Carnal Innocence

back. “Tuck. What’re you two up to?”
    “Just passing the time,” Josie said. Burke was six feet of solid muscle with a linebacker’s shoulders, and a square-jawed face softened by puppy-dog eyes. Although he was Dwayne’s contemporary, he was closer to Tucker in friendship, and he was one of the few men Josie had wanted and done without.
    Burke rested one hip on a stool, his heavy ring of keys jangling. His sheriff’s badge winked dully in the sunlight. “Too hot to do anything else.” He muttered a thanks to Earleen when she set an iced tea in front of him. Burke guzzled it down without taking a breath.
    Josie licked her top lip as she watched his Adam’s apple bob.
    “Miss Edith’s kin’s moving into the house,” Burke announced as he set the glass aside. “Miss Caroline Waverly, some kind of fancy musician from Philadelphia.” Earleen had refilled his glass, and this time he sipped slowly. “She called down to have the phone and power hooked up.”
    “How long’s she staying?” Earleen always had hereyes and ears open for news. As proprietress of the Chat ’N Chew, it was her right and her duty.
    “Didn’t say. Miss Edith wasn’t one to talk about her family overmuch, but I do remember hearing she had a granddaughter who traveled around with an orchestra or something.”
    “Must pay well,” Tucker mused. “I saw her car turn into the lane fifteen minutes ago. She was driving a brand new BMW.”
    Burke waited until Earleen had moved away. “Tuck, I need to talk to you about Dwayne.”
    Though his face remained passive and friendly, Tucker’s shield slid into place. “What about?”
    “He got juiced up again last night, had a pushy-shovy going over at McGreedy’s. I put him up in a cell for the night.”
    Now there was a change, a darkening of the eyes, a grimness around the mouth. “You charge him with anything?”
    “Come on, Tuck.” More hurt than offended, Burke shifted his feet. “He was raising hell and too drunk to drive. I figured he could use a place to sleep it off. Last time I drove him home in the middle of the night, Miss Della was spitting mad.”
    “Yeah.” Tucker relaxed. There were friends, there was family, and there was Burke, who was a combination of both. “Where’s he now?”
    “Over at the jail, nursing a hangover. I figured since you’re here, you could haul him home. We can get his car back later on.”
    “Much obliged.” His quiet words masked the raw disappointment in his gut. Dwayne had been on the wagon nearly two weeks this time. Once he’d fallen, Tucker knew, it would be a long, slippery climb back on. Tucker stood, pulling out his wallet. When the door slammed open behind him, rattling glasses on the back shelves, he glanced around. He saw Edda Lou Hatinger and knew he was in trouble.
    “Belly-crawling bastard,” she spat out, and launched herself at him. If Burke hadn’t retained thesame reflexes that had made him a star receiver in high school, Tucker might have had his face sheared off.
    “Hey, hey,” Burke said helplessly while Edda Lou fought like a bobcat.
    “You think you can toss me off just like that?”
    “Edda Lou.” From experience, Tucker kept his voice low and calm. “Take a deep breath. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
    Her small teeth bared in a snarl. “I’m going to hurt
you,
you fucking weasel.”
    With reluctance, Burke slipped into his sheriff’s mode. “Girl, you pull yourself together or I’ll have to take you over to the jail. Your daddy wouldn’t be happy about that either.
    She hissed through her teeth. “I won’t lay a hand on the son of a bitch.” When Burke’s grip loosened, she slipped free, dusting herself off.
    “If you want to talk about this—” Tucker began.
    “We’re going to talk about it, all right. Here and now.” She swung in a circle while customers either stared or pretended not to. Colorful plastic bracelets clicked on her arms. Perspiration gave a sheen to her face and neck. “Y’all listen up, you hear? I got something to say to Mr. Bigshot Longstreet.”
    “Edda Lou—” Tucker took a chance and touched her arm. She swung out backhanded and knocked his teeth together.
    “No.” Wiping his mouth, he waved Burke away. “Let her get it out.”
    “I’ll get it out, all right. You said you loved me.”
    “I never did that.” That Tucker could be sure of. Even in the throes of passion he was careful with words. Especially in the throes of passion.
    “You