“You seem okay about it. No unrequited love?”
Sam sat back in the booth. “None. Lisa is a good woman but we weren’t meant for each other. She’s remarried and very happy. It’s just as well we didn’t have any kids.”
“Do you want kids?” Tabby was now giving him her undivided attention.
“I would, but I’m already forty so if I want one or two I better get to it.” Their dinner was placed in front of them and the mouth-watering aroma of chicken, potatoes, and gravy surrounded him. He didn’t know what their secret was but it was the best fried chicken for at least two hundred miles.
“So what about you?”
“Me?” She buttered a roll and gave him an innocent expression.
“You. If I’m going to tell my life story, you have to do the same. It’s only fair,” he argued.
“Hmmm, I wouldn’t categorize what you told me as your life story, but I do see what you’re saying.” Placing the fork on the edge of the plate, Tabby looked as if she didn’t know what to say or how to say it.
“You don’t have to—”
“No, it’s okay.” Tabby held up her hand and exhaled slowly. “I’ve never been married. Never even close. My mother says I’m too much of a romantic, and that my expectations for a man are too high. She says no one could ever measure up. That’s why I took this scouting job.”
“To meet men?” he queried.
“No!” Her eyebrows shot up. “Just the opposite. I’ve been disappointed so many times it was easier to take a job where I work constantly. I can’t date men when I don’t have time. Being alone is easier, I guess. It’s just…”
“Lonely?” he said gently. He knew all about being alone. He hadn’t realized what a habit it had become until he’d rescued her.
Tabby nodded solemnly. “Very. Six months out of the year I live out of a suitcase traveling from town to town. Even the hotel rooms look the same. The other six months I work twelve hour days producing the shows. When I get home I just fall into bed. Exhausted. I can go for weeks at a time and never see my condo in the daylight.”
“That doesn’t sound healthy,” he observed, faintly horrified at what he was hearing. That was no way to live.
“It’s not. I’m stuck on a hamster wheel and I have no idea how to step off.”
“Just stop. Draw a line in the sand and say enough,” he urged. “You’re not even thirty and you’re already burnt out. You need to do something just for fun. Something you wouldn’t in a million years dream of doing.”
“Is that what you did? Draw a line in the sand?” Her expression was soft and a little scared. She was afraid of the unknown. He’d been there and recognized the symptoms.
“I did. I’m not pretending it was easy. Ending my marriage. Admitting I’d made a mistake in becoming a cop with the LAPD. Those are big mistakes. But I had to do something. Something big.”
Tabby pressed her lips together. “It’s scary.”
“Scarier than ghosts?” He wanted her to smile, not be fearful.
She nodded up and down vigorously. “Much scarier. Ghosts are nothing compared to this. I’d have to tell my family that I don’t want to do this anymore. They’ll be upset.”
“Are you close to your family, Tabby?” Damn if he didn’t want to know every little detail about her.
“Yes. What does that have to do with anything?” She was staring at the table again, afraid to let him see her expression.
“What I’m saying is they probably already know you’re not happy. They’re just waiting for you to realize it. Have you? Are you ready to do something about it?”
Tabby shrugged, still not meeting his gaze. “Maybe. I guess I didn’t expect a trip to a small town in Montana to be such a life changer.”
That made Sam smile. “Springwood prides itself on being a full-service town. Life changes are at no additional cost.”
She looked up at him and giggled. “Lucky me, huh?”
“I think I’m the fortunate one. I get to spend the next few days in your company.”
He’d stepped out on a limb. He only hoped she wouldn’t take a chainsaw to it.
Her cheeks turned pink and she gave him a shy smile. “I’m looking forward to it too. This is the first time I’ve really slowed down a little. I’d like to spend some time with you before I leave.”
“If that’s a warning, I get it. You’re only here for a few days.” Sam didn’t even like saying it but there it was. They could have some fun together, but expecting anything else was a non-starter.
“I’m sorry, Sam.” Her lips drooped. “For now, anyway, it’s my life. I have commitments, people who depend on me.” Her hand covered his. “I want to make the most of our time. Maybe you can help me do something out of the ordinary? Something to get me out of my routine?”
“I have a thing or two in mind,” Sam said, trying to keep his mind firmly out of the gutter. Just because Tabby had basically admitted to being attracted to him didn’t mean she wanted to hop between the sheets. He needed to concentrate on PG fun. “Eat your lunch and then I’ll try to wrangle Ron into telling you his cowboy story.”
Tabby frowned. “I thought only females see the cowboy.”
“That depends on who you’re talking to. Anyway, it was a girl he was dating years ago. It’s a good story, I promise.”
Tabby resumed eating her meal and Sam did the same. It was nice having company for a change. When they were finished, he tried to get Ron to talk to Tabby but the man was swamped with two people out sick. Instead they made an appointment to talk the next day right after the breakfast crowd.
Sam reached for Tabby’s hand as they exited the diner and walked slowly to the truck parked at the curb. He opened the door for her and helped her into the seat, mindful of her ankle. It must be aching after all the walking she’d done today. He’d take her home and make sure she put her foot up and relaxed.
