The Cowboy Sheriff

“Yeah, got the pins and needles thing going.”

Why was she engaging him in conversation? She wanted him out of the room, out of Dallas, back out of her life.

And yet, she wasn’t so blind and callous not to recognize what he’d done for her. She’d gotten some much-needed sleep all because he was willing to help and be uncomfortable, not something he had to do. It didn’t make everything okay between them, but she was one to give credit where credit was due.

“Thank you,” she managed, something she couldn’t have imagined saying to Simon again only two days ago.

“No problem. She’s a sweet kid.” He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but instead he shifted and headed toward the door. “See you in the morning.”

She nodded and followed him. This time, she didn’t shut the door behind him quite so quickly. If pressed, she’d say it was because she didn’t want to risk waking Hannah. Under no circumstances would she admit that his actions in the past twenty-four hours had softened her view of him.

One day of helpfulness didn’t make up for not telling the truth when it mattered most.

* * *

SIMON HAD TO ADMIT IT was way better waking up in a bed than a crappy chair, even if the bed wasn’t his own. The kinks he’d felt after holding Hannah for hours were gone, but he’d have no problem sleeping for another couple of days.

He lay staring at the ceiling and listening. No crying. He wondered if Keri and Hannah were still sleeping or had headed down to the lobby before the complimentary breakfast was over. At that thought, his stomach growled. He’d managed to eat a few bites of his barbecue dinner while he waited for Hannah to get tired but had left the rest behind in Keri’s room when he’d retired to his own. Maybe he could nuke the rest of the sandwich.

Unwilling to get up quite yet, he reached for his cell phone on the nightstand and dialed his office.

“Sheriff’s Department,” Connor Murphy, one of his deputies, said on the other end of the line.

“It’s me. How’s it going down there?”

“Fine. Snow’s pretty much all gone now. How’s Keri?”

“Been better.” Though she was holding up better than a lot of people would. But then she’d always been a tough cookie. He remembered how Clark Furst had teased her when she’d started developing breasts and how he’d gotten her fist to his jaw as a result. Sammi had been an athlete, too, but she’d had more feminine tendencies than Keri.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his calloused hand over his face. Still didn’t seem real that Sammi was dead.

“You headed back today?” Connor asked.

“Not sure yet.” Depended on when the funeral was. If it was quick, there was no point in driving back to Blue Falls only to have to turn around. “I’ll call in later once I know more. Listen, I need you to run some checks for me. Try to locate Keri’s brother. If I know Carter, there will be a ticket or arrest somewhere that’ll point us in the right direction.”

“Will do. I’ll let you know when I find something.”

Once Simon hung up, he dragged himself to the edge of the bed and stretched his back and shoulders. That’s when he noticed the sheet of paper tucked under the door. Thinking it was the hotel bill, he retrieved it. But it wasn’t a computer printout. He opened the piece of hotel stationery.

Sunshine came to pick us up early this morning. Thanks for your help.

Keri.

He knew she was going through a horrible time, but something about the note made him angry. He stared at her writing and it hit him. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Even after all these years, she still couldn’t forgive him.

Well, that was partly his fault, wasn’t it? She thought he hadn’t told the truth in the aftermath of Carter’s first arrest, and he hadn’t. Only her idea of the truth and what had really happened weren’t the same thing. Not that it mattered anymore.

He crumpled the paper into a tight ball and tossed it across the room into the trash can.

He’d done his duty. If he were smart, he’d just head home.

But then he wasn’t the Teague brother most accused of being smart, was he?

* * *

SHE SHOULDN’T HAVE BROUGHT Hannah. As Keri sat in the front pew two days later, staring at the open caskets of her sister and brother-in-law, she kept hoping Hannah wouldn’t notice her parents. She didn’t want her to have nightmares, not like the ones Keri feared she’d have after this dreadfully long day was over.

Hannah still clung to the bunny Simon had given her, despite the fact Keri had bought her half a dozen other new toys. Keri tried not to be irritated, especially since the bunny was keeping her niece occupied as she sat on Keri’s lap.

