Cowboy Deputy

CARLA CASSIDY is an award-winning author who has written over fifty books. Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.

Cowboy Deputy

Carla Cassidy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Chapter 1

It was only when she saw the dancing swirl of cherry-colored lights in her rearview mirror that Edie Burnett glanced down at her speedometer. She was going forty miles an hour. As she eased off the gas pedal and pulled to the side of the street in front of a little dress boutique, she caught sight of a sign that indicated the speed limit was twenty-five.

Muttering a curse beneath her breath, she came to a stop at the curb. This was just the icing on the cake of crud that had become her life.

The official car pulled up behind her and she watched in her rearview mirror as the driver got out. Tall and lean, his khaki shirt tugged across broad shoulders as he walked toward her driver window with purposeful strides.

An errant curl of dark hair flopped onto his broad forehead and it only took that single glance in her mirror to know that the man was a hot piece of hunk.

Still, at the moment she didn’t much care what he looked like. She needed to figure out the best way to talk him out of giving her a ticket. She wasn’t sure she could afford lunch, much less a fine for speeding.

Cute or pathetic? She quickly decided to reach for cute and clueless and then resort to crying if necessary. It had worked for her more than once in the past.

“In a hurry?” His deep, pleasant voice resonated inside her and she looked up to see long-lashed eyes the color of rich, dark chocolate gazing at her.

“Oh, wow, I’m so sorry. I had the radio on and it was a really good song and I guess my speed just kind of got away from me.” She gave him a bright bewildered smile. “I didn’t notice the speed limit sign until I saw your lights flashing in my rearview mirror.”

“But surely you noticed you’d entered the heart of town,” he countered.

“I’m such a dunce,” she agreed, once again giving him her friendliest grin.

“Driver’s license please,” he said, no returning smile curving his sexy lips.

Her own smile faltered as she dug into her oversize purse for her wallet. Damn. He was obviously going to give her a ticket. She handed him her license and watched in her mirror as he returned to his car, unable to help but notice that he looked just as good going as he had coming.

Now was the time she’d usually summon up fake tears and hope she could find a soft spot in his heart. But as she stared blindly out the front window the tears that blurred her vision were achingly real.

The past seven months of her life had been an utter nightmare, culminating in the call from somebody here in town that her grandfather needed help.

It had been two years since she’d last seen her grandfather, Walt Tolliver. At that time she’d come back to the small town for her mother’s funeral. That particular trip back had been brief and so filled with grief she now scarcely remembered it. Since that time she’d tried to call the old man every weekend, yet in the past six months with her own life falling to pieces, Edie hadn’t talked to her grandfather.

A sob escaped her and was quickly followed by another. By the time the deputy returned to her car window, she was blubbering like a baby.

“Hey, there’s no need for that,” he exclaimed as he held her license out to her. “I’m just going to issue you a warning.”

“It’s not that,” she replied, the words choking out of her between sobs. She grabbed the license and tossed it into the dark recesses of her purse. “It’s my life. It sucks. A year ago I was too stupid to live. I thought my creep of a boyfriend loved me and I wanted to do something special for him for his birthday so I gave him my credit card and told him to buy himself the stereo system he’d been drooling over. He bought the stereo all right, and half the store. He maxed out my card and disappeared.

I used most of my savings to pay off the card and then I lost my job.”

The words tumbled from her lips as if of their own free will as tears continued to cascade down her cheeks. “Then this morning as I was packing up to drive here, my landlord appeared with a thirty-day notice for me to get out. He’s selling the house where I rent an apartment and I have to go.”

She suddenly looked up at him, appalled by the gush of her personal problems to the handsome stranger. God, how embarrassing was this? She swiped her cheeks with the back of her hands. “I’m sorry, this isn’t your problem. I’m sorry I was speeding and I appreciate you just giving me a warning.”

“Are you okay to drive the rest of the way to Walt’s house?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

He stepped back and motioned for her to pull away from the curb. It was only when she was back on the road that she wondered how he knew she was headed toward her grandfather’s place.

How embarrassing, to totally break down in front of a stranger and spill the sordid details of her life. She hadn’t cried a tear with each bad thing that had occurred over the past year. It seemed unfathomable that she’d had a mini-breakdown in front of a stranger.

At least she hadn’t told him everything. She hadn’t told him that the credit card debt Greg had left her with had been the least of the heartache he’d left behind.

She dismissed both Greg and the hot deputy from her mind as she turned off Main and onto a tree-lined residential street. Black Rock was typical of many small Kansas towns, with the business section taking up two blocks of the main drag surrounded by picturesque side streets lined with mature trees and pleasant, well-kept homes.

