Mission--Colton Justice

by Jennifer Morey

  He nodded. “She was strong, up until she started drinking again. I should have seen the signs.”

  “You can’t hold on to regret.” Was that what he was doing? He professed his love for Tess, but in the next breath had confessed he hadn’t trusted her. He’d even said he’d held back.

  Adeline grew uncomfortable with the way she internally rationalized his thoughts in a way that might open a door for her to pursue him romantically. That could come with some ramifications. He seemed reluctant to love, period.

  “Why haven’t you ever married?” he asked, startling her some. Why had he asked such a question?

  “I’m only twenty-seven.”

  “That’s marriage age. You’ve gone to college, you’re established in your career. Aren’t you ready yet?”

  Was he asking for himself or in general? She found she hoped for the former. “I was in a serious relationship for a while. I met him in college. He told me he was going on to law school. After we graduated, we lived together. I got to work and he never went to law school. He also didn’t get a job—not any job.”

  “You supported him?”

  “Yes. He was looking for an easy way out. I don’t think he ever really wanted to work. I think he looked for a free ride, and I was it. I heard him talking to one of his friends who must have asked why he wasn’t working and he said he didn’t have to because his girlfriend made enough money. I asked him to leave the next day. He refused, so the next time he left to go out, I threw all his things outside, changed the locks and got a restraining order. He tried to beat the door in. He did break a window. Luckily the police arrived right after that, or he might have climbed in and attacked me. Scariest night of my life.”

  Jeremy’s jaw had opened farther as he listened. “Did he abuse you?”

  “No, never. He never lost his temper before that, either. And I never saw him again after that night. I heard a few months later that he was working as a waiter somewhere and living with his parents.”

  “Everybody’s got to start somewhere.”

  She laughed shortly at his sarcasm. “I sometimes shudder to think I almost married him.”

  “He asked you?”

  “All the time. But I didn’t trust his unemployment. I didn’t really mind making all the money. I actually felt proud, accomplished, empowered as a woman. I just didn’t like feeling used.”

  Jeremy’s mouth had closed by now and he looked fondly at her, turning his wineglass in a circle. “Did you love him?”

  “I think I did when we moved in together.”

  “But then he showed his true colors?”

  She liked that he was so intuitive. “Yes, I suppose so.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Gosh. Four years now.”

  “And you tell me it’s been a long time since I lost Tess.” He chuckled softly, and then sipped his wine.

  Their food arrived. Adeline started eating, all the while wondering how much her experience with her ex-boyfriend had tainted her appetite for love...or men. She looked across the table at Jeremy. She certainly had nothing to fear from him in the way of finances. With him, her apprehension in getting involved centered on Jamie and Tess. Even now a chill seized her when she thought of the day she’d have to leave. She’d lose her son all over again. She didn’t think she could survive that.

  Chapter 5

  Driving up to sprawling Bluewood Ranch a few days later, Jeremy parked where many other townspeople had already gathered. A white tent sheltered picnic tables. Heat lamps had been placed as a precautionary measure, maybe for the evening crowd. Shadow Creek enjoyed mild winters and today’s mid-October forecast called for seventy-five and sunny. A giant inflated pumpkin set the mood for the festival. While they’d come for the pony rides, the pumpkin patch would provide more excitement for Jamie.

  “Ponies!” Jamie grabbed Adeline’s hand and pulled. He missed Jeremy’s. “Come on!”

  Adeline laughed lightly and walked fast beside Jamie’s short, clumsily running legs.

  He had taken Adeline to her office so she could catch up on a few things and direct her deputy investigator to handle some tasks for her. Now they had the rest of the day to relax and have fun.

  Jeremy spotted Halle Ford outside a corral, finishing with the saddle of one of four horses: a black mare, two chestnuts and a smaller Appaloosa mix, a breed also called Pony of the Americas.

  “Jamie!” Halle crouched to greet the excited boy, her long, thick, auburn hair pulled back and wide, her cheek-creasing smile revealing perfect white teeth.

