The Lawman Lassoes a Family

Vicki turned to see Dan standing beside her. Everything inside her lurched when she saw he was in full uniform, gun on his hip. A tan deputy’s uniform was different from the Austin PD’s blue, but not different enough. It reminded her sharply that this man lived a life she wanted no part of ever again.

He’d been watching her little girl on the pony and smiling, but he looked at her when she didn’t answer immediately.

“Yes,” she said, finding her voice. “She’s loving it. I can’t thank you enough for all of this, including all the tickets. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No, I didn’t. I wanted to. Some dreams just need to come true. Are you taking pictures? Because you’ll never again see your four-year-old taking her first pony ride.”

She nodded, feeling like she needed to catch her breath.

* * *

Conard County: The Next Generation!

The Lawman

Lassoes a Family

Rachel Lee

www.millsandboon.co.uk

RACHEL LEE was hooked on writing by the age of twelve and practiced her craft as she moved from place to place all over the United States. This New York Times bestselling author now resides in Florida and has the joy of writing full-time.

To all the step-parents who open their hearts.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

On a warm summer afternoon, Conard County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Casey steered his truck around a rental truck half parked in Lena Winston’s front yard, and then into his own driveway. Lena had been a friend for years, an older woman whose company he enjoyed. On Lena’s porch he saw a little blonde girl, maybe four, sitting on the swing and rocking gently. She had her thumb in her mouth, a teddy bear in her arm and a sad look on her face.

Lena’s niece, Vicki Templeton, must be moving in with her daughter. He looked at that van, not a very big one, but still wondered where they were going to put everything.

He was glad, though, that he’d had to leave his patrol unit at the garage for some work today. Climbing out of his car, he hurried inside to change into civvies before going to offer his help. Fewer reminders of cops might be welcome right now.

He knew from Lena that Vicki was a cop’s widow, that she’d lost her husband a little over a year ago. Lena had stewed about it off and on for all this time, worried about her niece and grandniece, thinking it might be best for them to get away from reminders and come live with her.

Apparently, it had happened. As he wondered why Lena hadn’t mentioned it would be so soon, he pulled on jeans and a black T-shirt blazoned with a wolf, and made his way next door. The little girl was still sitting on the swing. Female voices came from inside.

“Hi,” he said from the yard, on the other side of the railing. “You must be Krystal. I’m Dan Casey. Are your mom and Aunt Lena inside?”

She took her thumb from her mouth and regarded him from eyes the color of the sky overhead. “I’m not supposed to suck my thumb.”

“I didn’t notice anything.”

A shy smile curved her mouth, just a little. She pointed to his shirt. “That’s not a dog.”

“You’re right, it’s a wolf. A wolf from Yellowstone Park. Maybe you can see them one day.”

Just then a young woman poked her head out the door. Blue eyes and black hair struck Dan immediately, as did a pretty face that looked tired almost beyond words.

“Krystal? Are you talking to someone?”

Krystal pointed and Dan moved closer to the steps. “Just me. Dan Casey. I live next door. Lena said you were moving in and I came to see if I can help. You must be Vicki.”

The woman hesitated, then stepped out fully, brushing her hands on her jeans. “It’s amazing how much dust seems to have moved with me.” She wore a blue checked shirt with rolled-up sleeves, and tails knotted around her tiny waste. Her black hair had started to come loose from a ponytail set high on her head.

Dan stepped forward, reached up across the three steps to offer his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Lena’s been looking forward to this.” Then he smiled. “Two fairly strong arms here, ready to pitch in. You can’t turn me down.”

She should have laughed, but all he saw was the flutter of a smile. “I think...”

Whatever she thought was lost as Lena came through the door behind her. Lena was in her midfifties, a little rounded by her years, with dark brown hair that was showing a lot of gray. Her eyes were a kindly brown. She, too, wore jeans and a man’s tan work shirt.

“Dan! You arrived just in time. We got all the small stuff out, but now we’ve got Krystal’s bed and some other big pieces. The three of us ought to be able to do it.”

