Deputy Stone jumped up to get out of the way and almost slipped on something that had rolled out of my now open saddlebag.
“Aunt Berry’s mala!” Truman cried, recognizing the colorful string of beads next to the deputy’s foot. He crouched down and reached for them before realizing where they’d come from.
My saddlebags.
I stared at him as his gaze lifted to mine. The room suddenly went quiet.
“Sam?” Truman’s voice was unsure. “Why… why were these in your saddlebags?”
Barney’s face darkened. “I knew it. I knew he couldn’t be trusted. Did you know he has a record? I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to upset you, but I heard it from Ellen Amana, who heard it from Jane Dempsey, whose husband works at the sheriff’s office. That man is a criminal. And now this!”
Deputy Stone’s eyes flicked between Truman and Barney and me. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?” he asked carefully.
“I don’t know how those got in there. I didn’t take them,” I said to Truman. “Someone must have put them in there.”
Barney’s eyes widened, and he spluttered. “Someone planted evidence right where the sheriff’s deputy was sitting? That’s quite a charge, sir.”
I could see the confusion in Truman’s eyes, and I didn’t like it. He stepped closer to me with the beads still wrapped around his fingers. “Is it true? Do you have a record?” he asked softly.
This was one of my biggest fears. Finally finding someone I cared about and losing them because of my own damned stupidity.
“Yes.”
Mikey stepped up next to me. “Tell him what for,” Mikey said angrily to me before turning to Truman. “Ask him why.”
“Does it matter?” I asked Truman instead.
His eyes filled with tears, but before he could say anything, Barney interrupted again. “Truman, you have known most of the people in this room for years. You’ve known this stranger for a matter of days. We all saw those beads come out of his bag with our own eyes. Do you really think someone came here to plant evidence on him? Who? The Stanners? Don’t be ridiculous.”
Chaya lifted her chin. “Maybe it was you, Barney. We never did hear where you were the night of the fire.”
Finally, someone had said it.
Barney’s face paled before turning florid with anger. He turned to her and barely kept his cool when he responded. “I’ll have you know I was at a model train meeting until half past midnight. I was almost home when I saw the fire trucks outside of the shop, so I turned right around to pick you up at the farm.”
I felt my shoulders drop in defeat. If the Stanners really had been the ones to set the fire, then who the hell had planted the beads in my bag?
The saddlebags had been in Mikey and Tiller’s kitchen all week, and any number of people could have had access to it.
That meant there was someone here we couldn’t trust.
I looked back at Deputy Stone, who’d been sitting right next to the bags. He could have planted them on behalf of an angry sheriff.
He narrowed his eyes at me as if trying to read my mind. Before either of us could say anything, Truman stepped forward and said, “No. It doesn’t matter.”
And then he stood up on his toes and wrapped his arms around my neck before kissing me full on the lips. It took me a minute to remember what the question had been.
No, it doesn’t matter you have a record.
I exhaled into the kiss and held on tight. No matter what happened after that, I would be okay. All I needed was to know Truman Sweet didn’t think the worst of me.
I could handle the rest, whatever that ended up being.
22
Truman
I knew I was taking a risk. My brain agreed with Barney. Why in the world would I trust someone I’d barely known a handful of days? I had a history of being proven time and time again that people weren’t trustworthy.
But I refused to give up trusting people. And I refused to tell my heart—the heart that had never gotten what it wanted, what it deserved—that it had been wrong about Sam.
Besides, why in the world would he have burned down my spice shop? He had no motive, and his best friend was one of my best customers.
I pulled back from the kiss but stayed close enough to enjoy the feel of Sam’s arms wrapped around me. “I know you didn’t burn down my shop. Besides, I went into your saddlebags for the gummy bears the other day, remember? And the beads definitely weren’t in there then.”
Sam’s eyes closed in relief for a moment, but when they opened again, he looked warily at Deputy Stone as if waiting for the metal slap of cuffs against his wrists.
I belatedly realized Barney had made a choking, gurgling sound, so my eyes flashed to him in time to see his apoplectic response to my kissing Sam.
“You’ve lost your mind,” he sputtered. “This man has brainwashed you. How could you… how…?” He suddenly sat down hard in his chair and dropped his face in his hands. He looked like he was going to pass out. I felt a little sorry for him.
Deputy Stone looked around at the group gathered in the lodge’s kitchen. “Would someone care to explain the significance of the beads?”
Thankfully, Chaya jumped in to explain while I gently extracted myself from Sam’s embrace and went over to Barney. “Let me walk you out.”
He looked up at me with an expression I’d never seen on him before. Defeat.
“Yes. Fine.”
I felt Sam’s eyes on me as I led Barney through the kitchen and outside. He didn’t follow me which was a testament to his self-control. I knew he wanted nothing more than to boot Barney off the lodge property, but he respected me enough to let me handle it myself.
When we got to Barney’s car, he turned and grasped my upper arms. “I just want what’s best for you.”
I shrugged out of his grip. “I know.”
“You shouldn’t have to carry these burdens alone. You deserve someone to take care of you, to treat you like the precious man you are.”
I offered him a small smile. “Thank you. I agree.”
“I don’t understand how…” He sighed and dropped his shoulders. “It no longer matters. Clearly you have chosen your preferred course. I can only caution you to be careful.”
I nodded. “I will.”
His hands shook as he lifted one to run it over his hair. A few thin wisps caught in the breeze and blew the wrong way, making him look older and more vulnerable somehow.
“I’m sorry,” I added softly. “I never meant to hurt you.”
Barney stared at me for a moment as if trying to memorize my features. It wasn’t like we were never going to see each other again. We lived in the same small town, and I even hoped to be able to volunteer at the library again someday.
“Nor I, you,” he said gently. His eyes softened. “I only wanted to keep you from harm.”
“I know. And I’m grateful for everything you’ve done to care for me.”
Because I was. He’d been there for me many times when others hadn’t. Now that it was pretty clear the Stanners were probably responsible for the fire, and we knew they were the ones who’d done both hit-and-runs, I realized Barney was the one who’d tried to protect me from them the most. Even though I didn’t agree with his heavy-handed methods, I was grateful for his attempts.