The Cop

He looked amused. “I think we’ve had this conversation before.”

“A slight variation.” She unzipped the bag and took out the dark suit pants. “Put these on instead.”

“I’m not going to the wedding, Red.”

“Don’t call me Red. And you already told me that you’re not going to the wedding with me. You did, however, ask me out for coffee, and how would it look with you in sweats and me in my finery?”

“In,” he said.

“In?”

“I asked you in for coffee, not out.”

She waved her hand in dismissal. “I prefer out. Need help with your pants?”

“Yeah.”

It was a dare if she’d ever heard one.

“Okeydokey.” She stuck her thumbs in the elastic waistband of his sweatpants and peeled them down. Thankfully he was wearing underwear. “Lift your right foot. Now your left. Good.”

She kicked off her shoes and got into an awkward semisquat behind him to help him put on the dress slacks. The process was a struggle, but they finally made it. The legs were just a tad too short, but she didn’t mention it. She figured that with him sitting in his wheelchair nobody would notice. The white shirt was snug but fit well enough.

By the time they had buttoned all the buttons, a fine line of sweat beaded his upper lip. Kelly said, “Let’s sit down and rest a while. Want some juice? Orange, tomato, apple?”

“Orange would be good.”

She poured juice while he eased into his recliner.

He emptied the glass when she handed it to him, then he leaned back and closed his eyes.

After a few minutes, she touched his arm. “Ready to put on the tie?”

He opened one eye and frowned. “Red, I’m not sure I can manage a tie.”

“I can.”

“You’re a woman of many talents.”

“You’d better believe it. I mastered the art when my dad broke his arm.”

“When was that?”

“A while back, but I figure it’s like riding a bicycle,” she said. “It will come back to me. Sit up a little.” She slipped the blue silk tie under his collar and expertly knotted it. “There you go.”

“I’m impressed.”

“As well you should be.” She glanced down at his gray cotton socks and rose to retrieve shoes and dress socks from the bag.

Frank had thoughtfully provided black dress loafers that would slip on easily. Problem was, they didn’t slip on easily.

“Push,” she said as she knelt on the floor at his feet. “Harder.”

“Darlin’, I can push from now till kingdom come, and my foot isn’t going in that shoe. Let me see it.” When he looked inside the loafer, Cole said, “No wonder. It’s too short and too narrow. I wear a thirteen double E.”

“Good Lord, and I thought my foot was big.” Kelly glanced at her watch. It was almost two-thirty. “Don’t you have some other shoes?”

“Under the bed.” He nodded toward the other room.

Kelly went looking, but all she found were the furry moccasins. She came back holding one in each hand. “These?”

“Yep.”

Restraining herself from rolling her eyes, she said, “Let me make a quick call.”

She phoned Olsen’s, the only men’s store in town that sold something other than Western wear and work clothes. They didn’t have any dress shoes in Cole’s size; they’d sold the last pair to Stanley Bickham last Thursday. They had one pair of brown sandals left over from summer. She even called the store that carried cowboy boots, hoping to find something nice in his size. The only things they had to fit were two pair of rubber boots and some tan steel-toed loggers.

Knowing that there wasn’t time to drive to Travis Lake and back, Kelly grabbed the fur-lined moccasins. “At least these will keep your toes warm,” she said as she slipped them on his feet. “Stand up and let’s put on the coat.”

The fit wasn’t too bad. “You look very handsome,” she told him.

“For a sausage?”

“Maybe the coat’s a little tight across the shoulders, but if you don’t button it, it’s fine. Let me get your wheelchair.”

“I’ll use the walker.”

“We’ll use the chair. Listen to the doctor.”

“Darlin’, you’re not my doctor.”

They finally compromised and took both.

While Cole buckled his seat belt, Kelly anxiously checked her watch and prayed that her timing would be right.

She drove to a convenience store, hurried in to make her purchase and came out with two small foam cups. She handed one to Cole.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Coffee. I told you we were going out for coffee.”

He took a sip and frowned. “It tastes like engine sludge.”

She tried it. The stuff was ghastly. She dumped both cups in the trash and drove to the church. He didn’t even comment as she parked in the side lot.

“I thought that since we were dressed up and out anyway, we might go to the wedding,” she said.

That amused expression of his was back again. “You did, huh?”

