Riverbend Road (12 page)

She wasn't going to let him out of this easily. He tried one more time, pointing subtly to his service revolver. Understanding flashed in her eyes. She knew he couldn't leave his service revolver unattended in some corner somewhere.

“Devin would be happy to keep an eye on your piece, right, Dr. Shaw?”

“I will!” Eppie offered helpfully.

“You will not,” her sister Hazel snapped.

“I've got it,” Devin said, obviously trying to keep the peace between the sisters. “I'm happy to watch your piece, Chief Emmett.”

“Better not let that hunky rancher of yours hear you say that,” Archie Peralta said with a smirk.

Cade tried to figure out a way out, but nothing brilliant came to him. Okay, then. He could help her out for a few minutes in exchange for stealing her away from the group to talk about the vandalism case.

He unstrapped his holster and set it on the table next to Devin then followed with his ID and car keys. In the interest of a proper demonstration, he toed off his boots, grateful he'd worn fairly decent socks that day instead of the holey ones he was forced to wear when he hadn't had time for laundry in a while, then pulled out his backup gun and set it down too.

When he couldn't delay another moment, he cautiously approached Wynona on the mat, aware of the interested crowd of senior citizens watching their byplay.

She looked fresh and pretty, her eyes alight with laughter and her luscious mouth curved into a smile. As he neared her, the familiar scent of her drifted to him—citrus and vanilla and some other delicious aroma that was just
her
. Awareness sizzled through him and he wanted to just close his eyes and inhale.

This was a bad idea, he could already tell, and likely wouldn't end well for him. She had several reasons to be upset at him—the suspension and that kiss at the top of the list, but he imagined there were others, after their years of working together.

Nothing he could do now but ride this through.

“Be careful,” he murmured in a voice too low for the others to hear. “I don't want to have to hurt you.”

Something he couldn't read flashed in her eyes for just a moment then she gave him a sly smile. “We'll see who's hurting in a few minutes.”

“Okay, gang.” She turned back to the interested senior citizens. “I know it's tough when he's wearing the proud and noble uniform of the Haven Point Police Department but I need you to pretend for a moment that Chief Emmett is a bad guy with nefarious intentions.”

“Nefarious?” he murmured.

“Let's say I'm just your average woman walking down the street. What should I be doing?”

“Constantly assess your surroundings,” Jenny offered.

“Wear the strap of your purse across your body so he can't use it as a weapon,” the apparently bloodthirsty Eppie suggested.

“Keep your car keys in your hand to gouge out his eye,” Letty Robles suggested. “My son taught me that.”

“Great suggestions, all of you. I don't have any car keys or a purse. It's just me by myself when a big, scary stranger steps out of the bushes and tries to grab me from the side. Go ahead, big, scary stranger.”

He moved next to her, feeling supremely stupid, though he had participated in these classes in one form or another for years. He'd
taught
these classes, for heaven's sake. Just never with Wynona.

He had to wonder why not, especially when she had undeniable expertise in the area.

Cade was beginning to realize how he had subconsciously gone out of his way to avoid situations that would put them together in uncomfortably close proximity.

Perhaps he had been afraid of exactly what had happened the other night, that the feelings he didn't want to acknowledge would come bubbling to the surface the moment his guard was down and he would do something stupid like kiss her.

She kissed you first
, a voice reminded him, but he pushed it away. He couldn't think about that or he would start wondering again
why
she had kissed him and whether she might be dealing with this inappropriate attraction as well.

He didn't want to touch her. On a deep, visceral level, he was afraid if he did, he would grab her close, bury his face in her soft, sweet-smelling neck and never let go.

“Come on, Chief Emmett. Give me your worst.”

Everybody was watching them. He was going to have to go through with this. He drew in a breath and came at her from the side.

A second later, he was on the mat, felled by a move he hadn't even seen coming and her foot was poised just above his gut. A few more inches south and he would be singing soprano.

“That's how you do it, people,” she said with a grin. “See how I used my hand to distract him so my leg could get around his and take him down?”

“I'd like to see it again,” Eppie said.

“Mind if we demonstrate that in slo-mo?” she asked him.

Yes. He minded very much. But he was now well and truly trapped. “Sure.”

A second later they repeated the scene in instant replay. This time he caught just what she did but he still couldn't defend himself and he fell the same way, only this time her foot was poised right over the goods. The women tittered and a few men gasped.

“One hard stomp and he probably would be very sorry he messed with me, right?” Wyn said.

“Probably?” he murmured. She reached for his hand and helped him to his feet, where he did a little exaggerated rotation of his shoulders like he was trying to work out an injury.

“You okay?”

“It's tough work being a big, scary guy.”

She snorted but didn't answer.

