by Mary Leo
Not long ago, she could never have imagined that she’d be falling for such a darling baby or that Sheriff Jet Wilson would be standing in her kitchen, cooking up dinner in the midst of so much noise and traffic. But there he was, flannel shirtsleeves rolled up, well-worn, torn jeans hitting his bare feet, thick dark hair tousled—a man looking as though he was enjoying himself.
She’d never known a man who seemed more at home with complete bedlam going on around him than Jet Wilson. Even her dad, who loved to help out in the kitchen like Jet, had his limits.
This man broke all the rules, and she couldn’t help but like it...a lot.
“Dinner smells wonderful,” Coco said as she stood in the kitchen doorway, trying to soothe Lily to sleep.
“I hope it tastes as good as it smells,” Jet said over the mayhem all around him. “What’s up with Lily?”
“She’s just tired and doesn’t want to give up the fight.”
The kittens nudged Coco’s legs, wanting her affection.
“Hey, guys,” Jet said. “Let’s play in your pen.” He then picked up the two squirming kittens and put them down in their plastic snap-together toddler play yard in the middle of the living room, along with Punky, who tried his best to wiggle from Jet’s strong hands. Kendra Myers had given the play yard to Coco for Lily, but it turned out to be perfect for the menagerie and all their toys.
Soon Punky and the kittens attacked each other affectionately, rolling around in friendly playful bliss, all making sweet guttural noises.
“Where’d you learn to cook?” Coco whispered once Lily began closing her eyes and soothing herself as she sucked on her closed fist.
“I picked up a love of cooking from one of the families I lived with, the Garcias,” Jet told her as he served them dinner, bringing the steaming plates over to the dining table. “Mr. Garcia did all the cooking and I’d lend a hand. I loved it. Then he lost his job and they had to move to another town and couldn’t take me. I was with them for almost two years.”
“That must have been tough to lose all of that.”
“I think that one hurt me the most, but I toughed it out. I was sixteen and used to moving around by then.”
“Still, the disappointment had to stick with you. You were only a kid.”
“Well, shortly after that I went to live with my mom. If we hadn’t fought so much, and I hadn’t been so rebellious, it probably would have been a decent time in my life. Sometimes I just can’t tell when I have it good.”
Like now, she thought, but couldn’t say it out loud. There was always an edge to Jet Wilson, like he couldn’t completely relax even when he had no reason not to. It seemed to Coco as if the man was always anticipating the rug slipping out from under his feet. She wished for once, for one night even, that he could find peace within himself. But from what she’d seen so far, it seemed impossible.
Still, she liked to think her place gave him some solace for the time being.
He walked over to Coco while holding tongs in one hand and a yellow dishtowel draped over his shoulder, peeking in at Lily. “She’s sound asleep.”
“Perfect timing. I’ll put her down,” Coco murmured, as she moved into the living room, the menagerie beginning to tire as they curled up on each other for a nap. The sight of those happy kittens, along with Punky, feeling safe and comfy pulled at Coco’s heartstrings. But she wasn’t going to focus on all that now.
Coco just wanted to get Lily down as soon as possible. Once she was in dreamland, the sweet baby could sleep through almost anything, but getting her to fall asleep had always been the challenge. She smiled down at the little girl, now snoring softly.
Coco put Lily on the sofa, rolled up a pink receiving blanket and placed it next to her. Not that Lily could possibly tumble off, but Coco would never be too careful when it came to Lily’s safety.
With Lily secure, Coco walked back to the kitchen. “Can I do anything?”
She caught Jet’s intense gaze as he turned to her. For a brief moment, she wanted to melt into his arms and have him hold her close, feel his strong body embracing hers, knowing she would feel safe and comforted, too. She could tell he was feeling some of the same emotions...as if he wanted to kiss her. He leaned in.
But she took a step back. “Jet, I...”
He stood up straight again and nodded toward the dining room. “Everything is done and on the table. Let’s eat before Lily wakes up.”
Coco didn’t argue as Jet poured each of them a glass of red wine. “By the way, Doc Starr said I should have the results of that DNA test any day now.”
The back of Coco’s neck tightened as she took a seat across from him at the table. “Are you nervous?”
“I’d like everything settled,” he said, avoiding her glance and taking a few sips of wine.
“So it doesn’t bother you that you may have to give up Lily?”
“I wouldn’t say that, exactly.”
He poked two pieces of chicken with a fork and carefully placed them on his plate. She searched his face for any tells that this whole subject tortured his soul, but she didn’t see any emotion at all.
“What if she’s yours? Will you keep her?”
He finally looked at her, his face solemn, guarding any emotion. “No matter what the outcome, I’ll do what’s best for Lily.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
He put his fork down and stared into her eyes. “It means that I can’t allow my feelings to get the best of me. At this point, I have no idea whether or not I’m Lily’s father. If I am, then my life may have to change. If I’m not, there are different options for her that can happen.” His face softened as he quickly peered over at Lily, then focused again on Coco. “I’ve had years of practice at shoring up what I’m feeling. This time it’s especially difficult because of...well, because of you. You’ve shown Lily and me nothing but kindness and support, and we’re both thankful for that. Problem is, I’m in law enforcement, and as such, I can’t allow my emotions to sway me one way or the other. I hope you can understand that.”
