Lauren Nichols - Accidental Father

“I guess.”

“Would you mind delivering the clothes? Maggie’s in the lockup with her, and I think there’s some girl talk going on. They’re in the last cell.”

Sarah felt her jaw drop. “You locked up a fifteen-year-old girl?”

“No,” he answered, his brow creasing in annoyance. “She needed some privacy, and I gave it to her. Why are you always so quick to believe the worst of me?”

Shamed, Sarah met his eyes in apology. Before she could make amends, the door to the lockup flew open and crashed against the wall. Maggie rushed out, holding a hand over her mouth and heading for the rear of the office. A second later, a thin teenager with a terrified expression came out after her.

The girl’s defiant green eyes shot to Jake. “I didn’t do anything! We were talking, and she just jumped up and ran!”

Sighing, Jake shook his head and went to her, his rangy frame dwarfing hers. She looked waif-thin in the baggy orange jumpsuit. “I know you didn’t do anything. Maggie’s just a little under the weather today. Come on, I want you to meet someone.”

The girl obviously had no interest in being cordial. Nevertheless, she let Jake nudge her to the dispatcher’s desk where Sarah waited. “Lisa, this is Sarah Harper. Sarah picked up some clothes for you. Sarah, Lisa Sheldon.”

The girl’s belligerent gaze never left Sarah’s face, though she spoke only to Jake. “Why would she want to buy me clothes? She doesn’t know me.”

Sarah extended the bag. “The sheriff paid for them, Lisa. I just picked them out. Maggie gave him your sizes.”

She cut a look at Jake. “Yeah, well I can’t pay you back. Bryan took all of my money.”

“I’m not asking you to repay me.” Sarah didn’t miss the brief chill in his eyes that said “Bryan” wasn’t one of his favorite people. “I just want you to look nice when your mom and dad get here.”

“Oh, I’ll look lovely.” Without mousse or gel, her hair parted in the center and hung on either side of her shaved scalp. “They’ll kill me when they see this.”

“I doubt that,” Jake replied.

“You don’t know them.”

“I know your mom cried when I told her you were safe. Give them a break. These past two months haven’t been a cakewalk for them, either.”

The girl was silent for a moment, then she said, “My mom cried? Really?”

“Yes, really. Now, how about trying on your new duds?”

When Lisa had disappeared into the lockup, Sarah’s gaze returned to Jake. His treatment of the young girl had touched her. There’d been no coddling or threats—just kind, straight talk. Now, more than ever, she owed him that apology.

“I’m sorry about what I said before. I had no right to make assumptions like that.”

Jake nodded grimly. “We only know each other in one way, Sarah. I’m more than what you see.”

More? If he were any more than what she saw, she’d be running right now. Without his hat to keep them back, a few strands of black hair fell over his forehead, softening his craggy good looks and calling her attention to his deep blue eyes and tanned cheekbones. Below that was a perfect mouth and teeth, and just enough beard shadow to make her remember its sexy scratch against her skin. The man was a mating song in boots.

“Have coffee with me sometime,” he persisted, keeping his voice low. “Let me prove it. I’m not looking for anything more than friendship and conversation.” But the memories swirling through his eyes seemed to belie his words.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?

“Because it was friendship and conversation that got us into trouble three years ago,” she returned.

“That was different. That was comfort and support.”

“No, it was sex. And you and I both know that once you cross a line, it’s too easy to cross it again. I don’t want that.”

The toilet flushed, reminding them that they weren’t alone, and though Jake’s gaze hardened, he didn’t reply. Possibly because he knew the conversation had gone as far as it could go. A second later, Maggie came out of the rest room looking pale.

Some friend she was, Sarah thought. Just looking at Jake had blown everything out of her mind except him, including Maggie’s illness.

His voice lowered in concern when she joined them. “You all right, Maggie?”

“No, but I’m better.”

“Sure you don’t want to go home?”

“Not yet,” she said, working up a smile. “Let’s see if it gets better.” She turned to Sarah. “Hi. What brings you in?”

“Shopping,” Sarah answered, smiling. “I bought the clothes for your young guest.”

“Oh?” Maggie looked at Jake. “I thought you were giving the list to one of the salesclerks.”

His features froze for a moment, then he answered. “I was, until I ran into Sarah. The salesclerks at Hardy’s are nice, but they’re all older. I figured a younger woman would pick out something more appropriate.” He frowned and glanced at his watch. “Excuse me? I need to make a phone call.” A moment later, he was gone.

Sarah held back a sigh. She didn’t know if she should feel relieved or disappointed. But she couldn’t have answered him any other way.

She spoke to Maggie, who’d taken a seat at the dispatcher’s desk. “Are you okay?”

With a humorous twist of her mouth, Maggie reached into a low drawer and produced a long tube of crackers. “Actually, I think I might be a whole lot better than okay.”

“How nice!” Sarah said with a smile, recognizing the signs.

“I haven’t seen a doctor yet, but I’m pretty sure. Got any room left in your quilting class at the Grange hall? I think it’s time I learned which end of a needle to thread.”

“You bet. When’s the baby due?”

“March, I think.” Maggie’s grin spread. “Ross and I were planning to wait to start a family, but it looks like we had a head start on this little one before the wedding.”

“Does the sheriff know?”

“Not yet, but I have to tell him. I hate leaving him high and dry, but I can’t stay on. Ross and I talked. Comfort’s hardly crime-ridden, but things do happen occasionally, and I won’t risk my pregnancy.”

“I’d feel the same way,” Sarah agreed. “Have you picked out names yet, or is it still too early?”

“It’s still too—” With a frantic look, Maggie shot to her feet again. Seconds later, she was back in the rest room, leaving Sarah to sympathize and remember her own morning sickness. The morning sickness she’d gone through alone.

When she picked up Kylie several minutes later, she felt good about Lisa Sheldon’s future, yet faintly uneasy about Jake’s distant behavior. Which made no sense to her at all, since she’d practically asked him to keep his distance.

Why did she feel she’d let him down? Was it reflected guilt? Did she subconsciously feel that withholding the truth about Kylie from him entitled Jake to something else?

Sarah put Kylie into her car seat and climbed behind the wheel. The man scrambled her mind and made every nerve in her body vibrate. If she slept tonight, it would be a miracle.

Tossing and turning, kicking the covers to the foot of the bed, Jake cursed a blue streak and tried to find a comfortable position on the lumpy mattress. He couldn’t believe he was paying someone to stay here. A bedroll on concrete would’ve been more humane. Every few seconds, the Twirling Spur’s neon cowboy boot flashed under the too-short drapes, striping the carpet with fluorescent orange, and adding to his misery.

Vaulting from the bed, he snatched the alarm clock from the nightstand. Three-forty? Could that be right? He plunked it back down and pulled his hands over his whiskery face. Between the bed, the boot and fantasies about Sarah Harper, he didn’t have a prayer of getting any more sleep tonight. Not a prayer.