Bob had been mayor about forty years ago and lived at the old folks’ home. He still kept his fingers in all the town pies and thought modernizing anything was for pussies.

“The man’s in his eighties. Reckon he might come around the closer he gets to meeting his maker.”

Tucker doubted it as he pulled Drew’s draft beer of choice. People had been waiting for the old coot to give up the ghost for a long time, and he was still kicking. He set the beer down in front of Drew. “Bob’s going to outlive us all.”

“Ain’t that the truth?”

Tucker laughed. It felt good to laugh—a welcome distraction from the whole Della getting herself on Tinder thing. Thinking about that was fraught, whereas laughing with one of his oldest friends was always easy. He, Drew, and Arlo had all gone to school together. Tucker and Arlo had hightailed it out of town for a while after high school before eventually finding their way back to Credence, but Drew had never left.

A burst of raucous laughter coming from the direction of the only occupied booth snuffed Tucker’s laughter right out as Drew looked over his shoulder. Della and Ruth, along with Molly and Marley, who were on the other side of the booth, were huddled around Della’s phone, having a hilarious time as they sipped on their daiquiris. The women opposite—twins from New York—had come to town during the Facebook campaign over the summer, and their friendship had also helped to bring Della out of her shell.

“What’s so funny over there?” Drew asked, returning his attention to Tucker.

Tucker sighed, the words heavy in his throat. “Della’s joined Tinder.”

“Jesus.” Drew whistled under his breath. “Arlo’s going to be mighty bent out of shape.”

Bent out of shape? Drew always did have a knack for understatement. Arlo was going to go all pretzel on their asses when he was told. “Yep.”

“Do you think she’s ready for something like that?”

Tucker shrugged. “She says she is.” And the woman ought to know.

“So…that’s a good thing, right? That she’s feeling well enough to put herself out there.”

“Yep.” Tucker tried really hard to sound upbeat.

Drew shrugged. “Where else is she going to find a guy?”

“There are plenty of single men around town.” That was Credence’s problem—too many dudes, not enough women.

“You think any of them are going to look at her sideways with Arlo cockblocking at every opportunity? Jimmy Hutchins bought her a drink here last Saturday night, and since then Arlo’s got him twice for speeding and once for failure to come to a complete stop at the stop sign on the way out of town.”