Bone Harvest - Mary Logue [67]
“Slow down, Bridget. I haven’t said yes yet.”
“And why not?” Bridget thought Rich was perfect for her sister. A little on the quiet side, but he had a real solid sense of humor that would get them through the tough times. And he loved Meg.
“I’m not sure I want to get married again.”
Don’t argue with her, Bridget coached herself. Whenever you argue with Claire she gets stubborn. “I can understand that. Losing a husband the way you did might make a woman jumpy.”
“Maybe that’s it.”
“How do you feel about Rich?”
“I think he’s great. He’s one of the kindest men I’ve ever met. So considerate. Solid.”
“Boring?” Bridget asked, wondering what could be wrong. It might be the sex. Claire had her needs.
“No, I wouldn’t say that. But certainly traditional. I think that’s one of the reasons he has such a hard time when I’m not available to him, when I have to work such long hours. He has this image of the good woman by his side. Not necessarily doing everything for him, but available.”
“The man can go out into the world and the little wife is supposed to be home with dinner ready whenever he arrives, but it can’t be the other way around.”
“In all fairness to Rich, I think he wouldn’t mind having dinner ready. It isn’t that he wants me to take care of him. I actually think he’d rather take care of me. But he wants me to be there. His idea of a relationship doesn’t allow for much room to move. He’s surprisingly needy.”
“So what did you tell him?”
“I told him I needed time to think.”
“How much time?”
“Well, I wasn’t specific.”
Bridget knew she had pushed as far as Claire was comfortable. They needed to have a longer talk. Maybe it was time for Rachel and her to go visit Auntie Claire. “Take your time. This is a big decision.”
“Bridget, I gotta go. I can’t think about anything else but this pesticide guy. It might be over tomorrow; it might be starting tomorrow. It depends on if I can figure out what is going on. It’s hard to think about love when people are in danger.”
Ray Sorenson walked into the sheriff’s department and asked to see Claire Watkins. “Do you want to go back? Her desk is right in the main room,” the woman receptionist told him.
“I’d like to see her out here, if that’s okay,” he said. He didn’t want to talk about Folger with a whole room listening. “Could you go get her?”
It took a minute, but then Claire appeared. She had her hair pulled back from her face and the top button on her uniform undone. She looked tired and preoccupied, but when she saw Ray she smiled. It made him feel worse.
“Ray,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
“Can we go outside?”
“Sure, that sounds good.” She followed him outside. She looked around like she hadn’t seen the day yet. “I can use a break.”
“My pickup’s over there. In the shade. I left the windows open, so it shouldn’t be too hot. We could sit in there.”
“Fine.”
When they got to his Ford Ranger pickup truck, Ray walked around and opened the passenger-side door for her. She thanked him and climbed in. He circled the truck, jumped in his side, and pushed back the seat. He didn’t know where to start. She was looking at him, waiting.
“This is hard,” he said.
She didn’t say anything. He took a deep breath, then started. “I’m kinda being blackmailed.”
“Really?” she said, and waited.
“You remember about Tiffany,” he said, making it half a question.
She nodded.
“Well, once she came to see me at the co-op.”
This time she asked, “At the co-op?”
“Things got out of hand.”
She waited.
“It was Tiffany’s idea.”
“What did you do?”
“We kinda did it in the storage area.”
“Oh.” The deputy turned and looked out the windshield.
He thought maybe it would have gone easier if they were driving. They could have driven down to the river or anyplace. If they were moving, they would have something