by Linda Conrad
Travis stuck his hands in his jeans’ pockets and stared the floor. “That one is on me. When my Ranger buddy told me he’d notified the sheriff in the next county that you were bringing prisoners over, I had a gut feeling Sheriff McCord would know everything within minutes. Sure enough, Sheriff Conners wasn’t all that happy about the Texas Rangers going around any Texas county sheriff. The county sheriffs here are territorial and tend to stick together.
“But to be fair,” Travis added, “Sheriff Conners had no idea McCord was in trouble up to his neck. He only made a courtesy call to notify his buddy what was going down in his own county. Just like he would want to be notified.”
“And you somehow just knew those roadblocks were fake?” Lacie was amazed that he’d been so clever.
“Yeah. Well, I’d sent a copter up ahead to keep an eye on you and Colt after you called. I didn’t like the idea of you traveling that road without an escort. The pilot had you in view with night vision the whole time.”
Colt shook his head slowly as though he could scarcely believe how close they’d come. “I owe you a lot for that, Trav. Without you…” His words ran out as he slid a protective arm around her shoulder.
Travis straightened and looked affronted. “That’s what families do. They take care of each other.” He tilted his head to take in Lacie. “And everyone in Chance County is like family.”
Colt looked a little shocked but quickly recovered. “You can have the whole place. I’m counting the days until I see Chance County in my rearview mirror. Gunrunners and dirty sheriffs. I’ve had enough.”
The sharp ache in the vicinity of her chest smacked Lacie with the hard reality that she’d really suspected all along. He still couldn’t see it. That Chance was home. People here cared about each other. People here…loved him.
Travis broke into her thoughts. “I’m sorry you feel that way but I’m hoping Lacie feels differently. We’re counting on her to take over the sheriff’s department—become the acting sheriff. At least until we can hold another election.”
“Me? But isn’t there someone else with more seniority?” she asked.
Travis came closer as Colt sat down on the bed beside her. “Seniority has nothing to do with it. You’re the best man—uh—person for the job.”
He sneaked a glance at Colt then went on. “Your department is decimated. There’re only a few people left that weren’t on your stepfather’s secret payroll. You’ll have to do a lot of hiring very quickly. But we’re all behind you. Every able-bodied man in Chance County will pitch in when you need help. Just say the word.”
A woman county sheriff in Texas? It took Lacie’s breath away. Maybe it had been done but not too darned often.
“Lacie?” Colt’s voice was suddenly sounding rusty. “You’re not seriously considering this?”
Oh, Colt. It was not a good time for them to have this conversation. Not with his brother standing in the same room.
“I can’t leave the department with no one to run it. Without protection for the county.” She let her eyes plead with him to give her a little space and be reasonable. “Travis is saying it’s temporary. I have to help out.”
“But you’re injured. Your broken arm. Let Travis and the Rangers bring in someone else to run the department.”
“My injury is just a hairline break,” she argued softly, knowing he was using it as an excuse to keep her free to leave town with him. “And the doctor said the cast could come off in a few weeks. In the meantime, there’s a lot I can do in the office—like hiring new deputies and bringing in a technician to go through the files and upgrade our computers.”
Travis’s face broke out in a broad smile. “I knew you were right for this job. The Rangers thought so, too. And don’t worry about the next election. No one else would waste their time running against you. Not with the Bar-C in your corner.”
Colt’s look of panic might’ve struck her as funny if she hadn’t known his intentions right from the start. He expected her to pack up and leave with him. He hadn’t heard a thing she’d been trying to tell him about them wanting different things.
He was so sure of her love. So determined to get everything he wanted in the end. She did love him. But apparently he didn’t love her quite enough.
That knowledge hurt. Hurt bad enough that she didn’t even want to look at him when she tried to explain again. Would an email or a letter do better? Probably not.
Devastated but determined to keep her chin high, she turned to face him as she slipped out from under his arm and stood. “I think it would be best if Travis drove me back. I need to stop at the sheriff’s department and pick up a cruiser. Sheriffs’ vehicles are mostly automatics and I can drive one even with this bum arm. I’ll be staying in Macy’s cottage when you want to talk.”
The pain on his face nearly stopped her. But he masked it quickly and stood, too.
“If that’s what you want.” He turned to his brother. “You okay driving her back, Trav?”
Knowing he had just stepped into the middle of something that was none of his business, Travis nodded but hedged, “No problem on my end. You have any trouble with it?”
Colt jerked his head to say no, and then caught her by her good arm. “I’ll see you before I leave town.”
“All right.” Her heart was bleeding, dripping with sorrow and loss, and it was all she could do to keep the tears backed up in her eyes.
His hand lingered on her arm. And as he gazed into her face, his eyes burned with hurt. She stopped breathing.
“I thought… But I was mistaken,” he said under his breath.
Then without explanation, Colt released her and walked through the door and probably out of her life for good.
*
Colt didn’t get it. He just didn’t get why she wouldn’t come with him. Lacie loved him. She’d said it more than once and had also showed it in so many ways.
Then why…?
