Home Town Hero (Pink Springs 2)

“Mrs. Blair—” I check my watch and shake my head. “If I have to call Judge Banks for a warrant it will pull him off the golf course, and you and I both know that won’t end well.”

She huffs her irritation and presses her lips together before she turns her glare on me. “That girl is nothing but trouble.”

“Mama,” Eugene begins, but she waves him off.

“As soon as she moved to town things started to change. Young ladies shouldn’t have hair that color. It’s unnatural.”

I’m trying with every inch of my body not to lose my cool, but I need to do this right if I’m going to get to the bottom of it. “You’re talking about Juno Folke?” I ask politely but scribble in my notebook that Betsy Blair is an old cunt.

“Of course I am.” She waves a hand like Juno is right in front of her. “It’s indecent, the length of her shorts, and how she flirts with all the good men in town. Like yourself, Sheriff. I’ve seen the way she tries to tempt you.”

“Mama,” Eugene tries to interject, but Mrs. Blair isn’t having it.

“Oh shut up,” she snaps and tries to hit him, but he easily dodges her slow smack. “If you would have worn gloves like I told you none of this would have happened.”

“So it was you that put Eugene up to this?” I look between them, and Eugene shakes his head as Mrs. Blair rolls her eyes.

“You think my boy could come up with his own ideas?” she scoffs. “Now she’ll never make good on her promise.” Betsy Blair turns to her son, and the look of disappointment is almost painful. “I had one chance to marry you off, and look what you did. You’re a fool and don’t deserve her anyway.”

“Mrs. Blair,” I say to get her attention and wait until she looks at me. “Who is it that put you up to vandalizing Miss Folke’s place of business?”

“Well, Paula Peterson, of course.” She says it like I’m an idiot, and right now I might be.

I grab my radio and call for backup from Terrance as I pull out my handcuffs. “Eugene, I’m gonna need you to step aside. I need to secure you and your mom.”

“Okay,” he says softly, resigned to his fate. I can’t imagine what it was like growing up with a mother like Betsy Blair, but if he’s choosing jail time over her, things must be awful.

After I cuff Eugene to a chair on the porch, I walk over to Betsy. “You’re really going to cuff an old lady like me?” She looks pissed, but I don’t give a shit.

“I honestly don’t know what you’re capable of,” I tell her as I click the cuffs in place.

As soon as they’re secure I call Juno, but it goes straight to voicemail. I send Luca a text asking him where the fuck he is and how far he is from the house. When I rode past the Peterson house earlier, I didn’t see Paula’s car. Now I’m wondering where the fuck she is and what the fuck she’s up to.

When my text to Luca doesn’t go through, I curse and try to call Juno again. Once again it goes straight to voicemail, and I want to squeeze my phone into a million pieces. In the distance I hear sirens. Terrance must have sent a patrol car out on red alert. With help on the way, I hop in my car and race toward town.

I just hope I’m not too late for whatever it is Paula has planned.

10

Juno

“You’re not mad at me?” I’m sitting on the kitchen counter swinging my legs back and forth as I talk to Lux on the phone. She’s my best friend and has helped me through the darkest times in my life. I love her and don’t want to damage our friendship because I’m with her brother.

“Are you kidding me? We’re going to be sisters! This is awesome. Why would I be mad?” She says, and I didn’t realize how worried I was until the relief washes over me.

“I don’t know. I didn’t tell you about my crush, so I know this might be coming out of nowhere.”

“I saw the way my brother looked at you when he thought no one was around. Not to mention how his mood would change.” She laughs. “I never thought this day would come, but I think the oddest thing about all of this will be finally seeing Cooper with a woman.”

I bite my lip because I’m kind of happy about that fact. We live in a small town, and the last thing I want is to be around other women he’s dated. Even with Paula, Cooper told me they’d only gone to a dance together in high school, and I’m still annoyed. Nothing ever happened with them, not even a goodnight kiss, and I don’t want to hear about it.