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eyes tracking her progress or the sense of anticipation that had filled the air. She’d felt like a cat strolling past a long, hungry line of dogs…no, wolves.
    That’s how they’d looked, hard and tough and so much more knowledgeable of the world that Kristen felt almost like a child by comparison. Hell, she couldn’t even dress herself according to Gwen. One thing was for sure. She either had to come up with some money for new clothes or alter some of her old ones because she could not go out like this again.
    What she needed were some magazines to point her in the direct path, and possibly a mentor to help her get there. Kristen thought she might have found the latter later that morning as she was introduced to Cybil Bliss. She appeared to be everything Kristen wished she could be.
    Well groomed in an attractive but sophisticated manner, Cybil held herself with a confidence that Kristen admired. She gave off a take-no-guff kind of attitude, and nobody gave her any. They certainty didn’t tease her inappropriately the way the deputy had Kristen.
    She still blushed thinking of the things he’d said. Worse, she couldn’t stop thinking about them or how big he’d felt. It was embarrassing to admit, but Kristen never had seen a man naked, and definitely never aroused. The closest she had to compare the deputy to was Matt from school, who had an unfortunate habit of growing hard whenever Mrs. Poppy came to teach music class. That was over ten years past.
    Kristen kind of thought that was a statement of how pathetic her life was, but then she consoled herself with the reminder that her life had only just begun. So had her job, which didn’t turn out to be half as exciting as Kristen had dreamt.
    Assigned to assist Cybil with auditing the city’s accounts, Kristen found herself sitting at a table reading through an endless list of transactions as she looked for the ones that Cybil needed marked. It was boring and mundane work, and she was thankful when lunch rolled around.
    Cybil invited her out with several of the other ladies to go to lunch. Kristen agreed, though she remained quiet as the group moved down the street. They headed straight for the bakery, that being their habit. Apparently, Gwen was not a part of this tradition. Kristen could sense several of the women’s hesitation when they were first introduced to her and knew instantly she was not among her cousin’s fan club.
    The verdict was still clearly out on Kristen.
    That made her all the more self-conscious. As her nature was to be quiet, she was damn near silent when nervous. That’s pretty much how she stayed as they entered the packed bakery. It was clear from the crush and the way people called out to the different ladies in the group that they shared a lunch time tradition with just about everybody working in town.
    That made Kristen feel only more out of place.
    It didn’t help that the ratio of men to women seemed to be three to one, making the place full of testosterone and, worse, deputy uniforms. Kristen even caught sight of the sheriff, looking irritated as all get out as he sat tracking the well-rounded waitress fluttering from one table to another. It was clear something was going on between the two, and Kristen couldn’t help but assume the obvious.
    The sheriff was wearing his heart on his sleeve, and the woman was hanging on to just about every other man in the room. She either wasn’t interested or was interested in annoying the sheriff. That kind of put Kristen off, her first loyalty going to the only person she knew out of the two. The sheriff hadn’t seen that bad earlier. A little gruff and abrasive, but maybe he was just heartbroken and hiding it well.
    What wasn’t being well hidden was the looks Kristen was drawing from the male population dominating the dining room. It soon became clear, as their pack of women cut across the room, that there were two groups present in the bakery that afternoon.
    One was the gaggle of gawking