Читать книгу The Deputy's Perfect Match - Lisa Carter - Страница 14
ОглавлениеGetting ready for book club on Thursday night, Evy glanced at the clock more than once. And for the fifth time, she made a minute adjustment to the way the tablecloth hung on the refreshment table. As if Charlie Pruitt would care.
The ladies—if not Charles Everett Pruitt the Third—should have been here by now. Everyone must be running late.
She plucked a pillow from the sofa in the circle of armchairs. Despite their tête-à-tête over Chinese food, she didn’t think Charlie would actually show up to book club. But as she counted down the minutes, the dread—and anticipation—mounted. Her gaze flitted to the clock again.
Evy’s parents had no idea what she was up to when she accepted the librarian position. Would never have envisioned their timid Evy bold enough to seek out answers to long-held questions. Would have been shocked and amazed—not to mention dismayed—at her covert attempts to learn the truth. Evy had shocked herself with her uncharacteristic behavior.
Pacing, she punched the pillow with her fist. This was so ridiculous. So high school, so—
“Hey, Evy.”
She yelped and whirled. The pillow plopped onto the rug.
Arms folded across his uniformed chest, Charlie leaned against the threshold of the meeting room tucked behind the library staircase. Minus the hat for once, he grinned at her.
Her heart did a funny sort of cartwheel, so she scowled at him. She bent to retrieve the pillow at the same moment Charlie—
Their foreheads collided. She fell onto the sofa. He ricocheted into the wall.
“Ow!” She massaged her temples. “You’ve got a hard head, Deputy Pruitt.”
“I’m not the only one.” He frowned. “And I thought we’d moved past Deputy.” His eyes brightened at the sight of the refreshment table. “You didn’t tell me there’d be food.”
He loped past Evy. “I skipped dinner for the club tonight. Can I go ahead and eat, or should I wait for the others?” His eyes scanned the room. “Where are the other ladies?”
She handed him a plate. “They’re on their way with more food. Be my guest, though. Go ahead.”
“How...dainty.” He held a small cake square between his thumb and forefinger. “What’s this? Cake for a baby?”
“Mrs. Davenport dropped those off this afternoon.” Evy fanned the paper napkins on the table. “It’s called a petit four, Charlie. It’s meant to be small.”
“French.” He grinned. “I’m quick like that, huh?”
“You’re quick like something, all right...”
Heels clicked against the hardwood floor of the library foyer.
“Yoo-hoo!” Dixie, the waitress from the Sandpiper Café, tottered into the room bearing a platter of sandwich triangles. She stuttered to a stop. “Am I interrupting something, sugar?”
Evy took a step back. She’d not realized how close she’d been standing to the deputy. “You’re interrupting nothing, Dixie.”
Charlie winked at Evy. “You assume Dixie was talking to you.”
And he rested his gun-clad hip against the edge of the table. As if implying that he—as if they... Did the man never stand up straight?
She took the tray from Dixie. “Deputy Pruitt wanted to join our book club tonight.”
Dixie clapped her hands together. “How fun! I had no idea the book club was going coed. Can I bring Bernie next time?”
Bernie was Dixie’s husband. “Doesn’t his reading tend to favor spy thrillers?”
“True. He probably wouldn’t care for Jane Austen.” Dixie sighed. “Because of his work with NASA at Wallop’s Island, his literary tastes run toward the cloak-and-dagger stuff.”
Charlie snagged a pimento cheese sandwich off the platter. “It takes a special man like moi to truly enjoy the classics of literature.”
He helped himself to another sandwich as the other ladies arrived with additional refreshments. Evy made sure to give a special welcome to Ashley, a stay-at-home mom with three energetic children. The book club and church on Wednesday were her only nights out with grown-ups. Yet when Charlie’s shoulder brushed against hers, Evy quivered.
“I caught your attempt at French, Deputy. My, my, you are quick-witted.”
He pretended to tip his imaginary hat. “We deputies aim to please.”
Why did Charlie Pruitt make her want to laugh?
She moved beyond him, careful not to make further contact. “Welcome, everyone.”
Evy couldn’t help noticing how Charlie worked the room. He greeted every lady, who ranged in age from ninety-year-old Mrs. Evans to a thirtysomething Coastie wife. And he let them know he’d skipped supper. Evy hid her smile as she helped Reverend Parks’s wife serve the punch.
The women—young and old—fell over themselves plying Charlie with food. She needn’t have worried about how the ladies would receive his male intrusion into their girls’ club. He was like a rooster in the proverbial henhouse. And they were loving every minute of it.
“And the petits fours?” Charlie made sure he had Evy’s attention as he lifted the cake square off the plate, pinkie finger extended. “You’ve outdone yourself, Mrs. Davenport.”
Evy almost choked on her chicken-salad sandwich. He’d mimicked the French pronunciation exactly.
