Her Valentine Sheriff

by Deb Kastner

  She winked at him and then blushed at her own audacity. The adrenaline of the moment must be getting to her. She couldn’t believe she’d just talked to Eli that way. Even more baffling was the fact that he appeared to be carefully considering her words.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  He was letting her take the lead, looking to her for direction. The notion was so foreign to her that she wanted to duck and run for cover. She knew SAR tactics, but this was an unusual situation. She didn’t know how to take command. The dressing-down she’d given him had shifted the situation just a bit too far in an uncomfortable direction.

  Mary had been a follower all her life. She didn’t question authority—and most of the time, saw no reason to. She never made waves. She stayed in the shadow of her friends and lived her life on the outside fringes.

  Until now.

  She closed her eyes for a moment and searched deep within herself, seeking the capacity for leadership that she hadn’t even known she possessed.

  Once again the nerve endings in her fingers went wild when Eli covered her hand with his. Her eyes shot open to find him gazing at her with an intensity that surprised her.

  “Let’s pray before we head out,” he suggested.

  Mary was so lost in the fervor of his blue eyes that she could do no more than nod. Her heart welled up with so much emotion she thought she might burst. Now was not the time to acknowledge her love for Eli, much less analyze it, and yet it was the perfect time, for this was Eli at his strongest. He bent his head, until his forehead touched hers, and whispered prayers for protection and guidance—not only for themselves, but for anyone they should meet along the way.

  “Where to?” he asked after they’d agreed in prayer with a soft amen.

  “I think we should head out to Main Street, as you suggested, and see what kind of damage we’re looking at. First stop, Cup O’ Jo’s Café. Frank’s worried that he can’t find Jo—more even than he’s letting on. I’d like to put his mind at ease.”

  Eli nodded in agreement, and held the door for her and Sebastian to pass through. It was a gentlemanly gesture, but also a necessary one, as the wind hadn’t let up much, and the door might have broken free of its hinges, were it not for Eli’s sheer strength.

  Hand in hand with their dogs at their sides, Mary and Eli crossed the street to where the café was located. Mary was happy to see it was all in one piece, although the old clapboard welcome sign that stretched across the top of the doorway was dangling precariously from one hook. Eli reached up and forced the sign off the hook. She knew what he was thinking. It wouldn’t take much to repair the damage, and that way no one could get hurt if the sign suddenly gave way.

  Emerson’s Hardware, located next door to the café, hadn’t been so fortunate. The front window was blown out, either from the wind or from flying debris, and there was shattered glass all along the sidewalk. In a large city, such a sight would have been prime diggings for looting and stealing, but Mary knew that, here in Serendipity, the hardware store’s biggest concern and challenge would be replacing the window and dealing with any other storm-related damage. Theft probably wouldn’t be much of an issue.

  She glanced up and down Main Street, but so far, thankfully, they hadn’t seen any stragglers.

  “Should we check inside the buildings?” Eli asked. “Just in case anyone is trapped inside?”

  “Good idea,” she agreed. “You take Jo’s café and I’ll check Emerson’s. Remember to keep yourself on safe ground and let Bullet do the exploring. He’s used to searching through rough debris.”

  She was confident in the dogs’ tracking abilities, but there was still a moment when her heart caught in her throat, and she doubted all the work she’d done. Today’s events were going to make or break her. In terms of her future with Rapport Kennels, this was where the rubber met the road.

  Chapter Nine

  Eli kept his eye on Mary as she and Sebastian carefully navigated through the front door of Emerson’s, fighting the wind every step of the way. He thought it might have been less of a hassle for her simply to crawl through the barren window, but then he realized there were sharp fragments of shattered glass on the ground and, while Mary was fairly protected in her tennis shoes, Sebastian’s paws were exposed.

  It was a good reminder for him—he was no longer an individual policeman, but working as a unit. It was up to him to consider not only what was best for himself but also his partner—Bullet.

  “Okay, boy,” he said to the soaking-wet dog staring at him, waiting for a command. “It’s time for us to prove our worth to the community—and especially to Mary. You know what I’m saying, don’t you, boy?”

  Bullet barked.

  Eli chuckled. “No more kiddie tricks for us. This is the real thing.”

  Bullet seemed to understand, because Eli noted the immediate change in his demeanor. The dog was on full alert, his ears pricked forward and his muscles tensed—and that was before Eli had even issued a vocal command or gestured for him to scan.

  He shone his flashlight through the dining area. The inside of the café looked untouched by the weather, other than the half-eaten plates of food on several of the tables, where patrons had obviously left in a hurry in the middle of their meals. Bullet immediately went to work examining the tables and underneath the chairs. Eli was proud of the dog for not being distracted by the scent of the food.

  Mary had done an excellent job training Bullet. She deserved all the best God could bless her with—including contracts for K-9 units from all the surrounding neighborhood police departments.

  Eli realized he could help her with that. He had contacts, and he could use them. He was thrilled to think there was something he could do to bless Mary as she had blessed him—he could introduce her to the right people, the decision makers. Maybe he could even present Bullet as a shining example of her work.

