Lizzy’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling. “Before or after Bobby Ray showed up? She was trying to save her own ass and you helped her out, so she owes you big time. And don’t change the subject. Answer me.”
Allie sighed. “You sound like Granny when your voice goes all high and squeaky. I like Blake. He’s a good person, Lizzy. Tonight wasn’t his fault. It was one of those crazy cluster things that happen all at once.”
“Depends on the booty call woman, don’t it? I wonder if he sent her packing or if she’s over there right now.” Lizzy’s fists were clenched. “Lord, I’d like to hit her or him or even Nadine. Do you realize what kind of gossip is going to be going through town by morning?”
“I need to sort it all out. Can you give me a few days to do that before you start bitchin’ about it? Or before you go hittin’ someone? Remember you’re going to be a preacher’s wife.”
Lizzy set her mouth in a firm line. “Fire starts in ten minutes. That’s how long it will take me to stuff this in the fire pit and douse it with gasoline.”
“Wait till I get my jeans on. If that hussy had it on her body, then I want to see it burn,” Allie said quickly.
“That’s my sister. The one I knew before Riley broke her heart.” Lizzy grinned. “And you promise you won’t ever go back over there?”
Allie left the bed and jerked on a pair of jeans. “Hell, no! I’ve got things to say to him.”
“Well, shit! You like him more than a little bit if he makes you that mad.”
Allie pulled her dark hair up in a ponytail. “Maybe so. I’ll have to figure it out but right now we’ve got a robe to burn. Wonder if he’d like to see it or maybe smell the smoke?”
“Wind is blowing toward the south. Call him once we get it lit and tell him to step out on the porch,” Lizzy said. “He’ll probably tell you to keep your scrawny ass on your side of the fence from now on.”
They set the robe on fire and despite feeling childish and more than a little bit like a teenager instead of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Allie did call Blake. He answered on the first ring and she told him what she and Lizzy were doing.
“Fine by me,” Blake said. “But next time you need to wash some insulation out of your clothes you need to remember that you’ll have to run around naked. I have no problem with that. None whatsoever.”
“I will always have an extra set of clothing from now on.”
“Then that means you’re going to finish the job you started?”
Allie drew in a long breath. “I don’t let tall bitches keep me from doing a job. Just tell her to stay out of my way tomorrow morning.”
“She’s gone and I don’t expect she’ll ever come back. Deke says to say hello.”
“Hello, Deke, and good night, Blake.”
She pushed the END button and bit back the grin so that she wouldn’t have to tell Lizzy what he’d said.
Chapter Fifteen
Allie called Blake the next morning to tell him that she had to mind the feed store because Lizzy had come down with the flu overnight. That meant Katy took Granny to the convenience store with her and Allie would be on the other end of the block at Lizzy’s store all day. The sun was out again but the temperature was below freezing so there wouldn’t be a lot of melting going on that day.
She got his voice mail and left a short message.
She tried again at midmorning but got the same message, and her mind immediately went to the tall blond bombshell who might have returned and sweet-talked her way into Blake’s bed. It was his bed and his life so it wasn’t a damn bit of her business, but it didn’t keep the envy at bay. Besides she’d known Blake less than two weeks so what gave her the right to be jealous.
Wearing his robe did not give her any rights over him. Lighting it up might have burned any bridges between them anyway. She grabbed up a dusting rag and went to work on the shelves in the Dry Creek Feed and Seed Store. As bad as she hated cleaning, she needed something to do so that the hands of the clock would move. Starting on the side where all the supplies were kept, she straightened, wiped out a month’s worth of dust, and grumbled.
She shouldn’t worry about killing Mitch. He expected a spotlessly clean house and three meals on the table and Lizzy to wear high heels the whole time she was making that happen. After the first week, she’d kill him. Poor old sumbitch had no idea what he was getting into. Of all three Logan sisters, Lizzy hated cleaning the most.
“Anybody here?” A voice startled her so badly that she threw the dust rag straight up with a squeal. Gravity brought it back to Lucy’s hands and she held it out to her.
“Just because I caught the damn thing, don’t mean I’m going to use it.”
Allie laid the rag on the shelf. “What can I do for you today, Miz Lucy?”
“I need to buy a chainsaw blade for Herman. He called me when I was elbow deep in makin’ bread for the week to tell me to bring a new saw blade out to the Lucky Penny for him. Thinks he can’t waste a minute coming to town to get it, but it’s okay to interrupt what I’m doin’,” Lucy fussed.