The Sheriff Catches a Bride

Chapter Nine



IN THE END, she stayed in Chicago overnight in a small hotel near the downtown area. Although she locked and bolted her door, and checked her windows several times, she found it hard to sleep more than a few minutes at a stretch. When she drifted off she saw Wahid, Abdul and Mehran again, walking down the aisle of the train, searching for her. In her dreams, she couldn’t hide. Instead, she felt compelled to draw attention to herself. She tried to whisper and raised her voice instead. Tried to shrink among the other chattering women and ended up standing on her seat.

Each time she lurched awake her heart pounded as she clutched the covers to her chin, scanned the room for intruders, listened for footsteps out in the corridor. Sometimes she heard them, and she waited, breath held, until they approached, passed and drifted into the distance. When her alarm rang in the morning, her eyes ached and her head throbbed. She wasn’t sure she could go on.

A hot shower helped. She unbraided her hair, washed it thoroughly, enjoying the spring scent of the hotel shampoo. She shaved her legs with the disposable razor she purchased the day before and used the blow dryer to dry her hair before neatly braiding it again.

She dressed in slim-legged trousers a shop attendant assured her were just the thing, pulled on an underwire bra a different attendant had held out for her inspection, and topped it with an eggplant-toned blouse and gray blazer.

“Something modest but classic,” she said to each shop clerk in turn, in memory of the woman from the train station.

She pursed her lips as she pulled out a new wig—soft brunette hair in waves that fell to her shoulders. Its tones were still far lighter than her own dark tresses, but it wouldn’t call as much attention to her as the blond wig had. She left the old one in the trash wrapped in a plastic bag and hoped no one would ever make the connection between the brassy blonde who checked in and the sober brunette who checked out.

“HI EMORY, IT’S ROSE. I think we need to talk.” She paced across the bedroom Autumn had assigned to her and stared out the window at the gray November sky. It would be cold again today, but at least it wasn’t raining. Or snowing.

Emory sighed on the other end. “Let me guess. You’re not coming in today, either.”

“No, like I said yesterday, I won’t work for you anymore.”

“Some notice would have been nice.”

“I’d have liked some notice before you burned all my paintings.” She bit her lip and fought for composure. “I’ll pick up the rest of my things later today. I don’t feel I owe you any more rent since you destroyed my property. I won’t come after you for damages, though, for my parents’ sake.”

“Rose…”

She cut him off before he could finish his sentence. His condescending tone made her want to scream; no way would she listen to him blame her for the way things had turned out. “I don’t think there’s anything more to be said, Emory. We’re done now.”

“What about Jason?”

Rose tried to answer him but couldn’t find the words.

“He needs to be here. I need him here,” Emory said. “Since you’re abandoning me, I need my son. You’re the one who drove him away; you need to bring him back.”

“I didn’t drive him away.” That was rich, even for Emory.

“Why do you think he’s been gone so long? Because you haven’t acted like a fiancée should. Have you shown any interest in him? No. Have you made a home for him? No. All you’ve done is slouch around and play with your finger paints. No wonder he never wants to visit. You’re a lousy housekeeper, a lousy cook and not fit to be in the same room as him.”

“But…”

“I saw the way you mooned over the sheriff. You’re probably two-timing my son along with everything else. You’re humiliating him, that’s what!”

Rose couldn’t believe her ears. Emory was truly losing it. “None of that’s true! You know…”

“All I know is that it’s time to grow up, Rosie. Get rid of your little girl hobbies and go get my son. If you don’t, I’ll get right on that phone and tell him exactly what I saw happen between you and the sheriff.”

Nothing happened, she wanted to say, but a memory intruded—Cab’s arm tight around her shoulders. Her desire for him to kiss her. Her desire for more than that.

“I knew it,” Emory said, seizing the chance her hesitation gave him. “I knew you were cheating on Jason. I’m going to call him right now.”

“No!” Rose said. “No, wait. Emory, don’t call him. You’re right, I need to go and see him. I’ll do it right away—tomorrow. We’ll get everything sorted out, you’ll see.” She’d break up with Jason but she’d do it on her own terms. No way was she going to let Emory screw this up, too.

“Go today,” Emory said to her.

Rose opened her mouth to contradict him, then changed her mind. Once she cleared out of the carriage house he wouldn’t know what she was doing. She’d pack everything she could fit in the truck and haul it back here to the Big House, then spend the rest of the day finishing her tree house. She could drive overnight to North Dakota and confront Jason first thing in the morning.


