Myths, Murder & Love

Chapter 10

As the applause faded, Leon guided Thallia through the tables toward the remains of her dinner.

Her Peach Mule waited beside the plate, most of the ice melted now. Thallia picked it up and took a small drink.

Leon remained beside her.

She glanced up at him. "Was that the only dance I'm getting?"

The question escaped before she had time to reconsider it.

Leon looked pleased. "I was hoping it wouldn't be."

Thallia set down the copper mug. "Good answer."

His quiet laugh made her smile.

For a moment, neither moved toward the dance floor.

Leon glanced toward the front windows, then returned his attention to her. "Would you like to take a walk?"

Thallia considered him. "A walk?"

Leon nodded. "It's a beautiful night, and I'd like to talk to you somewhere half the room isn't listening."

From behind the bar, Nikki called, "We're not all listening."

Leon looked toward her.

Nikki continued polishing a glass. "Some of us have work to do."

Thallia laughed.

Leon shook his head. "You see my problem."

Thallia reminded him, "I thought you said you liked small towns."

Leon glanced around the Red Coyote. "This isn't even my town."

That caught her attention.

Thallia reached for her purse. "All right. Let's walk."

Leon waited while she slipped the strap over her shoulder.

Then he opened the door for her. The desert night met them with cool air and the faint scent of dust and juniper. Thallia stopped on the sidewalk.

Above them, the sky stretched black and enormous, scattered with more stars than Chicago ever allowed her to see. "Wow."

Leon stepped outside behind her. "That was my reaction the first time I saw Chicago."

She turned toward him. "To the stars?"

Leon looked up at the stars. "To the fact that I couldn't see any."

Thallia laughed. "Fair."

The door closed behind them, taking most of the music with it. Only the softened rhythm of the band followed through the walls.

For several seconds they simply stood there. The quiet should have felt awkward.

It didn't and that still bothered Thallia a little.

She had met Leon less than an hour ago. She knew his name, knew he could dance, and knew half the Red Coyote apparently considered the sight of him asking a woman onto the dance floor worthy of public commentary.

That was hardly enough information to justify how comfortable she felt beside him.

Leon gestured down the sidewalk. "This way?"

Thallia fell into step beside him. "Are you asking because there's a reason to go that direction, or because we have to pick one?"

Leon admitted it easily. "The second one."

Thallia nodded her approval. "Good. I'd hate to discover I'm following a man with a plan."

Leon glanced at her. "You don't like plans?"

Thallia shook her head. "I love plans."

His brow furrowed. "Then I'm confused."

Thallia's smile faded into something more thoughtful. "I've had enough of other people's plans for me."

The words came out more honestly than she'd intended.

Leon didn't immediately ask what she meant and she appreciated that.

They walked another few steps before he spoke. "So Chicago?"

Thallia looked over. "How did you know?"

Leon nodded toward the Red Coyote behind them. "You mentioned it inside."

"Right."

She'd forgotten.

Leon kept his pace easy beside hers. "Are you visiting Utah?"

Thallia considered how much she wanted to tell him. "I'm figuring that out."

Leon glanced over. "Going somewhere in particular?"

She gave him a deliberately vague smile. "I have a destination."

His expression showed that he'd noticed the dodge. "Secret?"

Thallia laughed. "You're very good at asking questions without actually asking the question you want answered."

His lips turned up on one side. "Occupational hazard."

That caught her. "What occupation?"

Leon hesitated just long enough for her to notice.

Then he smiled. "We'll get to that."

"Oh, no." Thallia pointed at him as they walked. "You don't get to interrogate me and then hide behind mystery."

"I'm not interrogating you." He tried to look honestly offended. It didn’t work.

"You've already established where I'm from, whether I'm traveling, and whether I have a destination." She tipped her head and changed the angle of the hat she was holding.

She hadn't put it back on because she wanted him closer, and the hat would only get in the way.

Leon considered that. "When you say it like that, it sounds worse."

Thallia didn't let him off the hook. "It should."

His laugh carried softly into the night.

Thallia smiled.

She liked making him laugh. That realization was probably worth examining, but later.

Leon glanced at her. "All right. Fair exchange. What do you do?"

Thallia answered simply. "I'm a journalist."

His interest sharpened. "What kind?"

Thallia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Freelance. Features mostly. Travel, food, people, places."

Leon nodded. "So you're working."

She shook her head. "Not tonight."

Leon nodded. "Then I won't ask what you're writing about."

Thallia looked at him.

Leon caught the look. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Most people hear journalist and immediately want to know whether they're going to end up in an article."

Leon considered her answer. "Am I?"

Thallia slowed a step as though giving the question serious thought. "I haven't decided."

Leon slipped his hands into his pockets. "Then I should probably behave myself."