When she’d been young she and her mother had often visited her grandparents for a week or so each summer. Her mother and her grandmother would spend much of that time in the kitchen and Walt would entertain Edie by teaching her to play chess, bird-watching in the backyard and gardening.

Those had been some of the happiest days of Edie’s life. But when she’d been a teenager, she’d opted for spending time with her friends instead of visiting grandparents. Then the years had slipped away and everything had changed.

Her grandmother had passed away, her mother was gone and now the only family she had left was her Poppy, and according to the brief phone message she’d gotten from somebody here in town, he needed her. The problem was she wasn’t in a place where she could be much help to anyone.

As she pulled up in front of the familiar two-story house, her heart fell. Even the forgiving glow of the late afternoon sun couldn’t take away the air of neglect that clung to the place.

The lawn needed a good mowing and the house itself screamed for a fresh coat of paint. Weeds had choked the last of the fall flowers in the beds that lined the walkway to the front porch.

She got out of her car and tried to ignore the sense of being overwhelmed. Was he ill? Poppy was seventy-one years old. Was he too old to be living on his own? How was she going to help him when she could barely help herself?

She knocked on the door, hoping he was at least well enough to open it. “Who is there?” The deep voice resounded with energy from the other side of the door.

“Poppy, it’s me, Edie.”

The door flung open and Edie breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of her grandfather, looking older, but robust and healthy. “What a surprise! If it isn’t my favorite girl in the whole wide world.” He pulled her into the foyer and into the loving embrace of his arms.

He smelled of cheap cologne and menthol rub, of early autumn air and sweet childhood memories, and as she hugged him back she wondered why she had stayed away for so long.

He finally released her and motioned her to follow him inside. “Come on, then. I need to check on my dinner.”

As she followed behind him toward the kitchen she noticed that the inside of the house was neat and tidy and the scent of a roast cooking emanated from the kitchen.

Maybe it had been a cranky neighbor who had called her because of the condition of the exterior of the house and the yard. She couldn’t remember the caller giving his name but it was obvious that he had overreacted. Thank God her grandfather seemed fine.

She’d take the next couple of days and mow the lawn, weed the flower beds and maybe get a couple gallons of paint to spruce up the place. She made a commitment to come visit every two months and resume her weekly phone calls.

“Got roast and potatoes for supper,” he said as he went to oven and opened the door. “And green beans from the garden. Go on, sit down while I stir these beans and add a little bacon grease.”

“Are you expecting company?” she asked, noticing that the table held two place settings. Unless Poppy had suddenly become a psychic, the extra plate hadn’t been set for her.

“Benjamin is coming over. He stops by two or three times a week for dinner and some chess.” Walt smiled at her. “It will feel like a regular party with you here.” He finished stirring the beans and then grabbed a plate from the cabinet and added it to the table.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten all about your Poppy,” he said with a touch of censure in his voice.

“You know the phone lines go both ways,” she replied.

“I know, but I figured if a young girl like you wanted to talk to an old coot like me, you’d call.” He eased down in the chair next to her at the table. “What are you now, twenty-three or twenty-four? “

“Twenty-nine, Poppy.” Although the past year of her life, she’d made the mistakes of a teenager and suffered a woman’s grief.

One of his grizzly gray eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Twenty-nine!” He swiped a hand down his weatherworn face and shook his head. “Seems the past couple of years have plum gotten away from me. That means it’s been almost ten years since I lost my Delores and over two years since we lost your mama.” For a moment he looked ancient, with sadness darkening his blue eyes and his paper-thin lips turned downward.

The sadness lasted only a moment and then his eyes regained their usual twinkle. “I hope you’re going to be here long enough for me to teach you a lesson or two in chess.”

She laughed. “I’m not leaving here until I win at least one game.”

“Good,” he said, obviously delighted. “That means it’s going to be a nice long visit.”

Although Edie was glad she was here, again she was struck by the thought that he seemed just fine and whoever had called her saying he needed help had definitely overreacted.

He jumped out of his chair and walked over to the oven and opened the door. “Benjamin should be here soon and we’ll eat. Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” she replied. Her lunch had been a bag of chips she’d eaten in the car. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“There are a couple of nice tomatoes in the refrigerator. If you want to, you can slice them up and put them on the table.”

As she sliced the tomatoes, they chatted mostly about the past, playing a game of remember when that created warm fuzzies in Edie’s heart.

She shouldn’t have stayed away for so long. Poppy was the only family she had left in the world. Her home in Topeka was just a three-hour drive to Black Rock but somehow her personal drama and heartbreak had taken over and the last thing on her mind had been her Poppy.

“You’ll like Benjamin,” Poppy said as he took the roaster out of the oven and set it on hot pads in the center of the table. “He’s a good guy and a mean chess player.”