“I’ll come get my things right now,” she said.

FOUR HOURS LATER, she handed the keys to the carriage house to Emory and prepared to leave. As soon as she’d told Autumn about Emory’s ultimatum and that she wanted to retrieve her possessions as soon as possible, Autumn sprang into action, located a number of boxes and rounded up Ethan, Jamie and Rob to help her. Morgan volunteered, as well, and with four pickup trucks and a car between them, they made short work of the job.

Rose didn’t bother to try pack neatly. She figured there’d be time to sort through her things later. She didn’t have a ton of possessions, anyway. The kitchen table and chairs at the carriage house were Emory’s, as was the sofa, easy chair, end tables and coffee table in the living room. Even the bedroom set was his. Apart from her desk and some bookshelves, she didn’t own any large furniture. Everything else fit in boxes and bags.

Ethan offered her a space in one of the barns to use for storage. She labeled the boxes as best as she could and kept those things aside she thought she’d need during the next few weeks. Sooner or later she’d get a new apartment and settle in. Until then she’d live lightly in the Big House bedroom Autumn had assigned to her.

There were still a couple of hours of sunlight left when they finished, so she said thank-you to each of them and headed out to the tree house. Eager to make progress and forget all about Emory and Jason, she decided to tackle the roof.

Unfortunately, it proved harder than she’d thought.

First she had to build the trusses. She was gratified that by following the directions she’d found on the Internet, she’d managed to make all the angled cuts right on the lumber she needed to build them. One by one she assembled the triangular supports. Only then did she consider how she would get them on top of the walls.

Cursing beneath her breath, she lifted one experimentally. Much too heavy for her to perch up there all by herself and then hold in place while she attached it. She would need help. Cab would love to do it. So would Ethan, Jamie or Rob.

But that was just the point, wasn’t it? She didn’t want to ask them for help. She didn’t want to be beholden to anyone anymore. And she sure as heck didn’t want any of them to know what she was doing. Thank goodness none of them had questioned her about the so-called shed she’d been building, for that matter. She hoped they’d forgotten all about it.

Maybe she should ask one of her female friends. Not Autumn—she was pregnant, and Claire and Morgan were out for the same reason. So was Mia. Hannah frowned. She was surrounded by expecting mothers now that she thought about it.

That left Bella, who was much too busy, and Hannah—just as busy.

On a hunch, she called Hannah.

Hannah answered her cell phone quickly. Rose explained what she was doing, and taking a deep breath, swore her to secrecy. Then she told her about the tree house. When she tentatively asked for help with the roof, Hannah eagerly agreed.

“We’re closing shop early today. Bella’s off looking at properties again, so I can be there in a half-hour. Will that work?”

Squinting at the sun that was already getting low in the sky, Rose agreed. “Hurry if you can, though. We don’t have much daylight left.” She gave her directions to the woods, and told her how to pull her car behind the trees to hide it from the road.

Hannah was there in less than half an hour and with very little preamble they got to work. Hannah didn’t seem surprised at all that Rose was building a tree house in Carl’s woods. Instead, she appeared intrigued. More than once Rose caught her scanning the area around them, and she wondered uneasily what Hannah was thinking about. She remembered her asking if she ever wanted to get away from it all. Hannah and Cody weren’t doing so well. Was Hannah planning an escape, too?

They struggled to lift the trusses into place, but with two ladders and a lot of swearing, they were able to do it. They braced each one and then attached them to the walls. Dusk was falling fast by the time the last one was in place.

“Do we leave them like this?” Hannah said, squinting up at the four triangles pointing up into the air once they’d climbed back down to the ground for the final time. They’d tacked on some clear plastic to hold out the weather, but otherwise the roof was unfinished.

“I guess. I wish we’d had time to put the plywood up, too. That would have made it solid,” Rose said.

“Why don’t we?”

“It’s getting dark and when Cab gets home to Carl’s he’ll be able to hear us hammering.”

Hannah checked her watch again. “In that case, we’d better head out.”

“Thanks for coming,” Rose said when they’d tidied up and returned to their vehicles.

“No problem. I love this.” Hannah seemed reluctant to leave.

“Are you and Cody all right?” Rose asked tentatively as she carefully placed her tools in the truck.

“I don’t know,” Hannah said. “I really thought he was the one, but there are some things about him…” She shook her head. “Maybe I’m too picky.”

