After the past hour, he had absolutely no energy to deal with an Angelina incident, so he simply stood there, waiting for her to wind down.
She leaned in and whispered,, “I accused you of being a liar, which was apparently unfounded. I should’ve guessed all along the rumors about the TV show had been cooked up by those women out at Summer Haven. I knew something was up when some so-called County Cops assistant called to make a B&B reservation and then cancelled it not twenty-four hours later.”
So much for his trying to right the situation the girls had caused in their attempt to make him the popular vote, but Teague put a finger to his lips. “We wouldn’t want anyone else to know about your accusations, so let’s just keep all this to ourselves.”
“I was hoping that’s what you’d say,” Angelina cooed. “And just for the record, I think you make a great sheriff.”
“Thank you.” He pointed in the direction of the police cars. “I gotta run. Duty calls.” He didn’t waste a moment, leaving her standing there among the onlookers. His and Jenny’s date night was ruined, but he needed to see her and Grayson one more time before he headed to the sheriff’s office. He spotted them sitting in the cab of Abby Ruth’s truck, but before he could make his way over, an older gentleman stepped into his path.
Teague had seen that face before. Had seen it plastered all over Bartell County. “Mr. Hillen, this really isn’t the time, so—”
The retired detective stuck out his hand. “You did a helluva job back there. When I first heard this county had elected a sheriff who was on the young side, I was damn skeptical. To lead, a man’s gotta have smarts, tenacity, and experience. To my mind, that doesn’t happen until a cop’s in his forties or fifties. But you just proved me wrong.”
“I appreciate that—” Teague returned the man’s handshake, “—but I need to see my—”
“Which also makes it damn obvious who the Bartell County voters should elect in November. I’ll be withdrawing from the race come Monday morning.”
Oh, hell no. “I don’t think it’s for you to decide for them. You pull out and they have no choice at all.”
Hillen hitched his chin toward the folks still milling around in the parking lot like this was the county fair. “If you’d heard half of what folks were saying out here tonight, you’d know I’m right.”
“I think giving the voters a choice is a good thing.”
Hillen straightened. For a moment, Teague thought the guy was going to argue, but he didn’t.
“You’re a good man,” Hillen said.
“He sure convinced Linda and me of that.” Teague turned to find Jerry Cannon standing close by. “You can rest assured you have our two votes.” The man gave him a nod and walked away.
Hillen clapped Teague on the shoulder. “Damn glad my hometown and this county have a man like you watching out for them.”
Chapter 12
Days after the incident at the ball field, Jenny still shook with fear at what could’ve happened to Gabby if Teague hadn’t been there to talk down that disturbed dad. Even as Jenny sat in an Adirondack chair on the church-house’s back porch, watching Grayson chase a balsa-wood airplane across the yard, she had to run her hands over her upper arms to calm the goose bumps. And the note she’d found on her car at school was lying beside her, still damp from her gripping it so tightly on the way here.
Jenny,
Meet me at the church-house.
We need to talk.
Love,
Teague
Yes, it was to the point. Almost terse. But he’d used the word love. That had to mean something.
The rumble of Teague’s truck came from the side driveway, and her heart picked up a beat. Before Teague could even climb out, Grayson ran over to him, chattering up a storm and doing a show-and-tell of the plane he’d made in art class today.
With a gentle smile, Teague turned the plane over in his strong hands then lofted it into the air, sending it soaring clear to the other end of the yard.
Grayson whooped with joy and ran red-faced across the grass to retrieve it.
Teague finally turned his attention toward her and headed for the porch. “Thanks for meeting me here this afternoon.”
She braced herself. When she’d stopped by the sheriff’s department earlier, Gloria had mentioned that Teague had received a private call from the Houston Police Department. Had he given up the idea of being sheriff? Surely after that night at the ball field he’d get every vote in the county. But what if the negotiation scenario had made him hungry for his old big-city police force days?
Could she be the wife of an officer in a city rife with shootings and other crimes that Summer Shoals rarely, if ever, had to handle? She wasn’t sure her heart could bear it, but then living without Teague was impossible too.
Yes, there’d been a time when she’d questioned his ambition, or lack of, for taking this small-town gig. But when she watched him talk Desi’s ex down, she’d known he was in the right place. Exactly where he was needed most. Still, her hands shook at the weight of the possible decisions in front of her. She’d already made up her mind to put the church-house up for sale, but she’d thought selling would allow Teague and her to find something they liked together. Not once since they’d reconciled had she pictured her future without him.
He stepped onto the porch. “We need to talk.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re leaving town,” she blurted out. Even though she’d done her best to maintain control, her chin trembled.
