“The pony ride’s a success, huh?”

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.”

He unleashed a belly laugh. “I love you, Lena.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just not like that. I get it.” Then she joined his laughter.

* * *

Upstairs, Vicki heard the laughter and decided that she needed to go down. After all, she’d made this move, wrenching her daughter away from the only home she’d ever known, so they could start fresh. That meant she had to rejoin the world again.

She stopped in the bathroom, wiped away the tears and applied cold water to her eyes. After a couple minutes, she realized that she couldn’t erase the puffiness. They were going to know she had been weeping.

Oh, well. She’d do it again countless times. Grief was nothing to be ashamed of, and if it made Dan uneasy...well, he didn’t have to stay. She took a brush to her hair, smoothing it back into a neat ponytail, then stiffened herself to face the world.

She entered the living room and found Lena sitting on a rocker and Dan sitting on the old couch. Habit led her to take her usual end of the recliner sofa, where she curled her legs under her.

“Want some coffee?” Vicki asked. “Just made a pot.”

“I’ll get it. Thanks, Lena.”

Her aunt stood. “Stay right there. I’m not the one who spent weeks moving. Be right back.”

Which left her alone with Dan. He sat with his legs splayed, the mug cradled in both hands, his elbows resting on his thighs.

“How long did you drive today?” he asked. “Austin’s quite a piece.”

“We broke it up. There’s just so long you can keep a four-year-old cooped up in a vehicle. We left Laramie this morning.”

“Not too bad, then.”

“No.” Which kind of ended the conversation. She wanted to sigh as she realized that she’d lost the basic skill of making small talk. Over the past year, her friends and Hal’s had taken up all the slack on that front, leaving her to join in when she felt like it. She hadn’t filled any gaps or silences.

“Your daughter is cute,” Dan said after a pause. “Adorable. Is she really attached to that teddy bear?”

“Off and on. Not like when she was a baby and she needed a particular blanket or stuffed animal. During the trip, the bear was handy.” At least Vicki had managed more than a single word.

God, she felt so out of place and out of sync. All the weeks of preparation, the long drive, and now she had arrived, and felt as if she’d been cast adrift.

“You ever been here before?” he asked. “I don’t remember seeing you, but I only moved in next door three years ago.”

Lena returned with a mug for Vicki, and the coffeepot to pour fresh for everyone. “Never visited me,” she remarked. “No, I had to fly to Austin to see her.” She placed the pot on an old table and returned to her rocker.

Vicki wondered if she should apologize. Her head was swimming, trying to order things, make sense of everything, and she had no idea what she should say.

“Not that I wanted it any other way,” Lena said, her eyes twinkling. “I got to travel the world. Well, Texas, anyway. I even got to meet the oversize Texas ego.”

Helplessly, Vicki felt a small laugh escape her. “It’s a state of mind, you know.”

“I noticed,” Lena said tartly. “Now, I’m not saying they don’t have a lot to be proud of, but if you ask me, it was really something back there for a while when Texans who’d moved away sent for bags of Texas dirt to put under delivery tables so their babies could be born on Texas soil. And the state issued honorary birth certificates.”

Dan appeared astonished. “For real?”

“Unless I misread the story.” Lena looked at Vicki. “Are they still doing that?”

“I have no idea, honestly. I thought it was just a brief fad when it occurred, and I’m positive the state isn’t in the business of giving honorary birth certificates.”

Lena chuckled. “Well, of course it would turn out to be a Texas-sized story.”

“It’s a good one, though.” Dan smiled. “It probably even grew legs for a while.”

“It grew legs for me,” Lena said. “Now I’m wondering how many times I told that story. I may have a lot of apologizing to do.”

“Don’t bother,” said Dan. “It’s a good yarn, and apparently at least a few people must have sent for Texas dirt.”

“That much was true,” Vicki said. “A few people. Maybe occasionally someone still does it, but only for their own amusement. It doesn’t make a real difference as far as I know.”

Silence fell for a few minutes. Vicki felt uneasy. Surely she ought to have something else to contribute?

Then Dan spoke again. “I think you’ll like living here. It’s a pretty good town, as small towns go. People are friendly. We can’t keep up with a place like Austin for excitement and entertainment, but we have other advantages.”

He rose, putting aside his mug. “I’m going to go now, Lena. Vicki looks exhausted, and we all have a lot to do tomorrow.” He paused in front of Vicki. “I’m glad I finally got to meet you.”

Then he was gone, leaving the two women sitting in silence.

“Did Krys go to sleep okay?” Lena eventually asked.

“Out like a light.”

“Then I suggest you do the same, my girl. You’re starting to look pale. Need help making up your bed?”

“Only if I can’t find the sheets.”

Lena laughed. “I got spares if you need them. Let’s go and settle you.”

Vicki wondered if she’d ever feel settled again, then made up her mind that she would. Compared to the past year, this was a small challenge. Feeling better, she followed her aunt upstairs.

Chapter Two

Lena was the bookkeeper for Freitag’s Mercantile. She often joked that there was little as boring in the world as a bookkeeper, unless it was a CPA. Vicki, who found her aunt anything but dull, always smiled or laughed, but she didn’t believe it. Besides, boring jobs sounded awfully good these days. For her part, until Hal’s death, she’d taught kindergarten, but there wasn’t a job available here yet.

Which was fine, she told herself as she fed Krys her breakfast, after Lena departed for a half day. Vicki wanted to spend as much time as possible with Krys, until the girl was truly settled here. In the meantime, Vicki had plenty in savings from insurance and death benefits, plus the money she and Hal had been saving toward a house. She could get by for years if necessary.