Coco’s throat tightened as tears burned the corners of her eyes. She could tell that Jet was trying his best to keep his distance until he knew the truth. He certainly didn’t need her to get all mushy on him by crying.
“I understand,” Coco said, holding back her tears. She drank down some of the delicious wine with the cherry undertones. It was the bottle that Russ had brought over the other night, but never got a chance to open. She knew he wouldn’t like the idea of the sheriff drinking a bottle of wine intended for himself and Coco, but she was in a feisty mood ever since Russ had given her his ultimatum.
“This looks great. Almost as good as my mom’s cooking, which you’re going to love tomorrow night.”
Every Sunday, Coco’s parents hosted a family dinner that also included several guests. Coco had invited Jet just that morning, before they both went off to work.
“Looking forward to it,” he said, breaking into a grin. Still, Coco detected apprehension. “But shouldn’t it be Russ going to a traditional Sunday dinner with the Grant family?”
“Actually, there’s something I should tell you about my relationship with Russ,” she began.
Just then, her phone chirped, and as if he knew she’d been talking about him, Russ’s picture appeared on her screen.
She stared in disbelief. Eventually, Russ had relented and finally called her. She didn’t know how to react, how she felt, if she, in fact, felt anything at all for him anymore.
“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Jet asked, breaking her trance.
“No,” she told him with conviction. “This is our time, and I don’t want anything or anyone getting in the way of that.”
Jet held up his glass. “To us.”
“To us,” she echoed, clinking his glass,
and for the next couple of hours, she and Jet enjoyed their dinner and each other with absolutely no distractions.
* * *
COCO AGREED TO meet Russ at the pancake breakfast over at St. Paul’s hall, and had dressed for the occasion in a gray sweater dress and her best lace-up black boots. She’d even applied the full spectrum of makeup, including a shiny pink lipstick. Lily had been cooperative that morning, and not only allowed her a complete shower, but also didn’t make one peep while she dressed. It was a miracle of sorts, so Coco was ready for whatever came her way.
Whatever the result, she and Russ needed to come to terms.
This was the third year for the pancake event, which was held around Thanksgiving. The sweet breakfast was a fund-raiser for Spuds and Turkeys Across Idaho. Each year, various places of worship of all religions would hold a pancake breakfast and the money would be pooled to buy turkeys and a sack of Idaho potatoes for anyone who couldn’t afford to put Thanksgiving dinner on their table. Last year, the breakfasts brought in over two hundred thousand dollars. This year, they expected to reach over three hundred thousand dollars, which amounted to one heck of a lot of spuds and turkeys.
“This isn’t exactly conducive to us having a conversation,” Coco said to Russ as she poured batter onto one of several hot pancake griddles. She hadn’t been planning to pour batter this year, but somehow had gotten talked into it by her cousin, Father Beau, who was also one of the cooks, along with Doc Granger, the only pediatric dentist in town, and Milo Gump, Amanda’s husband and owner of Belly Up Tavern, along with Spud Drive-In. Several other town residents helped prepare the batter, and kept up with cooking the sides, and plating the food. It was a group effort of mega proportions that the good people of Briggs loved to participate in each year. Coco’s entire family had already been served and were seated somewhere inside the hall. She had intended to sit with them, until Father Beau along with Russ had commandeered her.
The hall was meant to hold over two hundred people, and from what Coco could tell, at least two hundred and fifty had squeezed inside, with another hundred or so braving the cold to stand in line outside. For fifteen dollars, each person received a full stack of pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns and all the coffee, tea or milk they could drink. Kids five and under ate for free, which always brought out most of the young families in town and in the surrounding ranch community.
The batter was donated, along with all of the sides; so 90 percent of that fifteen dollars went to buy the turkeys and potatoes for the less fortunate.
Coco normally loved to volunteer her time to help, but this year, standing in Russ’s shadow wasn’t very much fun. He was supposed to be handing out the plated pancakes, which was simple enough, but instead he seemed more interested in securing endorsements from the last remaining uncommitted holdouts in town, which slowed everything down.
“What’s to talk about?” Russ told her under his breath while wearing a fake smile for everyone he passed a plate to. He looked his usual handsome self in a crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled up like he was working hard in the kitchen, black dress pants and black spit-shined, handmade cowboy boots. “I was wrong. You were right. Besides, everybody in town knows you and I are a couple, and that Sheriff Wilson and his baby are simply a temporary inconvenience.”
Coco spoke with her back to the hall filled with people, facing the griddles and a makeshift blue cloth wall behind them. “They aren’t an inconvenience at all, and we don’t know if Lily is the sheriff’s baby. The DNA test hasn’t come in yet.”
“Oh, please,” Russ whispered, still maintaining his smile. “As if there’s even a question. He’s just shirking his responsibility and trying to hone in on the good thing we’ve got going on. It’s as clear as the pretty little nose on your face. He’s making a play for you. Everybody in town knows it. You seem to think it’s all about Lily. Believe me, babe, he’s playing you.”
