The Sheriff's Son. Stella Bagwell

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СКАЧАТЬ Sheriff Pardee would rather see things first-hand.”

      “Oh, yes, of course,” Justine said, glad the woman couldn’t see her red face. “Then I’ll be here waiting for him.”

      The woman thanked her, then hung up. Justine placed the receiver back on its cradle, then groaned loudly. “I’ll be waiting for him,” she repeated with a snort, then turned and looked at the twins. “What am I saying? I won’t be waiting for him. I’ll simply be here—ready to talk to…whoever shows up. But I won’t wait on Roy Pardee. Not even for you,” she added to the babies.

      As soon as the words were out, the girl began to cry. Justine quickly went over and lifted the baby into her arms.

      “It’s all right, honey girl,” she said in a soothing voice. “Not all men are like Roy Pardee. Besides, when you grow up, you’ll be a lot smarter than I was. You’ve got an intelligent little face. I can already tell you’ll know to steer clear of men who walk with a swagger and wear a badge in place of a heart.”

      The trip from Carrizozo, where the sheriff’s department was located, to the Bar M was a bit over forty miles. She figured she had thirty minutes or more before Roy arrived. She used part of the time to make a quilt pallet on the living room floor for the babies.

      While the twins rolled and stretched on their new bed, Justine peered out the windows, toward the corrals and barns, in hopes of catching a glimpse of Chloe or Rose. If there had ever been a time she needed the support of her sisters, it was now. But there was no sight of them anywhere, and she could hardly leave the babies alone to go in search of them.

      As for her son and aunt, Justine hoped the two of them didn’t show up until after the sheriff had come and gone. She didn’t want Charlie to see Roy. And she didn’t want Roy to see her son. Maybe that was selfish and ridiculous on her part. Roy would probably never make any sort of connection. Still, she wasn’t ready to take that chance. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be.

      Grimacing, Justine sat down on the couch in front of the twins’ makeshift bed. More than likely, she thought, Roy had forgotten all about the brief affair they had nearly six years ago. Yet she hadn’t forgotten. She couldn’t. Charlie was a constant reminder of the time she’d spent with Roy.

      As she watched the twins examine each other’s ears and eyes, a soft smile curved Justine’s lips. Having Charlie far outweighed the heartache and humiliation Roy had dealt her all those years ago. Her son gave her life meaning and purpose. She loved him fiercely, and would do anything to protect him. And knowing that only made her wonder how any mother had been able to leave these two babies behind.

      It had been at least two years since Roy was on the Bar M Ranch. He’d stopped by on a trip to Picacho to see Tom. There’d been a rash of cattle thefts at the time, and he’d wanted to see if the ranch had suffered any losses.

      Roy had always liked the older Murdock man, and had been sorry to hear of his sudden death a few weeks ago. Yet he’d not gone to the funeral. He’d known that she would be there and he’d decided that if or when he ever saw her again, he didn’t want it to be over her father’s grave.

      That day, he’d chosen not to see Justine. But today he had no choice, and he didn’t know how he would feel to finally look at her beautiful face once again. And she would still be beautiful. She could only be twenty-five or twenty-six now.

      He didn’t know exactly when Justine had returned home to Hondo. Quite by accident, he’d overheard someone in a Ruidoso café talking about Tom having his middle daughter back out on the ranch again. That had been several months ago, yet he could still remember how the snippet of news had stunned him. He’d come close to casually questioning the person about Justine’s coming home. But he’d stopped himself short of doing such a thing. When the county sheriff asked questions about anyone, it always started the gossip mill grinding.

      Six years ago, he’d been a young deputy in the middle of a messy breakup with the sheriff’s daughter when Justine came into his life. The result had been a secret affair. To this day, he didn’t think anyone knew about the torrid liaison he’d had with the fiery-haired Murdock girl. Except him. And it annoyed the hell out of him, because he couldn’t forget.

      The knock on the door startled Justine, making her hands jerk as she fastened the adhesive tab on the waist of the diaper.

      “He’s not going anywhere.” Justine spoke in a hurried hush to the boy twin. “And I want to make sure your pants aren’t going to fall off.”

      Her heart beating in her throat, Justine took another moment to check the fresh diaper she’d placed on the baby. Then, rising to her feet, she went to answer Roy’s second knock.

      The thin strips of glass running the length of the oak door gave her a glimpse of a tall man dressed in blue jeans, boots and a khaki shirt. His head was turned toward the corrals and barns, but the moment Justine opened the door, it jerked around to face her.

      For long seconds, Justine could only stare at him and wonder why, after all these years, he should still look so good, so sexy, to her. The years she’d been away had changed him very little, except to add a few sunlines to his face and muscular weight to his body.

      “Hello, Roy.”

      Beneath the brim of his black Stetson, his blue eyes flicked impassively over her face. “Hello, Justine.”

      She didn’t realize just how much seeing him had affected her until she stepped back to allow him entry into the house. Her legs were trembling on weak knees, and for a moment she clung to the doorknob for support.

      “Please come in. The babies are right here.”

      He stepped past her. Justine shut the door and turned to him.

      “Were you the only one here when you found the babies?” he asked.

      No “How are you, it’s good to see you, how have things been?” Justine thought. He was going to be strictly business. That was good, she supposed. She didn’t want anything personal to pass between them. Still, his indifference hurt. She’d once given him so very much of herself. But she supposed Roy Pardee was like so many men in this world. They took a woman’s heart, then forgot all about it.

      “It appears that way. My sisters must be out on another part of the ranch. And my—aunt has gone into Ruidoso.”

      He was looking at the two babies now. Justine drew in a shaky breath and raked her fingers through her long, tangled hair.

      “What time was it when you came home and found them?”

      Justine glanced at the watch strapped to her left wrist. “I don’t know exactly. I got off work a little later than usual, then drove straight home. I’d say it’s been at least an hour and a half.”

      “And how were they when you found them?”

      Her brows lifted as he turned back to her. “How were they?” she repeated inanely. “They were fine. In fact, I’d say they’re both in perfect health.”

      Roy’s eyes slowly drifted over her white nurse’s shift. “I wasn’t asking about their medical condition. I want to know where they were. In the house, here on the floor?”

      There was a thread of impudence in his voice, a sound that said he was just waiting, hoping, for her to make some sort of foolish remark. A second СКАЧАТЬ