Allie stood up and carried the phone with her to the first round rack of clothing. “Point proven. I’m going to work on straightening and putting up stock on the clothing side. You need to look around before you order. You’ve got four orange hoodies in a two-X size and only one in a small.”
“Those will be gone by the end of next week and the small will still be hanging there. I ordered it for Sharlene’s brother and he broke his leg and can’t hunt this year. Thanks for the cleanup. Bye,” Lizzy said in a rush and the phone went silent.
Allie didn’t need an explanation of the quick end to the call and hoped that she didn’t catch whatever sent Lizzy to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. She looked back through the clothing area of the store. Hunting jackets, hoodies, jeans, and one rack of cute little western shirts for women.
“I need coffee before I tackle this,” she said.
After a quick trip to the office/kitchenette, she propped a hip on the tall stool behind the cash register. She had taken the first sip when the door opened, and she looked across the store into the eyes of her ex-husband, Riley. His light brown hair was longer, almost touching his shirt collar, and he’d gained at least twenty pounds, most of it around his midsection right above his belt. All in all he looked like warmed-over shit and that put a big smile on her face.
“Hello, Allie.” He smiled back at her.
She wiped the grin off her face instantly. “What brings you to Dry Creek?”
His soft-soled shoes didn’t make a sound as he crossed the floor. She didn’t recognize that shaving lotion, but it smelled like he’d taken a bath in it and it cost more than a buck ninety-nine at Walmart.
“I came to talk to you, darlin’,” he said smoothly.
She recognized his attempt at seduction, but her bullshit radar jacked all the way to the top of the red alert. She crossed her arms over her chest. “That ship sailed a lifetime ago, Riley. I don’t have anything to say to you nor do I want to hear anything you say to me.”
“But all ships eventually come back home after their adventure.” He placed his palms on the counter and locked gazes with her.
Riley had been her high school sweetheart. He’d made her feel special. She’d landed the quarterback of the football team and he treated her like a queen. They’d married right before her nineteenth birthday and divorced about the time she was twenty-two.
“I understand you’ve been flirting with the new owner over at the Lucky Penny and got caught last night after a hot little rendezvous.” His smile was so sarcastic that it chilled the whole store.
The Riley she married, the one who’d looked into her eyes with such love on their wedding day, was not the man on the other side of the counter. He was the stranger who came home one day and told her he was in love with another woman. There was no way he could ever, ever worm his way into her heart again.
She sipped her coffee. “I understand you’ve been keeping even later hours with a minor and that your nights are a lot hotter than mine.”
“She’s of age,” he protested. “And I didn’t come here to talk about Suzanne.”
“What did you come to talk about?” Allie asked. “Do you need a sack of chicken feed or maybe an extension cord? I can help you with that, but anything else you’ll have to get that from your wife or your newest soul mate.”
His thin mouth clamped shut until it was nothing more than a slit. Fantastic! Paybacks were a bitch but they could be so sweet.
“I want to talk about us,” he said through clenched teeth.
Allie shook her head. “There is no us. Hasn’t been in seven years. There is me, and what I do or do not do isn’t a damn bit of your business. There is you, and I couldn’t care less what you do.”
“Come on, Allie. We’ve been in love since we were in grade school,” he said.
“Like I said, that ship sailed. Matter of fact, I believe it sunk in a storm and there’s nothing left of it,” she told him. “You were a sweet guy at one time, but you changed. I’m looking ahead not behind.”
“We were good together. We could be again.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “We could start fresh like Bobby Ray and Nadine.”
“Bobby Ray.” She twisted her mouth to the side. “So he came running to your house when Nadine threw him out last night, did he? I wondered how you got your information so quick.”
Riley reached across the counter and touched her cheek. “Don’t do that with your mouth. It makes you look like an old woman. Bobby Ray stayed with me last night. Nadine cheats on him, too, so she doesn’t have room to bitch. I’m sure that somewhere in our marriage you had a little fling.”
Allie slid off the stool, reached under the counter, and brought up a small twenty-two-caliber pistol. She shoved it up against Riley’s nose and he took a step back.
“Do not ever put your hands on me again. I don’t care if I look like an old woman or like warmed-over shit. If you touch me again, I will shoot you and enjoy watching you die before I call nine-one-one,” she said.
“Well, hell, Allie, you do that with your mouth too much when you are angry,” he said. “I was only trying to help like I did when we were married and I gave you advice.”
She lowered the gun and laughed out loud.