Chapter Seven #2
“She said that I should enjoy what I like right now like my horses and animals. That I shouldn’t worry because one day when I get older, she bets that there will be a boy who will come along that will like me just for myself and the things I like, too.
Until then, enjoy being my age and don’t worry about others.
I know you love her because she is really smart and pretty, too. So, she’s right, isn’t she?”
“Absolutely.” That was the best he could do at that moment.
Seems he and Jessie needed to find time to catch up on some things.
The woman was definitely fitting into their lives more than he thought she would.
But then she was good at her job. And that thought only served to darken his mood rather than lighten it. They left the building in silence.
“Sheriff Parker,” he addressed the man as he neared the pickup. The lawman’s hand shot out to meet his offered one as Cole came to stand next to him at the open window. “I see you’ve met my fiancée, Jessica McCord.”
The sheriff’s smile broadened, and it encompassed the woman sitting quietly beside the window with a pleasant smile turned on him. He didn’t miss a beat.
“Yes, we’ve just met, and I wanted to welcome her to Destiny’s River. And it seems congratulations are indeed in order. Please accept mine with everyone else around these parts.”
“Thank you, very much. Drop by the ranch when you’re out our way. But we need to get out to Uncle Joe’s place for dinner.”
Emmie had taken her spot in the back and there was nothing holding them there. The two shook hands again and the sheriff stood on the sidewalk watching them pull away, a fixed smile on his face.
“You make friends wherever you go,” Cole commented. “Hope he didn’t bore you with his talk of how great life is in a small town.”
“Not in the least. He seems very pleasant.”
Cole couldn’t fault her response. “You know he is popular with the ladies…or so I hear.”
“Really? Well, he seems nice enough. You two have something in common.”
Cole was caught off guard. Was she complimenting his looks? “Something in common?”
“Yes, you both are single fathers of daughters. Not an easy task but you both seem to handle it quite well.”
Cole fell silent for a few moments. “You found all that out about him in your brief meeting?”
“I believe he asked about Emmie, and I said something in return, and he volunteered he had a daughter like you…being a single parent and all. I think I mentioned something about the shops here and coming shopping over here possibly with Emmie for school before the summer is done or some such. Then you arrived.”
“I see. Yes, we do have that in common. Maybe I’ll drive you both over for that shopping trip.” He left it at that. No way was he going to see her back in the eligible sheriff’s town…Emmie or no Emmie.
*
Way to go, Parker. She allowed a private piece of information to come into their conversation and it involved someone who was related to her.
But she had to hope that it took care of Cole’s interest in the topic.
She needed to stay on her A game even though the toughest part was still to come.
For a moment, she thought she detected a bit of testosterone one-upmanship when Cole shook hands with the sheriff.
Was her intuition and instincts that far off?
Had to be. If not, then the rancher was a lot better at pretending to be a fiancé than she first gave him credit for being.
He would need those skills and more when his ex-wife arrived with possibly a very deadly link to the subject of their hunt for the last two years.
And mindful of Emmie seated in the back now with headphones on and locked into an interesting game on her tablet, she had vowed she would not be harmed no matter what.
And those words had somehow come to mean more in the last week or so as she got to be more involved in the child’s life and the people she cared about.
Not for the first time, she found herself wondering what sort of mother could choose to leave her child behind.
Her case had not been one of those. She and her siblings had ended up in foster care, not because anyone left them on purpose.
Their grandmother, who had taken them in when they lost their parents, had developed cancer but she at least found someone kind who could keep an eye on them and help them through a system that could be cruel to some.
Tori had taken the role of surrogate mother then and she still was that to each of them even as adults.
The one thing Jessie knew constantly in her life was that she and her sister and two brothers loved each other and looked out for each other even as adults and scattered throughout the state with their own lives.
Destiny’s River was a beautiful name for the place Tori had decided to stay in when she stepped off a bus many years ago.
She described it as their home. Two of them had indeed settled there and they sang its praises.
And she had to admit that there was something about it that drew her to it now and then in her mind.
But she still had a job that took her far from it.
As did her younger brother, who was a U.S.
marshal. Maybe one of these days her feet would find their landing place.
Maybe it might look a lot like Destiny’s River.
Who knew? In the meantime, the pair she shared the vehicle with at the moment were her main concern.
Funny…before she would have used the label assignment.
Concern…that was different, and its meaning could bring some problems if she weren’t careful.
And she had always counted on being careful and being able to move on alone…
no looking back. Why would that give her pause at the thought of it now?