“Can you show us another one?” Devin Shaw asked.

“Okay. One more, then we need to let Chief Emmett get back to protecting and serving. This time I want to show you how to get away if somebody comes up behind you. Say it's late at night, you can't sleep for some reason and your dog needs to go out so you decide to take a little walk on a lovely summer night. There you are, enjoying the way the moonlight gleams like liquid silver on the lake down the hill and the sound of the river and the smell of the pines and your neighbor's climbing roses when suddenly somebody comes up behind you.”

He was so busy listening to her vivid description and imagining her and Pete there enjoying the night that he didn't realize he'd been prompted until she cleared her throat noisily.

“Oh right. Sorry.”

“Grab me around the throat like you want to drag me into the bushes.”

What if he
did
want to drag her into the bushes? For just a moment, his mind stalled on an image of the two of them tangled together on summer-warm grass, as he had imagined that night, her mouth as sweet and welcoming as it had been in reality, her arms holding him closer, her slender curves softening with welcome while that liquid silver moonlight danced across them...

Yeah. This was a really bad idea. He swallowed and forced himself again to focus on the task at hand.

Firmly ignoring the sweet scent of her and the delectable curves he could far too clearly see in the yoga capris, he moved behind her and grabbed her around the throat with his right forearm while the other grabbed her left forearm.

She stomped hard on his foot, stuck a sharp little elbow in his stomach, and then when he instinctively released her, she turned and swept his legs out from under him in one swift movement. He landed with an
oomph
on the mat, her foot just inches above his face.

Her toes were still painted that soft shade of coral like her skirt the other day. He'd never had a foot thing before, but just now he wanted to nibble on each one...

“Oh excellent!” Jenny exclaimed. “I need to learn that one. Can you show us one more time?”

She stepped away and looked down at him in his ignominious position, her eyes bright with laughter and that mouth curved into a smile. He felt the oddest cramping around his heart, nowhere near the part of him that had been smacked to the mat.

“Up to you, Chief. Can you handle a little more?”

“Why not? I've already humiliated myself. What's a bit more torture?”

“That's the spirit.”

Being so close to her
was
torture, especially when what he
really
wanted to do was snug that curvy little behind against him and keep her right there.

“That was so cool!” Ed Bybee exclaimed, after they repeated the show. “Can we practice on each other now?”

Devin Shaw stepped forward. “Find a partner and come to the mat. We'll go through the motions that Wyn showed us but we're not throwing anyone to the mat. Anybody with a broken hip can't come soaking tomorrow at Evergreen Springs.”

There was a little grumbling but the class seemed to take that warning in stride.

He pulled himself to a sitting position and Wyn reached down again to help him up. Her hand was warm and soft in his and he wanted to wrap his fingers around it and tug her into his arms.

All in all, it was probably a good idea that he hadn't done this whole self-defense demonstration with her before.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“T
HANKS
FOR
HELPING
me out. I was afraid to be too rough on any of the class members.”

“Happy to help,” he lied. “Though someone would have to be out of his ever-loving mind to mess with any of these old-timers here. They're a dangerous lot, especially Eppie over there.”

“True enough.” She smiled and it took him a minute to remember the reason he had come to the class in the first place.

“Can I steal you for a minute?” he asked.

“I believe I've just demonstrated that I'm capable of taking you down if you try.”

He gave a wry smile. “Why do you think I asked first? You're nobody to mess with, as I've just been duly warned.”

He wouldn't forget again.

“I just need a minute to talk to you about your investigation into whoever's tagging the community center and city hall.”

“Right. Helen showed me the latest artwork. Give me just a couple minutes to answer any questions about what we showed them, okay?”

“No problem.” He spent the few minutes harnessing his weapons, shoving his feet into his boots again and pocketing his ID. He couldn't seem to stop watching her as she walked among the members of the class giving a tip here or answering a question there.

Finally she joined him. “You need to talk to Jimmy Welch, but you obviously knew that already.”

“I was afraid of that.”

“Maybe you'll have better luck than I did cracking his alibi. I almost had him last time but the district attorney backed down because the evidence just wasn't strong enough. I tried everything I could to nail him. I even searched his garbage for empty spray cans, but couldn't come up with anything. He's usually not smart enough to cover his tracks, but this time he seems to have done a good job.”

“Did you talk to the hardware store about recent spray-paint purchases?”

“Yeah. Nobody bought any of that color and Jimmy hasn't been in for weeks. It was a nonstarter. I checked all the places in Shelter Springs that sell spray paint but came up empty. All my notes are on my office computer if you want to review them. Or I can pick up the investigation again when I come back next week.”

“I'll keep sniffing around and see what I can find before I head out to talk to Jimmy. Maybe I'll widen the search on the spray-paint purchases beyond Lake Haven County.”

