“Just fine, Sheriff,” Buddy answered. His heart had begun racing and his palms felt a little damp. He didn’t like this.
Gage looked at Cap. “Howdy.”
Cap as usual didn’t say anything, so Buddy filled the silence, trying to sound casual. “Gage, this is Cap, friend of mine.”
“Pleasure,” Gage said easily enough, then returned his attention to Buddy. “Hate to bother you, but you know we found that hiker last month. Until we figure out what happened to him, we’re just checking on folks to make sure they’re not running into any trouble.”
Buddy relaxed a hair. “Haven’t seen a damn thing unusual.” Then he decided that if the sheriff had heard about that painter lady, it might be stupid to ignore it. Might make him suspicious. “I got worried about some woman who was across the valley. Felt like she was keeping an eye on me. Craig Stone says she’s just a painter, though.”
Gage nodded. “I heard. Just a painter. I can understand why you’d be uneasy after that hiker, though. We’re all uneasy.”
Buddy relaxed even more. “So you guys are worried?”
“Not exactly. Not yet. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t check around from time to time, not until we’re sure it was just an accident. There’s a lot of woods out there for a bad guy to hide.”
“True.”
Gage looked around. “You’re building a new cabin. Something wrong with yours?”
“I need some place for friends to stay.”
Gage cracked a smile. “I understand that. Sometimes I wish I had a guesthouse.”
“Yeah.”
“Not that I can do much in town. Sometimes I wish I had a spread like yours, Buddy.”
Buddy swelled with pride. “We can do a lot up here, Sheriff. Let me show you the garden.”
It never occurred to Buddy that by walking Gage around to show off a few things he might be revealing more than he thought.
Cap would have something to say about that later, but right now, Buddy just felt good. And proud.
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