Billie
The bell over the door to the saloon jangled and Billie turned to look as Sheriff Greg Panzer strolled in, just as he always did at ten o'clock whenever Billie was working. He'd made a habit of this ever since she'd gotten the job, and the pattern they followed was always the same.
“Pour you a drink, Panzie?” Billie asked as he sat down at the bar. “On the house, what with all the serving and protecting you do.”
Sure enough, the sheriff gave his usual response. “No thanks, Billie. I'm on duty.”
Billie smiled, shaking her head. “Aw, how come you ain't no fun anymore, Panzie? Back when we were in tenth grade, you used to be able to drink a whole case of beer in one night.”
“Yeah, I had one hell of a metabolism back then,” he chuckled, patting the gentle slope of his belly ruefully. “Didn't have a badge, either.”
“So now that you're the sheriff, you figure having one beer with your old high school sweetheart would cripple you in your never-ending battle with the sinister forces threatening Cactus Hollow? Is that it, Panzie?” she countered.
He rolled his eyes and tried to sound impatient, but pink spots of embarrassment were slowly spreading across his cheeks and forehead. He'd always hated it when she called him Panzie, but it had never stopped her.
“I didn't say nothing about no sinister forces or whatever,” he replied, trying to make his voice sound deeper and more authoritative without much success. “I just take my job seriously, is all. And we was never sweethearts, not that I can recall. You were always with other boys.”
“Too shy to ask me out between boyfriends, huh?” she asked teasingly. She knew he'd never have been able to work up the courage to ask her out back then, any more than he could now. He still got red-faced and tongue-tied whenever he was in the same room with her.
True to form, Panzer's face was turning a deep shade of crimson, and he began to stammer. “The, uh, the way I remember it, there were always some pretty heavy areas of, um...overlap between your relationships,” he said, clearing his throat.
“Is that a nice way of pointing out I dated around a lot?” Billie prodded, batting her eyelashes at him innocently. “Can you blame me? When you're born and raised in a dump like Cactus Hollow, it's an ongoing battle against boredom. We're not all cut out for the thrill of law enforcement.”
Panzer laughed, relaxing a little. “I think the last law I actually had to enforce around here was when I told Old Man Fordham he had to cut back the branches on his spruce 'cause it was growing over onto Doc Samuels' property, and that was about two months ago. Other than that, it's mostly just crossword puzzles and re-election plans.” A shadow passed over his face briefly. “There's a chance that could change pretty soon, though.”
Billie raised her eyebrows. “Oh? Sounds exciting. What's up?”
Panzer shrugged his wide shoulders. “Probably nothing. But about an hour ago, an APB came over the fax down at the office. Some bikers knocked over a bank up in Boise City earlier today. Apparently, it's their fourth robbery in the past month, and all of them have been banks in little nowhere towns like this one. The state and federal boys seem to think they might be headed this way based on the places they've hit so far, so they want local cops like me to keep an eye out. Not that they've ever got proper descriptions of the guys,” he snorted derisively. “They wore masks, just like anyone would.”
“Jesus,” Billie said, popping open a bottle of beer and taking a sip. “You really think they'll show up here?”
“Nah,” said Panzer, yanking a handkerchief from his pocket and mopping his ruddy face with it. “There's about a million towns like this one around here, so the odds seem pretty damn astronomical. I've never had to draw my service weapon in the six years I've been a peace officer here, and I doubt I ever will.” He rapped his knuckles on the bar's wooden surface.
“You're probably right,” Billie agreed. “Besides, we get so many bikers in off the road around here, how could you tell it was them?”
“Yeah, the whole thing seems pretty silly.”
“Still, though,” Billie sighed wistfully, “if they came through here, at least a little shoot-'em-up would liven things up around here. You could finally have a chance to act like a real lawman, instead of just rescuing kittens from trees.”
Panzer stared down at the bar. “Is that what it would take to get you to like me, Billie?” he asked, almost too quietly to hear.
