by Erin Wright
He grimaced. “Even for your dad, he’s been on one,” he said. He pulled off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, looking like he’d rather be anywhere on earth than right there in that moment. “Listen, I’ve been meaning to talk to you all day.”
He dropped his voice and moved closer to the front desk. “I’m not saying that it’s right or wrong, or that you ought to do something different. I just thought I’d let you know that the word went around the office today that your police cruiser was at Wyatt Miller’s place all night last night.”
A part of her knew that was coming. He wouldn’t have come close and talked quietly and stared down at the ground as he did so, if he was informing her that a commendation was coming down the pike.
And if Officer Morland knew, then the chances were good that her dad knew. And if her dad knew…well, that explained why he hadn’t talked to her the whole day. She’d rather hoped it was because she’d been so defiant yesterday in his office. She was hoping that he was just still angry over that. Which was a funny thing to hope for, but better that than to be pissed about her spending the night at Wyatt’s house.
“Thanks, Morland. I appreciate the head’s up.”
He nodded, relief washing over him that his duty was done, and he headed outside, off for the day. She, on the other hand, was working the late shift and wouldn’t get home until after eleven. Wyatt hadn’t exactly let her sleep much the night before, and she had to stifle her yawn. It was going to be a long-ass night.
Chloe came in that evening, after her dad left without saying goodbye. Abby was trying to keep herself awake by filling out reports, and surprising to exactly no one, was failing miserably. Filling out reports would put her to sleep even in the best of times. In fact, she was pretty sure that they should recommend this very activity for people with insomnia.
The glass doors to the jail swung open and in bustled Chloe, packing…food? Abby perked up, the smell of chicken noodle soup wafting towards her nostrils. “Hey!” she said, clearing the corner and hugging Chloe. “What are you doing here?”
Chloe sent her an overly bright smile and said, “We had leftovers today when we closed so I thought I’d bring some over to you.”
Abby sent her a questioning glance. “And…?” Because as much as she loved Chloe, this had all the earmarks of a “I’m about to give you really bad news” setup.
“And a couple of people came in today and talked about you and Wyatt.” The words came out in a rush, and Chloe asked pleadingly, “Did you really spend the night last night at his place?”
Abby dropped her head into her hands, shaking it slowly. “How does this town do it?” she asked rhetorically. “Wyatt lives in the middle of Timbuktu. How would anyone even have seen my cruiser out there?”
“I think it was someone who had to go out there to talk to his farm manager, Jorge. At least, that was the story I was getting.”
Abby groaned and opened up the styrofoam carton of soup. If she was going to be tortured by this kind of thing, she could at least do it while eating Betty’s homemade soup. She sank into her chair behind the desk, suddenly exhausted beyond words.
“I just wanted to warn you,” Chloe said. She didn’t look any happier to be the bearer of bad news than Officer Morland had been. “You know that the people ‘round here love nothing more than to gossip. You have to keep your nose clean, or you’re going to get run out of town on a rail.”
“What if I don’t want to keep my nose clean?” Abby asked, staring into the chunks of noodle and broth as she pushed it around with the plastic spoon Chloe had thoughtfully provided.
“You like Wyatt that much?” Chloe’s voice was skeptical, and Abby didn’t blame her. The Wyatt Chloe knew wouldn’t inspire bucking the opinion of every person in town.
But the Wyatt Abby knew, did.
“Yeah, I really do,” she said, looking up at Chloe. “I really, really do.”
“Well. Okay, then you need to tell everyone else in town to go mind their own business.” Chloe sent her a pained grin. “You know I’ve had that problem myself – single mothers aren’t exactly the norm around here, let alone with a child who is half Native American. I got plenty of judgmental looks when I first moved here. I decided that I just didn’t care what people thought, and you know what? For the most part, it’s worked just fine. There were a couple of times that the more…snobby women in town chose to move sections in the restaurant rather than have me serve them, but somehow, I’m strangely okay with that. Truthfully, I’d rather not be their waitress anyway, if they’re going to be like that.”
