The Texas Lawman's Woman
Page 15
Colt obliged, cradling him close. “My Austin!”
Austin chortled, and while holding on to Colt’s neck, pointed at the dog beside him. “My Bud-dy...”
Hearing his name, Buddy wagged his tail, waiting to be petted. Still crouched down to toddler level, Colt shifted around so Austin could pat the top of Buddy’s head. “Hi, doggy,” Austin said.
Buddy thumped his tail harder.
Colt and Shelley laughed. “Momma, my red truck,” Austin commanded.
Shelley pulled it out of her bag and handed it over.
Austin scooted off Colt’s thigh. Car in hand, he led the way inside the house, talking to Buddy all the while. “We play now...” he said.
Buddy lumbered after him obediently.
“If you’ll keep an eye on Austin, I’ll get the rest of my things,” Shelley said.
Colt straightened, slow and lazy. Holding her gaze, he brushed his lips across hers. “No problem.”
Longing for the moment they could spend some quality time alone, Shelley headed for the car. Fifteen minutes later, she was cozily ensconced in his kitchen. The salad was made. Their potatoes were baking in the oven. Austin’s kid-friendly macaroni and cheese was cooking on the stove.
“You know, I could have cooked for you tonight,” Colt observed.
Shelley rubbed olive oil, fresh ground pepper and sea salt into the rib-eye steaks she’d brought, then turned them over and did the same to the other side. She slanted Colt a playful glance. “I asked you out. Remember?”
He lounged against the counter as she washed her hands. “So this is a date.”
Knowing if she gave in to her whim and started kissing him, she wouldn’t want to stop, Shelley moved past him. “A thank-you.”
“I keep telling you...” He watched her place her favorite cast-iron skillet on the stove and turn on the flame beneath it. “I didn’t do or say anything at the auction. The reality is that the house just didn’t sell.”
“That’s exactly my point.” Shelley added butter and sliced mushrooms to the pan. Leaving them to cook, she closed the distance between her and Colt once again. “Despite the fact you really wanted to help me, you didn’t go behind my back and try to have your dad’s company purchase the property, which we both know you could have done. You just supported me emotionally, which was what I really wanted and needed from you.”
An indecipherable emotion flickered in Colt’s eyes. For a moment, he looked surprisingly ill at ease. “I’m not the faultless hero you think I am,” he said in a low, gruff tone.
Shelley could see she’d made him uncomfortable with her praise. Which was no surprise, since she’d never known Colt to brag about his accomplishments. “And modest, too,” she teased, going up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, knowing full well how gallant he was deep inside. “I like that.”
He studied her.
“All I’m trying to say is...you’ve given me everything I needed these last few weeks, and I appreciate it. More than I can say.”
His conflicted expression intensified. He inhaled deeply, still brooding, and the phone rang. Whatever he’d been about to say to her cut short by the numbers on the caller ID screen, Colt said, “I have to get it—it’s work,” and answered the call.
“Yeah, McCabe.” He fell silent. “I...” Frowning, he listened even more intently. “Roger that,” he said brusquely. “Thanks for calling.” He hung up.
Shelley studied his furrowed brow. “Bad news?”
His lips tightened. “Work schedule change.”
Oh, no.... “Tell me you don’t have to work this weekend during any of the wedding activities.”
He looked away, then strode over to check on Austin, who was playing trucks next to a contentedly watching Buddy. “I don’t have to work at all until Monday.” Colt gave Austin’s shoulder a companionable pat. Her son rewarded Colt with a smile.
“You’ve got the next five days off? Really?”
Colt came back to Shelley’s side, still looking a little stunned. “I don’t go back until nine o’clock Monday morning.”
Shelley failed to see what the problem was. She, for one, would love a little unexpected time off. “Well, that’s great, isn’t it?”
He seemed even more distant. Shrugged. “Yeah. Sure.”
She studied him, concern welling deep inside her. “You could say it a little more convincingly.”
He remained silent, as if his thoughts were a million miles away. Which left Shelley to guess what the real problem was. She gave the mushrooms a stir. “How often do you take time off?”
“Lately?” A bemused edge of his normal good humor crept back into Colt’s expression. He paced the kitchen restlessly. “Not all that often.”
If she didn’t know better, she would think he was holding something back. Something important. “Do you use up all your vacation time every year?”
“Not so far, no.”
Wondering if she would ever get him to totally open up so they could move forward with their relationship, she probed, “What happens to it?”
“It used to accrue. Now department policy is use it or lose it.”
“What do the other deputies do?”
“Depends on the person,” he said quietly. “If they’re married or not.”
“So if you were married...?”
He met her gaze and held it. “I’d probably take it.”
“Did you when you were married before?”
He let out a breath, looking pained. “No, but...Yvette and I weren’t getting along all that well, because of all the stuff with her ex.”
“So you hid at work?” Shelley assumed, struggling not to push too hard.
“Maybe.”
She lifted a brow. Waited.
“Okay. Yeah. I did. Plus, I really like being a member of the sheriff’s department.”
