I nodded again. But nine thousand dollars was an awful lot of money. Money we needed. Violet had already allocated all the grant money we’d received from the Arkansas Small Business Administration and then some for our expansion into the empty lot next to our existing building. Unexpected expenses had popped up along the way, and we needed every penny we could get. We couldn’t afford to lose nine thousand dollars.

“You have a copy of the receipt, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re fine.”

“Except for the deductible. And our insurance rates will raise.”

He frowned, then leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss. “You’re forgetting that your bag was taken during a bank robbery. The bank’s insurance should cover you one hundred percent. I know my own insurance predicament must have you worried, but I’ll eventually get reimbursed, and so will you. Stop worrying.”

I blinked in relief. Mason was right. He’d been fighting to get a settlement ever since Crocker burned his condo down weeks ago, and he was living with me until it was all sorted out. “Thank you. It’s at times like these that I’m particularly glad I have you around.”

He laughed. “Because of my legal expertise?”

I shook my head and grinned at him. “That comes in handy, but no.” I leaned over the arm of my chair and looped my arms around his neck. “Because you’re so calm, it makes me calm too.”

His smile turned wicked. “You make me sound boring, but that wasn’t the impression I got last night.”

A blush rose to my cheeks.

He leaned closer, until his lips were practically brushing my ear. “There’s a time for calm, and a time for…”

I lifted my eyebrows. “Not so calm?”

“I had a few other word choices in mind,” he teased. “But you’re right. I’m supposed to care about my reputation, and someone could hear us.”

“I should say,” said Miss Mildred, my old across-the-street neighbor, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air and was standing next to us. “I thought you were supposed to be a good example for the citizens of Fenton County, Mr. Deveraux. Not an example of lewd behavior. I can see that Rose’s debauched nature has rubbed off on you.”

Mason leaned back in his seat and smiled good-naturedly up at the elderly woman. Miss Mildred was eighty-three years old, but nothing slipped passed her. Which made her the perfect president of the neighborhood watch committee, also known as the Busybody Club. She was probably bored to tears since I was no longer in the neighborhood. Who was she spying on now?

“What are you doing here, Miss Mildred?” Mason asked. “How’d you get past the crime scene tape?”

“I’m here to see to it that my money’s safe. The fool loan officer Mr. Sullivan’s damn near given half the money in the bank away to the riffraff in this town.” She shot me a glare, making sure I knew she included me in that category, before turning her annoyance on Mason. “And Officer Ernie wouldn’t dare turn me away. I expected to find a crime scene, not your seedy display.”

Who was she fooling? She was here to snoop.

“Not to worry, Miss Mildred. Your money’s federally insured, so I can assure you that you haven’t lost a penny.” He chuckled. “And my girlfriend just had a brush with death. You can’t fault a man for wanting to confirm she’s okay…and that she knows he can’t live without her.”

Her frown froze, as if she couldn’t think of any negative way to spin his statement…a first for her.

“What about your husband?” Mason asked. “I bet you two were inseparable when he came back from the war.”

The elderly woman’s cheeks turned pink.

Miss Mildred was actually blushing.

I almost gasped in surprise.

“He was a sailor, wasn’t he? At the end of the Second World War?” Mason asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer as he spoke. The arm of the chair hit the spot on my ribs where I’d been kicked, so I shifted slightly. “I hear it’s hard for a young girl to resist a man in those Navy whites.” He grinned at me. “Maybe I should join the Navy.”

“Don’t you dare,” I whispered.

Miss Mildred tugged at her sleeve, avoiding eye contact. “He had been gone a long time.” Then, as though remembering who she was talking to, she stiffened. “Shouldn’t you be investigating the robbery, Mr. Deveraux?”

He grinned and relaxed his grip on my shoulder. “Nope. The fine officers of the Henryetta PD have it under control. I’m here to make sure my girl’s okay. I’ll take over when they’re done.”

She gave her head a little shake, then pulled back her shoulders. “Fine officers, my foot.” She cast a scowl at me. “They never did a blessed thing when I called them about her.”

“I can assure you that they’d arrest her if they could find the evidence to warrant it,” Mason said, grinning.

I pulled away from him. “Hey!”

Miss Mildred walked away, muttering under her breath about my wicked ways.

I turned sideways and glared at Mason. “The police would arrest me if they could? And why would you sound happy about that?”

His grin turned wicked again. “I like thinking about you in handcuffs.”

My eyes flew open. “Mason!”

He laughed. “She’s harmless, Rose. I don’t know why you let her get you so worked up.”