Page 20 of Wandering in Love
His arm around her.
I want to pummel his goddamn face. What part of she’s mine is he not understanding? She can deny it all she wants, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Everyone in the damn town has known it since we were kids. Her leaving for a decade hasn’t changed that. She’s the only one who seems unclear on this.
I’m sitting in the sheriff’s vehicle, watching drunks come out of the bar and stumble home. I haven’t had to arrest anyone yet, so it’s a good night. More weekends than not, my two cells become drunk tanks, one for men and one for women.
Nothing has gone right since Eva came back. My schedule is off. I can’t sleep. I’m snapping at everyone, getting into fights with my brother. It’s like I’m a damn teenager again and can’t control myself. I’m thirty, for fuck’s sake. I’m waiting for Momma to come after me with a wooden spoon and beat some sense into my ass. At this point, I wouldn’t blame her.
The night’s almost over, so I turn off the engine and head inside to do a head count. The two deputies I have working for me have been taxiing people home all night, leaving me to watch the parking lot and pull drunks from behind the wheel.
Inside, it’s just about empty. Only a few stragglers left.
“Evening, Tommy.” I nod to the bartender.
“Evening, Ian.” He nods back.
I don’t try to correct him. He’s old enough to be my grandfather, and at this point, I’m just tired.
“Anyone need a ride home?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. I turn to head back to my car and stop short when a woman I’ve only seen a handful of times is standing behind me.
Dressed in a ripped jeans and big white puffy jacket with fake brown fur around the hood, there’s something about her that’s always drawn my attention. I’m almost afraid to look away, like she’ll disappear. Misty Walker. She lives outside of town. Rarely leaves her property. People around here call her a witch doctor.
She looks me over from head to foot, stopping at the badge on my jacket, but not pausing anywhere else until her eyes meet mine. She pushes her hood back, and the palest blonde hair I’ve ever seen is exposed. Tight curls make her hair stand up around her head, but her purple eyes are the most intense thing about her. I’ve never seen eyes like that on anyone else.
Eyes that can see into your soul.
“She’s hurting too.” Her voice catches me off-guard. It’s raspy, like she’s been smoking a pack a day for twenty years, but she doesn’t even look twenty.
“What?”
“She’s scared.”
What the hell is she talking about?
“Who?” My pulse picks up, ready to jump into action to help someone in need.
Misty cocks her head. “The woman you ache for.”
The few people left in the bar have stopped talking to see what’s going on. You could hear a damn pin drop in here.
“If you don’t convince her to be yours, you’ll lose her forever.”
Every muscle in my body tenses. How can she know anything about me?
“How do you know that?”
She smiles softly. “The stars never lie.”
Lifting her hood, she leaves the building.
What the fuck was that?
For a minute, I can’t move. I stand with my feet stuck to the hardwood floor, staring at the space the strange woman was just in. Did that just happen? Was she real?
When I turn toward the bar, everyone is staring at me.
“She was real. Right? You all saw her?”