The sounds of the sermon and accompanying songs barely registered. She couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than the sound of Ben’s mother crying in the next pew over. Keri fought against her own tears, afraid they’d make Hannah cry, too. And right now, she couldn’t handle another hours-long wailing session like the one they’d gone through at the hotel.

Simon had been her savior then, but she didn’t want him to come to the rescue again. Didn’t want him doing things that might tempt her to let go of her bitterness toward him. She needed something in her life to stay the same.

He’d shown up here. She’d seen him as she’d carried Hannah in through the lobby. Their eyes had only met for an instant, and she hated the way she felt guilty for running out on him at the hotel. There was no reason to feel guilty. She’d left him a note, after all.

Truth was, right now he wasn’t the one she was mad at. Carter should be here with her, helping shoulder the burden of the sorrow and sudden responsibility for another human being. After Simon had asked her about him, she’d tried his number half a dozen more times as if she could magically make it be not disconnected anymore. The last time she’d had to restrain herself from throwing her cell phone against the wall.

Sunshine must have sensed her agitation because she reached over and clasped her hand. Keri squeezed back, thankful for her friend’s strength beside her. They’d been friends almost from the moment Sunshine had walked into the bakery three years before and proclaimed she could make the best cinnamon rolls in Texas. She hadn’t been wrong.

The rest of the funeral passed at the rate of a glacier’s advance. When it was time to sing the last hymn, Keri stood on shaky legs. Hannah squirmed in her arms, threatening to make Keri teeter off balance on her heels.

“Shh, honey,” she whispered in the little girl’s ear. Thankfully, Hannah complied.

Somehow she held herself together as the parade of mourners passed by and offered their condolences. Several felt the need to pat Hannah’s back or smooth her hair. She grew fidgety from all the attention, no doubt mostly from people she didn’t know. Keri was on the verge of whisking her from the room when Sunshine extended her arms.

“Let me take her.”

Keri clasped Hannah closer for a moment, afraid of letting Hannah out of her sight.

“We’ll just be out in the lobby.”

Hannah had been around Sunshine a lot the past couple of days and occasionally before that when Sammi had brought her to Blue Falls for visits. So she went to the other woman without any fuss, especially when her eyes lit on Brett, Sunshine’s sixteen-year-old son. She’d glommed onto him like she had Simon. Already a little flirt at ten months old. Brett took it all in stride and gave her loads of attention.

Keri placed a tender kiss atop Hannah’s head before Sunshine carried her toward the lobby.

She turned slowly back toward the front of the room, just in time to see Simon step away from Sammi’s coffin. No hint of his normal carefree self was visible. In fact, his eyes were suspiciously bright. He had been friends with Sammi, after all. She didn’t have it in her to be cold to him today.

His gaze met hers and he hesitated for the briefest moment before walking her way. He didn’t touch her like so many others had. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said instead.

He sounded so detached, so official, like a cop in a police drama on TV. A surge of anger rose in her until she realized this was likely how he coped with these types of situations. In his position as sheriff, he’d no doubt had to tell lots of families about the deaths of loved ones. How did he do it? Why would he want to be in the position to have to?

“Thanks.” She lowered her gaze and noticed the suit he was wearing. Black and well cut. If this were any other day, she might have turned and admired how he looked in it from behind as he walked away. But it wasn’t any other day. Plus, she still had more people waiting to express their condolences. Across the aisle, the Spencers were in the same boat.

Turned out Simon wasn’t the only Teague in attendance. The whole clan filed by in a flurry of hugs and kind words. She held her breath, just trying to get through it all. It wasn’t until Merline Teague, Simon’s mom, stepped up to her that she felt she might finally lose the battle against her tears. Merline had this kind way about her that made everyone feel as if she was their second mom.

Though she’d dreaded all the touches all day, Keri suddenly needed a hug more than she needed her next breath. Merline opened her arms and Keri stepped into them.

“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Merline said. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?”