his eyebrows when he thought something was wrong, and smiling with all his teeth showing when she tried on western clothes.
In the end, she bought three pairs of jeans, six shirts, one dress, and a cowboy hat she thought looked ridiculous. He promised her it looked cute, and she almost believed him.
“Now you got the hat,” he said as they walked out of the store, “you got to come watch me ride this weekend.”
“All right. If you’ll come to the funeral.”
He stopped on the steps and faced her. “Of course I’ll come. We’re friends, Rea. That’s what friends do for each other.”
She wondered if he could tell that all this friends stuff was new to her. “I’ve never been to a funeral,” she admitted. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“Rea, I don’t think anyone really knows what to do at a funeral. I usually just keep my eyes looking down and hug everyone who wants to hug me. Some folks think they have to do that to all the family left behind to suffer the loss.”
“You’ve had family die?”
“Sure, my big brother, Warren, three years ago. I cried all the way through the funeral. I couldn’t tell you one thing anyone said.”
“How’d he die?”
“He was killed on duty. He was a highway patrolman on his way to becoming a Texas Ranger. A man ran a roadblock and when Warren caught up to him, the guy shot him in the face when he walked up to the car. Strange thing was, the man was only wanted for outstanding speeding tickets. Warren wouldn’t have even taken him in that night. He killed my brother for nothing.”
“That’s really sad.”
He straightened as if pushing sadness aside. “You want to hug me?” he asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“No,” she answered and smiled back.
“Times like this are like muddy water, Rea, you just got to keep moving through it until you get to the other side.”
SHE HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE HIS WORDS WERE, BUT SHE thought of them several times over the next two days. People brought food to the house and hugged her. They went to the funeral home and everyone there hugged her. Jeremiah had a graveside service and it looked like half the town came and most of them hugged her.
Reagan was all hugged out by the time she got home. Jeremiah must have felt the same, for he went back to his room without a word or a bite to eat and she didn’t see him again the rest of the evening.
She went to her room and closed the door. My room , Reagan thought. Beverly would never be back to claim it. She could paint the walls or move things around. But she decided, for right now anyway, she’d leave it the same. In a funny way, Reagan thought Miss Beverly would smile if she knew Reagan was sleeping there.
Jeremiah was cooking breakfast in his work clothes when she came downstairs the next morning. All the flowers folks had brought to the house were gone, along with the cards and cakes. He must have thought it was time to get back to normal.
She silently agreed, having no idea what normal was, but it had to be better than the mud of funeral days.
Chapter 13
ALEXANDRA MCALLEN LEANED AGAINST HER PATROL CAR and wiped the sweat from her throat. The morning was warm and her bulletproof vest always made it seem hotter. She’d been standing in the sun for a half hour trying to solve the latest crime in Harmony.
“I’m telling you, Sheriff,” Dallas Logan said, not for the first time. “Every night it’s not raining or cloudy some fool shoots this light out and I’ve had enough of it. You got to do something.”
The overweight woman huffed, raising her breasts as if she’d use them as battering rams to get something done. At five feet nothing, she might not be intimidating, but she tried to talk everyone she met to death. “I’ve made a list of who I think it might be. All you got to do is go house to house investigating and you’ll find someone who owns a rifle.”
Dallas shifted from foot to foot as if playing some kind of senior
In the end, she bought three pairs of jeans, six shirts, one dress, and a cowboy hat she thought looked ridiculous. He promised her it looked cute, and she almost believed him.
“Now you got the hat,” he said as they walked out of the store, “you got to come watch me ride this weekend.”
“All right. If you’ll come to the funeral.”
He stopped on the steps and faced her. “Of course I’ll come. We’re friends, Rea. That’s what friends do for each other.”
She wondered if he could tell that all this friends stuff was new to her. “I’ve never been to a funeral,” she admitted. “I’m not sure what to do.”
“Rea, I don’t think anyone really knows what to do at a funeral. I usually just keep my eyes looking down and hug everyone who wants to hug me. Some folks think they have to do that to all the family left behind to suffer the loss.”
“You’ve had family die?”
“Sure, my big brother, Warren, three years ago. I cried all the way through the funeral. I couldn’t tell you one thing anyone said.”
“How’d he die?”
“He was killed on duty. He was a highway patrolman on his way to becoming a Texas Ranger. A man ran a roadblock and when Warren caught up to him, the guy shot him in the face when he walked up to the car. Strange thing was, the man was only wanted for outstanding speeding tickets. Warren wouldn’t have even taken him in that night. He killed my brother for nothing.”
“That’s really sad.”
He straightened as if pushing sadness aside. “You want to hug me?” he asked with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“No,” she answered and smiled back.
“Times like this are like muddy water, Rea, you just got to keep moving through it until you get to the other side.”
SHE HAD NO IDEA HOW TRUE HIS WORDS WERE, BUT SHE thought of them several times over the next two days. People brought food to the house and hugged her. They went to the funeral home and everyone there hugged her. Jeremiah had a graveside service and it looked like half the town came and most of them hugged her.
Reagan was all hugged out by the time she got home. Jeremiah must have felt the same, for he went back to his room without a word or a bite to eat and she didn’t see him again the rest of the evening.
She went to her room and closed the door. My room , Reagan thought. Beverly would never be back to claim it. She could paint the walls or move things around. But she decided, for right now anyway, she’d leave it the same. In a funny way, Reagan thought Miss Beverly would smile if she knew Reagan was sleeping there.
Jeremiah was cooking breakfast in his work clothes when she came downstairs the next morning. All the flowers folks had brought to the house were gone, along with the cards and cakes. He must have thought it was time to get back to normal.
She silently agreed, having no idea what normal was, but it had to be better than the mud of funeral days.
Chapter 13
ALEXANDRA MCALLEN LEANED AGAINST HER PATROL CAR and wiped the sweat from her throat. The morning was warm and her bulletproof vest always made it seem hotter. She’d been standing in the sun for a half hour trying to solve the latest crime in Harmony.
“I’m telling you, Sheriff,” Dallas Logan said, not for the first time. “Every night it’s not raining or cloudy some fool shoots this light out and I’ve had enough of it. You got to do something.”
The overweight woman huffed, raising her breasts as if she’d use them as battering rams to get something done. At five feet nothing, she might not be intimidating, but she tried to talk everyone she met to death. “I’ve made a list of who I think it might be. All you got to do is go house to house investigating and you’ll find someone who owns a rifle.”
Dallas shifted from foot to foot as if playing some kind of senior
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