by Sharan Daire
Trying to keep my face smooth despite my anger at her situation, I squatted down beside the car door. Head low and my voice soft, I tried to put her at ease and win her trust. At least enough to gain her name. "Where were you headed, ma'am?"
"My grandma lives near Liberty. She said we could visit."
Visit—not move in. Though I imagined the trunk was crammed with all their possessions. At least she was giving me nuggets of truth that I could use to help her. "That's only a few hours away up by Kansas City. I can call her for you, if you'd like."
She shook her head. "Granny can't hear very well, and she's at least ninety. She can't do anything to help us."
"Is she expecting you tonight? If you're thinking she might be worried, I'll call around and get one of the police officers in Liberty to stop by and explain your situation."
Calmer, she swiped her cheeks. Her armor firmed, the walls of protection slowly going back up. Stoic and proud, she looked me dead in the eye. "She barely remembers who I am, officer. She hasn't seen or heard from me in years. I doubt she even remembers that I'm coming, let alone when."
Evidently, the little girl was the bravest of the bunch. She opened the back door and popped out of the car.
"Allie!" Panicked, her mother fumbled for the door, but she couldn't open it without knocking me on my ass.
"Are you a real police officer?" Allie asked, giving me a once-over that would have made my drill sergeant in basic training proud. "You don't look like it. Where's your badge?"
I smiled and reached around to my back pocket. "Yes, ma'am, I'm a sheriff. Here in the country, we don't always have to wear our uniforms unless we're going to court." I lowered my voice conspiratorially as I handed her my badge. "Or getting in trouble. Then it's wise to look sharp."
She studied my badge, though she was young enough that I wasn't even sure that she could read. It sure was cute, though. "Bubby said cops shoot people. I don't want Mommy to be shot."
"I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone else." She nodded solemnly, so I leaned closer, though I didn't lower my voice, so her mother and brother heard every word. "I don't even have a gun on me right now. It's locked in the trunk of the car. I only use the gun when I think someone's going to try and hurt people, and even then, I don't like it."
She smiled and hopped up against me, wrapping an arm around my neck. "Can I take a ride in your car?"
"How about you ride with me when my brother comes to take your car to the shop?"
"Can we, Mommy? Pleeeeeease?"
Despite her excitement, Allie shivered against me. She didn't have a coat and the temperature had fallen since dusk. I doubted the car was warm if they'd been sitting here for very long. "If it's alright with you, ma'am, you can all come warm up in my car while we wait on the tow truck."
She hesitated, her brow furrowed. Reluctance tightened her shoulders and her eyes were wary. Because I was a cop? Or because I was a man? I suspected the latter. I couldn't blame her much. I had a feeling that as soon as I got her in my car, or my house, or my bed...
I was never letting her out of my fucking sight again.
2
Shelby
I stared at the officer, trying to find a reason to refuse. I didn't suspect him of anything nefarious at this point. By all accounts, he really was a sheriff and was only trying to help us. I'd be a fool for refusing a police officer's warm patrol car to stay in my own broke-down car that was getting more frigid by the second. But trusting anyone... Any man...
I didn't want to put myself into a bad situation. I didn't want to rely on anyone, let alone a man, ever again. That was one lesson I'd already learned all too well. The only person I could rely on. Ever. Was myself.
Even more, I didn't want to reveal anything else to him. Exhausted and stressed out, I'd accidentally allowed my mask to slip a little. I'd let him see me cry, something I'd sworn to never do again. The words Rob had sneered at me all too often rang in my head. "So now you're going to cry like a little girl? Why don't you go cry to your mommy and see if she cares."
It'd been a double-edged insulting wound. Even though Mom had died in a car accident almost ten years ago, I'd never gotten over her death. We hadn’t been all that close. After all, she’d abandoned me as a baby with her mother, and though I did live with her occasionally, it wasn’t permanent, at least until I was older to be less of a burden for her. But I loved her, and I’d always hoped that someday, we could be close. She could be that mother I’d always yearned for. Her death ended that childhood dream.