She had to deal with the present. Sitting at the table with Krys, who looked a lot perkier today, she said, “How about we set up your bedroom and playroom this morning?”

Krys tilted her head, her blue eyes bright. “Okay. I can tell you where to put everything?”

“Most of it, anyway. We’ll have to see how things fit.”

“Aunt Lena has lots of stuff.”

Vicki nodded guiltily. Lena had assured her there was ample room, and in terms of space, there was. The problem was that this house had accumulated so much over the years that the space was pretty full. With her additions, it was packed.

“We may not be able to get everything just right,” she told her daughter. “We’ll have to see where there’s room.”

Krys nodded and emptied her bowl by drinking the last of the milk from it. Vicki reached over with her napkin to wipe away a milky mustache and a few dribbles.

“Are there kids here?” her daughter asked as they headed upstairs.

“Plenty, I’m sure. Once we get some unpacking done, we’ll go look for some.”

“’Kay. I liked that man. He’s coming back, right?”

“Yes, to help with moving.” Dan Casey, another cop. Didn’t it just figure? And even in her dulled state, Vicki had noticed how attractive he was. Well, that was best buried immediately. No more cops ever, and moving on didn’t mean she was ready to dive into some relationship, anyway.

Time. She needed more time. Whoever had decided that a year was enough time for mourning evidently had never really mourned.

She pushed aside her mood and focused on enjoying Krys’s excitement. For the little girl, opening boxes and rediscovering treasures that had been steadily packed away over the past few weeks seemed to be almost like Christmas morning. Every rediscovered belonging, no matter how old or familiar, was greeted as if it were brand-new.

The child’s excitement was contagious, and Vicki joined in wholeheartedly. The bedroom was relatively easy. Lena had gotten rid of everything except a decent chest of drawers, and with Krys’s bed and the Boston rocker, all they needed to do was unpack clothes and books, and some of the stuffed animals Krys wanted in the room with her.

The playroom turned into a bigger challenge. It already contained a narrow bed, a chest and a bureau. Vicki moved the bed over against the wall, thinking that she could probably cover it with pillows and a spread, and turn it into a daybed. Krys slowed down a little, having to decide where each and every toy should go.

Vicki didn’t rush her. They weren’t going anywhere soon, and the child might as well enjoy whatever control she could over a life that had changed so drastically.

It amazed Vicki anew the number of toys Krys had, even though she herself had packed them. She and Hal had tried never to overindulge their daughter, but during the past year that had gone out the window. So often one of Hal’s colleagues would stop by bearing a gift. It was well-meant, but now Krys had way too many toys.

But she had refused to part with a single one, and Vicki hadn’t had the heart to disagree with her. Krys had lost too much, the move was a huge change, and if she needed every one of those toys for comfort, then they came along.

By noon, when Lena returned, they were only halfway through the unpacking, and Vicki suspected that Krys was dawdling a little. Getting tired or getting overwhelmed? She couldn’t really tell, and the child didn’t have the self-awareness yet to define why she was slowing down.

“Lunchtime,” Lena called up from the foot of the stairs.

Krys seemed glad of the break and hurried down. Vicki took a little longer, freshening a bit in the bathroom and wishing she had a window into her daughter’s head. Even teaching kindergarten, she sometimes found youngsters this age to be inscrutable mysteries. You could tell when something was wrong, but you couldn’t always find out what the problem was.

Krys wanted her leftover hamburger, and seemed to enjoy it even after a trip through the microwave. Lena and Vicki ate ham on rye.

“Dan called this morning. He got a half day, too, and should be over soon. I guess I need to figure out what I want moved where.”

“Lena...”

Her aunt shook her head. “No. Don’t say it. I made most of the decisions already, once you agreed to come. Vicki, believe me, I wouldn’t have kept pestering you to come here if I thought it was going to be inconvenient.”

“But—”

“Hush. We’re both going to do some adapting. It’s not a major crisis.”

Vicki wasn’t entirely certain about that, but decided to let it go unless a crisis blew up on its own.

When Dan arrived, Vicki and Krystal were pretty much relegated to the front porch swing. Lena wanted to label items that needed to be moved according to where she wanted them, and Dan accompanied her, taking notes to determine how much help he’d need.

“I could hire some people,” Vicki said at one point.

Dan merely gave her a wry look. “Don’t offend me.”

How was she supposed to take that? All she knew was that a big handsome man was moving in on her life. Her attraction to him made her feel a bit uneasy, and she quickly squashed it. Krystal yawned and curled up on the swing with her head in her mother’s lap. That effectively put Vicki out of the action.

It was a perfect day, however. A gentle breeze blew, and the temperature was somewhere in the midseventies. For a Texan it felt like spring, but this was summer in Wyoming. With her hand resting on Krystal’s shoulder, Vicki pushed the swing gently and decided to accept her exile from all the doings inside.

It was Lena’s house, and it would be handled Lena’s way.

* * *

It was nearly four when Dan emerged and went around the corner to the garage. He returned a few minutes later with two folding lawn chairs and set them on the porch. Lena appeared a little while later with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses full of ice on a tray. Krystal barely stirred. Evidently she was worn-out, whether from all the activity earlier, from the trip or from the changes, Vicki couldn’t guess. She let her daughter sleep on.

“Okay,” said Lena. “That’s half the battle done.”

“Which half?” asked Vicki.

“Everything’s labeled that I want gone. Some for basement storage, but a lot for the garage.” She grinned. “I’m going to have a big garage sale. Gawd, I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

Dan laughed quietly. “You should have told me.”

“I dither sometimes. Like I said, this place feels like the Winston Family Museum. Anyway, Vicki, I want you to go through. If you see any furniture I’ve labeled that you like, then let me know. I want the house to please you, too.”

