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With a cheeky grin, the older woman passed over a folded piece of paper.

Gritting her teeth, Amanda opened the note and read it aloud. “Here’s dinner. But don’t worry, it’s not Gertie. The escape artist bovine you nearly turned into hamburger is doing just fine.”

“That... son of... gah!” She crumpled the paper in a tight fist and bit her upper lip before finally giving in to her curiosity and lifting the lid to find a fully cooked pot roast with red potatoes and carrots. Despite her initial response, the food looked and smelled delicious.

She glanced at her aunt, and they both burst out laughing at the absurdity of the man’s gifts. “I have to admit, this is the first time a guy ever dropped off dinner for me.”

“You keep doing whatever it is you two are doing—I’m liking the results.” Edith chortled as she picked up a ladle and fork and began to plate food for herself. “That boy sure is something.”

As her aunt prepared a second plate, Amanda grabbed two glasses of diet soda and sat down. Moments later, when she took her first bite of the pot roast, her eyes nearly rolled back into her head. “Oh, my God! It’s so good! There’s no way that man made this. He probably got it from some restaurant and threw it into the pot.”

“You’d be surprised. His late wife was a fantastic cook and, apparently, taught him too. Plus, he’s been a single father for a long time—he had to develop some skills to feed Rissa.”

She swallowed, then speared a baby carrot with her fork, picturing Grady cooking their meal in his kitchen. The man piqued her interest more than anyone had in years, and she reluctantly admitted she wanted to know more about him. “How long has his wife been gone?”

“Oh, it must be about nine years now. It was so tragic. Cancer took Leah swiftly, but I never know if that’s a good or bad thing.”

Amanda mulled it over as she kept eating. The other day, she’d discovered that the sheriff’s daughter, Rissa, was a senior and one of the students helping with the musical’s props and sets. The girl must have been around nine when she lost her mother. While Amanda didn’t have the greatest relationship with her parents, they were both still alive, and she couldn’t imagine losing either of them now, much less at such a young age.

Shoving the depressing thoughts aside, she focused on the handsome Grady Minor and what she could send him next. The tit-for-tat gift exchange had quickly gone from aggravating to fun. Hell, she might even compare it to foreplay.

And what a thought that was. Foreplay usually led to something else, and she couldn’t deny her curiosity about where this might lead.

Her thoughts immediately returned to a conversation she’d overheard earlier today in the auditorium between Rissa and some of the other students. Their giggling had caught her attention. Apparently, her father had been involved in a hilarious incident with an emu yesterday. The large male bird had escaped from a nearby farm and run loose through downtown Antelope Rock. Sheriff Minor and several of his deputies were tasked with catching it. From what Amanda could piece together, things hadn’t gone particularly well for the sheriff. At some point, the flightless beast turned the tables and chased him instead.

She’d joined in the laughter as one teenage boy who’d witnessed the whole thing described how the sheriff had ended up trapped inside a portable toilet at a construction site to avoid taking a few nasty pecks to the back. She would’ve paid good money to see that, but then one of the girls had pulled out her phone and shown her a video someone had taken.

Amanda nearly laughed herself sick when one of the girls showed her the video of Grady racing across the construction site with an angry emu chasing him. The footage was shaky, but she could clearly see him dive into the portable toilet and slam the door while the bird stalked around outside.

She'd watched it twice, and remembering it now made her burst out laughing.

“What on earth is so funny?” Edith asked.

“Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened to Sheriff Minor yesterday.” She told her aunt about the escaped emu and Grady's desperate attempt to avoid being pecked.

By the time she finished, Edith was laughing too. “Oh, that poor man. I hope someone has pictures, though.”

“Even better. There's a video. I'll have to see if I can find it for you.”

As she finished the rest of her meal, Amanda decided to go to Butterfield tomorrow morning. The stores there were larger, and she could pick up a few supplies Edith needed while looking for something to give Grady a taste of his own medicine. After that ridiculous note he'd sent with the delicious pot roast, she couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a little fun at his expense. She’d bring her aunt along too. After all, the judge had allowed her to drive for errands related to Edith’s care, and she had no intention of risking another run-in with the law.

Chapter Fifteen

With a pounding headache, Grady hurried to finish his workday, hating every second of the reports he had to write, review, approve, or send back for updates. It was late Tuesday afternoon, and he already wished the week were over. It’d been one of those days when he’d dealt with more than the usual bullshit that came with his elected position. Meetings with local politicians, public complaints about one thing or another, and a few problems in the county jail and sheriff’s department had eaten up every minute since he walked in that morning.

To top everything off, one of his deputies got his patrol car T-boned at an intersection by an SUV driven by a distracted college-aged woman who’d been texting her boyfriend. Thankfully, both drivers escaped with minor injuries and had already been released from the emergency room, but the vehicles were totaled.

At least he'd managed to get a little payback on Amanda the night before. After receiving the stuffed pig on Friday, he'd spent the weekend trying to come up with something worthy of retaliation. His brother, Russell, had come to visit, and between spending time with him, Grady hadn’t had much chance to think about their little game.

Then, Sunday afternoon, not long after Russ left, Grady happened to be nearby when someone's emu escaped. What should've been a simple matter of rounding up the damn bird turned into a spectacle, complete with a video that had made its way onto social media. He'd already heard enough jokes about it to last him a lifetime.

He'd finally settled on sending Amanda a pot roast yesterday with a note assuring her it wasn't Gertie. He would've loved to see her reaction. Knowing that woman, though, she'd probably already come up with something to get even with him.

A knock on his office door pulled him from the computer screen.

“Yeah, come in.”

The door swung open, and Olivia waltzed in with the familiar brown gift bag. “Got another one, Sheriff. Amanda dropped it off at records a little while ago.” She bounced on her toes. The girl was always moving, practically vibrating with energy as if she lived on caffeine, but he’d never seen her drink anything stronger than a Sprite.