Her Valentine Sheriff

by Deb Kastner

  “That was smooth. Did you tell him to do that?” Mary asked.

  “Nope,” Samantha replied. “Got him trained. I don’t even need to ask.”

  Mary tried to chuckle, but it came out more like she was choking on a chicken bone. “I wonder if he’d see it that way.”

  “Excuse me. Pardon me,” Alexis crowed, scooting and sashaying through the crowd. “Woman on a mission.”

  Mary cringed, knowing that she was the mission Alexis had in mind. Now she was going to feel the pressure from two angles. Why hadn’t she stayed home?

  “Are you ready to burn up the floor?” Alexis asked as she enveloped her in an exuberant hug.

  “I highly suspect the only thing that’s going to be burning here is my cheeks,” Mary murmured under her breath. Louder, she said, “Please tell me you are not planning to embarrass me tonight.”

  “Of course not.”

  “We’re in this together, then? The two of us single ladies, anyway? I’m not dancing unless you—”

  “Sure, sure,” Alexis interrupted. “Whatever you want.” She locked arms with Mary and turned her toward the crowd. “Now, where is—”

  Alexis didn’t get to finish whatever it was she was about to say before the loudspeaker rang from microphone feedback, and everyone groaned and covered their ears.

  “Sorry, folks,” Jo Spencer apologized from the platform where the band was playing. Her T-shirt of the day was a glaring red, with an enormous pink heart in the center and the words On the Line underneath with what looked like a hospital heart monitor zigzag with one beat of the heart a good deal higher than the others.

  How completely appropriate, Mary thought. Only in her case, the line was straight, and the pitch of the machine was a frightening monotone.

  “I’m not used to using one of these things,” Jo continued, setting the microphone aside with a boisterous cackle. “Why bother? I don’t need a microphone to be heard, even in a crowd as big as this one.”

  The crowd in question roared with laughter and clapped for their favorite hostess, a second mother to a good half the town, Mary included. Cup O’ Jo’s was the place a person went for kudos, consoling or just to talk.

  “Now I don’t mean to interrupt your celebrating tonight, but I wanted to call your attention to something I think y’all are going to be very interested in. I don’t know how many of you know this, but we are honored to have a new K-9 unit working as part of our wonderful, talented police department.”

  Mary was sure her jaw hit the floor. What was the crazy woman talking about? Jo didn’t know any of the details about the undertaking—as far as Mary knew, it was still meant to be a relatively hush-hush operation until she’d proven she and Eli and Bullet were up to the task. And anyway, the Sweetheart Social was hardly the time and place to make such an announcement.

  “Get to it, woman!” Jo’s husband, Frank, called from the floor. “Stop priddle-praddling. Some of us want to dance with our wives.”

  Jo chuckled and shook her finger at him. “Never you mind, Frank. You’ll get a dance with your wife when she’s good and ready to give you one.”

  The crowd chuckled and cheered. Poor Frank’s impatience was overpowered by the sheer curiosity of folks wanting to know Jo’s big reveal.

  “Ladies and gents, I’d like to call your attention to our handsome deputy sheriff Eli Bishop and his new partner, Bullet.”

  The applause was deafening, echoing off the walls of the community center. Eli hopped onto the stage with a flourish with Bullet at his heel.

  “Eli and Bullet here have some fancy tricks to show you. Gather ’round, y’all, and welcome this cute furry critter to our midst.”

  Apparently Jo had decided that was the end of her public service announcement for the evening, because she waved at the band to strike back up into a lively tune and dragged Frank to the middle of the dance floor, where they were joined by several other couples for a country line dance.

  There was still a lot of ruckus going on at the front of the room—high, piercing female laughter and chatter, mostly. Single females. It appeared they’d come out of the woodwork to fawn over Eli and Bullet.

  Alexis was deep in conversation with Slade McKenna and didn’t appear to even notice Eli performing on the other side of the room. Didn’t it make her even a little bit jealous? Alexis was clearly a much stronger person than Mary would ever be.

  Eli glanced in Mary’s direction and caught her eye, and his mouth quirked into a satisfied grin. Her stomach tightened into agonizing knots, and she turned away. She simply could not stand to watch Eli showing off for every unmarried woman between sixteen and sixty.

  Anger welled in her chest. This spectacle wasn’t what the K-9 unit was about. He was turning all of her time training into a farce.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized to her friends. “Being without my glasses has given me a terrible headache.” She pressed her fingers to her temple for emphasis. She really did have a headache building, though it had little to do with her absent glasses and everything to do with the increased ringing of female laughter coming from across the room.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I’ve got to get out of here.”

  Now. The air felt thick, and she struggled to breathe.

  “You really don’t look well,” Samantha acknowledged, laying the back of her hand against Mary’s forehead. “You feel a little warm. Come on. Will and I’ll drive you home.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Mary argued weakly. “You two stay and enjoy the social. I can make it home just fine on my own. It’s a short walk and the fresh cool air will do me some good.”

  Alexis looked hesitant. “You’re sure you don’t want a ride?”

  Mary shook her head.

