No Strings Part 4

"You too, Ed."

She was shivering as she got back in her truck. As far as she knew, Ed fished nearly every single day. He worked as a fishing guide up at Blue Mesa mostly, or along the river here, always knowing the best spots for trout. In the fall, he took hunters up into the high country looking for elk. And in the winter, you'd find him here along the creek, fishing without a care in the world.

And most likely, his eighty-eight-year-old uncle was fishing without a license. And out-of-state at that. His mother lived in Arizona during the winter. But Ed was Ed and she wasn't about to call him on it. He was too by the book when it came to his guide trips to bother him now. Besides, it was too d.a.m.n cold to stand out and write up a citation for no fishing license. So she waved as she drove past, heading up the pa.s.s to the lodge.

It was the Monday before Thanksgiving, but already the lodge was filling. Some brought their own snowmobiles, but most of the guests rented them from the lodge. And as she suspected, the backcountry would be filled with sounds of the machines as the season got underway. If she didn't enjoy snowmobiling herself, she'd be dreading this time of year. The quiet of the mountains was spoiled with the roar of engines. But what an exhilaration it was to fly across the snow at breakneck speed. Snowmobiling was a sport she'd picked up after she moved here and embraced wholeheartedly. Cross-country skiing, not so much.

"Hey, Kenny," she greeted Ellen's son. "You full this week?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am. We're completely full. I was out on the trails at daybreak. Got enough snow to let the machines out."

"Good. Your mom around?"

"You'll find her in the kitchen, as always."

Ellen Patterson and her husband Rick started the lodge twenty years ago and built it into a thriving business during the winter months when most of the other rentals closed down. And they did it by offering snowmobiles and trails right off the parking 0.

lot. Sure, the trails were all on National Forest land, but Rick had sculpted his own land to blend into the forest, practically right at the snowmobile shed. And with Charlie's help, had secured new trails to hook up with the established Forest Service trails that began closer in town and down by the river.

"Hi, Morgan, thought I heard your voice."

Morgan accepted the cup of coffee Ellen shoved in her hands and found a spot at the bar as Ellen fidgeted about the kitchen.

And that's what she did. Fidget. Never still for a minute. Morgan had long ago gotten used to the constant movement.

"I was just out making the rounds," she said as she eyed the fresh baked cinnamon rolls.

Ellen laughed. "Knowing you, you smelled them down at Hines Creek." She slid the plate closer. "Help yourself."

Morgan bit into the warm dough with an audible moan, her tongue sneaking out to grab the icing that had lodged at the corners of her mouth. "I don't know why you won't just open your own cafe up here. You'd have enough customers from the lodge to keep you busy."

"Sloan would have our a.s.s and you know it. Besides, running a restaurant is hard work. Sloan'll tell you that."

Morgan sipped from her coffee before taking another bite of the roll. "Kenny says you're full this week. Good thing we got a little snow last night."

"Yeah, it made the trails pa.s.sable down here. If not, Rick would have had to haul them up above Slumgullion to catch the trails. Not to mention shuttling them back. But we advertise snowmobiling, so we have to deliver." She stopped washing dishes, turning with wet hands. "Say, have you met the new sheriff yet?"

Morgan shook her head. "Nope. Saw her at the bar the other night though. But she keeps to herself. I don't know anyone she's actually talked to on a friendly basis."

"She came up here last Friday."

"Really?"

"Just to introduce herself. Very businesslike, but she seemed nice enough. Not like Ned, of course, who never met a stranger.

I bet Googan was plenty p.i.s.sed."

Morgan laughed. It was common knowledge that Googan thought he'd earned the job after following around old Ned like a puppy dog all those years. What Googan didn't know was n.o.body wanted him to be sheriff. Not that he was totally inept or anything. But like Barney Fife, he just wasn't sheriff material. He watched too many movies as a kid, and half the town was afraid he'd shoot somebody for stealing a pack of gum.

"She seemed your type."

"My type?"

"You know."

"Not you too. What? Is the town tired of me being single?"

"Well, I heard about that woman from the other week.

Charlie's-"

"Oh, my G.o.d! You heard it too?"

"I'm just saying, you really shouldn't pick up strangers. You never know who they're related to. Besides, the sheriff was kinda cute. In an arrogant sort of way."

"Is that possible?"

"Maybe arrogant is not the right word. Indifferent. How's that?"

"You thought she was cute?"

"Yes. Didn't you?"

"I guess. Tall. Almost handsome," Morgan mused. "But she had an air about her. She didn't seem like someone I'd get along with. Too moody or something. I called it brooding."

"Mmm. Well, I was thinking of you when I met her. That's all."Morgan smiled as Ellen went back to her dishes. The lone lesbian in town and everyone was trying to fix her up. It was one of the things she loved about this community. Sure, everyone knew everyone else's business, but it was almost like one big family. And after a few months of Charlie hauling her around and dragging her out to the bar every night, they'd accepted her as one of their own. And over the years, they'd known about nearly all of her s.e.xual encounters, no matter how discreet she tried to be. "Thanks for thinking of me, but I can find my own date."