Five days later and he was still waiting for her to call and apologize. Say that she was wrong and wanted to be with him always. But he hadn’t heard a word from her.
He knew she was doing okay. Back to work according to Travis. His family and the townspeople had rallied around and given her all the help she could use.
She really didn’t need him. The pain of that realization hurt worse than he’d ever expected. Damn her.
Pacing the kitchen floor at Sam’s house, he figured he should stop this moping around and do something with his life. If he was leaving Chance, he needed to get to it. Sam and his family were coming home tomorrow. And though his brother had made it clear Colt was welcome to stay as long as he liked, Colt was finding it increasingly difficult to remain here in the place where he and Lacie had seemed so happy.
As it was, he’d only been able to sleep outside on the front porch. Most nights, he paced and sulked.
How could she have lied so convincingly? And how could he have been taken in like that? So, they hadn’t seen each other for nearly ten years. So what? People didn’t change their basic makeup, did they? But obviously she had. She must’ve been using him to get rid of her stepfather.
He’d made up his mind. It was time. Reaching for the phone, he dialed a number he remembered well.
In a moment, his superior at Justice picked up. When Colt identified himself, he received a surprise welcome.
“Are you ready to come back to work?” his boss asked. “’Cause we need you. If you hadn’t called now, I wouldn’t have waited long to get in touch.”
“I’m not still on suspension, then?”
“You never were. You were placed on disability leave while we investigated how our sting went wrong. Want to hear what we uncovered?”
Colt wasn’t too sure he wanted to hear anything more about that terrible day. Living through it had been life altering. Reliving it seemed like overkill. It would be especially difficult to take after having been so cruelly rejected by the first and only woman he had ever loved.
But still too c
urious to say no, he said, “Okay. What’d the investigation find?”
“Apparently our undercover agent, the one who died that day, was also on the payroll of the federal prosecutor we’d been investigating.” His boss blew out a breath before continuing. “And it appears the drug cartel deliberately murdered him during the sting to make sure he kept quiet. They’d wanted his death to appear to be a coincidence. Dying in a hail of bullets made a good cover. The rest of the injuries our team experienced were only collateral damage. No one else died. Thank God.”
Then it wasn’t totally his fault for losing concentration as the sting went down? Nothing he could have done would’ve made a difference?
When he’d stayed quiet for too long, his boss asked, “So when are you coming back to work?”
“Next week.” The words were out before he thought them through.
But going back to his job was what he’d wanted. Wasn’t it?
After all, at least the justice department needed him.
*
“You’re really leaving?” Travis stood with hands on hips, glowering at him.
“You knew I wasn’t planning on staying forever.” For some reason Colt felt guilty about going. But he couldn’t figure out where such a feeling would be coming from.
“I thought maybe you might’ve changed your mind. Have you talked to Lacie about this?”
“No.” And he had no intention of putting himself through that at this point.
Travis gave him an odd look. “I thought you two were… Never mind. She just told me she intends to run for sheriff at the next election. She’ll need all the backing she can get.”
“She’ll have plenty of help. Lacie won’t need me for anything.”
“I had a long talk with her about the job yesterday.” Travis hesitated, probably waiting to see what kind of response he would get, but Colt kept silent. “And also talked about our vision for the future of Chance County. The county is growing. People are actually starting to move in. We’re going to need services. A real fire department. Our own doctor and clinic.”
Colt turned his back. He didn’t care about Chance County. It had never brought him anything but heartache.
“We really need a county attorney and a justice of the peace. Those positions have been vacant for years. You wouldn’t happen to know anyone that would take on those jobs?”
Swinging around, Colt stepped toe-to-toe with his older brother. “What are you doing? You know I’ve always wanted out of this county. Nothing has changed that.”
“Nothing? You sure? ’Cause to my way of thinking there’re a hell of a lot of people here that love you and want you to stay. Family. Friends. Even people like Macy James. She couldn’t be happier about you finding the real killer of her best friend. Said to tell you she’d be proud to cook you supper at the café for free for the rest of your life.”
Colt almost covered his ears. He didn’t want to hear this. How could he stay knowing Lacie would be here? He couldn’t face her every day with the knowledge that she didn’t really love him. It hurt badly enough now to double him over when he gave it too much thought.
Travis put a hand on his shoulder. “You need to talk to Lacie.”
“No.” He couldn’t. How could he face her rejection?
“Did you ever ask her why she left town right after high school? I remember you being mighty upset over her running out.”
“No.” He’d forgotten all about being curious. Now he was afraid to hear the truth.
Travis didn’t seem to understand his reluctance. “Well, I asked her about it. Wanted to know why she left and why she came back before I gave her my complete backing for sheriff.”
“Don’t tell me.” He slid out from under his brother’s hand. “It’s not important.”
“Yeah. It is.” Travis lowered his voice. “She left because her stepfather tried getting into her bed one time too many and she couldn’t find a good way to fend him off. And because her mother was too afraid of him and too far gone by then to do anything to help her.”
“What? That has to be a lie. She would’ve told me. I would’ve known.”
