“Are you talking about Lou’s Luscious Jams?” The detective looked surprised. “My wife buys it every chance she gets. She says if she doesn’t get out to the flea market early enough, everything’s sold out in the first hour and she ends up having to settle for some other seller out there.”
“Luscious Jams are my grandmother’s.” In fact, he could stand some of it right now, along with his grandmother’s homemade bread. He was starving. He spread his palms once again. “You said this was voluntary. I’ve answered all of your questions a dozen times over. So unless you’re going to tell me I can’t, I’ll be leaving now.” He put words to action and stood.
The detective didn’t try to stop him, which was a relief. Jay didn’t particularly relish the idea of having to call a lawyer. One, it would upset his grandmother. Two, it would necessitate being more forthcoming with the lawyer than he had been with this well-intentioned but misguided cop. And even though a lawyer would have a duty for confidentiality, these days, Jay wasn’t taking any chances.
He’d closed the door on the man he’d been and he didn’t want it opening up again.
Teas didn’t rise, though he did let his chair go back down onto all fours. “Yeah, you can go, Mr. Cross,” he said in a smooth way that had probably put the fear of God in any number of suspects. He bounced his pencil eraser a few more times. “Just don’t leave town.”
After a decade spent in the City of Angels, Jay had acquired his own smooth smile. “I have no intention of going anywhere.” He scooped up his cowboy hat from the corner of the table and jammed it on his head. He flicked the brim, mockingly, he had to admit, and walked out of the stifling room.
The police department took up only a portion of the building that also housed the municipal courts and the motor vehicle department. Given Rambling Rose’s affordability and proximity to larger cities like Jay’s hometown of Houston, Rambling Rose had become quite the boutique city since Jay had been a kid. But he could still remember visiting the building with his grandpa whenever he was staying with Louella and Herbert O’Brien because Herb’s penchant for collecting parking tickets had been legend.
Jay followed the tiled corridor until he reached the public lobby that all of the departments held in common and checked his motion to pull his sunglasses out of his pocket.
He didn’t wear sunglasses anymore. Ergo the cowboy hat.
At first, it had seemed like a stupid thing. More symbolic than anything.
He’d gotten rid of everything that smacked of his old life after his old life had gotten rid of him.
Girlfriend.
Manager.
Career.
His trademark shades had gone in the trash the same day he’d shaved his beard and cut his hair short.
Now, he was glad he’d changed his appearance. His return to good ol’ boy Jay Cross was complete.
Nobody in Rambling Rose had a reason to connect him with his old life. And if that left him with a few missing spots in his history as far as Detective Teas was concerned, Jay wasn’t going to worry about it.
He wasn’t responsible for the problems that had befallen Hotel Fortune, which meant there was no way that Teas could prove otherwise. Pure and simple.
The-late afternoon sun was shafting through the glass entry doors. Another thing that hadn’t changed since Jay was a kid. You’d have thought they’d have at least tinted the glass by now. But no. The sun still streamed in, turning the lobby into a sauna that no amount of air-conditioning could combat.
He tugged the brim of his cowboy hat down farther against the glare and pushed through the door, quickly sidestepping the person who was hurrying to get inside.
“Sorry,” a breathless voice said from behind a tall vase of flowers. “You’re the second person I’ve bumped into.”
Jay chuckled and held the door wider. “Not surprised. Those things are taller than you.” He glanced around the enormous bouquet and felt the impact straight to his solar plexus.
Her hair was mostly hidden by the ball cap she wore, but the long ponytail hanging out the back was distinctively red. And though her eyes were hidden behind a pair of reflective aviator-style sunglasses, he knew they’d be distinctively blue.
Her smile widened. “Jay!” Juggling her gigantic burden, she whipped off her sunglasses.
And sure enough, Arabella Fortune’s aquamarine eyes were exactly how he remembered.
It was his own damned luck that Teas was heading directly for them.
Suddenly, he felt cornered. Hemmed in by a beautiful young woman on one side and a determined cop on the other. His frustration coalesced. “What are you doing here?”
Her wide smile faltered, making him feel like a total ass.
“Delivering flowers,” she said, stating the obvious. “What are you doing here?”
Even though he’d gotten good at pretending the last decade of his life had never occurred, he ought to have been quicker with a response.
Instead, he saw Teas now just a few feet away.
He saw the POLICE sign with the big arrow right behind him.
And he could imagine the horror in Arabella’s eyes when she found out he was Rambling Rose’s latest “person of interest.”
“Leaving,” he said abruptly, and backed the rest of the way out the door.
Arabella stared after Jay. Sudden tears burned deep behind her eyes.
I think you should know that...
...I’m just not that into you.
“Can I help you?”
Swamped in disappointment, Arabella let the glass door swing closed. She blinked hard before looking up at the tall man who’d spoken. He wasn’t wearing a uniform but he had a police badge clipped to his belt. “I’m sorry?”
“I recognize Petunia’s Posies when I see them.” The officer had a kind look in his eyes and he gestured slightly at the enormous bouquet. “Usually it’s the Bellamy boy who delivers them.”
If she needed proof that Rambling Rose was a small town compared to what she was used to, this was it. He probably
