Tumbleweed Weddings (18 page)

His stomach growled.

“Oh!” He dropped his arms. “Excuse me.” How embarrassing.

Callie stood back and giggled. “You must be hungry. Me, too.”

“You are? Hey, let’s go out to eat.”

“Okay.” She gazed up at him, a smile playing on her lips. “You’ll have to pick out the restaurant because I have no idea what’s in Cheyenne.”

Lane thought for a moment. Fast food? Or should they go to a nice sit-down restaurant with a quiet, romantic atmosphere? “I know just the one.” He picked up her glasses from the end table and handed them to her.

She raised them to her face. “Thanks.”

“Wait!” Lane caught her wrist.

She paused with her glasses in midair and looked up at him.

“Just wanted one more look.”

“Oh, Lane.” She gazed back into his eyes.

He bent over and brushed a kiss against her lips. “Ready to go?”

Callie could not believe the events that had transpired or the peace in her heart.
Thank You, Lord!
He had worked everything out for good—far better than she could have asked or imagined.

Arriving at a fancy restaurant on the outskirts of Cheyenne, Callie felt underdressed in her jeans and T-shirt, even though that was what Lane was wearing. They were seated at a quiet table in the back corner, given menus, and, fifteen minutes later, ordered their food. He ordered a rib-eye steak that was twice the price of any entrée at Mama’s Kitchen. She ordered one of the least-expensive items—baked chicken.

After the waiter left, Callie leaned across the small two-person table. “This is an expensive place, Lane.”

“Being rich has its perks.” He winked at her.

The realization that Lane was rich—probably a millionaire—made her sit back in silence. She had always thought of him as poor and starving. After all, he lived in a cheap apartment in Fort Lob and ate frozen dinners.

Fortunately, he saved her from commenting. “I thought you’d be working at the library today, Callie. Don’t you always work on Saturday?”

“Oh!” Her eyes widened as another realization hit her. “I completely forgot!”

He frowned. “You forgot to work today?”

“No, not that.” Callie folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “The reason I drove down here was to tell you about Miss Penwell. On Thursday night, something terrible happened to her.”

“Thursday night?” Lane looked wary. “What happened?”

“Someone shot her and left her for dead. Sheriff Krause has no idea who did it. But she survived, and she’s in the hospital right now, in a coma.”

Lane stared at her a moment before he breathed out a heavy sigh. “Oh, that’s just great!” He ran his hand through his hair. “My doom is sealed. I suppose there’s a warrant out for my arrest.” His eyes darted around the room.

Callie’s scalp prickled. “Lane? Did you—” She pushed her chair away from the table.
“You
didn’t shoot Miss Penwell, did you?”

“What?” His confused look disappeared as he focused on her. “No! No, of course not. It’s just that she found me reading that stuff from the box Thursday night, and I totally lost it.”

Callie bumped her chair back up to the table. “You lost the box?”

“No, I lost my temper.” He pressed his lips into a firm line before he spoke. “I have never yelled at another human being like I yelled at Miss Penwell.” He pounded his fist on the table. “The things I accused her of—even
I
can’t believe some of the things I said.” His voice softened. “I’m so ashamed.”

Callie placed her hand over Lane’s fist. “Everyone knows what Miss Penwell’s like. I’m sure she provoked you to anger.”

He gave a rough laugh. “She provoked me, all right. The whole library heard me. It was so embarrassing.” He picked up her hand and cradled it in his. “I’ll never be able to go back to Fort Lob now.”

“Don’t say that.” She squeezed his fingers.

“Callie, you’re the only good thing in that town. The only true friend I have.” He shrugged. “Some of the townspeople are friendly—in a nosy, curious way. But I never made friends with any of them.” He sighed. “And then there are those who don’t like me at all.”

“There are good and bad people in every town, but you have as much right to live there as anyone else. The town council is having that meeting tonight about the library.” She gave his hand another squeeze. “I was hoping, especially after what happened this afternoon between us, that you’d come back with me.” She cocked an eyebrow.

He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. “Well …” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’ll go with you, Callie, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me.”

She smiled. “What could possibly happen?”

Lane decided to drive his Mazda to Fort Lob. He parked Callie’s Honda in the garage at his house while she stood beside his car on the street and waited for him.

After closing the garage door, he walked down the driveway. “We can come back and get your car tomorrow after church. Then I’ll ride my motorcycle back to Fort Lob.”

She leaned against the black Mazda. “Okay, but let’s make that after church and after Sunday dinner at my parents’ house. Then we’ll drive down here.”