Vicki opened her mouth, then snapped it closed.

Dan flashed her an attractive grin. “Don’t argue with Lena. There’s no winning.”

“I’m beginning to realize that.”

He glanced out toward the street. “We need to turn in that rental truck and get your car off the tow trolley.”

“There’s supposed to be someplace here in town,” Vicki said.

“On the west side. I can show you.”

At that moment, Krystal sat up. The instant she saw Dan, her face lit up.

Vicki felt her heart sink. This could turn out to be bad. Another cop. Damn, why couldn’t she escape cops?

“Go deal with it,” Lena said. “Krystal can help me with a few things after she finishes her lemonade.”

Krystal beamed.

* * *

While Vicki went inside the rental place to turn in the vehicle, Dan unhooked her car and rolled it off the trolley. It took him only a minute to reconnect her lights properly, then he leaned against the side of the truck to wait for her.

He had the distinct impression he was pushing himself into territory where he wasn’t wanted. Why, he didn’t know. It was something in Vicki’s demeanor. Not that it really mattered. He wasn’t going to stop helping Lena, and even if Vicki didn’t want him around, he felt a duty to Krystal. That girl’s daddy had been a cop, and he felt obligated to at least keep an eye on her and step up where he could.

If Vicki would allow him to.

He folded his arms and crossed his legs at the ankles, letting the afternoon sun bathe him with warmth. He knew a little about grieving. He’d lost his wife to cancer five years ago, and he still sometimes missed her so much he wondered if he could stand it. That might be what he was sensing in Vicki.

It had been only a little more than a year for her. A year was an infinity in terms of pain, but short in terms of recovering. The woman was probably a walking raw nerve ending.

He still wondered at her decision to come here. Oh, he’d been listening to Lena suggest it for months now, and knew it was what his neighbor had hoped for, but what about Vicki? She had left behind her support network, her friends, her home. And so had Krystal. Why? He’d never felt the least desire to leave Conard City after Callie’s death. Yeah, he’d eventually bought a house, but that hadn’t deprived him of anything. He and Callie had been living in one of the apartments near the college, and they’d always planned to buy their own place. He’d felt as if he was fulfilling the dream for both of them.

But it was entirely different for Vicki. And for Krystal. He kept coming back to that little girl and wondering if this were best for her. Of course, Vicki was her mother and must have had her reasons, must have determined this complete severing would benefit her in the long run.

Maybe it would. Krystal had been three when her daddy died. She probably hardly remembered him. She wouldn’t remember all that much about being four, either. Dan sure couldn’t. But she would remember this move.

At least he didn’t have a kid to worry about, so those were shoes that didn’t fit him even temporarily. He and Callie had wanted kids, though. When they found out why they couldn’t, it had been too late for Callie.

Hell. He uncrossed his ankles, straightened and scuffed his foot at the dirt. He didn’t want to run down this road again, but Vicki’s situation was reminding him. Funny how he thought he’d moved on, until something reared up to remind him he hadn’t moved as far as he thought he had.

The smart thing to do might just be to stay away, unless Lena needed him. Keep his hard-won equilibrium in place. But then he thought of Krystal, a cop’s little girl, and Vicki, a cop’s widow, and he knew it wasn’t in him to stay away.

A decent human being would help however he could. But for a cop it went beyond that. The family took care of its own, and Vicki and her daughter were family.

Simplistic, maybe, but every cop counted on that kind of support for his or her family when something bad happened.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps, and saw Vicki approaching from the office. Today she wore jeans again, but this time with a T-shirt emblazoned with the Alamo. Texan through and through, he thought, smiling faintly.

The smile she gave him looked brittle. “All done.”

He gestured to the car. “All ready.”

“Thanks.”

He hesitated a beat, then said, “I can walk back, if you like.”

Her expression turned quizzical. “Why should you do that?”

“You might be feeling a little overwhelmed.”

Her blue eyes widened a shade, then she shook her head. “Hop in, cowboy. I’m going to feel overwhelmed for a while.”

So he climbed into her little Toyota while she started the engine. It was a tight fit, but he didn’t want to push the seat back. Adjusting the car for himself struck him as an intrusion.

“Give yourself some leg room,” she said as she turned the car and drove toward the street.

She was observant. Reaching for the lever, he pushed the seat back. He sought a way into conversation that wouldn’t come out wrong. “Is this a big adventure for Krystal?”

“So far she seems to be reacting that way. This morning was like Christmas as she was unpacking her toys. And I need to find her some friends soon.”

“There’s a park just a couple blocks from the house. Swings, monkey bars, slides, sandbox. That might be a good starting point.”

“Thanks. I’ll take her there.”

Okay, then. As a cop he had become fairly good at hearing what wasn’t said. She hadn’t asked him to show her the park. She didn’t want him to. Vicki Templeton was setting boundaries wherever she could.

Fine by him. There was a difference between being there if she needed anything, and pushing himself on her. He could do the former, and it might be better in the long run. He had some rawness himself since Callie and hadn’t even dated since her death. Eventually, he supposed he would again, but he’d know when the time was right. For now, however, he couldn’t imagine anyone in Callie’s place.

Deciding that Vicki might be wise, he settled back, intending to focus solely on helping Lena clear her house.

And on Krystal. Vicki might think it was a big adventure for the child, but he’d seen her sitting on a porch swing, sucking her thumb and looking like an abandoned, weary waif.

He would do everything he could for that child. Starting with finding her a friend.

* * *

“Where’s Dan?” Lena asked, when Vicki stepped inside.