Bubby shivered, and his little nose was icy against my cheek. That decided the matter for me. My kids' comfort was more important than my pride. I nodded, albeit grudgingly. The sheriff flashed a big grin and stood, swooping Allie up with him. Stepping back, he opened the car door for me.
"Grab your stuff," I said to Bubby as I gathered up my purse and phone.
"And Boomer!" Allie added. We'd all need her stuffed dog if we intended to get any rest tonight. Though I wasn't sure if I could get any sleep at the sheriff's department.
Just as wary as me, Bubby got out of the car and silently held Allie's dog out to her. She clutched her stuffie a moment, and then held him up to the sheriff. "This is Boomer. He's my favorite thing in the whole wide world. Other than Mommy and Bubby. Mommy said I could get a real dog. Well, someday."
"Hello, Boomer." The sheriff took one of the dog's paws and gave it a shake. "I'm very glad to meet you. You're Allie, Bubby, and..."
"Liam is my real name," Bubby said firmly. Then he gulped. "Sheriff."
The sheriff held out his hand and my son hesitantly shook hands with him. "Glad to meet you, Liam. You can call me Derek. I'm not on duty. Only the deputies ever call me sheriff."
He raised his gaze to mine. He didn't ask my name, but the intensity of his dark eyes reached inside me and tugged. No, demanded, that I surrender my name.
Asshole.
I didn't owe him anything. Let alone my name. This was his job, right? Taking care of people stranded on the road.
"Mommy's name is Shelby," Allie piped up. "Isn't it pretty?"
The sheriff's gaze only heated more, weighing heavier as his eyes roved over my face. He'd gotten my name. That was what he'd wanted. So why did he still look at me like that? Like I was a challenge he intended to conquer. Claim. Defeat.
It made me shiver deep inside where a coat wouldn't help. I couldn't deal with another man like Rob, let alone someone like this sheriff. He wasn't loud and aggressive like my ex. His aggression was more silent and deadly. Frankly, he scared the shit out of me, and I'd only known him a few minutes. Thank god he didn't know where I lived, other than I was trying to get to Granny's.
"Very pretty," he drawled in a low rumbly voice that made me shiver again. He held his hand out to me, too. I stared at his massive palm a moment like it was a coiled poisonous snake. Thankfully the arrival of the wrecker distracted him, so I didn't have to touch him. He walked us over to his police car and let the kids sit in the front seats. "Just don't go on a joy ride, okay?"
He opened the rear passenger door and for a moment I thought he was going to let me escape his presence. I wasn't even offended that he was going to put me in the backseat. But then he reached inside, grabbed a jacket, and before I could step aside, he dropped the coat around my shoulders.
It was warm from the inside of his heated car and felt like pure heaven. It smelled and felt even better. Heavy, like a hug, or an arm around me, with the raw scent of leather.
And man.
Not cologne, exactly, just a hint of what he'd smell like if I pressed my face to his chest. So intimate, and completely unexpected. It made me blush, even though I'd done nothing embarrassing, and he certainly hadn't done anything but lend me his coat. Stupid hormones.
I'd sworn off men after Rob. I didn't need a man. Period. With two kids and long hours at the restaurant, I didn't have a sex drive. Sex was the number one thing I'd fought about with my ex. I'd thought it
was me. My lack, my failure.
Smelling the sheriff's coat had done more for my libido than anything Rob had ever done.
I couldn't hold back an amused huff. It was exactly my sort of luck for my nonexistent sex drive to rear its ugly head when I couldn't do anything about it.
The wrecker swung around in the middle of the road, making an expert three-point turn and sliding back toward my car's front-end. A man stepped down out of the big rig, and in the dark, I had to do a double take.
The sheriff had said his brother, but he really meant his twin. At first glance, I couldn't tell them apart as the new man strode toward us. He had the same wide shoulders and brawny build. The same firm jaw and neatly trimmed beard. His demeanor wasn't quite as intimidating as the sheriff. In fact, I was pretty sure mischief twinkled in his eyes. He grinned, revealing killer dimples in his cheeks that confirmed my guess about his personality being much lighter and joking than his brother's.
