The Sheriff (Men of the White Sandy Book 5)
Page 18
It was perfect. Even if it meant that Georgey still had to sleep on the couch when he was home on leave.
Even now, she glanced back at where Tim was laughing—actually laughing—at something Nobody Bodine had said. She loved being here, loved having this celebration with her whole family. But she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t looking forward to later tonight, when Georgey went out with his friends and she had Tim all to herself for a few hours.
The years had barely touched the man. Aside from a streak of white coming in at his temples—which he blamed entirely on either Georgey or Nobody, depending on the day—Tim was as rock-solid and gorgeous as he’d been the day he’d found Summer lost on the White Sandy. The first day she’d come home.
She might have loved him from the beginning. Her summer fling had become so much more.
And now she’d moved out here to be with him. She even had a job. Technically, two jobs. She continued to tutor students for their GEDs at Sinte Gliske every weekday morning and she’d began to contact the area high school teachers about student retention and college preparation classes. Which was nice because she didn’t have to teach Shakespeare anymore.
The Mitchell Foundation, a trust run by Dr. Madeline Mitchell and Melonie Bodine, was funding the construction of a new after-school center next to the Child Care Center. The Teen Reach Center would be geared for kids ages twelve and up and, in addition to having plentiful snacks and homework help, the foundation was also footing the bill for an outdoor skate park and basketball courts, as well as computers and books. Lots of books, graphic novels and audio books. There wasn’t a library outside of a school on the reservation, so Summer was dedicating one whole wall to young adult literature.
The kids on the White Sandy needed a place to go where they could be warm in the winter and get a meal they might not get at home. Teen Reach would be a place where they could still be kids, get homework help and, most importantly, stay connected to the tribe without joining a gang or falling through the cracks, like Georgey almost had.
Summer was in charge of the whole thing. It was terrifying and wonderful at the same time, because this was how she fit into Tim’s world. She might not have the skills to change diapers but she could be here for kids navigating puberty and adulthood and, hopefully, keep them out of Tim’s jail.
She was chatting with Melonie Bodine about how they were going to decorate the skate park—decorating was Melonie’s strong suit—when she caught Tim and Georgey with their heads together, both glancing at her over their shoulders.
She knew that look. Those two were up to something. She turned, but Madeline appeared next to her. “How’s it going?” she asked in that tone of voice that made it clear she expected—nay, demanded—an answer. Summer liked Madeline Mitchell a great deal, but the woman had a way about her that could be off-putting, to say the least.
“Fine,” Summer said suspiciously.
Madeline and Melonie shared a look, then Tammy Thunder was with them, also staring at Summer while she tried and largely failed not to smile. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” Summer repeated. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” All three women said at once in too-loud voices.
“Uh huh.” Summer narrowed her eyes at them, but their collective smiles held. “Then what’s going on behind me?”
“Nothing!” they all but shouted in unison.
So that was a something. “Is it bad? One of the kids tip over the punch bowl?” Or worse, was Eileen making a scene?
“No,” Tammy said, giving up the fight against that smile. “If there were something going on behind you—”
“Which there isn’t,” Melonie cut in.
“It’d be a good thing,” Madeline finished.
They all smiled again. Even bigger this time.
No, that wasn’t suspicious at all.
“Summer?” The sound of Tim’s voice cut through the room, sending a shiver of want down her back. The room went silent in a heartbeat. Or maybe that was just her pulse pounding in her veins, drowning out all other noise.
Something was definitely going on. What was that man doing?
“You can look now,” Melonie whispered with a wink.
She turned slowly and found Tim standing in the middle of the room, a bouquet of roses in his hand and a smile on his face. Behind him, a circle of their friends and family stood, all looking hopeful and expectant. Georgey was at his shoulder, grinning wildly. “What...”
But that was as far as she got before Tim fell to one knee. She gasped, her hands flying to her chest as the women behind her pushed her forward.
“I never thought I’d meet a woman like you,” Tim began, his voice low and serious and, yes, nervous. “I love this land and I love my people—my family.”
The crowd behind him made a happy humming noise because, no matter what, they loved him, too.
Oh, God—this was really happening. Tim was down on bended knee and he was proposing. To her! In front of everyone! At Georgey’s party!
“But,” Tim went on, “being the sheriff has meant that, too often, it’s a tough love and it makes it hard for anyone to love me back. Before you came to the rez, I’d resigned myself to a life on the edge and it was a damned lonely place to be. Then Georgey happened and—”
“Hey!” Georgey protested, but he did it with a smile.
“You came for him and the moment I saw you, lost in the middle of nowhere.” Everyone chuckled at that, even Summer. “I saw someone more. Someone who didn’t look at me and see just a lawman. Instead, you saw a man and I loved you for it.”
