“He talked to you about the house? How did he know about the house?” Lisa’s eyes had turned shrewd. “Armie’s famously tight-lipped when it comes to pulling over drivers. He doesn’t listen to anyone. All he’ll say is ‘License and registration’ and then he passes you a ticket. He got chatty with you?”

She could still hear the deep rumble of his voice. “He got weird with me. He gave me a ticket and then offered to show me around town, starting with some place called Lucille’s.”

Now her sister’s eyes went wide. “Lucille’s is a date place. No one goes to Lucille’s unless they’re celebrating something special or trying to get into someone’s pants. And it’s not here in Papillon. It’s thirty minutes away.”

“If he wanted to date me, maybe he shouldn’t have given me a ticket,” she replied, starting toward the front door. Armie LaVigne was big and gorgeous but off-limits because she wasn’t going to hop into bed two seconds after she’d gotten into town.

Why?

Because he gave me a freaking ticket.

So? He might also give you an orgasm.

Her inner voice could just shut up because she bet Armie LaVigne hit on every single tourist who came into town. The whole parish had less than two thousand people in it. It wasn’t like he had a ton of choices, and she was the new girl. Of course he was going to hit on her. She should probably expect that from most of the single men.

“Don’t let the ticket thing throw you off. Armie’s pretty hot, and he’s a solid guy. And I mean that in several ways. He’s responsible and has a good job, and he’s been shot a couple of times and always survives it.” Lisa went still and her hand went over her mouth. “God, Lila. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

There it was. That memory of when the gun came up and time had slowed down. It was always there, simmering under the surface of every good moment she had. She blinked and reminded herself Dallas was hundreds of miles away.

“I’m fine.” She said those words a lot. She said them to her family and friends. She said them to her therapist. She said them to herself. Of course, if she was fine, why had she felt the desperate need to upend her whole life, move over five hundred miles from the city she’d lived in for years, and spend every penny of her savings on a new start? “I didn’t take it that way. I’m glad to know the sheriff of the parish is capable of surviving a couple of bullets. I’m sure no bullet could get through his thick head.”