“I don’t know about that. When you choose a husband you want to get it right. You probably should be picky.”

“What about you and Jason? Is that really over?”

Jason. She was supposed to be on her way to North Dakota right now. Rose grimaced at the thought of the trip ahead of her. “I don’t know, either. I think so. I’m having a hard time getting up the nerve to tell him about it, though. In fact, I’m hiding from Emory right now. If you see him in town, tell him I’ve gone to North Dakota. In fact, tell everyone that. I’ll head out as soon as I clean up.”

Hannah looked at her sharply. “You’re driving to North Dakota tonight?”

“I should.” She sighed. “I don’t want to, though.”

“Then don’t. Go get some sleep. Start in the morning. I don’t like the idea of you driving overnight.”

Now Hannah was going to tell her what to do? But Rose didn’t feel like getting worked up about it. Somehow her friend’s concern didn’t annoy her the way Cab’s would have. She chuckled. If he were here, he’d definitely agree with Hannah and that would piss her off enough to make her determined to do it anyway. She thought for a second, and decided she was determined to do it. She needed to get this whole mess settled.

“Rose?” Hannah said, looking shy suddenly. “Do you think… would it be okay if I built a tree house here, too? I could build it somewhere else in the woods—you wouldn’t even have to see me if you didn’t want to.”

Rose hesitated, all thoughts of Jason gone. Did she want company out here? This was supposed to be her hideaway, somewhere no one would bother her.

“Forget it,” Hannah rushed to say before she could answer. “It was a dumb idea.” She turned to go.

“No!” Rose found herself saying. “I would like privacy, but there’s plenty of room. You could build yours farther back from the road.”

Hannah’s face lit up. “Really? Thanks! I can’t wait!”

As she watched her friend climb into her car, pull out and drive onto the road, worry knotted Rose’s stomach. She hoped she hadn’t just made a big mistake.

“MORE TERRORISTS ON THE LOOSE in Chance Creek?” Cab asked Tracey as he settled in a booth at Linda’s Diner, sending a significant look toward the table where Kevin was holding court. It was dinnertime—did the man eat here three times a day? Well, why not? He practically did.


Tracey filled his coffee cup. “According to Kevin, they’ll infiltrate the woods and hills first, then come into town when they’ve secured the high ground.”

“What is it exactly that they want from us again?”

Tracey paused, hand on her hip. “I’m not sure. Our cattle? Do terrorists eat steak?”

“Sure. Everyone eats steak.”

“You don’t really think there could ever be terrorists in Chance Creek, do you?” Tracey asked. “I mean, that would be far too weird.”

“No, I think we’re safe from that particular menace,” Cab assured her. He wasn’t worried about terrorists at all, although come to think of it he should make sure his office’s disaster manual included instructions for explosions. You never knew…

Rose worried him far more than the idea of some crazy foreigners running around the woods. He’d found it hard to sleep last night, thinking of what she’d said at Ethan and Autumn’s place the other day.

She attracted people that liked to tell her what to do. That didn’t describe him one bit. He just knew what the world was like and wanted to protect her. How was that bad?

“Hi, Cab. Mind if I join you?” Morgan paused by his table, shrugging off her thick coat.

“Go right ahead. How are things at the ranch?”

She shrugged. “Slow. There’s not a lot for us to do now that the weather’s turned cold. Next spring we’ll be working like crazy to get the vineyard up and running, though, so I’ve decided to appreciate the time off. We helped Rose move her stuff yesterday. She’s got some of it piled in an old barn for now. Poor thing. That Emory is really a character, isn’t he?”

“That’s one way to put it. How did she seem?”

“She’s keeping herself busy. She was out all day. Now she’s on her way to North Dakota.”

“North Dakota?” Cab put down his coffee.

“She didn’t tell you?” Morgan’s eyebrows shot up. “I kind of wondered. Emory kept telling her to hurry up and get going when we were loading up her stuff. I guess she decided to get the whole breakup thing over with.”

Cab didn’t know which scenario he liked least: the one in which she went to North Dakota, or the one in which she didn’t go. He didn’t want Jason to get the chance to change her mind, but until she broke things off with the man, she wouldn’t be free to date him.

“Is there something going on between you two?” Morgan asked.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said testily.

He and Morgan dropped the subject after that, and he managed to finish up his day without letting his feelings get the better of him, but when he pulled in to Carl’s house it was all he could do not to kick to pieces the first Ming vase he came across. Rose hadn’t even called to let him know she’d be gone.

