“What might that be?”
“Isn’t the suspect who put poor Hope Bartlett in the hospital still on the loose?”
“We haven’t apprehended him yet.”
“I was told that Hope was found on the side of a cliff, left to die, I believe those were the words from many of the volunteers that were present the day she was found.”
Jo found herself rubbing her thumb and index finger on her right hand. “Do you have a point?”
“How safe is the only surviving witness to a crime?”
“Every precaution is being made to ensure Hope is safe. No one wants that more than the residents, family, and friends of this town.”
“Good. Good. My only concern is Hope’s welfare.”
As much as Jo wanted to see the last of the woman, she went ahead and stopped her from leaving with a question of her own.
“Oh, Ms. Pensky?”
The woman showed surprise when Jo called her back.
“Yes?”
“How well do you know Nathan Stone?”
Ms. Pensky lifted her chin, didn’t smile, and stared.
“Who?”
Gotcha! The woman could interrogate, but she was shit for lying.
“Have a nice day, Ms. Pensky.”
“You do the same, Sheriff.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The street between Sam’s diner and Miller’s Auto was blocked off to traffic. Miss Gina’s special lemonade bridge club started setting up tables by ten. Backyard barbeques were lined up on the street outside of the only market in town. A staple of any small town festivity was the American flag, several of which the volunteer fire department pulled out and flew on every streetlight in town.
River Bend was too small for a mayoral office, but there was a chamber of commerce . . . or a half a dozen busybodies who helped legislate some of the simple squabbles the town would come across.
“I didn’t know you owned a pair of jeans, Dad.” Wyatt gave his father crap as they lugged bags of ice from the market to fill the buckets lining the beverage station.
“Do you own a suit?”
Wyatt thought of the tie holding the PVC pipes together on his truck. “Define suit.”
His father laughed as he dropped the ice into one of the waiting buckets and went back for more.
“So, all this for one little girl.”
“Yeah,” Wyatt said with a sigh. “Great, isn’t it?”
His father patted him on the back. “You really have something special here.”
“I love it. I really do.”
“I can see why.”
Sam walked out of the market as Wyatt and his dad were going back in for more ice.
“Hi, Sam . . . have you met my father yet?”
Sam offered a handshake. “No, but I’ve heard plenty about you.”
After his father exchanged pleasantries, Sam glanced back over to his diner with a scowl.
“What’s up? You don’t look too happy.”
“Zoe’s on a terror in there. She needs fresh basil and I don’t have it.”
“None here?”
Sam shook his head. “I bought them out last night, but she needs more.”
Wyatt scratched his head. “Check with Mrs. Miller, she has an herb garden, and if that doesn’t work, call Mrs. Kate.”
Sam’s eyes lit up. “Your son is brilliant,” he told William before running across the street.
“All for a little girl,” he heard his father utter again.
“She became everyone’s little girl when she went missing. This day could have been very different.” He shuddered to think about what could have happened had they not found Hope when they did. “This celebration is for the town. A pat on the back for watching out for each other. You don’t get this in the big city.”
“You don’t get it in every small town either.”
“Then you’re living in the wrong town.”
“Not a lot of need for a high-powered lawyer in a place like this.”
Wyatt had to laugh. “There is this week.”
His father conceded with a nod. When his smile grew bigger and his eyes traveled to a space behind him, Wyatt turned.
Melanie walked up the middle of the street with Hope’s hand in hers. The two had the same smile, the same hair pulled back in a clip.
And Wyatt’s heart warmed.
The woman had wiggled inside him and taken up space he didn’t know he had available.
“If it isn’t the special guest of this shindig,” William said as they approached.
Hope lifted her arms to his dad, who hoisted her up as if she were four.
The movement had Melanie gaping and Wyatt doing a double take.
Hope kissed his father’s cheek and giggled. “Did you see the balloons?”
“No, where are they?”
“Over by Uncle Luke’s.” Hope pointed with the arm she had slung over his father’s shoulder.
“Wanna show me?”
“Okay.” Hope jumped down from his dad’s arms and pulled on his hand.
William winked at Melanie. “We’ll be back.”
Melanie stood with her mouth open as her daughter ran off with Wyatt’s dad.
“What is that all about?”