Chapter Four #2
Who was this person? Is this what a shower and a change of better clothes could do for her?
He wasn’t complaining. But he doubted it would last. Until that time, he would wait and watch.
Which was what this assignment was really all about.
And he was waiting for his phone to ring and tell him that he could get back to where the real action was and deliver this judge back to her high bench.
“Your sister was really nice to bring the clothes and food. You and she seem to have an easy relationship.”
He shook his head while concentrating on not losing a finger in his chopping duties. “Easy? I guess you could call it that. It wasn’t always easy…or I should say I wasn’t always easy in my younger, know-it-all, daredevil years.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
“Really? So that attitude began early in life?”
He glanced over at her, but her gaze was on the bread she was getting ready for the oven, brushing butter and some garlic on the loaf gauging by the aroma coming from her side of the island worktable.
“Don’t give me that lawman stare of yours. It was just a casual observation.”
“Guess you could say that. I wasn’t the easiest sibling. And looking back, she had a lot of patience, and it wasn’t easy for her, being the oldest and still a kid herself. But she stepped up when we lost our family and ended up in the system…foster care…not juvie hall,” he added for good measure.
He could feel her solid gaze turn upon him. He kept his attention on the slippery tomatoes. Rance wished he could take the last part of his words back. Too much information, and she had no need or interest in his or his family’s history. But clearly, he was wrong there. She continued.
“You and your siblings were in foster care? For how long?”
“Until we aged out. But Tori was the first to leave us, and she went out and kept her promise to find what she called a forever home for all of us when we were released. She came upon Destiny’s River by chance during a stopover on the bus route.
As she puts it, she felt that she had found home…
and she went to work, making it happen. That’s the abbreviated version.
And even though we each came out of the system with our own ideas about how we wanted to go with our newfound freedom, somehow life led each of us to find our way to Destiny’s River.
She took it all in and seemed to consider what he had shared before she finally responded. “So, this is home to you, as well. A bit distant from where you work, isn’t it?”
“Physically, it is. Being in the marshal’s service, I operate where needed. I am based out of the Austin area, but I do get back here when some R and R is needed and for special occasions. And with my sisters there are lots of occasions…birthdays, weddings, holidays…you name it.”
“You ever thought of just staying put here and making it permanent? Surely, you can do what you do from just about anywhere?”
He glanced over at her, and she had made herself comfortable on one of the two high stools at the island.
Dressed in a dark green blouse and better-fitting jeans, she even had a pair of leather moccasins on her feet.
If he didn’t know better, it seemed like she fit right in with this place.
But he did know better. She was a high court judge, with a rich society family, and far above his pay grade.
She was his job. And that was an irritant.
“Maybe when and if I settle down. But women these days don’t seem to want those things. At least the ones I’m around.”
“They’re out there. Maybe you just haven’t opened your eyes and looked that hard. You strike me as a lone wolf type who might like his freedom to come and go.”
He looked up at her and considered her words. “Did a psychology degree come along with that black robe of yours? What about you? I don’t see you surrounded by a few kids and a husband and rushing home at five to change the robe for an apron to put dinner on the table.”
He saw the blue eyes slide behind that curtain and she slid off the seat to take up a potholder and check the oven’s work. He wanted to kick himself. His sisters had schooled him often on that sarcastic bent of his.
“Sorry. I forgot myself for a moment there, Your Honor.”
The casserole came out of the oven and was placed on the island. She took the plates out of the cabinet behind her and set a place in front of each stool for the pair of them. All done with little waste of movement. Then she gave him her usual demeanor.
“No need to apologize. I know exactly what you see when you look at me. And I can tell you that you know very little about the person I have become. We all have roles we step into each day. But there is one thing that needs to change. It is a little ridiculous to address each other by our formal titles…even when we’re alone.
I will call you Parker…and you may call me Latham.
Since we are unlikely to spend much longer in each other’s company, we won’t make it to first-name basis.
That seems a fair compromise… Agree? Now, let’s eat. ”