“He said he had something to do, and would see you tomorrow.” From upstairs, she could hear Krys singing at the top of her lungs. Vicki looked up. “She sounds happy.”

“For now. I left her to finish her playroom. There wasn’t much left to do, and she’s pretty certain about where she wants everything.”

“She sure is.” Vicki dropped her purse on the hall table. “I told her to put her toys where she wanted in there. I hope it was okay.”

“Perfectly okay.” Lena slipped her arm around Vicki’s shoulders. “Now let’s you and me have a quiet cup of coffee and relax for a minute. You’ve earned a chance to take a deep breath.”

Vicki hesitated only briefly. Keeping busy had become a kind of refuge for her, a way to keep grief and despair at bay. Coming here had been a way to escape the constant reminders of loss. Somehow it just hadn’t been getting easier.

Lena took them into her kitchen, which like many older ones didn’t have a lot of cabinetry or counter space, but instead had a big round table for most kitchen chores. Despite its lack of the conveniences Vicki expected, it was a large room and probably worked well. One long bank of counters and cabinets provided enough room for a microwave and a food processor, and little else. A sink with a short counter filled a second wall. That left a stove and refrigerator side by side on the third wall, and the table, which sat beneath the wide windows.

The coffee had already brewed and Lena set out two mugs for them. Vicki slid into an old oak chair at the table, saying, “We must seem like an invasion force to you.”

Lena laughed. “Actually, no. Why do you think I kept asking you to come here? This is a big old house, too big for one person, and it’s going to be yours someday, anyway. You might as well make any changes you want. Better than being caretaker of the family museum.”

Vicki laughed helplessly. “You’ve said that before. Do you really feel that way?”

“Sometimes, yes.” Lena sat near her. “When your grandparents were alive, that was one thing. The three of us got along pretty well, and the place was...well, what it was. But it’s been a while since they passed. This place echoes with just me, and I keep getting an itch to change it somehow. It always seemed like a ridiculous expense just for me. But now there’s you and Krystal, and I think changing this house around is going to be good for me. For all of us.”

“I hope so.”

Lena regarded her thoughtfully. “Does something about Dan bother you?”

Vicki started. “No. Why?”

“I know he’s a cop and you were trying to get away from being smothered by them, but he’s not like that.”

“No?” She waited, tensing.

“No. He’s a widower, you know.”

Vicki felt her heart jump uncomfortably. “He is?”

“Yup. Lost his wife to ovarian cancer a bit over five years ago. I knew her, too. Small town. Anyway, he’s become a good friend of mine, and I’d hate for you to feel uncomfortable with him.”

Vicki nodded and realized that she had indeed felt a resistance toward him. Not because of him; he hadn’t done one thing to make her feel that way. But because she feared...what, exactly? He might be a cop, but he wasn’t a reminder. She shifted uncomfortably. “I’m sorry, Lena.”

“No need. You and I have been talking frequently since Hal died. I think I have some understanding of the problems you’ve been dealing with. It might give you some comfort to know Dan’s been through a lot of it, too. Anyway, he’s a good friend. He could be your friend, as well, but he doesn’t have to be. I just want you to know that he is my friend.”

Now Vicki felt just awful. She must have done something to cause her aunt to speak this way. “I don’t want to make him feel unwelcome.”

“I’m sure you don’t. And you’ve been dealing with a lot. I only brought it up because...well, he was supposed to come here for dinner tonight. I expected him to return with you. Did something happen?”

“Not a thing. He was very helpful, and he told me about the park where I could take Krys.”

“Well, then, I’m going to call that young man and find out what’s going on.”

If she hadn’t felt so bad, Vicki might have laughed. Dan was young enough, but Vicki wasn’t so old that she should be thinking of him as “that young man.”

Lena went to the wall phone and called Dan. “I hear you’re skipping out on dinner. You never pass on my fried chicken.”

Vicki gestured that she was going to the bathroom, then slipped out. It seemed she couldn’t escape Dan, but then she wondered why she should even want to. He’d been pleasant and helpful, and he had no ties with her past, other than Lena. What was going on inside her?

She wondered if she would ever get herself sorted out.

“Mommy?”

She looked up and saw Krystal at the head of the stairs. “Yes, sweetie?”

“I finished. Come see.”

Vicki climbed the stairs to join her daughter in her new playroom. “I heard you singing when I came home. It sounded like you were having fun.”

“Aunt Lena said I could do it myself. I’m a big girl now.”

That was the second time in two days. When she reached the top of the stairs, Vicki stroked her daughter’s blond head and wondered if she had somehow put pressure on the child, making her feel she needed to grow up faster. Even with all her experience with children, Vicki didn’t know. They all seemed to want to grow up fast. But sometimes they had reasons that were darker than their years should justify.

The organization in the room existed only in her daughter’s eyes, but Vicki praised it sincerely. This was one place Krystal could express herself and control her environment, and not for the world would Vicki take that away from her.

Then she saw a photograph on the shelf and felt gut-punched. It was a family photo of her, Hal and Krys, taken on Krys’s third birthday. Balloons decorated the background, and all three of them were beaming.

Vicki hesitated, then said, “I thought you liked that picture by your bed.”

Krys shook her head. “I can’t see him when I sleep.”

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.” The giant fist, so familiar over the past year, once again reached out and grabbed Vicki’s heart, squeezing it until she almost couldn’t breathe. Her knees weakened and she sat on the edge of the bed, which had almost disappeared beneath stuffed animals.

Krystal climbed up beside her. “See?”

Indeed, she could see. Krystal had found the place in the room where Hal’s photo could see her everywhere. His dark, smiling eyes seemed to be looking at them right now.

“Daddy likes it here,” she announced. “Tell me about my party again?”

