I pulled my truck into a parking spot in front of Betty’s Boutique and grabbed the empty cake pan from the passenger seat. Only a few people walked the downtown area because it was still early in the day. I exchanged greetings with them as I made my way inside.
“Hey, sweetheart. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Betty asked, standing from her seat behind the register. e store was empty, another slow day for business.
I held up the cake pan. “Just returning this,” I said, setting it down on the counter.
Betty came around and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug. “How ya doing today?”
“Not great.”
She took a few steps back and looked me up and down. Her brows pinched together. “What’s wrong, Calvin?”
I ambled around the store, glancing at some of the men’s clothes. I didn’t really need anything, just needed to talk. “A mountain lion nearly attacked Grace this morning.”
Betty’s eyes widened, and her hand sprung to her mouth. “Nearly?”
I nodded. “Yep. Shot and killed the thing just as it was coming at her.”
“Oh dear,” she gasped. “Lucky you know how to shoot. Must have been quite the scare for her.”
It wasn’t the rst time I’d shot an animal, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last.
I pulled a red-and-black annel shirt from a stu ed rack and held it up. “Grace is real shaken up.” I put the shirt back and continued ipping through a few others.
Betty looked as though she wanted to say something but was holding back.
Her mouth closed and opened and closed again. “What?” I asked.
She waved her hand at me. “Oh, nothing.” “Go on and say it.”
“Well, in my experience mountain lions go for easy prey, the weak. at girl
don’t belong here and even nature is trying to tell you that.” She shook her head.
“ at’s a strange thing to say, Betty.”
“She ain’t built for Wyoming is all I’m saying.” She raised her chin and shrugged.
“I don’t think I am either.”
“You are, Calvin. at girl has gotten in your head like brain-eating amoeba. You ain’t thinking right.”
I cocked my head. “Grace has done nothing wrong.”
I was tired of the way people were treating her, and I could see why she was acting so strange now. I’d be the same way.
“I just have a funny feeling about her,” Betty said.
“Well, maybe that funny feeling is because you haven’t lled your prescription in the last two months.”
I didn’t mean to say it. It just came out. When Betty was o her meds, she was the one not seeing things right.
Her mouth dropped open but she quickly closed it, pursing her lips into a thin line. She narrowed her eyes at me. “Who told you that?”
“ at doesn’t matter. Why haven’t you been taking your pills?” “Because I don’t need them.”
“You clearly do. You’re paranoid. First about the bees and now about
Grace.”
I took a few steps toward the counter.
Betty folded her arms in front of her chest. “I think you should take a hard look in the mirror, Calvin. She’s changing you. You’re smarter than this, so don’t go losing your head for some girl.”
“She’s not just some girl,” I sco ed.
Betty shook her head like a parent who’d been disappointed by their child. “After she leaves, you’ll start seeing things a little more clearly.”
“She’s not leaving. I want her to stay.”
“Oh, Calvin.” She placed a hand on each of my cheeks and pulled me in, planting a kiss on the top of my head like she used to do when I was a young boy. “You’re a fool. You’re a damn fool.”
If she only knew. I pulled away, letting her hands fall to her sides. She frowned at me.
“I really hope you start taking your medication again. You know what
happens when you don’t.”
She twisted up her lips and started straightening up random things around the store, busying herself. “Sheri stopped in today, asking about you and a missing woman.”
I let out a sigh. “Yeah, he stopped over at the ranch earlier and a few days
ago too. What did you tell him?”
“ at I’ve never seen that woman.” Betty straightened a row of cowboy boots, ensuring each was in line.
“What did he ask about me?” I raised my chin, my eyes following her as she moseyed around the store.
“Just wanted to know more about you and the ranch. Apparently, this girl
was supposed to stay with you for a few days.”
“Yeah, and I told him she never showed up.” I felt my jaw tighten. Betty wouldn’t even look at me. I couldn’t tell if it was because she couldn’t or she wouldn’t, and there was a di erence.
“Him coming around is going to screw things up with Grace.”
“I think that’s the least of your worries. In three days, Calvin, you better let
that girl leave.” Betty didn’t look at me or say another word. She just walked to the back of the store and disappeared into the storage room.