He blew out a low whistle that made my cheeks burn even hotter. "Talk about your good deed. Thanks for calling me, bro."
The sheriff grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. I glanced at him, shocked to see him glowering at his brother with a look that made my knees tremble. "Don't make me regret calling you. Shelby, this is my brother, Kaleb. Despite her car's valiant attempt to get her family home safely, Bessie has unfortunately left them stranded."
Kaleb patted the hood. "Don't you worry, old girl. We'll get you back up and running as soon as possible."
"I can't—"
I started to explain my deplorable lack of funds, but the sheriff butted in. "I'd like to get Shelby and the kids to the lodge as soon as possible."
I jolted with shock. "The lodge? But I can't..."
The sheriff shot a narrowed look at me. "You think I'd let a woman and her kids hang out all night in a broken-down car? Or a mechanic shop?"
I swallowed hard. "I assumed you'd take us to your headquarters."
"There's no place for you to rest at the station, and while we don't have a lot of crime here, the people coming in and out aren't the kind I'd want kids to hang around."
I didn't know what to say. I couldn't even begin to add up how much all of this was going to cost. Staying at a lodge sounded expensive. Would they even have reservations available? How much were they a night?
While I'd been distracted, Kaleb had already managed to connect Bessie to the wrecker. "Don't you worry, ma'am. We'll get you up and running as quickly as possible."
The sheriff shot another furious scowl at his brother. Kaleb's eyebrows arched up and he laughed softly. "Let's hope I can find the parts. You never know how long it'll take to track down certain pieces in a car this old. What year is she? 2000?"
I was impressed that he'd guessed so closely. "1999."
The mechanic let out another low whistle. "They just don't make cars like they used to. If I remember correctly, this model's radiator is extremely hard to find unless I can scavenge one at a salvage yard, so let's hope that's not the issue. Why don't you follow me to the shop, so Shelby knows where it is? That way you can give me a ride back to the lodge."
The sheriff grunted again in acknowledgement. Without another word, he turned back to his car and lightly pressed his hand in the small of my back to guide me, slipping his hand up beneath his coat. I could feel the breadth of his splayed fingers. The strength and weight in his big palm. A man that strong, that powerful, could seriously hurt me, but for the first time since meeting him, I wasn't scared. If he'd wanted to hurt me, he wouldn't have called his brother to witness it. He could have seized my wrist in a punishing grip and dragged me kicking and screaming anywhere he'd wanted. Instead, he simply brushed my lower back. As strange as it sounded, it was comforting for this stranger to carefully touch me and guide me back to his car so respectfully.
He opened the passenger door. "Why don't you kids crawl in the back now, alright?"
"Okay, Sheriff." Allie giggled as she leaped headfirst into the back of the car. "Now we're the robbers, right, Bubby?"
Bubby climbed after her and helped her with the seatbelt. I slid into the warm seat with a tiny sigh of bliss. My frozen toes and fingers were burning, but it felt good to be warm. The sheriff gently shut the door and came around to get behind the wheel. We watched silently a few minutes as his brother finished lifting Bessie into position, then we followed the wrecker's taillights down the road.
"Thanks again," I said, clearing my throat. "I don't know that we would have made it all night."
"My pleasure, Shelby. I'm grateful that I happened to be late getting off work tonight so I saw that you needed help."
"Do you live out this way?"
"Yep, both Kaleb and I stay at the lodge."
"Oh. I thought it was some kind of hotel."
"It is. But it also has several smaller cabins in addition to the main lodge. This time of year, we don't really get too many guests, but starting in March, we'll be booked solid every weekend until summer, and then every day will be crammed with visitors fishing and enjoying the Branson area. My brother and I are part owners with two other friends. Part of our arrangement is that we each have our own cabins on the property, and we help out around the lodge as needed."
"I guess having a sheriff and a mechanic to help around the place is probably a great idea."
He chuckled. "Absolutely. Plus we're all handy helping out fishing, hunting, and boating too. It's more fun than work."
"Can we go fishing, Mom?" Bubby asked.