Despite feeling as if her chest were being crushed, Vicki told the familiar story of Krystal’s third birthday party. It had become a ritual, and if she skipped even one word, Krys reminded her.

Hugging her daughter, she forced life into her voice, when she felt as if she had no life left.

* * *

Dinner with Dan had been a pleasant time. They ate at the big dining room table again with the overhead chandelier adding some cheer. He and Lena spoke about doings around the county, and Dan included Krystal as often as possible, asking her about her new playroom, but in no way pushing any boundaries.

By the time Vicki took her daughter upstairs for a bath and bed, she felt more comfortable with the whole idea of Dan being around frequently. Unlike some of Hal’s friends, he wasn’t trying to play the father role for the girl. He just treated her as if she were another friend at the table.

Later, when she went back downstairs, he was still here, chatting with Lena in the living room. Vicki wished she could enjoy the kind of comfortable friendship they seemed to, and knew she was the only one holding back.

It was always possible she might not like him as much as Lena did, but she’d never know unless she joined the two of them.

Lena had made it clear that they were friends, and that wasn’t going to change. Vicki still wasn’t sure what she had done that had made Dan originally decide not to come for dinner, but she resolved to be friendlier.

If she could figure out how. She seemed to have become somewhat socially inept after the past year. But of course, she’d stopped meeting new people and had become enclosed by the blue wall of Hank’s friends. If she sat for hours without speaking, they didn’t worry about it. They just included her, then let her be.

Despite the passage of time, she’d seemed to want to be left alone more rather than less. It was part of what had driven her to accept Lena’s invitation—the feeling that Hal’s friends, despite their best intentions, were holding her in some kind of stasis. That with them she would always be Hal’s widow.

Well, if she was to have any life at all other than being his widow and Krystal’s mom, now was the time to start. And friendship was a good place to begin.

She went to the kitchen to pour herself coffee before joining them. Once again, she found Dan and her aunt on Lena’s old couch. Vicki wondered if her recliner sofa was radioactive or something.

“Hey there,” Lena said. “Is the tyke out for the night?”

“Totally. She worked hard on her playroom today.” Vicki smiled. “And she loves it. Thanks, Lena. I can’t quite tell how she organized it, but everything is where she wants it.”

“I could get rid of that bed.”

Vicki sat on the edge of the sofa. “I don’t think you need to. It seems to have become the home for a bazillion stuffed animals.”

“We should find some things to put on the walls,” Lena remarked. “That old wallpaper just looks old, and the room hasn’t been used in so long that if it ever had any charm, it was in another era.”

Dan chuckled, and Vicki felt a smile lift her lips. “Krys seems happy with it.”

“Krys put a lot of life into it,” Lena agreed. “But I’m sure I could give her something cheerier to look at above little-girl height.” She brightened. “Let’s do that. Posters, whatever. Bright colors. I bet she’d love to help pick them.”

Vicki had no doubt of that. “Just not too much,” she said cautiously.

Lena eyed her inquisitively. “Why?”

Vicki hesitated, acutely aware that Dan would hear, and might take it wrong. “Well, our friends...” Yes, call them friends, not Hal’s colleagues, not cops. “Every time they came to see us, they brought something for Krystal. That’s why she has so many stuffed animals and toys. More than any child needs. Hal and I didn’t want to spoil her, but...” Vicki shrugged, not knowing how to finish the thought.

“Well, thank goodness,” Dan said.

Startled, she looked at him and found him almost grinning. “What?”

“Krystal was admiring the wolf on my T-shirt yesterday. You don’t know how close I came to getting her a stuffed wolf. I guess that would have been the wrong thing to do.”

Lena laughed. Vicki felt her cheeks warm. “It wouldn’t have been wrong,” she said swiftly. “I’m sure she would have loved it. It’s just that she’s spent most of past year living in a flood of gifts. That needs to slow down.”

Dan winked. “Got it. I’ll get the wolf next week.”

In spite of everything, Vicki laughed. All of a sudden her heart felt a smidgeon lighter. “That’ll work,” she said.

Dan rose to get more coffee. Lena suggested he just bring the pot into the living room.

“So what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Lena asked Vicki.

“Your house, your agenda.”

Lena cocked an eyebrow at her. “You don’t get off so easy. It’s your house now, too. You still haven’t gone through to tell me if I’ve labeled any furniture for removal that you might want to keep. And we need to get at your unpacking.”

Vicki was glad Dan wasn’t in the room at that moment, because what burst out of her sounded anything but adult. “Lena, this is so hard.”

Her aunt instantly came to sit beside her and hug her. “I know, my sweet girl. I know. Don’t let me pressure you.”

“It’s not that,” Vicki admitted. “It’s that I seem to have made all the decisions I can make. I don’t know if I can make any more. And I’m not even sure I made the right ones. What if this is all wrong for Krystal?”

Dan froze in the foyer as he heard what Vicki said. The worn oriental rug beneath his feet had silenced his steps, and he was certain neither of the women knew he was there. Should he go back into the kitchen? But the anguish in Vicki’s voice riveted him to the spot.

He understood the torment of losing your spouse, and he was intimately acquainted with the decisions that eventually had to be made. Few of them were easy; all of them were painful. You could either turn your life into a living gravestone, or you could chose to move ahead.

But moving ahead meant making painful choices. The day he had realized that he needed to take his wife’s clothing to the Red Cross had sent him over an emotional cliff edge. Lena talked about living in her family’s museum. Well, he’d done that, too. He’d lived in a museum of his life with Callie. He supposed Vicki had done the same thing.