She checked on the potatoes, which still had a ways to go, and moved closer. She lounged by the counter next to him. “Even all the hall monitor stuff?”
He slanted her a sideways glance. “Obviously, I didn’t enjoy evicting you.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“However—” he caught her by the waist and brought her against him “—I wouldn’t have wanted to turn the task over to anyone else.”
Heat spiraled through her middle, settling low. “Because you thought you could be more humane about it?”
He shrugged, beginning to struggle with his own mounting desire. “I just knew I would watch out for you.” He shifted her away from his hardness.
“And you did,” Shelley concurred, aching for the time when they could be together the way she truly wanted. “Arranging people to help move my stuff, letting me store it here, even putting me up for a night.”
“That, I would have liked to do longer.”
It certainly would have made lovemaking a lot easier. “So I gathered,” she concluded softly.
They exchanged smiles, clearly on the same page there.
“Why did you want to be in law enforcement?” Shelley removed the sautéed mushrooms, turned the burner up to high, added a little more butter and olive oil. When it was bubbling, she added the steaks and was rewarded with a sizzling sound.
“I like helping people.”
More specifically... “Rescuing them.”
He nodded.
“What about the rest of it? Arresting people you know?”
He plucked a carrot slice out of the salad. “Not so much fun.”
Shelley munched on a radish. “Have you ever thought about doing anything else?”
Colt took three plates out of the cupboard and set them on the table. “I don’t know what I’d be if I wasn’t a cop.”
“That’s not really an answer to the question.”
Shelley moved to accommodate him, lightly brushing his taut biceps in the process. “All the time.”
He remained at her side. “Then what keeps you at it?”
Shelley cocked her head. “I guess I like helping people, too, and generally speaking—unless it’s an unwilling child being dragged to class by a stage parent—”
“Or a clumsy best man in a wedding,” Colt said with a wink.
“—dancing does make people happy.”
Austin appeared at her feet and tugged on the hem of her skirt. “I happy, Momma.”
So was she. More than she had been in a very long time. She lifted Austin up in her arms. “I know you are, sweetie.”
Austin wiggled to get down, and went right back over to his canine pal. “Buddy happy.”
Colt and Shelley shared a smile. “He sure seems to be,” he said.
Austin crossed over to Colt. He looked up and raised his arms, wanting to be picked up. “Deppity happy?” Austin asked.
That, Shelley thought, studying the sudden, brooding expression back in Colt’s eyes, was the question of the evening.
* * *
COLT KNEW SHELLEY DESERVED an explanation. However, the last thing he wanted to do was involve her in his problems when she had so much trouble of her own right now.
“Of course I’m happy,” Colt told Austin as he obligingly lifted her son into his arms, and cuddled her little boy close. “I’m always happy when you and your mom and Buddy are around.”
“Buddy nice.”
“Yes, he is,” Colt agreed.
“Buddy mine,” Austin stated emphatically.
Colt paused, not sure how to explain, especially when one day in the near future that might well be true. Finally, he said, “Buddy and I have been together a long time, since he was a very tiny puppy.”
Austin’s lower lip thrust out. “No. My doggie. Mine!”
Colt couldn’t help but grin. The little tyke was tenacious; he’d give him that.
Shelley frowned. “Don’t encourage him, Colt. I’m trying to end this phase. Not extend it.”
Colt sobered. “Sorry. You’re right.”
For the rest of the evening, Colt tried to explain that while Buddy was actually his dog, Buddy could be Austin’s friend. “You can visit whenever you want. Buddy loves to see you, but the thing is, Austin, Buddy is part of my family. Buddy and I are a team. We belong together.”
“My team!” Austin insisted, petting Buddy’s head.
“I don’t think he gets it,” Shelley said with a sigh.
The funny thing was, Colt didn’t really want the little tyke to get it. Not if it meant Austin distanced himself from either Buddy or Colt. He shrugged, able to envision the day when they would all live under one roof. “Maybe we should all be a team,” he suggested mildly.
Shelley paused to consider that, her green eyes intent. “A friends and family type thing?”
Ultimately, he wanted a lot more than that. But until he and Shelley both got their personal situations straightened out, this would have to do. “Sounds great to me.” Colt grinned and encompassed them all in a hug.
Chapter Twelve
“Well, it’s definitely not a good sign,” Travis Anderson told Colt the next morning, after being informed of the latest developments in Colt’s situation. “Being told to take vacation never is. On the other hand—” Travis shrugged and poured his client a cup of coffee “—the sheriff easily could have suspended or even fired you for removing that key and entering Shelley’s former residence without following proper protocol.”
No joke. Colt drank deeply of the strong, aromatic brew. “I really screwed up.”
Travis topped off his own mug, then led the way from the break room back to his office. “Take it easy. You haven’t been let go yet.” The attorney sat down behind his desk. Colt took a client chair.
Travis studied him. “When do you return to work?”
“Monday morning. For a meeting in Ben Shepherd’s office.”
“Do you want me there?”