  “Text us when you get home. We want to know you are safe. You’re absolutely certain you don’t want us with you?”

  “I’m positive.” Mary knew her tone vetoed any misgivings her friends might have had about leaving her to her own devices, and that was a good thing, because that was exactly what she wanted—to be left alone to grieve for what never was, never had been and never would be.

  * * *

  Eli had to admit he hadn’t expected quite the positive response he and Bullet had received from the folks in town. He’d been unsure they’d be pleased to hear their taxes were paying for yet another program, even a K-9 unit engaged to keep them safe.

  Instead, it kind of felt like people were putting him on a pedestal. He wasn’t just a cop—he was a special kind of cop. Suddenly having Bullet as his partner didn’t seem quite so awful.

  He was glad Jo had insisted on formally introducing him. He’d originally thought it was a bad idea—the wrong place at the wrong time. But he had to admit he enjoyed the attention they’d drawn, and so did Bullet.

  Surely Mary had to be pleased with the free publicity he’d given her new business. He’d even managed to squeeze in a clear shout-out so everyone would know Bullet had been specially trained by Mary. People would be knocking down her door to ask her to work their own family pets. She’d have so much business she wouldn’t know what to do with it.

  Except—where was she?

  He’d caught her eye earlier in the evening, so he knew she had to be somewhere in the community center. Alexis had pulled him aside when he’d first arrived and insisted he dance with her, so she could fill him in on her plan—which apparently was to nonchalantly push him and Mary together. She’d even hinted that Mary had promised to dance with him, which was easily going to be the highlight of his evening. He was here for Mary, and it was a relief to see that he had the backing of her friends. Could a guy ask for more?

  He made his apologies to the folks still clamoring for more dog tricks and scanned the room, eager to get the important part of his night started. But again, he didn’t see Ma
ry. She wasn’t the type of woman to spend hours primping in the ladies’ room, thankfully, but at the moment, he couldn’t think of where else she could be.

  Finally he spied Samantha across the room, standing with Will and Genevieve. He began edging toward her. Alexis was bound to be nearby, and one or the other of them was sure to know where he should look to find Mary.

  “Eli,” Samantha greeted as he approached and shook hands with Will. “I think Alexis was looking for you earlier.”

  “She found me. Hey, have either one of you seen Mary? I wanted to know what she thought of the show Bullet and I put on. She ought to be pretty stoked about all the positive response we received for her work.”

  “She should be,” Samantha agreed, “but unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling well. I think she has a headache. She decided not to stay.”

  “She did?” All of Eli’s adrenaline and enthusiasm for the evening ahead dropped into the pit of his stomach and rolled like a lead ball. It was bad enough that all of his own plans had flown out the window, but poor Mary! She must be terribly distressed not to be able to enjoy the community party. “How long ago did she leave?”

  “I don’t know,” Samantha said, pulling out her cell phone to check the time. “Five minutes ago? Ten?”

  “Was she driving? She probably should have let someone else take her home, if she was feeling ill.”

  “Alexis and I offered. She blatantly refused. She’s on foot—said she thought the fresh air would do her headache good.”

  “I’ll make sure she gets home safely,” he vowed, already plunging back into the crowd, heading toward the exit.

  “Thank you,” Samantha called from behind him. “Please tell her that we love her.”

  Eli waved back at her, then broke into a jog the moment he was free of the building. Bullet was running right at his heel. He didn’t worry that the dog wouldn’t follow him. Bullet was on full alert. Somehow the dog knew how seriously Eli was taking this moment, almost as if he could sense the stress Eli was feeling.

  It wasn’t until he was passing by the park that he caught his first glimpse of Mary. She was hardly more than a shadow on the dark playground, crouched low on a swing. Only the slight rocking motion clued him in to her presence.

  “Mary?” he called when he was within yards of her. “Your friends said you weren’t feeling well. What are you doing here?”

  Mary sighed. “Go back to the party, Eli. I’m fine.”

  Ignoring her command, he moved closer.

  “I want to make sure you make it home safely. You really should have had someone drive you, given the way you feel.”

  She frowned and squinted up at him. “I don’t need a babysitter. Frankly, I’m tired of people telling me what to do.”

  He wondered why she wasn’t wearing her glasses. He liked those thick black rims. They gave her character and magnified her luminescent green eyes.

  It was odd, though. She didn’t sound sick. She sounded angry. But what did she have to be angry about?

  “I wasn’t trying to order you to do anything,” he assured her. “I care for you, you know. Don’t make my actions into something they’re not.”

  “I’m not making anything out of anything.”

  Now there was a woman’s logic if he’d ever heard it. He tilted his head and regarded her closely.

  “I still think I ought to walk you home.” He paused and pressed his lips together. “I’m asking, not telling, by the way.”

  “And I’m declining. Politely.”

  “Your friends would feel better about it if you allowed me to accompany you. They were really worried when you left the way you did.”

  She scowled and didn’t reply.

  He might be slow on the uptake, but he was getting the distinct impression she didn’t want him around.