“Oh, Tim,” she tried to say, but her throat closed and she had trouble getting the words out.
He held out his hand for her and she walked forward. Or maybe she was pushed again. In his palm was a simple ring with a small, round diamond set in rose gold. “We’ve spent too much time apart,” he went on. “And I don’t ever want to be apart from you again. You are my past, my present and I want you to be my future.” He took a deep breath and said, “Summer Collins, would you marry me?”
“Preferably before I ship out,” Georgey added. “I wouldn’t want to miss my favorite sister getting hitched.”
Circle, bless her heart, smacked Georgey on the arm and shushed him.
Tim rolled his eyes, which made Summer laugh.
“We’re already living together,” she reminded him. Instantly, alarm widened his eyes. The room felt like it was holding its breath. “But I want something more from you, Tim Means. I want it all. I want you as my family. Because we are all family.”
Tim almost sagged with relief.
Summer knew she was crying but she was powerless to stop. “Yes,” she told him, holding out her hand to him. “I’ll be a wife to your husband. There’s nothing I want more.”
“Thank God,” he said, slipping the ring onto her finger. He pushed himself to his feet and, thrusting the roses back for Georgey to hold, folded her into his arms. “I’m yours,” he whispered against her lips. “Stay with me, for the rest of our lives.”
“I will, because I’m yours, too,” she whispered back. Then he was kissing her and she was kissing him back in front of everyone and people were hooting and clapping and when she and Tim broke apart, there were handshakes and hugs and plans to be made.
She was home because she was with Tim.
Forever.
About the Author
Thank you so much for reading The Sheriff! I hope you enjoyed it!
Would you like to know when my next book is available? You can sign up for my new release email alerts at www.sarahmanderson.com.
I appreciate all reviews, both positive and negative, because reviews help other readers find books they’ll enjoy. If you would like to leave a review, you can do so on the vendor at which you purchased this book and/or on Goodreads.
The Sheriff is the fifth book in the Men of the White Sandy series. Other titles in the series are The Medicine Man (Book 1), The Rancher (B
ook 2), The Shadow (Book 3), and The Medic (Book 4).
Turn the page to read an excerpt from The Wannabe Cowboy, the first book in my new series, The Lost Cause Ranch!
Want to hang out online? You can find me on:
On Facebook
On Twitter
On Goodreads
Or by Snail Mail at: Sarah M. Anderson, 200 N 8th ST #193, Quincy IL 62301-9996
He’s not what she expects…
Excerpt from The Wannabe Cowboy: The Lost Cause Ranch #1
Zack Baker is desperate. He’s lost his job, his lease and his grant money is almost gone. If he can’t finish his field study and land a tenured job, he’s going to be in deep trouble. By the time he makes his way onto the L/C Ranch, owned by one Ms. Samantha Kenady, he’s more than desperate.
As far as Sam is concerned, it doesn’t matter that Zack Baker has a good smile, drives a crappy truck, or that he’s desperate. No, what matters are the rules, and rule #1 of the Lost Cause Ranch is no men allowed. That rule protects the women she takes in. Along with her Granny and her best friend, a lesbian named Andy Two Bulls, Sam has reformed thirteen women the rest of the world had written off as lost causes. Fourteen, if she counts herself. Sam hides behind her rules to escape a past she can’t forget. She can't have Baker on her land, no matter how much she might like him. No men. That’s the rule.
But when she catches Zack camping on her property, she decides to give him one more chance. And Zack steps up to the plate, fitting into Sam's life—and her bed. But when a prairie fire threatens them all, will Zack stand by her side or will her rules keep her safe?
Excerpt from The Wannabe Cowboy
The smoke was coming from a spot about a thousand yards away. Sam swung off Stitch and got her rifle. Moving silently, she crept through the grass and up over a low rise.
The fresh scent of coffee hit her nose about the same time she saw the tent about fifty feet away, right next to the creek. Campers? This wasn’t a national park. No camping allowed. Or had the tourists not seen the “No Trespassing” signs every fifty feet back on the fence?
A man came out of the tent wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. Plaid, she guessed. He stood up and stretched in the early morning light. His bare chest was right at eye level.
Whoa. Maybe she did need to get out more, because the prospect of a mostly naked man was making her a little lightheaded. It’s not that she didn’t see shirtless men—Heaven kept her all up-to-date on what the latest Hollywood hunks were doing—but this was different. When she saw a hot dude shirtless on the TV, she didn’t think much of it. Now, here, face to face with a real man’s real chest, she felt…funny.
Aware.
