarked while grinning.

Grey glared at him and
wasn’t impressed.  “That was a long time ago.  Things have changed since then,”
he remarked.  “We have more important things to do.”

“More important than you
doing Dina?” Diesel teased.

Grey sneered at him and
appeared to be losing his patience.  Ruger rolled his eyes and stepped between
the two before Diesel started tossing Grey around like a ragdoll.

“We’re obviously losing
focus here,” Ruger announced firmly then eyed Diesel.  “And you need to cool it
with the sexual references.”

“Says the moral fiber that
holds us all together,” Diesel snorted while wearing a cheap grin.

Ruger wasn’t impressed. 
His look was cold and serious.  “Tread lightly, my friend.”

Diesel snorted then walked
away.

†

I
t was early Saturday
morning and just one week before the town fair.  All seemed peaceful within the
small town of Darwood Falls, but it wouldn’t stay that way long.  Small pockets
of vendors would start filtering into the town to setup for opening weekend. 
By late week, the town would be a madhouse with vendors attempting to move into
the fairgrounds and setup trailers, equipment, rides, and games.  Most locals
were enjoying the calm before next weekend’s storm of visitors.  The police
station bullpen was quiet and void of life, as it was most Saturday mornings. 
Jeannie was off on most weekends and the deputies patrolled the town but
weren’t required to hang around the office.  Emergency dispatch would contact
them if there were any calls.  It was a nice setup, which kept a police
presence without unnecessary personnel.  Sheriff Holt was the officer on duty
this particular weekend, even though next weekend all three officers would be
working long hours.  Vaughn sat behind his desk with his booted feet propped on
top.  He leaned casually back in his worn chair and read from Catherine
Remington’s journal.  He had his temple propped against his hand as his brows
knitted with concern to what he read.

“No sooner had Brandon left
the store,” Catherine wrote, “when Wayne Harford dropped in.  I knew he wasn’t
there to ‘look around’ as he reported.  Ernest would sometimes make purchases,
but his sons never just stopped in.  I kept an eye on him and rightfully so. 
He approached me at the desk and asked about the settee in the back.  He
claimed Ernest had sent him to inspect it, but I knew it wasn’t true.  Ernest
never looked twice at that old sofa.  I couldn’t exactly call him on this,
since I prided our shop on being professional.  Instead, I went into the back
room with him and indicated the antique couch.  I knew better than to turn my
back on Wayne.  It was a mistake many women in town had made, and I’d heard the
horror stories.  He pointed out a tear in the cushion.  There hadn’t been one
before, so, naturally, I looked.  I’d made the mistake and turned my back on
the bastard, but I didn’t realize what I’d had done until he was already
tackling me to the settee.  He was like an animal pawing at me, groping my
body, and trying to pull off my clothes.  I couldn’t believe he’d go this far!”

Vaughn stared at the
journal in his hand as his mouth hung open.  The look of shock on his face was
indescribable.  He held his breath, turned the page, and continued to read.

“I knew his intentions, and
I had to stop him!  Being on top of me, he had me at a disadvantage.  I had
only one action of recourse to stop him, and I took it.  I wasn’t sure which of
us was more surprised by my hand clamped on his testicles through his pants. 
It wasn’t a place on the man I’d wanted to touch, but my hand was there now,
and I had every intention to rip them off!  He wanted to hit me; he tried to
hit me, but I gripped even harder and twisted my hand.  I’d never seen a man
drop so fast.  I made a conscious effort to release him as he fell to the
floor.  Something inside me screamed to keep ahold of him, but I just wanted my
hand off his filthy body.  As he clutched himself while writhing around the
floor, I considered running out the back door and screaming like a crazy woman,
but something snapped inside me.  He was a Harford, and there was no justice
against a Harford.  There was just me.  As he writhed on the floor crying like
a little boy, I did the unthinkable.  I grabbed his arm, twisted it away from
him, and I kicked it with all my anger.  It snapped with the most hideous
sound.  He now screamed and begged me to stop.  I released his arm and watched
him clutch it while crying as he lie on the floor.  I still wanted to kill
him.  From where I stood, I could just as easily snap his neck, but I
suppressed those urges.  I’d made my point without killing the monster.”

Vaughn shut the journal,
tossed it on his desk, and ran his fingers through his hair.  He uncertainly
sat forward and stared at the journal with his brows knitted.  He snatched the
journal, leaned on the desk, and continued to read.