from her. âMy mom owns a store in the Bay Area that sells a lot of things like yours. Youâd like it. She also carries some of my husbandâs pieces.â
âYour husband wouldnât by any chance be the guy who made Bradyâs rocking chair and swing?â She couldnât remember his name off the top of her head. Something Irish.
âYep. He also made the rockers at the Lumber Baron, the planters in the square, and the tables and benches at Luckyâs cowboy camp.â
âBrady said his studio was nearby. Iâd love to come over sometime and get one.â She wondered if they were very expensive.
âAnytime,â Harlee said. âHis studio is right behind our house. He built that too.â
âHave you guys lived here long?â
âColin, about four years. I met him here when I moved into my familyâs vacation cabin last fall. But Iâve been coming up since I was a kid. So youâre from LA, huh?â
âChicago, originally.â
âWelcome. Itâs a really nice town. Do you like to bowl? The reason I ask is that Darla . . . she runs the barbershop with her dad, Owen . . . and I are always looking for young, single people to come to our bowling parties. When we started, both Darla and I were single. Now sheâs engaged to Wyatt Lambert.â
âWyatt from Nugget PD?â Uh, duh. How many Wyatt Lamberts could there be in this town? Sloane had liked him instantly.
âUh-huh. And Connie too. Weâve been trying to get Brady to come, but he says he hates bowling.â
Sloane wondered if that meant Brady was single. âIâll come,â she said, thinking that it would be a good way to meet people.
âGreat.â Harlee smiled. âGriffin, of the Gas and Go, and his mechanic, Rico, come. And Tawny Wade and Lucky Rodriguez recently joined the group.â
âSounds like fun. Although I have to warn you, Iâm not much of a bowler.â
Harlee laughed. âNeither are we. We mostly use it as an excuse to drink beer and socialize.â
That worked for Sloane. âWhenâs the next one?â
âIâll talk to Darla. Weâll try to do it on a night both you and Wyatt arenât on duty.â
âSounds great,â Sloane said. âSo do you work with your husband in his furniture business?â
âOccasionally Iâll pitch in with some of the office work. But I have my hands full with the Nugget Tribune . I own it, run it, and pretty much write all the stories.â
âSeriously?â After Brady told her about it, Sloane had gotten a subscription and scanned the online newspaper every day. The website had everything from national wire stories to local news. Even birth, wedding, and death announcements, recipes, a ranching column, and a fish report. âItâs a great newspaper.â
Harlee looked surprised. âThanks. I donât get that too often. The Nugget Mafia likes to say that if it was a âreal newspaperâ ââshe made finger quotes in the airââthey could at least use it to wrap their steelhead in.â
Sloane knew the Nugget Mafia included the mayor, barber, and a bunch of other old guys who hung out either at the barbershop or the gas station, playing cards. They liked to call her âBlondieâ and tell her how to do her job. The chief had told her to ignore them.
âThe Nugget Tribune is the other reason I came,â Harlee continued. âI wanted to do a profile on you since youâre the newest addition to our police department.â
Caught off guard, Sloane sputtered. âUh . . . Iâd have to check with the chief.â The last thing she needed was to draw attention to herself.
âRhys wonât care,â Harlee assured her.
Sloane shrugged and tried to sound apologetic. âIn LA we always had to go through the public information office to talk to the media. Iâd feel better if I
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