Chapter 4 #2
Pulling into the back parking lot of the county courthouse, I brace myself for a Mercer interrogation.
He’s taken on the role of Sheriff a little too seriously, like having a badge gives him the right to snoop even harder into our lives.
He’s the youngest sheriff in Halfor County’s history, but that’s not saying much considering the last one retired after working here for forty years.
He was a decent sheriff, but a little forgetful there at the end.
No one local wanted to campaign, so the only name officially on the ballot when it came time for the election was some big-shot oil company CEO who wanted to play wild west. Ethan started a write-in campaign in Hillcreek, and it caught on pretty quickly throughout the county.
One night, Mercer went to bed a ranch hand and woke up a sheriff.
He had no idea that Ethan had even started the campaign.
Mercer went to school for criminal justice, but I didn’t think he had any desire to use his degree.
I swear, there’s nothing the Kane brothers can’t do. It’s a major part of their appeal. A mix of old and new money, they’re humble and some of the best people I’ve ever met. The whole town is in love with them, and I’m pretty lucky to be lumped in with them.
Scanning my key fob at the back door, I let myself into the Sheriff’s office.
We’re tucked into the back of an old stone courthouse.
Over the years, they added new additions, like the Halfor County Jail, housing up to thirty inmates at a time.
It’s not much, but it’s bigger than the four cells they initially started with.
One tiny courtroom on the third floor, and a handful of county employees with offices upstairs.
During renovations, the previous sheriff said he liked the basement, so they came through the ancient sublevel and modernized things.
I walk past Mercer’s tiny office, not surprised when he jumps into the hallway to follow me with Ethan close behind him.
Ethan isn’t technically a county employee, but he is the unofficial town lawyer, and his office is upstairs. Most mornings, you can find him down here, shooting the shit with his brother, stealing our coffee and pastries, the bastard.
No one says anything as I make my way into the deputy’s room.
It’s small for the amount of workstations crammed in here, but it does the job, I suppose.
Taking a seat at one of the stations, I log into the computer, then sit back in my chair.
I need someone else to start a conversation, so I don’t start talking about how gorgeous their sister is.
That’ll just lead to them asking questions I’m not supposed to answer.
Ethan leans against my desk, his broad chest giving his tailored suit a run for its money.
He dresses like a big city lawyer, with fancy shoes.
His dark brown hair always slicked back and shiny.
Mercer, on the other hand, is a lot more rugged.
His Sheriff’s uniform hangs off his torso like it’s made for someone twice his size, and he exclusively wears cowboy boots.
His wavy hair tousled in an ‘I just took my hat off’ sort of way.
He picks the furthest chair from us. Turning his back to us, he shoves off the ground, rolling his way across the room to us in big, dramatic rows.
“Fucking child.” Ethan whacks Mercer upside the head. “Kate’s in town.” He crosses his arms, his signature resting bitch face coming out to play.
“Okay,” I drag out the word, a little confused.
This was not the direction I saw this conversation going.
Kate is Brooks’ ex-fiancée. They were high school sweethearts until Kate discovered she liked alcohol and drugs more than life with Brooks.
Brooks nearly tore himself apart trying to fix her. He hasn’t smiled since.
“Are we worried about it?” Mercer pulls a beef stick out of his pocket, like that’s a totally normal thing to be carrying around on your person. Ethan rolls his eyes at me, and I smirk. Fuck, I missed this, missed them.
“Yeah, we’re worried. Last time she came to town, she fucked around and left with ten K from our brother.” Ethan’s voice rises with a passion I envy. I’m surprised when he doesn’t start pacing like he does in the courtroom. “I don’t see how Kate being in town can do anything but worry us.”
“Well, you’re a worrier, so you’re always worried.
” Mercer kicks his feet up on the desk near where Ethan is leaning, dirty cowboy boots a little too close to his expensive suit.
Ethan grumbles, scowl burning holes into Mercer’s badge.
Bringing a knee up, he shoves Mercer’s legs back down to the ground, boots thudding against the floor.
“So what? We need a preemptive intervention?” Mercer asks around a mouthful of beef stick. The man is constantly eating.
“Brooks is a big boy. If he wants to get tangled back up with a toxic mess, who am I to stop him?” I sip my coffee.
“You two are hopeless. You could at least pretend to care that Satan incarnate is going to try to get her hooks into our brother again.”
“Yeah, yeah, I care. But it’s been, what? Eight years since she’s been around? Brooky knows she’s bad news. He’ll steer clear. What I really think we need is a plan of action for…Leni.”
I nearly spew coffee out of my mouth when Mercer says this. “Wha—what? Why do you say that?”
Ethan quirks an eyebrow at me as I clean the coffee that did manage to slip onto my uniform shirt. Thank God, my uniform color matches the coffee. Patsy will kick my ass if she has to order me anymore.
Mercer throws his head back and groans, “Because of you, dickhead.”
“Me?” I splutter. Jesus, how do they already know she’s here? Or that I’m hiding her? Do they know I kissed her? That I slept in the bed with her?
“Yes, you! I told her you moved back, and now she’s not coming home all summer. She’s a teacher, summer is our only chance to see her, and you’re fucking it all up.”
He’s being dramatic, I know this. I know he doesn’t mean it, and yet, I can’t help but feel a little pang of hurt at his words. That’s me, though. Clayton Traeger, the boy from the wrong side of Hillcreek who is bound to fuck up everything he touches. Damnit.
“Leni is an adult.” Ethan narrows his eyes at Mercer. “She makes her own choices. It’s not anyone’s fault if she doesn’t come home.”
“It kind of is.” Mercer glares back. “If Traeger would just get his head out of his ass and tell her he loves her, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Leni would be living on the ranch, popping out cute little Traeger babies.”
I inhale coffee straight down my windpipe, full-blown, choking on it as the mental image starts to take place in my mind.
Mercer stands up to slap my back while I hack my lungs up, trying to clear the coffee out of my airway.
I’m gasping for air by the time I sit back in my seat.
Try as I might, I can’t get the image of a pregnant Leni standing barefoot in that tiny cabin kitchen out of my mind.
It does something funny to my chest, and I shake my head to clear the thoughts away.
“Jesus, Merc, are you trying to kill him?”
Ethan rolls his shoulders, trying to keep from shaking as he stifles a chuckle. Bastards, all of them, I swear. It’s obviously not a big secret that I had feelings for her, but most of them think Mercer is razzing me. I don’t think they know how on the nose he actually is most of the time.
Mercer shrugs. “I’m serious, though. I cannot go a whole year without seeing our Leni girl.
Remember her freshman year?” He turns to Ethan, knowing that I don’t remember because I wasn’t here for it.
Ethan screws up his face, a snarl forming as his hands come up to crack his knuckles.
There’s definitely a story there. One I’m not sure I want to know.
“Fix it.” Ethan jabs a finger at me, then turns on his heel and marches off.
“I hate you,” I mumble to Mercer.
“No, you don’t. You love me, and you love my sister. So, whoever you’re secretly banging, you can send them packing and figure out a way to get Leni home this summer.”
I flip him the bird before pretending to ignore him in favor of writing my supplemental report for the state police. But really, I’m thinking about the woman with soft brown curls and bright green eyes currently sitting in a cabin on the ranch. Just a few miles away from the main house.
Fuck.