“You’ll go?”

“Red, for most of my adult life I’ve been around the worst kind of scum who can lie easier than they can tell the truth. Not much gets by me, and you didn’t even come close.”

“If you knew my intentions, why did you go along so easily?”

“I’m a pushover for redheads.” He winked.

“You really wanted to come, didn’t you?”

He shrugged and glanced away. It was that pride again, Kelly thought. He could have never gotten dressed by himself, and he didn’t want to ask for help or be a burden to any of his family. Lord, the male ego was unbelievable.

Once he got into his wheelchair, she pushed him into the church and to the side door of the sanctuary. J.J. stood there with the minister and his brothers Frank and Sam.

J.J. broke into a big grin and slapped Cole on the back. “’Bout damn time you got here. We’re fixin’ to start.”

“Let’s take our places, gentlemen,” the minister said, opening the door.

He went in and J.J. and Frank followed. Sam, the youngest brother and a Texas Ranger, grabbed the handles of the chair and started wheeling Cole in behind the others.

“Hold it, Sam!” Cole whispered. “I’m not going with y’all. Hell, I’ve got on Daddy’s house shoes.”

“Shut up, Cole,” Sam said. “And smile.”

Chapter Four

“You may kiss your bride,” the minister said, and J.J. planted a good one on her.

When the new couple was introduced to the congregation, the entire assembly rose and burst into thunderous applause. There was a packed house. Since this was Mary Beth’s second marriage, she and J.J. had originally planned an intimate wedding with only family and a few friends, but because most of the town felt a party to their courtship, they didn’t want to leave out anyone and risk hurt feelings. They had solved the problem by posting a notice in the newspaper.

Kelly had slipped into a vacant seat at the end of the front pew, planning to wheel Cole out the side door when the ceremony was over. She grinned when her plans went awry. Dixie, one of the bridesmaids, grabbed Cole’s chair and pushed him down the aisle behind the bride and groom and the other two pairs of attendants.

While the guests left for the reception at the VFW hall—the only place in town big enough to handle the crowd—the wedding party assembled back in the church for picture taking. Cole wanted no part of it, but his family insisted that he stay. He endured about fifteen minutes of posing, then signaled for Kelly.

“Tired?” she asked as she wheeled him outside.

“Not particularly. I’m just not much on saying cheese for a camera.”

“Your being there meant a lot to your family.”

He nodded.

As soon as they were in her car, she pulled out of the parking lot and turned left. After a block or two, Cole said, “Isn’t the motel in the other direction?”

She nodded.

“Where are you headed?”

“To the reception. I’m hungry. I want one of Buck’s shrimp puffs and a piece of wedding cake.”

“Who is Buck?” Cole asked.

“You haven’t met him yet? He’s Mary Beth’s assistant at the tearoom. He and her staff are in charge of catering.”

“Why don’t you drop me off at the inn, and then you can go on and enjoy yourself.”

“Mmm,” Kelly said as if she were actually considering it. “No, I don’t think so. I’d rather have a date.”

“A date? This is more like a kidnapping than a date. And I imagine that you could do better than me.”

“Not really. The pickings are pretty slim around Naconiche.”

“I can’t believe that men aren’t lined up outside your door.”

She laughed. “They are. But they usually have sinus infections or prostate problems.”

SOMEBODY HAD REALLY fixed up the place, Cole thought as he looked around the old hall. Blue tablecloths and Christmas arrangements decorated the vintage bingo tables, and potted trees and shrubs strung with lights lined the walls. A small band was setting up in the corner.

“Looks nice,” Cole said as he pushed his walker beside Kelly.

“Yes. Florence did a good job.”

“Florence?”

“Florence Russo, Dixie’s mother-in-law. She’s a retired decorator who moved here from Dallas. She helps out part-time at the Twilight Inn.”

“I can’t believe that little Dixie Anderson is grown and married,” Cole said.

“And has six kids.”

“God, I’m getting old. Last time I remember her, she and Ellen and Mary Beth were high school cheerleaders.”

“You haven’t spent much time in Naconiche, have you?”

“Only a holiday here and there. And those were quick trips in and out to see the family. I joined the Houston Police Department the week after I graduated from college.”

