The Sheriff's Son

She didn’t have a husband.

He frowned, recalling the tight edge of hurt in her voice when she’d told him. What had happened to the man? She’d had a husband once, someone she used to love.

Yeah, and she used to love him, years ago.

He shoved the thought away.

She hadn’t ever loved him, no matter what she’d said. How could she, when she’d so obviously hooked herself up with another man so soon after he’d left town?

Could be she cared for that other man still, and that’s why her voice carried such hurt?

That thought had him slamming the pickup’s door extra hard behind him.

He strode into Delia’s and sniffed at the tangy smell in the air. Nice to know some things never changed. Not like women.

Scowling, he directed his gaze to the back booth Doc Thompson always claimed as his own. And there the man sat, digging in to one of Delia’s Texas-sized barbecue sandwiches.

Almost everything in the diner came Texas-sized, including the owner herself, who charged around the end of the front counter, a grin splitting her face.

He met her halfway and returned her rib-cracking hug.

She stepped back, put her huge hands on her hips, and shook her head slowly. “Well, whoever would believe it, Tanner Jones, a deputy sheriff. Decided to stay on the right side of the law, huh?”

“Why not?”

Her laugh echoed around the room and bounced off the high ceiling. “Don’t playact innocence with me, boy, after all those times you helped me load stock in here. When all those jelly doughnuts grew legs and walked off with you.”

He shrugged. He’d forgotten about that. “Hell, Delia, those were my tips.”

She laughed till her eyes streamed. “All right, boy, what do you want to do me out of now?”

“Coffee and double special.”

“Coming right up.” She turned away, still chuckling.

When he reached Doc’s booth, the other man nodded at him, his mouth full, but his eyes twinkling.

Tanner slid into the vacant bench seat. It put him with his back to the door, not something he liked.

Doc swallowed. “Delia looks happy to see you.”

“Whatever happened to the Welcome Wagon?”

He laughed and took a swig of coffee. “So. How’s the law and order around town tonight?”

“Orderly.”

Doc eyed him. “Maybe I should’ve said, how’s the lawman.”

Tanner grunted. “Suddenly aware of all the changes around Dillon, and not for the better.”

“Yeah,” Doc said, “we were hit hard when the furniture factory closed its doors. A few of the longtime stores had to follow suit, and some people moved out, looking for work.” He shook his head. “At least the ranchers are still holding on.”

Delia set a platter and coffee mug in front of Tanner, and he dug in. By the time he polished off the first sandwich, he felt more like himself. And now that he’d satisfied a part of his hunger, he planned to do the same for his curiosity. “Tell me something, Doc. What’s with Sarah?”

“Ah.” Doc’s white eyebrows rose. “So that’s what’s got you going. Here, I blamed it on a trip down memory lane.”

“C’mon, Doc.” Some memories were best forgotten. And others…He shook his head. “What about Sarah? She’s raising that kid of hers alone, running that store by herself. Told me she hasn’t got a husband. What happened to him?”

Doc shook his head. “Don’t know. Never laid eyes on the man, myself.”

“What?” Tanner sat back. “How can that be?” Doc met everyone who set foot in Dillon.

The other man shrugged. “You weren’t the only one to take off years ago. You remember when you phoned a short while later, I told you about Sarah’s daddy getting sick, passing on.”

Tanner nodded. He did remember.

He’d called Sarah before he left town for boot camp, and she’d hung up on him.

A few weeks later, he’d tried her again and found the phone disconnected. With his parents already gone to live closer to his grandparents in Oklahoma, he’d done the next best thing and dialed Doc’s number. But Sarah had closed up the bookstore and left without telling anyone in town where she’d headed.

Tanner winced at the reminder of Sarah’s loss. He’d known her father well, had always liked him, had spent a lot of time with him growing up. And he hadn’t given a thought to offering Sarah his condolences.

He pushed his plate away, not sure even Delia’s barbecue could fill the sudden hollowness he felt deep inside.

“Happened quick,” Doc continued. “After, she went off to live with some relatives out in California, so we heard it later. She doesn’t talk about that time much.”

Tanner frowned. “When did she come back?”

“Just a few weeks before the baby’s birth.”

“With no husband tagging along?”

“Nope. Just her and the baby I delivered shortly after that. They’ve been here ever since.”

“What happened to the father?”