  Which didn’t make a lick of sense. He was here to help her. He would have thought she would appreciate the gesture. He was trying to be a gentleman, after all—to show her that he’d look out for her, take care of her.

  Instead of acting pleased or grateful, she seemed—something. Irritated? Resentful?

  Of what? Him?

  This wasn’t the way he’d envisioned this evening would turn out at all. Granted, he hadn’t had much of a plan, other than doing what Vee suggested and bringing Bullet along with him to the party to catch Mary’s eye. He’d planned to be careful and take things slow with Mary, but everything had snowballed out of his control. He realized to his dismay that he was no closer to convincing Mary to give him a chance now than he was the first day the Lord had thrown them together for work.

  Father, he prayed silently, and a little bit desperately, You know what Mary needs, even if I don’t.

  “I got a lot of compliments on Bullet tonight,” he informed her. Maybe if he turned the conversation to their shared interest in the success of the K-9 unit, he could regain some of the footing that he’d obviously lost.

  “I’m sure you did,” Mary answered bitterly.

  “Aren’t you happy for me? I would think you’d be excited at the way things went down tonight. The community embraced us.”

  “You make a mockery of everything I’m trying to do, and you think that’s a good thing?” Her voice was low and harsh, from somewhere deep in her throat.

  “What? You think that I— How, exactly, did I make a mockery of your work?” he stammered, flabbergasted by her accusation. She was seeing this all wrong. He’d done nothing to hurt her. Every move, both calculated and impulsive, had been for her benefit.

  “You weren’t showing off? Playing around with Toby, the tennis ball, to get a little attention?”

  He started to deny the accusation she’d hurled at him but stopped before the words left his lips.

  He had been showing off—for her. He had been looking for attention—Mary’s attention. The crowd had been a means to an end.

  How was he going to explain that without coming off looking like a fool? It was clear she didn’t even like him overmuch right now.

  This evening was getting worse by the moment. All of his daydreams, vague as they might have been, melted like butter in the sunshine.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” he said, taking another tack. “You are probably right. I shouldn’t have been out there performing tricks with Bullet, at least not without clearing it with you first.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have.”

  Eli frowned. She might be right, but she didn’t have to agree so quickly.

  Worse, her voice had cracked with strain. It sounded hoarse, as if she’d been yelling—or crying.

  Eli cringed. He might not have meant anything by his actions, but it was vividly apparent that Mary was hurting, and equally, that he had inadvertently been the cause of it.

  Mary pinched the bridge of her nose. “It wasn’t all bad. You were right to bring Bullet to the party. I wish I had thought of it first. He’s got to get used to big crowds and to interact with folks without getting overexcited.”

  On hearing his name, Bullet trotted up to Mary and rested his chin on her knee. Absently she scratched his ears.

  “He did a good job keeping his focus on you, no matter what was going on around him,” she added with a soft smile that made Eli’s stomach do little leaps.

  “Thank you,” he murmured. So she had been watching him. Relief washed through his chest, and something else he didn’t know how to classify.

  “However,” she continued, “I don’t know what Captain James is going to think about us spilling the beans on the program just now. I’m pretty sure he wanted to be the one to make the big announcement. You know, call the press together, that kind of thing. We just took the wind out of his sails.”

  What she really meant was that he had taken the wind out of the captain’s sails. Eli’s breath clogged
his throat, and he coughed to relieve the strangling feeling. There wasn’t much press in Serendipity, but he knew exactly what Mary meant. The folks in town loved milking big news, and a new K-9 unit for the police force definitely qualified in that category. If Captain James was ticked about the news leaking early, it would likely be on Mary’s head.

  No wonder she was miffed at him. But she ought to know there was no way he was going to let her take the rap for something he had done. He determined right there and then to check in with Captain James first thing in the morning and let his boss know on no uncertain terms that, if there was going to be any finger-pointing or tongue-lashing going on, it was going to be at him.

  “It was my idea to bring Bullet,” he admitted, “but I hadn’t intended to make any kind of a formal announcement about the K-9 program. Jo kind of took that information and ran with it—right to the microphone.”

  “She does that sometimes, doesn’t she?” Mary punctuated her question with a dry chuckle and a hiccup.

  Eli was relieved to hear Mary grasping the humor in the situation, especially when she was so stressed. He’d placed an enormous weight on her and the kennel. Now it was up to him to make sure she knew he would shoulder that burden.

  “Don’t worry about the captain,” he assured her. “I promise he’ll hear what really happened from me.”

  “You don’t have to do that.”

  Eli reached forward and grasped the chain of the swing just above her head. “Yes, I do. And I want to.”

  “Well, thank you, then.”

  “How is your head?”

  “My what?” Mary looked confused for a moment and then pressed a hand to her forehead, above her left eye. “It’s better. The cool air helps.”

  Eli narrowed his gaze on her. Was she really ill—or had she taken off from the party because she was miffed at him?

  He thought it might be the latter, and his mind scrambled for a way to reclaim the evening.

  “We never got to dance together, you and I,” he murmured, wrapping his fingers over the other chain of the swing and halting her rocking motion.