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music. Carlin was interested, but not surprised.
    Music filled the background, set the pace for their work, made it impossible for either of them to take notice of uncomfortable silences, because there were none.
    When she’d driven into Battle Ridge, Carlin had looked around and pretty much written the town off. She’d asked about a job out of habit, but hadn’t expected anything. She hadn’t expected she’d find herself here, mopping The Pie Hole, taking on a new job in the blinkof an eye. And now she had a place to sleep, two meals a day, and she’d take in a little bit of cash along the way. Perfect. She wouldn’t stay here long. She
couldn’t
stay anywhere for very long. But she was safe for now, and that was enough.
    When the café was spotless and put to rights, they moved into the kitchen. The music came to an end, and there it was … silence. Everything unspoken seemed to hang in the air. Kat stopped working and turned to Carlin, looking at her with those arresting eyes.
    Okay, here it was. Carlin didn’t exactly hold her breath, but she went still, waiting. This was the moment, and it could go either way. If Kat didn’t ask, she wasn’t going to volunteer information. But if Kat did ask, she’d have to either lie or simply refuse to answer. Much as she would love to spill her guts, unload on a kindred spirit … The less Kat knew, the better off she’d be.
    But when Kat started talking, she went straight into a territory Carlin hadn’t expected. “If you’re going to be here awhile, there are a few things you should know.”
    Depends on how long “awhile” is
.
    “There’s a drugstore and a grocery store at the edge of town. Neither of them is much to look at, but they sell the basics: mascara, tampons, cookies, milk. If you want anything fancy you’re going to have to drive into Cheyenne.”
    “Good to know.” Amusement at what Kat considered the basics made her lips twitch. But she wouldn’t be driving into Cheyenne, barring some kind of crisis. The bigger the town, the less comfortable she was. It was impossible to spot a stranger, but larger towns tended to have more security cameras, more curious cops, just … 
more
. Besides, she didn’t have any exotic needs; it sounded as if she could get everything she wanted right here in Battle Ridge, Wyoming.
    “There’s a library just down from the hardware store,”Kat continued. “They don’t have a great selection of books, but they do have a decent fiction section and a couple of public computers, if you have need for that sort of thing.”
    “Thanks.”
Public computers
. Her cup runneth over. “I could stand to do a little reading while I’m here.” She saw no need to share the news that her heart had gone pitter-pat at the mention of a public computer.
    “And a warning,” Kat said ominously. “Stay away from the cowboys.”
    “Cowboys?”
    “Battle Ridge is lousy with them, I’m afraid.”
    “You don’t like cowboys.” The tone of Kat’s voice when she said the word made that a fact, not a question.
    “They’ll break your heart and leave you in a trail of dust,” Kat said dramatically, widening her eyes, but then she ruined her own show by laughing.
    “Did a cowboy break
your
heart?” Carlin asked, her tone as irreverent as her boss’s.
    “Oh, hell no. I grew up around here. I’ve known from birth that cowboys are to be avoided at all costs.”
    She could relate to that; since meeting Brad, Carlin hadn’t wanted a relationship with
any
man, for reasons both emotional and practical. The emotional part was kind of like the time she’d eaten a slice of bad pizza, and spent the night and next day throwing up; she hadn’t wanted pizza at all for the next several months. The practical part was, she couldn’t have a relationship when not only did she fully intend to keep moving around, but if Brad did find her and she was involved with someone else, that person’s life was then in danger. But instead of