And probably eighty years old, Edie mentally thought, although she was grateful her grandfather had a friend for company. Maybe this big house was just too much for Poppy. Maybe it was time for him to think about an apartment or someplace where he didn’t have to worry about maintenance and upkeep. Time to talk about that later, she thought as the doorbell rang.

“That should be Benjamin,” Walt said and left the kitchen to get the door.

Edie wiped off the countertop and then pasted a smile on her face as Walt came back into the kitchen. The smile fell as she saw who followed at his heels, not an old, gray-haired man with stooped shoulders and rheumy eyes, but rather the very hot deputy who had pulled her over and witnessed her mini-breakdown.

“Edie, this here is my friend, Benjamin Grayson. Benjamin, this is my granddaughter who surprised me this evening with a visit,” Walt said.

“Hello, Edie, it’s nice to meet you.” He stepped forward and held out a hand, obviously deciding to play it as if he’d never seen her before.

He’d looked great earlier in his khaki uniform but now with worn tight jeans hugging his long lean legs and a blue cotton shirt clinging to his broad shoulders, he was pure sin walking.

“Nice to meet you, too,” she replied as she gave his hand a short, curt shake.

“Go on, sit down,” Walt said. “Let’s eat before the roast gets cold.”

Edie slid into a chair at the table and tried not to notice the clean, male scent mingling with a woodsy cologne that wafted from Benjamin.

He might have smelled good and he might have looked great and in another place and time she might have been interested in him. But Edie had sworn off relationships and men and sex for the rest of her life. Besides, her intention was to be in Black Rock for only two or three days.

As the men joined her at the table and filled their plates, Walt and Benjamin made small talk about the weather and the forecast for a harsh winter to come.

Although Edie was glad she’d gotten the phone call that had prompted her to come for a visit, she still didn’t see any real issue where her Poppy was concerned.

“Any word on that missing girl?” Walt asked.

Benjamin shook his head. “Nothing. It’s like she vanished into midair.”

“Missing girl?” Edie looked at Benjamin curiously.

“Her name is Jennifer Hightower, a twenty-two-year-old who went missing three weeks ago,” Benjamin replied.

“And she’s not the only missing girl in town,” Walt said. “Benjamin’s own sister went missing over two months ago.”

Edie saw the darkness that crawled into Benjamin’s eyes as he nodded. “That’s right, but surely we can think of something more pleasant to talk about while we eat.” There was a note of finality in his tone that indicated this particular subject was closed.

Walt immediately began to talk about the fall festival the town was planning in the next month. As Edie ate, she found that her focus tugged again and again to Benjamin.

His face was tanned as if he spent a lot of time outdoors rather than inside at a desk or seated in a patrol car. He had nice features, a no-nonsense slight jut to his chin, a straight nose and lips that looked soft and very kissable.

There was no question that she was curious about his sister, felt a tinge of empathy as she imagined what it must be like to have a family member missing.

Edie didn’t know about missing family members, but she was intimate with grief, knew the sharp stab of loss, the ache that never quite went away.

She could only assume that Benjamin wasn’t married and she questioned why a handsome man like him would choose to spend a couple nights a week playing chess with an old man.

“How long are you planning to visit?” he asked.

With those gorgeous, long-lashed eyes focused intently on her, a small burst of unwanted heat ignited in the very pit of her stomach.

“Just a couple days or so,” she replied, grateful her voice sounded remarkably normal. “I need to get back home and take care of some things.” And he knew exactly what those things were because she’d spewed them out in a mist of tears when he’d pulled her over.

“You still managing that restaurant?” Poppy asked.

She hesitated and then shook her head. “Unfortunately a couple weeks ago I showed up at the restaurant and found a padlock on the door and a note that said the place was out of business.” She tamped down the residual anger that rose up inside her each time she thought of that day. There had been no warning to any of the employees, no hint that the place was in trouble.

“So, have you found a new job?” Poppy eyed her worriedly.

“Not yet, but when I get back home I’m sure I won’t have any problems finding something,” she assured him with a quick smile. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her.

Thankfully dinner went quickly and as Poppy stood to clear the table, Edie shooed him away. “You two go on and play your chess. I’ll take care of the cleanup.”

“I won’t argue with you. I like the cooking but hate the cleanup,” Poppy said.

“I could help. It would only take a minute,” Benjamin said.

Edie shook her head. “I’ve got it under control.” The last thing she wanted was to be butting elbows with him over the sink. He was too big and too sexy for her and she didn’t want him close enough that she could smell him, feel his body heat.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the two men left the kitchen and disappeared into the living room. It took her only minutes to store the leftovers in the refrigerator and then stack the plates for washing.

