Free Less-than-Innocent Invitation by Shirley Rogers Page A

busy rancher, right?”
    â€œYeah, so what?”
    â€œYet you sneak off in the middle of the day for some kind of meeting at the Cattleman’s Club.”
    He laughed. “I wasn’t sneaking. It’s broad daylight.”
    â€œYou know what I mean. What’s going on? Why are you meeting with the sheriff?”
    He hesitated, taking a moment to decide how to answer her without raising her suspicions. “Gavin’s asked us to help out the sheriff’s office for a while. With budget cuts and a hiring freeze, he’s down a couple of deputies.” That much was the truth.
    She considered that. “So why you guys?”
    To appease his desire to touch her and to throw her off balance, he reached over and toyed with a silky strand of her hair. “Most of our members have a military background.”
    At Logan’s touch, Melissa struggled not to lose track of their conversation. Though his explanation sounded reasonable, his hesitation before he replied made her suspect he wasn’t being totally upfront. She started to ask him another question, but they approached the museum. The parking lot was almost half-full.
    As Logan parked, she smiled. “The museum looks the same.” It made her feel good to know that some things never changed. As a teenager she’d loved visiting the museum. The large, two-story, stately brick building, once the home of prominent landowners, was adorned with four ornate white columns and an array of beautiful flowers and shrubs.
    They walked up the wide steps and through the arched doorway. Inside, two circular stairways with decorative wrought-iron railings led to the second floor. Original wood floors creaked under their footsteps as they climbed the stairs. Antique cases displayed artifacts of Royal’s history, and visitors roamed from room to room.
    â€œIt’s busier than it used to be,” Melissa commented.
    â€œThe museum has become a landmark in Royal. It’s one of the most popular places for tourists to visit.”
    â€œThat’s wonderful.” She looked around, then turned back toward him. “Do you know where the Halifax exhibit is?”
    â€œThis way. Both the Halifax Exhibit and Jessamine Golden’s items are on display in the gallery up here.” At the top of the stairs, Logan guided her to a large room framed by two arched entrances.
    She stood in the middle of the room and turned a complete circle. “This will be the perfect place to do avideo.” Pointing to the black, iron, Western-style chandelier hanging from the ceiling, she nodded. “And there’s plenty of light from the chandelier. I’ll have Rick check it out, but I believe this will work nicely. All I’ll need is a podium to set the map on.”
    Her excitement over her job drew his attention. She loved what she did. It showed in her eyes, in her voice when she spoke. She’d already said she was up for a promotion. Melissa was going places, had her career planned out, it seemed.
    â€œThis way,” he said, his mind sizzling like hot pavement. He showed her the Halifax Exhibit first. “Looks like the vandalism has been removed.”
    â€œThis exhibit will be barely worth mentioning if I don’t have any evidence of the damage.”
    â€œAaron Hill, the museum director, may have some pictures and Gavin may have some crime shots, as well.”
    â€œGreat. I’d like to see if the sheriff will release copies of the photos to me to include in my report.”
    They moved to Jessamine Golden’s display. “Look at the roses tooled on her saddlebag, Logan,” she said quietly. A sense of sadness overcame her that she couldn’t explain.
    Logan reacted to the trace of wistfulness in her tone. “From what I’ve heard, the rose was her trademark.”
    â€œIt must have been. It’s on the handles of her guns, too.” She drew a quick breath, her heart not quite steady.