Carol Ericson - Single Father Sheriff

She rolled her shoulders. She liked parties. She liked conversations—some topics better than others.

“I brought sustenance.” Kendall held up the bottle of wine.

“We can always use more alcohol.” Melissa broke away from a couple and approached Kendall, holding out her hands. “So good to see you, Kendall.”

Kendall hooked her friend in a one-armed hug. “Same. You look great.”

“And you look—” Melissa held her at arm’s length “—tan. I’m so jealous. I’m as pale as ever.”

“What do you expect when the sun shines maybe three times a year, if you’re lucky?” Kendall jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the damp outdoors.

“She’s dissing our lovely, wet, depressing weather.” Melissa held up the bottle to read the label. “But she’s not snobby enough to dis our local wineries.”

As Melissa peeled away from her side to put the wine in the kitchen, Kendall stepped down into the living room. She waved and nodded to a few familiar faces, shrugging off her shawl.

Melissa materialized behind her, a glass of wine in one hand. “This isn’t yours. Is merlot okay?”

“Fine. The other stuff’s for you and Daryl to drink later.”

“Thanks. Let me take your shawl. We keep it warm in here.” Daryl joined them, and Melissa patted her husband’s arm. “Daryl’s a transplant from LA. After two years, he’s still not acclimated.”

“Has my scatterbrained wife introduced you to everyone?” He went around the room, calling out names Kendall forgot two seconds later, until he named everyone there.

Melissa started carrying dishes to the dining room table, and Kendall broke away from the small talk to help her. The other guests’ conversation had seemed guarded, anyway, and she’d bet anything they’d been talking about the kidnappings before her arrival.

Joining Melissa in the kitchen, she tapped a Crock-Pot of bubbling chili sitting on the kitchen counter. “Do you want this on the table, or are you going to leave it here?”

“You can put that on the table next to the grated cheese and diced onions.”

Kendall hoisted the pot by its handles and inhaled the spicy aroma. “Mmm, this has to be your mom’s recipe.”

“It is.” She patted the dining room table. “Right here.”

Kendall placed the Crock-Pot on the tablecloth and removed the lid. “What else?”

“Can you help me scoop some tapenade and salsa and some other goodies into little serving dishes?”

“Absolutely, as long as I can sample while I’m scooping.” Kendall pulled a small bowl toward herself and plopped a spoonful of guacamole in the center. “I like Daryl.”

“Yeah, he’s an uptight programmer—just perfect for his flaky, artsy-fartsy wife.”

“Opposites do attract sometimes. He’s a good balance for you.”

“And what about you?” Melissa pinched her arm. “Any hot guys in hot Phoenix?”

“Lots, but nobody in particular. You single gals here in Timberline hit the jackpot when Evergreen Software came to town, didn’t you?”

“It definitely expanded the dating scene, but a lot of the Evergreen employees came with ready-made families. Came to Washington for clean air, clean living, safety. Or at least it was safe until...” Melissa shoved a tapenade-topped cracker into her mouth.

“I know all about the recent kidnappings, Melissa.” She scraped the rest of the guac into the bowl. “Wyatt Carson dropped by today and so did Sheriff Sloane.”

“Coop already talked to you?”

“He came by the house this afternoon.”

“Talk about your hot property.” Melissa licked her fingers.

“He is definitely hot.” Kendall elbowed her friend in the ribs. “I’d like to see him without all that khaki covering everything up.”

“Ladies? Need any help?”

Kendall’s face burned hotter than the salsa she was dumping into the bowl. She didn’t have to turn around to know who’d crept up behind them. She’d been listening to that low-pitched, smooth voice all afternoon.

“Hey, Coop. Glad you could make it.” Melissa nudged Kendall’s foot with her bare toes. “Have you met Kendall Rush yet?”

Kendall got very busy wiping salsa spills from the counter as she glanced over her shoulder, trying not to zone in on the way the man’s waffle knit shirt stretched across his broad chest. “We met this afternoon. Hello again, Sheriff Sloane.”

“I thought we were on a first-name basis. Call me Coop.”

He entered the kitchen with a few steps and, even though he still must’ve been yards behind her, it felt like he was breathing down her neck.

“Do you need any help in here, Melissa?”

“I do not. We have it all under control.” She tapped Kendall’s arm. “My hands are goopy. Can you grab a cold beer for Coop from the fridge?”

Kendall shuffled over a few steps and yanked open the refrigerator. “What kind would you like?”

“Anything in a bottle, not a can. Surprise me.”

She studied the bottled beer, grateful for the cool air on her warm cheeks. Had he heard their schoolgirl conversation about him? She grabbed a bottle with a blue label and spun around, holding it up. “How’s this?”

He ambled toward her, his eyes, as blue as the label on the bottle, sparkling with humor. He reached for the beer and for an electrifying second his fingertips brushed hers. With his gaze locked on hers, he said, “This’ll do.”

“Well, then.” Melissa grabbed a dish towel and wiped her hands. “Once we get these bowls to the table, dinner will be served.”

Coop reached around Kendall, his warm breath brushing her cheek, and pinched the edge of a serving dish between his fingers. “I’ll get this one.”

Kendall followed him to the dining room while Melissa made wide-eyed faces at her, which she had no idea how to interpret.

“Come and get it,” Melissa called out to the group. “Paper plates and bowls on both sides of the table. Nothing but first class around here.”

Coop stuck to her side as they both filled up plates and bowls with food.

Stopping at the chili, Kendall spooned some into her bowl and held up the ladle to Coop. “Have you tried Melissa’s famous chili yet?”

“Nope. Fill ’er up.”

She dipped the spoon into the dark red mixture and ladled it into his bowl. “Another?”

He nodded.

“This stuff only makes it better.” She sprinkled some grated cheese, chopped onions and diced avocado on the top.

Holding her plate in one hand and a bowl in the other, her fingers curled around her plastic cutlery, Kendall shuffled into the living room and nabbed a spot at a card table Melissa had set out for her guests. As she placed her food on the plastic tablecloth, Coop joined her.

“You left your wineglass in the kitchen. Do you want a refill?”

“I don’t have far to drive, but I’m still driving. I’ll take some iced tea. There are some cans in the fridge.”

“Responsible driver.” He put his fist over his heart. “Just what a man of the law wants to hear.”

By the time Coop returned with their drinks, Melissa and Daryl had claimed the other two places at the table, but they didn’t last long. One or the other and sometimes both kept hopping up to see to their guests’ needs, which left Kendall alone with the sheriff...which suited her just fine.

“Verdict on the chili?” She poked the edge of his empty bowl with her fork.

“Awesome. I’m going to have to ask her for the recipe.”

Blinking, she stole a glance at his ring finger, which she hadn’t bothered to check before. Bare. She hadn’t pegged him as a domestic sort of guy. Maybe he was joking about getting the recipe.

With his face all serious, he took a sip of the beer he’d been nursing all through dinner and started cutting into a piece of barbecued chicken.