Chapter 20
“Breakfast will be ready soon, Dan!”
“Thanks, Mom!”
Dan’s room was on the bottom floor of the family home because he worked shifts and didn’t want to wake his mom when he came home late. After washing, he pulled on his uniform and thought a few things through.
So far, he hadn’t said anything to his family about buying a house. He knew they’d be pleased for him, but Dan wasn’t sure how his mom would take it, even if he’d bought it to rent out. One day, she’d have to know he’d move into it.
Every change his family went through, she called new chapters. Was this that for him and for her?
Leah Reynolds was one of those chapters in his life he’d never closed off.
She’d been special to him, and then that changed when he’d arrested her father.
They’d exchanged angry, hurtful words, and when he’d gone back to apologize and talk it through, she’d already left Lyntacky.
The Reynoldses’ house had been locked up tight after the feds were done with it, and it stayed that way until Leah returned seven years later.
He had so many questions to ask her, but to do that, he needed to get her alone. Work had kept him busy since Girls’ Night at the Rollaway, and he hadn’t seen Leah around town. That was going to change. He would drive out to her property and talk to her later, and he’d make her listen.
That sorted, Dan left his room and headed to the kitchen where he knew his mom would be. The room was large and filled with light, and when he thought about his mom, he pictured her here. Food was her love language. If her family had full stomachs, then all was right in her world.
“Hey, sweetie. Did you sleep well? Need me to check that knife wound?”
“It’s all good now, Mom, and you looked at it last night.”
“All right, then. Are you ready to get out and protect the good people of Lyntacky?”
“Born ready,” he said because she asked him that at least twice a week.
“That’s my boy.”
“What are your plans for today, Mom?”
“Well, it’s Saturday, so I’m going for a coffee at Ryder’s, then shopping for some groceries. I’m spending the afternoon in the garden. I’ve already got dinner cooking.”
“Nice. What are we having?” Dan asked, sitting down to the omelet his mother had filled with tomatoes, bacon, and onions, just how he liked it.
“Beef chili in the Crock-Pot.” His mother was wearing her favorite apron, the one Ally had made her with the crooked seams and the words Best Nana Ever on the front. It was yellow, pink, and green.
“I’ll pick up some wine for you.”
She patted his cheek and then returned to the sink. “You’re a good boy. How’s things with you and Leah?”
“Okay. We’re adults and can live in the same town.”
Why was everyone in his family obsessed with him and Leah? It was driving him crazy.
“Good, because what happened was a long time ago now, it’s time to move on,” she added.
He nodded. “It was, but I don’t think we’ll be friends anytime soon, though.” He hoped that stopped the questions.
“That’s a shame because she’s a lovely girl and you can never have enough friends, and unlike you, she doesn’t have a large family to watch over her and Hudson. It breaks my heart when I think of what they’ve both suffered losing that sweet Cassie.”
“Haven’t we already discussed this to death, Mom?” Some of his frustration leaked into his voice.
“We might have discussed it, but you’re not exactly forthcoming, Dan.”
“I’m thinking of buying a rental property, Mom,” he said, desperate now for a change in conversation. “What do you think?”
“Really?” She looked at him, and he nodded. “Well, I think that’s a wonderful idea. When you’re ready, you can move into it.”
“What?”
“Son, you shouldn’t still be living at home with your mom.”
Shock held him silent for a few seconds. “But I thought you wanted me to stay?”
She smiled. “Of course I love having you here, but it’s time, Dan. You need a place of your own for when you find that special someone. She won’t want to live here, after all.”
“You can’t be serious?” He stared at her like he’d never seen her before.
“About you meeting someone and her not wanting to live with your mother?”
He nodded.
“Deadly. Now, you eat up. You don’t want to be late for your shift.”
He ate, processing what she’d said, surprised at how wrong he’d got things. He’d thought she’d be sad at the thought of him leaving… which he was not doing yet. Instead she seemed relieved.
“Why didn’t you talk to me like this before, Mom?” he said when he’d cleaned his plate.
“The time wasn’t right. It is now.” She then patted his cheek and headed out the back door to her garden, leaving him reeling.
Surely, she didn’t mean the time was right because of Leah. “No,” he told himself. “Definitely not.”
Dan shelved the odd conversation he’d just had with his mom and drove to the station.
Inside, Sybil—reliable as ever at the front desk—raised an eyebrow.
“Morning, Dan.”
“Morning, Sybil. The sheriff in?”
“He is,” Sybil said. “I’m just making coffee. You want one?”
“Sounds good, thanks.”
Dan knocked on his uncle’s door and stepped inside.
