Erin's Way

by Laura Browning

  “What is it, Erin? You’ve been quiet ever since Joe sang this evening.”

  She swallowed. It would be so easy to say something flippant and brush him off, but that was the old Erin. She was beginning to realize Sam was right. All she had to do was open up. “Is Melodie like Tabby?”

  Sam glanced her way, then asked slowly, “How do you mean like Tabby?”

  “Was she abused?”

  Sam sighed. “Yes. Her mother physically abused her, which we’ve kept as under wraps as possible. Of course the horrific way her parents died couldn’t be kept secret, but what Melodie experienced in the wake of her mother’s rampage, shut in the house with them, that’s what they’d really tried to keep quiet.”

  Erin looked along the fence line as they drove toward the house and shivered. “She said I had shadows in my eyes like her.”

  Sam stopped his truck in front of the house and turned to her in the darkness. His long fingers brushed her cheek, then cupped her neck and encouraged her to slide over to him. “I’m not sure any of us can understand the trauma Melodie experienced. All I can say is the man upstairs must have helped her hide from a mother who had gone over the edge, stabbed her father in the eyes with a pair of kitchen scissors, and was looking for her.”

  “Oh, God!” Erin couldn’t imagine a child as sweet as Melodie witnessing such a horrific event. “It just spooked me, you know. This whole thing with the Delacroix family has me on edge.”

  “You sure about your friends? Sure they’re on the up and up?”

  Something in Sam’s tone just increased her anxiety. Erin began to shake, her mind in turmoil. Matty and Rick were here. Were they involved? The only danger she knew of was from Andre, and he certainly wasn’t a friend. Not even close. She just couldn’t suspect Rick or Matty. After all, it was just a stroke of luck they’d gone on board another boat the night the Sprite blew up.

  “I trust them.”

  Sam tucked her against his broad chest and held her. At last he whispered, “I’m taking two weeks’ vacation, Erin. The calving is about to get into full swing, and I want us both here. You won’t be alone, not for a second. I’ll keep you safe, no matter what, baby. I swear I’ll keep you safe.”

  His words and his tone melted her last reservations. Out of everyone she knew, Sam never said anything he didn’t mean. The bottom line was she could trust him, so she would. The thought freed her in a way she never expected, making her feel lighter than she had felt since she was just a kid.

  They hit the ground running the following morning. Sam had gone out early to check on the more experienced mamas. He left those in the pasture nearest the house. It was only the first-time heifers he kept in paddocks, run-in sheds, or the barn. By lunchtime, they had lost one calf, delivered a bull calf from Sam’s best cow, and a healthy set of twins from another.

  “Let’s get some lunch,” Sam said. “I don’t think we’ll have any more today. We’ll take care of the barn and delivering more hay to the back pastures this afternoon.”

  Erin pushed the cap back on her head and grinned. “Suits me. I’m starving.”

  “You’re always starving,” Sam returned.

  She winked. “Yeah, but not always for food.”

  She stepped over the bucket near the barn door and was slipping her way over the ooze of the barnyard when she heard a curse and a thud behind her. She spun around to find Sam flat on his back in the mud and the bucket she’d stepped over jammed on one of his feet. Before she could help it, she started laughing.

  “Not funny, Erin,” Sam bellowed.

  She hurried back to him, pulled the bucket off his foot, and held out her hand. “Sorry, Sammy. Here, let me give you a hand.”

  She extended her hand and he engulfed it in his. As she braced, he pulled. Damn, he was heavy, she thought just as he released her hand and she tumbled back onto her butt in the mud.

  “What the hell? Sam!” Erin screeched.

  He sat up with a grin.

  “You shouldn’t have laughed,” he said, then grunted as Erin nailed him on the chin with a big blob of brown goo. She howled, but seeing the way Sam’s eyes narrowed, she scrambled to her feet to escape. Before she could get more than ten feet away, Sam tackled her from behind. Air whooshed from her lungs as she sprawled face first into the mud.

