Maybe he’s met some sweet little small-town woman and no longer has any interest in kissing me or having anything else to do with me, she thought, fighting a wave of sudden depression.
Perhaps she should go shopping. She’d gotten paid the day before, and although it wasn’t a lot of money, it was enough to buy something nice for Beau and Carolyn to thank them for their support.
Draining her mug, she stood up, decision made. Yes, a day of shopping was a perfect way to spend a hot Saturday. At least most of the stores in Casey’s Corners were air-conditioned.
Minutes later, after telling Carolyn her plans, Bonnie took off for Main Street. The sun was bright and hot overhead and she was grateful for the light-weight sundress she wore. As she walked, she tried to think of something special she could buy her sister and Beau.
They seemed to have everything they needed for happiness just in the mere fact that they had each other. Bonnie had never seen two people who appeared so right for each other. She could only hope that someday she’d find the right man for herself, a man who could fill the holes in her heart, soothe the scars on her soul, make the lonely ache finally go away forever.
She shoved aside these thoughts, knowing they were only more silly dreams. She wasn’t the type to settle down and have a family. How often had she been told that? She’d probably spend her life flitting from place to place until her entire inheritance was gone and she was too old for anything but a nursing home. It doesn’t have to be that way, a small voice inside her head whispered. You could stay here, build a life, be a real aunt to those little twin boys.
“Shut up,” she muttered, realizing she was only managing to give herself a headache.
It took her most of the morning to find a gift for Beau and Carolyn. She finally located the perfect gift in the drugstore. It was a delicate figurine of a man and a woman holding hands, a symbol of love and commitment. Although it ate up more than half her paycheck, Bonnie bought it, sure this was the perfect way to thank Beau and Caro for their support.
With shopping behind her, she decided to treat herself to a piece of pie. Entering Wanda’s Diner, she slid onto one of the stools at the counter, glad the lunch crowd had already departed and the place was nearly empty.
“What can I get for you?” the chubby, older woman behind the counter asked.
“A piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee.”
“Coming right up.”
Bonnie watched as the waitress cut a generous slice and placed it in front of her. “Hmm, that looks wonderful!” she exclaimed.
“Just came out of the oven about fifteen minutes ago. Happens to be one of my specialties.” The waitress poured Bonnie a cup of coffee, then propped her elbows on the counter and gazed at her curiously. “You’re Carolyn’s sister, right?”
“Right. I’m Bonnie.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Wanda, proud proprietress of this eating establishment.” Wanda’s eyes twinkled merrily. “The grapevine is running wild with rumors about you.”
Bonnie swallowed a bite of the pie and grinned. “What kind of rumors?”
Wanda leaned closer. “I’ll tell you what I’ve heard if you tell me if it’s true.”
Bonnie grinned again. “It’s a deal.”
“I heard you were a princess traveling incognito.”
“Oh, my,” Bonnie said with a laugh. “The gossips have been busy.”
Wanda smiled and winked. “The electricity might go off, the water might quit working, but the gossips never rest in this town.” She tilted her head, her gaze still openly curious. “I also heard you and the new deputy are an item of sorts.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Bonnie scoffed, feeling a tinge of heat rising to her cheeks. “Barney Fife and I have nothing going on between us.” She grinned at Wanda’s raucous laughter. “Believe me, that man is far too conservative for me.”
“He needs a mama for that son of his,” Wanda observed. “He and the boy came in here to eat supper last night and that’s one sad-looking little boy.”
“I’m sure Russ will have no trouble finding someone in this town more suitable than me for that job,” Bonnie said, ignoring a pang in her heart as she thought of Russ and his son.
“I ’spect you’re right. He’s a fine-looking fellow, and I’ve never met a woman yet who didn’t have a secret love for a man in a police uniform.”
“You’ve just met one,” Bonnie said dryly. She grinned again. “And if you hear any more gossip about me being a princess traveling incognito, you just tell them it’s true.”