But his choices hadn’t been as broad or sweeping as the ones Vicki had just made. She hadn’t just closed up her own museum, but she’d left the only place familiar to her, everyone she knew, and she’d taken her daughter on the journey with her.

Hearing her fear that she might not have done right by Krystal pierced him. How she must have agonized over making the correct decisions.

He heard Lena speak again, quietly. “I’m sorry, my dear. I’m truly sorry. I keep wanting to be cheerful, and keep moving us along, and I forget how hard this must be. I’ve never had to do anything like it. It was different when your grandparents died. They were old, they were sick, it was time. And I didn’t have to do anything except stay right here and let time do its work. You’ve chosen a much harder path.”

“What if it’s the wrong one?” Vicki asked, her voice strained.

“I can’t guarantee it’s not. Only time will tell. But I listened to you enough to know all the thought you put into deciding to move here. And I know that never at any point did you forget about your daughter.”

Silence. Dan closed his eyes for a moment, absorbing Vicki’s fears and pain. He didn’t know what he could do about any of it, but he was determined to try. Then he heard Lena speak again.

“All right,” she said, “no more decisions for you unless you feel like making them. There’s really no rush, you know. I shouldn’t have pressured you. Take a break. We’ll sort out everything when you’re ready.”

Dan suddenly realized he’d been gone too long. After stepping backward on the rug to the kitchen door, he headed for the living room again, making his footsteps heavier this time.

When he entered the room, Lena was still sitting beside Vicki.

“Coffee, anyone?” he asked casually.

Chapter Three

Two days later, Vicki was beginning to feel that she had her feet under her again. She spent a couple hours unpacking her own belongings and arranging her bedroom, with Krystal’s guidance, then suggested they take a walk to the park.

Krys, dressed like her mother in jeans and a T-shirt, liked the idea, but ran to her room to grab a teddy bear first.

Vicki wondered what to make of that. Krystal had never before seemed inclined to carry a stuffed animal with her. Maybe the girl was still feeling insecure. Vicki hid her concern behind a big smile, stopped to grab her purse and keys, then opened the front door.

A young woman stood there, hand raised to knock, and beside her was a girl of about Krys’s age. The woman wore a summery halter dress, and the little girl was dressed in shorts and a sleeveless top with a pink bear on it. They looked almost like peas from the same pod with their shoulder-length auburn hair and hazel eyes.

“Hi,” said Vicki. “Can I help you?”

The other woman smiled. “Well, we’d heard a new little girl had just moved in down the block. I’m Janine Dalrymple, and this is my daughter, Peggy. She’s been badgering me to come meet you, but I figured you might need a day or two to settle in a bit.”

Vicki immediately offered her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Vicki Templeton and this is my daughter, Krys.” She glanced down at her, wondering how she would react. Vicki didn’t have long to wait.

“Hi,” Krys said to Peggy. “Mommy’s taking me to the park. Do you know where it is?”

“The park is great,” Peggy answered. “Slides ‘n’ swings and everything.”

Before either woman could say another word, the girls were off together.

Janine regarded Vicki wryly. “I think we’d better keep up. How are you at the fifty-yard dash?”

Vicki laughed, quickly locked the door behind her and hurried along. She noticed the teddy bear had been left behind on the floor.

God, she hoped that was a good sign.

* * *

The next couple hours slid quickly by as the girls played and Janine filled Vicki in on enough local gossip that she wondered if she needed to keep a crib sheet.

“Oh, you’ll hear it all again,” Janine assured her. “And again. Eventually, you’ll even remember the names. Little enough else to talk about around here except each other. Although... I wouldn’t want you to worry...most talk is kind and general. We have to live together, and hard feelings could last a long time.”

She looked toward the swings. “I see a couple of girls who are getting tired. Or at least Peggy is. Let’s do this again.”

“Absolutely.”

Krystal practically skipped the whole way home, and after they left Janine and Peggy at their house, en route, she turned into a chatterbox, words tumbling over one another. It was the most animated Vicki had seen her daughter in ages.

Maybe, she thought, drawing in a deep breath of summer air as they walked beneath leafy trees, she hadn’t been wrong to move. Maybe the shadows that had been haunting her had haunted Krys, as well.

Lena, who kept so-called banker’s hours at her job, was already there, humming as she emptied some grocery bags. She looked up as Krys and Vicki joined her. “Don’t you two look a sight for sore eyes. Good day?”

Krys didn’t give her mother a chance to answer. She started babbling on about the park and Peggy, telling her great-aunt every delightful little moment, before running to the bathroom.

“Don’t have to worry about conversation around that one.” Lena grinned as she and Vicki finished putting groceries away.

“Not today, anyway.”

“What did you think of Janine? At least I suppose it was Janine, seeing as how I just heard all about a little girl named Peggy.”

Vicki laughed. “It was Janine. She spent the whole time trying to clue me in on the town, and I’m not sure I remember a quarter of it.”

“Most of it was probably old and outdated, anyway. We’ll have new stuff to talk about next week.”

Vicki laughed again. “So what can I do to help with dinner?”

“Not a dang thing. After all these years of cooking for one, and collaring Dan or the gals to come be extra mouths, I’m actually looking forward to making a meal big enough for four.”

“Four?”

“I invited Dan over.”

For some reason, this time Vicki didn’t feel at all uncomfortable with the prospect. “Good. He’s been scarce.”

“All but invisible, if you ask me.”

Vicki leaned back against the table, trying to stay out of Lena’s way as she buzzed around. “You see him a lot?”

Lena glanced at her. “We’re friends.”

“I would have thought he’d have a more active social life.”

“Than me? Thank you very much.”

“I didn’t mean it that way.” Vicki felt her cheeks heat. The last thing she wanted to do was offend her aunt.