Doc shrugged again. “No use asking me, boy. Couldn’t tell you. You want to find out about Sarah’s coming and goings, you need to ask her yourself.”

He’d tried that, for all the good it had done him.

That didn’t mean he’d given up. He did want to know about Sarah, to learn what had happened to her in the years after he’d gone. Why, he couldn’t say.

Since asking had got him nowhere, he’d try something else. He had other ways to get information.

And detecting skills he could put to good use.

Chapter Four

The minute Tanner left the diner, Lily Gannett gave Delia the signal and proceeded to Doc’s booth in the back of the room. Delia followed, carrying a coffee carafe.

“How did it go?” Lily asked even before she’d finished settling across from Doc. She leaned forward, resting her forearms against the cool Formica tabletop.

“Yeah, spill it.” Delia dragged a chair to the end of the booth and plopped onto the seat. “What’d you tell him?”

He shrugged. “Just what we planned.”

Lily felt a momentary unease. “You don’t think we’re overdoing it? Delia, you should have seen Jeb Carter at the town meeting. I never knew he had such acting ability.”

“Wasn’t acting,” Doc protested. “Nobody made up any of those pranks going on around town. Exaggerated their concern, maybe, that’s all.”

“In the hope of catching Tanner’s attention. Which we did.”

“Which Sarah did.” Delia laughed. “Think he’s seen through us yet, Doc?”

“Uh-uh. Tied up in knots as he was when he left just now, he’s lucky to see past the end of his boots.”

“Good.” Delia slapped a broad hand on the table. “Can’t wait to see what happens when he figures it out. If he ever does.” She caught Lily’s frown immediately and said, “No regrets, now. We can’t expect the pair of them to manage things on their own. And Tanner always was thickheaded as a mule about some things.”

Lily had to agree.

All three of them had known Tanner—and Sarah, too—since birth. For that matter, Doc had delivered them both.

But as Tanner’s former teacher, she’d found more to him than stubbornness. “He can smarten up when he puts his mind to it. No, what’s worrying me is Sarah.”

“Plenty to worry about over her, with the load she’s had to carry.” Doc held his mug out to Delia. “Never one to make much about her troubles, though. Proud.”

“Too proud. And that could bring things down around her ears.” Delia topped off the mug, set the pot down again, and leaned forward. “You’ve got to talk to the child, Lily. Sarah’ll listen to you.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“You’ve got to,” Delia repeated. “We hit it lucky with Worth needing some time off. But Sarah’s pride could ruin all we did to get Tanner hired on at the County Sheriff’s.”

SARAH GRIPPED THE station wagon’s steering wheel so tightly, her knuckles hurt. Her heart hurt, too, as she thought of the phone call that had sent her hurrying to put the Closed sign on the front door, then rushing to the car.

She stared at Dillon’s one-and-only traffic light. Willed it to turn green. Felt tempted to drive through regardless. There was no one else in sight on this quiet Friday morning.

And, luckily, she’d seen no sign of Tanner.

She still felt a pang of guilt at coaxing Kevin into staying home for supper last night, instead of going to Delia’s.

When the signal changed at last, she shot through the empty intersection.

Normally she’d have walked the mile or so to the grade school, to save wear and tear on Daddy’s ancient Chevy wagon. Not today. Not when the school principal himself, Sam Porter, had asked to see her at the earliest to talk about an unfortunate situation.

Lordy, what had Kevin done now? Gotten into a fist-fight? Taken a sack lunch that looked better than his own? But, no—Kevin wouldn’t steal.

Keeping an eye out for pedestrians, she turned onto the road that led to the schoolhouse.

She’d tried so hard to be a good mother, all on her own. To do the proper thing, all alone. In her mind’s eye, she saw the red light again and felt doubly thankful she hadn’t run through it.

A white picket fence needing a new coat of paint surrounded the school property. The wide gate sat propped open. She chugged to a stop in an empty parking spot near the building and turned off the motor.

Another vehicle coasted into the spot beside hers. Tanner. He was the man grinning at her from the front seat, nearly blinding her with the sunlight reflecting off his mirrored glasses.

Dropping her head to the steering wheel, she muttered something unladylike and wished desperately she could stay there. But Kevin needed her, so she grabbed the duct-taped driver’s handle and shoved the door open.

“That’s the same old Chevy you had growing up?” he called out.

“The very same.” She had learned to drive in the old wagon, had taken it to California and back after Daddy died, and now did what little she could afford to keep it from falling to pieces.