Wanda slapped the counter and laughed loudly. “I’ll do it,” she agreed.
Bonnie breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened and an old man sat down at the end of the counter and signaled for Wanda. The last thing she wanted was to eat her pie listening to Wanda extol Russ’s dubious charms. Talk about a case of indigestion.
She finished her pie and coffee and left her money, including a generous tip, on the counter, then went back outside into the afternoon heat.
She’d gone only a few steps down the sidewalk, when something hit her in the back of the head. “Ouch!” She whirled around in time to see a young boy, a dirt clod in one hand and a look of surprise on his filthy face. Another large clod of dirt lay at her feet. “Hey, did you throw this at me?” She glared at the kid, who glared back, his chin raised belligerently. “Hello. I’m talking to you.” She started toward him, a dull ache in the back of her head where his dirt bomb had connected.
“I don’t have to answer you,” he said, raising his chin higher. “I don’t have to talk to you at all.”
“Why would you want to hit me?” she asked, standing directly in front of him.
“I wasn’t aiming at you. I wasn’t aiming at anything.”
Bonnie eyed the kid with irritation. He didn’t seem a bit sorry. In fact, he looked like a future criminal. A young Al Capone. Or perhaps in this case Baby-face Nelson was more appropriate. Maybe it would be good for her to put a little scare into him. The police station was right across the street. Before he could guess her intention, she grabbed his wrist.
“Let me go!”
He kicked her, connecting with her ankle. She yelped in pain, but didn’t release her hold.
“Let’s go have a little talk with the sheriff. Maybe he can convince you how dangerous it is to throw things at people.”
“Let me go, you ugly witch.”
“Stop kicking me or I’ll turn you into a toad,” Bonnie threatened.
“If you do I’ll give you warts,” the kid returned.
“Then I’ll bite off the warts and make a potion to turn you into... into...”Bonnie struggled for something a little boy would find abhorrent. She grinned triumphantly. “I’ll turn you into a girl.”
“You’re crazy,” he gasped as she dragged him across the street and into the station.
“What’s going on?” Brenda Jo stood up from her desk as they entered.
“I’m here to make a citizen’s spanking,” Bonnie said, grimacing as the minimonster child kicked once again, this time connecting with her bag from the drugstore. There was an ominous crunch and Bonnie moaned, knowing the figurine had been destroyed. She placed the sack on the counter, still not relinquishing her grasp on the boy. “Where’s Beau? I think this juvenile delinquent needs a word with the sheriff.”
“I’ll go get him.” Before Brenda Jo could leave the room, Russ walked in.
“Daniel!” he exclaimed.
“Dad!” the little boy cried.
“Daniel?” Bonnie released her hold on the child, staring in surprise first at Russ, then at the kid. Of course. She should have seen the resemblance. Daniel’s face was a miniature of Russ’s, with the same lean angles and deep cleft in his chin. This was the sad little boy Wanda had talked about? There was nothing sad about this miniature whirlwind of trouble.
“What is going on?” Russ asked.
Daniel ran to his father and buried his head in his midsection. “I didn�
��t mean to. I didn’t mean to hit her.”
Russ stroked his son’s hair, looking at Bonnie for an explanation.
“He nailed me in the back of the head with a dirt clod and called me an ugly witch,” she explained, rather embarrassed about the entire incident. “I probably overreacted, but I thought perhaps a talk from you would teach him the dangers of throwing things at people.”
“I wasn’t throwing at her—she just got in the way.” As his shoulders shook with sobs, Daniel tightened his arms around his father.
Russ pulled the boy from him and held him by the shoulders. “Daniel, you never throw dirt clods. Somebody could get hurt. Now, turn around and apologize to Miss Baker.”
Daniel faced her. Although tears streaked down his face, Bonnie saw the anger still radiating from his dark eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said petulantly.
“Apology accepted,” she replied.
“Sit down right here and wait for me,” Russ instructed his son, then turned to Bonnie. “Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
“Bonnie, don’t forget your bag,” Brenda Jo said.
