How to Land Her Lawman

by Teresa Southwick

“Just curious. I guess it was talking about your mom and staying here that triggered it.” The thought had popped into his mind that she might have regrets about the path not taken. “I just...wondered.”

  She chewed a bite of salad, a thoughtful expression on her face. “My business is thriving and I really like what I do. People here are the best. If you need them, one phone call brings the posse. No questions asked. Family values are important to everyone. I love it here. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

  He hadn’t even realized he’d been holding his breath for a different answer until his bubble of expectation burst. “I’m glad for you.”

  She met his gaze. “I know you, Will. It surprises me sometimes how well I still do. I can tell by your expression that what I just told you isn’t exactly what you wanted to hear.”

  “No, it wasn’t.” He’d been on the edge of asking her to go with him to Chicago. Again. Fortunately he kept those words to himself.

  “You deserve all the best in life,” he said, meaning that sincerely. “I’m happy that you have everything you want.”

  At least one of them did. She got under his skin and became a habit in the very best way possible.

  But she was happy here and he couldn’t ask her to leave.

  He was going to have to break himself of her and it wasn’t going to be easy.

  * * *

  “April, you’re too good at this photography stuff,” Lucy Bishop said. “I can’t make up my mind between sunset over the lake or twilight on the mountain.”

  April smiled at her friend’s praise. Business was slow at the Harvest Café this time of day and she’d dropped in to browse. “So when is your condo up on the mountain going to be ready for move-in?”

  “They’re starting to frame the building soon, so I’m being told six to nine months.”

  “But you’re shopping now?”

  “It makes me feel as if I’m making progress. Because, frankly, waiting for the first home I’ve ever purchased to be ready to move in to isn’t going well.”

  “Patience is a virtue,” April reminded her.

  “Apparently not one that I have in abundance.”

  “At least you have a house to rent in the meantime. That’s not easy to find.”

  “Yeah,” Lucy said. “If Olivia Lawson hadn’t fallen in love with Brady O’Keefe and moved in with him, I’d be homeless.”

  “Wow, Burke and Sloan Holden were onto something when they decided to develop the land at the base of the mountain.”

  “I hear presales are through the roof,” Lucy answered with a grin. “No pun intended.”

  April laughed. “Right.”

  After studying all the pictures again, she said, “I love this one with the sun just going down and the light painting the clouds pink, purple and gold.”

  “Shouldn’t you wait to buy anything until you have a color scheme, not to mention a wall to hang it on?”

  “Oh, I’ve chosen colors. Olive green, plum and rose.”

  “Sounds very feminine.”

  “What can I say? I enjoy being a girl. And I’ve been told that wall hangings don’t need to fit in with the other colors of a room but should be something you love.” She tapped her lip and gave the picture one more long, appraising look. “I’ll take the sunset. It speaks to my soul.”

  “Thank you, Lucy. No one has ever paid me a nicer compliment.” April gave her a hug. “Now it feels wrong to take your money.”

  “Oh, please—” Lucy waved her hand dismissively. “If I gave food away for free every time someone told me my meatloaf was a religious experience, Maggie and I would go broke. Then where would we be?”

  “Well, she’d still be with Sloan Holden, but you wouldn’t be able to pay your rent to Olivia,” April said.

  “Like I told you. Homeless,” her friend agreed. “So, let that be a warning, missy. Don’t give your work away.”

  “Roger that.” April removed the picture from the wall and folded Bubble Wrap protectively around it. Then she rang up the sale and ran the credit card Lucy handed her. “So, what’s new besides the condo?”

  “That’s code for am I dating anyone.”

  April laughed. “Are you?”

  “No. And that’s fine with me.”

  Come to think of it her friend hadn’t been linked to any guy in Blackwater Lake since she’d arrived a few years ago. “I hear that writer comes into the café a lot.”

  “Jack Garner.” Lucy looked thoughtful. “I wouldn’t say a lot, but he comes in. Kind of keeps to himself. I respect that.”

  “You haven’t flirted with him?” It was hard to believe this beautiful blue-eyed strawberry blonde was unattached.

  “I flirt with everyone. It’s called customer service. But he’s a brooder. Good-looking, but trouble.” Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “Look at you peppering me with questions to distract me from asking what’s up with you and Will Fletcher.”

  “I sincerely want to know what’s going on with you.” But April knew her protest was pointless since she’d been busted.

  “And now you do.” Her gaze turned curious. “So, you and Will. Details, my friend.”

  “Friend being the operative word... That’s what Will and I are. Just friends. And when summer is over he’s going back to Chicago to resume his detective job.”

  “The rumor is you two are really close. Are you getting serious?”

  “No.”

  But last night April had gotten the feeling that he was thinking about asking her to go with him when he left. His question about whether or not she was happy in Blackwater Lake seemed more than idle chitchat. Talk about conflicted. To know that he felt more for her than casual friendship or a convenient hookup would have her doing the dance of joy. But if he’d actually asked her to go with him... Impossible choice.