Travis shook his head slowly. “I said that, too. Asked her why she didn’t let you help. You two were fairly close back then.”
“Very close. What’d she say when you asked?”
“The truth. Said by then you already hated her stepfather and had told him as much. Had even been bugging him about the investigation into our mother’s death and hinting that he’d done something wrong. She was afraid for you. As much as she was afraid for herself. The man was the county sheriff. That’s a powerful position. She thought her only option was leaving town.”
Colt couldn’t catch his breath. He’d been holding it and now his lungs wouldn’t work. Nothing was working. Especially his brain.
“And she came back for justice,” Travis went on, watching him closely again. “To find a way to put her stepfather behind bars where she thought he belonged. And because of you, too. She came back hoping to find you still here.”
The sudden adrenaline-filled anger caught Colt off guard, and he was unable to speak. He swung at his brother and missed, putting his fist through a cabinet door. Travis easily sidestepped the swing but never uttered a sound.
Pain resounded up Colt’s arm and fortunately cooled him down enough to talk. “Sorry. But I asked you not to tell me. Now I’m done. I’ll be out of Chance County by tomorrow. Tell Sam and Grace I’ll pay the damages.”
“Stay. Please.” Travis’s eyes glazed over. “I’ve only just got my brothers back together. I don’t want to lose you again.”
Damn, that was another blow to his heart. His love for Travis, for all his family, had never been stronger. But he couldn’t think about any kind of love. Not while he was still in Chance County.
He had to get out of here.
*
Lacie only went through the motions of being the acting sheriff from day to day. Her heart wasn’t in it.
Three weeks had passed and she hadn’t heard a word from Colt. He hadn’t even bothered to talk to her before he left town like he’d said he would.
She’d picked up the phone a hundred times to call him. To make sure he was okay. She’d thought of putting everything in an email, all her hopes and dreams and hurts. But then decided she didn’t want the dejection she’d face on hearing that it didn’t matter to him. That he hated Chance more than he loved her.
His feelings seemed clear enough by the way he left without a word.
“Sheriff? You busy?” Louanna opened the door and stuck her head into the office.
Thank heaven for Louanna. She and a couple of other secretaries and two of the loyal deputies had saved her butt. She wasn’t sure she could’ve gotten this far as acting sheriff without them.
“Come in,” she said from behind her desk, and cringed at the weariness in her own voice. “Looks like I’ll be busy for the rest of my life. But I can always take a minute.”
“It’s not for me.” Louanna disappeared for a second then reappeared again. “Someone is here to see you. I hope it’s okay.”
Before Lacie could say a word, Colt came through the door. He stood just inside her office, holding his Stetson in front of him with both hands.
Too stunned to move, Lacie knew her mouth had dropped open but she couldn’t have closed it if her life depended on it. She simply sat and gazed at the man who had become her whole world.
Well, maybe she was drooling just a little, too. Looking at him, at those stormy blue eyes and the light brown hair that had recently been cut, made her want to be with him. In his strong arms. In his bed. She craved the pleasure the two of them had found together.
But there was more to it than that. For weeks she’d been frantic over his welfare. How he’d been getting along since he’d been gone. She’d worried about him all alone in California with no one who cared about him. He was always so closed up about his feelings and wouldn’t let anyone in.
A
nd yet here he was. Looking more handsome and healthy than usual. He’d even shaved.
“How are you?” His question finally kicked both her mind and mouth into gear.
She stood and came around her desk to face him. “A little tired. But mostly I’m okay. How have you been?”
“I’m all right. I see your cast is gone. How’s the arm?”
“Enough, Colt.” She couldn’t bear looking at him from across the room. Not when she hadn’t seen him in weeks. “Why are you here?”
Colt took an involuntary step in her direction. Her eyes were full of emotions he couldn’t—wouldn’t—dare name. He wanted to hold her, soothe her, until he could make everything all right. God, what would he have done if she’d stopped loving him because he was a complete jerk who didn’t know what he’d had until it was gone?
Stopping just short of having her in his arms, he held on to his hat’s brim so hard his fingers were going numb. “Travis said you might be looking for someone to take the jobs of county attorney and justice of the peace for Chance County. I was hoping to apply for the job.”
“In Chance?” Her eyes went wide, then narrowed to disbelieving slits. “The right person for the position would have to live in Chance County. You do know that?”
She wasn’t going to make this easy. But he owed her the right to be hard on him. He deserved this and much more.
“Lacie.” He wanted to say so much, but he was a downright, dirty coward. “I finally figured out what was good about Chance, Texas.”
“Oh? And what was that?”
“Darlin’, please. I’m sorry I was such a jerk. But I need to know… Do you still care about me?”
“Oh, Colt.” She just stood there staring at him.
His eyes filled up and he choked on his words. “I…I love you, Lace. I’ve never stopped loving you. I was wrong to leave. I see that now.”
Taking a deep breath, he rushed the rest out before he chickened out. “Can’t say I’m much of a prize, but if you’ll forgive me, I want to try making you happy.”
She remained where she was and he began to panic.