  He pointed to the Appaloosa mix. “That’s my pony.”

  “Yes, it certainly is.” Halle messed up the top of his blond hair, then lifted him and plopped him on top of the pony. “Hold on.”

  Jamie gripped the saddle horn and petted the animal’s neck with his free hand.

  “Applejack is one of our most docile ponies,” Halle said.

  “Jamie’s ridden before,” Jeremy said. “Not that he’s ready for a wild stallion.”

  Halle laughed and so did Adeline. Jeremy saw Adeline watching Jamie, seeing how balanced he was. He had an agile little body and would probably stay seated better than him.

  “I haven’t,” Adeline said.

  Jeremy stepped forward to introduce them, Jamie preoccupied with the pony. “Halle, this is Adeline Winters. I’m not sure if you’ve met before.”

  “We haven’t, not formally. I’ve seen you in town and heard about your investigations business. Very impressive.”

  “Hello.” Adeline smiled, seeming to like the woman instantly. There wasn’t much not to like about Halle.

  “Is this your ranch?” Adeline glanced around the beautiful property, so alive with activity today.

  “Yes.” Halle’s smile faded. “I inherited Bluewood after my father was killed in a hit and run.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Adeline said.

  “Livia killed him,” Jeremy said with a glance at his son, who had leaned down with a smile, his face in the pony’s mane.

  “She bribed the arresting officer and basically got away with murder,” Halle added.

  “Something she’s good at,” Jeremy said, seeing how Adeline caught his look and frowned back in admonishment. Surely by now she could see why he suspected Livia in his wife’s death. But she still needed proof. He supposed she wouldn’t be a good investigator otherwise.

  Halle handed her the reins to one of the chestnuts, and Jeremy took the reins of the other and led the animal to Jamie’s side.

  “Are you sure we’re not taking you away from your festival?” Jeremy asked as he mounted.

  “I’ve got plenty of help. Trail rides are part of the activities today. Besides, I like going out on rides every now and then.” She climbed onto the black mare and Adeline awkwardly did the same with the chestnut.

  “Just grab a hold of the reins and follow Jamie,” Halle said to her. “Riding horses is easy. You just tap their sides when you want to move or go faster and tug the reins left or right for turning. Pull back on the reins to stop or slow. You don’t have to tug or pull very hard.”

  “Okay, I don’t want to hurt the animal.”

  “You won’t. These horses are very well mannered.”

  “That’s reassuring,” Adeline said, giving the horse a tug to move away from the corral fence and tapping lightly to follow Jamie’s pony.

  Jeremy kept his horse next to Jamie and told him to stay beside him. Halle sent her horse into a trot to take over. Then she twisted on the saddle to say, “We’ll go on an easy ride. No steep hills or rivers.”

  “Thank you.”

  Jamie made giddyap chants and swung his feet out of the stirrups.

  “Jamie, put your feet in the stirrups and stop fidgeting on the horse,�
� Jeremy said.

  The boy calmed and did as he was told. “It’s a pony.”

  They reached a narrow dirt road lined with trees. Adeline rode beside Jamie, allowing Jeremy to ride beside Halle ahead of them.

  “Your ranch is beautiful,” Adeline said.

  “Thanks.” Halle twisted to look back at her. “My father loved this place. It’s my goal to keep his memory alive by making it thrive. It’s been a challenge but I believe it will work out.”

  “Did Livia bribe deputies often?” Adeline asked.

  Jeremy was glad she’d decided to dig for information. Anything to make her believe Livia capable of murdering Tess. If she believed, then she’d prove Livia’s guilt.

  “It’s pretty common knowledge around these parts that she had several dirty deputies on her payroll. If any of them looked into Tess’s accident, and Livia had anything to do with it, you can bet they didn’t look close enough.”

  “We’ve checked into the deputy who wrote the accident report,” Adeline said. “So far nothing suspicious has come up.”

