by Tina Leonard
“You tell them no betting on my family,” Liberty said. “Wentworths are winners. We’re tough.”
And Forresters were tougher, no doubt. Zach, Pepper and Duke were all cut from sturdy raw-hide. The very thought of that ornery, possessive, handsome sheriff taking up residence in her house was enough to give her a complete case of nerves almost as bad as the ones she’d had on her wedding day.
Yet her body was traitorously looking forward to the sheriff and his promises.
DUKE FELT PRETTY GOOD about weaseling his way into Liberty’s house. The idea of working from her home was a stroke of brilliance. He got to spend time with her, and even his dog seemed to be settling into the new routine.
But he minded the recipe and didn’t remotely try to seduce Liberty, though it was killing him not to. He sat at his desk as he did every day; he took calls on the private line he’d had installed, and watched the goal date on his calendar get closer and closer.
But I’m making progress—I can feel it. Helen and Pansy were right. Patience is definitely a virtue. I think.
The doorbell rang. Duke waited for Liberty to answer it—no one who was looking for him would ring. They’d all learned to bang on the window behind his portion of the living room. But when the bell rang again and she didn’t answer it, he did.
A young woman and her nervous mother stood outside. “Welcome to Liberty’s Lace,” he said magnanimously, trying to do better than he had before. He intended to be encouraging. No more running off Liberty’s customers, although he certainly didn’t regret any of the advice he’d parceled out.
“Are you her husband?” the younger woman asked.
“I’m Sheriff Forrester,” he said proudly. “I take up office space here.”
Liberty came up behind him and gave him a look that said make yourself scarce. So, tipping his hat to the ladies, Duke hustled back to his desk.
He was not about to do anything that would give Liberty cause to boot him from her residence. As far as he was concerned, he was in—and it was just the first step to getting all the way into her life.
He pretended to get very busy with some paperwork, while the ladies moved farther into the newly-partitioned “salon.” The soft sounds of ladies chatting reached him, and Duke felt himself relaxing. After sharing work space with Mr. Parsons for so many years, maybe the bride thing wasn’t so bad. Perhaps her other salon had been too small, Duke decided—or maybe he’d been too close to the action. He felt safe tucked up here in his private little office.
“Excuse me.”
Duke swiveled his head. The younger of the women was now dressed in a gown that complemented her perfectly—damn, her groom was going to be lucky—and she wore a veil that gave her a sexy, yet subtle, shyness.
He felt his blood rush to his head. He didn’t want to get involved in case he said something that might be offensive to the bride-to-be. “Yes?” he asked carefully.
“Sheriff, I need a man’s opinion.”
He put up his hands. “I do not give opinions. Absolutely not. I gave up opinions for all time.”
The bride smiled. “Okay. If you were my bridegroom, would you be happy to see me walk down the aisle in this dress? Just a simple yes or no.”
“Hell, yes,” Duke said, feeling himself break out in a sweat.
The bride said, “Thank you,” with a pleased smile and wafted away.
“That was close,” Duke told Molly, who was lying under his desk. “Liberty can’t blame anything that happens on me. At least I don’t think she can.”
The bride and her mother left five minutes later, and when Liberty wasn’t looking, the bride mouthed, “Thank you,” to Duke, who gave her a surreptitious thumbs-up.
“I don’t know what you said to her,” Liberty said, “but that was the easiest sale I’ve ever made.”
“Oh?” Duke said, concentrating on keeping his eyes on his paperwork. “Don’t think I said more than six words to the woman.”
“Really?” Liberty said. “She said you helped her make up her mind.”
Duke looked up. “Seemed like her mind was already made up when she came in the house. That’s a bride who’s ready to marry her man.”
Liberty looked at him. “Whatever.”
She went into the other room. Molly gave him a sympathetic woof and lay her head down on her paws.
“Precisely,” Duke said, as the doorbell rang again.
This time Liberty answered it, letting in three women—triplets, Duke noticed.
“Oh, how quaint and romantic your new shop is, Liberty,” one of the three said.
