“Emma Hawkins.” His voice held the kind of bass that led women to make all kinds of bad decisions. “I’m sorry to hear about your dad. If I’d known, I would have been there.”
“I know.”
“I respected him a lot.”
“I know. Don’t worry about it. It was hard enough for me to be there and have everyone apologizing when all I really want is him back.” I hadn’t meant to cry, but I choked on the last few words. I’d looked down so he wouldn’t see my tears, but then he was there.
Wrapped in his arms, he spoke words I needed. “I’m sorry, darling, that I can’t give you that.”
“I know,” I said for the thousandth time. “I miss him.” His shirt would be stained from my tears, but he held on. “I have no one left.”
“You have me.”
There was sincerity there, something that had been missing from my fiancé. He’d said all the right things today, but I didn’t feel it the way I did with Aiden.
When I was calm enough to speak again, I pulled out of his embrace because it was too easy to find comfort there. “I need your help,” I admitted.
“Anything,” he said.
“You don’t know yet what I’m going to ask,” I said on a chuckle.
“There’s nothing you could ask me, I wouldn’t do.”
I searched his eyes for calculation and found none. “You might want to take that back after you hear what I have to say.” I held my gaze on his earnest hazel eyes. “You look so grown up in that cowboy hat. When did you stop wearing baseball caps?” Somehow, I managed a small smile wanting to lighten the conversation before I dropped the bomb on him.
“You like me in baseball caps?” he teased, taking off the hat and running a hand through sexily dark tousled hair before putting it back in place.
I laughed a little more because his smile was infectious. “You just look more official in the Stetson. I heard you’re taking over as Chief Deputy Sheriff and you bought this place.”
“I did.” There was a moment of silence. “I heard you’re engaged.”
My mouth hung open for a second. “I guess Alana told you.”
“She wasn’t the only one. You know how things work in small towns.”
“True. I don’t see your parents often in town.”
“Yeah, they keep to themselves.”
As the conversation dwindled, he didn’t press me to tell him why I was there, and I appreciated it. “I guess I should tell you why I’m here.”
“I’m happy just to enjoy your company.”
My mind was muddled with everything going on, but I thought he might have just flirted with me. I pushed the ridiculous idea away. I’d crushed on Aiden half my life, but we never got closer than being friends.
“My dad,” I began. “The sheriff, the doc, they believe he had a heart attack and died.” I met his gaze squarely. “I don’t think that’s true.”
I expected him to give me the it’s just grief talking speech everyone else had. However, he surprised me.
“Why do you think that?”
Shocked, I said, “You believe me?” Though I hadn’t actually given him any facts yet.
“I believe you wouldn’t have slipped out of a house full of people to come ask me for my help for no reason.”
I choked on a sob again. To have someone listen without judgment was such a relief. My friends listened, but I saw their doubt even in their solidarity with me.
He hugged me again and ushered me to the porch. “Do you want a beer?” he asked.
“Please.”
The door squeaked when he opened it to slip inside. I took a seat under the covered porch and looked out at the snowcapped mountains in the distance wondering if there was a more beautiful place on Earth. He returned and handed me a beer, taking a seat next to me.
“Why’d you come back?’ I asked.
“This,” he said, raising his beer toward the view I’d been admiring. “Growing up, I couldn’t wait to leave. Then I left. There is a lot to see and experience, but none of it was better than home.”
“Even with the gossip?” I joked.
“Even the gossip. I can’t speak for everywhere. But in cities like LA, nobody cares about anyone else. Your car breaks down. No one stops and if they do, you have to worry they have some agenda that wouldn’t be good for you. I tried to make a difference. No matter how many crimes I solved, how many criminals I put in jail, there was always another bad guy, another murder, rape, or theft to solve. I was losing my soul there.”
“Not much happens around here. Won’t you get bored?”
“Maybe. But at least I won’t feel like I’m dying a little every day.”
I thought about that. “I have no reason to stay. I stayed for Dad and now he’s gone.”