Pretending as if Natalie wasn’t there, she reached for a napkin. Some of her coffee had splashed on the table and she wiped it up before balling the soiled napkin up inside her hand.
“That was uncalled for,” Rick said at last.
“Why? Because you had a thing for the sheriff and then she died?”
The whispers grew louder. The other guests in the coffeeshop didn’t like that.
Rick went ramrod straight in his seat. The bouncing stopped. “Caitlin was a friend of mine.”
“Right.” Grace didn’t think Natalie could’ve sounded any more sarcastic if she tried. She jerked her chin at Grace. “Like she’s your friend? Or like I’m your friend?”
She stopped paying attention to the reactions of the locals to Natalie’s outburst, including Rick’s. Grace felt like she’d been slapped. Caitlin De Angelis had been the Hamlet sheriff before Sly. From what Maria told her, she was the victim of an imagined love triangle. Poor Tessa. She lost her husband last year when one of the HSD deputies, a man called Mason Walsh, got it in his head that he was in love with the outsider woman. By the time he was arrested, he had murdered her husband and then, when Caitlin got too close to unveiling his crimes, he executed the sheriff.
She also knew that, before Caitlin’s death, Rick had been making moves on her in his own, understated way. He’d carried a torch for the other woman for most of his teen years and then, when he got out of the Marines, he tried to start something. It never went anywhere and then, suddenly, she was killed. That didn’t upset Grace. They were both grown adults and it wasn’t as if she didn’t come with a ton of baggage of her own. So long as Rick cared for her now, it didn’t matter who came before her.
What did upset Grace? The looked of a jealous, scorned lover that Natalie wore. What was she implying? Unless she was imagining it, the young deputy was making it seem like she had something going on with Rick. And, okay, it wasn’t like they were exclusive or anything. This was their first afternoon out.
But shouldn’t she have known about this?
Before she could say anything, Rick answered her questions for her.
“Grace is not just my friend. We’re seeing each other and you’ll just have to get used to it. Because, Deputy, you and I are not friends. We are acquaintances at best when we’re off duty, and when we’re on, we are members of the same team. Because, if you were a friend of mine, you would’ve known better than to cause a scene like this in the coffeehouse.”
The poor girl recoiled as if he’d slapped her. Ouch. Even Grace felt the sting of his reprimand. She didn’t blame him, and she’d be lying if she said that he didn’t turn her on a bit with the way he stood up for, but still. She had to feel a little bad for Natalie.
Well, at least until Natalie opened her mouth again. Glaring bitterly at Grace before sneering at Rick, she spat out, “Remember that. When she drops you because she thinks she’s too good for this place, you remember that. Outsiders are nothing but trouble. You know she’s not worth it and you’re gonna try to screw her anyway? Wow, Ricky—”
“My friends call me Ricky,” he interrupted. “I’ve earned respect in this town. I expect you to call me Deputy or Hart.”
Natalie’s mouth dropped open. Fisting her hands at her side, she looked like she was about to argue, thought better of it, then spun around and stormed out of the coffeehouse.
It was so silent, Grace thought she could’ve heard a pin drop. She was almost sure she could pick up on the drip-drip-drip of the percolators in the small kitchen. She definitely caught the rush of air through Rick’s nose as he breathed heavily. He kept his stare on the door as if daring Natalie to return and say something else.
Finally, he turned back to Grace. “I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. It’s obvious she had feelings for you.”
“That I never returned,” he said firmly. “I didn’t lead her on. And if she had a problem? She should’ve taken it out on me. Just me. To go after you like that wasn’t fair.”
A quirk of her lips. “We both know that nothing in life is fair.”
Rick nodded his head, a silent concession to her point. He picked up his coffee mug, brought it halfway to his lips, then paused. He set it down. “Come home with me.”
“What?”
“I mean it. Come home with me. I can whip us up something for dinner. We don’t have to stay here.”
Grace wasn’t about to let some little girl get the satisfaction of her temper tantrum running her off. She shook her head.
“It’s fine. She’s gone now anyway.” And then she saw the fury blazing in the depths of Rick’s dark eyes and swiftly changed her mind. “You know what? Forget what I said. How can I pass up finding out if you know how to cook? I’m in. Let’s go.”
She said it with a bit of tease in her voice, an attempt to calm him. He reached out, laying his big hand over hers for a moment, then lifted it high so that he could get Addy’s attention. Like the rest of the crowd, she didn’t even pretend that she hadn’t seen the scene with Natalie and she threw Grace a sympathetic wince before talking to Rick.
“What’s up?”
“Put everything on my tab, would you? Tell Gus I’m sorry, but we’ve got to cancel our order. We’re gonna head on out.”
Addy didn’t even try to change his mind. “You got it, Rick.”