by Katie Lane
She tried not to cringe at the early hour. Seven thirty? That would mean she’d have to get up at six thirty to get ready. And the only time she’d been up at six thirty in the morning was when she and her sisters had gone to Vegas and stayed out all night partying.
But she plastered on a bright smile. “Seven thirty sharp.”
He nodded before he turned to the door, but he still couldn’t get the handle to work. She squeezed around him and gave it a little jiggle before pushing it open. “It’s a little temperamental.” She flashed him a smile. “But I’m good with temperamental things.”
“Are you calling me temperamental, Miss Hadley?”
With him standing so close, the spark of sexual attraction flared again and settled in a warm flame deep inside her stomach. “If the shoe fits, Sheriff Kendall,” she said in a husky voice that must’ve betrayed that warm flame.
Waylon’s eyes darkened, and his nostrils flared as if he was a stallion that had just caught her scent. They both stilled; not even a breath fell from their lips as the flame inside Spring grew higher and brighter. Then he blinked.
“Goodnight, Miss Hadley.”
“Goodnight, Sheriff Kendall.” She placed a hand on her trembling tummy as he stepped down from the trailer and walked away. Instead of closing the door, she stood there for a few moments leaning against the wall of the kitchenette and wondering what it was about Waylon that made her libido go wacky.
It wacked out again when Waylon peeked his head back in. He was wearing his cowboy hat and holding out her skillet. “Next time you find someone sneaking around your trailer, lock the doors and call the sheriff.”
She took the pan. “I would’ve, but someone broke my cellphone, and I can’t get a new one until I get my first check. Which brings up a good question? What is my salary?”
“We’ll discuss it if you show up on time tomorrow.” He turned and walked away.
She moved to the doorway and called to him. “I’ll show up on time. Don’t you worry.” When he and his dog had almost disappeared, she glanced around at the dark, spooky night. “Are there any wild animals I need to be aware of?”
He stopped and turned. “If you’re scared, maybe you should stay with your brother.”
She tipped up her chin. “I’m not scared. I was just asking a question.”
“There are no lions, or tigers, or bears. But to put your mind at ease, I’ll have my deputy Jonas drive by in a couple hours just to make sure everything is okay.”
It was a sweet gesture. One she wasn’t about to decline. She was a little scared being alone. Or maybe more than a little. “Thank you.”
He tipped his hat before he walked away.
She stood in the doorway and watched his nice butt in his tight Wranglers disappear into the darkness before she closed the door. Surprisingly, she didn’t feel as scared anymore. Maybe because her fear of being alone was eclipsed by her fear that if Waylon ever wanted to boink her on his desk, she might just let him.
She was so worried about being late for her first day, she got very little sleep that night. She finally got up around five thirty and got ready, hoping to impress the sheriff by being early. Showering in her trailer’s itty-bitty shower was a challenge. It was no more than a small bench and a handheld nozzle that had the water pressure of a drippy faucet. But she managed.
Since the sheriff didn’t like bright, she went with her most subdued outfit—a light peach V-necked sweater, white pencil skirt, and tan cowboy boots with peach heart inlays. She was so proud of herself for being ready an hour before she had to be to work, she decided she had time to make herself some tea. She was putting the teakettle on her two-burner stove, when she peeked out her window and saw a sheriff’s car parked in the road. Not Waylon’s SUV, but a four-door sedan. She walked outside to thank the deputy for checking up on her and was surprised to find an older gentleman sound asleep behind the wheel. Worried that he wasn’t just asleep, she gently shook his shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir. Are you okay?”
His eyes popped open. “Huh . . . what?”
“I’m sorry to wake you.” She held out a hand. “I’m Spring Hadley, Sheriff Kendall’s new assistant.”
“You didn’t wake me. I was just resting my eyes.” He straightened, and then cringed and grabbed his neck.
“Oh, no, did you hurt your neck?”