As they moved toward a table, Cole was waylaid by a mob of people, several of them buddies from school days. Most of them had beer bellies and a few were bald or getting that way fast. They looked like their daddies. Everybody seemed glad to see him, and nobody paid much attention to his moccasins. Except Bull Bickham. He and Bull had played football together when he was in high school.

“Wish I could trade shoes with you,” Bull said. “These new ones I got on are hell on my bunion. I would’ve taken them back to the store ’cept my wife wouldn’t let me wear my brogans.”

Gradually he and Kelly made their way to one of the reserved tables. Flagging, he was more than ready to sit down when he got there. He’d insisted on using his walker instead of the wheelchair, and bedamned if he’d admit that Kelly was right when she’d argued against it.

“How about something cold to drink?” Kelly asked.

“I wouldn’t mind some of that,” he said, nodding toward the champagne fountain.

“Sorry. You’ll have to drink with the teetotalers. Be right back.”

He watched her go, enjoying the swing of her hips as she walked away.

“Leave it to you to grab the best-looking woman in town.”

Cole glanced up and grinned at his youngest brother, Sam, the only one in the family taller than he was. “You got it. So hands off. How did you sneak away?”

“I didn’t sneak. The rest of the family will be along in a minute. You okay?”

“Fine. How’s rangering these days?”

Sam Bass Outlaw was a member of the elite Texas Rangers. He’d wanted to be one since he was a kid, and after a determined rise through the highway patrol, he’d made the cut two years before and was chosen to fill the only opening the Rangers had vacant in a while.

“Can’t complain,” Sam said.

“I’ve never known you to do anything else,” a tall, leggy brunette said as she strode up to them.

“Hey, Ding-a-ling,” Cole said, falling into his pet name for his sister.

“Hey, Big Buzzer,” Belle said as she leaned down to peck him on the cheek. “You doing okay?”

“Fine. Have I told you that you’re looking gorgeous today—for an FBI agent?”

She grinned. “Thanks. I like your shoes.”

Cole laughed. As the baby sister of four rambunctious brothers, she’d learned early on how to give as good as she got. Belle would tangle with a wildcat—and win.

Kelly returned with her hands full and managing to juggle an extra plate on her arm.

“Let me get that for you,” Sam said, relieving her of the refreshments she carried.

“Thanks. You must be Sam.”

“I am,” Sam said with a smooth smile. “And you’re…?”

“With me,” Cole said. He introduced Kelly to his brother and sister, and then the rest of the family arrived, including the bride and groom, and the party went into full swing.

Some time later, Cole watched as Sam led Kelly around the dance floor. He felt a twinge of envy. Hell, he felt more than a twinge when he saw his brother’s arm around her waist. Cole wanted to rip off that arm and beat him with it. Crazy feeling.

“I like your doctor,” Belle said.

“She’s not my doctor.”

“Coulda fooled me. You’re looking at her like you could eat her with a spoon.”

“I mean she’s not my doctor. She’s not treating me. Kelly’s just a…friend.”

“Uh-huh,” Belle said, as if she didn’t believe a word of it.

“We only met a few days ago.” Had it only been a few days? Seemed longer. But then the days stretched interminably since he’d been shot. “How do you like Colorado?”

“I love it. I’m looking forward to some skiing soon. You’ll have to come visit.”

“I don’t imagine that I’d be too swift on skis.”

“You’re not going to be out of commission forever,” Belle said. “It will take a while, but you’ll heal. When are you planning to go back to work?”

He shrugged. “I have no plans. How long are you going to be in town?”

“Not long. I could only get away for a weekend. Wish I could stay longer, but I’m flying out of Dallas tomorrow evening.”

“Now that you’re in a field office, are you enjoying your work?”

Belle hesitated for a moment, then said, “Sure.”

Cole cocked an eyebrow at her. He knew his little sister like a book. From the time she could toddle, she’d always come to him with her problems. And he’d been able to help her with most of them—everything from thumping Sam for burying her Barbie to wiping her tears over missing a word on a spelling test. “What’s wrong?”

She sighed. “Cole, have you wondered if you became a cop because law enforcement was a family tradition or if it was really what you wanted?”