“Just throw it away. It’s trashed.” Bonnie walked outside with Russ. “I’m sorry I made such a big deal out of this,” she began.
He held up his hand to still her. “No, I’m sorry Daniel hit you. He shouldn’t have been throwing things.”
She shrugged. “No real harm done.” She refused to think of the loss of the figurine. She’d get another one when she got paid again.
“Bonnie, come to dinner tomorrow night.”
She looked at him in surprise. He’d spent the past week seemingly avoiding her and suddenly he was inviting her to dinner?
Apparently he sensed her confusion. “Just a friendly dinner, a chance for Daniel to redeem himself. I can’t stand the thought of him making such a bad first impression on anyone.”
“Okay,” she agreed. Why not? It would give Caro and Beau an opportunity to spend an evening alone.
“Great. I’ll pick you up about six.” Arrangements made, Russ watched as she walked away, her hips swaying saucily beneath the bright-pink sundress.
Why in the hell had he invited her to dinner? He’d spent the past week trying to keep her out of his mind, but it was a difficult task. The whole station smelled of her perfume, and often late in the afternoon before she got off work, he’d hear her laughter mingling with Brenda Jo’s.
Before he’d married Anne, everyone had warned him that she was spoiled, selfish, not ready for the kind of commitment marriage entailed. But he hadn’t listened. He’d been besotted with Anne’s beauty, charmed by her lust for life. He hadn’t realized the very qualities that had made him fall in love with her would eventually cause him to fall out of love.
He wasn’t about to make the same mistake with Bonnie Baker. Although he was drawn to her, amused and charmed by her, he was wiser and smarter than he’d been years before.
The only reason he’d invited her to dinner was so she wouldn’t think Daniel was a bad kid. He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone thinking ill of his son. Daniel was his life.
He turned and went back into the station, satisfied with his simple motivation for asking her to dinner.
As he walked in, he saw Brenda Jo about to toss Bonnie’s sack into the garbage. “Wait—why did she want that thrown away?”
Brenda Jo looked at him uneasily. “Whatever it is, it was broken in the fracas between Bonnie and Daniel.”
“Daniel broke it?”
“He was trying to get away from Bonnie and sort of kicked it. He didn’t break it intentionally.”
“Still, the fact remains he broke it. I’ll replace whatever it is and take it out of Daniel’s allowance.” He retrieved the sack from Brenda Jo, wondering what the princess had bought for herself with her first paycheck. Expensive perfume? A piece of jewelry?
He opened the sack and pulled out three pieces of a figurine. “It’s definitely broken,” he said, fitting the pieces together to see what the object had been. There was also a card. He pulled it out and realized the delicate piece had been meant as a gift for Carolyn and Beau.
Damn. It irritated him. He’d assumed the first item she’d buy would be some fancy something for herself. Why did she have to go and do something so totally out of character? Or was it possible he knew less about the princess’s character than he thought he did?
“This is the first time I’ve seen you without your clothes,” Bonnie said as she and Russ walked to his car the next evening. She laughed at his raised eyebrow. “I mean without your cop clothes,” she amended.
“Sundays are always T-shirt-and-jeans days.” He opened the passenger door for her. “I hope you like spaghetti.”
“Love it,” she answered, sliding into the seat and watching as he walked around the front of the car to the driver’s side. She couldn’t help but notice he looked good in the worn jeans and pale-blue T-shirt. The jeans hugged his slender hips and the short-sleeved shirt exposed bulging biceps she hadn’t noticed before. She wished she hadn’t noticed them now.
He slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “I left Daniel and Mrs. Garfield, the neighbor, in charge of the garlic bread. Let’s hope he remembered to take it out of the oven or we’ll be eating garlic-flavored ashes.”
“I’m sure it will be fine. I’m just impressed that you can cook.”
“I couldn’t before my divorce, but I learned quick enough that Daniel and I shouldn’t live on fast food alone. Besides, I like to cook. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.”
