Page 7 of Defended by the Lumberjack (Moonshine Ridge Lumberjacks #2)

Chapter Seven

July

" J uly? Can I have a word with you, please?"

Deputy Hawkins beckons me into the office where the older woman sits behind Eddy's desk, in front of a computer with paused video on the screen.

Hawk takes a breath, like having to answer a call on a Saturday afternoon is trying his patience.

Our local sheriff's deputy is more one of the townspeople than the face of the law on the Ridge, despite the uniform and a determined sense of duty, rumor has it that he's in thick with the women who run the historical society-- a quartet of old ladies who are as notorious in this small town as any gang running the streets of southern California.

"Marianne Smalls is willing to stand on record to what she witnessed." He takes a seat and flips a page on his notebook.

Smalls. The name is well-known up on the Ridge.

"Are you Howard's daughter?" I wonder aloud, trying to remember if our local colorful character ever mentioned having children.

"Hell no, half-sister. Daddy got around well into his nineties. Good to see my brother's got some the old man's energy. Mable's a lucky girl."

The couple in question is, indeed, in their nineties. They got married the year before I moved to the mountain, with Mable being one of those old ladies I mentioned.

No wonder Marianne makes the deputy uneasy. I watch Hawk run his hand through his hair, his hat having been laid on the desk at some point. I share the mild shudder that shakes his shoulders at the mention of Mable and Howard Smalls' sex life.

That's just not the sort of thing you want to think about.

Marianne's given me a pretty thorough account of what she overheard and the video picked up most of the audio to corroborate.

Hawkins turns in the chair and hits a button on the computer keyboard, unpausing the video. It's a view from a stationary camera somewhere in the hall outside the store room door. I walk in, Robert walks in shortly afterward.

He stands in the doorway and you can just make out the image of Marianne at the far end of the hallway as she comes around a corner.

Most of what Pendergrast said is caught on audio, backing up my story.

When he moves completely into the storage room with me, he's out of frame, but you can clearly hear me tell him to get out of my way.

The deputy pauses the video.

"Of course, the video caught Levi escorting the man from the room as well, but between Tompkins, me, and the Joneses, we agree it's obvious what was happening.

"Marianne's going to follow me into town to record a full statement and I'll need you to come in as well but--" Hawkins' eyes lift to watch my boss, Eddy, enter the office.

"You can wait till Monday to come by the station.

I'll also need to talk to Levi, but this should be pretty easy to get wrapped up. "

Everyone stands, the deputy waiting for Marianne to exit the room before putting his hat back on and closing the door behind him.

"Hang on a sec, July." Eddy gestures for me to sit back down as he takes the seat behind his desk.

Eddy's office is a pretty small room, big enough for the desk and a couple of chairs. The desktop computer on the counter behind him being the only real sign that the space gets used for resort operations at all.

Both my bosses hate being in the windowless space.

They're outdoors people to the bone, with Pepper having once been a competition snowboarder before a bad accident ended her Olympic dreams. Eddy's family own half the mountain up the highway from here; riverfront property that stretches a couple of miles.

They operate a rafting company and looking at Eddy's permanent tan, and weathered features, it's easy to see that he spends more than just the winter months outside.

I'm more of a book by a fire kinda girl. The bosses have been trying to get me on skis since I came to work for them, but the kitchen is my happy place.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you know we never doubted your story, right?" Eddy leans on his desk, lacing his fingers and looking at me like he's apologizing.

With his blonde hair, Brad Pitt smile, and laid back personality, Eddy makes half my kitchen staff go stupid whenever he comes in. I like him, and I get that he's got a classic kinda hotness to him, but he doesn't do it for me.

Not like Levi does. With his dark features and bronzed skin. A thrill runs through me just picturing him.

"Pendergrast is a major account," Eddy's explaining.

"Was." He corrects the tense with a casual smirk.

"Asshole...anyway...we had to do the whole both sides thing and you know Hawk's a by-the-book kinda guy.

Just want to make sure you know Pep and I are planning on keeping you. If you want to stick around?"

I definitely want to stick around.

Levi

D eputy Tompkins cuffs Pendergrast, reads him his rights, and marches him to the patrol unit waiting outside.

"Assault, extortion...by the time we go through the evidence he'll be facing more than a couple of charges.

" Hawkins pockets his notebook and zips his jacket as we stand together on the steps outside the ski resort and watch his colleague haul the other man away.

"Not sure what'll stick in the long run, but he's eighty-sixed from the resort for life. "

Hawk chuckles.

"Don't expect he'll be welcome most anywhere on the Ridge. You know how news travels in these parts. Folks stick by one another up here."

The deputy's phone buzzes in a case on his belt. He pulls it free and I catch sight of the picture of his family on the lock screen before he checks the incoming message. I swear the man's ears turn pink under the brim of his hat.

"Wife says get my ass home." Is all the explanation he gives as he gives me a wink and jogs down the steps and hurries to the SUV waiting in the lot.

"Come by the office next week, I want to talk to you about a new crew position." Clinton comes out of the resort's heavy front doors, pausing beside me as he slips a knit beanie over his gray hair. "We're planning some changes to the field crews this season, you might like one of the new jobs."

He checks the watch on his right wrist and glances behind us.

"I know you like being outside, but I figure you're gonna want a job that gets you home more often now. Am I right?"

The job I work now keeps me out in the camps for weeks at a time. The boss is right, I like being in the field, but now I've got July to come home to-- damn straight I'm going to want to come home.

"Comes with a good salary too," Clinton's saying to no one in particular as he fishes in his pocket for keys. "Good enough to support a family if you need to."

Clinton doesn't say goodbye or bother waiting around for me to respond. He just heads down the steps and out to the truck that flashes its lights when he hits the button in his hand.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" July joins me, sliding under my arm like she's been doing it her whole life.

I'm still reeling. Still feeling wound up from finding my woman cornered by that jerk, still working through the nerves from worrying about her job and my own. Still processing Clinton's words, suggesting I just got a promotion and a raise instead of getting canned.

"Yeah, baby, everything out here's good-- what about you? What'd your boss say?"

All things considered, and from what I know of the people who own this ski resort, I'd be shocked if July caught any shit for what went down today. But her job was already on a trial basis before this, so it's always possible that the Joneses aren't down for the drama.

"Eddy wanted me to know they were on my side," she tells me, snuggling into my side either for comfort or for warmth-- I'll give her both. "Just, you know, had to hear both sides for the record and all."

"He say anything about your job? Clinton coming up here had to be good for you, right?"

"It's official!" July looks up at me, her pretty hazel eyes all lit up while she bounces on her feet. "I'm the head chef of Savor! Permanently."

The sweet little thing under my arm beams with pride, everything else from the hectic day left behind in her excitement.

"The chef needs to get back to her kitchen, doesn't she?"

The drama has eaten well into the dinner shift. As much as I want to haul her over my shoulder and back to my cabin, these are the concessions I'll have to make for supporting my woman's dreams.

July finds my hands, her fingers curling around mine as she stands toe to toe in front of me now and gives me a sly grin.

"Perry and Jordan have it covered tonight. I've already missed so much of the shift, I'd just throw off their routine if I came back now."

"Get in the truck baby girl, I've got plans for you tonight."