I chuckled. “Not too sharp then?”
Sally laughed. “Greg’s as dumb as a bag of hammers but then again, he’s a hell of a nice guy. You’ll see once you get to know him as I’m sure you will. Other than the diner, the Prosper Woods Saloon is the only place in town to get a decent meal unless you do a lot of your own cooking.” She looked me up and down. “Do you cook? No offense but you don’t really look like the apron-wearing type.”
I laughed this time. “Not much and you’re right about the apron. I cook only well enough to not starve which reminds me… I need to make a stop at the general store and pick up a few things to take to the cabin.”
“Sure. Let’s do that now and then I’ll show you to your place.” She walked by me and I grabbed the duffel, following.
At the moment, my small bag held all my worldly possessions other than a few boxes of books and clothes in the bed of my truck. More importantly, my duffel held my weapons which truthfully was the only reason I’d dragged it into the station to begin with. I doubted there were any thieves in town stupid enough to steal from the back of the new sheriff’s truck but clothes were replaceable, not my guns.
We walked out into the bright sunlight and I followed Sally down the cement walk to the general store which was no more than a hundred yards from the office. A bell tinkled as we stepped inside the store and I was surprised at how spacious it was. From the street, I’d been fooled into thinking it was just a small store. Inside, I noted shelves filled with food taking up most of the space. On either side of the room, wall-to-wall refrigerators held a variety of frozen foods, meat, cheese, dairy, and a rather large selection of beer. Bottles of wine were placed in racks close to the counter at the back of the store and an old man stood behind the register. He was the same guy who’d glared at me as I drove by earlier and when he looked up, I got the same expression.
“Morning, Sid,” Sally said, hooking a thumb at me. “I wanted to introduce you to our new town sheriff. This here’s…”
“I figured that’s who you was when I saw you drive by,” he drawled, cutting her off. “Don’t know why we need a sheriff. Just adds another paycheck to the town’s already tight budget.”
Sally turned to me with a shrug of her shoulders. “Sid is our town treasurer as well as running the store, Sheriff. Don’t pay him a whole lot of nevermind. You can’t reason with him when he’s being a pill like he is today.” She turned and sent Sid a frown.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sid…” I broke off. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your last name.”
“Sid Farrell, brother to Tom Farrell, the town mayor who’s a good for nothin’ layabout. Anyway, enough of that. I should tell you that Tommy had me stock your cabin with the barest necessities yesterday. That’s all you’re gonna get on the town dime. Anything else comes out of the generous salary that comes with the job.”
I smiled. I had to admit Sid had character. Since the job came with housing at a cabin reserved for me, also covering utilities including Internet and cable, I was satisfied with the pittance the mayor had offered as salary. I didn’t need much and I had savings. I glanced around the place before returning my gaze to the older man who was still frowning at me. He was short and stout, bald with tufts of gray hair on both sides of his head. His eyebrows were bushy and animated like two gray caterpillars above his once blue eyes, now clouded with cataracts. He met my gaze, intelligence flashing in his uncompromising stare.
“I’ll do as you suggested and make a list before coming back then. Thanks for stocking up the cabin, Sid. It was really nice to meet you.” I held out a hand and after a loud humph, the old man took it, staring into my eyes. A jolt of electricity shot up my arm and when I let go of his hand, I took an involuntary step back. He opened his mouth and cackled, and for just a second, I was surprised by the laugh. To that point I hadn’t even seen the man crack a smile. More unnerving was the tiny shock I was sure I’d felt. It had been like touching a frayed lamp cord. I shook it off as Sally spoke from behind me.
“Sheriff? You ready?” she asked. “Your place is only ten minutes from town. You can follow me in your truck.”
“Sure,” I said, dragging my eyes away from Sid. “Let’s get going.” I turned back. “Nice to meet you.”
“I s’pose,” Sid said, back to glaring at me.
I followed Sally into the sunlight and down the sidewalk, heading toward the sheriff’s station. We stopped when a young woman dressed in a pink frilly mini skirt stepped out of the post office, several shops down from the general store. She turned our way and smiled widely as soon as she spotted Sally. I was not only struck by her youth and beauty but by her white hair with its pink pompadour poof expertly drawn up to the top of her head and tied with a sparkling magenta bow. The pink cloth choker she wore enhanced her delicate neck. She held up her chin and pranced toward us, looking me up and down as she stopped in front of us. She held a stack of