  “You are dead!” Erin sputtered as she wiped mud off her face and rolled over before snatching his cap off with one hand while she slapped a handful of mud on Sam’s head with her other. They were wrestling in the cold mud and laughing when the sound of a truck pulling into the yard sent them both scrambling to their feet.

  * * * *

  Stoner couldn’t believe his eyes. Sam Barnes, the somber, taciturn Castle County Sheriff, was covered head to toe in mud, and the pint-sized mud blob next to him was none other than Stoner’s own daughter. As he slowly exited his truck, he forced himself to maintain a serious expression.

  “Just what,” he asked in a deadly even voice, “are you doing?”

  Sam started to put his cap back on his head, had to run fingers through his hair to get the mud out, and simply stopped and stared sheepishly at the former senator. “I could ask the same thing,” Sam said. “What are you doing off your farm? Aren’t you off your leash?”

  “Don’t try to change the subject.” Stoner looked at his mud-caked daughter. “Erin, I presume?”

  She grinned lopsidedly, showing white teeth between black muck. “Hi, Daddy.”

  Stoner grinned as he looked back and forth between the two. “The judge suspended the rest of my sentence. I came over to let you know.”

  “Oh, Daddy!” Erin laughed. “That’s great!” She rushed forward, but Stoner backed up.

  “Whoa!”

  She stopped and laughed again. “Sorry! We were just going in for lunch.”

  “Well, that’s why I came by. Your mother and I would like you both to join us. Kind of a celebratory meal. But, uh… Why don’t you take some time to clean up first?”

  “Give us an hour, if you don’t mind,” Erin said with a look over her shoulder at Sam. Stoner’s eyes narrowed. He watched the silent communication between the two and realized their relationship had definitely changed. He sighed. Stoner couldn’t help the regret that washed through him. Oh, not because Erin and Sam appeared to have found each other, but because he finally felt he’d gotten back the girl he remembered from so long ago, and she was looking at another man with those stars in her eyes. However, if she was going to have a man in her life, Stoner was beginning to see that Sam Barnes was the right one… Maybe he always had been.

  Stoner nodded. “See you in an hour, then.” And he got back into his truck. He managed to make it to the end of the driveway before he had to stop and give in to the laughter that overwhelmed him when he recalled the mud covering the two of them from head to toe.

  * * * *

  The next week passed in a haze of work, between calving and a late winter storm that meant hauling more feed out to the other pastures. Sam and Erin worked from sunup to after dark. After cleaning up and eating dinner, they spent their evenings and half their nights locked in each other’s arms, often too tired to do more than sleep.

  Sam watched Erin blossom. Her moods evened out and he saw once again the same bubbly personality emerge that he had first seen when she was just nine years old and following him around like an irrepressible puppy. She ran full tilt from the time she rose until she dropped into bed at night. She was amazing and exciting, and he loved every minute he spent with her.

  More than anything he wanted to make their arrangement permanent, but he held back. He still couldn’t get past the idea that he was nearly forty and she was just in her mid-twenties. She deserved someone closer to her age. He was too old, too grumpy, and as Evan had pointed out, too hard-nosed. He would nearly have himself convinced he should ask her to go back home; then she would touch him, kiss him, or simply curl up on his lap while they watched a movie in the ev
ening, and he would melt.

  He discovered something else about both of them, a nearly insatiable appetite for each other. In one week they made love nearly every place imaginable: the bedroom, the bathroom, the couch, the recliner, the floor, the barn, the truck, against the wall of the mudroom and even on the kitchen table. After a particularly vigorous session on the living room floor, they lay curled near the woodstove. Sam stroked her hair and kissed the soft skin of her temple. Feelings didn’t even begin to describe what he had for this woman. Sam finally admitted he was so in love with Erin he couldn’t imagine ever being any other way.

  And still he couldn’t say it to her.

  What a chicken shit.

  * * * *

  “Sam,” Erin called through the barn door Friday morning. “I need to borrow the truck to go into town.”

  “Wait!” Sam said. Erin tapped her toe as she waited for him to appear in the barn door. “Erin, you’re supposed to be here for your protection. Taking off for town whenever the mood strikes you is not a good idea.”

