Part 1 (2/2)
Susan dropped off the pitcher and two gla.s.ses and promised to come right back to take their order.
Sara took a sip of her beer, suddenly self-conscious and very aware of his face so close to hers.
He ran a finger through the hair at the back of her neck. ”You'll kick a.s.s in Marshall. Matter of fact, I bet after a year it'll be too small to hold you. You'll be moving on to Dallas.”
She basked in his praise. No one but her best friend and cousin, Wendy, ever praised anything she did. He really seemed interested in her, not just her body. ”Well, I don't know. It might take longer than that to get used to a city that size.” Marshall had a population of twenty-eight thousand. ”I do want to transfer to a four-year college. But not in Dallas-that's too close. I'm going to Houston.” Belatedly fearing it might sound like she was dropping hints about a future with him, she hastily added, ”Or, you know, San Antonio, or Austin. Someplace with freeways and buildings taller than four stories.” She looked around the Cafe. ”A place with restaurants you have to dress for.”
Those deep dimples reappeared, but this time his smile was serious. ”Wherever you wind up, you'll do great.”
His words made her feel all warm inside, like she was glowing.
”Okay, what are y'all having tonight?” Susan asked.
”Oh yeah, right, food,” Nash said. ”We haven't even looked at the menu.”
She elbowed him again. ”Oh, shut up.” Anyone who'd eaten at the Cafe more than three times had the menu memorized.
”Okay. Guess I'll have the chicken fried steak.”
”Fine, but I won't be kissing you.”
”Oh, I think you will.” He waggled his eyebrows and leered at her.
Susan giggled like-well, like Sara had been giggling just a minute ago. Nash had that effect on women.
”I'll have the mushroom burger, Sue.”
”Onion rings, right?”
”Right.”
”And another pitcher, please,” added Nash.
”All righty.”
They talked about the last couple of charters Nash had taken out on the lake. The guys at JP's Outdoor Expeditions said he had some sort of mystical rapport with nature. And since he'd arrived in Luxor two months ago, Dallas and Fort Worth businesswomen were showing up, suddenly interested in hunting and fis.h.i.+ng.
Their order came up quickly, but Susan didn't leave after she dropped off the plates. Instead, she looked around to see if anyone was listening, then leaned in a little bit, propping her tray against one hip. ”Hey. Did y'all hear about those folks out by Wake Village?”
”Huh? No. What folks?” Sara asked. Nash was already digging into his dinner.
”Five of 'em, three men and two women. Young-or at least they think they were young. It'll probably take dental records to ID them.”
”Oh my G.o.d.” Leave it to Susan to start a story like this while people were eating. But Sara was curious in spite of herself. ”What happened?”
”Well, they've managed to keep it out of the papers, but you know Bobbi's boyfriend is a Bowie County deputy.” Susan, a semi-pro gossip, repeated everything her daughter told her.
”Okay, but what happened?” asked Sara.
Nash looked up from his plate.
”They were cut to ribbons.” Susan paused for effect before dropping the real bomb. ”Sheriff says it was werewolves.”
”Wait a minute,” Nash said. ”I heard the vics had knife wounds.”
”Listen to you,” Susan scoffed. ”What are you, a cop? How did you hear about it?”
”Some guys on one of my charters know the cops who worked it. But if they were stabbed, it wasn't werewolves.”
”Yeah, wolves don't use weapons,” Sara blurted. ”It's not honorable.”
It was out of her mouth before she knew she'd said it. Now both Susan and Nash were staring at her. Susan looked shocked, and maybe a little disgusted.
Nash looked intrigued. ”How do you know about werewolves?”
She shrugged. ”Something I read on the Internet once, I guess.” Her hands had started shaking, so she picked up her burger. ”I mean, everybody knows that about werewolves.”
”I sure didn't know that.” Susan was looking at her like she'd just announced her conversion to Satanism. ”Why would you be reading about such things? That's not how you were raised, Sara Mae.”
Nash grinned. ”Sara Mae?”
”Don't start,” she muttered, still staring at her burger and willing Susan to shut up and go away.
Shutting up was not something Susan knew much about. She set her tray down on their table and crossed her arms, apparently in no hurry to tend to her other customers. A few people at nearby tables were watching the scene unfold.
”Well, all I know is Lanny Coe says werewolves did it. He pa.s.sed out silver bullets to all his men.”
”Who the f.u.c.k is Lanny Coe, and what makes him think werewolves are running around northeast Texas?” Nash asked in the mocking tone of voice Sara often wished she had the nerve to use.
Susan's mouth had stretched into a prim, tight line at Nash's profanity. Now her eyes narrowed to angry slits as she snapped, ”Lanny Coe's the Sheriff of Bowie County. And he knows the fairies and skin-walkers won't stop 'til they're living in every city in every state. They want to take over this country. Europe was smart enough to stop 'em, but over here they just get themselves elected!”
”But, Susan, there's not enough fairies and skin-walkers to live in every city in every state.” Nash's tone was mild, still a bit amused, but Sara heard the contempt in his voice as he repeated the offensive epithets. It was the contempt of a cosmopolitan big city dweller for an ignorant, small-town bigot.
Yes, some big city folks could be a.s.sholes. But most people in Luxor-well, as far as Sara knew, everyone in Luxor but her-thought exactly the same way Susan did.
What made it even worse was that she didn't have the courage to confront Susan about her hateful views. She just sat there, her face burning, while the tables around them turned to stare. Nash probably a.s.sumed Sara felt the same way, even though she didn't. And that made her want to slink under the booth and crawl out of the Cafe.
”Well, but...” Susan was only temporarily fl.u.s.tered by facts. ”The politicians are still helping them live wherever they want to. The federal government cares more about beasts than it does about human beings!”
Beside her, Nash had gone very still. ”Beasts?”
”What would you call someone who could do something like that?”
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