"Mayor Ridgeway, it's been a while," Grey announced in an almost cheerful tone.

"I'd heard you were back in town," Lance replied.

"From your nephews no doubt," Grey responded under his breath.

"Believe me; they needed to learn some manners," Lance informed him then grinned. "I'm not judging your sister's actions at all." He looked around and appeared pleased. "Are you planning on running the shop?"

"I'd like to at least sell off what's already here," Grey replied. "I haven't actually decided if I want to stay."

"I hope you'll attend the fair next weekend. One hundredth you know," the mayor reminded him.

He was overstating the obvious. The announcements were plastered all over town, and the big, bold banner across the street was hard to miss.

"We plan to attend," Grey replied. "The big guy here has never been to a country fair."

"There's food, right?" Diesel asked gruffly.

"Yes, Diesel, there's plenty of food," Grey replied with an exhausted sigh.

"I like the carnival games," Ruger announced cheerfully. "Will they have those?"

"Certainly," Lance replied and appeared humored. "Spend a small fortune and you might win a cheap stuffed toy for your best girl."

Ruger appeared to consider the comment and nodded with conviction. "Hmm. I'll need one of those too."

"A cheap stuffed toy?" Lance asked with surprise.

"No, a best girl," Ruger teased.

"Those aren't provided," Grey muttered.

"We can always use more bodies for the bachelor auction," Lance announced and grinned at Grey. "All the money goes to charity."

"I'd have to pay someone to buy me," Grey remarked then considered something and grinned l.u.s.tfully. "Do they still have the kissing booth?"

"As much as the old biddies in town try to get it off the docket, it's back by popular demand," he replied proudly. "My Melanie and Dina are the only volunteers this year. Think you can get Casey to volunteer?"

Grey, Diesel, and Ruger eyed one another then burst out laughing.

"Obviously you've never met Casey," Ruger teased.

"She's not exactly the 'friendly' type," Grey added.

Diesel cleared his throat.

"Except on rare occasions," Grey politely added.

Ruger glared his disapproval at Grey.

"It's kept clean," Lance informed them. "Wiley's in charge of the kissing booth. He keeps an eye on the ladies--and the guy's hands. Maybe you'll get her to reconsider."

"Yeah, and maybe she'll bake a pie too," Grey said while barely holding back his laughter.

All three men again chuckled. Lance smiled and shook his head. They were having a little too much fun at Casey's expense. The bell above the door dinged as Dina entered. Lance glanced at Dina then looked back at the three men.

"You boys have fun," he announced while grinning. "I'll talk to you later."

The mayor nodded to Dina as he pa.s.sed her to leave. Grey's smile twisted into a sneer as his piercing eyes followed Lance across the shop and out the door. Dina smiled cheerfully as she approached the men with a paper bag in her hand. Grey's attention shifted to Dina, and his charming smile returned as if on cue.

"I saw you guys working and thought you might like some sandwiches," Dina announced.

Diesel practically lunged for the bag and s.n.a.t.c.hed it. "Great. Thanks."

Grey and Ruger watched Diesel walk away with the bag without a care.

"And once again we starve," Grey muttered.

"Do you guys need any help?" she offered.

"Plenty of rags and even more dust," Ruger cheerfully informed her.

Dina took a clean rag from the box and began dusting a nearby chair. She appeared oddly curious about their last visitor. "What did the mayor want?"

"The usual," Grey replied with little reaction. "Attempting to get others to volunteer so he'll look good." He appeared defeated, sank into thought, and sighed softly. "What I really need is for Casey to volunteer."

"I could talk to her," Dina replied without hesitation. "What do you need?"

"Her in the kissing booth."

Dina looked at Grey and appeared almost horrified. "You're kidding? That's asking a lot," she remarked. "Last year, I had to kiss all four Harford boys twice."

Ruger attempted to hide his smirk. "Considering one has a fractured jaw, that's one less," he teased. He seemed a little too proud of the fact.

It was nearly one o'clock by the time Casey and Vaughn left the diner together while Casey carried a large take-out bag. As they paused on the sidewalk just outside, Vaughn casually turned to face her and smiled gently.

"Thanks for lunch, Casey," he said. "I appreciate the effort even if you were pressured by your brother." There was a moment of hesitation. "It would be nice if things could be civilized between us for a change."

Casey shrugged. "I give it a week."

He snorted a laugh. "I figured three days, but I appreciate your optimism."

Casey hid her smile and met his gaze. As she stared into his dark eyes, she saw flashes of him holding her as he lowered her to the kitchen floor while she bled and sobbed. Casey suddenly looked away while fidgeting. She had to keep those memories suppressed. If she let her emotions get the best of her, the consequences could cost her dearly.

"I'd, uh, better get food to my guys before Diesel eats the weaker one." As she turned away from him, she wiped a tear from her eye then hurried for the antique shop.

Vaughn watched Casey hurry along town toward the antique store then frowned. Someone was standing over his shoulder. Vaughn glanced behind him and saw Mayor Lance watching Casey as she disappeared into the antique store. Lance shook his head and hid his smile.

"There's just something about that girl," Lance remarked and added a soft groan.

Vaughn rolled his eyes and focused his attention on Lance. "Something I can do for you, Mayor?"