  She glared at him. “I’ve been on the farm all week long. I have some errands to run.”

  “Like what? If you’ll wait a couple hours, I can go with you. I should have the tractor fixed by then.”

  Erin blew out a frustrated breath. “I’m just going to Tarpley’s. I wanted to pick up food to cook us both a nice dinner. Come on, Sam. We’ve had a back-breaking week.”

  She could see he was weakening, so she pressed her advantage. “I’ll go straight there and back, no stopping along the way. I promise.” She crossed her hand over her heart.”

  “I just don’t think it’s a good idea,” he muttered, casting a frustrated look over his shoulder to where his tool box sat next to the tractor’s PTO.

  “I’m going to make pork chops with apple chutney and roasted potatoes.”

  Sam sighed. “Go there and come straight back. I’m going to call Jake and tell him to keep an eye out for you.”

  She grinned at him. “Deal.”

  After the week they had experienced, she was going to pull out all the stops to cook him a meal to knock his socks off. It was more than just a way to say thanks. It was one of the few ways Erin knew she could give Sam something that was hers alone. Sure she’d thrown some breakfast together, same thing with dinner. But it was time to show him what she could do. There were few things she could truly number among her talents, but cooking was one of them.

  After parking the big truck at the side of the building, Erin hopped down and hurried toward the store. She had promised Sam not to take any chances. Before she could get inside, though, the sound of someone calling her name made her stop.

  “Erin Richardson?” Betty Gatewood, the wife of the mayor and one of the biggest gossips in town, waylaid her.

  Erin turned. While she kept a smile on her face, inside she worried. This woman was the unofficial ringleader of that gaggle of church ladies she’d waved to outside the computer store the other day. Mrs. Gatewood had never had anything nice to say to her when Erin was younger, but Erin would be polite. After all, she had to think about Sam’s reputation as well as hers. She blinked as the thought settled into her brain. The thought of her and Sam as a couple. It didn’t scare her at all.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Gatewood.”

  “I had heard you were back in town.”

  Erin just bet she had. No doubt from her gossip girls, or maybe Facebook. Erin had heard the town had a public page that posted some pretty nosy comments. Mrs. Gatewood smiled, but it didn’t appear to go all the way to her eyes.

  “Weren’t you working as a hostess or something at one of those singles resorts in Florida?” the woman asked with barely concealed contempt.

  Erin’s gut tightened. “As a cook on a sailing vessel. And it was in the Virgin Islands, not Florida.”

  “Oh, well. All those places kind of blend together, don’t they, dear? With all that loose living and drinking and drugs?” There was a pause and Erin started to feel the throb of a headache in her temples. “That must be difficult for you to be around all that, what with your past and all. I remember…”

  Erin glanced away, desperately, but no one else was headed her way who might rescue her, and for the life of her, she couldn’t think of an excuse to get away on her own. And get away she definitely needed to do before she lost her temper.

  “Sheriff Barnes has to be so careful, him being an elected official. It would be a shame for any scandal to damage his reputation.”

  Erin froze. She and Sam hadn’t been anywhere together. This was one of the facets of small town life she’d hated. Everybody was always in everybody else’s business, and how news got around was anyone’s guess.

  “What kind of scandal would that be Mrs. Gatewood?” she asked, for once trying to keep a tight rein on her temper.

  “Well you are living with him, aren’t you?”

  It was tempting to lie or just tell her to mind her own business, but Erin remembered all too well how stories got around. While it might not hurt Erin in the long run, it could have an impact on Sam’s job where respect was such an integral part of it. If Betty Gatewood was even bringing this up, then she had to already know something.

  “I’m staying at his house, working on his farm,” Erin finally admitted, then kicked herself. No doubt the old biddy had just been fishing, and now Erin had confirmed it. Shit. She would have to tell Sam. He would be so angry.

  The older woman shook her head. “You should think about it. You might flit away again, but Sam has to live and work here. Folks might think twice about re-electing a sheriff who has a young woman living with him. He doesn’t have a powerful family ready to gloss over his mistakes.”

