thought. âFocusing on me is a waste of your time, but feel free. Iâm sure Rubyâs taking idle talk to an extreme conclusion.â
âCould be,â Russ said. âWho is Christopher Sloan?â
The abrupt shift in subject caught her by surprise, but she welcomed it, could feel her grip on the steering wheel ease. âHeâs one of two full-time, professional firefighters in town,â she said. âThe Sloans are another local family. They own a construction company. There are a bunch of them. Christopherâs older brother Brandon is married to Rubyâs sister Maggie.â
âThe Sloans worked on Moss Hill?â
âSome. I donât know details. Christopher and Ruby...â Kylie didnât finish.
âHe and Ruby what? Theyâre an item?â
âI donât know for sure. You know what itâs like when youâre the newcomer in a small town.â
âI donât, actually.â
âPeople sometimes say things in your earshot they might not say if they knew you from when you were in kindergarten.â
âSo, youâve heard talk about Ruby and this firefighter.â
âThere are sparks between them.â
âSparks, Kylie?â
She heard the amusement in his voice and instantly felt heat rise in her cheeks. She resisted glancing over at him, but was aware of how close he was in the tight quarters of her small car. âYou know what I mean,â she said finally.
âIâm not much on noticing sparks, I guess. Letâs just say my friends donât come to me for romantic advice, at least not more than once. I ask them if they want to stay in or get out of the relationship. Only two options.â
âYouâre a black-and-white thinker.â
âWhen things are black-and-white. What about you? Do your friends come to you for romantic advice?â
Heâd set her up, she saw now. âIt depends on the friend. And I donât tend to be a black-and-white thinker. I was up for the sunrise this morning. Did you see it on your flight? So many colors. Then they all melted into the blue sky...â She slowed for a curve. âLetâs say thatâs the kind of thinker I am.â
âIs that what we call a blue-sky thinker?â
âOr the sunrise thinker, maybe.â
He looked out his window. âI didnât see the sunrise. I donât sleep much on planes, but I was reading. Julius Hartley gave me a copy of The Three Musketeers. He said I would understand Knights Bridge better if I read it.â
âOne for all and all for one, or a lot of sword fights?â
âI was hoping for a scantily clad damsel in distress.â
Kylie laughed as she turned into the Moss Hill parking lot. âNo luck there. Still too cold. Your Hawaiian shirt with the palm trees suggests you like your warm weather.â
âAs I said, my brother gave me the shirt. He binge-watched Magnum, PI over the winter.â
âHe lives in Los Angeles?â
âHe does.â
âDoes he know Daphne Stewart?â
âTheyâre friends. I met Daphne and Julius through Marty. Thatâs how I ended up at Sawyer & Sawyer.â
Without trying, Kylie thought of a dozen questions she wanted to ask him about his life in California, his work, his past, his brotherâwhere theyâd grown up, what heâd done in the navy, why heâd become an investigator, what Daphne Stewart was like. But she didnât ask any of them and instead turned off the engine and got out of the car.
Russ met her on the breezeway, stretching his lower back. âThanks for the ride into town.â
âYouâre welcome. Thanks for lunch. Thereâs a parking garage under the residential building, in case no one mentioned it. If you need anything while youâre here, feel free to knock on my door again.â
âI wonât disturb you?â
She smiled. âOh, youâll disturb me, but I