She might arrive there with the best intentions, but would she be able to keep firm to her resolve when Jason took her to dinner, poured her a glass of wine and sweet-talked her? Was that why she didn’t say anything to him before she left—because part of her still wanted to make it up with Jason?

The man would be an idiot to let a woman like Rose go. Look at all she’d put up with so far for him. Where else was he going to find someone so loyal? If he’d managed to string her along for this many years, what were the chances he’d let her go now?

Rose shouldn’t have gone alone, either. She shouldn’t have gone at all—not at night. For one thing, it was November. What if a storm hit? What if she went off the road? What if she stopped at a rest area and got attacked? Somebody ought to strangle Emory for even putting the idea into her head. Maybe he should put out an APB…

All right, now he was getting as crazy as Emory. Cab took a breath and tried to look at things objectively. Was Rose right? Was he too controlling?

When his phone rang, he grabbed it out of his pocket with relief, uncomfortable with that last bit of soul-searching. He didn’t recognize the number and he hoped it was Rose. “Hello.”

A young-sounding female voice answered him. “Is this Cab Johnson?”

“Yes.”

A pause. “This is Mia Start. Is Rose there by any chance?”

Mia? He recalled the night he’d joined the two women for dinner at the Burger Shack. “No. I think she’s in North Dakota, actually. I think she’ll be back in a day or two.”

“Oh,” Mia said. “Really? We were supposed to have dinner tonight.”

Right. He remembered them setting up the date. Rose must have forgotten. Just like she’d evidently forgotten their date to go shooting tomorrow.

“I’m not positive, but that’s what Morgan said.”

“Okay.” Mia sounded forlorn.

“Is everything all right?” Cab asked her.

The pause stretched out longer this time. “Yeah. It’s fine. I was just looking forward to it. Thanks for the information.” She hung up before he could say anything else.

SHE WAS SUCH A COWARD.

Rose had packed her bags, announced her plans to Autumn and Morgan, but before she’d made it thirty miles out of town she’d lost her nerve.

Jason was going to be angry. Really angry. Even if he wanted to call the engagement off as much as she did, she knew him well enough to predict he’d hate being dumped. She pulled in to the first rest area she came to on the highway, parked her car and sat lost in thought. What was the use of confronting him in person? Driving all night was stupid. When she arrived, he’d be just getting up and she’d want to go to bed. First she’d have to find him, of course. He’d moved recently and she hadn’t visited him since. And what would she do after they hashed things out? Ask to stay the night?

No, she’d have one of two choices; find a hotel or drive straight back home. Neither one appealed.

Was it really so important they speak in person? Wouldn’t it be easier for both of them to break up over the phone? Why not? After all, when was the last time he’d bothered to come see her?

Before she could change her mind she pulled out her phone and called his number.

“Hello?” Jason’s deep, smooth voice caught her unprepared and for a moment she thought this was all a big mistake. Jason used to be her best friend—her rock—but that was so long ago. Things were different now, she reminded herself. They’d been different for months.

“Hi, it’s me,” she said.

“Rose?”

Why had he hesitated so long before saying her name? Was he expecting someone else to call? His other girlfriend? Probably. Jason Thayer was far too handsome to be lonely for long. She was na?ve if she thought he’d really stayed celibate all this time.

“Yeah. Listen, I think we should talk.”

“About what?” He was instantly on guard and Rose realized he’d been like that a lot during their calls lately. When they actually spoke.

“About us,” she said softly. “This isn’t working.”

It hurt to say the words, despite her certainty it was the right thing to do. While she didn’t love Jason the way she used to love him, she still cared for him deeply. They’d been through so much together.

“Us?”

“Of course us.”

“Rose…” He hesitated. Gone was the hard tone he used so often these days. In its place was uncertainty. “I know it’s taking longer than I said…”

“It’s not that. It’s the distance between us. It’s not the same anymore. We’re not the same.” Now that she had started, the words spilled out of her. “You used to call every day, Jason. You texted me all the time. You told me everything that was happening to you and you wanted to know everything about me, too.”


“I still want…”

“Listen to me,” she said, cutting across his words. “I can’t wait anymore. I can’t put my life on hold like this and I don’t think we want the same things anyhow.”

Jason was quiet for a long moment. “Is there someone else?”

She waited a beat too long. “No… of course not.” But there was, and now he knew it, too.

“Hell.”