Abby laughed at that. “Good point,” she said with a wry smile.
Chloe grew serious again and said, “You need to do what makes you happy. But, my word of advice? Stop driving your patrol car out there. If you’re not on duty and you’re not driving the patrol car out there, no one can legally say a thing to you. They’ll say lots of things—” she grinned for a second, “—but let that roll off your back. They’re not the kind of people you care about anyway, right?”
Abby stood up and gave her friend a huge hug. “Thank you,” she whispered into Chloe’s ear.
Chloe squeezed her back tightly and whispered, “I just want you to be happy. Nothing else matters.” She pulled away and said a little louder, “I was out and about running errands and wanted to drop that off to you before I headed home again. Call me when you want to chat and catch me up on everything, K?”
Abby nodded and smiled, but let the smile drop as soon as Chloe left. Truth be told, there wasn’t much for her to catch her friend up on. She’d stormed over to Wyatt’s house, basically demanded that he sleep with her, dragged him to bed, spent the night, pissed the town off (including her father), and then ran out of the house like her ass was on fire as soon as she realized what she’d done.
She’d been so free yesterday. So confident. She was happy to tell this town to go take their gossip and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. She was ready to stand up to her father.
But…that wasn’t her. Not really. She was a dutiful daughter who loved her father very much. They didn’t always see eye to eye on things, but that was to be expected. It had just been them against the world for so long, she had a hard time remembering back to when it hadn’t been that way. As upset as she might get with him, he was still her father. She still had to respect him.
What if Wyatt showed up today and wanted to take you out on a date? A real-honest-to-goodness date like a normal couple? Would you say yes?
She finished the last of her soup staring out the front door, pondering the question. She was pretending, if only to herself, that it was a debate, but truthfully, it wasn’t.
She loved her father, but she loved Wyatt more. It was hard for her to imagine defying her father straight up by marrying Wyatt, but that didn’t mean that her heart didn’t want it. While Wyatt had been busy deciding whether or not he could give up the idea of having children, Abby had been busy falling in love with him.
Which just about made her the dumbest woman on the planet, because Wyatt had never even hinted at feeling the same way towards her. Sure, he’d been willing to get some when she was offering it, virtually throwing it at him, but that just meant he was a guy. It didn’t mean he loved her back.
She shouldn’t feel this way. She knew that. She should shut her heart off and pull away and walk away and guard herself against the heartache that was coming, because even if for some bizarre reason, Wyatt ended up falling in love with her, could she really defy her father by being together with him?
But not surprisingly, “just walk away” seemed a hell of a lot easier said than done.
Chapter 38
Wyatt
Done. It was done. He triumphantly carried the paperwork into the county jail. He realized as he walked in that he probably should’ve called to make sure Abby would be there before he came over, but he was relieved to spot her behind the counter. She looked up at the sound of the bell over the door ringi
ng and smiled when she saw him.
“Hey Wyatt,” she said easily, rising to her feet gracefully. “How are you doing today?”
It’d been three days since she’d run out on him, and they hadn’t seen each other once. Hadn’t talked. Hell, they hadn’t even texted. He’d been nervous about coming over and dropping the paperwork off; what if she didn’t want to see him? But her ready smile seemed to say she wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see her.
He felt himself breathing a little easier.
“Good. I have the paperwork from Adam and from Rhonda. You can look it over, of course, but…I’ve finished my end of the deal.” He handed the paperwork over with a happy smile, and she began shuffling through it, noting the hours worked and the signing off for the counseling appointments.
Finally, she signed at the bottom, made him a photocopy, and said, “Congratulations, Mr. Miller. I will submit your paperwork to Ada County, but as of now, you’re in the clear. You are officially off probation. You’ll be receiving a confirmation letter in the mail two to three weeks from now.”