  He’d always believed God would use his strengths to minister to others. The realization that the Lord could use his weaknesses and vulnerabilities was like an emotional knock to the head. Using his work with a dog to help people? He was humbled and amazed.

  To think of the way he’d fought this life change when it had first been presented to him. Maybe not as much on the outside—he wasn’t about to turn down the promotion or leave himself open for more merciless teasing by his friends on the force—but he’d certainly battled it inwardly. Every step forward had been excruciating, and he’d given Mary a hard time in the process, when all she had been trying to do was help him.

  Apparently he was one of those men—the most stubborn kind, he suspected—who had to be strong-armed into change and into making the right decisions. He was guilty of taking too much at face value and not looking deeper to find true worth.

  Like Mary. Now there was true gold.

  Eli paused in his thoughts as Bullet neared the window that separated the dining area from the kitchen. Even before the dog marked a strong hit by sitting, Eli was aware of the change in Bullet’s demeanor. Even from a distance and with nothing but a flashlight to see with, he could read the dog’s progress—feel it. It was the most remarkable sensation.

  Eli hadn’t yet moved from beyond the threshold of the restaurant, but after Bullet presented a clear hit, sitting before the window with his focus not wavering, Eli knew it was time to move.

  “What have you got, boy?” he murmured, feeling suddenly unsure of himself. Was he supposed to throw the tennis ball for Bullet now, or wait until he knew for sure that the dog had actually found something?

  “Hello?” he called, loud enough to be heard over the storm. His voice echoed in the vacant room. “Is anyone here?”

  “Is it over?” Jo’s voice came from somewhere in the vicinity of the kitchen. “I still hear a lot of wind. The tornado is gone, though, right?”

  Eli tossed th
e ball for Bullet. “Good boy! Good boy!”

  “I beg your pardon. Who are you calling boy?”

  He chuckled. If Jo was joking around, she couldn’t be injured too badly.

  He went around the service island and entered the kitchen. One look at Jo sprawled in a corner with her shoulder up against a crooked cabinet and her hip at an awkward angle caused him to change his opinion.

  What was he supposed to do now? All the first-aid training he’d received at the police academy deserted him in a rush.

  Blank. Absolute, total blank.

  What use was he? He wished that he and Mary had been able to finish the search-and-rescue part of their K-9 training. He felt certain she would know what to do. They hadn’t gotten as far as tracking people, much less what to do when he found one. And an injured woman, at that.

  If he was on duty, he could at least call it in and potentially get some medical backup. As it was, he didn’t have his radio on him, and he wouldn’t know who to call if he did. Serendipity was such a small town that most things, even emergencies, were handled in a rather casual fashion. The medics and the town doctor already had their hands full at the shelters.

  He crouched before Jo and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Bullet nosed his way under her arm and licked her cheek.

  She chuckled. A good sign, right?

  “Are you in pain? What exactly happened here? Your hubby is throwing fits back at the chapel because he couldn’t find you.”

  “Old goat,” she muttered.

  “True,” Eli agreed with a dry chuckle. “But he sure does love you.”

  Jo laughed and then grimaced.

  So she was in pain. Eli pressed his lips, trying to recall the first-aid lessons he’d had. He hadn’t had much cause to use them up until now.

  “Eli?” Mary called from the dining room. “Are you in the back? I checked out Emerson’s, and other than the fact that they’ve got a big mess to clean up, what with all the glass and everything, there’s nothing to—”

  Her sentence came to an abrupt end as she turned the corner into the kitchen and saw Jo sprawled on the floor.

  “Oh, my. Jo. What happened?” Mary’s mouth moved but no further words surfaced. Eli thought she might be praying. Why hadn’t he thought of that, at least?

  “Don’t panic, dear. My life is safe in Eli’s capable hands. A regular knight in shining armor, this one.”

  Eli snorted and shook his head. As if he had been any use to Jo at all. Hindrance, more like.

  “He and this handsome fur ball here came to my rescue. I don’t have a thing to worry about.” She scratched Bullet’s ear, and he leaned into her, clearly enjoying the attention.

  Mary knelt and visually assessed Jo’s situation.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” she asked, clearly to keep Jo talking while she checked for injuries. “Does anything hurt? How’s your hip?”

  “If my hip is out, it’s my own fault.”

  “How do you figure?” Eli asked.

  Jo reached out to him and gingerly shifted her weight his direction, into a full sitting position. “Help me stand up, honey, and I’ll give you the rundown. Quite humiliating, being caught in this position.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Mary assured her. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Not to Eli and me.”

  He couldn’t have said it better. Mary had such a tender heart, and it showed in every word and gesture. How could he not fall for a woman like that?

  With Eli at one elbow and Mary at the other, Jo leveraged herself to her feet. She tested her hip and pronounced it good.

  “When the wind started a-blowin’ like there was no tomorrow, I knew something wacky was up. I could feel it in these old bones—and believe you me, they never lie. Complain like crazy, most of the time, but they’re never wrong about the weather.”

  She sighed and leaned against the counter. No matter how she protested to the contrary, she still looked like she’d been through the wringer. Eli was well aware of how stubborn she was, so he unobtrusively hovered close to her side, ready to catch her if her hip gave out.