"We can try tomorrow, if you'd like," the sheriff replied. "Though it's hard to catch anything this time of year."
I wanted to say we wouldn't be here tomorrow... but with Bessie out of commission, I had no way to estimate how long we might be stuck here. Bubby had never gone fishing, or played catch outside, or anything a father would normally do with his kids. If the friendly sheriff wanted to take him fishing, then who was I to interfere? Though a kernel of guilt niggled. I couldn't afford any of this. It definitely seemed like taking advantage of the man's goodwill to have him take my son out fishing too.
As we drove, the road narrowed considerably. Thick forest grew right up to the edge of the blacktop, and the curves were tight and dangerous, up and down steep inclines. It made me think of the movie, Deliverance. I couldn't imagine driving out of here at night, let alone in bad weather. The wrecker turned off onto a graveled road, and in a few minutes, we pulled up in front of a modern-looking metal building. A sign hung above double garage bays that read "Anderson Towing." The other man hopped out of the wrecker, and a huge furry dog came up to him, wagging its tail.
Allie squealed. "A dog! Can I pet him? Pleeeeeease?"
The sheriff lifted up the middle armrest. "We can do better than that, sweetheart."
I didn't know what he meant, until his brother opened the rear passenger door, and the dog hopped up into the back seat, only to immediately be engulfed by my daughter. She hugged him and squealed some more. I was a little worried, just because I wasn't sure how such a large dog would tolerate such enthusiastic petting.
The mechanic laughed as the dog licked her entire face. "Meet Wally."
"I love him!" Allie said. "What kind of dog is he? How old is he? How long have you had him?"
"He's a German Shepherd, he's four years old, and he's been my buddy since he was born." The mechanic shut the rear door and opened my door. I blinked up at him, not sure what he wanted.
The sheriff unbuckled my seat belt and his brother pushed into the seat. With me.
I scooted over closer to his brother. And became acutely aware of one very important fact.
While a bench seat was supposed to seat three adults comfortably...
The twins were very large men. Which left very little room for me.
I was sandwiched between two complete strangers. Attractive strangers, I noted faintly as the mechanic grinned at me. "Hey again, Shelby."
"Hey," I replied faintly. To be honest, I was rather dazed. There was o
nly so much stimulation and stress a body could take before it just started to shut down. I couldn't make myself worry about where exactly we were going.
I was warm. In a cop car, so reasonably safe, right? Allie had died and gone to doggie heaven. Bubby was going to go fishing tomorrow if I could believe the sheriff. His twin brother was going to fix my car without demanding payment right away. Surely I could figure out a way to pay him back...
Maybe I was starting to believe in miracles after all.
3
Kaleb
I loved my brother. But I loved watching him squirm even more. Though with Derek, he didn't squirm so much as scowl. Which only made me smirk even more.
I could have ridden in the back with the kids and left Wally outside to make his way home when he was ready. That was what I normally did anyway. Wally loved roaming his territory and peeing on all the bushes and trees between the shop and our cabin, which was only a mile across the woods as the crow flies. But something had told me that the dog might be the perfect icebreaker.
Plus, that gave me an excuse to squeeze Shelby in between us and give her an idea of what we were offering, without being too offensive or threatening. It was a bonus to watch Derek's jaw tighten. His grip on the steering wheel was fierce enough that he'd probably leave fingerprints in the vinyl.
"Where are you headed, Shelby?"
She jumped a little between us. Maybe she meant to pull away from me, but that put her up against Derek's immovable bulk. She stole a quick look over at me and bit her lip.
Fucking hell.
Now it was Derek's turn to huff out a slight breath of disgusted amusement. The torture was fucking unreal.
I'd always loved the girl-next-door kind of woman. The one who was your best friend, or your best friend's little sister, until suddenly one day you noticed that special way she laughed or the way her eyes softened when you whispered her name. Shelby had the easy, casual beauty that was both familiar and breathtaking. A mother who'd evidently had a bad stretch of luck, she didn't appear to realize exactly how gorgeous and sensual she was. Her long hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail that tamed the fiery red to something demure. An illusion, I hoped.
