Staying For Good
Page 70

Zane shook his head as he walked away.
The first box arrived two days after Zoe left for Texas.
Luke opened the package to find a set of knives and a packing slip that had him looking twice.
He didn’t hesitate, he picked up his cell phone and called her.
“Hey, baby . . . I have a package here for you.”
“Awesome.”
“Am I reading this right? You spent two thousand dollars on knives?”
Zoe hesitated. “That isn’t right. Did you look in the box?”
He fumbled with some of the packing materials and removed three smaller boxes with images of the knives inside. “There’s three in here.”
“Oh, a partial shipment then. I’ll call.”
Luke flipped the box over in his hands. “Wait, are you saying you spent two grand on three knives?”
“Uh-huh.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Really? What do you spend on a drill set? Hydraulic hoses for the shop? Or, hey, that lift that keeps breaking down?”
Luke put the box down and grinned. “I get it.”
“Good. I have more coming, so keep an eye out. I’d hate for the boxes to sit on your porch.”
“Because I live in such a bad neighborhood.”
“Never mind. I seem to have forgotten there are places you can leave your front door unlocked.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” But even as the words left Luke’s mouth, he knew he’d left his door unlocked more times than not in his life.
“Are you checking on Miss Gina?”
“Every day. I think she’s catching on to me.”
“Let her catch on. I hate the thought of her being in the place alone.”
Luke put the smaller boxes that held the knives on the counter and tossed the bigger one by the back door to take to the trash.
“Brenda is there in the mornings to make breakfast when she has guests until Mel is back.”
“Yeah, how is that going to work with her and Wyatt married?”
“Better, I think. Miss Gina has been known to tell people that the inn is at capacity if she didn’t like the look of them.”
“Mel told me that the inn has been losing money ever since Hope got hurt last year.”
Luke drizzled a little water over the tiny plants sitting by his sink as they spoke. “Now that Hope has her own room at Wyatt’s, my guess is Miss Gina will get back to normal. Better than normal. This town seems to have filled up in the last few months.”
He heard Zoe laugh. “The film crew alone doubled the population.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but there are a few more people I don’t recognize in town.”
“That should be good for everyone.”
“Except maybe Jo.”
“Oh, is something going on?”
Luke was quick to backtrack. “No. But a bigger population means more people to police.” And he knew for a fact that Jo was spending a lot of her time outside the station ever since Ziggy showed up.
“Then she needs to hire another deputy.”
“I think there is only so much in the budget for her.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
He didn’t want to think of the magnitude of Jo’s job. He’d seen her dressed in a uniform for years now, but never saw the cop . . . he almost always saw the chick that went to high school with them.
“So what are you doing today?” he asked, not wanting to drop the conversation yet.
“I’m sitting down with the owners of Nahana and turning in my resignation.”
Hope filled Luke’s chest like a rush of wind. “You’re really quitting?”
“I am. It feels strange. But after I spoke with Suki, I knew I was going to be okay.”
The name of her talent agent always made him grin. “What does Suki have to do with the restaurant?”
“We heard back from the publisher I liked. Guess what they are paying me for a cookbook?”
He had no idea. “I got nothing.”
“A hundred grand.”
Luke felt actual chills. “W-what?”
“I know, right?”
He slumped against the counter. “For a cookbook?”
“Yeah. It will give me an opportunity to walk from Nahana and explore for the next six months.”
“Holy cow, Zoe. What kind of money do you make?”
“What?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s none of my business. I’m happy for you.”
“I have to run. Keep an eye out for my orders?”
“I will, baby. Don’t work too hard.”
Luke ended the call and lifted one of the boxes holding Zoe’s knives. He didn’t think he spent two grand collectively on all the stuff in his kitchen.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Most nights, Jo lived off microwaveable dinners and pasta in a box that didn’t require much effort.
Since Ziggy Brown returned, she spent a lot of her time, and money, frequenting Sam’s diner.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Sam called out from behind the window into the kitchen. “You’re back.”
“What can I say, Sam? I think Zoe taught you a few things back there.”
“I doubt that,” Brenda said from across the room.
Jo took a spot at the counter and greeted those she recognized. There were a few faces in the mix that weren’t familiar. Something she had noticed happening throughout the summer.