A Minute on the Lips by Cheryl Harper Page B

there’s been a truck parked over at Maylene’s house.”
    Andi suppressed a shrug, but there were titters all around. Lynn’s steady scissoring paused for a second then she asked, “Whose truck is it, Edna?”
    Andi could see Edna’s face in the mirror. She looked very, very happy and alive in a way that she hadn’t when she walked in. The pink tint to her fluffy curls might have helped with that a bit.
    “It’s Jimmy Monroe’s truck, ladies.” And Andi would swear every head in the place swiveled in her direction. They probably expected her to have known somehow, but she didn’t track the movements of her deputies after they left work. Besides that, he was single. And Maylene’s divorce had been final for at least a year. They were both in their late twenties, old enough to know exactly what they wanted and smart enough to understand the consequences at this point. Unless they were growing an illegal crop or plotting a treasonous rebellion, Andi didn’t care. And she was ready to set an example—a nice, indifferent example.
    At the growing silence, Andi decided she had to say something. She looked up at Lynn. “Are you done?”
    There was a silent but collective sigh. The windows of the Hair Port didn’t fog up at the heated disappointment, but it was a close call. Lynn said, “Yes, ma’am, let me dry this out so we see what we’ve got.”
    Andi nodded. When hair started flying, she closed her eyes and pondered what she should say. Lynn worked quickly and soon Andi could feel a fluffy cloud of curls touching her shoulders. When she turned the dryer off, Andi kept her eyes closed. She’d once received a direct shot to the eye from a can of hairspray. Without protective gear to fall back on, she used her eyelids.
    After Miss Margaret and Edna paid, they paused at the door and Edna, possibly burned at how little reaction Andi had given her news, said, “Well, Sheriff, I do hope you’ll tell Jimmy that his activities with Maylene have not gone unnoticed.”
    Andi risked opening her eyes to meet Edna’s glare directly. “He’s a grown man. She’s a grown woman. They’re both single. There is nothing illegal in their activities, and as such, I do not consider it any of my business.” Andi watched Edna narrow her eyes and said calmly, “He does an excellent job of serving this town. Until it affects me directly, I’m not going to spread this story around, much less hurt my friend Jimmy by repeating gossip.”
    Edna made herself as tall as she could. Andi wasn’t impressed. At best she was the center of the front row. She’d never be back-row material. “Gossip? I would never repeat gossip.” Andi squeezed her eyes shut and bit her tongue, silently willing Edna to move along. “Rosa saw it herself. I’d think as sheriff you’d be interested in the goings-on of your deputies.”
    Andi shook her head. “And maybe you ought to take a little trip to the dictionary for the definition of gossip.” She couldn’t help it. She had to go there. “The fact is that there’s been a truck parked in front of Maylene’s house. Big deal. You’ve made that into some kind of...who knows what you imagine they’re doing. But it’s not your business or mine. And spreading it while implying something...else about it, that’s gossip, Edna.”
    Edna sneered, and Andi knew she was in for it. “A girl like you, somebody who could turn her back on her own grandmother, forget this town and her family just like her father did, might not understand the importance of good laws and good morals, but we value both here in Tall Pines,” Edna said. “A good sheriff would understand that.”
    Andi heard the emphasis on you . The rest of the shop heard it, too, and there was a gasp from one of the other stylists. Things were about to get real in the Hair Port. There was no way she could let that pass, but she had no idea what to say that wouldn’t set Edna’s newly pink and fluffy hair on fire.
    Before Andi could gather