Tenderly, he picked up Colin, cuddling him against his chest briefly before transferring him into the crib. Wiley settled himself on the floor under the bed.
Mandy moved to stand beside Garrett. She laid a hand on Colin’s head. She’d grown terribly fond of him. She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to cope without visiting him every night at the hospital, without rocking him to sleep before returning to her own quiet, empty house.
Softly, she whispered, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning’s light.”
She cleared her throat, knowing Garrett had heard the catch in her voice. With one last pat on Colin’s back, she turned and headed for the door.
Outside on the porch, she stopped to fish her keys out of her pocket. Beside her, Garrett said, “I know you stopped in tonight to make sure Colin was okay because you were worried about him being with me.”
“I was concerned about you, too.” It wasn’t a total falsehood. She had wondered how he was coping. She felt a blush creep up her neck and was glad the darkness hid it.
“My son is safe here, Sheriff. In spite of what you think, I’d never hurt him, and I didn’t kill his mother.”
Whatever closeness they’d shared slipped away. Mandy was back to being a cop.
“It’s my job to be concerned about the people of this county. All of them, not just Colin. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think you’d harm him.”
“You just think I killed his mother.”
She studied his face in the porch light. “No. I don’t believe you did.”
The defiance on his features changed to stunned surprise. Turning away, Mandy walked out to her truck.
Glancing up at the starry heavens, she prayed, Let me be right, Lord. For Colin’s sake, let me be right this time.
EIGHT
Friday was Mandy’s morning off and she was ready for it. Although she normally worked Monday through Friday, once a month she covered a weekend evening shift to give her part-time staff a break.
The week so far had been a busy one with two new thefts of fertilizer from outlying farms and a burglary in town.
The break-in had been solved when she arrested a pair of teenagers for reckless driving and found some of the stolen items in their car. They were both high. It was clear they’d been stealing for drug money, but neither was willing to name their supplier.
She’d failed to keep two more children safe.
Shaking off the depressing thought, she poured the last dollop of hazelnut creamer into her coffee and glanced around her kitchen. Her days off were normally reserved for the exciting things in her life. Like shopping, laundry and dusting.
It was almost more fun than a girl could stand.
Taking a sip of coffee, Mandy realized she could easily ignore the dust on the television. What she couldn’t ignore was how often her thoughts turned to Garrett and Colin. The emotional attachment she’d developed for the baby seemed to be expanding to include his father.
That wasn’t something she had expected. The rational part of her mind told her to steer clear of Garrett, but another part of her longed to know him better. She wasn’t sure what to do. That was an uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensation.
No matter what she felt, she couldn’t, wouldn’t let those feelings interfere with her job.
By the time she finished her coffee, she’d convinced herself that she had a handle on her emotions as far as Garrett was concerned. She also came to the conclusion that dusting could wait. Food was her top priority.
Fifteen minutes later, she left her side of the duplex, shopping list in hand, with the intention of filling her frighteningly empty refrigerator and cupboards. On the way to the grocery store, she caught sight of a hand-lettered yard sale notice tacked to a telephone pole at the end of her block.
The words baby clothes jumped out at her from the list of items being offered.
They probably won’t have anything in Colin’s size.
Still, what would it hurt to stop and look. It wasn’t like the grocery story was going anywhere.
She turned left instead of right and that was how she ended up at a four-family garage sale on Maple Street with the cutest pair of blue bib overalls and a matching hat in Colin’s size in her hands instead of fresh produce.
The outfit was simply too adorable to resist. She added it to the stack of equally precious infant outfits draped over her arm and resumed her search.
The sounds of small-town chitchat, laughter and occasional price haggling made her smile. Cars pulled up and stopped along the poplar-shaded street disgorging eager bargain hunters and simple browsers. It promised to be another warm day, but not unpleasant. It was, Mandy decided, small-town living at its best.
As long as her pager didn’t go off, signaling she was needed for some emergency.
A pretty green sweater caught her eye just as a white delivery van with a blue globe painted on the side double parked in the street, blocking traffic.
Mandy blew a strand of hair away from her face in mild exasperation. A clear traffic violation was taking place right in front of her.
To ticket or not to ticket, that was the question. She had her summons book in her truck.
Hopping down from his seat, the driver strolled to the first apartment with a white-and-blue box under his arm. The door opened and Donna Clareborn eagerly accepted her package.
Mandy smiled. No doubt her dispatcher, a self-proclaimed TV shopping addict, would be sporting a new purse or new shoes in church on Sunday.
The driver moseyed back to his vehicle, but instead of pulling away, he emerged with an additional package leaving his truck still double parked. He knocked at another apartment, but got no answer. Leaving the box propped against the door, he returned to his vehicle.
The flow of traffic was now at a standstill. An impatient driver began honking.
The woman who was running the sale added more items to an already-crowded table beside Mandy and said, “You should give that jerk a ticket, Sheriff. He’s always blocking my driveway.”