Thallia bumped his shoulder lightly with hers. "Would that be unusual?"

A laugh escaped Leon. "You really don't know anything about me."

Thallia spread one hand. "Whose fault is that?"

Leon conceded the point. "Mine, I suppose."

Thallia waited.

Leon let several steps pass before giving in. "I'm the sheriff."

She stopped walking. Leon made it another step before realizing she was no longer beside him. He turned.

Thallia stared at him. "You're the sheriff?"

Leon wondered what she would make of the answer. "Of Olympia Springs."

For several seconds she said nothing. Leon watched surprise give way to disbelief.

Then Thallia laughed.

Leon studied her amusement. "I'm not sure how to take that."

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

Leon waited.

"I'm going to Olympia Springs tomorrow."

This time, Leon went completely still. The easy humor left his expression. "You're going to Olympia Springs?"

Thallia nodded. "That was the eventual destination I wasn't telling you about."

Leon studied her as Lydia's insistence that he come to Moab took on an entirely different meaning. Whatever Lydia had expected him to find here, Thallia was becoming a very likely answer.

Thallia noticed the change in him. "What was that look for?"

Leon tried to dismiss it. "It's nothing."

Thallia waited, clearly unconvinced.

Leon gave up on the attempt. "All right. I'm sorry. I'm just surprised."

Thallia turned toward him as they walked. "Why?"

Leon chose his words carefully. "I didn't expect Olympia Springs to be your destination."

She gave him a curious look. "Why not?"

Leon considered how little he could reasonably explain. "You didn't exactly sound eager to tell me where you were going."

Thallia laughed softly. "I wasn't."

Leon waited for her to continue.

Thallia relented. "My great-grandmother built a house there. It belongs to me now."

Leon's attention sharpened. "A house?"

Thallia nodded. "The Stone House."

Leon stopped walking.

Thallia continued a few paces before the silence behind her made her turn. Leon hadn't moved.

The easy warmth in his expression had disappeared.

She walked back toward him. "Why did that get your attention?"

Leon searched her face. "Your great-grandmother owned it?"

Thallia's amusement faded. "She built it."

Leon already knew the answer before he asked. He knew it in the same quiet, impossible way he'd known Lydia hadn't sent him to Moab without a reason.

But he needed to hear Thallia say it. "What was your great-grandmother's name?"

Thallia studied him. "Evalyn Stavros."

Leon went utterly still.

For a moment, even the sounds of Moab seemed to fall away. He saw Evalyn as he had known her, standing in the canyon with that stubborn certainty that had made arguing with her nearly pointless.

Then Lydia's insistence that he come to Moab returned with uncomfortable clarity.

This wasn't coincidence.

Thallia shifted the hat between her hands. "Leon?"

Her voice pulled him back.

He looked at the woman standing in front of him and saw more than the stranger he'd wanted to dance with. Evalyn's great-granddaughter had arrived in Moab carrying the deed to the Stone House and no understanding of the world waiting for her in Olympia Springs.

He had expected Lydia's meddling to lead somewhere. He hadn't expected it to lead directly to Evalyn's great-granddaughter.

Her surprise deepened, verging on shock. "You knew my great-grandmother?"

"I did."

Thallia searched his face. "How?"

Leon settled on the simplest truth. "Evalyn was important to Olympia Springs."

Thallia waited. Leon could tell that wasn't going to be enough.

A trace of affection softened Leon's voice. "Evalyn meant a great deal to the town, and I knew her personally."

Thallia shifted the hat in her hands. "How well?"

Leon considered how much he could tell her. "Well enough to know the woman behind the stories people tell about her."

Thallia studied him. "You're going to have to give me more than that."

Leon laughed softly. "I had a feeling you might say that."

She pointed the hat at him. "Journalist."

Leon laughed softly. "Right. Occupational hazard."

Thallia lowered the hat to her side. "Don't use my line against me."

Leon started walking again. "Come on."

Thallia fell into step beside him. "You're avoiding the question."

Leon took his time before answering. "I'm deciding how to answer it."

Thallia frowned. "That's worse."

Leon looked at her before speaking. "Would you rather I make something up quickly?"

Thallia considered that for half a step. "No."

Leon kept his pace slow. "Then give me a minute."

Thallia gave him the time.

Leon appreciated that more than he could tell her.

They continued beneath the scattered lights of downtown Moab while he considered how to explain a woman whose life had been tangled with his family for longer than Thallia would believe.

"Evalyn helped shape Olympia Springs into what it is today," Leon said at last. "The Stone House was part of that."

Thallia slowed as she considered what he'd told her. "You really did know her."

Leon heard the change in her voice. "I did."

She turned the hat slowly between her hands. "That's strange."

"Why?"

Thallia looked at him. "Because I knew her my entire life, and you've already told me more about this part of her life than she ever did."