Page 71 of Trigger Happy

I shake my head. “Let’s scope it out first.”

“You’re right,” she mutters, clicking off her phone. She searches the festival below. “Where the hell’s this booth?”

I slide the phone in my back pocket and scan the festival grounds with her, but I’m thinking about Sabrina’s hand still holding mine. It doesn’t take too long to find the Daughters & Co. booth now that we’re up here. The tent logos are easy to spot, and I see it by the far end of the pumpkin patch.

I point. “There it is.”

She follows my gaze. “Good call on the Ferris wheel. That actually saved us a lot of time.”

“Keep up those compliments and I’ll start to think you like me,” I say as the cart begins its descent.

“Never. You’re still my mortal enemy,” she says with a grin.

“Do you stare at all your mortal enemies like you want them to kiss you?” I say, holding out my hand to help her out of the cart when the ride ends.

She takes it but throws me a half-hearted scowl. “You’re confusing ‘wanting’ with ‘hatred.’ ”

“Keep telling yourself that, Chastain.”

THE GUY LOUNGING behind the Daughters & Co. table has floppy hair, a nose ring, and looks bored or high. Can’t tell. But he perks up when Sabrina walks over.

“How’s it going?” he murmurs, eyes roaming over her.

A prickly sensation rolls over me, but it’s not jealousy. No chance. There’s no way a stoned guy with a septum piercing is going to make me jealous.

I place my hand on Sabrina’s lower back, right in his line of sight. “It’s going well, thanks. My wife and I are trying to find the owner of this ring. Thought maybe you could help.”

I make sure to emphasize the word “wife.”

“We found it, and it looks expensive,” she adds, pulling it out. “It has the trademark on it. Maybe you recognize the design?”

She drops the heart-shaped sapphire ring in his hand. He gives it a once-over and then tosses it back. “Doesn’t look familiar.”

I give him my deadliest glare because he’s currently talking to Sabrina’s chest. “You sure? I’d think long and hard if I were you.”

He gulps. “No, I… I swear, I don’t recognize it. You could check our new shop in Bozeman, though. We’re rebranding, so the owner decided to rename it Ella’s Trinkets. I can give you the address if you want? That’s where the owner works, and she does all the custom engravings.”

My teeth clench. Why couldn’t this guy have just said, Yeah, that’s my ex’s ring. I killed her last year in a hot spring, and called it a day?

Sabrina beams at him. “That’s amazing. You’re amazing. Isn’t he just amazing, sweetie?”

“Three ‘amazings’ feels like overkill,” I say. “But sure.”

She saves the address in her phone, and we catch a ride back to the barn. We’re silent the entire time, since we can’t exactly talk this through in front of our Uber driver. I’m annoyed that we have an audience. I want to run through ideas with Sabrina. I’m getting used to having her as a partner, so I don’t like not being able to talk it out.

Once we get back to the barn, she heads into the bathroom to start getting ready for bed. It’s a full moon tonight, so even though all the lights are off, the barn is filled with light. The window by her side of the bed is open, and the cold breeze drifts in. How’d that get open? She’s always complaining about how drafty it is in here, so I walk over and slam it shut.

The bedsheets are pulled back, and there are tiny chocolates on the pillows. Bobbi and Arch are the world’s most try-hard hosts, so they insist on doing daily turndown service. Arch always leaves the swan towels, and Bobbi sprinkles rose petals on the sheets. The nightstand also magically stays stocked with condoms and lube.

Not that we’ve used any of them.

I follow Sabrina into the bathroom, to find her doing her thousand-step skin-care routine, opening jar after jar. She’s only in pajama shorts and a thin tank, and it’s cold in here, so I try not to stare, but it’s hard. “What do you want to do about that lead?”

She puts some white gel on her face. “I think we split up. I’ll scout out the workshop while you drive to Bozeman. It’ll save us time.”

“Works for me.” I put on deodorant. “We make a good team, partner.”

She smiles at me in the mirror and starts flossing. “Don’t tell anyone, it’ll ruin my lone-wolf reputation.”