by Erin Wright
“So anything exciting happening at the sheriff’s office lately?” Wyatt asked as he began pulling out of her circular driveway.
“Not unless you count Mr. Burgemeister’s dog treeing Mrs. Willow’s cat for the fourteenth time,” Abby said dryly. “The fire department had to bring their truck down to get up into the branches, although if you ask me, I think the boys just wanted to get their new shiny toy out and play with it.”
The Long Valley Fire Department had just purchased a new fire engine using money from local fundraisers that was matched by the state of Idaho. Abby was pretty sure the fire department would take their new engine out for a joyride around town if they thought they could get away with it.
“Yeah, I heard they’re pretty in love with it,” Wyatt said with a grin. “Every guy in town wants to drive it, but strangely enough, the fire chief isn’t allowing that.”
“Strange,” Abby said, laughing. They grinned at each other for a moment, sparks flying between them. He leaned over and picked up her hand. Warm and strong, his hand sent sparks through her. She realized after all they’d done together – slept together in his cell at the jail, had sex at his house, kissed at Adam’s place – they’d never held hands.
It shouldn’t surprise her that they were doing things so backwards. She and Wyatt had never done things in the “proper” order – why would they start now?
“A penny for your thoughts,” he said, stroking his thumb over her knuckles.
“I was just thinking that after all we’ve done, we’ve never held hands,” she said softly, smiling at him.
“There’s lots of things we haven’t done yet,” he said, picking up her hand and bringing it to his mouth. “We haven’t had sex outside yet. We haven’t—”
“Sex outside?!” she interrupted, laughing. “It’s like two degrees out there right now!”
“I didn’t say we’d fix that lack in our sex life tonight,” he said, grinning. “But if you’re up for it, I can think of a couple of other things that we could do tonight that are indoors.”
“Oh really?” she asked, breathless. It was funny – she hadn’t been running, of course, but it felt like it.
He heard that in her voice; she knew he did because his dropped lower. “I’d been thinking that I hadn’t sucked on your toes and given them the attention that they deserved. Did you know that you have the most adorable toes I’ve ever seen?”
“I do?” This time, her voice ended on a squeak, and he began laughing.
“As a matter of fact, you do,” he said. His voice was deep and rumbling and she felt it all the way down to the aforementioned toes.
“Oh,” she got out. They finally arrived at the Miller farm, saving her from making any further nonsensical replies.
Which she was grateful for, on one hand, but it also meant that he wasn’t saying anything that would inspire nonsensical replies. Which she wasn’t quite as grateful about.
Wyatt helped her out of the truck and, tucking her arm into his, they made their way up the sidewalk. Before they reached the front door, though, it swung wide open.
“Hello!” Declan said, the bright welcoming light streaming out from behind him. He and Wyatt shook hands, and then Declan gave her a warm hug. “How are you? I’m so glad you came.”
They chatted as they removed coats and then moved through the house to the crowded kitchen, where Carmelita was in full form, whipping up what appeared to be enchiladas, homemade chips and salsa, and enough finger foods to feed a small army. Abby smiled at the older lady. She hadn’t spent a lot of time around her, but knew she was a magician in the kitchen, and that she loved Stetson like her own.
Especially that second fact endeared her to Abby. None of the Miller boys had had it easy growing up, but she figured Stetson losing his mom when he was only twelve had it the worst of all.
“Hi!” Jennifer came around the corner, a huge smile on her face, her belly bulging out in front of her like she’d swallowed a volleyball for breakfast. On such a petite woman, the bump was even more noticeable. Abby figured she had to be the most adorable pregnant woman she’d ever laid eyes on. “Welcome to this madhouse!”
Abby held the flowers out to her and Jennifer took them with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “And welcome to the family,” she whispered into her ear.
Abby pulled back, blushing. Jennifer just buried her face in the flowers, smelling them and smiling. “I don’t mean to freak you out,” she whispered conspiratorially, “but I have it from the best source out there that the last person Wyatt brought home to meet the family was Shelly.”
Abby blushed harder. “We’re not exactly to that point yet,” she whispered back.
“The Miller boys move fast,” Jennifer said confidently. “If they like something they see, they don’t sit around and wait. They jump on it.”
Abby laughed hard at that one. The rumor around town was, Stetson had only known Jennifer for a week before he’d proposed to her. No, the Miller boys didn’t exactly let the grass grow under their feet.
“Come on, let me find a jar to put this bouquet into.” Jennifer grabbed her by the arm and led her out of the kitchen and down the hallway. “It’s best to leave Carmelita alone right now,” she said in a low voice. “She’s been working on this party for the last two weeks and at this point, I think staying in the kitchen for more than five minutes at a time is risking death by butcher knife.”
Abby threw back her head and laughed.
Yeah, spending time with the Miller family wasn’t going to be hard to do at all.
Chapter 41
Wyatt
It seemed like as soon as they arrived, Abby was being whisked off by Jennifer to go do…something. He hadn’t really caught what, but he figured that it was good to leave them to it. He could totally mix and mingle with the fine citizens of Long Valley on his own.
He didn’t exactly look forward to it, but he could do it.
