Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Wes
Never Say Never
“Hey, Sheriff, your grandmother is still waiting on line two.”
“Damn, thanks,” Wes said, as he picked up the phone on his desk. “Gran I’m really sorry I didn’t call sooner. I assumed Levi and Missy were doing your bidding? Everything okay at the house?”
“Sure is. We just have too many leftovers and too much pie. You know how I like to bake when I’m cooped up.”
He smiled. His paternal grandmother was a traditional Southern woman, she baked, never missed church, and knew everyone in town’s business.
She was probably chomping at the bit to find out how everyone fared during the storm.
She’d love to know that he’d had a houseguest with the last name Shepherd, since they were basically the one family he never stopped complaining about.
It was strange that he didn’t think of Shelby as one of them, but that was a slippery slope.
She’d been quick to deny there was anything going on between them when her father, the mayor, showed up at his house.
Not that he blamed her. The last thing he needed was the mayor accusing him of taking advantage of his princess.
Sleeping with Shelby had been a huge mistake, completely out of character, but he couldn’t muster the motivation to regret it.
She had been unexpected, but touching her, tasting her, had been sweet torture.
He could still hear her soft moans of his name and just thinking about her long legs and round, soft curves had him completely distracted.
“Grandson, are you still there?”
“What? Yes.” He shifted in his chair to try and adjust his now throbbing erection thanks to thinking about Shelby.
“Well, Levi said he’s almost got our driveway cleared and we were wondering when or if we can expect to get the main road plowed?”
“I’ll check in with the teams to see their status. If they don’t get to you all by the time my shift is over, I’ll come do it myself.”
“Alright, Levi is going to go over to Brooke and Dalton’s place next to clear their driveway. Your brother stayed at the hospital through the storm, so you may want to check on him.”
“I saw him yesterday. But I will.”
“Oh that’s right, he mentioned you had a particularly beautiful, unexpected houseguest in the storm,” his gran said, and he could hear her smirk through the phone.
“She was stranded, and I had no choice but to let her sleep on my couch.”
“Wesley Hart, I know you did not make that young woman sleep on your couch when you have a perfectly large bed in your home.”
“You’re right, I offered to sleep on the couch.”
“How is Ms. Shepherd? You know I think she was always sweet on you in high school.”
“Stop.”
“Alright, you can tell me later tonight when we see you for dinner.”
“Yes, ma’am.” There was no sense in arguing with the woman.
She wasn’t only his grandmother, but ever since his parents died she’d been the closest thing he and his brothers had to a parent.
She’d helped him raise his brothers, and he owed her a lot.
If she wanted to see him, then he would be there.
“Let me know if you need anything from town, and I’ll find out about the roads.”
“You’re a good boy, Wesley. We’ll see you later.”
Before he could get a status report from the makeshift crew clearing the roads, which were really the trash collectors and city workers, his phone went off again.
Hey, I’m not sure you’d care but Shelby Shepherd just arrived at the hospital with her grandfather, and she’s pretty upset, a text from Dalton read.
He was a little surprised his brother would think to text him, while at the same time his stomach twisted in knots.
He’d been pissed he didn’t get to say goodbye to Shelby properly that morning, not that he knew exactly what that would have looked like.
After only really knowing her a few days and spending several hours kissing every inch of her body the situation was tricky.
Instead of texting Dalton back he just called him.
“Is she injured?”
“No, but she brought her grandfather in, then her brother showed up and now we’ve got the makings of a domestic disturbance. So I think it might help if you or another deputy swung by.”
“On my way.” He grabbed his keys and his coat and let the desk sergeant know he’d be at the hospital.
His blood was pumping, and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so worried on his way to a scene—even though he knew his brother, a former SEAL, was more than capable of keeping Shelby safe.
The fact that he was feeling so compelled to protect her was an unwanted development.
As soon as he walked in he could hear raised voices and Nurse Nora, who manned the front-intake desk, pointed him toward the nurses’ lounge. “They’ve been arguing for ten minutes.”
He found Dalton standing in the doorway with his arms crossed as he watched Shelby face off with her older brother, Samuel. Her cheeks were flushed, and she had her finger pointed as she stepped closer to her much taller brother, but she was careful not to touch the man as he scowled at her.
“His hand was broken, he wasn’t taking his medication, and there wasn’t any food in his fridge. You call that looking after him?” Shelby accused.
“There was a blizzard, in case you forgot. But I was there today to check on him, just in time to catch you trying to schmooze the old man and take over.”
Shelby’s hands dropped to her sides in defeat, and Wes realized she was dressed in dirty winter overalls, old snow boots, and a proper high-end men’s winter coat.
“Unlike you, I don’t need to schmooze Pops for anything. He’s my grandfather. He called and asked me to come see him, so here I am.”
“Oh right, you don’t come home for years and now we’re supposed to believe you’re just here to visit with our grandfather. The same man who happens to be worth millions and is getting ready to name his successor?”
“Screw you, Samuel, you don’t care about him. All you care about is your inheritance. I don’t need a dime from the Shepherd estate. I’ve never made any claims on Pops’s business—I don’t know a thing about it.”
Samuel took a step closer to her and Wesley’s instinct to protect her fired up, causing him to step inside the room.
“Do we have a problem here?” he said, making his presence known.
Shelby’s head whipped over to see him and her wide brown eyes held a pain he couldn’t place, but he didn’t like it.