Skeptical of what she assumed was an exaggeration, Mandy said, “I wouldn’t think there would be that many deliveries. There are only ten units in the complex.”
“Four or five times a week he parks right there and takes his own sweet time about it. Twice last week I was late picking up my kids from school because of him. I’ve even called the main office to complain, but it hasn’t helped.”
Mandy held out the clothes she’d picked up. “If you’ll hold on to these for me, I’ll go speak to him.”
The deliveryman was certainly going to get a warning. She hadn’t made up her mind about the ticket.
Walking across the street, Mandy noticed two teenagers loitering in the stairwell at the end of the complex. She recognized the redhead first. It was Luke Holt, Ken’s younger brother. His buddy was one of the kids who’d heckled her during her speech at the high school. They saw her at the same time. They both turned and walked away with their heads down.
Little warning bells started going off in the back of Mandy’s mind. She scanned the area, but saw nothing else suspicious.
Meanwhile, the van driver stopped at an apartment several doors down from Donna’s with a third parcel. Cedric Dobbs answered the knock. The principal grabbed the package out of the deliveryman’s hands, then slammed the door in his face.
The driver shrugged and started toward his van. As he approached, Mandy reached for the badge in her hip pocket and held it up. The young man came to an abrupt halt, his eyes wide.
She said, “You do know it’s illegal to park like that, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Officer. I’m gonna move right now. Please, my boss will kill me if I get a ticket.”
“I understand you make a lot of deliveries to this address.”
“Yeah.”
“Anything unusual about the packages you bring here?”
He scowled. �
�Unusual how?”
“That’s what I’m asking.”
“Look, Sheriff. I just deliver the stuff. I don’t get nosy.”
Another horn blast from behind the van convinced Mandy to send him on his way. “All right. Go, but don’t let me see you blocking the street like this again.”
“No, ma’am. Thank you.” He jumped in his seat and drove away.
Mandy pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called the office. When one of the part-time dispatchers answered, Mandy said, “Who’s on duty today?”
“Ken and Benny are both here.”
“Let me talk to Benny.”
When he came on the line, Mandy said, “I need you to do me a favor, Benny. Run a check on a delivery service called Global Shipping. See if anything odd pops up. I’ll be in shortly, so leave anything you find on my desk.”
After hanging up, Mandy returned to the yard sale and collected Colin’s clothing from her grateful hostess.
Free to continue her shopping, Mandy happily browsed through stacks of secondhand goods and picked up another infant outfit she thought would be perfect for Colin.
Making her way around a tall garment rack filled with adult coats, she nearly tripped over a man crouched next to it examining a stroller. She only caught her balance by planting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in surprise.
Mandy started to stutter an apology, but gasped instead when she recognized Garrett.
Warmth that had nothing to do with the bright sunshine spiraled through her body and brought a blush to her face. Quickly she withdrew her hand and stepped back. “Excuse me. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
As he rose, a flush crept up his neck and stained his chiseled cheeks a dull red. It appeared she wasn’t the only one affected by the contact. The thought pleased her.
“Not a problem.” He tipped his cowboy hat back with one finger then slipped his hands in his hip pockets.
For a long minute, they stood gazing at each other like two tongue-tied teenagers.
She looked away first, checking the area near him. “Where’s Colin?”
“Ina Purdy is looking after him. She owns the ranch two miles south of me.”
Mandy clutched her pile of clothing to her chest, trying not to look like she was dying for information about Colin and about Garrett. Nodding, she said, “I’ve had a few calls out to her place. The last time I was there, she promised she wouldn’t vote for me in the next election.”
To say Ina was eccentric was putting it mildly. Well over seventy and still running her own spread, the widow frequently clashed with the rancher whose place bordered hers to the west, her brother, Henry. The two constantly squabbled over straying cattle, Russian thistle control, poor fences and everything in between. Not a month went by that the office didn’t get an irate call from Ina.
The barest smile tugged at the corner of Garrett’s mouth. It changed his face from reserved to downright pleasant. “She’s prickly, but she’s been a good neighbor to me. She was the first one to hire me as her cattle buyer. She’s taken a real shine to Colin.”
That had to be the longest conversation Mandy ever heard from him. It seemed fatherhood was agreeing with him. “It’s great that you have someone who can help. How are you and Colin getting along?”
“Good.”
“No problems at all? Adjusting to a new baby in the house can be very stressful.”
“I don’t get as much sleep as I used to.”
Frowning, she tipped her head to the side. “Isn’t he sleeping through the night?”
“Colin is, but Wiley wakes me up every time the kid turns over. The mutt’s a wreck.”
Mandy chuckled. “You could banish him to the bathroom again.”
“And separate him from Colin? Not a chance. He howls the house down when I try.”
“It’s hard to imagine Wiley in the role of a nanny.”
“Almost as hard as imagining me in the role of Colin’s father?”
“I’m coming to grips with that,” she admitted.
Once again the silence lengthened. She struggled to find something to say that didn’t sound inane.
Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “I should get going. Mike Peters said he could weld a new hitch on my trailer if I got it over there this morning.”
“It’s a nice stroller, don’t you think?” she said quickly before he could leave.
She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want him to leave. Maybe it was because she’d been feeling lonely and a little lost. She’d been attributing her slump to missing Colin and her late-night visits with him. But if she were being honest, she knew this stalling tactic wasn’t about Colin. This was about Garrett.
He was becoming important to her. She wanted to peek behind the emotional wall he presented to the world.
Part of that was because he was Colin’s father, but part of it was because she found him intriguing and far too attractive for her peace of mind.
He nodded as he studied the stroller. “It looks like it’s in good shape.”
She turned her attention to the baby carriage. “It’s got all the bells and whistles.”
“Like what?”
She gripped the handle to demonstrate. “The sunshade comes up like this and if you push this button on the back, you can lay the seat down and make it into a bed.”
“That’s kinda slick.”
“It has a place for carrying stuff underneath and it has a netting to keep the bugs off the baby. It even has a cup holder.”
“So you think it’s worth the money?”
“It’s a name brand. You’d pay a lot more for it new.”
“Guess I should take it. What treasures did you find?”
Don’t be so delighted that he asked you a simple question.
But she was thrilled to share her finds. “I saw a couple of really cute outfits and I picked them up for Colin. They’re only a dollar. Want to see them?”
“You don’t have to buy clothes for him. I can take care of stuff like that.”
Why did he have to be so touchy? Miffed, she raised her chin. “I’m getting them for him because I want to. Would you like to see them or not?”
“Sure.”
Mollified by his limited interest, she held up the first one. It was a light green sleeper with a yellow sailboat on it.
He hunched his shoulders forward. “Kinda girly, isn’t it?”
“It is not girly.” Offended, she laid it on the stroller handle and held up the next one. The overalls had blue and white checked cuffs and little metal buckles on the straps.
“I like that one,” he admitted.
She grinned and held up a tiny white shirt with a red plaid vest, a matching bow tie and a pair of red pants. “Now, this one will be perfect for wearing to church.”
Garrett didn’t respond until she looked at him. He said, “Colin won’t be going to church.”
Mandy frowned. In her mind, attending worship was as natural as breathing. To imagine Colin would be raised without knowing God’s love and mercy was deeply disturbing.
“How do you know what size to get him?” Garrett asked.
“Baby clothes sizes are based on age. Always get them a little big because he’ll grow out of them in a hurry. May I ask why you don’t plan to take Colin to church?”
“I don’t go.”
Prayers that Garrett would undergo a change of heart were definitely being added to her daily conversation with God. She folded the outfits as she debated a moment before voicing what she was thinking. “Maybe this isn’t any of my business.”
Garrett tipped his head toward her. “Has that ever stopped you before?”
She grinned. “No. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t.”
Once again Garrett found himself entranced by Mandy’s smile. It was as fresh as a sun-drenched spring morning. He wouldn’t mind basking in the glow for as long as she cared to bestow it.
She was out of uniform today. Casually dressed in a mint-green shirt
over a matching tank top edged with lace and tan shorts, she looked carefree and happy. Like any other mother or wife enjoying a yard sale. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but a few wisps danced at her temple when the wind teased them.
The bruises on her face were beginning to fade, but seeing them still caused him a pang of distress. She wasn’t his to worry about, but he hated the idea that her job put her in danger.
Her smile slowly faded as she studied his face. Finally, she said, “Reverend Spencer mentioned it was important to Judy to have her child raised in a Christian home. He said her faith-meant a lot to her at the end. Don’t you think you should take her wishes into consideration?”
Garrett’s euphoria evaporated. Her interest was in Colin, not in him. He had no business thinking anything else. Imagining she might care about him was a quick trip to heartache. A place he’d been too many times.
“I haven’t given it much thought,” he replied.
He didn’t need Mandy reminding him that Judy thought he was unfit to raise his own son. He still didn’t understand why she felt that way. With her dead, he probably never would.
Maybe she saw something in him that reminded her of her own abusive father. As hard as Garrett had tried to hide it from her, maybe Judy knew he was flawed inside and that was why she wanted to keep Colin away from him.
“Do you believe in God, Mr. Bowen?” Mandy was still watching him with those intense blue eyes that saw and catalogued every detail.
She would see it soon, too, his flawed soul. She’d uncover his cowardice. Then she’d look at him with pity or worse—with repugnance.
“I believed in God once.”
“But not anymore?”
“You have a job that deals with the dirty, cruel side of people. Why do you still believe in God?”
“Because for every evil thing that men do, a hundred men do the right thing. Good things. Why? Because God gave us a free will. God is like a loving father. He is a loving father. He’s always with us no matter how hard life is.”
“Not every father is loving, Sheriff.”
“Sadly, that’s true. We live in an imperfect world. Cruelty, poverty, disease, they all exist and they always will.”
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