Free Roundabout Road (Saving the Sinners of Preacher's Bend Book 2) by Jevenna Willow Page A

impossible.
    “You haven’t left Preacher’s Bend?”
    A statement, more than a question from the deputy,
which held tremendous innuendos.
    Liddy stood a little taller knowing Jake’s shin was hurting.
He looked to be in great pain. Surely, she hadn’t broken an artery or two? No such luck ! Nevertheless, there was telltale moisture forming on his
upper lip and an icy glare in his eyes. This meant he indeed was in some sort
of pain, somewhere. And she’d been lucky enough to give it to him.
    Wow! She’d finally scored a point against this man.
    “Was I supposed to have left?” she answered, dragging her
eyes away from Jake’s paling face.
    “Damn, Liddy! A good ten years and you come back to start
sassing me?” Debra was slightly taken aback she even dared.
    Okay. Maybe
it was not the reaction anyone expected from a woman packing heat. And Debra’s
eyes did widen just a bit more to Liddy’s refusal to back down. But Liddy was a
grown woman. She could handle the likes of one very large, very mean Debra
Wesley. Perhaps if handed a bit more than this she might have caved.
    “I’m not sassing you, Debra.” And she wasn’t, at least
not in her mind.
    If Debra really wanted her to start sassing, it wouldn’t
have taken too much of an effort on her part.
    “No. You’re simply not listening to me. And that is about
the same thing as sassing, in my book.” She moved a bit closer to Liddy.
    Liddy could see the sugar from a doughnut still stuck
to Debra’s bottom lip and a few crumbs stuck on her usually pristine Preacher’s
Bend police uniform. Debra must have been partaking in a bit of Ceril’s
doughnut stash while the man called away to the quarry. Shame on her!
    Licking her own suddenly dry lips toward whatever was
to come next, Liddy waited with baited breath. Debra was dangerous; when mad at
Jake she was volatile.
    Put the both of them together, and a town had on its
hands one very mean, very troubled sister-in-law.
    “I listened to you,” Liddy repeated. She tried looking
sheepish. And humble. She must have failed miserably on both accounts, since
both thought her anything but either of these.
    “Then why are you still here?” Debra asked, eyeing her
up and down—heels to crown. There was disgust at what she saw written all over
her face. Disgust and something else Liddy dared not put thought to.
    “I had to find Jake. I already told you this.” Hadn’t
she? Because she surely thought she mentioned this; and more than once when
she’d run into Debra last night. Wasn’t Debra listening to her during those
lousy ten seconds she’d allotted Liddy yesterday?
    “Now that you’ve found him, you can leave again.” Debra’s
hand moved to the butt of her gun. “Today.” She even pulled the wretched thing
out of its leather holster, checking the chamber.
    Good God! Was
sassing this bitch actually pushing Debra into wanting to shoot her? Debra had taken the gun out of the holster while
grinning.
    Jake held up his hand in his half-sister’s face to
stall the hefty woman’s movements. “Now hold on there just a dang minute, Debra.
Liddy wasn’t hurting anyone. She’s simply being . . . Liddy.” Jake gave her the
evil eye. “She can’t help her distinct lack of manners. Surely you don’t have
the need to draw your gun on her?”
     He backed up a bit to the look suddenly filling the
depths of Debra’s eyes.
    Liddy supposed he never thought he would see the day
where he had to make an actual choice of protecting someone from the likes of a
police officer.
    But Liddy’s head was screaming ‘ Lack of manners?’
What the hell . . .
    “Who said it was only she I was drawing my gun on?” Debra
warned Jake, purposely playing with the safety on the weapon just to scare them
a bit. “Besides, I got a very legitimate call to check out a domestic
disturbance right here in this parking lot. And this is exactly what I am doing,
Mr. Giotti. I’m checking out a domestic disturbance.”
    She then