“You dear boy.” Mrs. Davenport fluttered her bejeweled hands like a schoolgirl. “How wonderful you know what a petit four is.”
“I guess I’m just smart like that. And what they are is delicious.” Charlie popped the bite-size square into his mouth.
“Let me get you another, Deputy.” Mrs. Davenport, also known as the grapevine of Kiptohanock, scurried toward the table.
Charlie waggled his eyebrows at Evy. She glared. Was the man never serious? Surely a deputy sheriff had to be more sober-minded than the likes of Charlie Pruitt.
But a smile played on her lips. He did know his way around a food table, she’d give him that. Around the ladies, too. Mr. Charming. Not her type at all. Not that Evy had a type to speak of.
At that not-so-happy thought, she took her customary armchair.
“Why don’t you sit close to Evy?” Dixie hovered at Charlie’s elbow. “Being a newcomer and all.”
Evy’s cheeks burned. She hoped no one was getting the wrong idea about her and the deputy.
“So you can see better?” Mrs. Davenport coaxed.
It wouldn’t do for the ladies—or the town—to get the wrong idea. This was getting out of hand.
He slipped into a chair directly across the circle.
“No worries.” Charlie leaned the chair on its back legs. “I like the view right fine from here.” He sent Evy a winsome smile.
Evy peered down the length of her nose at him. “Suit yourself.” She fretted at the cameo pinned to her blouse. “Shall we begin?”
Her lips might say one thing, but her heart? She didn’t like what Deputy Pruitt did to her equilibrium. Not one bit.
Evy didn’t have time for this...this inconvenient attraction. It went against her plan. She schooled her features. The plan must come first.
“Shall we, indeed.” Charlie grinned. As if somehow he knew the effect he had on her. Raising her chin, she decided to ignore him.
He took a deep breath, which broadened his chest. As if daring her to try.
* * *
Those remarkable eyes of hers.
Charlie decided he could munch petits fours and stare at Evy Shaw all day. This club thing was turning out to be a real pleasure.
But across the circle, those eyes of hers were shooting daggers at him at this moment. Smirking, he took another bite and chewed. He loved pushing her buttons.
She reminded him of a character in the musical the drama class performed his senior year at Nandua High. In her long-sleeved peach blouse and beige pencil skirt, she looked so Marian the Librarian. So uptight and upright.
It was kind of fun to wind her up and set her off—like watching a jewelry box ballerina go all dashboard hula girl.
His mind wandered as the women discussed various themes from the novel, such as class structure and reputation. His friend in California had verified what Evy Shaw had revealed of her past.
Midtwenties. Her parents were tenured English professors from Stanford. Before she’d arrived in Kiptohanock, she’d held positions in libraries from Miami to San Diego.
He stopped chewing. While still in the Coast Guard, hadn’t Sawyer Kole transferred to Kiptohanock from somewhere in California? Might prove interesting to find out where he’d been previously stationed and determine if Kole and Evy ever shared locales before Kiptohanock.
Charlie set the plate on his knee. Losing his appetite at the thought of them sharing anything, he swallowed past the boulder lodged in his throat.
Another fact he’d learned? Evy held advanced degrees in literature and library science from Stanford and the University of Oklahoma. Sawyer Kole grew up in Oklahoma.
Charlie kept his gaze laser-focused on Evy’s animated features as she led the group discussion. What was her connection to Honey’s husband?
Time to rattle Hula Girl again.
He cleared his throat. “One thing I found most fascinating...” the women—as if one entity—angled toward him “...was how first impressions can be deceiving.”
Perched in the armchair with her brown high heels planted on the floor, Evy laid the book across her lap. “You mean how Elizabeth Bennet’s first impression was that Darcy was a snob?”
Charlie rolled his tongue over his teeth. “I think that cuts both ways. Darcy and Elizabeth were both guilty of pride and prejudice.”
Ashley, the wife of a former football buddy of his, nodded. “Darcy was equally guilty of prejudging Elizabeth. Based on her lack of social standing.”
Charlie cocked his head. “Question is, Miss Shaw—are first impressions to be trusted? Or should you wait for proof that a person is trustworthy?”
She stiffened. “Sounds as if you advocate putting people on trial. Testing them before you deem them worthy of your friendship, Deputy Pruitt.”
Their gazes locked. The librarian was hiding something. He knew it.
Kelly Hughes, the Coastie wife, brushed a crumb off her jeans. “People are not always what they seem. Each of the characters hid their real feelings behind a mask of pride.”
Evy narrowed her eyes. “As a police officer, do you rely on your intuition in shaping your immediate response to people, Deputy Pruitt?”
“In cop speak, I rely on my gut. And yes, my instincts about a situation have kept me alive on more than one occasion.” Charlie curled his lip. “And on a personal level, I’ve learned the hard way it doesn’t pay to trust—or love—too blindly.”