  “If she can cover up a hit and run, she can cover up an accident.” Halle looked over at Jeremy.

  Halle might be a little biased when it came to Livia, but Jeremy had to agree. Livia could cover up almost anything. He looked back at Adeline, who averted her face as though taking in her surroundings. She’d stick to her process and let the evidence tell her what had really happened. Jeremy would settle for that—for now.

  * * *

  Adeline grimaced as she dismounted from the horse. They had only gone for an hour-long ride but that was enough to have an impact on her muscles. Jeremy grinned over at her as he handed his reins to a groom.

  “I don’t wanna get off yet,” Jamie whined. He’d complained as soon as he saw they were headed back to the corral.

  “We still have the pumpkin patch to visit,” Jeremy said, lifting the boy off the horse.

  “But I like Apple,” Jamie protested, his blue eyes a well of young sorrow.

  Jeremy chuckled, having seen the same as Adeline had. “Let’s go see what else we can do here. It’ll be fun.”

  A groom led the pony away and Adeline thought Jamie would tear up. She took his hand. “Come on. I heard they have games and cotton candy.”

  “Cotton candy?” Jamie skipped alongside her, and they headed for the tent, where grills smoked and the aroma of burgers, brats and dogs filled the air.

  “Nothing like a fall barbecue,” she said.

  “The climate is good here,” Jeremy said.

  “Really good today.” She lifted her head to the sun, closing her eyes briefly.

  At the cotton candy kiosk, Adeline retrieved one for Jamie and handed it to him. He happily ate away at the sweet confection.

  Jeremy steered them toward a face-painting canopy. Jamie insisted on having his done as a horse head. Adeline chose to have a sunflower, with her nose the center and petals fanning out from her eyes, cheeks and chin. Jeremy asked for a scary pumpkin face.

  Adeline laughed at the jagged teeth the artist painted, making Jamie laugh with her. Seeing a photo booth, she took the boy’s hand and pulled him inside, Jeremy following. She made a funny face as the camera began shooting. Jamie’s high-pitched laugh rang in her ear along with the deep baritone of Jeremy’s.

  The photos dispensed and she took them outside, where the three of them looked and laughed some more. Next they picked out pumpkins and went into the tent for lunch.

  Adeline noticed certain people staring at them, mostly women who wore fond, admiring expressions. She and Jeremy did make an attractive couple, if she could say so herself. Add a cute kid and they were a stunning family. Jamie did look a lot like her, as he should. He was her living, breathing, real-life son. She looked at him a long time, marveling over that.

  He took notice and after a bit, between messy mouthfuls of a ketchup-loaded hotdog, made a face at her. Loving his playfulness, she made one back. He shoved a huge bite into his mouth, ketchup oozing from the corners. Adeline took a big bite, too. Jamie laughed and for a moment she feared he’d choke, but his little mouth worked to chew.

  Jeremy reached over with his finger and wiped the corner of her mouth. She lifted her napkin and wiped just in case.

  “You two are having too much fun.”

  She looked up to see sheriff Knox Colton approach with his pretty wife, Allison and adorable son, Cody. Allison’s long, dark blond hair was pulled back and her hazel eyes sparkled in complement to her green shirt.

  “It’s so nice to see you with someone, Jeremy,” Allison said. “What a handsome family you make.”

  “Careful, honey, Adeline here is a private investigator, not his girlfriend.”

  “She’s Jamie’s mother.” Obviously realizing what she’d just said, Allison put her hand to her mouth with a “whoops.”

  Jamie looked at Adeline. “You’re not my mommy,”

  “No, but I’d consider myself lucky if I was,” Adeline said in an attempt to buffer the blunder. She winked at Jamie, who hesitantly smiled.

  “We’ll leave you two to your private moment,” Knox said, putting an arm around his wife’s waist. “Let’s go get some lunch, honey.”

  “Okay, darling.”

