The Sheriff's Secret

Tina shuddered beside him.

“I’ll be by to check on you and Lily as soon as I can, but I’m going to pay the hospital pharmacist a visit now.” The one who’d asked her out multiple times during her pregnancy. “What did you say his name was?”

“Chris.”

West itched to tighten his fingers around hers once more, but he wasn’t sure how many times he could force himself to let go.

Tina rolled her head against the back of the seat, turning sharp blue eyes on him. “Tell me this wasn’t because someone thought I was spending too much extra time with Steven.” Her body tipped slightly toward his. The change was small, nearly imperceptible. So much so, Tina probably didn’t even realize. But West did.

He felt the too-familiar pull at his core, an urge to meet her in the middle.

No amount of time would change that about them. He and Tina were human magnets in need of connection. Being near her without being hers was a new and ugly sensation. He didn’t like it.

West cleared his throat. “We’ll know more soon.” His thoughts drifted back to Carl Morgan. The timing of Carl’s absence with the shooting today was highly suspicious, and West didn’t like the way Carl had looked at Tina. Definitely not the way a patient should look at his therapist, and it had taken all of West’s self-control not to smack Carl’s grubby hand away when he’d reached for her arm. The look in Carl’s eyes when she recoiled was satisfying, but delivering the weirdo a solid right hook would’ve been even better. “We’ll see what my team turns up and what Tucker and Chris have to say once we find them. We’ve got to follow the facts.” Lucky for Carl, being creepy wasn’t against the law, and West’s gut instinct wasn’t grounds to hold him.

Tina rolled her eyes, instantly looking a decade younger. She nudged his arm with a grin. “You still do that, huh? Answer my questions with random truths when you don’t want to lie or upset me with the one I’m asking for.”

Her hand lingered on his arm, warming him to the core.

West fought a budding smile. “Would you prefer I lie?”

“As if you could.” She cracked the door open and swung her legs into the brisk autumn wind.

He circled the car and met her halfway to hers, toting the bags she’d packed at home earlier. “Slow down.” He caught her wrist in his fingers, cursing himself instantly for the thrill it gave him. “Hey. Take a minute before you drive. You’ve had one hell of a day. You’re worried about your baby, your safety, your group.”

She stopped to face him. Her shoulders drooped. “I’m okay to drive.”

“Okay, then tell me you have a plan before you shoot out of here. If you’re planning to get a hotel room, you’d better change cars and register in cash under a different name. I’m going to need your contact information regardless, in case we have reason to believe you’re in danger.”

Her face went slack. “Maybe I could take Lily to Disneyland for a week. Or the beach. We can go somewhere far away for a while.”

“Maybe.” He’d like to think he’d have the son of a gun behind bars before dawn, but the odds certainly weren’t in his favor, and he couldn’t promise he’d have him caught in a week, either. “How long can you afford something like that?”

“I don’t know.” Her voice ratcheted an octave as fear changed her expression to something panicked and feral. “I’ve never been stalked, or hunted, or anything like this before, if that’s even what this is. You’re the expert. What are we supposed to do?”

West couldn’t give her an answer. He didn’t have one.

He ached to fold her into his arms and kiss her head like he used to. He wanted to fix this. All of this. He’d never wanted anything more than to keep her safe and make her smile. And ten years apart hadn’t changed a damn thing.

Tina groaned and rubbed her eyes. “I need coffee. I need to fix my face, paste on a smile and make sure Lily doesn’t pick up on any of the horrific things rolling through my head.”

She pried her keys from her handbag and beeped her car doors unlocked. “I’ll get Lily and Ducky, then I’ll figure out where we’re going before your deputy leaves my place. I’ll call you as soon as I know.”

He shifted his weight. “I’ll head over to your house as soon as I can.” He passed her the bags, and she tossed them onto her passenger seat.

Tina slid her hand down the length of West’s arm, catching his fingers in hers. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Always,” he said, returning the gentle squeeze.