“Nope. It’s always been what I wanted. I think that Kojac and Dirty Harry may have pushed me toward homicide, but I always wanted to be a cop. Are you having second thoughts, Ding?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe sometimes. But I’ve worked so long and so hard to get where I am, I’m not ready to chuck it all yet.” She smiled, leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m so happy to see you doing well, Big Buzzer. The last time I saw you, I was worried. You looked pretty awful.”

“The last time you saw me, I was in ICU.”

“With about a hundred tubes coming out of you or going in. Pale is not your best color. I donated blood for you.”

“Is that why I’ve been growing boobs?”

Belle laughed and swatted his arm. “I wish you could come dance with me.”

“I do, too, darlin’. I do, too.”

KELLY HAD ALWAYS loved weddings and all the rituals involved, so she had a wonderful time, oohing when the newlyweds cut the cake and aahing when J.J. took Mary Beth onto the floor for their first dance. Kelly had done a fair amount of dancing herself—with every man in the Outlaw family, except Cole, and with several of her patients.

“Looks as if you found another eligible Outlaw,” her friend Carrie said when they met at the champagne fountain.

“Sam’s too young for me, so you must mean Cole,” Kelly said. “I don’t imagine a romance between us. He’s like a bird with a broken wing right now, but when he’s healed, he’ll fly away.”

“Maybe not. It would be nice having you as a sister-in-law. Free medical care and all that.”

Kelly laughed. “I think a good insurance policy would be a better bet. I don’t see Cole as the marrying kind—and certainly not to someone like me.”

“What do you mean ‘someone like’ you?”

“As my former fiancé put it—someone who smells like a hospital and can’t sit through an entire movie without an emergency. He said marrying me would be like committing bigamy, since I’m already married to my job.”

“What a turkey.”

“Luckily I realized that in time to cancel the wedding invitations. But I think he was right. Not many men can handle the demands of a doctor’s life—except maybe another doctor.”

“Or a cop,” Carrie said.

“I can’t believe we’re having this conversation,” Kelly said. “Trust me, there is absolutely no chance of a relationship between Cole and me. None. Zip. Nada.”

Carrie grinned. “But you will have to admit he’s a hunk.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Li-ar,” Carrie singsonged.

Kelly only smiled, and they parted company.

Oh, she’d noticed Cole Younger was a hunk. Every female hormone in her body was on red alert. She glanced toward him and found him watching her.

He winked.

Good Lord, could he read her mind?

She quickly turned back to the champagne fountain, grabbed a glass, and held it under a spigot. Her hand shook.

What was the matter with her? She chugalugged the wine and hurried to the ladies’ room.

WHEN SHE CAME OUT of the ladies’ room, Kelly saw that the party was still going strong, but Cole wasn’t. He looked tired. She slipped out to her car and got his wheelchair.

Once back at the table she tapped him on the shoulder. “How about I waltz you out of here, big guy?”

“Are you going to insist on leading?” Cole asked.

“Naturally. And get a move on. My coach is about to turn into a pumpkin.”

“Need any help?” Sam asked.

“Not a bit,” Cole replied, standing and slipping into the chair.

“You can bring the walker,” Kelly said.

“I’ll take it,” Belle said. “You go dance with Sally Easy again,” she told her youngest brother.

“Easly. Sally Easly.”

“Could have fooled me,” Belle said. “She’s been drooling all over you for an hour or more.”

“Get off his case, Ding,” Cole said. “Can the kid help it if he’s irresistible?”

Belle looked Sam up and down. “Irresistible? Him? I don’t get it.” She hooked the folded walker over her arm and led the way around the edge of the crowd.

Kelly helped Cole into her car, then she and Belle stowed the chair and walker in the back.

“Is he going to be okay, Dr. Kelly?” Belle asked quietly.

“Cole? He’s going to be fine. It’s just going to take some time and a lot of work.”

Before they left, Belle stuck her head in the window and gave Cole a peck on the cheek. “I want to spend some time with you before I leave, Big Buzzer.”

“Come by for breakfast in the morning,” he told her. “I’ll make the coffee. You bring the breakfast.”

“You’re on.”

As they drove away, Cole ripped off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt collar and leaned back against the headrest. “Thanks for rescuing me. I was ready to get out of there. I feel like I’ve been chewed up, spit out and stepped on.”

“I noticed you were looking a little tired. And my feet are killing me. I haven’t danced so much in years.”