“Leaving?” Teague took a step back. “Where in the world would you get that idea?”
“Glo—”
“The phone call from Houston?”
Afraid to listen, she let her gaze drift to the porch.
“I told you Gloria was the biggest gossip in this town.” He tipped a finger under her chin. “Darlin’, I’ve always had a job in Houston if I wanted it. I don’t want it. I want to be here. With you.”
She’d braced herself for the worst, and it took a moment for what he said to replay in her mind and translate. A tremendous weight lifted. “Really?”
“You seriously have to ask me?”
“I was so proud of you that night. I admire your courage.” The words came rushing out. “But I was so afraid, and I thought maybe you’d wish for something bigger again…and I…”
“I’m not a small-town cop because I’m settling. Sure, at first I just needed a change, but I love this little town. After that case in Houston, seeing those children poisoned, I wondered, if I’d been a better negotiator, if I could’ve saved them. I struggled, Jenny.”
“You were the negotiator? That I didn’t know.” No wonder he’d looked so devastated while negotiating Gabby away from her dad. “Teague, what happened wasn’t your fault.”
“To protect and serve. Not just a job, it’s who I am, Jenny. I’ve seen some terrible things. People at their worst, but—”
“You don’t have to tell me all of this. We can leave the past behind us.”
He took her hands, tugged on them until she stood and looked directly into his eyes. “No, I need you to understand. That night in Houston, it made the Branch Davidian thing look like a church picnic. The leader of the Light of Wisdom Compound, he killed fifty kids, all because he believed if they attended public schools their souls would be doomed to hell. I had to walk through the place afterward. Those bodies, some of them too young to even attend school yet. And the looks in their mothers’ faces? It was as if I was personally responsible for every one of their babies’ deaths. It still haunts me, Jenny. Probably always will.”
“You couldn’t have predicted that outcome.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s still something I have to live with. But I want you to know I’m choosing to live with it right here. With you. With Grayson.” He glanced behind her at the church-house. “Here. In this strangely appealing house that makes you happy.”
“If you don’t like it, we can—”
“I love the
way your face lit up when you first showed me this place.” He pulled her arms around his waist and wrapped his around her. “That pretty pink bra didn’t hurt anything, of course.”
She tried to give him a quick jab in the side, but he caught her hand and laughed. “Yeah, I wanted to be the one surprising you with a new house, but I like this place. I like what I see when I picture us waking up here every day as a family.”
“You’re not just saying that to make me happy, are you?”
He nodded toward the open field out back. “You know I’ll always love Grayson as my own, but I want us to have a few together too. After all, we’ll have room enough for a football team.”
“Whoa there, Houston. One more boy. Fine, maybe two if you’ll throw in a girl, but that’s it.”
“We’ll see.” He grinned down at her. “I might need reinforcements for my side if I’m going to be facing off with you and Abby Ruth and y’all’s shenanigans from now on.”
“What shenanigans?”
“Like the rumor going around town that I’m going to be a TV star. Know anything about that?”
She pressed her lips together to keep from blurting out what she’d done. “Well, let’s just say all’s fair when correcting false gossip. Think of it as me spreading kitty litter over a mess.”
“Took me some fancy undoing. Don’t do that again. You spread more than kitty litter. You kicked up a few cat turds while you were at it.”
Grayson poked his head up from below the porch rail. “We’re getting a cat?”
“No,” they both said.
Grayson turned and stubbed the toe of his shoe into the dirt. “There’s room for a cat,” he mumbled.
Teague called out, “Grayson. You like this house?”
“Yeah. Did you see the bedroom upstairs? It’s like a fort.”
“It is pretty cool.” Teague released Jenny and stepped off the porch to grab Grayson’s hand. “I have something to ask you. Man to man. Can you come with me?”
“Sure.”
Jenny watched the two loves of her life walk toward the truck. She’d give anything to be able to hear their conversation, but all she could see was a bunch of head nodding, and then a serious handshake. Grayson. Her little man. He was the best thing she’d ever done in her life.
She and Teague had a lot of best things in their future.
Teague walked around to the back of the pickup truck and dropped the tailgate.
Curiosity made Jenny angle for a better look, but all she could see was a big box made of a light-colored plastic. There was the thud of metal against plastic, and then Grayson walked around the side of the truck with a yellow Labrador Retriever puppy squirming in his arms and ran toward her. “Mom! Look!”
Teague followed Grayson to the porch.
“We have something to ask you, Mom.”
She couldn’t help but laugh, flashing a sideways glance in Teague’s direction. That man didn’t fight fair. “Yes. You can keep the puppy.”
“No. Something else,” Grayson said.
Jenny stroked the top of the puppy’s head. “What’s that?”