They stood in palpable silence for a long moment, evaluating one another, it seemed. There was obviously something more Tina wanted to say.

She didn’t.

Instead, she dropped behind the wheel of her car and motored away.

They were beginning to make a bad habit of this.

Her leaving, and him watching helplessly from behind.

Chapter Five

Tina turned onto the main road with a sigh of relief, thankful to put a little distance between herself and the man causing her already shocked and broken heart so much unnecessary confusion. She dialed Mary and set the phone to speaker.

Thankfully, the call connected on the first ring. “Hi, Tina,” Mary answered. “How are you? Is everything okay?”

Tina checked her mirrors and adjusted her defrost vents. “I’ve been better. How are you and Lily?”

“Lily’s sound asleep, and a strapping young deputy is patrolling my neighborhood, so I’m not doing too bad, either.”

“Great.” A smile edged over Tina’s lips. Mary was Tina’s first friend after moving back to town. She wasn’t much older than Tina’s mom, and she missed caring for children, so the arrangement with Lily was perfect all around. “Well, I’m finally on my way. Can I bring you anything?”

“You don’t need to do that. You’ve had an awful day. Besides, Lily and I ate lunch before she went to sleep.” Mary gave a sad laugh. “Considering what you’ve been through, I should probably be making you lunch.” She paused. “Do you want me to make you lunch? Maybe pour you a glass of wine? I’m a great listener if you need someone to talk to.”

“No.” Tina almost laughed. She didn’t drink, and it was barely past noon, but after the morning she’d had a glass of wine didn’t sound half bad. “How about I buy you a fancy coffee instead? Cup of Life is on the way to your place from here.”

“Fine,” Mary agreed. “I will accept your coffee, but only if you agree to stay a few minutes before you take off again. I worry about you. Sometimes I think you get so busy taking care of everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself.”

Tina didn’t have the energy to argue or confess all that had happened today. Like the possibility she may have been the reason for Steven’s death. Or that, even if she wasn’t, someone had still been in her home. Touched her things. Pretended to make her dinner.

An involuntary shiver coursed down her back. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.”

Tina disconnected, then loosened her grip on the wheel, bending and stretching her fingers in a futile attempt to relax. She needed a better headspace before holding her baby again. Lily was sure to pick up on the anxiety pouring off her mother in buckets.

Tina closed her eyes at the red light, and West’s deceptively gruff image appeared. She popped her lids open and cursed herself internally. Given all that had transpired today, it was ludicrous she couldn’t concentrate on anything but memories of his determined face.

She eased her foot off the brake as the light turned green.

She’d been back in town for nearly two years, and had managed to date, get married and have a baby, all without running into a single Garrett. Now, after just a few hours at his side, she was seventeen all over again, wondering when she would see him next, and if his heart still beat as fast as hers when they touched. More important, could he forgive her for the way she’d left things between them all those years ago?

West’s opinion of her had always mattered. As much today as it had when they were young and wildly in love. She groaned inwardly at the thought. It had been unfair for her to let him love her then. Back when she had been a lie. She’d put up a nice show. Smoke and mirrors to distract from what she really was. He gave her his all, but she’d never really let him in. She’d kept the real things to herself.

She’d known what people said about her, of course. She fed on the gossip, imagining her life was something other than it was, letting people believe anything, so long as it wasn’t the truth. She’d pretended to be rail thin by choice, instead of half starved, pretended to wear too-short shorts for attention, when the truth was that she kept getting taller, and clothes were expensive.

No more.

Now, she had a stack of jeans in her closet, all the right size, and Lily had more clothes than one child could ever want, whatever the season. Tina would never be that helpless child again, and her daughter would never know the humiliation of a life without a mother’s love.

Possibly the only thing she loved more than knowing how much she had changed was knowing that West hadn’t changed at all. He was still strong and certain, reliable and steadfast. All the things she’d fallen in love with long ago. Even being with him again for a short time had made her miss the family she never had and long for a husband to cradle their daughter. She wanted someone she could find strength in when hers was gone.

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