“Are you bragging or complaining?”

“My feet are complaining. I don’t spend much time in high heels.”

“Me, either.”

Kelly chuckled. “I doubt if you could find any in your size. Aren’t you glad now that you went to the wedding and the reception?”

Cole smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. But I’m worn out.”

They arrived at the Twilight Inn a few moments later, and she wheeled him inside to his apartment.

When he stood to move to his recliner, Kelly helped him off with his coat. She started to unbutton his shirt, and when Cole put his hands on her hips to steady himself, something strange happened to her breathing. A woozy feeling washed over her, her heartbeat accelerated and her fingers fumbled the buttons. She caught herself, palms against his chest. “Sorry, I must visited that fountain once too often.”

“How much champagne did you have?”

“Only a couple of glasses.” Kelly knew it wasn’t the wine causing her reactions; it was the intimate contact. She was doing fine until he touched her.

Cole’s fingers tightened on her hips, and she glanced up. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. His eyes were almost black, and she could feel the pounding of his heart against her fingers.

Trying to ignore the sexual awareness that steamed like an overheated radiator, she quickly disposed of the shirt and unbuckled his belt. When she reached for his fly zipper, his hand covered hers. “I’ll do that later.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re exhausted, and I don’t mind helping.”

“Darlin’, I may too tuckered to pucker, but some parts of me don’t seem to have gotten the message.”

Automatically she glanced down and didn’t know whether to laugh or blush. “Well, at least you know everything is in working order.”

“Yeah, there’s that. But the timing is lousy.”

“I could come back later.” Had she really said that? She couldn’t believe she’d said that. What had gotten into her?

She didn’t have time to bemoan her gaffe any longer because Cole seemed to have gotten a second wind. His arms went around her, and he pulled her into a kiss that blew her away, stole her breath and set her reeling. His mouth was greedy, and her response was just as hungry. She plastered herself against him and savored every sensual moment.

Her pulse raced and her belly vibrated—

Kelly went still. Her belly vibrated again.

“Sorry,” she said, pushing away. “My pager.”

“Ignore it.” He reached for her mouth.

“Can’t. I’m not on call. It must be an emergency. I have to go. And you need to rest.”

He cocked one dark eyebrow. “Darlin’, right now rest is the last thing on my mind.” He sighed and loosened his arms. “Call me later.”

Chapter Five

Kelly charged in the back door of the hospital and collided with Warren Iverson. “Sorry,” she said and tried to step around him.

He blocked her path. “Careful, Dr. Martin. You could have injured someone. Have you been drinking?”

She wanted to clobber him. He knew very well she’d toasted the bride and groom—and had a second glass of champagne. He’d been at the reception taking notes.

“Excuse me, I have an emergency.” She pushed past him and hurried for the nurses’ station. Let the old goat stand there and sputter. She didn’t care.

The news on her elderly patient, Mrs. Phelps, was not good.

After Kelly checked her, she said to the nurse, “I think you should call her niece immediately.” Mrs. Phelps’s only relative was a niece in Shreveport. “And her pastor.”

Kelly elevated the frail woman’s bed to make breathing easier, smoothed damp gray tendrils back from her forehead with a cool cloth and sat holding her hand until someone from the church came to stay with her. Dammit, this was a perfect example of the town’s need for hospice care. She felt totally inadequate. Nothing in medical school had really prepared her for having to say goodbye to her patients. Oh, there was the usual admonition about staying objective and emotionally detached, but she’d never been able to do it. She cared too much.

But could anyone care too much?

She said a silent prayer and slipped quietly from the room.

When Kelly got home, she took a long bath and put on soft knit lounging pants and a top. She heated a can of chicken noodle soup, but she ate only a bite or two.

Restless, she turned on the TV, then turned it off.

Neither Rocky nor Pierre seemed in the mood to cuddle. They had retreated to their hidey-holes.

Pacing didn’t help. She wanted to scream or weep or…something. But she didn’t dare start crying or she might not stop. She hugged herself and shivered. She desperately needed—

“To hell with this!”

She grabbed her keys and hurried to her car. The car headed toward the Twilight Inn on autopilot.

When she arrived, Kelly hesitated before she knocked on the apartment door. He probably wasn’t even there. With all his family in town, he was probably visiting with them or—