Whack The Mole (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 2)

Tara hands Travis a business card. “I also do some freelance work for the Bravo channel. They’re looking for eligible guys for a new reality dating show. Interested? If you’re single, I can practically guarantee you a spot.”

“I’d be interested,” says Rusty. “Only don’t tell my girlfriend. She’d skin me alive.”

Tara ignores Rusty. “So what do you say?” she asks Travis.

“Thanks, but the answer is no.”

Sarah comes out from the kitchen with two big paper bags and hands them to Travis, who thanks her. “Let’s go,” he says to Rusty. “See you later, Lucy.”

I wave goodbye as they head out. Too bad I didn’t have a chance to ask Travis how things were progressing in the Ken Cameron investigation. Although I doubt he’d tell me anything anyway.

Sally from the library comes up to the counter to order. “Hey, Lucy! I’ll have a double chocolate chip muffin and a coffee. To go.” She glances back at the door. “Who were those cops I just saw on my way in? One of them is really cute.”

“The older one is Rusty Newton, and the younger one is Travis Fontaine. He’s new in town too.”

“Married?”

“I assume you’re asking about Travis and not Rusty?” I tease.

She makes a face. “Yeah.”

“Not married.”

“Girlfriend?”

It occurs to me that this might be the perfect solution to my Travis problem. Sally is probably around thirty. She’s cute and smart and funny. She and Travis would be perfect together. “He’s single and completely available.”

“Nice. I was beginning to think this town might be too dull for me. Now I just have to figure out how to run into that hunka-hunka burning love again and make him fall at my feet.”

I laugh a little too hard because it’s really not that funny.

I hand Sally her coffee and muffin. “Thanks.” She lowers her voice. “Betty Jean was at the library yesterday afternoon. She told everyone who’d listen that she kicked you out of her book club. What happened?”

Since I can’t tell Sally about finding Ken Cameron dead in the park, I have to keep up the lie I’ve told everyone else. “I got distracted by a late delivery here at The Bistro and forgot all about the book club meeting. By the time I called to apologize she was pretty upset.”

“And the old bat kicked you out because of that?”

“Apparently there’s a long waiting list to join.”

Sally shakes her head in disgust. “Geez.”

An idea occurs to me. “Hey, maybe we can start our own book club. I have a few friends who might be interested.”

“Yeah, that sounds great!”

The little hairs on my neck tingle. Sally isn’t interested in starting a book club with me. This is one of those times that I hate my gift. Here we were having a perfectly lovely conversation, and I catch her in a lie.

My ego might be bruised because I thought she liked me, but my brain tells me that I shouldn’t take it personally. Sally works all day in a library. The last thing she probably wants is to spend an evening with a bunch of women discussing books. I would react the same way if someone asked me to join a baking club.

Despite Tara and Man Bun’s in-your-face presence, the rest of the morning goes by uneventfully. I’m about to take a break when Jim Fontaine comes in.

“How’s the head, Lucy?” Jim is Travis’s dad. Even though I’ve only known him a couple of weeks, he’s already one of my favorite people.

“Better today, thanks.”

“Glad to hear that.” He orders coffee and a muffin.

“What kind would you like?”