Tanner frowned. “Idle’s sounding real rough. Best get it checked out.”

“I will,” she said through gritted teeth. No time now to argue about his interference. She nodded shortly and marched past him. He clamped a hand around her upper arm.

“If you’ll excuse me…” It took almost more strength than she could muster to turn and face him, to look pointedly at his restraining hand. But she managed. “I have an appointment.”

“Me, too.” He dropped her arm. “I also have something you’ll want to hear before you head into that school.”

“Why do you—? Never mind.” He hadn’t made an outright claim, yet she’d jumped to read accusation in his tone. She took a deep breath, tried to calm down. What was wrong with her?

He stood too close, that explained it. She couldn’t think.

Her thoughts were with her son, anyway.

“What is it? Kevin?” Her heart clenching, she backed a pace closer to the schoolhouse.

Surely Sam would have told her immediately if something had happened to her son? Of course, he would have. She forced herself to focus on Tanner, who stood shaking his head. Her own reflection in his mirrored sunglasses bounced crazily, making her dizzy.

“It’s about the vandalism around town.”

“One worry at a time, Tanner. And right now, my meeting with the principal takes priority.”

She could handle her problems herself, could be a good mother all on her own, just as she always had been. Could get her head on straight and think clearly.

If only she could get away from this man.

“We can discuss the vandalism later.” She hurried toward the school, trying to block out the sound of jangles and squeaks and footsteps that meant he was following her.

“Hold up, Sarah.” He got to the school entrance a second before her and pulled the front door open. “You’re not shaking me off that easy. Sam called me in on this, too.”

Swallowing a groan, she walked through the doorway. At this point, she couldn’t have said what dismayed her more, that Tanner would have a part in this meeting, or that Sam had seen fit to involve the law.

She marched across the lobby area. Tanner kept pace beside her. They stopped at the front desk, where Ella Byers, the school secretary, smiled up at them.

Was that a hint of sympathy in her eyes?

Sarah stood taller. “We’re here to see Sam.”

“He’s waiting.” Ella made a quick phone call, then gestured toward the hall. “You can go right along to his office.”

Sarah nodded and skirted the desk, her steps leaden now, as if she had started down the road to her own lynching.

When she rounded the corner, she saw Kevin, looking as if he felt the same. He sat slumped on a hard wooden bench pushed up against the pale-blue wall, his eyes twice normal size and his shoulder span reduced by half. One glance at his defeated posture made her stand taller yet, even as she blinked back tears.

“Mom.” He eased forward, ready to get up from the bench, then slid back again, maybe recalling what had brought him to this seat outside the principal’s office in the first place.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Kevin. I need to speak with Mr. Porter first.”

His gaze jumped from her to fasten on Tanner, who gave a quick nod to her son.

When she and Tanner entered the office, Sam Porter stood. Dark-haired, solidly built and nearly as tall as Tanner, he had no trouble reaching over his massive desk to shake her hand. At the church potluck just this Sunday, Sam had traded jokes with her. Now, not a hint of a twinkle showed in his gray eyes.

After greeting Tanner, he waved them both to chairs pulled up to the desk.

“We’ve got ourselves a situation here,” he said. “A couple of vending machines damaged, the coin slots filled with glue. And it seems like your boy caused the problem.”

“Seems like?” She grabbed at the most important words.

“Just an expression. To tell the truth, he was caught in the act. He also had a couple of extra tubes of glue in his back pocket. Looks like he had quite a spree in mind.” He shot a glance toward the open doorway, then continued in a lower voice, “Considering all the upset that’s going on around town, I felt Deputy Jones ought to have a few words with Kevin, maybe let the uniform make an impression.”

“Good idea, Sam,” Tanner said. “I’ll talk with him alone for a bit, if you don’t mind.”

She started, ready to protest, but Sam nodded. “Fine. Sarah and I have a lot to discuss ourselves. Including how her boy’s going to pay for the damages he’s done.”

Her stomach clenched.

Money shouldn’t concern her most, and didn’t. Kevin’s actions that morning had shot right to the top of her long list of worries. Still, she dreaded hearing what it would cost to fix what Kevin had done.

A bill for repairs that might just bankrupt her.

Sam came around from behind his desk. “Let me go speak to Ella for a minute, Sarah. On the way out, I’ll explain to Kevin that the Deputy will want to talk with him.”

