Chapter 26
MADDISON
S heriff Hale’s home surprises me. For a woman who seems so emotionally detached, it’s actually very homely.
“Thanks for coming, especially at such short notice.” She sees me and Isabel through to the living room and when I see the selection of cakes and brownies laid out on the coffee table, I lick my lips and feel my stomach growl. It’s been less than an hour since I’ve eaten dinner, but I don’t enjoy savory things these days, I’m all about the sweet stuff.
“Please sit down and help yourself. I really didn’t expect to win, I was just trying to support the church.” She proves she’s not very good at being sociable as she hovers awkwardly and blocks our way to the couch.
“Sorry.” She shifts out of our way and after I take a seat, closely followed by Isabel, I check my phone.
I’M PARKED AROUND THE CORNER, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU’RE READY
I read Jace’s message and smile to myself. I’m surprised he let me come here considering we’ve both had our suspicions over this woman, but I guess she’s been here a while without causing any trouble. What no one else in this room, or Jace will know, is that I didn’t come here just for the cake. Sheriff Hale’s invitation is the perfect opportunity for me to find out what she knows.
“So, as you can tell I haven’t exactly made many friends since I’ve been here,” she explains.
“You're the sheriff, I didn’t think you were supposed to make friends,” Isabel points out, as she reaches to the table and takes one of the little plates, starting with a gooey-looking brownie. A sharp kick against my ribs from little JJ encourages me to do the same.
“Riley, when I’m off duty.” Hale smiles awkwardly at us both. “And you are right in thinking that, Isabel, but I’m also planning on making Clearwater Creek my permanent home.” She pours some lemonade from the jug that's on the table into a glass for each of us.
“I think that’s a great idea, I’m new to town myself and it’s a great place to live. Nice people too.” I look at Isabel and silently plead for her to go easy on the woman. I think it would be wise to have Riley Hale as a friend rather than an enemy.
“So, when's the wedding?” Riley asks, taking an interest in my engagement ring.
“Oh, I managed to convince Jace that we should wait until after the baby comes. I didn’t want to look like a frump in the wedding photos.”
“Please, you do not look like a frump, you look sensational. Can you believe she’s still getting her ass into size ten jeans?” Isabel looks at Riley in amazement.
“My ass, yeah, but not the rest of me.” I drown my sorrows by taking a huge bite out of my brownie and kudos to Jean, like everything else she makes, it tastes incredible. “ I'm also kind of hoping my parents come round to the idea of me and Jace once the baby gets here. I want my dad to walk me down the aisle.” I decide to be honest, it might encourage Riley to open up.
“That's very true, and what about you, Isabel? Do you and Eli have plans for a family?” She turns her questioning to my friend and the room goes quiet. Eli has admitted to me that they’ve been trying for some time with no success. But Isabel has never mentioned it. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that she’s not in love with the man, but I still get the impression she feels as if she’s letting him down. I wish she’d open up and talk to me so I could explain to her that she isn’t.
“It’s kind of a work in progress.” She picks up her lemonade and takes a sip.
“I’m sorry…I–”
“So… you and Sawyer,” I chime in. “I sense that there's something between you. I saw the way he was looking at you last week when you were both in the grocery store.”
“Sawyer?” Riley laughs. “No way, the man is, crude and?—”
“Funny. Handsome too, but I bet you haven’t noticed that.” Isabel keeps the hits coming.
“Well, maybe he is all those things but I much prefer a man who takes life seriously. I may be young and doing well in my career but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to start a family.” She smiles at me as she reaches forward and takes a slice of cake for herself.
“Hell, don’t let Daphne hear you say that, she’ll have you matched up with someone in no time. She likes to put people together, it’s a shame she doesn’t put the effort into her own love life.” Isabel gradually starts warming to our new friend and, although on the surface I may appear to have thawed a long time ago, I’m still keeping my wits about me.
So, how did it go?” Jace is waiting by the truck door when I come out of the house. Isabel decided to stay longer and open some wine, whereas I was starting to feel exhausted.
“Riley’s actually really nice.”
“Riley, huh? That’s friendly.” He raises his eyebrows and this time when he goes to strap me in, I let him. I’ve eaten far too much cake to argue.
He ensures the belt fits underneath my bump before he strokes it affectionately and moves to get in the driver's seat.
“She just wants to make some friends.” I rest my head back and watch him as he starts to drive. He’s so handsome, I could spend hours just looking at him. “Did you really wait out here for me all this time?” I ask, feeling like the luckiest woman in the world. Jace takes looking after us to a different level.
“Ain’t nowhere else I was gonna be,” he tells me. He rests his hand on my stomach while he drives.
“And what are you going to do when the spring comes and you're busy with that ranch?” I shuffle in the seat and try to get a more comfortable spot.
“I can always take on more help.” He makes it sound simple, but I don’t want him to have to do that, the overheads at the ranch are high enough.
“So did Riley ask about me?” He moves us on from the subject.
“Was she supposed to?” I frown.
“C’mon, you know how she was when she first came to town. She knows either me or Sawyer had something to do with that rustler getting jumped,” he reminds me.
“Actually, we spoke more about families and just normal, nice things. The kinda stuff I used to talk to Kendra about.”
“You got Taylor and Isabel for that now, though, right?” He looks concerned.
“Yeah, they’re both great. Taylor’s always offering to help and Isabel’s a little closed-off sometimes but she’s fun to be around.” I put his mind at rest.“Do you still think Riley is cautious of you?” I check, sensing that he still has his suspicions.
“No, darlin’, not at all.” He shakes his head and continues to drive, but it doesn’t convince me.