Tucking a strand of her gold hair behind her ear, she smiled her gratitude at the helping hand. “Thanks. I guess my ankle is starting to hurt a little.”
“You can take a pain pill when we get home.”
Sam looked into her blue eyes and seemed to lose himself for a moment. The hustle and bustle on the street receded from his consciousness and left only Tabby, gazing up at him and looking so beautiful it made his heart ache.
“They make me fuzzy,” she said, pulling a face.
He reached up and let his finger trace her jaw, the skin soft and creamy. “God, you’re beautiful.” Her eyes widened and her lips trembled under his scrutiny. He was done playing games. “I want to kiss you. Say no now if you don’t want it.”
Instead of speaking, her pink tongue snaked out and wet her lips making him groan. He cupped the back of her head and tangled his fingers in her long tresses, pulling her mouth to his.
The first touch was electric, sending sparks skittering through his nervous system. He tugged her closer and tipped her chin up so he could get a more intimate angle. Her lips parted under his and he pressed his tongue inside the warm cavern of her mouth, enjoying her intoxicating flavor. He could have kissed her forever but some small part of his brain still held onto its sanity.
He pulled away regretfully, feeling the cold air rush between them. “I’m not going to apologize for that, Tabby. I’ve wanted to do that all day.”
Her gloved fingers traced his lips. “Me too. I didn’t expect this to get complicated. This really is a full-service town. Life changes and romance.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “You can say no to both of them. If you want to. No strings attached on my offer to let you stay with me. I mean that sincerely.”
“I want to be with you.” Tabby shook her head, a world of softness in her eyes. “It’s probably not the smart thing to do but it’s too…strong.”
That was the word for it. It was overpowering, this emotion he felt when he was with her.
“Let’s get out of the cold.” He pressed a quick kiss on her lips. “I have laundry
to do.”
“I can help,” she offered with a grin, obviously glad to move on to more mundane matters. “I can pre-soak like nobody’s business.”
“You’re hired,” he laughed, stepping back and closing the truck door. He needed to put some space between them or he’d kiss her again.
And again. And again.
Chapter Six
“Snacks? Check. Blankets? Check. Insanity? Check.”
Tabby giggled as she and Sam gathered supplies for their evening in the Springwood cemetery. They had waited three days for the weather to cooperate and tonight was the night. Hovering around thirty degrees, there was no snow or wind. It was the best they could hope for this time of year and she would take it.
Waiting for the good weather hadn’t been a hardship in the least. Her car still in the shop, she’d spent her days while Sam was on duty interviewing residents that had either seen or heard the cowboy. In the evenings, she and Sam would fix dinner together and then curl up in front of the fire. He’d taught her to play poker and she’d taught him the joys of streaming video. He was now officially hooked on a few of her favorite television shows.
She was addicted to the way his hand cupped the back of her head and his fingers tangled in her hair when he kissed her. So far that was as far as things had gone between them. They were like teenagers making out on the couch but when it was bedtime they retired to their separate rooms.
That needed to stop.
If they’d stayed home tonight, Tabby had planned to make a move to initiate something more intimate. As it was, she would be freezing her tail off in a cemetery waiting for some lovesick cowboy ghost. It wasn’t the worst conditions she’d had in her job but they certainly weren’t the best.
“This is bordering on insane,” Sam agreed. “Are you sure you want to? Do you do this at every site you visit?”
“Good Lord, no.” Tabby shuddered at the thought of some of the places she’d visited. “I only do this for locations I think should be on the show. Luckily we don’t need to stay all night. I just want to get a feel for how it’s going to look on television. Maybe see if our cowboy will make an appearance just for us.”
“We’re going to freeze.” Sam’s smile was wide and teasing. She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. In only a few days, they’d managed to create an easy, casual affection between them.
“I promise to keep you warm,” she vowed with a grin, and then yelped when he gave her a playful smack on the bottom.
“You better. It’s not every woman who could get me to sit in a cold, dark cemetery waiting for a specter that doesn’t even exist.”
“Are you so sure?” she asked, packing away the last snack. “With so many accounts I have hopes that my parents might find something if they come investigate.”
She’d heard over a dozen stories in the last few days that ranged from a full body apparition that walked and talked all the way to people “just feeling creeped out” when in the graveyard. Contrary to what she’d been told originally, both males and females had encountered the spirit.
“Trust me, Tabby.” Sam shook his head and picked up the picnic basket. “There’s nothing there. You don’t want to feature the Heartbroken Cowboy on your show.”
Sam had been saying the same thing for the last three days but he didn’t understand the pressure she was under to find possible paranormal activity for their production company.
“We’ll see.” Tabby grabbed her backpack and pulled on her gloves. She was wearing about ten layers of clothing including a set of long underwear and a snuggly warm pair of Ugg boots. She could only hope it would be enough. “I’m ready if you are.”
“Let’s go then. Be a good girl, Tink. Guard the house.”
Tink barked when she heard her name and ran in circles until Sam gave her a chewy treat from the jar on the counter. The dog wolfed it down and then jumped up on the back of the couch to watch them leave.