Tanner spoke up again. “Ask him to wait for me outside by the front steps.”

Sam nodded and left the room. He’d barely cleared the threshold when Sarah twisted in her seat to face Tanner.

“You’re not going to question Kevin alone.”

“I said talk, not question. And I know how to handle kids.”

“Not that I’ve experienced,” she mumbled.

To her surprise, he laughed. “You haven’t seen the full workout. Hang around till I get the thumbscrews.”

“Tanner!”

“That’s Deputy right now, ma’am. And I hope you’re not thinking of refusing to let me speak with your son.”

She opened her mouth, but he cut in.

“We don’t have time for this now.” He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “If you hadn’t found it necessary to shut me out in the parking lot…”

His sudden quiet unnerved her even more.

“I don’t want to add to your troubles, Sarah, but there’s something you need to know. I pulled a few of the kids here at the grade school aside earlier today. They claim there’s a gang of high-school boys who’ve taken to hanging around the younger ones.”

“Well, that’s a start. We can talk to the older boys. Later. Right now, I’ve got—”

“One of them thinks Kevin’s running with the gang.”

Her mouth dropped open. She clamped it shut and shook her head violently. “That’s impossible. And you’re just accepting this, without giving Kevin a chance?”

“What do you take me for, Sarah?” Tanner stared at her, his eyes bleak and icy-blue, his face set in stone. “Don’t you know me better than that?”

No, she wanted to shout, I don’t know you at all. Maybe I never did.

She swallowed hard and looked away, trying not to think of her shattered past, trying to focus on the horrible here and now. Kevin, in a gang? She refused to believe it. He was only seven years old!

Tanner reached out and clamped his hand on her arm as if trying to still her sudden trembling. “This stunt with the vending machines. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.”

“How could that be?”

“I’m not so sure about placing full blame on Kevin.”

Her gaze shot to his again. “You don’t think he did it?”

Tanner shrugged. “Not by himself, at any rate. Doesn’t seem like something a kid his age would come up with on his own.”

She looked eagerly at him.

And now, she saw something different in his expression, something…no longer bleak or cold or hard…something she couldn’t define. A yielding, maybe. A compassion she had never expected from him again.

He reached up with his free hand and touched her jaw. “Chin up, Sarah. Things’ll work out all right.”

If only they could.

Abruptly, he frowned, dropped his hand from her face and let go of her arm. “Sam’s got the right idea. Your boy needs a taste of what’ll happen if he keeps heading down this wrong path. Far as I can see, you’re not having much luck with him yourself. I want to talk to Kevin alone, man-to-man—and that sure won’t happen with his mom hanging over his shoulder.” He grinned.

Her already shaky emotions threatened to collapse. How could he treat this awful situation so lightly? And manage to insult her again, at the same time?

He stood up, leaving her so incensed, she couldn’t find the words to respond.

Leaving her, also, with a clear view of the doorway. Kevin stood outside in the hall, staring at them.

“Kev—” She snapped her mouth shut. Too late.

Tanner pivoted, then started toward the doorway.

Kevin fled.

Tanner took off after him and Sarah rose to follow. The sound of Sam’s voice made her drop back into her chair, feeling like Kevin on his hallway bench. She passed a hand over her face, trying to brush away any trace of Tanner’s touch. Trying to ease the heat that suffused her cheeks before Sam could enter the room.

What had Kevin seen? What had he thought?

What had she thought, by leaving her imagination to fly off on its own? By letting Tanner get so close to her?

Her heart throbbed extra hard for a beat or three. Made her think things she would never have considered until that moment.

How would her life have been if Tanner had never left her? How might this situation play out if they had raised Kevin as their son? How would Tanner react if she just blurted the truth to him now?

Rubbing her fingertips in small circles on her temples, she thought back to what he had said—before his smart remark about her lack of success with her son.

Kevin hadn’t acted alone. At least, so Tanner seemed to think. Thank heaven, he’d opened his mind enough to start looking in other directions. She only hoped he would keep that mind open wide when he spoke to Kevin.

Man-to-man.

At the words, her stomach churned. Kevin had never had a man around to talk to. But circumstances sure changed that now.

TANNER FINALLY FOUND the kid halfway across the school yard, awkwardly tossing stones at the front gate. He settled his regulation Stetson in place and crossed the space as quietly as his boots would allow.

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