for Alex's crying in the night. Those walls had heard her
mother's whispered vows of love to her baby girl.
Alex didn't remember, of course. But she knew that's how
it had been.
Tamping down the stirring emotions, she picked up the
conversation they had been having when they had left the
B & B. "Why is this proposed racetrack so important to the
Mintons?"
He glanced at her as though she'd lost her senses.' 'Money.
Why else?"
"It sounds like they've got plenty."
"Nobody ever has enough money," he remarked with a
grim smile. "And only somebody who's been as poor as me
can say that. Look around." He gestured at the empty stores
along the main thoroughfare they were now traveling. "See
all the empty businesses and foreclosure notices? When the
oil market went bust, so did the economy of this town. Just
about everybody worked in an oil-related occupation."
"I understand all that."
' 'Do you? I doubt it," he said scornfully.' "This town needs
that racetrack to survive. What we don't need is a wet-behind-the-ears,
blue-eyed, redheaded female lawyer in a fur coat to
come along and screw things up."
"I came here to investigate a murder," she lashed out,
stung by his unexpected insult. "The racetrack, the gambling
license, and the local economy have no relevance to it."
"Like hell they don't. If you ruin the Mintons, you ruin
Purcell County."
"If the Mintons are proven guilty, they've ruined themselves."
"Look, lady, you're not going to uncover any new clues
about your mother's murder. All you're going to do is stir
up trouble. You won't get any help from locals. Nobody's
gonna speak out against the Mintons, because the future of
this county is riding on them building that racetrack."
"And you top the list of the loyal and closemouthed."
"Damn right!"
"Why?" she pressed. "Do the Mintons have something
on you? Could one of them place you in that horse barn well before you 'discovered' my mother's body? What were you
doing there at that time of day, anyway?"
"What I did every day. I was shoveling shit out of the
stables. I worked for Angus then."
She was taken aback. "Oh, I didn't know that."
"There's a lot you don't know. And you're far better off
that way."
He whipped the Blazer into his parking slot at the courthouse
and braked, pitching her forward against her seat belt.
"You'd do well to leave the past alone, Miss Gaither."
"Thank you, Sheriff. I'll take that under advisement."
She got out of the truck and slammed the door behind her.
Cursing beneath his breath, Reede watched her walk up
the sidewalk. He wished he could relax and just enjoy the
shape of her calves, the enticing sway of her hips, and all
else that had immediately captured his notice when she had
entered Pat Chastain's office yesterday afternoon. Her name,
however, had robbed him of the luxury of indulging in pure,
masculine appreciation.
Celina's daughter, he thought now, shaking his head in
consternation. It was little wonder that he found Alex so
damned attractive. Her mother had been his soul mate from
the day in grade school when some snotty kid had hurtfully
taunted her because she no longer had a daddy after her
father's sudden death of a heart attack.
Knowing how ridicule about one's parents could hurt,
Reede had rushed to Celina's defense. He had fought that
battle and many others for her in the ensuing years. With
Reede as the bearer of her colors, no one dared speak a cross
word to her. A bond had been forged. Their friendship had
been extraordinary and exclusive, until Junior had come along
and been included.
So he knew he shouldn't be surprised that the assistant
D.A. from Austin had churned up such emotions inside him.
Perhaps his only cause for alarm should be their intensity.
Even though Celina had borne a child, she had died a girl.
Alexandra was the embodiment of the woman she might have
become.
He'd like to pass off his interest as purely nostalgic, a
tender reminder of his childhood sweetheart. But he'd be
lying to himself. If he needed any help defining the nature
of his interest, all he had to do was acknowledge the warm
pressure that had developed inside his jeans as he had watched
her lick sugar off her fingertips.
"Christ," he swore. He felt as ambiguous toward this
woman as he'd felt toward her mother, just before she had
been found dead in that stable.
How could two women, twenty-five years apart, have such
a pivotal impact on his life? Loving Celina had almost ruined
him. Her daughter posed just as real a threat. If she started
digging into the past, God only knew what kind of trouble
would be stirred up.
He intended to trade his sheriffs job for one that would
generate wealth and status. He sure as hell didn't want his
future shadowed by a criminal investigation.
Reede hadn't worked his butt off all these years to let the
payoff slip through his fingers. He'd spent his adult life overcompensating
for his childhood. Now, when the respect
he'd always wanted was within his grasp, he wasn't about
to stand by and let Alex's investigation remind folks of his
origins. The sassy lady lawyer could wreck him if she wasn't
stopped.
The people who said material possessions weren't important
already had plenty of everything. He'd never had anything.
Until now. He was prepared to go to any length to
protect it.
As he left his truck and reentered the courthouse, he cursed
the day Alexandra Gaither had been born, just as he had on
that day itself. At the same time, he couldn't help but wonder
if her smart mouth wouldn't be good for something besides
spouting accusations and legal jargon.
He'd bet his next win at the track that it would.