“I can call for more help if we need it,” Dan assured her. “But where are you putting everything?”

Lena put her hands on her hips, a wry expression on her face. “That is a problem we’ll deal with later.”

Vicki looked at her aunt. “I could get rid of some of these things.”

Lena shook her head firmly. “Nothing that’s a comfort to Krystal or you is going anywhere. If we need room, I can easily get rid of some of my junk. God knows, most of it is far older than I am. Besides, you’ll both sleep better in your own beds, and I like that sofa you brought. Never had a recliner before.”

Dan paused. “You two moved a sofa?”

Lena laughed, a deep, throaty sound. “Not yet. I was waiting for you to get home.”

He joined her laughter, but noticed that while Vicki smiled, she didn’t laugh with them. Still grieving, he supposed, and now a huge move on top of everything. He felt genuine sympathy for her, and for the little girl, who looked utterly lost at the moment.

He wished he could gather them both in a hug, but knew the urge was ridiculous. He was a stranger to them, and he sure couldn’t do anything to ease the pain of losing a husband and father.

He decided the best thing to do was focus on the moving.

“Let me see what’s left in the truck,” he said. “Then I’ll know if I need to call for some help. And, Lena? Maybe you could show me where you want the big pieces?”

* * *

Dan called some friends, and soon there was a swirl of men moving from the truck into the house and back again. Vicki sort of got pushed to one side as Lena supervised the unloading. Occasionally her aunt questioned her about where she wanted something, but mostly Vicki just sat with Krystal curled against her side, and watched the activity.

Had she really brought so much with her? Apparently so. She felt a twinge of guilt for dumping so much on her aunt, but she’d spent a great deal of time beforehand selling things and giving them away.

Yet she had to bring things that were important to Krystal, or that would become important to her later. Her father’s awards. All the photographs. Her toys. Krystal had been allowed to help with the decisions, and made it clear what was to come with them.

Nor was Vicki entirely blameless. There were some items she just couldn’t let go of, either. Memories of Hal had attached themselves everywhere, and parting with some of them had been downright painful.

Maybe she should have put stuff in a storage room, but she had discovered she wasn’t ready to make that big a break yet herself. Struggling to move forward with her life had meant moving to a new place, away from the constant attentions of Hal’s colleagues and their spouses, who had gone out of their way to make sure she always had someone available, that she was left out of nothing they did. Even Krystal had been included in their caring, as various people from the department took her on outings, or just made themselves available.

At some point it had hit her: she could continue to live as Hal’s widow, surrounded by his well-meaning friends, which made it impossible for her to move on. Or she could take her aunt’s repeated offers and just do it.

Vicki hoped she hadn’t made the biggest mistake of her life.

She worried about Krystal, who seemed to be adjusting to her father’s absence, but didn’t appear to understand he would never come home. Vicki worried that this move might stress the girl even more. Now she had lost every single thing that was familiar except for what they had brought with them.

Maybe Vicki’s decision had been selfish.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I sucked my thumb. The man saw me.”

Vicki felt her eyes prickle with tears she couldn’t allow herself to shed. Gathering her daughter onto her lap, she hugged her tight. “That’s okay, honey. When you’re ready to stop doing it, you will.”

Krystal had stopped sucking her thumb by eighteen months of age. The habit had returned within days of her father’s death. Vicki wasn’t going to give her a hard time about comforting herself.

“But I’m a big girl,” Krys said. “Big girls don’t suck their thumbs.”

“Who told you that?”

“Jenny.”

Jenny had been a friend at preschool. “Well, that’s not always true, Krys. Some grown-ups still do it.”

Krystal stirred and looked up. “So I’m still a big girl?”

“You’re a wonderful big girl.”

“Aunt Lena’s house smells funny.”

“She uses sachets. We’ll get used to it.”

Krystal sighed, closed her eyes and melted into Vicki. A precious moment.

Vicki’s gaze strayed to the men who were unloading her life, and saw they were about finished. She knew Dan Casey was a deputy, because Lena had mentioned him occasionally over the years. A good neighbor, Lena had judged him.

