The Lawman's Christmas Proposal

His mom hadn’t intended it, he knew, but her gentle nudging only reminded him he shouldn’t be here now. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his family. He just didn’t enjoy coming back to his hometown. And this time, he didn’t want to think about the circumstances that had brought about his return. The disaster that had left him lying on a cold concrete floor next to his partner’s body.

“I hope you won’t have to rush off too soon.”

He had missed Thanksgiving by just a few days, and already both she and his dad had hinted they hoped he’d stick around for Christmas. He hadn’t had the heart to disillusion them. Hell, he didn’t have a reason. Yet.

This enforced time away from the job could end in an instant. Before the holidays, he had appointments scheduled with both the surgeon who had patched up his knee and the department shrink who thought his mind needed some patching, too. Good reports from them would put him right back where he belonged.

Bending down, he kissed her temple. “Let’s not get into my visits again right now, Mom, okay?”

“Your lack of visits, you mean.” She shot him a glance from eyes the same shade of blue he’d inherited from her. Since he’d gotten his height from his dad, she had to reach up to rest her hand on his shoulder. “I’m worried about you, sweetheart. We’re all worried about you.”

“Don’t be.” Unable to handle seeing her tears, he turned to grab a stalk of celery he had no taste for. “I’ll be fine in no time, just as soon as the last of the stitches dissolve.”

Yeah, he’d be all fixed up and ready to get back to work.

Nancy returned to chopping vegetables. “You had a call while you were out to SugarPie’s for coffee.”

He tensed. “From the department?”

She shook her head. “No, from Jed Garland. He heard you were back in town and wants you to get in touch.”

He nodded. As with most of the guys from his high school, he had once worked as a wrangler on Garland Ranch. He hadn’t seen his old boss for a while...the same length of time he’d been away from his family. The look in Nancy’s eyes said she’d just had a similar thought. That, and knowing why he’d returned now, added fresh layers of guilt.

“I’m surprised it took him this long to find out I’m back in town,” he said. “He’s usually right on top of everything that happens in Cowboy Creek. A regular old gossip, that’s Jed.”

To his relief, his mother laughed. “Gossip and more. He’s in the matchmaking business now.”

“What?”

“They’ve restored the Hitching Post’s banquet hall and reopened the honeymoon cabins. Tina and Cole were married from the chapel in June. They’re planning to hold the first guest wedding there around Christmas.”

“Jed, a matchmaker,” he said with a laugh. “Who’d have believed it? Then again, he’s always had a knack with people.” His former boss had always been there for him, too, especially in those days right out of school when Mitch felt he couldn’t talk to his dad. “I should stop by and check in with him.”

“You certainly should. He’s eager to see you.” She set the vegetable platter in the refrigerator. “And when I saw Paz at the L-G Store yesterday, I promised her some of the surplus I’d canned from my garden last fall. Just give me a few minutes to box up a few jars, and you can take them along with you.”

Fighting yet more guilt about his need for space from his family, he nodded. He knew how much they all loved him, but he had to have a break from seeing them tiptoeing through the house and talking in hushed voices, as if they were attending a wake.

Yet why wouldn’t they act that way in his company?

Thanks to him, a damned good cop was dead.

* * *

LATER THAT AFTERNOON, a warm one even for the tail end of November in New Mexico, Mitch parked near the barn on Garland Ranch. He found Jed Garland standing in the sunshine near the corral. As he loped across the yard toward his former boss, Jed smiled.

Since he’d last seen him, the other man’s face had developed a few more wrinkles, and his hair had turned completely white. But he still had the same piercing blue eyes and the firmest handshake around.

“Good to see you again, boy.” Jed’s fingers kept his trapped for another long beat before he let go.

Mitch nodded. “You’re looking good yourself. So is the Hitching Post. I see you’ve made some changes around here.”

“Yep. Got the signpost redone and the whole place painted.”

“Yeah, my mom said you’re in the wedding business again.”

“That we are.” Jed’s guileless expression put Mitch on alert. “We’ll be all set whenever you’re ready for our services.”

“For a wedding?” Laughing, he shook his head. “Thanks, but I’m not the type to settle down.”

“That’s not what you once said about staying in Cowboy Creek, though, is it? You’d always planned to follow in your dad and granddad’s footsteps and join the sheriff’s department—yet you went and became a big-city policeman.”

“Yeah. I’m a big-time LA cop.” Mitch said the words with a hint of bitterness backed by the knowledge of how drastically his plans had changed.

Jed nodded as if he’d read his mind, something he’d always been good at. Mitch found the trait much more disconcerting right this minute than he ever had years ago.

Probably because now he had things to hide.

“With your family’s connection to the sheriff’s department, I reckon it was a given you’d get involved in law enforcement even after you left town.”

He nodded. “Upholding the family tradition.” As he’d always known he would.

“Yep. Much as you liked horses and ranching, you never had a doubt about what you wanted to do.”

“No.” He still hadn’t, but his decision now had repercussions he couldn’t bring himself to confess to his parents or Jed. His long-held certainty, his downright arrogance that he could handle anything, had let him down when he’d needed it most. Clamping his jaws together, he hooked his biker boot on the lowest fence rung and stared across the corral.

“Let me say, son, I’m sorry about your troubles.” Jed’s clap on his shoulder hadn’t lost any of its strength, either. “I can understand if you’re finding your recuperation painful in more ways than one.”

His vocal cords seized up, overpowered by the lump in his throat. Looked as though his former boss was still here for him.

Jed Garland was one mighty smart man, but he couldn’t know about all his doubts. No one could.

Jed rested his forearms on the fence and linked his fingers together. “I’m sure you realize a man doesn’t reach success without some failure along the way.”

“Yeah,” he said harshly, “but my failure resulted in someone dying.”

“And in your line of work, you think that makes you stand out from the crowd?”

He shot a glance toward the other man. “You’ve been talking to my dad.”

“’Course I have.” Jed sighed. “I’m not saying what happened wasn’t a tragedy. I’m not saying it’s something you can ever shake off. But you’re too good a cop—too good a man—not to get past this.”

Looking away again, Mitch gripped the rail and squinted into the lowering sun. The bright light made his eyes water.

“Meanwhile,” Jed said, “it’s good you’ve come home.”

“Temporarily.” He hoped he sounded convincing. He lived and breathed law enforcement, had done ever since he was a kid watching his dad and grandpa pinning their badges to their uniforms. There was nothing else he wanted to do with his life. Nothing else he could do.

“You’ll have to hang around till Pete and Cole get in from the northern pastures. And Paz will have my hide if I don’t get you to stop in to see her. While you’re here, you can say hello to the girls.”