“It’s just a crick. I’ll be fine.” But he didn’t look fine. He held his head at an odd angle, and his features were scrunched in pain. As much as she was on a schedule, she couldn’t ignore his discomfort.
She opened his door. “Come into the trailer and we’ll put some heat on it.”
Jonas was as stubborn as an old mule to begin with. But after Spring applied the towel she’d warmed in the microwave to his neck and made him a cup of tea, he finally loosened up and started talking. Spring soon realized he was a sweet man who was still grieving the loss of his wife. She sat and listened sympathetically as he talked about his wife and the perfect life they’d had together before she died. It wasn’t until he glanced at his watch and said he needed to get back to work that she remembered her new job.
After Jonas left, she only had thirty minutes to get to work. She made it to town in under twenty, then stopped by the diner to grab the sheriff a quick cup of coffee. But when she walked into the diner, there seemed to be some kind of disturbance. People were crowded around the counter complaining about bad service. One of the Sanders sisters, Spring didn’t know which one, was standing behind the counter yelling back.
“Don’t blame me. I just sling the hash. I didn’t sign up to serve it too!” She took off her apron and tossed it down on the counter before she disappeared into the kitchen.
Spring’s first instinct was to skip the coffee and head to the sheriff’s station. But she couldn’t do that. This was Carly’s diner, and Carly was family. Granny Bon had always taught her that family watched out for family.
She pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing behind the counter. She smiled brightly at the angry faces. “Good morning, y’all! What seems to be the problem?”
“Food is the problem,” someone yelled from the back. “I’ve been here for a half hour and haven’t even gotten a glass of water.”
“My eggs were stone cold by the time they got to my table,” someone else yelled.
A woman moved up in the crowd. “I ordered sausage and got bacon. And it wasn’t even extra crispy like I like it.”
“Nothing worse than limp bacon,” Spring said. “But I’m sure it was just a simple mistake.” She glanced around. “And haven’t we all made mistakes before? I know I’ve made more than my fair share. Thankfully, people have forgiven me.” Most people. Summer was the exception to the rule. “My Granny Bon always says that forgiveness is a gift we should all give freely.”
The faces around her grew less angry, and a few smiles appeared. The woman who had pushed through the crowd nodded her head. “You’re right, honey. Don’t worry about my bacon. It’s not the first limp thing I’ve had to deal with.” She moved back to her booth. The other people seemed to take her lead. Spring heaved a sigh of relief and headed into the kitchen to find Carly and figure out what was going on.
But Carly wasn’t in the kitchen. Only the Sanders sister who was flipping pancakes at the stove and cussing a blue streak and a busboy who was standing in the corner holding his tub of dirty dishes and looking scared.
“Where’s Carly?” Spring asked the boy.
He pointed a finger at the back door. Outside, Spring found Carly leaning against the building. She was a petite woman with short blond hair and big brown eyes that made her look like a cute pixie. But beneath the pixie features was a steely strength that Spring had always envied. Although she didn’t look so strong now. Her face was pale and drawn, and she looked like she was ready to drop.
“Are you sick, Carly?” Spring asked.
Carly held a hand to her stomach. “Sort of. I haven’t been feeling well. And I took a h
ome pregnancy test last night and it came back positive.”
“That’s wonderful!” Spring walked over and gave her a big hug. “Congratulations!”
Carly smiled weakly. “It is wonderful news except for the fact that I’m a chef. A chef who can’t stand the smell of eggs cooking.”
“Uh oh.”
“Exactly. And to add to it, Bella Sanders came down with a cold, my breakfast and lunch waitress quit on me this morning and my dinner waiter has decided to try out for the high school baseball team so he won’t be able to show up until six.”
“Well, that explains the mutiny that’s taking place inside.”
Carly took a deep breath. “I don’t have time for this. I have to go help Stella.” She headed to the door and pulled it open, but as soon as the waft of cooking scents hit her, she gagged and turned away.
