"To what do I owe the pleasure?"
His face pinched together in a look that might have been frustration. "I've been talking to folks the past couple hours."
"Isn't that normal?"
"Not in this case, no."
She wanted him to get to the point, but at the same time she knew that if he wasn't doing it now, he wasn't looking forward to whatever he was going to say next.
"What's the problem?"
"It's about Jamie."
"You don't have to put any stock in them, you know," she said. Marie settled back into her seat and looked up at him.
In the low light, Chris seemed almost larger than life, even bigger than usual. Looking up at him from where she was sitting as he paced across the room was like looking up at a Demigod, or something, she thought. Too much for any woman, certainly too much for her.
"I wouldn't, normally."
"Then why are you worrying now?"
"You haven't been here long enough to make the connections, if nobody points them out." He didn't sound like he wanted to offend her, but there was a condescending edge to what he was saying that he couldn't round off in spite of himself.
"What, you don't think I'm smart enough to know who my friends are, is that it?"
"No–I didn't say that," he said. He looked like the comment dug in just under the skin. "You don't know who the Padre is, do you? Talk is, you haven't been to the church, so you wouldn't know, right?"
"What's your point?" She wanted to get out of the defensive spot that she'd dug herself into, but so far she wasn't managing it. Surely he wasn't just going to bully her for no reason, but if he was going to make a point, she didn't know what it was supposed to be so far.
"That's the whole point. I don't think you know who you're dealing with, and I know you're not fool enough to lie and say you know exactly who these folks are when you don't."
"So what are you trying to say, then?"
"What I'm trying to say is, if you think you can just ignore him, you're in for a very rude awakening."
"What's so special about this preacher?"
"His brother's the very same territorial governor that called you out here, don't you know? That's the sort of thing that causes trouble, where I'm from. Maybe you city folks–"
Her face blanched. "So–"
"So if he doesn't want you watching Jamie–hell, even teaching the kids–then it's not just God's ears that he's got his lips to. Exactly."
"What do we do, then?"
Chris let out a long breath. That was the question, wasn't it? Eventually, it had to come down to what they were supposed to do about it, and he didn't have an answer to that.
"I don't know," he answered finally. His shoulders sagged and he leaned against the wall heavily. "That's what I've been worrying about for the past four hours."
Marie stood up. "I'm sorry I was irritable."
He shook his head. "Naw, I get it."
She stepped closer and the tone of the room shifted as she got closer still, now clearly in his space. "I don't have any way to pay you back, and now this is twice you've been looking out for me."
He looked hard at her, his eyes boring right through. "Don't do this, girl. I don't have the energy to tell you no."
She leaned in until she could smell him, gently masculine, and then closer still, until she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.