What he wanted, Colt thought, was to be able to tell Shelley everything. How he’d been playing fast and loose with the regulations for years. How up until now only the end result had mattered. How everything looked different now that she and her son had come into his life.
He wanted a more solid underpinning. He wanted to be able to lean on her the way she’d been leaning on him. But he couldn’t do that. For starters, he had been instructed by his superiors to keep this entire situation out of the public realm. The only reason he could talk to Travis about it was because he was his attorney.
Second, Shelley had enough on her shoulders. Dealing with her louse of an ex-husband, losing her home, trying to get the inherited property back. He wasn’t going to saddle her with his troubles, too.
“Because if you think it would help ward off any ill-advised action on the part of your employer,” Travis continued, “I’d be happy to accompany you.”
Pulled back into the conversation, as abruptly as he’d left it, Colt shook his head. “That would look like I’m expecting to be terminated.”
“And you’re not.”
Colt exhaled wearily and shoved his hands through his hair. “At this point, I think it could go either way.” The real question was, would Shelley stand by him if he did get fired? Or would she put him in the same category as her irresponsible, untrustworthy ex-husband...and kick him to the curb, too?
* * *
“DO YOU EVER GET THE FEELING that if it weren’t for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all?” Kendall asked Shelley over the phone the next morning.
Unfortunately, Shelley knew exactly what the bride-to-be meant. Things sure seemed to have gone south lately. Aside from the exceptionally intense heat wave predicted to blanket the area over the next five days—thus insuring an absolutely blistering hot wedding weekend for Kendall and her groom—Shelley’s newly blossoming romance with Colt had suddenly and unexpectedly hit a roadblock.
Why, Shelley didn’t know.
Everything had seemed fine two days ago. In fact, when Colt had made love to her on the eve of the auction, it had felt as if she could count on him for absolutely everything.
After the auction, however, there’d been a change.
It was nothing she could put her finger on, exactly. They’d had a wonderful dinner. They’d played with Austin and Buddy until both fell asleep, then snuck up to Colt’s bedroom and succumbed to the passion simmering between them. Truth was, she’d never felt such a searing physical connection to another man.
Emotionally, well, that was something else entirely. Last night there’d been something different. A peculiar quietness on Colt’s part, as he’d held her close, then brought her to him to make love to her all over again. And though she’d had all of his body, she hadn’t had all of his soul.
There was a tiny part of him that, when they weren’t driving each other wild with pleasure, was a million miles away. And that indecipherable barrier between them had left her feeling a little out of the loop. Which was how she had used to feel when her ex was up to something he didn’t want her to know about. Not that Colt would be hiding anything financial or otherwise from her. Would he?
She shouldn’t be thinking about any of this, Shelley informed herself sternly.
“I don’t know.” Kendall sounded near tears. “Sometimes I think Gerry and I should have shelved our dream of getting married in our hometown and just eloped.”
Uh-oh. Pulled swiftly back to the present
, Shelley asked, “What’s wrong now?”
Kendall sighed. “You’re not going to believe it. Or maybe you will. The moving van with all of our stuff in it broke down in the mountains of Tennessee. We just heard from our dads. They’re waiting on a tow truck now to try to get the van off the highway, but there’s a huge traffic jam. Apparently, it’s a real mess.”
Shelley could imagine. Ready to help in any way she could, she asked, “Where are you and Gerry now?”
“Arkansas. But we’re going to have to double back to help them out because all of our belongings are going to have to be moved from the broken down truck into a new moving van. As soon as we get one, anyway.”
It was Thursday morning. Kendall and Gerry were supposed to arrive with their moms late that evening.
“What is this going to do to your arrival time?”
“I have no idea. I mean, I know we’ll make it to the rehearsal dinner on Friday...”
But, as it happened, Kendall and Gerry didn’t make it to the rehearsal dinner. They weren’t in Laramie County at all when everyone gathered at the church Friday evening.
The minister smiled at the bridesmaids and groomsmen surrounding him at the rear of the church. “Good news, everyone. The bride and groom and their families will be in Laramie at midnight tonight.”
An exultant cheer went up. Austin and little Bethany, the flower girl, clapped, too, although Austin had to set his little red truck aside to do it.
“The more challenging news is, they’ve asked that we do the rehearsal without them.”
“How are we going to do that?” the wedding planner, Patricia, asked.
The minister smiled. “We’ll have everyone in the wedding party do their part, and then use stand-ins for the happy couple. I’m sure Shelley and Colt won’t mind filling in for the bride and groom.”
* * *
DID SHE MIND?
Shelley couldn’t say. All she knew for sure was that she was extremely nervous about Austin fulfilling his role. She was beginning to think he had another two-year molar coming in; he had been cranky and uncooperative all day.
Shelley set Austin down on the red carpet runner just inside the entrance to the historic chapel and knelt beside her son. “See what Bethany’s doing?” Shelley pointed at the flower girl, walking slowly up the aisle, tossing petals in her wake. “You are going to follow her. And you’re going to hold this wonderful blue pillow, just like I showed you, while you walk up the aisle.”