“You can’t go in there,” Spring said. “You’ll end up throwing up on someone’s omelet.” She could think of only one way to solve the problem. A solution that would no doubt get her fired as the sheriff’s assistant. But there was no help for it. She couldn’t leave her pregnant cousin-in-law in the lurch. “I’ll help.”
Carly didn’t look too happy about the offer. In fact, she looked more than a little skeptical. No doubt she’d been talking to Spring’s family and thought Spring couldn’t even handle tying her shoes. “But do you know anything about waitressing?”
“Of course. I waitressed in college.” It was just a little fib. She’d worked behind the counter of a coffee shop for one day. The next day she got fired for chatting too much with the customers. But she couldn’t let Carly know that. She had enough to worry about. “Go on home. Stella and I will handle things from here.”
Before Carly could argue, Spring headed back inside and grabbed an apron.
Chapter Ten
Waylon glanced at the clock on his computer and was just plain dumbstruck. He’d figured Spring would be late, but he hadn’t figured she’d be over two hours late. It was already close to ten o’clock and there was no sign of her. He should be thrilled. Now he had an excuse for not hiring her that no one, not even her brother, could argue with.
But for some reason, he wasn’t all that thrilled. In fact, he was a little disappointed. And he couldn’t put his finger on the reason why. Maybe because she had disrupted the monotony of his everyday life. She was unpredictable and a troublemaker, but she was also kind of funny. She made him laugh, and it had been a long time since he’d found something to laugh about. Of course, he hadn’t found her bizarre theory about him being sexually attracted to her amusing.
Probably because he was sexually attracted to her.
But it had nothing to do with Spring and everything to do with the dry spell he’d been going through since becoming sheriff. He needed sexual release, and he needed it in a bad way.
The thought had him opening his laptop and pulling up the online dating site. His eyes widened when he saw the staggering number of “hugs” he’d received on his profile page. Obviously, it just took some time for women to find you on the site. At least that’s what he thought until he glanced over at his profile picture. It was a completely different picture than the one he’d taken and extremely familiar. He glanced at the picture of him with his family on the desk. The profile picture was the same picture, minus his family. How had it gotten cropped and ended up on the dating site?
It didn’t take long to come up with an answer.
Spring.
It wouldn’t have been hard for her to scan the picture on the printer, and then crop it and put it on his profile page. His username and passcode were stored in his laptop.
The picture wasn’t the only thing she’d changed. She’d also fixed his answers on the questionnaire. He no longer had a pet peeve. His favorite movie was still Robocop, but now he also loved When Harry Met Sally and Sabrina. What was Sabrina? And his favorite authors were still Grisham and Crichton, but he also loved Alice in Wonderland.
He jumped up and grabbed his hat. He was going to kill her. Or at least read her the riot act. He slammed out of his office and sailed out the front door. He had just climbed in his SUV when he spotted Spring’s white Jeep parked in front of the diner. The fact that she’d been having breakfast when she was supposed to be working pissed him off even more.
He got back out of his truck and headed for the diner. He couldn’t give her hell in front of the townsfolk, but he could certainly drag her butt out back and do it. He stepped into the diner expecting to see her sitting at the counter or in a booth chatting it up with one of her cousins. Instead, she was hustling around with a pot of coffee filling people’s cups. She was smiling brightly, but she looked frazzled. Her hair was mussed and the apron she wore was stained.
He froze in his tracks, unsure of what was going on. Had she decided to work for Carly instead of him? It seemed that way when she glanced up and saw him. Her smile faded, and a resigned look came over her face. She moved behind the counter and grabbed a to-go cup and filled it with coffee, then put the carafe back in the machine and walked over to him. “Black, no fake flavoring or sugar.” When he took the cup, she sighed. “I know. I’m fired.”
The words completed deflated the rant he had been about to launch into. Suddenly, he realized that he’d been looking forward to their confrontation. Which might explain his disappointment when she didn’t show up for work. He liked verbally fencing with her. She was the only person who dared to stand up to the strict lawman he’d become. But she wasn’t standing up to him now. She looked tired and defeated.
