The Sheriff's Son. Barbara Daille White

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      Chapter Three

      Two days later, with a heavy heart, Sarah looked around the store and thought about the childhood she’d spent there.

      She could barely remember her mother, who had died when she was four years old. From then on, only she and Daddy rattled around in the three-story house with the big backyard.

      As a child, she had loved having all the books she could ever want just downstairs in her very own home. It wasn’t till much, much later, when she’d started working in the store with Daddy, that she learned the price of all that convenience. Taxes. Utilities. Upkeep. And a business that usually lost more money than it earned.

      Right now, the accounting books glowed in neon-red. She would be ashamed to show them to Delia, the owner of Dillon’s one and only restaurant, who had taught her how to balance the accounts after Daddy died.

      Daddy would never give up the house or the store—and neither would she. She’d never wanted to work anywhere but here.

      She turned back to the notes she’d jotted on the legal pad in front of her, the rough outline of ways to earn extra money. Maybe not enough to pay off all her bills, but any lightening of her load would help. The first idea she’d come up with, she owed to Tanner Jones and his devotion to her pecan loaf.

      And speak of the devil—she looked out the window to see the County Sheriff’s sedan glide to a stop in front of The Book Cellar. She’d had a reprieve from Tanner the day before, but that had just ended.

      She slid the notepad onto the shelf beneath the cash register. Wiping her palms on her skirt, she glanced at the wall clock. Kevin’s school bus would drop him off shortly.

      The last thing she wanted was for Tanner to be in the same room as her son. She prayed Kevin would come into the store and head directly to the stairs leading up to their kitchen instead of charging into the store like he usually did. But surely he would see the sheriff’s car outside and would know enough to avoid Tanner. Or maybe not.

      She would have to get rid of him.

      For a moment, his broad outline blocked the light from the front window, and a cool shadow seemed to fall over her. How could that happen, when he hadn’t yet entered the store?

      He shoved the door open. The bell tinkled. She wrapped her arms around herself for reassurance.

      She could handle this situation. She had to.

      “Afternoon, Sarah.”

      She nodded. Even before he removed his mirror-shaded sunglasses, she could feel his gaze on her. When her hands shook, she both feared and welcomed the reaction. Feared it for showing, no matter what he’d done, she hadn’t gotten over him. Welcomed it because, like the jingling bell, it gave her a warning.

      She slipped a clipboard out from beside her notepad. She’d hurry this meeting along.

      Between them, she and Tanner had set up the neighborhood watch. In pairs, people walked through town or drove past the outlying ranches. So far, though, they hadn’t seen anyone involved in suspicious activity.

      She forced herself to meet Tanner’s eyes. “Not a thing new to report, Deputy. We’ve got our groups set up for tonight and tomorrow.”

      “Enthusiasm staying pretty high?” He leaned close. Too close. Above the well-loved СКАЧАТЬ