The Cowboy And The Cop

“Well, if it ain’t my daughter the sergeant. What is our pillar of justice doing now?”

Her father, dressed in greasy coveralls, a greasy baseball cap and greasy sneakers, slapped the back of her crisp white uniform blouse with a hand.

“I’m directing traffic, Dad. Can’t you see? Get to the curb. You can’t be here in the middle of the traffic with me.”

“I’ll take full responsibility, Sergeant.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.” She positioned her arms to direct drivers. “What brings you downtown?”

“I had to go to the license place.”

That did her heart good. He was doing something according to the law.

“If I didn’t get my license, you can bet you cops would be all over me.”

“And I’d be leading the charge,” Amber said, blowing her whistle at a particularly fast car. “Slow down! Tell me what you want, Dad. I’m a little busy here, and, again, I don’t want you to get hurt in this traffic.”

“I never get a chance to see you, daughter.”

“Dad!” She blew her whistle at another car. “Spill it or get to the sidewalk and we’ll talk later.”

“I want you to move back home to the bosom of your family.”

“The what?” She laughed. “You mean you want me to cook, clean and keep the law off your back.”

He shrugged. “Guilty. Will you come home?”

“When pigs fly, Dad.” She knew her father was teasing her, but she’d never leave her cute apartment over the Happy Tea Pot and China Shop unless she was moving out of town for a state police job. “Now get to the sidewalk, please.”

“Come over for dinner and we’ll discuss. Kyle is picking up some chicken and ribs and those corn muffins that you like from Smokin’ Sammy’s House of Hickory.”

Yum. She did like Smokin’ Sammy’s.

“I’ll come over for dinner. Thanks for the invitation.” She smiled. He was so transparent. He knew it, and she knew it. “But I don’t want any talk of me moving in. Wait a minute, you’re not still moonshining, are you?”

He didn’t answer, but she held up traffic while he walked to the sidewalk. He clutched at his heart. “Amber—I mean, Sergeant Chapman, how can you ask me such a thing? I’m as pure as the newly fallen snow.”

She laughed at his theatrics. Her father could always make her laugh.

“What about my brothers?”

“The same. They ain’t making moonshine.”

“They’d better not be!”

“Six o’clock?”

“I’ll be there, Dad.”

The traffic had dwindled to a few cars. It was then that she saw Luke Beaumont exit the courthouse and walk to the lot.

He waved to her and she walked toward him.

“What luck, huh?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“That you had to ask those three guys to leave because of the fire code.”

“Oh. Yes.”

“I found out that they were going to bid on the ranch. I’m not sure I could have outbid them. That was a close one.”

“Good.” Amber nodded. “I’m very happy for you.”

He chuckled. “I didn’t know that the Beaumont Sheriff’s Department were sticklers for fire code violations.”

“Oh. We are. Absolutely. It’s very important to enforce all codes as that are on the books.”

That sounded pompous, but she didn’t want Luke to think that he was receiving special treatment from her because he was a Beaumont.

Nor did she want him to think she had helped him because she was some kind of devoted fan.

She did it for the town.

“I’m off duty, Luke. Do you need a ride?”

“Since I taxied right from the airport, I was going to hitchhike to visit my father in rehab, but I’m not ready to deal with him yet. Would you mind driving me out to the ranch? Hopefully my truck is there and working, and I can drive up and see my dad later, but, yeah, I’d appreciate a ride home. Thanks.”

She radioed Dispatch that she was off duty and pointed to her cherry-red Honda CRV. “That’s my car.”

They walked to her car and Amber clicked open the locks. “Hop in.”

Chapter Four (#uef810a4d-3d57-5a5f-871c-2f4d9356d953)

It was about fifteen miles to the ranch; most of it was highway except for the last five. They made small talk about the weather, bull riding and the town in general. Amber was careful not to talk about the condition of his ranch. Luke would see it soon enough.

“What happened to the entry arch?” he asked as they arrived.

“Hurricane Daphne. The storm is responsible for pretty much everything.”

“Hmm...the entry arch is the first thing I’m going to fix.”

It contained the logo of the Beaumont Ranch, five ornate B’s in a circle for Big Dan, Valerie Lynn and their three boys. It was made of wrought iron, from what Amber remembered, and every vehicle and pedestrian passed under that arch.

Obviously, it bothered Luke that the symbol of his family was on the ground.

“Hang on.” He got out of her car and pulled the arch to the side of the driveway.