Free Nubbin but Trouble by Ava Mallory Page B

here to get answers and find him and that's what I was going to do, no matter how much resistance I met.
     
    “Looks like we're on our own here, Barney. Someone knows something and, whether Charlie liked it or not, he would have to speak to me and not in the way that he'd been speaking to me as of late, and at least help me eliminate possibilities, so I wouldn't waste time on leads that had already been followed. I didn't care if he didn't want to be friends or whatever we were anymore. None of that mattered. What I wanted was answers and some sort of direction of where to go on this Nubbin thing.
     
    Charlie was born and raised here. He knew the lay of the land. He knew everyone and everyone, I assume, knew him, so he would know exactly who to talk to and who to trust, if there existed such a person here in Nebraska. I had my doubts. They had never been the warm, friendly type with me. I couldn't fault them for that. I just didn't understand why, even after all this time, it still had to be this way. If anything, they should be thankful that I'm back in town. I'd already saved them once. I didn't think that I had to prove myself again with this crowd.
     
    "C'mon, Barney, let's see where the oh-so-powerful sheriff is. I bet he's at home, drinking a cup of coffee and wishing bad things about me because I didn't listen to his demands. Let's find out. I have plenty of things to say to him about all that nonsense." I trudged through the wet snow and took a moment to spiffy up. With the dance of death taking over my body from head to toe, I didn't have much hope that I'd be able to make myself presentable, but I could try.
     
    Now, if I could only remember his address , I thought. How hard can it be to find? This is a small town.
     
    *
     
    An hour later, I thought I'd finally found the house after several minutes of circling O Street over and over again. Who knew that ten thousand people called the small town of Gering home? Who knew that streets in small towns don't get swept as quickly as streets in large cities? Apparently, I was the only one who didn't know that because it took me over an hour to drive the equivalent of five blocks before I finally arrived.
     
    "Here it is," I announced to Barney.
     
    The house wasn't at all what I'd pictured. I figured that because Charlie was a self-proclaimed bachelor that he would live in a plain and simple home without a lot of ornamentation. The quaint bungalow had character. There was even a hand carved welcome sign hanging on the mailbox.
     
    "It almost looks like a real person lives here," I mumbled, admiring the gables.
     
    Charlie's car wasn't parked in the drive, at least, not a vehicle I recognized. There was a newer model Acura sitting in the driveway, covered in snow, so it obviously had been sitting there for quite some time.
     
    Why didn't he ever mention that car to me , I wondered, but quickly shook my head to make the thought disappear. After all, why did I care what kind of car he had? He wasn't my boyfriend. I had to remember that I was getting worked up about a man, who took pleasure in making fun of me from time to time and who liked to scold me like I was a child more often than not. I didn't need to worry about what his life was like. We weren't a couple.
     
    Lost in thought, I didn't even notice when the front doors to the house opened. Suddenly, there was a small, woman standing at the end of the driveway, staring at me. She waved hesitantly. I froze in place, my fingers clutching the steering wheel.
     
    Who is that?
     
    She stepped closer tentatively and smiled. I nodded at her. She motioned for me to open the window, still staying a safe distance from my car, in case I was some kind of crazed maniac who had intentions of doing her harm. Yes, clearly, a woman with a low-grade fever and draining nostrils was a real threat in these parts.
     
    "Are you looking for someone?" She asked.
     
    She had such a friendly smile. I could feel her warmth. I