  When they were barely out of their teens, the decision had been easy. More than anything she’d wanted to be with Will. Now there was a whole lot more to consider. She had roots—a business, house and friends.

  “But you’re going to visit him in Chicago?” Lucy asked.

  “I’m not planning to.” She would never again risk finding him with a woman who was naked under his shirt. “Will and I have a past. A lot happened before you came to Blackwater Lake.”

  “I’ve heard.”

  Of course she had. “We tried the long-distance thing before and it didn’t work out.”

  “Too bad.” Lucy tsked. “You two are so cute together.”

  “We get that a lot.”

  They were a whole lot more than just cute together and she knew it by the way her heart squeezed painfully at the thought of him not being across the street at the sheriff’s office. He spoke to her soul, April thought, and he had since she was sixteen years old. Soon they would have a public breakup and that would be that. This time she wasn’t supposed to get hurt, but more and more that looked unlikely.

  Lucy glanced at her watch, then picked up her purchase. “I have to get back to the café and supervise. The dinner rush starts about six and I’ve got an hour to get ready for it.”

  “Okay. Good to see you. Enjoy the picture.”

  “I plan to leave it wrapped. When I finally move, it will be like a surprise.” Lucy waved on her way out the door.

  April walked over to her big window that looked out on Main Street and the sheriff’s office across the way. In a few more days Will would be gone and she would lose him for the second time. Technically she’d only had him once since this was simply a summer fling. Except tell that to her heart; this felt like more than a superficial flirtation.

  She was restless, and business always dropped off around now because people were thinking about dinner. It couldn’t hurt to close the shop a little early,
so she put up the sign and locked the door. After looking both ways to make sure no cars were coming, she walked across the street and into the sheriff’s office. Might not be the smartest thing she’d ever done, but soon she wouldn’t be able to walk over and see him.

  “Hey, April.” Clarice’s desk was a few feet inside the door. “Hope you’re not here on business.”

  “No. Just wanted to stop in and say hi.”

  “Will’s on the phone.” Clarice obviously assumed, correctly, that he was the one she wanted to say hi to.

  The door to his office was open and April could hear him talking and see him behind his desk. “How are you?” she said to the dispatcher.

  “Great. Looking forward to end of summer and a little quiet time before tourists come in for ski season.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Been nice having Will here. When Hank got sick, I didn’t know what we were going to do but Will sure stepped up.”

  “Yeah. It has been nice.” She was going to miss him coming to her back door with pizza and wine. And nights without him in her bed were going to be lonely. Heck, just looking from her shop to the sheriff’s office and knowing he wasn’t here would be sad.

  Then Will came out of his office and smiled when he saw her. He walked over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “This is a nice surprise.”

  “Glad you think so.” She knew his behavior was part of the plan and when she was the one to give him the heave-ho, no one would pity her. Still, she felt the familiar flutter in her stomach that being around him always produced. “How’s your day?”

  “Let’s just say the kids are ready for school to be back in.”

  “Bored?”

  “Big time,” he answered. “But I have to admit I’m a little on edge. Dad has his checkup with the doctor today for medical clearance to come back to work.”

  “Oh, Sheriff,” Clarice said. “That reminds me. Buck Healy and Fred Turner are squabbling. Buck is coming in to fill out a formal complaint. But Eddie is out on patrol. Do you want me to dispatch him out there and save some paperwork?”

  Will shook his head. “This needs a delicate touch. Those two have been bickering for years. If there was a God in heaven, they wouldn’t share a property line, but they do. Somebody’s cow, horse or goat probably ate someone’s garden, grass or tractor. I’ll go out and talk to them myself. It’s easier if you know the history.”

  He sure did, April thought. The two feuding neighbors would listen to him because he was one of them, not an outsider. And, unlike Eddie, he was intimidating.

  “Come on back to the office,” he said to her.

  “Don’t you have to go and see Buck and Fred?”

  “They’ll keep for a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” Her tummy did a happy little shimmy that he put off something for her.

  She followed him into his office and he closed the door, then backed her against it. He pressed his body to hers. “I’m really, really glad you came in.”

  “Me, too.” Her voice was a wanton whisper.

  He lowered his head and touched his mouth to hers again, but this move was full of passion and promise, not meant for anyone else to see. His hands were braced on either side of her head and with his tongue he traced her mouth, urging it open. Her lips parted and he entered, sweeping inside with a groan. Their harsh breathing filled the office until another sound bled through it.

  He pulled back, his eyes full of annoyance at the interruption. “Please tell me that’s not my cell.”

  “Can’t.” She swallowed hard, not able to say much of anything at all.

  “Damn.” Reluctantly he moved away and walked over to his desk where his cell phone sat on a stack of files. He looked at the caller ID and there was an apologetic expression on his face. “I have to take this.”

  “No problem.”