Billie was taken aback by the question, and for a moment, she considered pretending she hadn't heard him. Instead, she said, “I like you just fine, Panzie. You know that.”
“You know what I mean,” he retorted, shaking his head. He still couldn't make eye contact with her.
Billie didn't know how to answer him. She knew he'd had a crush on her ever since the second grade—hell, everyone in town knew that. But even though she had a soft spot for the big, lumbering, well-meaning lunkhead, she'd never been attracted to him that way, and she'd always been grateful that his shyness had prevented him from ever bringing it up directly.
But now that he had, would she be forced to tell him outright that she wasn't interested? He was still a good friend, and she didn't want to hurt him.
Before she could think of a proper response, the door jangled again and she silently thanked God for the interruption. She turned and saw three men in black leather MC vests. Each of them carried a saddlebag.
The bar got plenty of visitors like these most nights, but Billie couldn't take her eyes off the man in the middle of the group. He was tall and lanky, with long brown hair and piercing eyes. His movements had a casual grace to them, almost like a dancer's body. The muscles in his arms were lean and taut, and Billie could tell that beneath his vest and t-shirt, his chest and abs were firm and chiseled.
He was the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen.
“Three beers,” the biker in the middle called out to her, leading the others to a small table in the corner.
“Coming up,” Billie answered, watching his tight ass as he walked.
Panzer followed her gaze, his eyes narrowing with jealousy. His entire body grew tense, and the patches of color reappeared high on his cheeks.
“Well, well, well,” Panzer growled suspiciously. “What have we here? Three bikers, just like the APB said.”
Billie laughed. “What, you think that's them?”
“Could be,” Panzer said, nodding. “I'd better go over and ask them a few questions, make sure they're not here for any trouble.”
Billie couldn't believe her ears. One minute Panzer was about to confess his feelings for her, and the next minute he was willing to prove it by shaking down some random bikers just because he thought it would impress her?
“So what, you're going to go over there and demand to search their saddlebags for masks and big bags of money?” she asked incredulously. “Just because they happen to be riding motorcycles?”
“If it comes to that,” Panzer replied, sliding his bulk off the bar stool and touching the handle of his gun. “That's what they gave me this for.” He was trying to sound tough, but there was an unmistakable tremble in his voice.
She didn't like the idea of Panzer causing a scene in her bar and embarrassing himself. Besides, the more she looked at the handsome one, the more she hated the thought of seeing him get shaken down for no good reason when he probably hadn't even done anything wrong. The idea that the three robbers they'd just been talking about had suddenly decided to walk through the door seemed completely ridiculous to her.
Billie put her hand on Panzer's shoulder. “Look, why don't you save yourself some trouble, okay? I recognize those guys. They were in here a few hours ago, so there's no way they were up in Boise City knocking over a bank. They're just some thirsty road hogs passing through town.”
Panzer looked at them again, but his hand withdrew from his gun. “You're sure it was them?”
“Positive,” Billie assured him. “So relax, okay?”
Panzer looked sheepish, but somewhat relieved, too. “Okay. Guess all this talk of bank robbers has me wound a bit tight. Anyway, my shift's done, so I guess I'll head off now.”
Billie felt bad for lying to him, even though she knew it was probably for the best. “Now that you're off, are you sure I can't pour you that beer?” she asked.
“Nah, you've got other patrons to look after,” Panzer said, loping toward the door. “See you tomorrow night, Billie.”
“See you then,” she answered, putting three beers on a tray with small napkins under them.
As she did, she wondered where Panzer would go next. Would he patrol the town aimlessly in his squad car even though he was off-duty, half-heartedly looking for crimes that weren't there so he could prove himself to her as a tough lawman?
Or would he go home to look through old yearbook photos of them together, re-reading the innocent notes they wrote to each other in the blank pages and pretending there was something more behind them?
She shook her head to clear these thoughts, put on her most flirtatious smile, and headed over to the table in the corner.