Protector - Laurel Dewey [171]
“It’ll dry out soon,” the cashier said.
“Not soon enough,” the sheriff said curtly.
“You got yourself a big case?” the cashier said with great interest.
“I might. I don’t know just yet. But I might . . .” Jane stood still, the freezer door propped open against her hip. She heard the sound of the sheriff’s boots scuffing across the floor toward a nearby bank of shelves. She knew he wasn’t crossing to the shelves to get something as much as he was moving in that direction to see who was in the market. Since he probably spied Jane’s Subaru parked in front of the market, Jane figured he suspected that she and Emily were inside. She kept her head forward, appearing as if she were examining a frozen food entree. Her eyes moved slightly to the left where the glass door cast a reflection on the shelving. There was the sheriff, reflected back in the icy glass. He waited for her to turn around but Jane refused to acknowledge his presence. After what felt like an eternity, Sheriff George moved back to the front of the store.
“You have a good day,” the sheriff said to the cashier before leaving the market.
Jane dumped an armful of frozen food into the cart. “Come on, let’s grab what we need and get the hell out of here.”
“Sheriff George is nice,” Emily said, confused. “How come you didn’t want to talk to him?”
“Not now,” she whispered.
“I want chips and salsa,” Emily said as she marched down the aisle. “Hurry up,” Jane said impatiently.
Emily wound around the far aisle to grab the chips. The front door opened again and the cheerful bell rang out.
“Well, hey Kathy! Hey, Heather!” The cashier said.
“All ready for the fourth?”
Jane let the door to the frozen food section slam shut. “Shit!” she said, turning to get Emily’s attention. But it was too late.
Emily skipped to the front of the store. “Heather! How you doing?”
“Hi, Patty! Long time no see!” Heather said in a disingenuous tone.
“Are you here all by yourself, darling?” Kathy inquired. “No. My mom’s in the back. By the frozen food section.”
“Frozen food.” Kathy said in a catty tone. “Well, of course she is!”
Jane shook her head in disgust.
“Hey, Heather! Guess what?” Emily said. “Mom says that I can have the sleep over at our house!”
Jane spun the cart around and headed down the aisle to get to Emily.
“Great!” Heather said. “When do you want to do it?”
“How about this Saturday? The third? Then the next day, we can all go and watch the Independence Day Parade!”
Jane reached the front of the store. “Patty, we need to discuss this.”
“No we don’t,” Emily said succinctly. “We made a deal. Remember?”
Jane caught Kathy’s prying eyes staring at her. It was as though Kathy was laying in wait until Jane said or did something that warranted a call to the Sheriff. Jane opted for a different approach. “Well, we don’t know what Kathy’s mom has to say about the idea. She may have other plans with her family for the holiday weekend.”
“We don’t have any plans, Mrs. Calver,” Heather said, looking at Jane with the same hateful appearance Jane had noticed on other occasions.
“Well, Heather,” Jane said, regarding the brat with equal hostility, “it’s really up to your mother to make that decision. Not you.”
“Perhaps we should talk about it, Heather—” Kathy said.
“There’s nothing to talk about!” Heather snapped back at Kathy. “Emily invited me and my friends to a sleep over and we’re going to go!” Turning to Emily, Heather smiled a sugary grin. “Do you want me to bring CDs so we can dance?”
“Yeah!” Emily said, totally blown away by Heather’s offer.
“Hey, you wanna see the cutest new lipstick I found?” Heather asked Emily. The two girls ran down the center aisle, leaving Kathy and Jane in an awkward moment.
“If you can’t handle this,” Kathy said with a snippy sound in her voice, “we can just forget about the whole thing.”
Jane regarded Kathy’s comment as almost a street dare. “Oh, I can handle it.”
Emily floated ten feet above