The Sheriff’s Runaway Bride

by Arlene James

  “I’m glad he could take comfort in that,” she said softly. “Was Dave married?”

  “No. He was dating someone, though, and I think they were getting serious. Guys don’t talk much about that kind of thing. Guys don’t talk much at all about anything that matters, really.”

  She laid her forehead against his shoulder, nodding. “I know.”

  Zach cupped her face then, lifting it so that he could look into her eyes. “Except to the women in their lives. I think that’s why God gave us women because He knew that otherwise we’d all just clam up about what was bothering us, hold it inside until we exploded.”

  “Consider me your safety valve,” she said, breathlessness robbing her voice of its intended humor.

  He twisted slightly and his hands dropped to cup her shoulders. Wondering if he was going to move her away from him or kiss her, Kylie held her breath.

  He kissed her.

  Tilting his head, he slowly brought his lips to hers, giving her every opportunity to stop him. Instead, she tightened her hold, bringing him closer. Even as she mentally screamed at herself that falling in love with Zach might mean never getting out of Clayton, she thrilled to his kiss.

  Vincent had never made her feel like this. No one had ever made her feel like this. She wondered if anyone else ever could make her feel like this.

  The sound of the front door opening broke the kiss, but only when Zach whispered “Brooke” did Kylie think to pull away. She shoved her chair to one side and rose just as Zach’s sister came into the room. He pulled his plate forward but didn’t pick up the burger again. Instead, he twisted in his chair and smiled tiredly at Brooke.

  “Sis.”

  “Hi.” Brooke spread a curious look over the scene, smiling. “Hi, Kylie.”

  “Hello.”

  “I had to run out of the diner earlier without eating,” Zach explained. “Kylie brought my food over.” He looked at her then and said, “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure. And about what happened on the mountain tonight, I meant what I said. You performed a real ministry out there.”

  “What happened?” Brooke asked.

  Before Zach could tell her, Kylie excused herself, saying, “I’ll let myself out.”

  He looked like he wanted to argue, but Brooke sat down next to him. “What happened, Zach?”

  He sighed. “I really ought to tell you. Everything.”

  Kylie slipped away. She couldn’t help smiling as she went out to the truck, but as she drove home, she reminded herself again that falling in love with Zach would likely mean staying in Clayton from now on. She’d tried to settle for that once, and it had been a mistake. She promised herself that she wouldn’t make the same mistake again, and then she prayed that it wasn’t already too late.

  Chapter Eight

  “Sorry I’m late!” Kylie called, pushing through the front door of the Cowboy Café. She’d called earlier, but she felt compelled to explain again as she hurriedly crossed the room. “Something went wrong with the truck, and we had to borrow a car. A two-seater. For the four of us. But beggars can’t be choosers, as they say, and at least we’re all where we need to be now.”

  This monologue did not elicit the response that she expected, but she didn’t take the time to wonder why. Instead, she stashed her small purse in the closet just inside the kitchen and went to take a pad and pencil from beneath the cash register. That’s when she saw Zach sitting midway along the counter, his hands templed over a nearly empty plate of bacon and eggs. Her heart leapt at the sight of him. Smiling, she jammed the order pad into a hip pocket with one hand and slid the pencil behind her right ear with the other. When she moved toward him, however, Erin stepped into her path, a large vase of flowers in her hands.

  “These came ten minutes ago. Glenda brought them over from the flower shop. Said she found an envelope when she opened up this morning. It had money, an order and a note for you in it.”

  “For me?” Kylie asked stupidly, blinking.

  “Flowers and note. For you,” Erin confirmed.

  Kylie drew back in confused surprise even as Erin thrust the vase into her hands. Filled with a colorful variety of showy blossoms, including at least half a dozen pink roses, it held a small envelope pinned to a pink bow. Her name had been written on the outside. Puzzled, Kylie couldn’t do anything more than stare at the arrangement for a long moment.

  “Well, read the note,” Erin urged. “We’re all dying of curiosity.”