Lena turned from the groceries and eyed her. “I know you didn’t. Like I said, we’re friends. Just like I am with a bunch of gals. But if you’re curious about him, ask him. The man’s an open book.”

Was she curious about him? Was that what had caused Vicki to speak in a way that had implied there might be something wrong with the man? Why should she care, anyway?

She couldn’t answer those questions, but their existence scared her.

She didn’t want to get involved. She didn’t want another man in her life, most certainly not a cop. She shouldn’t be curious about Dan at all...except that she was.

* * *

Oh, boy.

Dan had been trying to give Vicki the space she seemed to want, and life had cooperated. Last night there’d been a baseball game that he’d wound up umpiring, because their regular man had broken his foot. Tonight some of the deputies had suggested meeting at Mahoney’s to watch a ball game on the big screen TV, and he’d considered it, but didn’t really feel like it.

Lena’s invitation had come as a relief, in a way. He could bow out of going to Mahoney’s, and have a good excuse to see how Vicki was doing. Vicki and Krystal. He told himself he was more concerned about the little girl whose life had been upended, but he knew he was equally concerned about her mother. Been there, done that. He knew grief intimately, and he was worried about the woman.

When Callie had died, he’d stayed put for a few years, relying on his friends for distraction, and keeping as busy as he could. Occasionally, he had even allowed himself to wallow, not that his buddies would leave him alone for long.

Sometimes he’d resented their intrusions, but in retrospect he knew they’d helped him every single time they’d badgered him to come do something with them. Vicki had chosen to kick that all to the curb. He knew everybody was different, but he still worried. Other than Lena, she didn’t know a soul here.

He guessed that left him, for now, anyway. Except she had sort of made it clear that she didn’t want him getting too involved. Maybe she was right. All that stuff about her being a cop’s widow, deserving of support and whatever else she might need, was true. It was even good. Cops took care of each other and maybe she hadn’t had time to discover it. But if someone else had been walking in her shoes, she and her late husband would have been among the people trying to help as they could.

But over the past couple days, Dan had become wary, and not just because she’d intimated she didn’t want him to become too close to her and her daughter. He’d become wary of himself.

His first reaction on seeing her had been quickly swamped in the awareness of who she was, and concern for her, her daughter and Lena. But the mental image of when he’d first seen her come out the door had become engraved on his brain, and he couldn’t dislodge it.

Vicki was sexy. Her tiny waist had been accentuated by the way she had knotted that shirt at her waist. Her hips flared perfectly, and when she bent over to lift something, he couldn’t help noticing her rounded bottom. Eye candy.

The woman turned him on.

Not good. He didn’t want another woman. Some part of him felt as if he’d be betraying Callie, even though it had been years, and that wasn’t a feeling he could reason with. Then there was Vicki’s clearly wounded state. And a little girl who might well resent any man who hung around her mother too much.

So while his response to her was all natural male, Dan couldn’t afford to let it grow, not even a bit. All it could do was make a hash of everything, maybe even damage his friendship with Lena. He suspected that woman would react like a she-bear with cubs if she thought anyone might hurt her niece.

“Ah, hell,” he said aloud as he showered after a long day of riding dusty roads and answering calls, most of which had turned out to be minor. He’d even had to pull a truck out of a ditch with his winch, all the while wondering if the driver, a ranch hand, had been drunk when it happened, but had had time to sober up and get rid of the evidence before Dan arrived. The guy had claimed to be waiting for a tow truck that hadn’t yet shown.

It was possible, but not likely, so Dan had questioned him closely, hoping he put the fear of the law into him sufficiently that he wouldn’t pop the top on a few beers again and then get behind the wheel. Or possibly enjoy the brewskis while he was driving.

It was easy out there on lonely county roads to sometimes get the idea you were all alone in the world. It was one of the reasons Dan liked patrolling, but it sometimes led people to do stupid things.

He glanced at the clock and realized it was time to get over to Lena’s. The burst of activity rearranging the house had died down, or at least any part that might involve him. Lena had been all in a rush to get rid of furniture, enough of a rush that she’d labeled it all, but nothing on that front had happened since.

Of course, the other night he’d overheard Vicki saying she couldn’t make any more decisions. He kind of understood that feeling, too. The way he had dithered about buying his own house...hell, it was a wonder the real estate agent hadn’t thrown him out on his butt.

Now to go pretend he didn’t feel attracted to Vicki, when in fact she was the first woman he’d felt attracted to since Callie... Didn’t that beat all?

It also made him uneasy. Was he responding to Vicki especially, or was he just waking after a long period of quiescence? He didn’t know. Dangerous ground, either way.

* * *

Krystal wanted to answer the door. Lena immediately said, “Let her. The worst thing that ever showed up on my doorstep was a guy selling life insurance.”

So Vicki stayed in the kitchen with the delicious aromas of Lena’s homemade mac and cheese—made with white cheddar and sausage instead of hot dogs—and tossed the salad.

She heard Krystal practically shriek, “Dan!” Then her daughter was off and running, relating everything she could about Peggy and the park. A short time later, Vicki heard footsteps approach and Dan’s voice saying, “Howdy.”

She turned and nearly gasped when she realized he’d picked Krystal up and was carrying her on his hip. “I want a horsey ride,” Krys said. One of Hal’s friends had taught her that, crawling around the floor on hands and knees while Krys straddled his back. Vicki’s chest tightened a bit.

“Maybe we can get you a real horsey ride soon.” Gently, Dan put the child down. “How are you ladies tonight?”

Their answers were drowned out by Krystal. “A real horsey? A big one?”