  Adeline admired them as a couple as they walked away. Their love was so obvious, even without the sweet talk.

  As Adeline and Jeremy picked up their things to leave, she spotted Claudia talking to Knox. Adeline waved, Jeremy doing the same before he took Jamie’s hand. As they left the tent area, he took the other pumpkin from Adeline. She took Jamie’s hand since both of his were now full. They walked toward the parked vehicles.

  Holding Jamie’s hand and watching his little legs take him along between her and Jeremy, and then looking up at Jeremy’s handsome profile, she began to feel as though she truly belonged in this family. She felt like Jamie’s mother, and Jeremy... She caught him looking at her with manly appreciation. She dared not finish her thought. That precarious trail would not lead anywhere safe.

  * * *

  The ride home and entering Jeremy’s home like a family left Adeline quiet with an increasing sense of dread. What if she couldn’t control her feelings toward Jeremy? They had a definite physical attraction and a growing intellectual connection. Add their son into the mix and things became complicated.

  They baked cookies and let Jamie watch a movie after dinner. Family time. Now Jeremy took their son upstairs. Adeline had planned to wait downstairs, but the tug in her heart brought her upstairs and to the open door.

  Jeremy finished reading a story, stopping before the ending because Jamie fell asleep. Then he joined her in the doorway. Adeline wasn’t ready to stop looking at the boy. She’d made that cute little bundle.

  “He’s such a good kid,” she said.

  “Yeah.”

  “That says a lot about his daddy.” Tess hadn’t lived long after Jamie was born. A lot of who Jamie was must have been shaped by Jeremy. He appeared to be doing a wonderful job as a single dad.

  “He had a nanny, too.”

  The nanny hadn’t sounded like a very good influence. “Don’t be shy. Jamie is good because of you.”

  Jeremy looked toward the bed with her and she could feel his love for the boy. Adeline felt the same, even though she hadn’t been close, only gave birth to him. The powerful seed had rooted, though. She felt a strong connection to Jamie that had only cemented itself inside her ever since arriving there.

  “He does look a lot like you. Sometimes he reminded me of you.”

  His confession surprised her. He’d thought of her while he was married to Tess? Only because she’d been Jamie’s biological mother. He couldn’t have had romantic thoughts about her...could he?

  “I see you in him, too,” she said. Then made the mistake of
turning to look at him in this warm, intimate moment.

  His eyes took on that same look she’d seen at the festival. Sharing a child together had cast some sort of mysterious spell on her. Him, too, as he showed when he slid his hand to her waist and pulled her closer while he brought his head down. Just before his lips touched hers, Jamie said, “Daddy?”

  Adeline jerked back and so did Jeremy.

  “Is that Mommy?”

  “It’s Adeline, sweetie,” she said.

  After a brief pause, Jamie propped himself up on his elbows, blinking sleepily. “Why was Daddy holding you like a mommy?”

  He must have seen other parents embrace.

  “Go to sleep, buddy.” Jeremy walked into the room and bent to press a kiss to Jamie’s forehead.

  Adeline left the doorway and went to her bedroom. She would read or something, anything to get her mind off Jeremy.

  * * *

  Later that night, Jeremy gave up trying to sleep and threw the covers off himself. He got up and left the room in his underwear. Maybe some milk would help him get to sleep. And maybe getting up and moving around would redirect his thoughts. All he could think about was the way Adeline had smelled and the warmth radiating from her soft body when he’d pulled her close. That, and imagining what her mouth would feel like if he kissed her...really kissed her.

  Getting a glass of milk, he saw rain falling through one of the kitchen windows, reflected beneath the outer lighting at the end of his driveway. Taking his drink, he left the kitchen and passed through the family room to double doors leading to a sunroom. The doors were already open. Slowing, he approached.

  He didn’t hear anyone inside, so he peered in and saw Adeline sitting with her legs curled up, leaning back against an oversize sofa. She jerked when she grew aware of him.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” He entered the room, putting down his milk on a side table.