Chapter 4 - Andi’s Search
Chapter 4
Andi’s Search
Monday
Andi was acting totally normal, or at least as normal as she imagined people acted in a small town with nothing to do. She’d left the sheriff’s office at a brisk walk, but not too fast. She sat down inside the bookshop on the square and slowly drank the coffee that she’d been offered. Since the three other customers were sitting alone reading, Andi grabbed the first book she saw. The table she’d chosen allowed her to see both the store and the window. As always, she sat with her back to the wall.
Before she could open the book, a beanpole of a man with black-rimmed glasses appeared. “More coffee? I’ve got about a half a pot left and your refill is free.”
Looking up she asked, “What kind of coffees you got?” This place might not be the coffee capital of Texas, but at least the owner knew how to talk. Northern, obviously. A bit of New York in his words.
“Just black. I’ve got packets of cream and sugar over by the counter; they’re free.” The man wasn’t apologetic, just informative. “I usually also offer scones in the morning, but the Over the Hill walkers ate them all on the second loop around the square.”
When she just stared at the bookshop owner, he added, “Since they increased to four laps, they feel they need something to keep going.”
Andi almost rolled her eyes at him and wondered if all locals were as boring as cold scones. What made him think she cared about the town’s senior citizens? “Just coffee, please. Black is fine.”
“Coming right up.”
As he walked away, Andi did what she always did. She took his measure. If someone asked her a month from now what he looked like, she’d remember all the stats right down to the tiny scar on his neck and his hair that didn’t seem to be black or brown.
When he brought her coffee, he said, “Enjoy your cookbook.”
The book in her lap was a cookbook? It’s a wonder it didn’t singe her hands, as the last place she’d be caught dead was a kitchen. She definitely needed caffeine. After a five-hour drive on a wild-goose chase she must have cracked up. She was much too detail oriented to not notice the book title. That attention to detail is what kept her alive undercover and she couldn’t get sloppy now. She’d never read a cookbook or bought one, but she had to admit, the pictures on the front made her hungry.
It occurred to Andi that she might be losing her edge, but then she looked out the window and saw her tail, the deputy, sitting on a bench in plain sight. Okay, she had more of an edge than that and sincerely hoped someone remembered to tell him to come inside before it started to rain. Against her better judgment she had to acknowledge that the big guy was kind of cute. Not manly cute, but he had that goofy German shepherd puppy kind of cute, as if he had no clue how to be invisible and just enjoyed playing the game.
A short time later she was deep into the history of chuck-wagon recipes when a shadow passed over her. Before she could look up, a man with a sidearm strapped to his leg sat down across from her as if he’d been invited. Both the chair and Andi groaned.
“Hello, Andi, mind if I join you?”
For a moment she had the urge to reach for her service weapon on her ankle, then he took his Stetson off. Longer hair, ten pounds heavier, same smile.
With a strong Texas accent, he said, “You lost, kid?”
No one had called her kid since she was a recruit at Lackland. He’d been a newbie captain, almost as green as she was. He was her trainer ten years ago and hadn’t stopped bossing her around since.
“You are not my superior anymore, Major Ramm. You haven’t been for years.”
“Right. You know, Andi, that I changed from major to Texas Ranger. Thought the uniform was classier.” Carl winked at her. Everyone knew the Texas Rangers didn’t wear a uniform.
She smiled and Carl Ramm yelled his order for a cup of coffee. As soon as the bookshop owner delivered the cup, the once Army major started kidding her about how he hadn’t known she was a girl for a week into training.
Andi didn’t miss that he called the bookshop owner-waiter by name. Since Ramm was raised in El Paso, he had no reason to be in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere. She knew he was based out of Austin. Unless he was watching someone here, and that just might be her.
The sheriff mentioned him and now he shows up. Yep, the ranger was keeping tabs on her.
She leaned back and waited for him to stop the small talk. The Texas Ranger knew something and she’d bet a hundred dollars that it was something he wanted her to know too.
When they started on their third cup, she got in a word. “What do you know, Major? You didn’t drive over half the state to have coffee.”
He took a deep breath and answered. “You know, Andi, you don’t need to call me Major anymore. But you were always hard on turning anything loose.
“We’ve texted or talked a dozen times over the phone the past two years. I need to know you’re doing well.”
She turned toward the windows, her face blank of emotion but her mind echoing words from the past. We’re not friends, not lovers, not partners. Just keeping up. Ramm drove over a hundred miles to check on her.
For a moment his face was hard, the face she’d seen when she’d walked away from him. He hadn’t said one harsh word, but she knew whatever they had was gone.