“Morning, Dan. I was just heading to the Simpkin place. Apparently some idiot kids drove around in their paddock last night, scaring cattle, just like you and your brothers used to do.”
“Harsh. We were never idiots,” Dan said, looking around his uncle’s office. There were photos of all of them, plus the daughter who had found him late in life. A daughter he hadn’t even known existed until she’d come looking for him.
“How’s the hand?”
“Good. Nearly healed.”
“I haven’t had a chance to speak to you about that night. But why didn’t you wait for backup, Dan?” His uncle sat back in his chair.
“I told you why. The guy jumped out of the window, and we’d have lost him. Since when do we wait for backup?” Dan asked.
“You didn’t know he only had a knife. He could have had a gun, and you were off duty, and didn’t have yours.”
Dan folded his arms and gave his uncle a look.
“I was just worried. That could have gone a lot worse.”
“It didn’t, and I’ll be more careful next time,” he promised. “Have you found out anything more about those papers we found at the Lupton place?”
“Nothing,” his uncle said. “But I’m still digging. I have a few contacts, and I’m sending out inquiries, just to make sure nothing has turned up with that signature out of state.”
“Let me know if anything does turn up,” Dan said. “I’d love to catch that asshole.”
“That makes two of us.”
Dan went to his desk. He then sat and worked through the paperwork he’d been neglecting. When the phone rang a few times, he reached for it because Sybil was likely on another call.
“Lyntacky Station.”
“Sheriff Dans, please.”
He knew that voice. “He’s not here at the moment. How can I help you?”
Silence was her answer.
“Leah? Is everything okay?”
“I’ll call back.” She cut the call.
He dialed her number, but she didn’t pick up. He did it twice more, and nothing.
Dan tapped his pen on the desk pad a few times. Something sounded off with her. But what? Surely, if she were in trouble, she would have said something.
He stared at the blank pad for a few more minutes, and then, decision made, he regained his feet.
“Just heading out to check on a few things, Sybil. Call if you need me.”
“Okay.” She raised a hand.
The Reynolds farm wasn’t far. Acknowledging anyone he saw with a wave, Dan left town and headed that way. He turned down the drive and pulled up beside Leah’s car minutes later.
He always thought of the house as an old, worn sweater—saggy and in need of repair. Paint was peeling off the siding, and there was a general air of neglect about the place, even considering the work they’d done on it that day.
Dan got out of his cruiser, pulled on his cap, and made his way up to the front door. He knocked on the frame. Seconds later, it opened, and he saw Hudson. A small scruffy dog appeared at his side.
“Hey, Hudson. How’s things?”
“Really good. Aunt Leah said I needed to thank you when I saw you, so thanks for the tree house.”
“You’re welcome, but I had help from one of my brothers. We loved our tree house.”
“We had dinner up there last night.”
“No way! I bet that was cool!”
The little boy nodded. Then, wide-eyed, he took in Dan’s uniform. “I like your uniform, Deputy Dan.”
“I like my badge the best,” he said.
“I want to be a sheriff one day. Aunt Leah says I need to do well in school for that, like you did.”
“She’s not wrong. Is your aunt about?”
“She’s in the kitchen. We’re dancing while cleaning up after our breakfast. But Aunt Leah’s head is sore, so it’s mostly me dancing.”
“You enjoy dancing?”
“Not really, but she told me I need to learn because one day it will come in handy.”
Leah wasn’t wrong. His sister had taught him at least to move on a dance floor without looking like a block of wood.
“She’d probably know best, right?” He crouched down before the little boy. “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Benny. He’s just come to live with us. He sleeps on my bed.”
“Hi, Benny.” Dan patted the soft head. “How’s school been going?”
“It’s okay, I guess,” he said, melding the first two words together in a husky voice so it came out as “s’okay.”
Where is his father? Dan wondered. It had to be tough losing your mom that young. He knew how that felt, as he’d been young when he lost his father.
“I went to that school, and my siblings did too.”
Hudson nodded. “I have many friends there, but Toby Stanley and I spend most of our time together.”
“Nice to have a good friend,” Dan said, thinking of Jay.
He saw her then. Leah was walking toward them, then stopped when she reached her nephew, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was a protective gesture that pissed Dan off because he’d never hurt the kid, or her, no matter if she believed differently.
Her hair was all over the place in a cloud of curls, and she wore cutoffs that showed off her legs, a black tank, and nothing on her feet.
She looked too good, Dan thought, and seeing as he was in uniform, he shouldn’t notice that.
But visions of that day they’d made love were still vivid inside his head.
“Deputy,” she said in a cool voice. “What can we do for you?”