He was certainly being a good neighbor now. Vicki watched him and three other men carry the recliner sofa across the ramp and into the house. A good-looking man, maybe getting near forty, although she couldn’t be sure. He definitely looked older than Hal, and Hal had been thirty-three, just a year older than Vicki.

Cops, she thought. Hal’s friends had helped her load, and now Dan and his friends were helping unload. No escape, but at least these cops hadn’t been her husband’s friends.

Suddenly she realized he was looking at her. Dark hair, gray eyes, very fit. He stepped over.

“Well,” he said, “Lena’s house is packed. We’ll be back to move some stuff to her basement or garage once she makes up her mind what she wants to do with it. But listen, I’m going out to get dinner for everyone. Is there anything Krystal doesn’t like to eat?”

“She’s not picky.” Not anymore. She’d outgrown that stage a while back.

“Then what about you? What would you like her to eat?”

Krystal stirred. “I want a hamburger.” As clear as a bell.

Dan looked at Vicki, who nodded. Then he squatted and smiled at Krystal. “A hamburger just for you. What do you want on it?”

“Ketchup. I hate pickles.”

“You got it. Vicki?”

“Whatever you all want is fine by me. Thank you.”

He nodded and straightened. The ramp was being shoved back into the truck, the rear doors closed and locked. Then they parked the truck on the street behind her little car, still sitting on the towing trailer.

It was done, Vicki thought. She’d broken with her past. She just hoped she hadn’t broken her daughter in the process.

* * *

Before Dan returned with food, the other men headed home, explaining they had families, but promising to come back when needed. Vicki could feel the blue wall enclosing her in its comforting grip already. What had she thought she was escaping? But she knew: familiar faces that inevitably reminded her of her loss. At least these were all new faces, with no connection to Hal.

She was still sitting on the porch with Krystal in her lap when Dan returned carrying big brown bags.

“Dinner bell,” he said cheerfully. “And one big hamburger for Miss Krystal here.”

The words galvanized Krystal for the first time in hours. She squirmed off Vicki’s lamp, left her teddy bear behind and excitedly followed Dan into the house.

Vicki followed more reluctantly. Tired as she was from the long drive and unloading, not to mention getting ready for this big move, she hadn’t felt hungry for a while. She ate only because she had to, not because she wanted to. It was like the period right after the shock of Hal’s death.

Maybe this move had been a bad idea for a whole lot of reasons.

Lena had a big house, as local houses went, but right now it was full of boxes and excess furniture. The dining room was still clear, though, and they ate there at a table that showed the effects of the years, with scratches, faded stains and a few deep dings.

Lena brought out plates and flatware, but Krystal wanted to eat from the foam box. Her burger was huge, so Vicki cut it in half for her, and tried not to look at the mound of french fries. Of course, Krys went first for the fries, a rare treat.

Two of the containers held huge salads, so Vicki put some in a bowl next to Krys. “Eat your salad, too, honey.”

“I will.”

Lena spoke. “Sit down and eat, Vicki. You’re exhausted. I can look after Krys’s needs, can’t I, hon?”

Krys nodded. Whatever else might be going on inside her, her appetite hadn’t diminished.

Vicki took a seat at last, with Krystal between her and Lena, and Dan across the way.

“You must be tired,” he said to her. He still hadn’t opened the box in front of him. “I can just take my meal and run.”

Considering how he had helped, and that he’d run out to get this meal for them, letting him leave would be churlish, no matter how fatigued she was feeling.

“No, please,” she said. “You’ve been so kind to us today. I’m tired, but not that tired.” She tried for a smile and apparently managed it, because he returned it with one of his own.

“Mommy worked hard,” Krystal announced, at last reaching for her burger. “I had to stay with friends lotsa times.”

“Yes you did, honey. But you helped me choose, didn’t you?”

Krys nodded, then disappeared behind the huge burger. She wouldn’t be able to get her mouth around it, a mess would ensue and Vicki didn’t care. She was just glad to see Krys enjoying herself.

