Men to Trust: Boss Man / The Last Good Man in Texas / Lonetree Ranchers: Brant

“Duke’s nice. He won’t mind. He may not like Mr. Kemp, but he likes you,” she added with a smile. “I’ll bet he won’t even ask you to work a two week notice.”

“That would be nice.” She wrapped her arms around herself. The night was cool. “Has Mr. Kemp really missed me?”

Libby smiled. “He really has. He’s set new records for hostility and impatience. I think Jessie quit because she reached the end of her rope. She couldn’t please the boss no matter what she did. It seemed to Mabel and me that Mr. Kemp was trying to make her leave.”

Violet smiled delightedly. “I’ve missed him, too,” she confessed.

Libby hugged her. “We all know how you feel about him. I think you’ve got a good chance with him, Violet,” she said gently. “I wouldn’t encourage you to come back if I didn’t. I know too much about unrequited love.”

“You and Jordan are going to work out one day, too,” Violet assured her friend. “I’m sure of it.”

“Chance would be a fine thing,” Libby sighed. “Well, I’d better get home. Curt’s having a night out with the boys so I don’t have to worry about his supper, thank goodness.”

“Your brother’s a nice man.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Libby grinned. “I wouldn’t have minded you for a sister-in-law, you know. But you can’t get past love. I know. I’ve tried.”

“It will work out, Libby,” Violet told her.

“Somehow,” Libby agreed.

“Thanks for the pizza and the company.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“I’ll call Mr. Wright tonight,” Violet added, full of excitement.

“We’ll look forward to having you back whenever you can come,” Libby called on her way to the car.

Violet did phone Duke Wright, and he did waive her two weeks’ notice. He was sorry to lose her, he added, but a blind man could see how she felt about Kemp. Not that Kemp deserved her, he added wryly. Violet thanked him and hung up. She was going to be sitting at her desk when Mr. Kemp came in the next morning. She could hardly wait to see the look on his face!

Kemp and Cash Grier were on their way back from San Antonio after a stop at the coin dealer’s shop, a local attorney’s office, and a quick lunch. Kemp had salvaged more than enough of the late Riddle Collins’s assets to save Libby and Curt Collins from bankruptcy. They’d be able to pay off their outstanding loan and have plenty left over to put in the bank. The coin collection their father had left them was worth a fortune by itself. But in addition to it, Kemp had found two savings accounts and a new will that their late father had placed with the coin dealer in San Antonio. Apparently, he hadn’t trusted his wife, Janet, one bit, and had planned for her legal shenanigans after his death. He’d assured that his children wouldn’t be left penniless.

“Isn’t greed amazing?” Kemp murmured aloud, having told Grier the bare bones of the shameful way Janet had treated her stepchildren.

“It is,” Grier said. “I’ve never understood it. I like having enough to provide a roof over my head and the occasional night at the theater, but there are plenty of things I wouldn’t consider doing even to make myself rich.”

“Same here.” Kemp glanced at the older man curiously.

“Something bothering you?” Grier asked.

“I’m surprised at the way you’ve fit in here,” he replied with a faint smile. “You do know the whole town’s talking about your defense of your two patrol officers—the ones the mayor is trying to fire.”

“I like controversy if it’s in a good cause,” Grier said. He grinned. “I’m not letting them fire good officers for doing their jobs.”

“You’ve got some drug traffickers on the run as well,” Kemp mused. “You’re shaking up our little community. I like the changes. So do a lot of other people.”

“I’m glad, but I didn’t take the job to win a popularity contest.”

“Why did you?” Kemp asked evenly.

Grier sighed. “I’m tired of living on the run,” he confessed, gazing out the window while Kemp drove. “I’m feeling my age. I think I might put down roots here.”

“With Tippy?” Kemp fished.

Grier didn’t fly at him, as he’d expected. The older man frowned slightly. “She’s not what she seems,” he replied quietly. “I’ve misjudged her badly. I don’t know that she’d be willing to take me on, once she’s back on her feet and able to work again. In any case, I can’t let her far out of my sight right now. Not until that third kidnapper is in custody,” he added coldly. “If he turns up in Jacobsville and makes a try for her, he’d better carry life insurance.”

“It would take a stupid criminal to do that.”

“I’ve locked up a lot of guys who aren’t rocket scientists,” Grier said drolly, with a speaking glance at Kemp.

Kemp chuckled. “I’ve defended a fair number who weren’t, too,” he had to agree. “Which reminds me, if you want me to defend your patrol officers at the hearing, I’ll do it pro bono.”

“Thanks,” Grier told him. “But I’ve got a big surprise for the city council when they meet for that hearing.”

“I forgot. You’re related to the Hart boys, aren’t you?”

Grier grinned. “They’re my cousins.”

“And Simon Hart is our state attorney general,” he added, laughing. “Then I don’t need to offer my services. I won’t try to guess who you’re bringing with you.”

“You won’t need to guess,” Grier said. He stretched lazily. “I need a few days off. Once the election is over and the disciplinary hearing is decided, I’m going to take some time off. Tippy’s little brother is coming down here soon. He likes to fish. Maybe he and I can stake out a riverbank for a few hours and take some fresh fish home to Tippy for dinner.”

“Can she cook?” Kemp asked, surprised.

“Indeed she can,” he replied. “You’d be amazed at how domestic she is.” His eyes were soft. “She looks right at home in a kitchen. I could get used to seeing her across a table for the rest of my life.”

Kemp felt uneasy. Grier, an older and lonelier man than himself, was apparently thinking solemnly about a stable and shared future with a woman. Kemp thought of marriage and it made him uncomfortable.

“I’m not in the market for a wife,” Kemp said aloud. “I like my own space, my own company.”

Grier gave him a grin. “I used to be that way, too. There’s always the one woman who can change your mind.”

Kemp shrugged. “Not for me. I’ve been that route once. I never want to go over the same ground again.”

“Nothing wrong with being a loner,” Grier said. “Until recent days, I felt that way, too.”

“Tippy’s a beauty.”

“She’s got a good brain, and she’s a quick hand in an emergency,” Grier told him. “It’s not about looks.”

“Sorry,” Kemp said belatedly. “I was thinking out loud.”

“I hear your new secretary quit,” Grier mused.

“She couldn’t spell,” Kemp muttered. “It’s no loss.”

“What are you going to do, have Libby and Mabel double up on work again?”