  Flustered, Kylie set the vase on the counter and looked around the room. Diners, mostly men, occupied a pair of tables, but two women sat at the counter. One of them, Janey Guilder, Kylie recognized from the Independence Day picnic. Janey smiled and nodded toward the flowers as if inviting Kylie to enjoy her surprise. Turning her attention back to the flower arrangement, she unpinned the little envelope. Extracting the folded paper, she silently read the sentiment penned in an unfamiliar hand. “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman. XOXO”

  She turned the paper over in her hand but found it unsigned. Who on earth could have sent these? Other than her family, she couldn’t think of anyone who might have been moved to send her flowers, and a family member would almost certainly have signed the note. Suddenly she thought of someone with whom she’d recently shared a heartrending moment. A smile curled her lips. Was this Zach’s way of thanking her for last night? What an unexpectedly sweet thing to do!

  She turned her gaze on him. Everyone else did, too. Obviously feeling the weight of that, he glanced around then declared, “Don’t look at me.”

  Kylie felt a crushing sense of disappointment followed by utter confusion.

  “So who’s it from?” Jerome shouted from the kitchen, placing a plate on the pass-through shelf.

  Frowning, Kylie looked at the card again. “I don’t know. It’s not signed.”

  Erin peeked over her shoulder and read the card. “Mmmmmm. ‘For a beautiful woman.’ Well, you impressed someone.” She gave Kylie a congratulatory pat and went to pick up the plate and deliver it.

  Kylie glanced at Zach as one of several men crowded around a table called out, “Must be another one of her boyfriends.”

  Kylie felt her heart drop as a careful blankness came over Zach’s face. He didn’t scowl or frown or even smile, but she felt as if he closed himself off. Suddenly Kylie realized that she had never explained why she hadn’t been able to go to dinner with him that night. She’d been mentally kicking herself for handling his invitation in such a clumsy fashion, but he had caught her off guard and, although she wouldn’t have disappointed her sister for anything and their time together was dwindling away, a nail-polishing party had seemed like a pitiful excuse for turning him down, so she’d said nothing at the time. Now, he must think that she was seeing someone else. But she wasn’t!

  She wracked her brain for an explanation for the flowers, and a new thought occurred to her. She and Jasmine had recently put their heads together and discussed some ideas for the younger woman’s wedding that had left Jasmine ecstatic.

  “It must be Jasmine! A thank-you for my work as her wedding planner.”

  Zach’s face went from blank to stony. Tossing aside his napkin, he rose from the stool. Frustrated, Kylie started toward him only to feel a hand on her forearm. She looked down to find Janey Guilder clasping her arm.

  “Really? You plan weddings?” the young woman asked, leaning across the counter.

  “Uh, yes. That is, sometimes.”

  “That’s wonderful! I could certainly use some help planning my wedding. I could pay you, if you’re interested.”

  Kylie blinked at her. Had she just heard correctly? Another client had just dropped in her lap? A paying client? Now? She flashed a wan smile in the other woman’s direction.

  “Th-that sounds great. Just give me a minute, will you?”

  She looked toward Zach’s seat, only to find it vacant. Turning her head, she saw him at the door, but before she could call out to him, he opened that door and w
alked through it, pulling it shut behind him. Kylie stared at that closed door for a long minute, vaguely aware of Janey chattering happily to the friend beside her.

  Swallowing her hurt and disappointment, Kylie told herself this was for the best. She didn’t know who had sent those flowers. It had to be some sort of mistake. At the very least, the note had been meant for some other woman. Nevertheless, if a simple vase of flowers had been enough to turn Zach away from her, well, then so be it. He could not be the guy for her, anyway, not if he really meant to stay in Clayton.

  That did not make her feel one bit better, of course.

  She had to force herself to turn and focus on Janey. When she did, she saw something that caught her attention. Janey had tied a colorful scarf about her throat. Patterned in rich shades of navy and green, it perfectly complimented the grass-green sleeveless top that she wore. But below the edge of that jaunty scarf, just above her collarbone, a bruise peeked out. The size and shape of a fingertip, that bruise made Kylie wonder if someone had put his hand around Janey’s throat and tried to choke her.