“Nice to see you have a sheriff on the premises,” another commented.
“Yes, I feel so safe,” the third said.
Duke could feel a flush run up the back of his neck as the women giggled.
Half an hour later, he was in the middle of a brainstorm about the growth of the town when he heard swish, swish, swish in front of his desk.
Glancing up, he was thunderstruck to see the triplets be-satined and be-ribboned in white, white, and more white. I’m going to get a sign for my desk that says I have no opinions, Duke thought. “What can I do for you ladies?”
“We’re having our weddings together,” one said, “and we want a man’s reaction to the three of us in our gowns. Do we look different enough, or is it just too much white at once?”
“Well,” Duke said, giving them more thoughtful consideration, “the bodices are all different, the skirts are all different and the veils you chose are different. Actually, I think the overall presentation is very foxy.” He grinned. “I think your men couldn’t help but carry each of you off at once.”
“We’re going to take all three,” they said in unison. The trio bestowed a grateful smile on Duke, who hurriedly went back to work, hoping he hadn’t gotten himself in deep with Liberty. Maybe if I install a six-foot office partition and make myself a cubicle I’ll get some peace. This is worse than sharing a place with Hiram.
They left, a giggling group of excited brides.
Liberty gave him a delighted smile as she closed the door. “Those were my own creations,” she told him happily. “They didn’t want dresses from a catalogue. They specifically wanted Liberty’s Lace. Whatever you said to them, thank you so much!”
She threw her arms around his neck and Duke sat quite still from shock, enjoying Liberty’s closeness and her breasts pressed against him. “So I can stay?”
“You can stay another day,” she said, “since you’re not running my customers off anymore.”
“I didn’t run the others off,” he protested, but it was true he’d made more of an effort to flatter the female side of the women who’d been here today. Liberty floated off, so Duke whipped out his “recipe.”
A Simple Recipe For Winning Your Woman
Step One: Be kind. Romantic. Gentle. Think of days gone by. Try whispering instead of yelling; old movies instead of sex.
“It really was that simple,” he told Molly. “I can’t believe it. I almost believe the old girls may have known what they were talking about.”
He read further with some trepidation and some enthusiasm.
Step Two: Consider her needs before your own.
The doorbell rang again. Sighing, Duke realized he was going to have to plan his reading time around Liberty’s calendar—from now on he’d peep at it to see when she had fittings and showings scheduled.
But when Liberty let the young cowboy in—what was his name? Damian?—Duke scowled. Two other men walked in with the young pup, along with Valentine from Union Junction. Duke put away his recipe and gave the group his full attention.
Liberty and Valentine embraced. “Liberty, this is Hawk and Jellyfish, and you remember Blaine,” Valentine said. “Guys, that scowling sheriff is Duke Forrester.”
Hawk and Jellyfish nodded at him. They sized each other up cautiously.
“I’m delighted to see you, Valentine!” Liberty said. “What brings you to town?”
�
��We brought some baked goods for this week at the saloon,” Valentine said. “We dropped them off already. But we have a favor to ask of you.”
Hawk and Jellyfish grinned at her, giving the pup a push. “He wants a wedding gown,” Hawk said, and Duke knotted his forehead. “Little brother’s getting married, and he wants to surprise his bride-to-be with a special gown and all the trimmings.”
Now that’s an idea, Duke thought. Wish I’d thought of it first.
Chapter Thirteen
Duke decided he didn’t want to hang around this crowd anymore. “It’s nice to meet you all,” he said to the congregation in the parlor. “I wish you the best of luck with your wedding, son. But if everyone will excuse me, I have sheriff duties I must attend to.”
Liberty raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded. Just as he walked out the door he ran into Hiram and Bug. “What is it?” he asked. “Bug, what the hell is going on?”
Hiram said, “Sheriff, you gotta come quick!”
On second thought, maybe he should turn back and enjoy his comfy new office. Did Valentine mention something about cookies? “Not now, fellows,” he said.
“Sheriff, it’s important,” Bug said, fairly hopping up and down.