Samuel Shepherd was close to Wesley’s height, and his eyes squinted at him. “Oh isn’t this convenient—the man you shacked up with just happens to show up to help you convince Pops he’s being neglected.”
“His hand is broken, his home is dirty, and he’s lost too much weight. He is being neglected. But you know what? I’ll leave that for the medical staff here to decide. They’re required to report any suspected elder mistreatment.”
Samuel spun to face Shelby again and this time his pointed hand touched her, and Wesley saw red. Before Sam could say a word, Wesley had Samuel’s hand in a wrist lock and the man cursed.
“There is no need to put your hands on your sister, and you should really know better than to do that in front of me. Last time you put your hands on a woman that cost you more than a pretty penny and a few nights in jail. Remember that, Sam?”
“Get your hands off me.”
“Are you going to stop threatening your sister?” Wes said through gritted teeth.
Sam just nodded his head and laughed.
“Fine, Shelby, we can do this with attorneys. Good luck finding one who’ll accept food stamps. And don’t even try to make any withdrawals from Pops’s accounts or I’ll know,” Sam said then stormed out of the room.
Shelby practically growled, “You just made things worse.”
“I doubt that,” Wes said. “You want to file a report?”
“No.”
Dalton stepped in. “Ms. Shepherd, your grandfather is asking for you. We’ve put his hand in a cast and did a thorough workup. There are a few other things I need to discuss with you when you’re ready.”
“Okay, um, can I see him first and then we can go from there?” she said, swiping at tears that slipped down her cheeks.
“Of course.” Dalton looked at Wes with an unspoken message.
“I do think there is a valid concern here for neglect, but I’m not sure it will stick, because your grandfather is still living independently.
If you’ll be staying with him, we can release him to you today.
But you’ll need to figure out a long-term plan. ”
Shelby’s eyes welled with more tears, but she didn’t let the tears fall. “I’ll stay and figure it all out.”
“Alright, the front-desk nurse will page me when you’re ready,” Dalton said and then walked away, closing the door.
“What happened?” Wes said, more curtly than he intended, but he was pissed she’d let her brother get so close and speak to her the way he did.
“I said I don’t want to make a report,” she said, not looking at him.
“Alright, fine. But I’m not the sheriff right now.”
Her head popped up. “Then you’re just the guy I hooked up with when I should have been taking care of Pops.”
Wes sighed. “It wasn’t your fault there was a blizzard.”
“I should have come back sooner. He called me over a week ago, and I should have come right away.”
He wanted to hold her. Every impulse said to pull her into his arms, but he hesitated, and she turned to walk away.
“I’m going to need to speak with him.”
“Fine, just don’t scare him,” Shelby said.
“If there is one thing I’m not going to be capable of, it’s scaring your grandfather.
” He followed Shelby to the front desk, and a nurse walked them back to a private room where her larger-than-life grandfather looked tired and frail.
At six five that wasn’t how Wes had ever remembered seeing Zeke Shepherd.
A self-made man, he’d dominated the fishing industry and made his fortune at a young age.
He was born and raised in Sandy Point, into one of the town’s original families that developed the community just south of one of the largest shipping ports in the States, Shepherd’s Pass.
The Shepherd name was on quite a few establishments in Sandy Point, thanks to his oldest son, Shelby’s uncle, who’d gone into land development and tried to buy the town with his inheritance.
“Hello there, Sheriff. Everything okay?” Zeke said.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Shepherd, I’m just checking on everyone in town after the storm, especially those who show up at the hospital with broken bones.”
Zeke held up his new blue cast covering his large right hand.
“Well, I shouldn’t have tried to shovel my deck, but I got tired of sitting inside. Then I took a tumble on the steps.”
“It could happen to any of us, Mr. Shepherd,” Wes said. “I hear your granddaughter will be staying with you. Would it be alright if I come out and check on you?”
“As long as you don’t mind if I put you to work.”
“Yes, sir. I don’t see any reason we should change our ways.”
Zeke laughed. “What’s wrong, honey?” he said, holding out his hand to Shelby. “You know I’m tougher than dirt. I’m gonna be fine.”
“I know, Pops. I just wish I’d been here to help sooner.” Shelby shook her shoulders and pasted on a smile. “Dalton said he gave you a full workup, and he’d like to talk to us about it. You feel up to that?”
Dalton arrived with a tablet.
“Well, Doc, if you’re going to tell me I’m getting old, I’ll save you the trouble,” Zeke said, his blue eyes shining with mischief.
“I’ll let you all talk, and I’ll see you out at the house later,” Wes said, hating that he needed to bow out and let them all talk.
But once he exited the hospital, he decided he better drive on out to the Shepherd house now and see if he could help clear some of the walking paths.
The plows had cleared the street leading out to the old Shepherd house, which sat on about five acres on the edge of town near the lighthouse.
It was along the rocky side of the coastline and on the opposite side of town from Wes’s family land along the beach.
He didn’t expect to find the driveway and front path entirely cleared of snow and salted.
But when he went around back the deck and stairs were still covered, so he started clearing it and noted how shaky the railing was.
As he waited for Shelby to arrive back with her grandfather, he wondered what her brother meant about her needing to use food stamps and how long she planned to stay in town. She was definitely going to be trouble, but he’d already decided he liked her kind of trouble.