He grinned, the heavy weight that had been pressing on his chest for months now finally gone. “So I am a free man?” he asked.
“One hundred percent.” She looked thrilled for him, almost as thrilled as he felt.
“Good. Then I have a question to ask: Will you be my date this Friday?”
“Your date?” she repeated in a half whisper. She seemed stunned by his question, although how, he couldn’t begin to guess. It wasn’t like he’d been hiding his feelings from her.
Well, other than the whole “I need to figure out which I love more – you or children” discussion.
Okay, maybe she had every right to look surprised by his question.
“Yes. A date. With me. Out in public. Well, to be more specific, out at my brother’s house. Stetson and Jennifer are having a gender reveal party on Friday out at the farm. I want to take you as my date.”
Orrr…
On second thought, as he was telling his plan to Abby, he realized that perhaps she wouldn’t be as thrilled about this as he was. He was asking her to go from friends-with-occasional-benefits to dinner-party-with-family. Which even he knew was a Big Deal in the dating world. Not that he was super well-versed in such things, but he’d heard comments through the grapevine once or twice.
He was ratcheting up the level on their relationship by more than a couple of turns of the screwdriver. Or ratchet. He should probably keep his analogies straight.
He was mentally babbling like a buffoon.
Slowly, the smile grew on her face until it was going from ear to ear. “Yes. Yes, I would like that very much, Wyatt.”
He nodded once. “Good. See you at 5:30 on Friday? I’ll pick you up.” He didn’t miss the move from “Mr. Miller” to “Wyatt” that she’d just made. He decided that he never liked his first name as much as he did in that moment.
“Okay. Sounds good.” She sounded breathy and happy.
He grinned and walked out the door. That was a very fine start to their Friday date, if he did say so himself.
Chapter 39
Wyatt
He walked into Happy Petals, the little bell over the door announcing his arrival. Carla came bustling in from the back, a big smile on her face when she saw him. “Hey Wyatt, long time no see,” she said, coming around the counter and giving him a hug. “What’re you doing here?”
She’d graduated a couple of years after him – probably in the same class as Abby, actually – but she’d always been friendly to him. She was the huggy sort who loved turquoise and cats, and not necessarily in that order. The shop cat came out with her, twining herself around his legs, and Wyatt leaned down for a moment to pet her, grateful he’d left Maggie Mae at home for once. He really didn’t want her chasing a cat around a floral shop, knocking knick-knacks over. That could be a little more fun than he was really up for.
“I…have a date this evening. With a woman.” He had no idea why he felt compelled to say that last part. “Abby Connelly,” he clarified.
“Oh, I love Abby!” Carla said with a huge smile. Of course she did. She loved everyone, he was pretty sure of it. And the thing was, she was somehow genuine in that. It was the darnedest thing.
“Well, I wanted to bring flowers over when I went to pick her up. Do you have a bouquet I could buy?”
He knew he was in over his head and the water was about to swallow him alive, but thankfully, Carla didn’t ask him a single question, like, “What kind of flower?” but instead brought him over to a case.
“Here’s what I have on hand. This one right here is something that I think Abby would like,” she said, pointing at a bouquet of pretty flowers. They were lots of different colors and it was a big bouquet.
“Perfect!” he said a little too loudly, but she just smiled at him, pulled the vase out, and rang him up, wishing him luck on his date.
He left, sucking in a huge breath of relief. Flowers were bought; now it was time to shower and shave.
Tonight was going to be awesome.
Dammit.
He turned back around and walked straight back into Carla’s shop. “Carla, I forgot – I need a second bouquet of flowers.” He couldn’t arrive empty-handed to the party tonight, and he wasn’t about to go onesie shopping over at Frank’s Farm & Feed. He also wasn’t about to bring alcohol with him.
She grinned up at him, her eyes twinkling from behind her turquoise glasses. “For Jennifer?” she guessed.
