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“Because you don’t seem to need to take a breath when you’re talking,” said Tilly. “I think that’d be an advantage for a trumpet player.”

Ag tilted her head to one side. “I’ll think about it,” she said. “Do you want some cereal?”

“Yes,” said Tilly. “But first I think we’d better clean up all this milk, don’t you?”

She was instructing Dash on how to clean up, given he was the one that had made the spill, when Max and Mila came into the kitchen.

“I’m cleaning,” Dash announced.

“You’re a miracle worker,” Mila said to Tilly. Her eyes looked a little red, but she was smiling and relaxed. “I can’t even get him to pick up his toys.”

“I’m only going to take them out again,” Dash grumbled. “I don’t see the point in putting them away.”

“I’m going to fry some bacon,” said Max. “Anyone for bacon sandwiches? They’re the best breakfast.”

“Yay,” said Dash.

“Tilly?” asked Max.

“If it’s no trouble.”

“No trouble at all,” he said. “Why don’t you come out to the meat freezer in the garage and help me get the bacon?”

He was giving her a look that told her he wanted to talk to her in private, so she followed him out to the chilly garage, where he opened up a chest freezer and took out some bacon.

“Got a call this morning,” he said quietly. “Someone wanted to talk to you, heard that you were investigating the car thefts. They’ll be in tomorrow morning, so make sure you’re at the station bright and early.”

“A source,” Tilly said.

Max grinned. “You’re already getting a reputation around these parts,” he said. “Well done. Just make sure the info’s good before you do anything about it.”

“Will do,” Tilly said as Max closed the freezer up.

She followed him back into the kitchen with a grin on her face. Now she had two things to look forward to. Moving her investigation forward tomorrow morning, and far sooner, seeing Sophie in just a few hours.

Chapter Twenty One

“Never again,” Jules said. “I swear.”

“I’m not buying that,” said Sophie as they walked along the cool street toward the village hall. “Especially if Cass and Amelia are around.”

“They’re a bad influence,” Jules agreed.

“They’re certainly not a good one,” said Sophie. She sighed. “But I was all in, and they were just trying to help. I’m not entirely sure how we ended up locked in McKeefe’s barn, though.”

“He thought we were cattle rustlers or something, you know how muchYellowstonehe watches. He didn’t press charges though,” said Jules. “And it was your idea to go up there. You said we should revisit the scene of the crime. Anyway, it all worked out alright in the end, didn’t it?”

Sophie grinned. “It might have,” she said, not wanting to jinx anything.

“Oh, come on, you and the Constable are getting on like a house on fire now. You’ve got an arrangement, right?”

“We do. She does her job, I stay out of it, she doesn’t hold my family against me, we don’t tell them anything. Simple. Now all we need to do is figure out some way of actually seeing each other at some point, and we’ll be fine.”

“The pub has a back room,” Jules offered. “You could have a drink in there. It’s a bit cold though. But at least you get to sing together. You’re getting quite the reputation. Billy won’t stop going on about this damn carol that the two of you are singing. I’d got no idea you could actually sing.”

“Me neither,” Sophie said. “But dad said that mum liked to sing.”

Jules reached out and squeezed her hand. Not having a mum around was something that they had in common. Jules’s mum had disappeared when she was young, leaving her with her grandfather and sister.