Grayson repeated the words slowly as if he were afraid he might forget the phrase. “Will you marry Teague…so we can all live here…” he glanced at Teague, who gave him a reassuring nod, “in the church-house for ever and ever and ever? And ever?”
Jenny’s throat went tight, and she blinked away the burn behind her eyes.
“Will you?” Teague asked quietly.
Grayson leaned toward Teague and said, “Do I get to keep the puppy even if she says no?”
She took Grayson’s hand, then Teague’s. “Living here together forever and ever? Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.” She looked into Teague’s eyes. “I love you, Teague.”
Grayson set the puppy on the deck and high-fived Teague. “That means we can stay here tonight!”
“No,” Jenny said. “We don’t have any beds.”
“Teague brought sleeping bags.”
She shot her forever-and-ever man a look. “Of course he did.”
“I love you both.”
“Wahoo!” Grayson jumped off the porch, and the puppy ran out to the yard to follow him in a haphazard game of chase.
Teague smiled down at her and squeezed her fingers. “That puppy isn’t the only surprise I have up my sleeve.”
“You have a one-track mind, Teague Castro.”
“I do when it comes to this.” He slipped his hand into his front pocket and then took her hand in his.
“Oh, Teague, is this because I said…”
“No. It’s because I love you, and I don’t ever want you to doubt that. And I want to marry you.”
“Is this your grandmother’s?” The diamond and sapphire ring looked like the one he’d shown her years ago.
“Yeah, it’s her ring, but it’s the beginning of our forever.” He slid the ring easily on to her finger.
“A perfect fit.” She wiggled her fingers, the gems shimmering in the sunlight. “It’s breathtaking.”
“Beautiful. Like you. Come a little closer.”
“Don’t you worry.” She stepped into his arms and held on tight. “I’ll never be far.”
Thank you so much for reading the second story following Jenny Cady and Teague Castro! We had such a ball including a love story within the G Team series world.
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Books in the Series
IN FOR A PENNY
FIT TO BE TIED
IN HIGH COTTON
UNDER THE GUN
GIMME SOME SUGAR
Jenny & Teague Novellas
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
COME A LITTLE CLOSER
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PROPHECY OF LOVE SERIES
Sexy contemporary romance
Stay With Me
Hard to Love
* * *
TEXAS NIGHTS SERIES
Sexy contemporary romance
Personal Assets
Running the Red Light
Problems in Paradise
Designed for Love
* * *
G TEAM SERIES w/NANCY NAIGLE
Southern cozy mysteries
In For a Penny
Fit to Be Tied
In High Cotton
Under the Gun
Gimme Some Sugar
* * *
JENNY & TEAGUE NOVELLAS
Contemporary romance
Always on My Mind
Come a Little Closer
* * *
STEELE RIDGE SERIES
Romantic suspense collaboration with Tracey Devlyn & Adrienne Giordano
The BEGINNING
Going HARD
Living FAST
Loving DEEP
Breaking FREE
Roaming WILD
Stripping BARE
Enduring LOVE
Vowing LOVE
* * *
STEELE RIDGE: THE KINGSTONS
Romantic suspense collaboration with Tracey Devlyn & Adrienne Giordano
Craving HEAT
Tasting FIRE
Searing N
EED
Striking EDGE
Burning ACHE
* * *
NOVELLAS
Sexy contemporary romance
Amazed by You
Love So Sweet
Also by Nancy Naigle
The Adams Grove Series
Book 1:: Sweet Tea and Secrets
Book 2:: Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes
Book 3:: Out of Focus
Book 4:: Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies
Book 5:: Mint Juleps and Justice
Book 6:: Barbecue and Bad News
* * *
Boot Creek Series
Book 1:: Life After Perfect
Book 2:: Every Yesterday
Book 3:: Until Tomorrow
* * *
Single Titles
Sand Dollar Cove
Christmas Joy
Hope at Christmas
Christmas in Evergreen
Dear Santa
The Secret Ingredient
Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa
Christmas Angels
inkBLOT – co-written with Phyllis Johnson
About Kelsey Browning
USA Today bestselling author Kelsey Browning writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and cozy mystery. Her Georgia-set, co-authored G Team mystery is described by readers as “The Golden Girls meet Dirty Harry.” Her single title romances garner reviews that call her writing funny, sassy, and full of sizzling chemistry. Originally from a Texas town smaller than the ones she writes about, Kelsey has also lived in the Middle East and Los Angeles, proving she’s either adventurous or downright nuts. These days, she makes her home in northeast Georgia with her tech-savvy husband, her smart-talking son, and a (fingers crossed) future therapy pup. Find Kelsey online at KelseyBrowning.com.
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