“Damn, you’re good,” he said admiringly.
“Only because your brother has been having me deliver flowers once a month to your sister-in-law, to celebrate another month in her pregnancy. Are you taking Abby to the gender reveal party tonight?”
Wyatt tugged on his collar. How did women do it? It was like they were connected to the hive mind or something. “Yeah,” he admitted.
“Well good. For Jennifer, your brother has been sending roses and Calla lilies, so I’d suggest that you do something a little less formal since you’re a brother-in-law, not her husband.”
Wyatt choked. “That’s true,” he got out. He liked Jennifer and all, and she sure was a step up for his brother, but marry her?
Oh hell no. She didn’t have all of the curves in the right places like Abby. She was too short. She didn’t have Abby’s loud laugh. She didn’t love horses with every fiber of her being. She didn’t have a cross-eyed cat named Jasmine.
No, Jennifer wasn’t for him.
It looked like the one he’d just bought for Abby, what with it being all colorful and flowery and shit, but a little bit smaller. “Is that what you had in mind?” she asked.
“Perfect,” he said. She really was good at her job.
Which was good for him.
He walked out into the pale winter sunshine that was struggling to come through high, thin clouds, and whistled a nameless tune to himself.
It was going to be a damn good evening.
Chapter 40
Abby
The doorbell rang, and she hurried over to answer it, smoothing at her dress as she went. She’d spent a lot of time curling her hair and putting on makeup, and was even wearing a dress, which she never did. But a date with Wyatt? Totally worth it.
She opened the door and her heart leapt into her throat. There was Wyatt, holding the most gorgeous bouquet of roses, daisies, and carnations that she’d ever seen. But more than the riot of color in his hands was him.
Handsome him.
Drop-dead gorgeous him.
She stared at him, the door open and letting arctic air into the house, but not giving a damn. Her eyes slowly swept from the brim of his stetson, down over his broad shoulders encased in a thick winter jacket, down to his Wranglers and boots. He’d shaved, and all she wanted to do was explore those cheekbones to see if his skin was as silky smooth as it looked.
He was skimming down over her body too, and he finished his perusal by locking eyes with her, hot with lus
t. “Hey,” he finally got out.
“Hi!” she blurted out, his words spurring her into action. “Sorry, just standing here letting out all the warm air. Let me grab my jacket.”
She grabbed her scarf and coat from the hall closet and wrapped herself up in it, then turned back towards him. His arms were still full with the oversized bouquet.
“Oh, the flowers!” she said, blushing and taking them from him. She buried her nose into their depths and breathed in deep. They smelled amazing.
She set them down on the end table in her living room and with one last regretful look back – she hated leaving such beautiful things behind – she walked out into the twilight air. The sun, hiding behind the mountains to the west, still lit up the sky in a hazy way. Pale streaks of gold and pink filtered out. It’d be dark soon.
“Smart thinking on the boots,” he said, nodding down towards her footwear. She was wearing knee-high boots that were classy but still ice-and-snow ready. In Sawyer, Idaho, there wasn’t much use for high heels.
“Thanks. I thought about wearing my police officer boots, but figured it’d clash with my dress.”
He laughed. “I think I would’ve paid good money to see you in army boots and that beautiful dress.”
He thinks my dress is beautiful.
She grinned at him. “You’re just going to have to keep your money, then, because I don’t plan on doing that any time soon.”
He opened up the passenger side door for her, and helped her get in. “Can you hold these flowers for me?” he asked, handing her a bouquet that’d been on the floor. “They’re for Jennifer.”
“Sure,” she said, happily breathing in the scents from it. It wasn’t quite as full or gorgeous as the bouquet he’d bought her, but she knew Jennifer would love them anyway. She’d met Jennifer a few times around town, and had always liked the petite, friendly woman. Although she was from Boise, she didn’t turn up her nose at Sawyer, or at least didn’t show it if she did.