“Want a lemonade or something?” Declan asked, appearing suddenly at his elbow.
Declan. He latched onto him. Here was someone he could hang out and talk to. “Sure,” he said with an overly bright smile.
“Be right back,” Declan said, disappearing into the crowd.
Dammit. He didn’t exactly want to be left behind, but he wasn’t sure what else to do at that point. He also didn’t want to follow his younger brother around like a lost puppy dog.
He glanced around the living room. The chief of police for the city, the head librarian, even the clerk from the Shop ‘N Go, were all talking and milling around. When did Stetson become friends with all of these people? Jennifer must’ve gotten him out of his shell. She was good for him in more ways than one.
His brother showed up at his elbow again, but it was Stetson this time, not Declan. “Hey,” Stetson said. “Declan said this is for you.” He handed Wyatt a lemonade in a green Solo cup.
“Thanks.” He took a sip, enjoying the tart and sweet mixed together.
They just stood there and watched the crowd for a moment. Finally, Wyatt offered up, “Quite the shindig you have going on here.”
“Yup. Shoulda seen Carmelita. She’s been going nuts the last two weeks. I’ve never seen her cook so many dishes in all my life.”
They fell silent again, the country music twanging under the current of laughter and talk flowing through the room.
“Mom and Dad would be real happy if they could see this,” Wyatt finally said.
Stetson nodded real slowly. “I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately. I’m real sorry Mom isn’t going to be able to meet this grandchild. Or Jennifer.”
“Yeah. She would’ve loved it.”
It was quiet again between them, but for the first time in…years, perhaps, Wyatt wasn’t sure – it wasn’t a tense silence. Seeing Stetson here, taking care of their family home, starting a family of his own…Wyatt kept waiting for the green-eyed monster to flare up inside of him. For him to feel anger that once again, Stetson was being handed a wife
and child without even having to try, but instead, he just felt pleasant. Warm. Relaxed.
Rhonda was right…the only thing I can control is my reaction.
It was a stunning thought, to see proof of it in front of him.
“Thanks for coming,” Stetson finally said, clapping Wyatt on the back.
“Dinner is ready,” Carmelita called out, and the room instantly hushed. Wyatt was pretty sure he wasn’t the only one in attendance whose mouth was watering. “You can start at that end and work your way through the line this way,” she said, pointing to the dining room table practically groaning underneath the weight of the food.
Stetson looked around. “I better find my wife,” he said. “She wouldn’t want to miss this.” He disappeared up the stairs. Wyatt looked around for Abby. Was she still with Jennifer? He saw Luke Nash, a friend of Stetson’s, with his arm around some pretty lady who he assumed was Bonnie. He’d heard from Declan that while they’d been bunked up at the jail on Christmas Eve, Luke had been here on the farm, along with Bonnie, and they’d fallen in love in the middle of that blizzard.
Abby and I weren’t the only ones to find each other during that blizzard.
Finally, he spotted Abby and worked his way over to her. He slipped his arm around her waist and gave her a peck on the cheek.
“Oh hi!” she said, turning a delicious shade of pink. He instantly decided to try to make her turn that color every day. She was gorgeous when she was flushed. She was gorgeous all the time, really. Even with her service belt on and her thick black officer boots and her hair pulled back in a bun, she took his breath away.
So with her hair down and curled and a flowing dress on that emphasized her tits and spiky boots that emphasized her ass? He wasn’t entirely sure how to breathe around her.
After they grabbed their plates of food, though, Abby got pulled away by Jennifer to meet Bonnie, and Wyatt was left by himself with his plate of food.
He looked around the crowded living room, and finally decided to step outside for a moment for a quick breather. It was crowded and a little too warm and a little too many people in there. He’d never exactly been the social one in a group, but he’d become even more withdrawn, even happier to be by himself, since spending quality time down at the county jail.
He walked out the back door and onto the back porch. Carmelita and Jennifer had even strung lights along the edge of the porch, alternating blue and pink light bulbs. They weren’t going to give the gender away even here. He took a deep breath of the freezing cold air, almost enjoying the burn in his lungs. At least he was able to breathe out here.
The door opened and closed behind him and he turned, a smile on his face. Abby probably saw him slip outside and was wondering what was—
It wasn’t Abby. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked, staring at the three men coming out of the house.
“What? You think we’re not good enough to be invited to your brother’s party?” Jack sneered.
“Nope. I don’t.”
He also couldn’t believe that Stetson would invite them. Jack and his two sidekicks, Larry and Moe as Wyatt had mentally christened them years ago, had been employees of Sheriff Connelly…right up until Wyatt had bought the farm off the auction block and fired them.
It was the first thing he’d done when he’d taken it over. He’d never understood why the sheriff had held onto them like he had; they were the town drunks and they weren’t the nice kind. They got into more fistfights than he did, and that was saying something.
“Well, maybe you don’t know your brother like you think you do,” Moe – or was it Larry? – taunted him. “You two aren’t exactly close.”
“Either way, you need to get out of my face,” Wyatt growled. The three men were advancing on him, ganging up on him, and he started to feel claustrophobic again. Jack jostled against him, and Wyatt tightened his grip around his lemonade. You can’t choose what they do, only what your reaction is to them.