Evy’s eyes bored into him. “Sounds as if someone hurt you very badly, Deputy Pruitt.”
His breath hitched. An awkward silence fell. Flushing, he wasn’t sure how this had become about him. Or how she’d managed to turn the discussion onto him.
Dixie patted his arm. “I think the real point of the story is how people can change.”
“Given time, evaluations can alter.” Mrs. Davenport wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin. “Darcy focused on the wrong things first. But over time he saw Elizabeth for who she was. Really saw her.”
Evy’s brow puckered. “What do you mean?”
Peggy—his former high school math teacher who once upon a time loved marking Charlie’s homework with red X’s—thumbed through the pages of the novel. “He saw the real Elizabeth. And their courtship not only proved to each other their true character but also became the proving ground of their true love.”
Evy ran her hand over her beige skirt. “That’s very insightful.”
“And—” Jolene, an ER nurse at Riverside Hospital, got up to refill her coffee cup “—it was in the crucible of crisis in their courtship that Darcy saw the error of his own ways and understood his own great love for Elizabeth.”
Evy blew out a breath. “Wow. Great analysis by everyone. I’ve never seen the story that way before.”
Mrs. Davenport tapped her finger to her chin. “It’s never wise to come to a conclusion about someone until you have all the facts.”
Charlie couldn’t have agreed more. Which was why he’d decided to escalate his investigation. He’d never seen Evy and Kole together. Watching their interaction might provide further clues as to what was going on with a certain intriguing librarian.
Evy rose in a graceful, fluid motion. “Facts or trust? An interesting dichotomy for relationships. Which do we rely upon most often?”
Something tightened in Charlie’s stomach.
Evy rubbed her finger across the rim of her glasses. “Important questions to ponder this week as we move on to next week’s selection.”
Her beautiful eyes sparkled. “Sense and Sensibility.”
The meeting ended as the women cleared the refreshment table and gathered their belongings. At the ladies’ teasing looks, Charlie realized he’d given the Kiptohanock matchmakers entirely the wrong impression.
And what he was about to do next would only solidify that impression. The group followed Evy out to the foyer to collect the books for the following week’s discussion.
He hung back in the kitchen, waiting for Evy. “You’re good with children, Evy.”
She poured the remains of the coffeepot down the sink drain. “Thank you. I like children.”
“That’s why I hoped maybe you could help me with a project.”
She rinsed out the pot. “If I can. What project?”
“It’s for the department, really.”
“Sheriff’s business?”
“Deputy sheriff business.”
Her mouth quirked. “How in the world can a librarian like me be of assistance to SuperDeputy?”
“Who?”
She bit her lip and turned to wipe the counter.
He hunched his shoulders. “The library is closed over Labor Day weekend, right?”
She unplugged the coffeemaker from the wall socket. “Yes.”
“If you’d care to join me, I need to make an appearance—in an unofficial capacity—to present a friendly face behind the uniform to the kids.”
Stretching on her tiptoes, she stashed the unused paper plates inside the cabinet. “What kids?”
“The kids at Keller’s Kids Camp.”
She froze. “Sawyer Kole’s foster kid camp.”
Charlie didn’t like the sound of the ex-Coastie’s name on her lips. “Yeah. Him.”
Evy drifted onto her heels. “Isn’t camp over until next summer?”
“It’s a new two-month pilot program on autumn weekends. Follow-up with local foster kids. Friday night through Sunday afternoons.”
She averted her gaze. “The Duers won’t want me.”
“With the Labor Day harbor festival and folks on their last vacation before school starts Tuesday, I have it on good authority the volunteer pool is light this weekend. Too light for the number of children expected. You’ll be welcome.”
She looked at him, then. As if she didn’t believe him.
“We’ll be doing them a favor. You’d be doing me a favor.” He moistened his lips. “Would you come with me, Evy? Please?”
She searched his face. Not quite buying his explanation.
“I do love kids...” She gulped. “Sure. Why not? I’d love to go. Thanks for asking.”
He smiled. “I’ll pick you up Saturday morning. Bright and early. It’s a date.”
“Okay.” She tucked a loosened strand of blond hair behind her ear.
Following the motion of her hand, his heart beat rapidly. Should he trust his first impressions of Evy Shaw? Sweet, smart, very pretty. Was his initial instinct about her correct?
“You don’t have to wait for me, Charlie.”
“Of course I do. I’ll walk you to your car.”
She slung the purse strap over her shoulder. “Another Southern gentleman thing?”
He followed Evy to the front door. “Let me be one, okay? And for the record, I want to walk you to your car.”
Evy worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she set the alarm on the library. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. Before he did something stupid like touch her. Or kiss her.
Suppose he was wrong about Evy? Could she be hiding behind a mask, the image she wanted him to see? And if so, why?
Who was the real Evy Shaw? Was seeing believing in her case?
Maybe...maybe not. Only time would tell.