  “I shooed all them folks in the dining room out to the shelter at the chapel, whether they were done eatin’ or not. I’ve lived long enough to know you don’t mess around with a Texas storm. Might be nothing, or it might become a supercell in a matter of minutes and knock you into next Friday. Better safe than sorry, I always say.”

  “What about you?” Eli asked, quirking his lips to rein in a chuckle. Count on Jo to have one piece of advice for the rest of the world while she completely ignored that very same wisdom herself. “You’re not taking your own advice, nowadays?”

  “Don’t you be mouthin’ off to me, young man,” Jo said, swatting his shoulder. That Eli wasn’t remotely close to a young man only made the moment more comical. “I had eggs on my griddle and rolls in the oven. I couldn’t very well leave without shutting everything down, storm or no storm. The weather was enough of a threat without me goin’ and burnin’ my own place to the ground.”

  “And then you got trapped when the worst of the storm hit?” Mary asked.

  “In a way. I guess I may have panicked there for a moment.” She shook her head so hard her mop of red hair bounced in rhythm.

  Jo Spencer? Panicking? Now that was unbelievable.

  “The tornado didn’t hit the town, did it?”

  Eli shook his head. “Not so far as we know. It was heading straight for us at one point, but we believe it vectored off at the last moment.”

  “Well, thanks be to God for that,” Jo exclaimed, waving her hands in the air.

  “Amen,” Mary agreed.

  “There was a lot of wind damage, though,” Eli added. “It’ll take a while for the town to pick up the pieces.”

  “Literally and figuratively,” said Mary.

  “I’ll tell you, I was praying up my own storm right here in that little corner of my kitchen,” Jo admitted.

  “Why didn’t you head for the shelter yourself, after you’d turned off your oven and all?” Eli asked.

  “I was going that direction, mind you, but then the tornado siren went off. I heard quite a frightening pop—it sounded like an explosion—and all I could think of to do was duck, which I did.”

  “Good thinking,” Eli said. “That pop you heard was the front window of Emerson’s bursting out. Shattered the glass clear through.”

  “Oh, dear. Poor Edward. No one was hurt, I gather?”

  “As far as we know, no one was in the store when it happened,” Mary assured her.

  “Anyway, you did the right thing,” said Eli.

  “My poor hip doesn’t think so. I dropped myself down into that corner, and then I couldn’t get back up again. How humiliating is that? If you two hadn’t come along, I would’ve been here till the cows came home.”

  “Or Frank came searching,” Mary teased.

  “Old goat,” Jo said, as if in agreement to Mary’s statement.

  “Why don’t we get you over to the chapel so one of the medics can check out that hip of yours and make sure you haven’t injured it in some way. I’m sure Frank will be happy to see that you’re okay.”

  “He’s going to be grumpy about it, is what he’ll be. All over me about not takin’ care of myself and puttin’ myself first before everything else. For the life of me, I don’t know what I see in that man.”

  Eli and Mary both laughed. It was true that Frank and Jo were as different as two people could be—Jo with a personality that radiated sunshine and Frank as crotchety as the dark of the moon—yet somehow God had fit them together perfectly. They loved each other to distraction despite their differences—or maybe because of them.

  Jo insisted on walking across the street without assistance, though both Eli and Mary
stayed close enough to assist her should the need arise. Even their dogs were hovering, their combined focus intent on the old woman.

  Eli met Mary’s gaze and his heart warmed at her smile. It was nice to be needed and to make a real difference. He would never look at his career the same way again. After all, he’d found Jo with Bullet’s assistance.

  K-9 to the rescue.

  * * *

  “I see Stephanie Spencer coming up the road,” Mary informed Eli and Jo. “I should go help her—she’s at least seven months pregnant, and the wind is still acting up.”

  “Go get her, dear,” Jo encouraged. “I’m doing just fine with Eli here to help me.”

  Eli nodded. “I’ll catch up with you after I get Jo settled in.”

  Mary started down the middle of Main Street, not bothering with the clapboard sidewalks. She offered Stephanie a friendly wave to let her know she was coming, but as she neared the woman, she could see something was off. Stephanie was in clear distress. Mascara-laced tears streaked black trails down her face. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and she was cradling her stomach as if all that was keeping her going was the instinct to protect the infant within.

  “Hey, Stephanie.”

  The woman looked right through her, and Mary’s breath caught. This was bad. Really bad.

  “Honey, I need you to tell me what’s wrong,” Mary instructed, expecting to hear something about Stephanie’s fear of false labor or of stress contractions. Instead, Stephanie burst into fresh tears and started spouting unrelated words.

  “The preschool. Light pole. Kids. Counted. Lost,” she stammered between short, staccato breaths.

  “Slow down, hon,” Mary said. The woman was close to hyperventilating. What if she passed out before Mary understood what she was trying to tell her? “Something happened at the preschool?”

  Stephanie had been the one to open the town’s official preschool, and she served as both director and teacher there now.

  Stephanie nodded miserably and took a ragged breath. “Sirens. Roof. Got the kids out. Counted. Oh. Heavenly Father. What have I done?” She slumped forward into Mary’s arms.