“All right.” Duke got up, resigning himself to the fact that cookies were not in his dietary plans for the day. He peered back through the window and saw Liberty was busy showing the pup and his contingent her wares. “Guess I won’t be missed.”
Hiram and Bug nearly pulled his arms off dragging him next door. “Easy!” he said.
“Shh!” Hiram instructed. “You have to be quiet!”
Duke hesitated. “Why are we in Ms. Helen’s rose bushes?”
“We’re spying,” Bug told him, “so use your eyes and not your mouth, Sheriff.”
The two of them stood on tiptoe and looked into Helen’s kitchen. “See that?” they said to Duke in an urgent whisper.
Great. This fell under the heading of many law bendings and breakings, but maybe there was a problem that a sheriff should know about. Maybe Helen needed him! Worried, he joined them on tiptoe to peer through her kitchen window.
In the center of her kitchen table lay a copper box. Mr. Parsons’s prize possession. Blinking with surprise, Duke eased himself down onto his heels, then dragged both his friends away and down to his old office at the jail.
“All I need is to get caught being a Peeping Tom,” Duke complained. “What the hell were you two doing looking in windows?”
“We came to visit you,” Hiram said, “and I glanced over my shoulder toward Ms. Helen’s kitchen, and I saw something shiny. I thought maybe she’d baked a cake—and put it under glass—that I could invite myself over for, so I took a look.” He shook his head. “Then I called Bug to ask him what to do. He said it couldn’t possibly be the town box, so he came and peeked, and then we got you quick as a jig. We didn’t mean to spy, not really, even though we’ve been practicing on it.”
Duke’s old chair was now at his new office, so he had no place to sit. Too bad—this one’s got my legs feeling weak. “Why would Ms. Helen take the box?”
Hiram looked at him, worried out of his skin, Duke could tell. “There are secrets we all have that could affect the town. One of them is in there. Or was.” Hiram sighed. “My guess is Helen has no intention of allowing anyone to learn her secret. And the only person who knows her secret is me.” He looked anguished. “I’ll probably get fed some arsenic in my pound cake one day, just when I least expect it!” he wailed. “I’ll be chewing along, tasting the powdered sugar, thinking how good life is, and the next I know I’ll be—”
“Stop,” Duke said, “you’re making yourself ill, and your jangled nerves will kill you faster than Ms. Helen could. Let’s think this through.” He took a deep breath. Technically, what Helen had done was an arrestable offense. Unlawful entry, theft of city property—he couldn’t bear to think about it. “Why didn’t she just take whatever was in there that she wants kept secret?”
“Because the box is locked,” Hiram said, “and only I have the key. You don’t think I’m stupid, do you?”
Duke grimaced. Once this was straightened out, he was going to take charge of the city papers. They were going in an enormous, fire-proof, double-locked filing cabinet.
His brother and sister walked in with equipment and furniture. “What the hell?” Duke asked.
“We’ve decided to spruce this place up,” Pepper said. “Since the town elders decided to remove you, and since you’ve removed your person from the premises, effectively giving up your position, we thought it was time to brighten up this mole hole.”
Hiram and Bug had the grace to look ashamed when Duke glanced their way.
Zach nodded. “Mr. Parsons,” he said gently, “you’ll need to find another residence within thirty days. This is town property and should be used for official business only.”
Duke stood still, taken completely aback at this proclamation. He’d been ousted, and without an election! Hiram and Bug shuffled their boots and looked anywhere but at him. He didn’t know what to say himself. It was true the town’s elders had decided he should be replaced; even Pansy had mentioned that he needed to spend lots of time with Liberty and their new baby if he was going to properly cement their family.
But he didn’t want to give up his job. He loved his job. If I’d told Hiram he needed to vacate, he would have protested and closed his cell door on me.
On the other hand, he did have the ranch to run. And he wasn’t one to hang around if he wasn’t wanted or needed.
Then again, it would be nice to shove the box problem off on his siblings.
Hiram started rolling up his bedroll and packing up his few possessions. Duke stared at him. “What are you doing?”