Vicki looked at Lena. “We took over your house. I’m sorry.”

“And I’m not,” her aunt said. “This is a big house for one woman.” She looked at Dan. “I don’t know if I ever told you, but this is the family house, from the earliest days of Conard City. It’s been passed down for nearly a hundred years, and here I am, rambling around in a house that was meant for a big family. There’s plenty of room for two more. We just need to do some sorting and arranging. I might not have it all settled by tomorrow, though.”

“Probably not,” Dan agreed, holding half a sandwich in his hand. “Just let me know when you want help and how much you need. But take your time.” He glanced toward the front room with a humorous twinkle in his eyes. “That’s a lot of boxes, never mind furniture.”

“I probably overdid it,” Vicki said. “Maybe I just gave up. Sorting, selling things, giving them away...” She looked down. “I guess I just couldn’t do it anymore.”

Lena reached out and patted her hand. “You did just fine. I wasn’t kidding, Vicki. I didn’t want either of you to give up a single thing that you want. It’s not necessary. As for some of the old stuff around here, I’ll be glad to have a reason to see the last of it.” She laughed and reached for her bowl of salad. “You know, more than once I’ve had a fantasy about bringing in a decorator to do the whole place over. Beyond my means, I know, but I’m not going to mind the changes.” Then she leaned over and looked at Krystal. “And you, my dear Krys, have a whole room for a playroom. Or you will once we move a few things out.”

“Goodie,” said Krystal, her mouth full of hamburger. Vicki let it go.

“Should I groan now?” Dan asked. Lena laughed.

Vicki kept her eyes down, even as she tried to smile. It was impossible not to look at Dan and see the spark of male interest in his gaze. She wasn’t ready for that, didn’t know if she would ever be, but she was absolutely determined never again to care for a cop. One trip through that hell had been enough for a lifetime.

Right now she had only one concern, helping Krys through another major upheaval. Vicki hoped it would be the last one, but she wasn’t going to throw anything else into the pot for the girl. Now her daughter had not only lost her father, but she’d lost everything familiar except what they could carry with them. All her friends, her preschool, the places they’d frequented. Ripped away from her.

Vicki barely heard the rest of the conversation as she once again debated with herself the wisdom of her decision. She knew she needed to move on, both for her own sake and her daughter’s. She had to build them a life of some sort away from the haunting memories. She had to set an example of strength, find some joy in life again.

So yes, she’d had good reasons for this move. But gazing at Krystal, who was beginning to look as if dinner had made her sleepy, she wondered whose interests had driven her more.

“Honey? Are you getting sleepy?”

Krys lifted her head, trying to look alert, but failing. “I guess. Read me a story?”

“You bet.”

“Just take her up,” Lena said. “I’ll clean up. We can reheat her burger for her lunch tomorrow.”

Upstairs, Vicki found the box with Krys’s sheets and pillows, and soon the bed looked familiar again, with brightly colored balloons on the linens and comforter. Krys climbed in after allowing her mother to wash her face and hands at the bathroom sink, then waited expectantly for her story.

She wasn’t going to last long, Vicki thought as she dug out one of her daughter’s favorite Dr. Seuss stories. The Boston rocker had made it up here, so she pulled it over to the bed and held Krys’s hand while she read the silly, hypnotic words.

Krys’s eyes started to close, but Vicki kept reading so that the happy rhymes would follow her into sleep. Soon, though, the girl seemed fast asleep, her breathing deep and regular. Vicki eased her hand away and stood, placing the book on the chair.

The floor creaked a little as she crossed tiptoe to the door, and Krys’s voice stopped her.

“Mommy? Don’t go away like Daddy did.”

The words froze Vicki like an electric shock. Anguish she had believed was lessening seized her in a painful grip, twisting her heart until she wanted to cry out from it. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly, then turned, knowing she had to answer her daughter.

But Krys had already fallen back asleep. A little murmur escaped her and she rolled on her side, hugging her pillow.