  Catching the other woman’s gaze, Kylie leaned across the counter and quietly asked, “Are you okay?”

  Frowning, Janey sat back and tugged on the knot of her scarf, using the sweeping end of it to cover the dark mark. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Kylie got the message loud and clear. Whatever had happened to put that bruise there, Janey would not talk about it. Did Rob Crenshaw have anything to do with that bruise? If he did, Janey would not admit it. All Kylie could do was smile and pretend that it didn’t matter.

  She’d gotten a lot of practice at that lately.

  “Well, what did you expect?” Zach muttered to himself as he strode swiftly across the green.

  A woman as lovely as Kylie would naturally have any number of men interested in her. Just because he’d kissed her didn’t mean that she would suddenly turn everyone else away. He already knew that she’d been asked out. She’d admitted it after Vincent had brought it up. Then the other night she’d as good as told him that she had a date with someone else. Had she seen someone last night after leaving him?

  He didn’t want to think it, not after that kiss, not after he’d found her there in his house waiting for him. Having her there had awakened a need that he had managed to sublimate for a long time. In the past, he’d considered it unfair, given his occupation, to bring a wife and family into his life. Dave’s death had made him rethink that, though. When Dave’s father had made it clear that he regretted the fact that Dave had not married, Zach had realized that not only had his friend missed out on something important, some woman had missed out on being loved by a great guy. And now it was too late.

  Zach didn’t want to miss out. He wanted to come home every night to a woman who would share his burdens and soothe his disquiet. Someone who saw his work through the nobility of ministry and trusted him to do the right, best thing. Someone to whom he felt comfortable talking.

  Someone who loved him and only him.

  Maybe that woman would not be Kylie. She didn’t want to live in Clayton, and he increasingly did. Okay, he could talk to her. In fact, he couldn’t seem to stop talking to her, but that didn’t mean they should be together. Maybe God had someone else picked out for him. Zach couldn’t quite envision anyone else in that role at the moment, but God knew best, and if a woman did wait out there for him, well, he wanted her.

  “Bring her on,” he told God. “I’m ready whenever You are.” A sour feeling in the pit of his stomach belied that sentiment, so he amended it to, “Make me ready to receive Your will, Lord, whatever it may be.”

  Pulling his keys from the front pocket of his jeans, he stepped up to the door of his office and began opening up the place. Catching movement from the corner of his eye, he turned his head and spotted Kylie’s father coming toward him. Zach shifted around and put out his hand.

  “Mr. Jones.”

  “Call me Gene,” the older man said, glancing around as he gripped Zach’s hand. “Can we go inside? I don’t want Kylie to see me.”

  Zach’s eyebrows rose. “Okay.” Opening the door, he led the other man inside and went to lean against the counter, propping his forearms on the top edge of it. “What can I do for you?”

  Gene Jones swept off his “gimme cap” and sighed. “This morning when I went out to start up the truck, someone had vandalized the interior. It’s mostly cosmetic, I think. Ketchup, syrup, mustard and some sort of hot sauce all over everything. I was afraid at first that they’d poured it on the engine and in the gas tank, too, but it started just fine. The seats are cloth, though, so you can imagine what it’s like. A real mess.”

  Zach shifted. “When do you think this happened?”

  “Don’t know. Sometime after ten because that’s about when Kylie came home last night.”

  Ten. Kylie had left Zach’s house around then, so whoever Kylie’s secret admirer was, she hadn’t seen him last night. For some reason, that made Zach feel a bit better.

  “The wife wants to tackle the seats with a little steam cleaner she has,” Jones said, “but I thought we ought to wait in case you wanted to take a look at it. The thing is, I don’t want Kylie to see it like this. I just told her it was out of commission, but if she sees the vandalism, she’s apt to blame herself.”

  “In other words, you think Vincent’s behind this?”

  “Who else?” Jones groused.

  “It couldn’t be some high school kids or an unhappy customer?”

  “Not a customer, no, and what reason would anyone else have for doing something like this?”

