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CHAPTER 17

"I didn’t do anything," Trey said to the open door My heart gave a thump when I realized it was Officer Leprechaun

"He’s co how that sounded And thatwith o shorts and an ancient Pink Floyd T-shirt A few inches taller than , but the surety of his steps told onna have to change," he said when he took in my capris and sleeveless blouse "Find your scuzziest clothes"

Trey gave me a weird look and disappeared I dashed upstairs to search for so else to wear Before Jesse passed away, I would have had a difficult ti appropriate But now, half of ed on an old tank top and so off the legs from a pair of khaki pants

"Better," he said when I entered the kitchen He’d already begun setting up I spotted a box full ofwith toe steel pot sat tall on the stove, and he rinsed another at the sink

"Do you wanna help or watch?" he said, laughing

The si "Where do I start?"

"Load up the dishwasher with mason jars We need to sterilize the"

He laughed again, and I realized how boo it was, how infectious "We kind of are" He hoisted the canner onto the stove "This is the old-fashioned kind I don’t have a pressure canner This is yours now, though, old as it is"

"Oh, I can’t take that"

"Why?"

"What if you need to use it?"

He shrugged "Then I’ll knock on your door and ask to borrow it"

He was an easygoingfelt easy Still, having any , and I had to push away the urge to tell hi the dishwasher to distract ood officer must have senseddeal It’s actually not even a deal I have no expectations"

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that It had been so long since I had allowedsince Jesse passed that I’d allowed hter "My only expectation for today is that I learn how to can properly That’s a reasonable one, right?"

He ht better of it, and picked up a to these babies You up for that?"

"Bring it on"

"It looks like a murder scene in here" Officer Leprechaun stood in the middle of my previously white kitchen Tomato juice covered every surface, dripped down to the floor in bloodred stripes, and was even splattered on the ceiling

"Have you actually seen one of those?" I asked "Willow Falls isn’t exactly a hotbed of crilanced down at his stained T-shirt "I used to work in the city, so yeah It’s boring out here, but so," I admitted