“Sure am,” I said in a cheery voice. “Marco Roland tells me he eats here all the time, so I thought I’d pick up something for the both of us.”

Her blue eyes narrowed, but it looked more like confusion than any sort of malicious intent. “I thought you were datin’ Wyatt Drummond.”

Word sure did get around in a small town. “I’m not seeing him anymore.” It wasn’t her business, but I needed information from her, so I hoped my own transparency would help. “And before you ask, no, I haven’t set my sights on Marco,” I added with a laugh. “We’re just friends.”

“I heard you saved his life.”

My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “There was a lot of mutual savin’ goin’ on that night.”

“I guess something like that would bind people together,” she said with a soulful look.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “It does.” I pulled my mouth into a wider smile. “Say, do you have a menu I can look over?”

“What was I thinkin’?” she said with a laugh, then grabbed a menu off a table. “Here you go, but if you’re not sure what to get Marco, he usually gets the double cheeseburger and double fries.”

I took the menu from her and quickly scanned it, shaking my head. “Why am I not surprised he goes for all the grease?”

“Right?” she asked with a laugh. “If I ate all those calories every day, I’d gain twenty pounds.”

“Well, he’s still recovering from his gunshot wounds, so let’s give him his comfort food,” I said. “And I’ll take a club sandwich and a side salad with ranch dressing.” Max’s Tavern didn’t have salads, and while I didn’t have high hopes for this one, some vegetables would be nice, even if it turned out to consist mostly of tasteless iceberg lettuce.

“Good choice,” she said, pulling a small notepad out of her pocket and writing the order down. “I’m Greta, by the way.”

My mouth nearly dropped open, and it took me a second to process who she was and figure out how to react. I stuck out my hand. “I’m Carly. Nice to meet you.”

She gave me an odd look but loosely shook my hand.

I laughed. “Sorry. I guess you already knew my name.”

“Yeah,” she said with a grin. “I did. Let me put your order in. Have a seat if you like.” She gestured to an empty booth next to where we stood.

I slid into the seat, relieved she didn’t seem to hold a grudge against me, but I still wasn’t sure how to handle my questions about Lula. Given that Greta didn’t seem so sour on Marco after all, I should have probably left this to him. Maybe she’d forgiven him after his near-death experience. I was sure his good looks didn’t hurt.

Greta came back out and took the seat opposite me. “I told Fred I was takin’ a break.”

I took a quick glance at the room, then said, “Seems like a good time to take one.”

She gave me a conspiratorial grin. “Well, I’ve only been workin’ about a half hour, but the dinner rush’ll hit soon enough, and then I’ll be hopping for the rest of my shift. I figured you and I could get to know each other a little since you and Lula are workin’ together.”

“I confess that I was worried you’d think I was trying to steal Lula’s job,” I admitted.

She leaned back in her seat, getting comfortable. “I’ll admit it crossed my mind, but then she came in yesterday and said you were super sweet and you two were job sharin’.” She leaned closer. “Thanks for not stealin’ it out from under her. I heard Max was fit to be tied this last time.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” I said, “but do you know why she left in the first place?”

She made a face and shot a glance at the table of teenagers. “What does it matter?”

“Max and Ruth are none too happy that she keeps runnin’ off, but I figure they’ll be more understandin’ if she has a good reason.”

“There’s no need to worry about that now,” Greta said with a wave of dismissal. “She’s back now.”

“Greta,” I said slowly, “Lula’s gone again.”

She stared at me as though I’d sprouted a unicorn head. “What are you talkin’ about? She just got back yesterday.”

“I know,” I said, “but she didn’t show for her shift at noon today. I was worried that maybe she had car trouble, so I went to her place this afternoon and she wasn’t there.”

She frowned and I could see she was still processing what I’d said. “That doesn’t mean she took off.”

“Her car was out front, and she’d left a lantern on and a fire burning in her woodstove. Seems like she’d know better than to leave the place like that if someone came to pick her up. I brought Marco back with me, and she was still gone.”

She began to gnaw on her bottom lip.

“Given her history, he said no deputy will look into it. At least not this soon, and likely not at all. But the two of us looked at her property together. There were tracks in the snow, plus tire prints from a big dually truck. Someone was out there.”

“Well, that makes sense,” she said, shifting to the side as she tucked a leg under the other on the seat. “If her car was still there.”

“So you think she left willingly?” I asked. “Even though she knew if she didn’t show up for her shift at noon today she would likely be fired?”

“Lula is impulsive,” she said, staring at a spot of dried ketchup on the Formica-topped table, but her statement lacked conviction.

“Do you know who might have picked her up?”

“It could have been anyone,” she said, still keeping her gaze on the table.

“Does she have a boyfriend right now? Could he have picked her up?”

She snorted. “Lula doesn’t do boyfriends. Her mother’s convinced her that all men are jerks, that she should get what she needs and move on.”

“So she’s made her way through a lot of men,” I said thoughtfully.

Her face jerked up, her eyes blazing. “Lula is not a slut.”

Horrified, I shook my head. “No. I don’t think that. I’m sorry if I unintentionally gave that impression.”

Her shoulders relaxed, but only slightly.

“I’m just trying to figure out if she left her home willingly, because I have this gut instinct that she’s in trouble.”

Greta narrowed her eyes. “Why would you care? You hardly know her, and on top of that, your hours are gonna get cut now that she’s back. Sounds like if anyone had motive to take her, it was you.”

My heart jumped. Crap. I hadn’t even considered that I might be a suspect, but as far as I knew, I was the last one to have seen her alive.

It occurred to me belatedly that my reaction to her comment had probably made me look guilty. Leaning forward, I lowered my voice and said, “Look, you’re right—I barely know Lula. I only met her yesterday afternoon, but she’s probably one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Todd Bingham came in with his motley crew and made her anxious. It didn’t help that he kept staring at her. I could tell he worried her, and since I’m older than her, I guess my big sister instincts kicked in. So I put him in my section so she didn’t have to deal with him.” To prove to her that Lula, at least, trusted me, I added, “Then I drove her home in the snow because she didn’t have a car.”