"I heard you had a little disagreement with my brother-in-law this morning," Lance remarked.

"Oh, that," Vaughn snapped. "No, no disagreement. He was in the wrong. Would you like to threaten my badge as well?"

"What?" he suddenly announced then chuckled. "Heavens no! The people of Darwood Falls respect you. If anything, I want you to beef up security for the fair this weekend. I mean, I want everything patrolled." He sighed with defeat. "I'll be honest with you, Sheriff. My nephews are out of control, and I don't want any of those jug heads doing anything to ruin the fair. It's too important. I don't care if you have to knock them on the heads and ship them to Siberia. It's an election year coming up, and I don't want those boys ruining this for me."

"Everything is under control," Vaughn reported while appearing skeptical of the mayor.

"Good, I'm glad to hear," he announced and began walking past Vaughn. He suddenly stopped and gave him a firm look. "And, uh, don't tell my wife we had this discussion."

Vaughn smirked and nodded.

Chapter Sixteen.

Ruger stood by the front desk in the antique store and ate a sandwich while casually watching Casey and Grey across the room in a heated exchange. Their conversation was loud and clearly heard by everyone. Casey was wild and animated while Grey pursued her persistently.

"Are you out of your mind?" Casey lashed out. "No, absolutely not!"

"You're being unreasonable!"

Diesel approached Ruger at the desk and poked inside the food bag. He removed a sandwich and indicated the exchange with little interest.

"What's with Bonnie and Clyde?" Diesel asked.

Ruger casually shrugged. "Grey just asked Casey to volunteer for the kissing booth."

Diesel glanced across the room and appeared more interested now. "Huh? She's handling it rather well."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"Come on, Casey," Grey pleaded while dancing around with frustration. "This is so important to me."

She glared at him with her arms folded across her chest. "If it's so d.a.m.ned important then you do it!"

"The guys don't want me in the kissing booth, they want you," he informed her sternly while wildly gesturing then turned more sincere and lay on the puppy dog eyes. "Think of Mom and Dad."

Horror crossed her face, and she immediately became defensive. "Oh, no you don't!" she cried out while pointing a warning finger at him. "I've done everything you've asked up until now. I even made nice with Sheriff Holt, but this is asking too much. Don't hold Mom and Dad over me!"

Grey looked at Ruger across the room and pleaded with his eyes. "A little help here, please."

Ruger appeared innocent and held his hands in the air. "I can't even stand her kissing this one," he said while indicating Diesel. "Why would I condone her smooching half the men in town?"

"You're absolutely no help, you know that?" he snapped. "We need the people in town to see we're one of them." Grey looked back at Casey. "This is why we're here, Casey. I'm making an unbelievable sacrifice." He gave her his best sorrowful eyes. "All I'm asking is to let a few old guys kiss you. You kiss Ruger and Diesel like that all the time."

Ruger looked at Diesel and appeared curious. "Did he just refer to me as old?"

"I think he did."

Dina dusted some trinkets on a shelf and appeared to ignore the conversation, but she was obviously listening with great interest. Grey looked at Dina and practically lunged for her. Dina jumped with surprise.

"Help me out here, Dina," Grey pleaded.

Casey groaned lowly while shaking her head. "Yes, Dina, tell Grey I would not be a good choice for the kissing booth."

Grey looked at Dina and clutched her elbows, forcing her to look into his sorrowful eyes. "Come on, Dina; tell her it's just a quick peck."

Dina uncertainly looked between both, appeared uncomfortable, and fumbled over her words. "That's usually how it works," she said timidly. She hesitated a moment then appeared more confident. "Want me to demonstrate?"

"If you must," Casey groaned while rolling her eyes.

Ruger and Diesel suddenly looked up from the desk with surprise and appeared interested.

"Is she going to kiss Casey?" Diesel suddenly whispered to Ruger.

"Shh--" Ruger hushed him and stared at the women with antic.i.p.ation.

Both men watched in complete silence and with great interest. Dina turned to Grey and kissed him quickly on the lips then looked back at Casey. Ruger and Diesel both frowned with disappointment. Grey was rendered momentarily speechless.

"Like kissing your grandmother," Dina announced.

Casey wasn't convinced then muttered, "You and your grandmother must have been real close."

Dina frowned and appeared disgusted. "I'm determined to beat that b.i.t.c.h Melanie at something just once," she scoffed. "Apparently, I'm the only women in town brave enough to take her on. I'm sick and tired of her treating me like a second-cla.s.s citizen just because my father abandoned me and my mother is the town wh.o.r.e."

There was an odd silence around the room. Casey stared at Dina and felt sympathetic. Her best friend had been tortured with her mother's less than respectable reputation from a young age. Casey had been so consumed with her own tortured existence; she couldn't feel her friend's pain.

"You want to take her down? I'll help you," Casey announced firmly then looked at Grey and groaned. "Sign me up."

Grey appeared excited. "Yeah, that's my sister!"

Dina hugged Casey. "Thank you, Casey," she said softly then pulled away and appeared excited. "I'll spread the word at the tavern."

"I'll post it on the fliers in the store window," Grey announced as he hurried across the store.

Ruger rolled his eyes. "And I'll just stand here feeling nauseous," he muttered.

"I think I need to find some extra cash," Diesel remarked. "This fair sounds expensive."