Vicki crept out. At the top of the stairs she sagged until she sat on a riser, and let hot, silent tears fall.

* * *

“Your grandniece is cute as a button,” Dan said as he helped clear the table. Lena put on some coffee and invited him to stay.

“She certainly is,” Lena agreed. “Now stay for a few minutes, Dan. I know how you love your coffee, and it’s the least I can do after all your help.”

“Any neighbor would have helped,” he said dismissively. “Glad to do it.”

“Stay anyway. What are you going to do? Head home and sprawl in front of the TV with some soccer game?”

Dan laughed. “You have me pegged.”

Lena arched a brow at him. “Yeah. As a man who works hard and wants to relax when he gets home. Instead you moved half a house.”

He shook his head. “Don’t make too much of it, Lena. I had an easy day and the workout felt good. As for sprawling in front of the TV, I do less of that than you think.”

She laughed. “Maybe so. I don’t exactly keep an eye on you.”

“Thank goodness. My reputation probably wouldn’t survive it.”

They carried their coffee into the front room. “That’s a really nice couch,” he remarked. He’d like one himself, a dual recliner such as that. But he didn’t sit on it. He wasn’t a dullard, and he was willing to bet one end or the other had been Vicki’s husband’s seat. Dan didn’t want her to see him on it when she came back down.

He picked his way to Lena’s old sofa and took his usual place on it. She often invited him over for dinner or dessert, especially when he did some little thing for her around the place that she couldn’t do herself. And Lena could do quite a lot herself, so it wasn’t as if she imposed.

Boxes, shoved to the side, made the room feel tiny, which it never had before.

“How much are you planning to get rid of?” he asked. This house had been the same the whole time he’d known Lena, and even in its current jumbled state he could see the place he knew. He wondered if she was going to find it more difficult than she was letting on.

Lena waved a hand. “As much as I need to. Probably won’t be as much as it looks like right now. Everything I have are hand-me-downs. I never got a chance to do this place the way I wanted, except for some curtains and small things. I feel like the caretaker of a museum sometimes. The Winston Family Museum. There are a number of things I’m attached to, but most of it is just here. No history, no old memories, no meaning.”

“I don’t know whether to say that’s good or that’s sad.”

“Both,” she said wryly. “Vicki gets it next. It might as well be more to her liking.”

Dan leaned forward, holding his mug between both hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. “Hey, you’ve got a lot of good years left. Don’t be talking like that.”

“Like what? I’m almost fifty-five, young by the reckoning of most. I might have another thirty years. Then again, I could slip on ice this next winter and be done. You never know, Dan.”

“No.” This conversation was taking a maudlin turn, and he wondered if it had to do with Vicki. Not that she had started it, but maybe what had happened to her niece had caused Lena to start thinking about these things. He sought another avenue.

“So Vicki is your sister’s daughter? I know you told me, but I’ve never had the instincts of a genealogist.”

Lena barked a laugh. “That’s right. She took off out of here when she was eighteen, and never came back. I used to go visit her, the way I went to visit Vicki.”

He began to remember stories from over the years. Shortly after Vicki had graduated from college, Lena’s sister had died. Vicki’s father had apparently vanished from the scene before she was born. “Lou, wasn’t it? Your sister? Skydiving accident?”

Lena smiled faintly. “Live it while you have it, that’s my motto. I just chose a less risky way of life. Lou, on the other hand, had a whole bucket list of wild things she wanted to do once Vicki was old enough.”

Dan hesitated, but for some reason he wanted a clear picture of the situation. Maybe it was just the cop in him. “And no family on Vicki’s husband’s side?”

“Hal grew up in foster care. Near as I could tell, he felt closer to the Police Athletic League than any of his foster families, and there were a lot of them.”

“So that leaves you.”

“It sure does. And since I was never blessed with a family of my own, I’m considering myself blessed right now.”

Dan grinned. “I don’t get why you weren’t snapped up.”

Lena arched a brow. “Oh, there were snappers. I just kept throwing them back in the river.”