There was no dishwasher and as she got the dish drainer rack from the cabinet, she remembered all the times she’d stood at this sink and helped her grandmother wash dishes.

It hadn’t been a chore; it had been a chance to talk about the day, about the weather, about life with a woman Edie had considered wise and loving.

The last time Edie had been here she’d been thirteen years old and madly in love with a boy named Darrin. It had been a case of unrequited love. Darrin had preferred video games to girls.

“It’s not a mistake to love,” her grandmother had told her. “But you need to love smart. Choose a man who has the capacity to love you back, a man who can make you feel as if you’re the most important person in the world.”

As Edie washed and rinsed the dishes, she wondered what her grandmother would say about the mess Edie had made of her life. She had definitely loved stupid, choosing to give her heart to a man who not only didn’t have the capacity to love her back, but also had all the character of a rock. The price she’d paid for loving stupidly had been enormous and she’d been left with the determination to never put her heart in jeopardy again.

A burst of deep male laughter came from the living room as she placed the last dish in the drainer. It sounded like the two of them were enjoying their game.

Darkness had fallen outside and Edie realized she hadn’t brought in her suitcase from the car. As she entered the living room both men looked up from the chessboard. “What are you doing, girl?” Poppy asked. “Come sit and watch a master at work.” He gave her a grin that twinkled in his eyes.

She returned his smile. “I gather from the smug look on your face that you’re winning.”

“I’ve been playing him a couple nights a week for the past six months and I have yet to win a game,” Benjamin said.

His gaze slid down the length of her, the quick once-over that a man might give a woman he found attractive.

She felt the heat of his gaze and quickly moved toward the front door. “I’m just going to get my suitcase from the car.”

“Need any help?” Benjamin asked.

She quickly shook her head. “Thanks, but I can get it.” She scooted out the front door and into the cool September evening air.

For a moment she stood on the porch and stared up at the night sky. Here in Black Rock the stars seemed brighter, closer than they did in Topeka.

“Make a wish, sugar,” her grandmother would tell her whenever the two of them had sat on the porch and gazed upward.

Edie reached up and grabbed the small charm that hung on the gold chain around her neck. The gold was cool in her fingers but warmed quickly as she held it tight.

There was only one wish she’d like to make and she knew it was one that could never come true. She released her hold on the charm and headed to her car in the driveway.

Behind her car was parked a large black pickup she knew must belong to Benjamin. Funny, she would assume he was more the sweet little sports car type than the big, bruising truck.

She’d packed light and grabbed the small suitcase and overnight bag from her backseat, then headed inside the house. She heard no sound from the living room. Apparently the current chess game was intense enough that both men were concentrating.

She carried the suitcase up the stairs, the third and seventh steps creaking beneath her weight as they had when she’d been a child. She entered the last bedroom at the end of the hall, the room where she’d always stayed when she and her mother had come for a visit. The dusty pink paint on the wall and the pink floral spread covering the double bed brought another wave of memories.

Every night that she’d slept here she’d been tucked into bed lovingly not only by her mother, but also by her grandmother. And often Poppy would come upstairs to sneak her a cookie or a little bowl of popcorn. In this house, she’d always felt loved like nowhere else on earth.

It took her only minutes to stow her items in the dresser and closet, then she headed back downstairs where it sounded like the chess game had ended.

As she entered the living room, Benjamin and Poppy got up from the small game table. “He beat me both games,” Benjamin said. He smiled at Edie, a warm, sexy smile that once again fluttered a faint heat through her veins.

“Maybe you and Edie could play a few games together, you know, practice so eventually you can beat the master.” Poppy grinned.

Benjamin laughed. “I’d love to hang around and play a game of chess with Edie, but unfortunately I’ve got some reports that need to be written before morning.”

The twinkle in Poppy’s eyes faded as he looked at Benjamin seriously. “You know how to find those girls. Find the aliens and you’ll find out what happened to that Hightower young woman and your sister.”

“Aliens?” Edie looked from her grandfather to Benjamin with curiosity.

Poppy nodded. “Space aliens. I keep telling Benjamin and his brothers that they’ve landed here in Black Rock and until we get them rounded up, nobody is safe.”

A sick feeling swept through Edie as she stared at her grandfather, hoping to see the familiar twinkle of a joke in his eyes. But there was no twinkle—only a faint tinge of fear coupled with the determination of an intergalactic warrior. And then she knew why somebody had called her to check on her Poppy. It was because he was losing his mind.

Chapter 2

Benjamin saw the dismay that swept over Edie’s features at Walt’s words. She was a pretty woman and he knew her statistics from looking at her license. She was five foot four and weighed 117 pounds. Her hair was auburn and her eyes were green.