His words came soft and low today. Almost a lover. Almost a friend. “We talk about work. Nothing else. That was your idea, kid.”
Anyone listening would think they were friends simply catching up, but Andi saw a hundred words Carl wasn’t saying. Feelings he couldn’t identify. She was in Dallas and he was in Austin but neither made the three-hour drive. Somehow, he knew she’d taken a few days off and was here, where she was born.
“What do you know about my father, Ramm? That is the only reason I’m here in Honey Creek. But you already knew that.”
“I don’t know much. Just saw he died last year. I figured it would take a while for the news to reach you, but you’d come. I’m here to offer a shoulder to cry on or backup if you need it.”
“Not your problem. I can handle it.” She was not going to mention her brothers or the fact she’d be testifying in Dallas soon against a drug boss.
“I’ll never forget we were once close friends, but that’s over, I guess. You walked away without a word. That was cold, Andi.”
“If I’d stayed one moment more we would have argued.” She studied him. Ramm was a man who always thought he was right. Maybe he was most of the time, but he wasn’t right for her.
He showed no emotion but his whole body stiffened. “Today, I’m just here as a ranger, seeing if you need any help.” He slid a folder across the table. “Found little about the person on your birth certificate. He was a trucker with no close friends. Every place he lived in the valley was a rental. Always listed his occupation as trucker. Never lived in a place longer than a year.”
She studied the papers. “You wouldn’t be here unless you thought I needed you.” She stared directly at him. “And while I’m at it, Ranger, stop keeping up with me. We’re not in the service anymore, and I’m officially on vacation. I’m no longer your problem.”
His hard eyes never stopped staring. “You’ll always be my problem. It’s like a piece of you is buried inside me.”
“It’s over,” she said softly. She didn’t want to hurt him, but he had a trait she couldn’t live with. Ranger Carlson Ramm always had to be the lead, the boss, the best. Everything had to be his way or the highway, so finally she took the highway and left. The talent that made him a leader flawed him as a lover.
Neither said another word. They both had a past that needed to remain buried.
She stood and dropped a five on the table and walked away. If she looked back at him, even for a moment, she’d remember too much.
His order followed her. “Call me if you need me.”
“I will,” she lied.
A flock of gray-headed ladies in jogging suits, all rainbow colors, rushed in. They said hello as if they knew her and began gathering their things behind the counters. Apparently, the bookshop was their locker and the owner had to jump out of their way.
Without looking back at Ramm, Andi moved to the door. Maybe she’d walk the town square. As always Andi felt there wasn’t air around when the major was close.
Finally, the last few straggling Over the Hill joggers made it into the bookshop to collect their things. Andi held the door and nodded goodbye to every one of them for no reason at all.
Then she scanned the store.
Ranger Carl Ramm was gone. Probably lost in the stacks. He usually had a book with him, half a dozen in his car. He might live in the real world at work, but off duty he lived in Western novels. Maybe he got to know Noah O’Brien by dropping by his shop, nothing else.
She closed her eyes and screamed inside her head. “You’re not mine and I’m not yours. I never will be.” She needed to let go of him and he needed to let go of her.
When she finally opened her eyes, the bookshop owner was staring at her. “You all right?”
“No. Something is broken.”
The guy smiled and said, “We’ve got a repair shop next door. Bear Buchanan can fix anything.”
She stepped into the sun and walked to her rented Jeep knowing what was broken could not be fixed. It wasn’t the Jeep; it was her heart.
Danny watched her climb into her vehicle, drive to the other side of the square and park in front of the café. He took a bench in the center of the town square. The old elms swayed in the breeze as if they were brushing him out of view of people. Out of view of Andi Delane.
She didn’t get out. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. She just sat there staring out the windshield. She was killing time, which told Danny a great deal. No friends in town to drop in on and she wasn’t in Honey Creek to shop. She wasn’t hungry or she would go in and order in the empty café.
She had nowhere to go and no friends to talk to. Andi Delane was a loner. She wasn’t just a lone wolf, and from what he could see, she liked it that way.
Another fact he mentally noted was that she was comfortable in her skin. She was looking for something, and Danny had a feeling the woman with fiery eyes wouldn’t be leaving until she found it.
“Let me help you,” he said under his breath. His fiery-eyed lady was in some kind of trouble, he could feel it. It clung to her like a silky spiderweb you walk through and can’t leave behind. Hell, as far as he knew she might always be in danger. He could almost taste it in the air. Danger might blow around her like a spring storm, but he wasn’t going anywhere.
He almost said the words aloud. I’m not going anywhere, lady. Danger or not, I’ve got your six.