She blinked against the brightening light, but the image didn’t change. Broad shoulders led to long arms. His chest was smooth but he had more than enough muscles. The sight of that chest made her own tighten. The legs weren’t bad, either. Not scrawny chicken legs, but not the tree trunks that came on some of the local cowboys. No, he was well-proportioned. Good looking. He was—
Shucking his shorts.
Her mouth dropped open at the sight before her. Whoa.
Good morning, sunshine, was all she could think. Then the guy pivoted. Hell.
Sam flattened herself against the ground. What would he do if he caught her watching? She had no idea what kind of man was squatting on her land. Not a Gunderson, that much she was pretty sure about. Gundersons didn’t make her feel all funny, shorts or no shorts. But that left the field wide open between tree-hugger and psychopath.
She hugged her rifle, waiting. Agonizingly long seconds passed as she wondered whether or not a naked man was about to jump her.
The grass was quiet, but the water started talking to her. She heard the splash of the creek. He was swimming?
She leaned up. He was swimming, all right. She could just see a curved set of cheeks disappear in her creek. He ducked his head under the water and then began to…shampoo? Really?
He was taking a bath at, what? Six in morning? That creek couldn’t be much above sixty-five degrees. She was staring. But he was naked in her water. Staring seemed like an even trade-off.
His back matched his front, strong without being muscle-bound. And she’d already gotten a good look at everything else. A well-built man, no doubt about it.
He started out of the water, and she couldn’t help but look. How cold had that water been?
Cold. But he was still impressive.
She shook her head. She was staring at a naked man, and she hadn’t even had her coffee yet.
He wrapped a towel around his waist, shook the water from his hair, and lifted his face to the sun.
She gaped in silent shock.
Baker. Zack Baker was naked. In her creek. On her land.
Learn More about The Wannabe Cowboy
Other Books by Sarah M. Anderson
Men of the White Sandy
The Medicine Man
The Rancher
The Shadow
The Medic
The Sheriff
Lawyers in Love
A Man of His Word
A Man of Privilege
A Man of Distinction
Pride and Pregnancy
The Boltons
Straddling the Line
Bringing Home the Bachelor
Expecting a Bolton Baby
Little Secrets: Claiming His Pregnant Bride
Rich, Rugged Ranchers
A Real Cowboy
The Texas Cattleman’s Club
What a Rancher Wants
His Lost and Found Family
A Surprise for the Sheikh
Dynasties: The Newports
Claimed by the Cowboy
Rodeo Dreamers
Rodeo Dreams
One Rodeo Season
Crushing on the Cowboy
The Beaumont Heirs
Not the Boss’s Baby
Seduced by the Cowboy
A Beaumont Christmas Wedding
His Son, Her Secret
Falling for Her Fake Fiancé
His Illegitimate Heir
Rich Rancher for Christmas
Billionaire’s Baby Promise
Billionaires and Babies
The Nanny Plan
His Forever Family
Twins for the Billionaire
Silver Belles Anthology
The Christmas Pony
NotMyFirstRodeo.com
Something About a Cowboy
Roping a Rancher
The First Family of Rodeo
His Best Friend’s Sister
His Enemy’s Daughter
Flash
Sarah M. Anderson writing as Maggie Chase
Steamy Historical Romance
The Jeweled Ladies: The Mistress Series
His Topaz
Their Emerald
Her Ebony
His Sapphire
His Crown Jewel
The Jeweled Ladies: The Rogues Series
His Diamond
Her Steel
Their Amethyst
About Sarah
Award-winning author Sarah M. Anderson may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west on the Great Plains. When she started writing, it wasn’t long before her characters found themselves out in South Dakota among the Lakota Sioux. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they’d go.
She won RT Reviewer’s Choice 2012 Desire of the Year for A Man of Privilege. The Nanny Plan won the 2016 RITA® for Contemporary Romance: Short.
Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and American Indians, all of which is surprisingly well-tolerated by her wonderful husband.
Dedication
To Amy Alessio. Thank you so much for being the voice of reason when I’m anything but!
Thank you Newton Love and Annette Love Hatton, as well as the Lakota Language Co
nsortium, for all their help with the Lakota translations in the book. Many thanks to Mary Dieterich, Mel Jolly and Karen Booth for being awesome. Finally, thanks to my husband and son—the best heroes ever!
Ebook ISBN-13: 978-1-941097-34-2
The Sheriff (Men of the White Sandy #5)
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah M. Anderson
Edited by Liz Lincoln
Cover design by Romanced by the Cover
All rights reserved. Except in use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the copyright holders. For questions, comments, or permissions, please contact Sarah M. Anderson at message@sarahmanderson.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Printed in the U.S.A.