“It had to come from somewhere.”

“True. Thanks for the debrief.”

“Yep. I won't bother to mention that you could always lift my suspension so I can take over the case again.”

“Thank you for not mentioning it,” he said drily.

She smiled. “I guess I owe you for letting me take you down a few times.”

“Not at all. It's good to know you can take care of yourself next time you and Pete decide to take a midnight walk, just in case there are any dangerous characters lurking on Riverbend Road.”

He didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay right here and bask in her smile, though he knew she needed to return to her class.

“I haven't had the chance to ask what happened last evening at our new neighbor's house. What did she say about your little delivery?”

“She didn't turn me away, anyway. I fixed macaroni and cheese for them and we had a nice chat. I'm going back later today to help her unpack boxes.”

He felt that unfamiliar tug at his heart again. She was always doing things like that, kind little gestures that made a big difference in people's lives. Wyn brought a much-welcome softness to the sometimes harsh world of the police department.

The previous summer, Wyn had been on regular patrol when she happened to see a girl in Sulfur Hollow, his old neighborhood, selling lemonade at a roadside stand. Wyn stopped for some and found out the girl was saving up to buy a new bike for her little brother because he didn't have one. Wyn had ended up not only buying a new bike for the brother but one for the girl too.

He only found out about it because the girl's mother had been an old friend of his and told him how much it meant to her daughter. Wyn had never said a word.

She was so good with the victims of crime or accidents and he knew it was because she came from a place of hard experience.

“So did you manage to wriggle out of Andrea Montgomery or the kids whether they're holed up in the witness protection program?” he asked.

“No, but I found she's one of us.”

“What do you mean?”

“She's part of the law-enforcement family, anyway. Her husband was killed in the line of duty in Portland.”

He frowned. “That shouldn't account for the skittishness you described.”

“No, unless she just really, really hates the badge now.”

“It happens. Maybe you'll learn more while you're helping her unpack boxes.”

“We'll see. Good luck talking to Jimmy. Word of advice—wear your vest and take backup with you.”

Jimmy did have a temper but he doubted the man would fire on the police over some misdemeanor graffiti. But one never knew.

“Thanks.”

Somebody called her name from the group of senior citizens and she looked over. “I'd better go make sure Ed and Archie don't get ideas about becoming MMA headliners. Thanks again for helping me out.”

“I would say
anytime
, but I'm afraid you might take me up on that.”

She laughed, shook her head, then waved at him and headed back over to the mats.

He watched for only a moment longer before he forced himself to walk outside into the summer afternoon.

Their encounter highlighted just how tough a job he had ahead of him, returning their relationship to the amiable, comfortable one they had always known.

Why had he kissed her?

His life seemed composed of a string of isolated moments he would give anything to relive so he could make a different choice.

The time in Afghanistan when his convoy had been attacked and he had waited half a second too long to lift his rifle.

The nightmare incident where her father had been shot, when he had ignored his own instincts to take action before things ever got to that point.

Now he could add the soft summer night when he had kissed Wynona Bailey and changed everything between them.

* * *

W
YN
CLOSED
THE
kitchen cabinet door and shook the now-empty box. “That's the last one. You know what this means, don't you?”

From her spot on a chair at the kitchen counter with her leg elevated, Andie grimaced. “Your long ordeal of unpacking for someone else is finally over?”

Wyn laughed, delighted in her new friend. Over the last few hours, she had discovered Andrea Montgomery was nothing like the cold woman she encountered the first day. She was funny and smart and an amazing mother to her adorable kids.

“No. It means you're now officially moved in. You belong right here in Haven Point.”

Andie's pretty features softened. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”

“I do too,” Chloe announced.

Not to be outdone, Will jumped into the air. “I love it here.”

Wyn couldn't help smiling back. “Just wait. In a few weeks, you'll really love it. That's when we have Lake Haven Days, my favorite weekend of the year. We have a huge parade, a boat show, and even fireworks. And then at Christmastime, you can't miss the Lights on the Lake Festival, when boat owners decorate their watercraft of every size and shape for the holidays and float from here to Shelter Springs and back. It's so much fun.”

“I think it's great that you love your hometown so much,” Andie said.

She did. She would miss it so much if she made the decision that seemed to be pressing in on her more strongly over the last few days.

She thought of the phone call she had made after the yoga class earlier in the day, setting up an appointment with her old graduate-studies adviser at Boise State.

Returning to school for the master's degree she had almost completed when Wyatt died would be a huge step. She still didn't know if that's what she wanted to do—or whether she would have the guts to walk away from the comfortable life she had built here. She only knew something had to change.

She couldn't continue living in limbo. It was time to move forward with her life.