He grinned as he stopped in front of her. “I’m all for Sunday dinner.”

Even with her glasses on, Callie looked beautiful to him. Impulsively he took her in his arms and kissed her.

Callie breathed out a wistful sigh when they parted. “Why, Lane Hutchins, that’s the first time you’ve kissed me with my glasses on.”

He laughed. “It works.” He leaned down and kissed her again lightly.

“What will the neighbors think?” Callie tried to give him a stern look.

He grinned. “They’ll think that Lane has finally fallen in love.”

Callie gasped. “You—you have?”

Lane gazed into her magnified eyes. “I’ve never felt for another woman what I feel for you, Callie. I love you.”

She breathed out another sigh. “I love you, too.”

After that exchange, he had to kiss her again.

They finally got on the road.

The closer Lane drove to Fort Lob, the more nervous he became. He exited the freeway at Highway 20. “Who do you think shot Miss Penwell?”

Callie shook her head. “I have no idea. Miss Penwell didn’t have many friends, and she had a tendency to argue about the least little thing with anyone who crossed her.” She folded her arms. “It could have been anyone.”

Lane glanced at her. “Remember what Vern Snyder said to us after we ate lunch at Ray’s?”

Callie knit her brows. “What?”

“He said someone would have to kill Miss Penwell before she’d quit her job.”

“Oh.” Callie’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes, I do remember that.” She looked at Lane. “And he was so mean to you. I wouldn’t put it past Vern to get in an argument with Miss Penwell and shoot her. She was good at provoking people.”

“How well I know,” Lane muttered.
But thank God, He forgave me
.

She gasped. “I just thought of something. Vern didn’t show up yesterday morning at the library when the ambulance came.” She looked at Lane. “He’s usually right in the middle of everything. I wonder why he wasn’t there.”

Lane shrugged. “Looks suspicious if you ask me.”

They drove past the Fort Lob population sign and down Main Street.

“Wow, this place is deserted.” Callie looked from one side of the street to the other.

All the stores had C
LOSED
signs in their windows, and not one person walked down the sidewalks. Only a few cars were parked at the edge of the street.

“It’s a ghost town.” Lane turned onto Pronghorn Avenue. The Elks lodge parking lot was packed with cars and trucks. “Looks like everyone in the town is here.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s 7:03. We’re only a couple minutes late.”

Lane pulled his Mazda into an empty space between two cars. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

“Ready for what?” Callie touched the door handle. “It’s just a meeting, even though it’s very important. I’m praying the town council will keep the library open.”

He was praying, too, although he had a different petition.

Callie slipped her hand into Lane’s as they walked through the open doorway. The building was so full they could barely step inside. Dozens of people stood at the back. She and Lane took up a spot near the back wall behind Arnold Steiner and Lester Griggs. The two men effectively blocked her view, and the room was stiflingly hot. She glanced at Lane. He was taller and didn’t seem to have any problem seeing the front.

Callie took a step to the left, closer to Lane, and peered between Arnold and Lester. The chairs were filled with older men and women. Aggie’s big hair—tinted purple—stuck up above the crowd. Murray Twichell, dressed in his dark green uniform, paced at the front with his arms folded.

Standing on the platform, Bruce MacKinnon spoke into a microphone. Callie stood on tiptoe so she could see him. After speaking for several minutes, he let a couple of council members speak. The men had formulated a plan for renovating the library.

Finally Bruce spoke again. “Let us sum up our meeting thus far. In November, an addendum will be added to the ballot concerning the Dorsey-Smythe Library. If you as townspeople are willing to raise your taxes, we can renovate the old building.”

Ralph Little moved behind the mic. “Now if the vote passes …” He glanced at some notes in his hand. “With the number of citizens in Fort Lob and the amount of money needed to renovate the library, each family will have their local taxes raised about 300 percent.”

“Three hundred percent!” someone shouted.

“That’s an outrage!” another man said.

People jumped to their feet in protest. The noise in the room grew like a tidal wave until everyone was talking at once.

Lane frowned and leaned toward Callie, speaking in her ear. “Can you believe they’re milking the townspeople like this? The council doesn’t want to keep the library open, and they’re hitting people in their wallet so they’ll vote against refurbishing the library.”

“I think you’re right.” Callie’s spirits sank. They were going to lose the library after all.

“Quiet, everyone!” Murray stood at the microphone and waited until the noise settled down. “If you have something to say, come to the mic. We will proceed in an orderly fashion.” He stepped to the side as Bruce came back.