She tried to picture him in his apartment in North Dakota, but she couldn’t. She’d never been there. She’d gone to see him once or twice in the early days, but he’d moved several times since then. She’d always had the feeling he liked to keep her separate from his North Dakota life. Why was that?

“It’s been months since you’ve come to see me. I figured you’d be happy if I broke things off,” she said, putting all those feelings into words.

“Really? That’s what you thought?”

“Yeah,” she said, matching his anger. “What else was I supposed to think?”

“I hear about you from Dad, you know. So even if we don’t talk, I know what’s going on.”

What did he mean by that? Had Emory told him about Cab? “Did you know your father burnt up half my paintings?” She didn’t mean to lash out at him, but on the other hand she did, too. She was the one who stayed behind and worked day in, day out in his father’s store and put up with all of Emory’s craziness. Jason got to run around North Dakota answering to no one.

“He what?” The anger dropped from his voice, replaced by shock.

“Burned them. On a bonfire. After going through every last thing of mine. I moved out, by the way. I’m staying with the Cruzes now. I quit, too.”

Another long pause. “When did all of this happen?”

“A couple of days ago.”

“I told you not to move in with him, didn’t I? Now you see what I mean.”

She looked at the phone. Seriously? That was his response? Well, why not—it was about as helpful as anything else he’d said or done this past year.

“You know what, Jason? I don’t need to talk about this anymore. We’re done. Through. I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I’ll return your ring and we can pretend this never happened, okay?”

She ended the call before he could answer and turned her phone off, then stuffed it in the glove compartment for good measure. She turned the truck’s engine on and revved it. Backed out of her parking spot and spun the wheel until she was headed back the way she’d come.

No sense driving to North Dakota now. She and Jason were done. Instead she stopped at a sporting goods store, picked up some supplies and drove carefully out to Carl’s woods. Everyone thought she’d be gone for several days. If she went back to the Cruz ranch, Autumn and Ethan would be solicitous but they’d have questions, too, and she couldn’t bear to answer questions. Worse, Cab might stop by and she wasn’t ready to see him. For one night she wanted to be free of all entanglements. Her tree house was her best bet for that.

It didn’t take long to pinpoint several flaws in its design and her plan to spend the night there.

First, at only six feet square, it was hardly big enough to stretch out fully on its floor. Thank goodness she hadn’t had time to build the bench seat and desk yet, or she wouldn’t have fit at all.

Second, she hadn’t insulated the walls. Or the floor. Or nailed on a real roof for that matter.

Third, she hadn’t installed a furnace, wall-to-wall carpeting, or most importantly, indoor plumbing.

Cramped, freezing, and desperately in need of a bathroom, Rose sat up around midnight and contemplated her surroundings. The windows let in a faint light from the stars above. Every chink and crack in the place let in ice-cold drafts that set her teeth chattering. Outside the night was very still, except for the muffled whoosh now and then of a car passing on the winding country road a quarter mile away.

She got out of her sleeping bag reluctantly and grabbed the flashlight she’d stashed near the door. She searched the small room until she found the roll of toilet paper, tucked it under her arm, kicked the sleeping bag aside, and opened the door.

She’d propped her ladder against the tree house until such time as she could build a better set of stairs and she struggled down it, the flashlight jammed in her pocket. On the ground, she pulled it out again, but took care to keep the light pointed straight down. She didn’t want to risk alerting Cab, sleeping in Carl’s house, of her presence.

As she picked her way through the frozen darkness, she couldn’t help imagine Cab asleep in a nice, warm bed. Obviously her plan to stay here was idiotic; she should have simply slept in a motel. It was too late for that now. She couldn’t risk starting up the truck and waking Cab.

She found a secluded, bushy area and raced to complete her task. Soon she was hurrying back the way she’d come. The dark woods around her pressed against her until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Anything might be hiding in them. Why did the way back seem to take so much longer than the walk out here? Spooked, Rose picked up the pace, the beam of her flashlight dancing on the ground ahead of her.

She breathed a sigh of relief when the ladder came into view. She scurried up it and back inside, shut the door and leaned against it. Propping the flashlight low on the floor where its light wouldn’t be seen from outside, she opened her duffel bag and searched inside. She shucked off her jacket, pulled on several more layers of clothing, three pairs of socks, and put the jacket on again. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and pulled on a knitted hat. Back in her sleeping bag, she finally began to warm up, but with the hard floor beneath her and the large, dark woods outside, Rose knew she’d be lucky to get a minute of sleep this night.