But not right now. At the moment, she couldn't imagine anywhere else she wanted to be.

She sat down at the kitchen table across from Andie. “You're going to love it here. I can't wait for you to meet everyone. McKenzie, Eliza, Barbara Serrano, Hazel and Eppie—they're sisters who also married brothers. They're real characters, just wait. They're going to take one look at these kids and want to be substitute grandmothers.”

“My grandmas are both in heaven with my dad,” Will said, his tone matter-of-fact.

“I'm sorry to hear that, kiddo. Mine are too. My house down the street was my grandma's and I used to love visiting with her there. She always made the
best
sugar cookies.”

“I love sugar cookies,” Will informed her.

“Who doesn't? I have her recipe. Maybe I'll make some for you one day soon.”

“Ooh, yum,” Chloe said. “Can I decorate them?”

“Maybe. I'll have to make them first.”

“I can help you,” Will said, sliding near her with his crayons and coloring paper. He leaned against her leg until she picked up on the not-so-subtle hint and pulled him into her lap with a smile.

Andie looked vaguely embarrassed at his forwardness but Wyn didn't mind one bit. He smelled of crayon wax and peanut butter and sweet little boy.

“What are you drawing?”

“It's your dog. Can't you tell? See, there's his tail and there's his yellow ears and his black nose.”

“Sure. I can see it now. That's a great likeness!”

“You can have it, if you want,” he offered, capturing her heart completely.

“Thank you!” She hugged him and he settled back against her, perfectly content, while he went to work on another drawing.

Oh, there was something about being the recipient of uncomplicated affection from a child. She wanted to sit here and hold this boy forever, to keep him safe from all the bad things the world might hold for him.

She wanted children.

It wasn't the first time the desire had manifested itself but it seemed to be happening with increasing regularity as she neared three decades.

She wasn't married and she rarely dated anyone seriously. That might pose a little bit of an obstacle to having a child anytime in the near future. She could possibly think about adopting an older child in need of love, but with all the other uncertainties in her life right now, that would have to wait.

That might be another argument in favor of going back to school. The chance to have a more settled lifestyle, with a nine-to-five job, might be more conducive to raising a child on her own.

She didn't want to do anything but enjoy the quiet peace of holding this darling boy but that would probably make her look weird to his mother.

“I think I might have some business for you,” she said to Andie.

“Oh?”

“My friend McKenzie Shaw is the mayor of Haven Point and she owns the floral and gift store in town where the Helping Hands meet.”

“I remember. You mentioned her yesterday.”

“She stopped by the community center after my yoga class was wrapping up and when I told her I was coming here, she told me to ask you if you are taking on new clients. She would like some fresh graphics for a fall ad campaign. Is that something you might be interested in?”

“Sure. That's exactly the sort of thing I do. Ads, brochures, marketing materials. Whatever a company might need. I do whatever pays the bills, if you want the truth.”

She glanced at her children, who weren't paying attention to the boring grown-up conversation. “I do have survivor benefits coming in but I'm trying to save that for the kids to use for college. If we can, I'd like to continue paying our way through my freelance income alone.”

“How wonderful, that you've created a career for yourself that you can basically do anywhere.”

“I couldn't manage it without steady work from Caine Tech. Aidan has always been very kind to me.”

“Aidan's a good man, one who certainly appreciates the importance of family.”

She hadn't liked him much when he'd first purchased Snow Angel Cove and the rest of the properties that went along with it. Like others in town—people like Jimmy Welch—she had worried about what he might do to the quiet charm and easy pace of Haven Point.

She shouldn't have been concerned. Since coming to town, Aidan had infused both capital and hope into Haven Point. The downtown area was beginning to flourish, more businesses were moving in and new people like Andie were relocating here all the time.

Yes, the town would no longer be a sleepy, struggling little community beside the lake. It was growing and changing. While that worried some people, Wyn had enough faith in the people of her town that she knew the inherent character of Haven Point as a warm, welcoming place wouldn't change.

“How long have you been interested in graphic design?” she asked.

Andie launched into an explanation about her first job in high school as a retail clerk and the path that had led from that to college and beyond.

“What about you?” Andie asked. “Did you always know you wanted to be a police officer?”

“Oh no. That was the last thing on my list. I had a dozen other dreams that came first.”

“What changed your mind?”

Life. Circumstances. A New Year's Eve party, a bastard with an illegal dose of Rohypnol and the horrible, helpless feeling of waking up with huge gaps in her memory, bruises on her thighs and the sick surety that something horrible had happened to her.

“Multiple things,” she answered. She didn't go into the assault. She never did. “A big part of it was my brother's death. Becoming a police officer was his only dream, from the time we were kids. After he died, I guess I felt like one of us should carry on that legacy.”