“Moving out,” Hiram said.
“You can’t put him out in the street,” Duke told his brother and sister.
“It’s all right,” Hiram said. “A little discipline around this town won’t hurt anything. It will probably be beneficial.”
“Yeah,” Bug agreed, “we can’t be the wild west forever. Change is good, you know.”
“Discipline?” Duke repeated, somewhat hurt. “Are you suggesting all the time you people were fighting with me that you actually wanted discipline? That’s…childish!”
“We don’t want to be treated like children,” Hiram told him. “We want the town in firm hands.” He carried his things to the door. “Be sure to tell your brother and sister that they need to go retrieve the you-know-what. In an official capacity.”
Hiram left and Bug followed him.
“I’d say put the plant stand there, Zach,” Pepper said as she pointed to a space in front of the window. “That will brighten things up. I’ll start with a fresh coat of paint. Yellow, I think, since this room is so dark.”
Duke glanced at the dingy walls, grey and old and just the way he liked them. “Paint seems an unnecessary expense to the town.”
“Duke,” Pepper said softly, “you have a lot to do. Why don’t you go do it?”
“Don’t I have to be officially removed? Voted out of office?” If it wasn’t for the box issue—and he really wasn’t looking forward to cornering Helen on the severe list of charges she was facing—he’d be extremely upset about his job being swept right out from under him.
“Not in this town,” Zach said. “Same as the job got given to us, I guess it can be taken from you. Cheer up. They’ll probably change their mind as soon as we crack down on them. We have lots of ideas for changes.”
“I hate change,” Duke said. “I guess you know that.”
Pepper laughed. “Yes, brother, we know all about that. It’s one of the reasons we have your job. Fresh paint and fresh ideas is what’s needed in this town.” She gave her brother a hug. “Nothing lasts forever, you know.”
“Yeah, but I really was doing more than just taking up space,” Duke grumbled. “Say, if you’re going to be the new sheriffs, there is a matter that requires your atten
tion.” He said this with some glee, happy not to have to be stern with his friend. “Ms. Helen stole the box of records, or at least we assume she stole it because it’s sitting on her kitchen table.”
“Box of records?” Pepper asked.
“Yes, we don’t use file cabinets or safes or anything remotely resembling sensible order in this town,” Duke said with some satisfaction because he wouldn’t be the one having to clean up what he’d said all along needed to be done. “Be easy with her because she’s a friend.” He stretched, enjoying the fact that this time he didn’t have to play the role of plot-buster. “Guess I’ll head to Liberty’s and then the ranch. Enjoy your new job, and congratulations.”
“Wait a minute,” Pepper said, “I’m not going over there and telling Ms. Helen she’s broken several laws.”
“Oh, yes, you are,” Duke said, pinning his badge on her, “and I’m going to enjoy watching you try to do it.”
“Her feelings are going to be hurt!” Pepper exclaimed.
“Why would she steal it?” Zach asked, obviously trying to be sensible.
“Because she’s hiding something,” Duke said. “That’s my theory. But that’s your problem now.” With a grin, he scooped up Molly’s dog bowl and headed back to Liberty’s.
Of course, when he got there, everything was in disarray—should he have expected peace and quiet? “Who are all these people?” he asked Pansy, who was hovering near the front door with a batch of fresh-made cookies on a silver tray. Swiping a tulip-shaped cookie, he glanced around him. Even his desk wasn’t immune to the crowd—it had been covered with a white tablecloth and a colorful, fragrant floral arrangement had been placed upon it.
“They’ve come to the grand opening of Liberty’s Lace,” Pansy said proudly. “Our girl is such a smart businesswoman! She’s the next Vera Wang of wedding gowns, I do believe.”
He was about to grumble that he couldn’t work like this, then remembered he wasn’t the sheriff any longer and, technically, his desk was being used in an appropriate way, all things considered. He spied Holt in the next room fixing a bride’s hair and fitting a veil on her head. Now was probably an opportune time to follow “the recipe.” “Is there anything I can do to help?”