She resented his calling her babe. As if they were still in a relationship, which they most certainly were not.
Coco turned to correct what Russ had said, just as he handed Marty Bean and his family plates filled with pancakes. Marty’s dad and Coco’s went way back, having served in Vietnam together. “Remember, a vote for Russ Knightly is a vote for a brighter future.” He leaned in closer to Marty. “Plus, I can help expedite those permits for the expansion you want to make to Moo’s Creamery.”
Moo’s was the family-owned ice-cream parlor in town. Marty wanted to expand it into a chocolateria as well, and was having a few problems getting his permits approved, but if Coco knew anything about Marty, he was completely against insider favors of any kind.
Marty and his family smiled and kept right on walking toward Mayor Sally Hickman’s stand. She and a few of her supporters were serving up the sides. Coco knew for a fact that Marty and his family preferred the incumbent mayor, and from what Russ had just told him, there would be no doubt who Marty and his family would be voting for.
Coco switched back to her griddle and poured out more batter. “Not only did you just alienate the entire Bean family, but I believe you just referred to us as in a couple.”
“Marty is a businessman. He’ll come around. And I would think you’d be happy that I refer to you as my girl, considering the messy circumstances.”
Coco flipped a dozen pancakes that were now bubbling on her griddle, desperately trying to control the anger that was building inside her. That anger only intensified when Russ slid his arm around her waist and pulled her in close, as if everything was fine between them.
She instantly shifted away.
Fortunately for Russ no one was paying attention. He and the other volunteers had set out enough plates with pancakes that everyone just took a plate and continued down the row.
She leaned into him so that he was the only one who could hear what she had to say. “Here’s the thing. I’m not your girl or your babe. Nor have I ever really been your girl. We dated briefly and that’s it.”
“You’re overreacting to what I’m saying. Let’s wait until later to talk about this, when we’re not so in public. I can’t afford any more gossip when it comes to our relationship. The townsfolk need to believe we’re solid.”
She wanted to yell it out, but she restrained herself. “Solid? Is that why you asked me here? So everyone thinks we’re still a couple? You’re the one who gave me an ultimatum and told me I had to choose between you and Sheriff Wilson.”
His face softened as a smile stretched his tight, thin lips. “I was wrong to put you in that position and I’m sorry. But you have to understand where I’m coming from. It doesn’t look good that my girl is sharing her apartment with another man. It’s bad for my image.”
“Your image?”
“Yes. I’m running for mayor against an incumbent who seems to have the morals of a saint. I can’t have anyone associated with me who isn’t held to those same high standards.” He spoke under his breath. A tone so low she could barely hear him with all the loud voices and laughter bouncing off the walls.
“Let me get this straight. You’re worried that I might lose the election for you because I’ve taken in a helpless baby and Sheriff Wilson, who needed a place to stay while his apartment is being repaired. Since when is that immoral?”
He greeted a few more people, and gave them his vote-for-me pitch while Coco waited for an answer. After the folks walked on past, he turned his attention back to Coco, still wearing a charming smile.
“You’re twisting what I’m saying,” he whispered, his voice sounding sharp and curt.
That was the last straw.
“I’m not twisting anything except maybe this so-called relationship. I’m hereby announcing that I’m breaking up with you,” she said and handed him the spatula as she peeled off the white apron she’d slipped on earlier.
“You can’t be serious.”
“As serious as a war.”
“Don’t do this. The election is only a couple days away. You know how much it means to me and how many great things I have planned for this town, and for you, for that matter. It will no longer be illegal for you to take in abandoned livestock within city limits. That one change will be a benefit to you and to those unfortunate animals. If you have any feelings left for me at all, you won’t make this public. Not now. Not when your brother, Carson, is set to officially endorse me during this breakfast.”
“I don’t need you to change the law for me. I can petition the town council myself. You don’t care one bit for those abandoned animals. You only care about winning at any cost.”
Their relationship suddenly became crystal clear. It was all about getting the town hero, Carson’s endorsement. What a fool she’d been.
“Let’s not jump to any conclusions. Our relationship shouldn’t be a factor in this election. It’s not fair to the good people of Briggs.”
Okay. He had a point. She didn’t want to be personally responsible for changing anyone’s vote. This was between her and Russ. No one else needed to know the truth about their nonrelationship until after the election.
“Fine. I won’t tell anyone. At least not yet. But make no mistake, this thing we had is over.” She’d whispered it with a great big smile on her face, as if she was telling him a sweet story. Then she kissed him on the cheek, put her apron down on the table next to the griddle and made her way to the door. Feeling as though she’d finally taken the blinders off and the road ahead of her was now clear.
* * *
THE LAST TIME Jet had been to the Grant ranch, their horse barn had been on fire. It had been one of those nights he’d rather forget, especially the sounds of the horses that were trapped inside. Fortunately, all the horses had made it out in time, and the brand-new barn that now stood directly in front of him was a sight to behold.
