Love In Catalina Cove. Brenda Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ to disown her if she did, but she intended to defy them and keep it anyway. Her parents might have disowned her but she knew her aunt Shelby never would.”

      “So in the end did she keep the baby or did she give it up for adoption?”

      “Neither. Although the baby was born alive, it later died of complications.”

      A part of Sawyer went still. “God, that’s awful.”

      “It was and what was even sadder was that when she returned to town to pick up her life, there were some who made it hard for her. They were still upset about her not revealing the identity of the baby’s father. Her only true friends in town were Bryce Witherspoon and K-Gee Chambray. Somehow Vashti weathered the vindictiveness and when she left for college she swore she would never come back and she kept her word.”

      He nodded. “I didn’t see her at Ms. Shelby’s memorial services.”

      “No, but I imagine she attended the funeral services held for her in Connecticut where Ms. Shelby was from. Shelby always said she wanted to be returned there for burial when the time came.” Trudy sighed as she glanced at her watch. “I’m leaving. Let me know how dinner turns out.”

      “Trust me I will.” Sawyer glanced at his own watch. His deputies for the evening shift had arrived and he could leave knowing things were in their capable hands. Anderson and Minor knew how to reach him if anything crazy went down. Things never did in Catalina Cove. He would admit it was a nice town and the perfect place to raise a family. He was glad of his decision to accept a job and move here.

      His thoughts shifted back to what Trudy had told him about Vashti Alcindor. He hoped the townspeople now saw the error of their ways and would make her homecoming a lot different than when she’d left.

      * * *

      “YOU REALLY GOT a ticket for speeding?” Bryce asked as they sat in her kitchen enjoying blueberry muffins and iced tea.

      Vashti shrugged. “Hey, I wasn’t speeding intentionally. In fact, I honestly hadn’t realized I was doing so,” she said in her defense. “That Corvette has more power than I realized. Besides, it was only five miles over the speed limit.”

      “And you couldn’t talk your way out of it? Or get the patrolman to go easy on you with just a warning ticket? You used to be good at doing that when you first started driving.”

      Vashti remembered those days. Back then she’d been deliberately speeding. All the teenagers in town considered that stretch of road as the Indianapolis 500. “No, this cop wasn’t friendly. In fact, he seemed like he wasn’t in a good mood, and when I asked him about a warning ticket he got all huffy and said he didn’t give warnings.” She took a sip of her tea. “The only good thing in his favor was his looks. Definitely eye candy.”

      “Did you get his name?”

      “Yes. His name tag said S. Grisham.”

      “I figured you were talking about Sawyer, and he’s not a patrolman. He’s our sheriff.”

      “Whatever happened to Sheriff Phillips?”

      “He finally retired, and after his son was killed while hunting, there wasn’t another Phillips to pass the badge to, thus ending the dynasty.”

      There had been a Phillips enforcing the law in Catalina Cove since the beginning of time. It had become a foregone conclusion that if a Phillips ran for sheriff he would win. “When did sheriffs begin staking out speeders? I’ve never known Sheriff Phillips to come out of his office to do anything, other than to show up at your parents’ restaurant every day around three for his blueberry muffin and cup of coffee. His deputies did all the work.”

      Bryce chuckled. “You remember those days, do you?”

      “Can’t forget them.”

      “Well, Sheriff Grisham is nothing like Sheriff Phillips. He’s a hands-on sort of sheriff. He gets out of his office a lot and will do anything he’d ask of his deputies, which includes setting speed traps. He’s strict when it comes to enforcing the law but is very approachable. He doesn’t act like he made the law the way Sheriff Phillips used to do. Like he thought he was King Phillips or something.”

      She and Bryce spent the next hour sitting at the kitchen table, eating blueberry muffins and drinking tea while reliving the past; at least the fun days when she’d thought the cove was the best place in the world to live and she would never leave. Life was good. The people were great. The natives stuck together and it took a while for any outsiders to be accepted.

      “So, what’s the story with Sheriff Grisham?” Vashti finally asked. During her and Bryce’s stroll down memory lane, she’d kept pushing thoughts of him to the back of her mind. For some reason she couldn’t forget the moment she looked up into his face. She’d been mesmerized.

      “He’s ex-military and ex-FBI. Moved here from Reno, Nevada, four years ago after being offered the job. It’s just him and his daughter, Jade.”

      Vashti nodded. “No wife?”

      “He’s a widower. His wife died of cancer around five years ago. I heard they buried her on her thirtieth birthday.”

      “How awful.”

      “I don’t remember her, but she was the Smithfields’ granddaughter who’d lived in Texas.”

      “I remember her. She spent a few summers here visiting them,” Vashti said. Herb Smithfield had been a federal judge, and he and his wife, Lora, had been members of her church while growing up. She remembered them as a nice older couple.

      “Well, she grew up and married Sawyer Grisham. When the Smithfields passed away they left their house to her, but she never moved here to live in it. Instead she had it rented out as one of those Airbnb places and was making pretty good money off it since it was always occupied by honeymooners. I guess Sawyer Grisham decided to put it to good use when the sheriff position came open.”

      Vashti remembered the Smithfields’ house at the end of Meadowbrook Lane. It sat on three acres of land with a small portion of the cove in the back, and she could see how it would be a perfect honeymoon getaway.

      “With Sawyer Grisham looking so good and all, I bet most of the single women in town are clamoring for his attention,” Vashti said.

      “You wouldn’t believe how ridiculous they are,” Bryce said, grinning. “Although he’s friendly enough, he’s a private person and pretty much stays to himself. He and K-Gee are good friends, though. I guess their friendship became close since they’re both ex-marines who’d spent a lot of time in Afghanistan.”

      “Does he date much?” She could see women standing in line to go out with him.

      “So far he hasn’t dated any woman in town, and it hasn’t been for lack of trying on any of their parts, trust me. Like I said, things got downright ridiculous. You wouldn’t believe all the blueberry pies left at the police station for him and the mass of dinner invitations I heard he got. Even Rachel Libby tried catching his eyes.”

      “Rachel Libby? You’ve got to be kidding me? Isn’t she a lot older than him? I would put his age to be at thirty-four or thirty-five.”

      “He’s СКАЧАТЬ