Tabby’s ankle was fully healed. She didn’t need his arm around her shoulders or a helping hand into the truck. Sam didn’t need a reason however to do them anyway. She was coming to appreciate his old-fashioned gestures and manners. Like a man from another era, he made her feel cared for and cherished.
The drive didn’t take long and Tabby found herself scouting a good location to take some video. Having heard all the stories, the activity definitely seemed concentrated in a few areas which made her job much easier.
“Are you really hoping to see a ghost tonight? Will you be upset if he doesn’t show?” Sam asked as they settled down on the folding chairs that he had stowed in the back of his truck.
“Not really. As I said, I’ve seen very few things I would call paranormal but I always live in hope. You never know.”
Sam tucked the heavy blanket around them and she leaned close to him drawing on his warmth. The sun had already gone down and he had placed a camping lantern at their feet. The small light however didn’t do a thing to illuminate the rest of the graveyard. With only the moon to light the expanse, creepy shadows stretched from the large gravestones and wrapped around the bare trees. An occasional puff of wind would jostle the branches and the front gate banged against the twisted wrought iron fence, jarring her nerves.
She wasn’t a jumpy person in general, but even in her line of work she didn’t hang out in a large number of cemeteries. They really were high up on the creep scale. Her gaze darted from place to place as if zombies were going to come out of the ground at any moment. She was glad Sam was sitting next to her, strong and protective.
His hand captured hers under the blanket and she could feel the heat of his skin even through the thickness of the gloves. “Do we have to be quiet or can we talk?”
“We can talk. When we get too cold to just sit, I’ll get up and take some video. Mom and Dad are going to love how spooky this is.”
Sam chuckled. “It must have been fun at your house on Halloween when you were a kid.”
Tabby groaned at the memories. “Not just as a kid. Even now, my parents throw the biggest party on the block. Maybe in all of Baltimore. It was practically a national holiday for them. We planned it for months.”
His thumb winnowed inside her sleeve and stroked her wrist right where her pulse beat wildly. “Maybe because it was so cold here in Montana, we didn’t do much for Halloween.”
“Maybe you can come to Baltimore this Halloween? I promise it won’t be something you forget in a hurry.”
Had she blown it by mentioning the future? Sam was quiet for a long time before he finally spoke.
“I’d like that.” He cradled her hand between his two large ones, tugging off the glove so he was touching her skin to skin. “I should probably play it cool but that’s just not how I’m made. Having you here these last few days has meant a lot to me. I really like you and I’m going to miss you when you go.”
“I’m going to miss you,” Tabby said in a choked voice. “I like you too. I wish—”
She broke off, not sure of what she wanted to say. Wishing was something she didn’t spend a lot of time doing.
He squeezed her hand and nuzzled her cheek with his lips, making her body tremble and quake. “I know what you’re saying. I guess I just want us to make the most of what time we have left. When you do go, well, I’d like to keep in touch. What do you think about that?”
Her heart was pounding in her chest and she couldn’t feel the cold at all. “I think that I wish we were back at your house in front of the fire so I could show you what a great idea that is.”
Sam chuckled, the vibrations tickling her ear. “The night is young, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”
They sat there in the bitter cold, wrapped around each other, listening to the sounds of the night. Growing stiff, Tabby stretched and moved out of the heat of his arms and grabbed her small video camera from her backpack. It took a much better quality picture than her smart phone. Sometimes they even used bits and pieces of her footage in the actual show.
“I want to take some video. I’m going to walk around a little bit.”
“I’ll go with you.” Sam stood and followed her as she skirted the perimeter of the graveyard, hoping she could capture the eerie quality on film. They were at the back of the cemetery when she heard a rustle and the faint pounding of a galloping horse on the ground.
“Listen!” she hissed. “Do you hear that?”
What sounded like the neighing of a horse and the clip clop of hooves first shocked and then delighted her. She plunged toward the quite clear noise, sure it was coming from about fifty feet in front of her.
“Wait,” Sam urged, his hand on her arm. “Where are you going?”
“To find the ghost,” she whispered back, shaking him off. This was no time to be worried about her safety. This location just might actually be haunted. “I want to pick the sounds up on my camera.”
She walked around for quite awhile but the noises didn’t reoccur. Sam stayed perfectly quiet as she stood completely still, praying the sounds would come back.
“Dammit, it’s gone.” Tabby stomped closer to where the sound had come from but Sam once again detained her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Leave it, Tabby.” His voice was curt and she whirled around, confused as to why he seemed so matter of fact. He didn’t seem shocked in the least. No breathing fast, no excitement in his voice. Nothing. They’d just heard a freakin’ ghost and he was as blasé as hell. Having investigated the paranormal for a long time had given her a pretty decent bullshit detector and it was going off like crazy now.
“Is there something you want to tell me, Deputy?” She tried to look up into his eyes to see the truth but it was simply too dark.
“What do you mean?” he asked gruffly.
“I mean that for a man that just heard a ghostly horse you look pretty damn calm. My heart is still racing and you look like we’ve been walking through a meadow on a spring day. That makes me wonder, Sam.”
The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set Page 13