  Erin was livid, but she knew giving rein to her anger like she wanted would only hurt Sam that much more. Swallowing back the furious response that sprang to her lips, she simply smiled. “Thank you for sharing your concerns, Mrs. Gatewood. I’ll keep those in mind.”

  Betty Gatewood patted her arm, and it was all Erin could do not to cringe. While the older woman sailed off to her car, Erin stood rooted to the spot, her hands fisted inside her pockets. She wanted to ignore everything that woman said… But she couldn’t. No matter the motivation, there was some truth in words she knew weren’t truly motivated out of concern for Sam.

  But Erin was concerned. She didn’t want to hurt Sam’s career.

  “Erin?”

  Lost in thought, she jerked slightly, and looked up to see Holly carrying Noelle. Erin stepped forward. “Can I help you? I mean, should you be carrying her as far along as you are?”

  “She normally likes to practice her walking, but she’s a little pooped, and I’m in a bit of a hurry. I’m meeting Jake for lunch.”

  “I could carry her for you. Are you going to Mercer’s?”

  “Yes.” Holly handed her the girl. Noelle grinned and patted Erin’s cheek. “Thanks. She likes you.”

  Erin rubbed her cheek against Noelle’s. “I like kids. They just accept you for who you are, you know?”

  Holly touched her arm. “Are you okay?” Erin pasted a smile on her face, but before she could say anything, Holly continued. “I saw Betty Gatewood out here talking to you. I tried to get here sooner, but I wasn’t quite in time, was I?”

  After adjusting Noelle on her hip, Erin grimaced. “I don’t guess she said anything that I didn’t already know.”

  Holly stopped her. “Jake threatened to punch her in the nose when she came to talk to him right after Noelle was born. I think you showed remarkable self-control.”

  Some of her tension eased. Erin even managed a smile. Noelle suddenly squirmed. “Da-dee!”

  Erin looked over her shoulder to see Jake striding along the sidewalk toward them. While Noelle waved her hand and bounced up and down on her hip, Erin studied the man coming toward them. His dark hair lifted in the light breeze, and a smile lit his face. Like Evan, Jake was a man obviously happy with his life
. She only noticed the dark uniform and the cap in his hand as he drew near.

  From spending most of her life trying to avoid anyone in uniform, Erin now found herself surrounded. It hadn’t struck her before. That she, of all people, should find herself in love with an officer of the law, was the ultimate in irony. She had been doing everything she could since she became a teenager to flout any type of authority, and had found herself skating on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion.

  Jake kissed Holly on the cheek, then reached for Noelle, who leaned toward him with a giggle. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”

  He grinned. “Hi, pumpkin.” He hugged her close and gave her a smacking kiss on the lips. “Hey, Erin. Sam called a little while ago. You joining us for lunch?”

  She shook her head. “No. As I’m sure Sam mentioned, I’m on my way to Tarpley’s to buy ingredients for dinner. Sam and I’ve been working pretty hard this week with the calving, and I thought I would cook him a nice meal.”

  Jake grinned. “Whatever you cook, make it a lot. That man puts away more food than…”

  “Jake!” Holly said. “That’s not nice.”

  Erin laughed. “It’s true. Hmm, and I thought it was because he was working so hard with the calving going on. Y’all have a nice lunch.”

  “I’ll just keep an eye on you until you get there,” Jake said.

  As she walked back toward Tarpley’s, Erin realized her dark mood was gone. Between Holly’s comments and the happiness that just seemed to ooze from her whole family, Erin was once again back on an even keel.

  Seeing the expression on Sam’s face that evening when she set the pan seared chops, apple chutney, roasted new potatoes, and green beans in front of him lifted her spirits even more. He dug into the meal with hardly a word, but when it was over and she started to clear the table, he pulled her onto his lap.

  “Thanks, baby. You’re good for me.”

  Erin caressed his cheek. She hoped he was right. Betty Gatewood’s words echoed in the back of her mind, but Erin tried to shove them firmly away.