According to Lanie Miller, one of my closest friends and the manager of the Whispering Bay Animal Shelter, Travis is on the lookout for a dog. I try to imagine what kind of dog would go best with his personality. Probably a rottweiler. Or a pit bull.
Travis rises to his full height and gives Rusty a side look that makes the older cop slink away. It also makes me a little nervous. I haven’t known Travis long, but like I said, I have a pretty good read on him. The two of us have been flirting off and on, but he hasn’t asked me out yet.
I have a feeling that’s about to change.
“Are you busy Friday night?”
Oh boy. I’ve been expecting this ever since he told me that he’s now become a “muffin man.” To most people that wouldn’t mean a thing, but besides my lie detecting skills, I also make the best muffins in town. Not that I would say that. But everyone else does, and who am I to argue with them?
“Friday night is when Will and I watch America’s Most Vicious Criminals.”
Will Cunningham is my older brother Sebastian’s best friend. My brother is a priest and the pastor at St. Perpetua’s Catholic Church here in town. When Sebastian went away to the seminary, Will and I became best friends too.
I’ve been in love with Will ever since my seventh birthday party, when he saved me from a pack of rabid squirrels. We started our Friday night T.V. and pizza tradition when I moved back to town after graduating from culinary school, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world.
Travis and Will play in the same basketball league. The other night, they got a beer after their game. I know this because Will told me about it. I wonder if they talked about me. Nah.
“So how about tonight then?” he asks.
“How about tonight what?” I hate playing dumb, but I have no experience when it comes to fending guys off.
“How about we grab something to eat?”
“Tonight’s my book club.”
He spears me with a look that makes me squirm. “I guess that’s better than telling me you have to wash your hair.”
“No, really. I got invited to Betty Jean’s book club, and I promised to bring muffins. Apparently, there’s a big waiting list to join, so I didn’t dare refuse.”
Betty Jean Collins is a regular customer here at The Bistro and a real character. She’s a prominent member of the Gray Flamingos, a local senior citizens activist group. She’s also the eighty-year-old female equivalent of a hound dog. No man under the age of sixty is safe from her. E
specially Travis.
At the mention of Betty Jean, Travis breaks down and grins. When he smiles like that, his eyes become even greener. He really is quite attractive. But he knows it, so that spoils it a little.
“So you’re busy tonight and tomorrow. How about Saturday night?”
I try my hardest to think of a reason to turn him down. But there isn’t one.
“I could maybe possibly be free Saturday night.”
“What would it take to make that a definitely free?”
I’m about to answer when I hear my name.
“Lucy!”
Travis and I whip around to see Brittany Kelly rush into the café. “Oh, hi, Travis,” she says demurely.
Travis smiles down at her, and her eyes go a little wide. Yeah, he has that effect on women. “Hello, Brittany.”
“I hope you don’t mind, but I need to speak to Lucy. It’s super important.”
Travis gives me a meaningful look. “We’ll finish this conversation later,” he says before joining Rusty at the other end of the counter.
“Hey, Brittany,” I say like I’m happy to see her. Which, for once, I am. If she hadn’t interrupted us, I would have said yes to Travis, which would have been a big mistake. According to Cindy, in the short time Travis has been in town, women have been showing up at police headquarters in droves, hoping to get a chance to speak to him.
I have absolutely no intention of being a member of the Travis Fontaine fan club. Plus, if Will finds out I went out with Travis, which he would because this is a small town, then it might ruin any chance I might have with him.