“I…this season has been hard for a lot of reasons. Howard was such an ass and if At Home didn’t fire him, I was going to walk anyway.”
“He did suck.”
“And, well, I wanted to make sure you didn’t try and talk me out of it.”
I blink. “You thought I would do that?”
She jerks a shoulder and I realize I might have damaged our relationship more than I ever thought. Truth is, I deserve it. Before this season, she probably would have told me right away. But my behavior didn’t inspire confidence. “I would never do that. To tell you the truth, I’m really proud of you.”
Surprise replaces the sadness and I feel like an even bigger jerk. The fact that faint praise makes her feel like that means I haven’t been good to my partner.
“Thanks,” she says, her entire body seemingly more relaxed. “I had a few others offer, but the deal Target gave me was the best. Plus, I can keep the price low for consumers.”
“That’s fantastic.” I’m so damned proud of her.
Sheryl arrives with our food, but so does a stranger. I study the guy who approaches us. He’s tall with short, blond hair, and he’s dressed like he’s late for a country club dance. It isn’t that weird. We’re both celebrities and while Juniper is a small town, we do get tourists who come in for the springs just outside of town. I smile, ready for the request for a selfie, but he pays no attention to me. Instead, his attention is on Nancy.
“Nancy, darling.”
She blinks up from her food and her lips turn down in a frown. “Reggie. What are you doing here?”
His smile widens. Jesus, how many teeth does this guy have in his mouth? It’s like he had some added. “I was in town visiting my grandfather.”
Nancy is not impressed. “Well, good to know. Go away.”
Then she goes back to her food, completely dismissing him. He doesn’t take the hint. Instead, he grabs a chair from a nearby table and settles into it.
“Your grandmother wanted me to look you up. Thought we could spend some time together.”
“Not the first time that old bat was wrong about something. Go. Away. Or, I’ll have Travis break you in two. He can do it.”
He glances over at me as if he just noticed I was here. “Reggie Andrews,” he says, holding out his hand for me to shake. I stop eating, then look down at his hand, then back up at his face.
“Oh, wait, Reggie?” He nods with that same toothy grin. Some people might find it charming, but it has a carnival look to it. Like…a sadistic clown. There is something definitely off about him. I glance at Nancy. “Date Rape Reggie?”
Her eyes dance. “Yep,” she says, popping the “p.”
“Oh.” I look at him. “Go away or I will fuck you up.”
I say it without raising my voice, but from the way he pales, I take it Reggie gets that I’m not lying. And I would. Women already have too much shit to deal with, they definitely don’t need an asshole like Reggie bothering them.
He tears his gaze away from me. “Fine. I’ll stop by your house so we can chat.”
“Fuck off,” Nancy says to his back. Then she turns back to me. “Thanks.”
“No problem. Why would your grandmother even suggest such a goof?”
“She’s friends with his grandpa.”
“Do people really call him Date Rape Reggie?”
Her smile fades. “He got the reputation at college. No one wanted to go out with him. I figure that his grandfather thinks a woman would settle him down.”
“Fuck that. He’s a monster. He will always be a monster.”
“Agreed.”
“So,” I say, picking up a piece of bacon and loving the way the syrup drips off of it. “Gonna give me another chance?”
“Not sure.”
“I get it. But know that I will do anything to get you back.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I shove the bacon in my mouth and enjoy the salty sweet mix. After I swallow it down, I say, “I never make a promise I can’t keep. Not really. I just need you to kick my ass when needed. But I will wait until you’re ready to talk about it.”
“Are you going back to San Antonio tonight?”
I don’t miss the thread of hope I hear in her voice. It cracks my heart just a little to acknowledge, but it’s nothing new for me. She will never want me as much as I want her—or at all. That should have me running as fast as I can out of town. It’s why I was so horrible all season to her. If she hated me, then there was a good chance I would never take that final step and take a chance. I know she doesn’t have those feelings for me. She will never want a romantic relationship with me, so I was trying to save our partnership. In the end, as usual, I took it too far and almost ruined it with my actions.
“Travis? Are you heading back to San Antonio?”
I shake my head. No way. Not without her agreement and definitely not with Date Rape Reggie hanging around. I also need to have a chat with Josh to find out about her car. “I’m gonna hang out in Juniper for a while.”
I’ll fix our relationship and make sure we save our show. And that’s all I need to concentrate on right now.
After breakfast, Nancy heads off to Nerdvana to talk to Everly and Becca. She wants to see if they noticed anyone hanging around last night. I head off to see Josh. I tell her I have to talk to him about something else, but I know she doesn’t believe me.
“Hey,” he says as I walk into the police department. I was just here a few weeks ago when I had to bail both Nancy and my sister out of jail.
“Just had breakfast with Nancy.”
“Yeah, heard you took her home last night.” The smile he’s giving me makes me want to slap him upside the head.
“Good to know that you need the LOLs to keep you entertained. Sad, Josh. Really sad.”
His smile fades, and he motions with his head to his office. I know he rarely uses it, so this is serious. I shut the door behind us.
“So, Nancy’s tire?” I ask.
“Not sure, but it’s shifty. It wasn’t a slow leak, and Mitch is convinced the hole is manmade. She just had it replaced a couple months ago.”
I think back to where we were at the time. “Yeah, we were in Wichita Falls. So, you think someone did it.”
“Could be they mistook her car for someone else’s. I’m hoping we can see something on the video from Wyatt’s.”
“He has security?”
He nods. “A couple years ago he installed a better system. When we get overrun with people during our peak times, vandalism and break-ins increase. He was sick of it happening. Most people learned to behave.”
As if cued up by our conversation, there’s a knock at the door and I see Wyatt. “Can I interrupt?”
“Not interrupting. We’re talking about Nancy’s tire right now.”
“Okay, I emailed the link to the video.”
He cues it up on his computer and we crowd around it. It’s black and white. “I made sure to send you the few minutes before and after. Also sent you another one with the entire night.”
Josh nods as we watch someone walk into the lot. He’s dressed in a hoody, all in black. There isn’t anything visible on his body. He’s faced away from the camera and the bastard is wearing black gloves. From the body type, it looks like a man, but there is always a chance it’s a woman. We watch as he pulls out a switch blade and stabs her tire. Rage burns through my blood. The reaction is not one I expect as he looks a little agitated when the tire goes flat.