He took a deep breath and a sip of his lemonade, letting the sour-sweet liquid slide down his throat. “Listen, you guys, I don’t want to start something, okay? Not here, not tonight.”
“What if we do?” Jack said, taunting him, so close Wyatt could smell his tobacco-ridden breath. “You’re a piece of shit who was so lazy, you couldn’t be bothered to go out for milk. Killed your own wife and daughter. What if we think scum like you should be cleaned off the face of the planet?”
Like a tidal wave roaring over his head, Wyatt’s vision went red.
Chapter 42
Abby
For what seemed like the hundredth time, Abby looked around the crowded house, trying to find Wyatt. He’d been right there, and then…well, she wasn’t quite sure what’d happened, actually. Everyone seemed to want to either talk to him or her tonight, and for being on their very first official date, they hadn’t spent but ten minutes around each other.
Right then, Stetson clinked his fork against a beer bottle. “I’ve been informed by my lovely wife that it’s time to cut the cake,” he said. “As you all know, Jennifer is due in April and has spent the last two weeks taunting me by telling me that she knows whether or not we’re having a girl or a boy, but refuses to share the information with me.” A small ripple of laughter went through the audience, and Abby grinned too.
Jennifer had told her earlier that Stetson had refused to know, wanting to hear it along with everyone else, but apparently that didn’t keep him from teasing her. She stuck her tongue out at him, which caused an even louder wave of laughter to run through the room.
Abby craned her neck. Where was Wyatt? He was missing the big reveal.
She hadn’t said anything all evening – not that she had much of a chance to say anything to him – but she was worried about how he was going to take this party. After all, it was a celebration for his younger brother, who Wyatt didn’t exactly get along with, getting the one thing that Wyatt wanted more in the world than anything: Children.
What if he was hiding in a room somewhere, trying to keep from punching holes in the wall because he was frustrated? He’d wanted to go to this party; he’d asked her to come along with. Maybe the idea of attending was okay, but actually being here was too much? Maybe it was weirding him out.
Abby’s attention was jerked back to the front of the room when people began chanting, “Cut it, cut it, cut it.” Stetson and Jennifer were holding a knife together, hovering over a giant cake from the local bakery. It made Abby grin – they looked just like a couple would on their wedding day. The knife entered the cake, once, twice, and then Stetson was pulling out the wedge with his bare hands.
“A boy!” he hollered, showing the blue cake to the cheering, laughing crowd. He shoved it into his mouth as everyone swarmed to give their congratulations to the couple.
“You better hope he takes after your wife in looks,” was what more than one teasing friend made sure to tell Stetson. Abby hid her grin. Stetson was sure a handsome guy…but he was no Wyatt.
Speaking of, where on earth had he gone? She decided to make a systematic search of the house, checking each room, even knocking on the bathrooms, which was inexcusably rude but she didn’t have a choice. She was genuinely starting to get worried at this point, so good manners be damned.
Well, he wasn’t in the house, which meant…he’d gone outside? It was freezing cold and dark out there. Why on God’s green earth would he go out there? She worked her way through the crowds and out the backdoor. Maybe he just needed a breath of fresh air and had let time slip away—
Which was when she saw him. Sitting on a bench, holding his hand up to his face. She got closer, squinting in the shifting shadows from the house and the pale moon overhead.
“Helwhoa,” he slurred, through a mouth full of broken teeth and blood. Even in the uncertain light, she could tell he was developing a black eye. Maybe two.
She heard a stick crack in the distance and her head shot up. There were three figures melting into the forest. Her fir
st instinct was to run to Wyatt’s side and check over his injuries, but her police training kicked in. She scanned the scene.
There were open beer bottles and cans all over the back deck. The snow on the deck was scuffled and trampled, and there were spots of blood everywhere.
Wyatt had come out here to get drunk, and then picked a fight with some guys once he was nice and rummy?
“Was you doing?” he slurred, looking up at her through his better eye.
He was drunk.
Wyatt Miller, the very last person on earth who should ever touch alcohol, had gotten smashing drunk. And got in a fight. She’d been right to worry – Stetson’s news had been too much for him after all. He’d been doing so good…
And then he broke.
He broke and went right back to what he’d always done – fixed his problems with his fists. Although she had to hand it to him: Getting drunk was a new one for him. If he was going to go down, he obviously was going to go down in flames.
She felt anger sweep over her – anger and frustration and rage and she realized she was livid. She wasn’t just angry; no, that was too benign. She was livid. She was shaking.
She was going to kill him.
She stalked over to him and jerked him to his feet. He yelped in pain and she figured he’d hurt his ribs somewhere along the way. Good. He deserves pain. Out of all of the stupid stunts to pull in the world, this was the kicker.
She left her purse inside; she’d go back and get it later. Right now, she was going to drag Wyatt’s sorry ass out to the truck.
“You goddamn idiot,” she ground out as she drug him along. He was stumbling in the semi-darkness, and she didn’t even care.
“Where’s we going?” he mumbled.
