James turned away from the raw emotion in her face, as much to protect his peace of mind as her feelings.
Shay backed up against the wall as the lawman from Charlotte took her Prince by the collar and snapped on a leash he had produced from his pocket. She crossed her arms to rub the goose bumps that had arisen. She was an adult. She’d learned much too early how very unfair the world could be. She’d learned to expect less than most people from life. Yet …
Until this moment, somewhere deep inside her had lived the ridiculous hope that Prince really belonged to her, that it was all a misunderstanding and that, at the end of the day, he would be curled up against her as she slept. Now she could no longer deny it. Prince belonged to someone else.
The unfairness of it all overwhelmed her good sense, rising as a stinging heat up through her legs and thighs into her stomach and then up into her chest and neck and face. She couldn’t breathe. The only action inside her was the hard hammering of her heart. As the sensation ebbed away, taking her hope and leaving behind a great sense of loss and impotence, fury once again flared up within her.
“I want to press charges against this man, for trespassing.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Shay swung around on the deputy. “I want him arrested! I can demand that.”
Deputy Ward sighed the sigh of a man who sometimes hated his job. “You can. But I wouldn’t advise it.”
“Why? Because he’s a police officer?”
Deputy Ward tucked in his chin. “That’s not the issue.”
“He admitted to you he broke in. You’re my witness.”
The deputy looked even more uncomfortable. “Can I speak with you a moment? In private.”
James looked around. “Do I smell coffee?” Without being invited, he headed toward a doorway through which a range top could be seen. Bogart followed obediently on the leash.
The deputy hitched up his pants before he began speaking in a low voice. “I know you’re fond of the dog but you don’t want to do this, Ms. Appleton.”
Shay breathed through her nose before replying. “All I want is my dog. I’ll drop the charges if I can keep Prince.”
“Uh-huh. But that’s not how it’s going to go down. And I got to warn you that attempting to take a law enforcement officer to court will be a sorry business. You’ve got a history of … let’s just call it unreliable behavior.”
“You mean because of what happened when I was a child?”
The deputy shifted from one foot to the other but there was sympathy in his gaze. “We’ve known you a long time, Shay. The sheriff and your mama were close friends. Did all he could for you two.” His gaze strayed away. “But we haven’t seen you in, what, three years? And last time you were here you reported seeing individuals on your property. That all turned out to be nothing.”
The heat of indignation flared so hotly Shay could scarcely draw breath. “So you think I’m either a liar or a nutcase?”
His gaze came back to her, his expression apologetic. “What I’m saying, Ms. Appleton, is you’ve got a history of being high-strung. Your mother, God rest her soul, did her best to protect you back then. But you’ve got an established pattern of erratic behavior. Heck, I almost didn’t rush over this morning on account of that. A good lawyer, if he did a little digging…” He lowered his voice. “Now you don’t want that.”
The word “digging” stopped Shay’s next argument even as it was forming. Heart hammering in rage, she looked away.
“All done?” James stepped out beyond the wall that had shielded him, no coffee cup in sight. As much as he craved that cup of coffee, he’d opted for information about Shay Appleton instead.
The pair broke apart like conspirators caught in the act. Shay turned an ugly glare on him, as if she had guessed he was spying on her.
The deputy stepped up, as if to once again shield Shay. “All done. Ms. Appleton isn’t pressing charges.”
Half in shadow behind the officer, Shay didn’t respond, yet James could feel the hostility radiating off her.
He wanted to ask a dozen questions about what he’d just overheard. Then common sense nudged him, hard. Do you have time to dick around, waiting for answers that probably won’t come and wouldn’t mean anything to you if they did? No, he did not. Time to go home.
“If we’re done here, I’d like to get on with the formalities, Deputy, so I can head back to Charlotte.”
Shay moved to stand between him and the door and folded her arms, defiance in her cocked hip. “Are you really going to take my dog?”