  Zach shook his head, then reached behind the counter and pulled out a report form, which he passed to Gene. “You can fill this out for the record and get it back to me. Now, let’s go take a look.”

  Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of the Jones house. The place looked as beautiful in the daylight as it had at night. Surrounded by trees, it sprawled in all its log splendor against the backdrop of the mountains. The barn that Zach had glimpsed in the night stood like a silver sentinel between the house and the mountain, its weathered wood and tin roof glinting in the sunshine. The dirty white truck sat at the apex of the broad drive in front of the house.

  Parking beside it, Zach got out. Gene explained that the windows had been smeared with the same nasty gunk covering the seats, dash and floor, but Gene had cleaned them right away so his daughters wouldn’t see the destruction. He’d then called a friend, who’d brought him an old, partially restored, two-seater sports car to drive. Zach looked the truck over and made careful note of the damage, but in the end the worst of it appeared cosmetic, just as Gene had expected. Zach would talk to Vincent but didn’t expect to find out anything helpful. At least he could give Gene a report for his insurance company and help him clean up the mess. Gene opted not to file a claim because his deductible would be too high to make it worthwhile. He decided to use an old blanket to cover the seat so he could drive the truck back to the Feed & Supply where he could take his time cleaning it up.

  Knowing that Vincent worked at the city maintenance yard, Zach drove over there, but the trip proved as useless for Gene Jones’ purpose as Zach had feared it would. Vincent swore that he’d been with some of his buddies the previous night, and two of his coworkers backed him up on that. One of them even claimed to be bunking at Vincent’s house and so had twenty-four-hour knowledge of Vincent’s whereabouts. Zach recognized the other guy from the diner that morning. He’d made that wisecrack about the flowers having come from “another” of Kylie’s boyfriends. That statement implied that he, Zach, could be counted among Kylie’s boyfriends, and that notion had to come from Vincent. Things started to make sense.

  No doubt Vincent, who lived just up the road from Zach’s place, had seen Kylie’s truck parked outside the house last night and come to the conclusion that she and Zach were seeing each other. That might account for both the vandalism of the truck and the flower delivery that morning.
Could Vincent be trying to convince Zach that Kylie was playing the field, so to speak, or did he mean to punish Kylie for seeing Zach? Probably both.

  After checking in by phone with the central office, Zach dropped by his house to change his uniform shirt for an old one that he kept for dirty jobs. He took a fresh uniform shirt on a hanger and drove over to the Feed & Supply. Gene could not have been more glad to see him, even though the report on Vincent disappointed them both.

  They set to work, scraping off, wiping down, mopping up. When they had cleaned the handy interior surfaces, they removed the seats and floor mats to clean the crevices and creases. Then Gene set to steam-cleaning the seats. By the time they got everything put back together, the truck looked almost new, on the inside anyway. Gene decided to wash the outside, so Zach pitched in with that. While they scrubbed, they talked, and eventually the subject of the ranch came up.

  “So where is this place of yours and Samuel’s?” Zach asked, pausing to wipe his brow.

  “Well, it’s just north of my place,” Gene said. The more he talked, the more Zach understood Samuel’s thought process.

  The six hundred and fifty acres, an odd-size parcel, stretched between the Jones’ place and the three-thousand-acre spread that George Sr. had managed to put together around Great-Grandpa Jim’s original mine site. With Gene’s forty acres thrown in and the one hundred and eighty acres to Gene’s south, which he said were under bank repossession, Samuel could reasonably expect to get his hands on nearly four thousand acres for a very minimal investment. He could just sit back and wait for Gene to default on his investment loan and George Sr.’s heirs to fail to fulfill the stipulations of the will. Then he could waltz in with a few thousand dollars and wind up the biggest landowner in the county. The plan was brilliant and diabolical. Zach couldn’t let him get away with it, but he saved that topic for discussion with his sisters and cousins later.

  By the time they were done, the sun had reached its zenith and dropped halfway to the horizon. “You’ve been a big help here, son,” Gene said, coming to slap Zach on the shoulder. “No problem.”