Page 7 of It's a Wonderful Knife

He shrugged. “I like to express myself. I’ll remove it before I return the car.”

“Seems like a lot of trouble.”

“Like I said, I like to express myself.”

Brag is more like it.

“What’s your name?”

“Richard Walker.”

“Do you have any ID on you?” I asked.

He slumped, but he tugged his wallet from his back pocket. He showed me his license, looking demoralized. “Sheriff, I have enough problems. Can’t you just let this go? I was distracted because I just broke up with my girlfriend, Carla. That’s all. It’s a sucky time of year to be alone. I’ll drive more carefully from now on, I promise.”

I wouldn’t have put it past him to make up the girlfriend thing, but his name and address matched what he’d told me. “This is a long way to come for a few days of rest and holiday cheer.”

He tensed. “I wanted to get away from Nevada. It reminded me too much of my ex. You must know how that is?”

Yeah, I did. When Max and I had been broken up, every restaurant we’d ever eaten in had been a painful reminder of losing him. “I’ve been there.”

“So you get it.”

“I do.” I was leaning toward letting this guy go. Not because I felt sorry for him, but because I didn’treallywant to get involved in arresting him. I’d have to contact the local authorities, and it would be a whole big thing. I was here to enjoy a vacation with Max and leave my job behind for a while. But Richard Walker definitely needed to drive more carefully, and I wanted to impress that upon him. “So you accept that you were driving recklessly?”

He grimaced. “Not intentionally. I, uh… let my emotions get away from me.”

“Life would only get harder if you kill someone by driving like a maniac,” I said gruffly.

“Yes. I agree.” He held up one hand. “I promise to stick to the speed limit and be much more careful behind the wheel.”

I wasn’t sure I believed him, but at least he was saying the right things. Pursing my lips, I studied him. “Okay. I’ll let you off this once.”

He let out a sharp breath of relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

At that moment, a bright orange tractor came rumbling around the bend, pulling a big open trailer with hay bales in the back. The trailer was decorated with strings of red and green blinking Christmas lights. A bunch of school kids was in the back, laughing and blowing bubbles into the crisp winter air.

When the driver parked, he jumped out of the cab and went to help the kids down. They swarmed toward the buses, buzzing with excitement as they clambered aboard. Once the kids were safely on the buses, the tractor driver turned and strode toward us with a cheerful grin.

“Howdy, folks. I’m Jax. You must be my next group.” He wore a tattered gray cowboy hat, and wheat-colored hair poked out around his collar. His eyes were a piercing blue and his smile confident. “Hope you all had a good trip here?”

“It was long but well worth it,” Penelope said brightly.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Jax tipped his hat.

Penelope gave Jax an admiring look. “I remember you from last year.”

Jax smiled. “I remember you as well.”

Gerald put his arm around Penelope possessively. “I remember you too, Jax. Mywifeand I come here every year.”

My lips twitched at the thought Gerald thought he had to protect his wife from Jax. If anything, Jax would need to watch out for Penelope. She liked flirting with younger men. I suspected that was one reason she’d latched on so firmly to River.

“It’s good to have you folks back again.” If Jax noticed an edge to Gerald’s voice, he didn’t show it. “Now, who’s ready to have some fun?”

Our little group gave a collective happy cheer.

While Jax had been talking with the Grangers, I’d moved back to where Max stood. He was eyeing the hay bales in the back of the trailer with a frown.