Page 685 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

Sean tore through the mill,searching for Buck Gibson. Even though it was not yet 8:00 AM, he guessed that Buck would be lurking in the background so he could admire his handiwork from a distance. He found him in the lumberyard.

A nervous smile twitched on Buck’s lips when he saw Sean coming toward him. “It’s a little early for you to be out here in the lumber yard, ain’t it boss?”

Sean grabbed Buck’s shirt and shoved him against a stack of lumber, pitting his face a mere inch from Buck’s.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about,” Buck said, but he wouldn’t look Sean in the eye.

“Who was it? Who did you get to threaten Sydney?”

“That ain’t important.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Sean gripped Buck’s shirt even tighter. “You know better than to do something like that without asking me first.”

“Well that’s just the thang. My orders came from higher up. It seems that you ain’t the one in control ‘round here no more.” Buck’s voice turned quiet. “I warned you not to get soft on her. This time my orders were just to scare her. Next time …” He paused. “Next time, who knows what my orders’ll be.”

Sydney threwher jacket across the back of the chair and headed for the kitchen. “How about some popcorn?”

“That sounds great,” Kendall said. He sat down and stretched his legs on the oversized ottoman.

When she’d talked to Kendall on the phone earlier today, he’d invited her to the bonfire and suggested that they go to her house and watch a movie afterwards. This surprised her because Kendall was usually too caught up in football to do anything during the week.

The bonfire had been a spectacle. Dover was one of Stoney Creek’s biggest rivals, and the entire town, it seemed, came out to show their support. The cheerleaders lead the hyper crowd of spectators and football players in roaring chants while the band playedThe Eye of the Tiger. The pinnacle of the evening came when Kendall stood up and delivered his pep speech.

Sydney admitted that a part of her enjoyed the notoriety she received from the town’s folk—an honor bestowed on her for the sole reason that she was Kendall’s girlfriend. She had to make sure she was falling for the real Kendall and not the legendary coach. But in Stoney Creek where football was life, separating the two was proving to be a difficult task. She shook her head. For once she was going to enjoy a nice cozy evening with Kendall without analyzing it to death. After her eventful week, she could use some down time. She wouldn’t think about the cemetery or the man on the porch. She would concentrate on Kendall. It would do her some good to take a break from the problems.

She watched the kernels of corn in the bottom of her skillet transform into white blossoms. The buttery smell made her mouth water. She couldn’t cook a lot of things, but she sure knewhow to make popcorn the old fashioned way. She accidentally touched the side of the hot skillet.

“Ouch!”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, sucking on her finger.

A few seconds later, armed with a big bowl of popcorn, she plopped down on the sofa beside Kendall. “How’s the team shaping up?”

“Pretty good.” He placed the folded paper he had been studying in his pocket.

Sydney motioned. “What was that?”

Before answering, Kendall stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “I was just going over some plays for tomorrow night’s game. We need a win over Dover so we can have a shot at the divisional playoff.”

“I’m sure you’ll win.”

“Yeah, I sure hope so.”

Sydney sat back on the couch. “I didn’t have time to pick up a movie this afternoon. We’ll have to watch one I already have. I hope that’s okay. I have a pretty good selection to choose from.”

“Huh?”

Sydney shook her head. He was not hearing a word she was saying. She always felt like she was competing with football for Kendall’s attention. Would it hurt him to think about her just once? “What do you want to watch?”

Kendall sat up and scooted to the edge of the couch. “I’m sorry, hon. I know we planned to watch a movie tonight, but I’m beat. I think I’ll just go on home.”

“Do you feel okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” He gave her a peck on the check before getting up and making his way to the door. “I’ll see you at the game tomorrow night?”