Dan squatted. “Maybe not so big for the first time, Krys. A deputy friend of mine, name of Sarah? Her husband has a horse ranch. He’s got some ponies that might be great for your first ride. But only if it’s okay with your mom.”

That diverted Krystal straight over to Vicki, who, despite feeling a twinge of fear about what might happen to the girl if she fell from a horse, couldn’t help laughing at her daughter’s excitement. “We’ll see,” she said repeatedly. “We’ll see. But don’t bug me about it, kiddo.”

Krys turned to Dan. “Bugging is bad.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed, straightening. He looked at Vicki. “Did I put my foot in it?”

She shook her head with a smile. The offer had been intended kindly, and she wanted Krys to have every possible good experience. Vicki could endure the inevitable pestering.

“Go wash up for dinner,” she told Krys. But her eyes seemed to have locked with Dan’s, and she felt a warm tingle inside, accompanied by a slight speeding of her heart.

She turned swiftly back to the salad, resisting her response to the man. She’d cataloged his attractiveness at the very beginning, but it had been only that: noticing it but not responding to it. Now that she’d caught up some on her rest, her body seemed to be taking a different attitude.

She didn’t want it. She absolutely did not want it. She wasn’t ready for another man, any man, and least of all one who risked his life on a regular basis. One trip through that hell had been quite enough.

“Do I smell your famous mac and cheese?” Dan asked, returning everything to normal, especially for Vicki.

“That you do,” Lena answered from the sink, where she was washing the cheese grater. “It’s almost ready. Why don’t you set the table?”

They gathered around the big round table in the kitchen instead of using the dining room. Krys was ravenous, and at first said very little. A couple times Vicki told her to slow down so she didn’t get a tummy ache. Krys slowed down, but not for long. Her only comment was “I like white mac and cheese better than orange.”

“A hit.” Dan smiled. He was doing a pretty good job of eating his portion. “So, are you planning to go to the county fair this year?”

Lena shook her head slowly. “Hadn’t thought about it. Krys should go, though. She’d probably like the rides. And, Vicki, I think you’d love the crafts. Some of the women around here make amazing quilts, and the knitting...well, if I could ever knit even stitches, I might go over to Cory’s place and join one of her classes.” Lena explained that there was a sewing and knitting shop just down the street from the diner. “You might like that, too.”

“I might,” Vicki agreed pleasantly, but her mind was back on the county fair. Had Lena just attempted some matchmaking, saying Krys and Vicki should go to the fair? The suggestion was hanging there as if she’d wanted Dan to say he’d take them.

But he didn’t, and Vicki relaxed again.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be working the fair or not,” Dan said, after a bit more discussion from Lena. “The schedule is still up in the air, but since most of the deputies with kids want to take them, the rest of us will probably plug the holes.”

Which, thought Vicki, was a good explanation for not offering to show them around, even if Lena had been trying to encourage it. Astonishment filled her as she realized she felt mildly disappointed. Steady, girl. No point in bargaining for trouble. “How long does it last?”

“It’s a whole lot of setup for three days,” Lena answered. “Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. The rodeo’s on Saturday. And of course, one of those traveling carnivals always shows up.”

“Why so short?”

“Most folks around here are awfully busy on their ranches,” her aunt replied. “But summer is the time for fairs. What can I tell you? Imagine holding one when the weather turns cold.”

“It’s just a small fair,” Dan explained. “We pretty much get overshadowed by the state fair, which offers a whole lot more for people who can get the time to go. Here it’s...a community social, basically.”

“Good description,” Lena said approvingly. “Anyway, in one afternoon you can see everything you want to see, and fit in the rodeo, too. Now, I like our rodeo. It’s mostly local cowboys who compete, not pros who are on the circuit, although we occasionally get one or two.”

“That would be interesting. I’ve been to the one in Austin, but the rodeo is professional, and so is the entertainment.”

Dan laughed. “You might hear a few local country musicians here.”

“Don’t forget the old guys with their fiddles,” said Lena. “Always gets my foot tapping.” She eyed Vicki. “A good place to meet people.”

“Speaking of meeting people,” Dan said, “I presume the Peggy that Krys was telling me about was Janine Dalrymple’s little girl?”

“Yes, it was,” Vicki replied. “They both came over this afternoon, and before I could even invite them in, the two girls were running down the street toward the park. We dashed to keep up. I like Janine.”

“I thought you might,” Dan said. “Salt of the earth.”

“Did you ask her to come?” Vicki didn’t know if she liked that. She preferred to think that Janine had come because she wanted to.

“Of course not,” Dan said. “I passed her on the street and she asked about the rental truck, so I told her you were here.”

So he wasn’t trying to micromanage her life even in small ways. Vicki had been through enough of that. Something that had been coiled inside her let go, and she was able to enjoy the rest of the meal.

After they made short work of dishes, Krystal wanted to play a game. She asked Dan and he agreed. Soon they were all playing a very childish board game with Krys, whose brow knit with concentration. One of these days the girl would realize the whole game depended on luck, but right now she gave it the attention of a major tactician.

Finally, Lena claimed an aunt’s prerogative. “Let me get Krys ready for bed and read her a story.”

Krys jumped up. “Can I pick the story?”

“Of course you can.” Lena looked at Vicki. “I don’t know about you, but I could use some coffee.”

“I’ll make it.”

“And I could use a walk,” Dan said. “Been sitting too much today.” He glanced at Vicki. “I can wait until you make the coffee if you want to take a turn around the block with me.”

Summer evenings were long in Wyoming, and Vicki wondered when she had last taken a walk around a block. Part of her felt a little nervous, and part of her thought she was entirely too hypersensitive. A friend was going for a walk. It would have been rude of him not to ask her.

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