  He hit a button and put the device to his ear. “Hey, Crash, how the heck are you?” After listening he said, “Sorry to hear things are falling apart without me.”

  Obviously the person on the other end was his detective partner from Chicago. It had been easy to pretend that life didn’t exist for him until now, but this reminder tightened a knot in her stomach.

  April drew in a deep breath and with a gesture asked if he wanted her to step out while he talked. Will shook his head and leaned a hip on the corner of his desk. She sat in one of the chairs in front of it.

  “Things here?” Will asked. “This is a sleepy little town where littering the sidewalk is major crime.”

  That was just the way April liked it, but he sounded bored. Work in Chicago no doubt was more exciting than spiteful, decidedly unneighborly neighbors. But excitement wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Some things were more important. Except she knew him pretty well and he’d always craved excitement. Same old, same old day after day didn’t thrill him.

  “Hang in there, my friend.” Will grinned at whatever his partner said. “Don’t worry. It’s not that much longer until I’ll be back to bail you out. Just a couple more days.” He listened and nodded. “Yeah, after Labor Day.”

  And from the tone in his voice it sounded as if that couldn’t be a moment too soon for him. Obviously he couldn’t wait to return to his job. It was also obvious by the pain in April’s heart that she’d hoped he wanted to be with her enough to stay.

  She’d fallen in love with him again. Or, more precisely, she’d never fallen out of love. He’d asked her the night before if she was happy here in Blackwater Lake. She’d said she had everything right here.

  But that wasn’t exactly true.

  She didn’t have everything she wanted because she couldn’t have Will.

  Chapter Fourteen

  April paced her kitchen, waiting for news on Hank. He’d seen the doctor that day to determine whether or not he could return to work. And here was another classic conflict. She sincerely hoped the man got a clean bill of health and could go back to doing whatever he wanted to do—being sheriff or running a marathon. Although that would be a miracle since, to her knowledge, he’d never run one before. She loved him like a father and wished him all the best.

  On the other hand it would also give Will the green light to leave town. Not that he could stick around indefinitely, but a little longer would be nice. He wouldn’t stay for her, but he might for his dad.

  She’d been home from work for a while now and if someone didn’t tell her something soon...

  Just then there was a knock on the sliding glass door and she saw Will standing there. Thank God.

  After hurrying over she unlocked and opened it. “What’s the verdict? How is he?”

  “The doc said he’s doing great. He’s in arguably the best shape of his life. Returning to work is not a problem.” There was an odd look on Will’s face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” He forced a smile. “It’s great news.”

  “It certainly is.” She forced cheerfulness into her voice and felt as slimy as polluted water for not feeling 100 percent happy. “He gave us quite a scare and it’s wonderful how he completely turned everything around.”

  “Yet another way my father leads by example.”

  “Your father is a truly amazing man who is admired by all. I’m so lucky to live across the alley from him.”

  Or unlucky, one could argue.

  If she’d never met Will, her heart might not have been broken even once, let alone twice by the same man. Someday she might embrace the sentiment that it was better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. But today was not that day.

  “He’s a good neighbor,” Will agreed.

  “He’s a good man,” she said again, mostly because she didn’t want to say anything about their next step.

  “Yeah.” He dragged his fingers thro
ugh his hair. “If we keep this up, he should qualify for sainthood pretty soon.”

  “I guess.” What they were doing was called procrastination, putting off what they really needed to talk about. And that was just fine with her. “He must be looking forward to getting back to work.”

  “I suppose.”

  “He hasn’t said?” That surprised her and actually wasn’t really an answer. She got the feeling there was something he wasn’t telling her. “Well, I’m sure folks will be glad to have him back. Not that you aren’t doing a great job, Will. I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t. It’s just that everyone wants normal, whatever that is. And normal is him wearing the badge. And for you to...not.” She shrugged. “I’m babbling.”

  “Really?” His smile didn’t quite make it to his eyes. “I didn’t notice.”

  “Some detective you are,” she said wryly.

  She could banter with him all night and maybe that would squash the pain that was scratching to get out. From experience she knew how bad it would be when that happened.

  Unfortunately when she said the word detective, that burst the protective bubble they were both working to keep inflated. Regret settled in his eyes and there was tension in his jaw. The Band-Aid was getting ripped off, ready or not.

  “April...”

  She turned away. “All joking aside, Will, this really is good news. It’s also your cue to go back to Chicago.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Your partner will be glad to have you back.” She took a deep breath and faced him again. “I couldn’t help overhearing your end of the conversation earlier in your office.”

  “So you were eavesdropping.”

  “You told me to stay.” She shrugged.

  “I know. And, yeah, Pete seemed ready to have me back.”

  “You must be beyond ready to go back,” she said, sort of hoping he would say she was wrong about that.

  “Like you said. Normal. Chicago is that for me.” He was wearing his law-enforcement face, the one that didn’t let on what was going through his mind. The one he’d probably perfected during criminal interrogations.

  “Normal is good. I’m a strong advocate of normal.”