Ellen snorted. "Yeah, that's worked out great for you so far."

Morgan laughed good-naturedly as she left the kitchen.

After making her rounds up past Slumgullion and down along Hines Creek, Morgan was headed back to town by noon.

The temperature had risen into the upper twenties, and the snow had turned to slush on the roads. She slowed as she pa.s.sed Sloan's Cafe, smiling at the sign in the window. It still amused her. It was Sloan's Cafe until about two o'clock when it became Sloan's Bar.

A compromise between Sloan and his wife. She thought bar was far too sleazy of a name when she was serving up lunch.

Which is what Morgan was stopping for now. Not that she stopped often for lunch. She came enough in the evenings as it was. But today, she saw Googan's patrol truck parked out front.

And she was just curious enough about the new sheriff to pick Googan's brain. Because Berta had struck out with Eloise, getting only the barest of details from her. Berta said Eloise was scared of the woman. And after seeing her just the one time, she could understand why.

"Googan, how's it going?" she asked as she sat down beside him at the bar.

"It's going. If you call Chief Daniels riding my a.s.s every d.a.m.n day going, that is."

"The new sheriff?" she asked casually. "Hey, Sloan. I'll just have tea and a grilled cheese."

"No burger?"

She grinned. "No. Had a huge cinnamon roll up at Ellen's."

She spread her hands apart. "This big."

"Yeah. I hear she makes the best." He narrowed his eyes. "She serving breakfast up there at her place now?"

"Oh, yeah. You know, free to guests."

"And you, apparently."

Morgan nudged Googan's elbow when Sloan walked off.

"So? The new sheriff? How's that working out for you?"

"She's a beast, that's what. Not only do I have to account for every minute of my day, I have to account for every mile. She took a look at the budget and our fuel expenses and nearly went through the roof. I told her it's a big county. There's a lot of driving to do."

Morgan bit her tongue. It was a small county with only minimal county roads. The forest roads, that was her area. But maybe Googan was trying to make his case with the newbie and convince her of the vastness of the county.

"Besides, ain't just me on the budget. Carlton gets around too, you know. And Ned, h.e.l.l, we all know Ned drove all over the d.a.m.n place."

"Ned's been gone four months," she reminded him.

"I'm just saying, she jumped all over my a.s.s and I ain't the only one driving."

"So, she's not real laid-back, huh?"

"No, she's got a chip on her shoulder about something, or else she's just plain p.i.s.sed off at the world. Never smiles. h.e.l.l, hardly ever talks. Unless she's jumping my a.s.s about something.

I swear, it's going to be a long year. Then come election time, we can send her a.s.s packing."

"You talking about the new sheriff?" Sloan asked.

"Chief Daniels, not sheriff."

"Yeah, Carlton came in this morning b.i.t.c.hing about her. Said she'd cut his hours back."

"I thought he was only part-time anyway," Morgan said.

"He logged about thirty hours," Googan said. "She's got him down to fifteen. Eloise said she might lay him off during the winter and not bring him back until May."

"Well, you have to admit, there's not a whole lot that goes on during the winter, Googan," Morgan said. "Even in the summer, is it necessary to have three?"

"Just because the Forest Service cuts you back to only two positions during the winter doesn't mean law enforcement should follow suit."

Sloan nodded. "Yep. Could have a rash of burglaries or murders. Need to be prepared."

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying."

Morgan and Sloan exchanged amused glances as Googan downed his tea and got up.

"And now I need to get back on the road before she jumps my a.s.s for having lunch." He nodded at them. "See you later."

"Old Ned had been here so long, I don't think he even knew he had a budget," Sloan said. "Maybe it's good to bring in new blood."

"Yeah, well it's certainly put a bee up Googan's a.s.s."

CHAPTER EIGHT.

"Go talk to her."

"I will not," Morgan said. "I invited you out so we could visit."

"Just go introduce yourself," Tina said. "She doesn't talk to anyone in town. Even Eloise is scared of her. Go see if you can feel her out."

Morgan grinned. "Feel her out?"

Tina laughed. "Out, not up."

But Morgan shook her head. "Look, by all accounts, she's a real b.i.t.c.h. I don't care if she's gay or not, I don't think we'd hit it off."

"Another round, ladies?" Tracy asked as she swung by their table.

"Sure." Tina grabbed Tracy's wrist and pulled her closer.

"How much longer will the sheriff be here?"

"Chief Daniels? Oh, her order will be up in a few minutes.

Why?"

"I'm trying to get Morgan to go talk to her."

"Yeah. Good luck. Morgan doesn't think she'll like the chief."

Morgan nodded. "See?"

"Aren't you at all curious about her? I mean, why does she keep to herself so much?"

"She's nice enough when she orders," Tracy said. "Always leaves a tip. Just doesn't talk much."

Tina turned to Morgan. "See? Not necessarily a b.i.t.c.h. Just maybe quiet."

"All right, fine," Morgan said. "I'll go. But you're buying dinner."