Special Delivery. Laura Browning

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СКАЧАТЬ scarred wooden doors of the cramped brick building housing Mountain Meadow’s police force banged shut behind Jake. He frowned as he snatched off his baseball-style cap and raked his fingers through his thick hair to get rid of the hat-head look. He glanced at his aging boss. Chief Ernie Jones was just turning away from the ancient Bunn coffeemaker, stirring a spoon in a mug stating World’s Best Grandpa in big childish lettering.

      “What’s got you riled, Jake?” Ernie grinned as if he already had a damn good idea.

      “Someone toilet papered the nativity scene at the Baptist church. In her official capacity as head of the ladies worship committee, Betty Gatewood assures me it’s some of those folks from the Presbyterian church. She wants a full-scale investigation and seemed pissed I didn’t dust for prints. ’Course, Joe hasn’t said a word.”

      The chief stirred his coffee and failed at smothering a grin. Jake narrowed his eyes. The feud between the Baptist ladies and the Presbyterian ladies was legendary. It heated up every holiday season, most often with some help from the town’s teenagers. Jake had just never expected to land smack-dab in the middle of it. But thanks to covering for one of their vacationing officers, he’d been the one to answer the call. Now embroiled in the middle of the ongoing feud, he found it hard to appreciate Ernie’s good humor.

      “Come on, Jake, you grew up around here. You know they’re always feuding over something…or it’s kids burning off a little pre-Christmas excitement.”

      “That’s what I tried to tell her,” Jake said.

      “Well how’d you leave it?”

      “Joe and I removed all the toilet paper before I assured her I’d make some inquiries.”

      “Sounds good to me.” Jones sipped his coffee, sighed with pleasure and ambled toward the door to his office. “Jenny stopped by a little while ago looking for you. She mumbled something about a patient she was worried about. Wanted to see if you’d go check on her.”

      “One of her elderly shut-ins?” Jake asked as he shrugged off his leather bomber jacket. Jenny was always going the extra mile for patients, but he supposed they all did in their own way—just part of life in Castle County. People had always watched out for neighbors, like that kid and his sister the other night.

      Ernie’s thick brows furrowed as he drawled, “Nope. Didn’t get that impression from her. Sounded like a younger person.”

      He thought of Holly Morgan. He wouldn’t mind checking on her, but he doubted she was who Jenny had in mind. Too bad.

      “Well, I’ll try to give her a call before I leave. If not, I can ask while I’m at her place.”

      Ernie raised his brows. “Something going on there?”

      “No. Just friends. Jenny and I know too much about each other to be a couple. Besides, despite what Evan wants people to believe about he and Jenny being past history, no way would I tread on that territory. It’s the guy code. No, tonight’s a holiday party, not a date.”

      Ernie laughed. “Too bad. ’Bout time you found someone to settle down with, isn’t it?”

      “Don’t hold your breath.” Jake grinned and moved to the short hallway leading to his office, but as he went through the door he thought about Ernie’s comment. Jake did want a wife and family. And he guessed Sam and Evan weren’t far from the mark when they accused him of showing the signs. Problem was there didn’t seem to be a lot of candidates, and he wasn’t into the whole dating and small-talk scene. He never seemed to think of anything to talk about, and those long silences sure got awkward. Then it would turn into twenty questions with him answering yes or no. Women always wanted to talk things to death. ESPN and a beer to go with it were a whole lot less awkward.

      He tilted his ancient wooden desk chair back, listening to its familiar squeak of protest. He’d put a couple of noses out of joint when he’d applied for, and gotten, the job as lieutenant after his return from Afghanistan. A chill chased down his spine. He still experienced nightmares about those last two years. That’s what had driven him back to Virginia. He needed home, roots. His parents and his brothers and sister might have left Mountain Meadow, but he knew the people here, and it gave him a place to belong. Knowledge of the area, combined with his military experience had helped him land the job. He didn’t regret it. Most of the time. Hadn’t helped the dreams much, though.

      There were a few negatives. Most of his high school friends had homes and families. Except for Jenny…and Evan. He didn’t like to think about their past. Then there was him, rattling around in the huge house he’d bought. What the hell had he been thinking? The perfect woman would just drop into his lap? Even if she did, how long would she stick around with his nightmares?

      Jake straightened his chair, pulling the unfinished reports toward him. He was busy, that was what mattered. Family would come. He just had to be patient. A vision of a pale face with vivid green eyes popped into his mind.

      Holly. She was just as thorny as her namesake. She was an attractive woman, even if it did look like pregnancy was draining her. What was she doing on her own? Where was the baby’s father? He’d like to ask her, but how the hell did you do that? Hey, Holly, I don’t see a ring on your finger. Are you divorced, or did you just walk out on the father-to-be? Worse still. What if she was a widow? Jake shuddered. Way too awkward. Besides, a ready-made family was hardly what he’d had in mind when he pictured kids running around his house, filling the bedrooms on the second and third floors.

      No use even going there. She’d made it plain she wanted nothing to do with him. Even as polite as she’d forced herself to be, he knew when he was being hustled out a door. It might be the uniform, but he doubted her wariness was all due to it. A world of hurt had lurked in those eyes.

      * * * *

      How could you end up on hold just trying to check your bank balance? Holly sighed as she switched the phone receiver to her other ear. She hadn’t even talked to a real person yet. Was the computer that busy? When the automated voice spit out her balance, she saw it matched the pittance recorded in her checkbook and disconnected.

      Where was the Holly who normally cheered people? She blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, but more factored into it. The insurance money her parents left behind was never intended to cover the costs of her pregnancy. After she’d paid funeral expenses, Tyler’s medical bills, and settled her parents’ debts, there wasn’t much left anyway. What remained disappeared between leaving Lynchburg and getting set in Mountain Meadow. Without selling the house or finding a renter, she was in a bind.

      Renting this place had drained her money even more. She had always lived at home until she and Tyler left Lynchburg, so she never had to deal with deposits for utilities and a house. All of those extras had eaten into her meager reserves.

      She stared out the window next to the kitchen table. Damn you, Spence. He had burst her fairy-tale bubble of what a romance should be. Then his drinking and rambling threats had forced her to pick up and run. Nothing was more important than making sure Tyler and her baby were safe.

      Could Spence have done anything? Probably not. But she couldn’t take the chance with her baby or her brother. She’d already proven her judgment was way off base when it came to men. She wouldn’t make that mistake again.

      Now she was confined to the house, working part-time—thanks only to Mr. Crawford’s generosity. He’d set her up with a satellite Internet link and a laptop so she could СКАЧАТЬ