“So did you want to see a menu?” she asked. “Or do you just want takeout?”
He took off his hat. “I want to know what you’re doing here. I thought you wanted to work for me.”
“I do want to work for you. And I planned to be at your office bright and early this morning. But when I walked in here to get your coffee—”
Mrs. Crawley, who ran the only motel in town, waved her hand at them, cutting Spring off. “Excuse me, but I asked for my eggs to be medium, not runny.”
“I guess I better get back to work.” Spring gave him a weak smile. “Besides, I promised that there would be no excuses if I messed up. So goodbye, Sheriff Kendall. I appreciate the opportunity to prove my worth.”
When he couldn’t think of anything to say to that, she turned away and took Mrs. Crawley’s plate. “Sorry about that, Mrs. Crawley. I’ll get Stella to make you some more.” She took the plate to the order window and rang the bell. “Eggs are running and need to be caught!” Then she headed over to a booth full of cowboys, pulled out a pad, and started taking their order.
Waylon should just count his blessings and leave. His life would be much simpler if he didn’t have to deal with Spring Hadley. But he didn’t leave. Instead, he walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Stella Sanders greeted him, “you want me to whip you up your usual scrambled eggs and bacon?”
“No, thank you. I already had some cereal this morning. Where’s Carly?”
“She came down sick. She said it was the flu just like Bella has.” She paused and leaned in closer. “But personally, I think that gal is in the family way. ‘Course, I’m not one to poke my nose where it don’t belong.”
That would explain why Carly had been so tired lately. It would also explain why Spring was there working. “Carly called Spring to help out?”
“No. That sweet little thang just showed up and volunteered. She’s not very good at waitressing. Not one order she’s taken has been right. But people don’t seem to mind too much. It’s hard to be mad at someone as friendly and sweet as Spring. The townsfolk were about ready to lynch me until she showed up and flashed that pretty little smile.” Stella went back to flipping her pancakes. “You sure I can’t make you something to eat? Cereal isn’t enough to fill up a strapping man like you.” She tossed him a wink. He had flirted a lot with Stella when he was deputy. As the sheriff, he needed to be more professional. So he ignored her flirtin
g.
“No, thank you. I need to get back to the office.” He walked out into the diner and watched Spring hustling around.
Stella was right. She wasn’t a very good waitress. She splashed water on customers when she was filling their glasses, forgot to bring syrup with the pancakes, confused orders, and dropped Mrs. Crawley’s plate of over medium eggs on the way to her table. But people didn’t seem to mind her inefficiency—probably because it came with a cheerful smile and friendly chatter about everything from the weather to the upcoming spring dance.
She finally noticed Waylon standing there watching her. “Did I get your coffee wrong, Sheriff? I thought you liked it straight. No sugar or cream.”
He took a sip and nodded. “It’s perfect. I’ll take it the exact same way tomorrow—that’s if you don’t mind making me a cup when you get to work.”
She stared at him. “Work?”
“Sometimes there are good excuses for not showing up.” He pulled on his hat. “I’ll see you at seven thirty tomorrow morning, Miss Hadley.”
Her blue eyes widened. “You’re not firing me?”
“I can’t fire a person I haven’t even hired.”
Her smile was as bright as the sun shining in through the windows. “I’ll see you at seven thirty sharp tomorrow morning, Sheriff Kendall.”
He paused. “Make that seven fifteen. There’s a little business we need to discuss about touching my personal computer.”
The smile slipped, and her cheeks turned pink. “I was just trying—”
He cut her off. “I don’t care what you thought you were trying to do. My personal life is my personal life. Understood?”
She nodded before her eyes twinkled. “But I bet it worked. I bet you got some messages from ladies dying to go out with a man who knows how to smile, has no pet peeves, and loves romantic comedies and children’s books.”
He bit back a smile and tipped his hat. “Have a good day, Miss Hadley.”
She sent him a sassy look. “You too, Alice.”
