Damn, he hadn’t even introduced himself. He was out of practice. “It’s Sheriff. I’m the sheriff of Papillon Parish. Name’s Armand LaVigne, but my friends all call me Armie.”

“Can I have my ticket, Sheriff?”

Yeah, they should get through the bad part first. He tipped his hat her way and handed her the ticket. “Here you go. I’m sure you won’t have any more trouble now that you know about the safety zone. Got to watch out for the kiddos.”

“Safety zone? Seriously?” She huffed and tossed the ticket in her passenger seat.

“So you have a truck coming?” Small talk was good. At least he thought it was.

“Why would I have a truck coming? Are you going to try to ticket that, too?”

His small-talk game needed some work. “Because you’re moving. Given that you’re taking a job here, I would assume you’re moving.”

“Your powers of observation are incredible, Sheriff. And no. There’s no truck coming. You’re going to have to find someone else to upgrade your break room.”

“You don’t have furniture coming?”

“I bought a place and it came furnished,” Lila explained in her matter-of-fact way. “I didn’t really have a lot back in Dallas. I don’t need a ton of stuff. I mostly work. All my home needs is a bed and a kitchen and a shower.”

“You bought a place?” He sought his memory for any idea about a home that had been for sale. He prayed it wasn’t the one he was thinking of. “Tell me you didn’t buy that piece of crap Bill Roberts’s kids have been trying to foist off on the unknowing public for the last six months.”

She frowned again, but it was a curious sort of expression. “I bought a three bedroom on Hall Street just outside of town. I didn’t have time to come down and look at it, but Remy told me the foundation was solid.”

The foundation might be solid, but there were other issues. “Remy let you buy that place?”

Her shoulders straightened and he had the idea that if she hadn’t been sitting in her car, she might have gotten in his space, squaring off with him like a prizefighter.

Yeah, that did something for him, too.

“Remy doesn’t make decisions for me. He’s my brother-in-law, not my keeper. That house was the only one on the market. It will be fine. The price was right so I’m setting down roots. If there’s something wrong with the place, I assure you I can handle it. I learned how to fix things at a very young age.”