Stacking the Deck (A Betting on Romance Novel Book 2)(57)

“Valerie Stinson was feeling quite the Chatty Cathy last night wasn’t she? They’ve got no less than three quotes from her about the drug ring they were trying to crack and how you might be involved. She’s quite shocked by the way. And you the head of your class! Tsk. Tsk.”

“Sure she was.” Liz rolled her eyes. “Though I shouldn’t laugh. I find it just as shocking Dan was arrested. I mean, this is Sugar Falls. This stuff doesn’t happen here.”

“Some things you can’t escape.” Trish took back the newspaper. “Ugh. Now you’re making me depressed, and I was feeling so happy earlier.”

“You’re happy I nearly got thrown in jail?”

“There was never any danger of that.”

“Of course not. I’m Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. That’s what Valerie called me last night. Can you believe that?”

Trish laughed. “You sound disappointed.”

Liz pondered her coffee. “Maybe I’m just disappointed—”

“You leave town for ten years, and this is the homecoming you plan?”

“Hi, Aunt Claire. Welcome.” Trish got up to pour another cup of coffee. “We were just celebrating Liz’s front-page splash.”

“Is that decaf?” Claire peered through her bifocals at the carafe.

“High test,” Trish assured her.

“Good. Never understood the point of decaf.”

Liz made room for her great-aunt at the table. “Is there anyone that doesn’t know about last night?”

“I doubt it,” said Bailey, walking in with a to-go cup in her hand. “I tweeted about it as soon as I bought the paper this morning. Plus about nine of our classmates updated their statuses last night with your picture. Stuff this juicy doesn’t happen every day in Sugar Falls.”

“Lovely.” Liz looked at Bailey. “Who let you in?”

“Me? John. He’s out front fiddling with that lamp post at the end of the driveway that never worked.”

“Why would he—? Forget it. Forget it! I don’t care. I’ve got enough to worry about.”

“So where’s Carter this morning?” Aunt Claire asked, peering out the slider. “He’s not hiding just because I’m here, is he?”

Liz narrowed her eyes. “What makes you think he’d be here?”

“I thought you might be on good terms considering all he did last night.”

“What do you mean, ‘all he did?’”

Aunt Claire’s eyes widened like an owl’s. “Didn’t he tell you? Bev from the post office says he stormed over there after they dragged you off in the squad car to be sure they let you go—offered to swear to your upstanding moral character or something and wouldn’t leave until you were cleared.”

“My upstanding moral character?”

Bailey chugged her latte. “Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. They didn’t have anything on you, from what I hear, so you weren’t in any actual danger. Although, if they didn’t like the looks of you, they might have held you overnight.”

Liz closed her eyes. Being held overnight—in jail—didn’t bear thinking about. “I saw Carter when I came out, but Officer Dayton had already offered me a ride home. I was so embarrassed; I left out the back door. I didn’t even talk to Carter.”

“Sounds like you owe him a thank you,” Aunt Claire said.

“A thank you? If he hadn’t ditched me, I wouldn’t have been walking out with Dan to begin with!”

“Speaking of which, I don’t approve of you riding around with drug addicts,” Claire sniffed.

“I didn’t know he was into drugs!”

“I’m guessing this isn’t a good time to see how you are.” Carter stood in the doorway, looking sheepish and gorgeous all at the same time. The cad. “I knocked, but you were obviously too busy yelling about me to hear.”

“I should install a revolving door…” muttered Liz.

“Good morning, young man!” Aunt Claire greeted him. “Thank you for bailing out my ungrateful niece.”

“He did not bail me out,” Liz corrected. “I was never charged.”

“But I did leave you stranded, and for that, I’m sorry.” Carter swept a giant bouquet of gerbera daisies from behind his back. “I didn’t mean to get you arrested.”

Liz tucked her hair behind her ear and stared at the flowers. “I was never arrested, just brought in for questioning...”

“Still, you must have been frightened.”

She glanced up, expecting to see his green eyes mocking her, but instead he seemed as somber as his senior photo. He handed her the flowers. “A little,” she admitted, not wanting to admit she’d been scared out of her wits.

His fingers brushed hers, but rather than pull away, his palms wrapped around her hands, held them, all warm, rough and delicious. Liz tried not to soften, although she was doing a poor job of it. How did he know she was a sucker for daisies?

“I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a job to get to.” Bailey said.

“I’d better get going, too,” Trish said, dumping her coffee in the sink. “Russ isn’t used to caring for the baby on his own. Aunt Claire?”