Bonnie nodded with a grin. “Probably the same feeling I get whenever I order room service.” It was the kind of answer she knew he expected of her, one she knew would make him laugh. Sure enough, she was rewarded with his rich laughter filling the car.
“At times I find it impossible to believe that you and Carolyn had the same parents. The two of you seem so different,” he finally said.
“Oh, we aren’t so different,” Bonnie replied thoughtfully. “We just learned to cope with things differently.”
“Cope with what?”
Bonnie shrugged, refusing to be drawn into painful memories of growing up feeling unloved, unwanted, the heartache of knowing she would never live up to her father’s expectations. It had been so much easier to live up to his disappointments. “Oh, you know, the usual childhood-trauma stuff.” She shot him a cheeky grin. “It was horrible having to wait until I was sixteen to get my first gold charge card.”
“Hmm, I’m surprised it didn’t scar you for life.” He pulled into the driveway of an attractive, two-story house. “This is it.”
“Russ, this is really nice,” Bonnie said as she got out of the car and perused the structure. The evening sun cast golden light on the pale blue house with navy shutters. Flowers bloomed in riotous colors near the wide porch, scenting the air with sweet fragrance. A porch swing swayed gently in the warm breeze, inviting a body to sit and rest awhile.
“It needs repainting, and a couple of the shutters are about to fall off, but by the end of the summer I should have everything taken care of,” he explained as they walked to the front door.
“Hmm, something smells wonderful.” The air was pungent with the scent of spicy tomato sauce.
“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it smells. Daniel, Mrs. Garfield, we’re back,” he called, then motioned to the sofa. “Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll chase down Daniel and Mrs. Garfield?” He disappeared up the staircase.
Bonnie looked around with interest. She hadn’t really known what to expect, but she hadn’t anticipated the warmth and homey atmosphere. The furniture was Southwestern, in colors of rose, cactus and peach. The end tables gleamed with a high polish, and Indian artwork hung framed on the walls.
The room was clean, with just enough clutter to look lived in. Video games were scattered directly in front of the television, two baseball mitts rested near a lamp.
Bonnie walked over to a built-in, wooden bookcase, noting t
hat most of the books on the shelves were mysteries and police procedurals. A row of photos drew her attention, photos of Russ and Daniel in various poses together. She picked up one of father and son holding fishing poles, a sparkling lake visible behind them. Daniel looked to be about five, his face open and smiling, without a hint of the anger she’d seen in him the day before.
She touched a fingertip to Russ’s face. Funny, she’d thought of him only in terms of his job. Russ, the bythe-book cop who’d ticketed her for speeding. Russ, the officer whose gaze held a touch of disapproval when he looked at her. She hadn’t given much thought to Russ the father...Russ the man. She put the picture away, uncomfortable with these new thoughts. She didn’t want to imagine him having wants and needs, entertaining dreams and hopes. It made him too human, too real. She whirled around as Russ came back down the stairs.
“Hmm, they must be out back. Come on, you’ve got to see the perfect climbing tree that came with the place.”
Following him through the kitchen, she was again struck with the coziness of the place. The kitchen was bright and cheerful, decorated boldly in red and black. She knew immediately that this room was the real heart of the house. A portable television sat on the counter and childish drawings of jungle animals hung by magnets on the refrigerator door. It was easy to imagine father and son seated at the table, indulging in small talk that meant nothing to anyone but themselves. The room implied an intimacy only a family could share, and for a moment Bonnie envied Daniel. He was lucky to have one parent who obviously loved him.
Russ motioned to the loaf of bread on the top of the stove. “At least they remembered to take it out.” He opened the back door. “And if I know my kid, he’s in the tree. He’s been spending all his spare time up there.”
As they walked outside and Bonnie saw the tree, she understood why Daniel spent time up in the leafy branches. It was a beautiful tree, a huge oak with limbs perfect for climbing. An older woman with short, curly gray hair sat in a lawn chair at the base of the tree, a worried frown deepening the wrinkles on her forehead.
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