Carol Ericson - Single Father Sheriff

“Did you have any more scares cleaning up your aunt’s place after I left?”

Knots tightened in her gut, but she didn’t know if thinking about the pink ribbon had caused the sensation or the fact that Coop had nailed her as a liar.

“If you don’t count the scary dust bunnies, all went smoothly. I’m going to hire a cleaning crew to come in and finish the rest of the house, so I can focus on selling my aunt’s things.”

“You’re not taking any of it back home?”

“Aunt Cass’s decorating style and mine clash.” She slathered a pat of butter on a corn bread muffin and took a bite.

“She had a lot of collections, didn’t she?”

“Mermaids, wood carvings from the old days when Timberline was a lumber town—stuff like that.”

“And you’re just going to sell that stuff? Might be nice to hand down to the kids one day.”

She almost inhaled a few crumbs of corn bread. Kids? She had no intention of having kids. Ever. She coughed into her napkin. “Maybe.”

He reached forward so suddenly, she jerked back, but then he touched his fingertip to the corner of her mouth. “Corn bread.”

To quell the tingling sensation his touch had started on her lips, she pressed the napkin to her mouth again. “Great. Do I have chili in my eyebrows, too?”

Taking her chin between his fingers, he looked in her eyes, his own darkening to a deep blue. “Not that I can see.”

Laughter burst from the crowd sitting on the floor around the oversize, square coffee table, startling them both. He dropped his hand.

“You heard that story, didn’t you, Coop?” A woman from the group called to him.

He eased back into his chair and finished off the last of his beer. “What’s that, Jen?”

“Davis Unger, the little boy in Ms. Maynard’s class, who announced to everyone that his mom and the mailman were boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Coop chuckled. “Out of the mouths of babes. Does Mr. Unger know about that relationship?”

“I think it was all a misunderstanding.”

“Riight.”

“Doesn’t your daughter give you the kindergarten report every day?”

His daughter? Kendall sucked in a quick breath, her gaze darting to that finger on his left hand again.

“Steffi’s in her own little world half the time.” He stood up and stretched. “When I ask her about school, she tells me bizarre stories about unicorns and fairies. Should I be concerned?”

Jen and a few of the other women laughed. “She just has an active imagination, and all the kids are crazy about that fairy movie that just came out.”

Coop piled up his trash, and his hand hovered over her mostly empty plate. “Are you done?”

“You don’t need to wait on me.” She pushed back from the table, crumpling her napkin into her plate. “After all that food, I need to move. Let me take your empties, and you can go over there and discuss kindergarten.”

A vertical line flashed between his eyes as he handed his paper plate and bowl to her. “I’ll do that.”

“Another beer?”

“Wouldn’t do for the sheriff to set a bad example, would it?”

“Not at all.” She meandered back to the kitchen, exchanging a few words here and there with Melissa’s guests.

She slipped the trash into a plastic garbage bag in the kitchen and cleaned up some other items from the counter. Maybe Coop was divorced and had joint custody with his ex. Melissa would know. She made it her business to know everyone else’s.

But the interrogation would have to wait. Melissa took her hostessing duties very seriously, and Kendall couldn’t get one word with her alone.

After chitchatting and helping out with the cleanup duty, Kendall checked the time on her phone and decided to call it a night. She had a meeting with Rebecca tomorrow morning and wanted to check out a few online auction sites to assess Aunt Cass’s collections.

She eyed Coop across the room talking with a couple of men and mimicking throwing a football. Thank God she hadn’t stuck her foot in her mouth and admitted to never, ever wanting children since Coop had one.

Not that Coop’s parenthood, marital status or anything else about his personal life would matter to her one bit once she flew the coop. She grinned at her lame joke and strolled to the den off the foyer to grab her shawl.

She dipped next to Melissa sitting on the couch and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to take off. I’m exhausted.”

“Are you sure? There’s still dessert.”

“I can’t handle another bite, but let’s try to get together for lunch before I leave.”

“Let me see you out.” Melissa rocked forward, and Daryl placed a hand on her back to help her up.

“Nice to meet you, Daryl. You and Mel are welcome in Phoenix anytime.” She pecked him on the cheek, and he gave her a quick hug around the neck.

Melissa took her arm as they walked to the front door. “Daryl and I are taking off for Seattle for a few days, but we should be back before you leave. Don’t be a stranger while you’re here and if you need any help with Aunt Cass’s house, call me.”

“Call you for help cleaning a house?”

“Hey.” Melissa nipped her side with her fingertips. “I know people.”

“I think I know the same people.”

Coop materialized behind Melissa. “I’ll walk you to your truck.”

With her back to Coop, Melissa gave her a broad wink.

“Okay, thanks.” Kendall hugged her friend goodbye and stepped out onto the porch with Coop close behind her.

He lifted his face to the mist in the air. “Ahh, refreshing.”

“Are you a native of Washington?”

“No, California. I’ve been here about five years.”

“Oh, the reviled California transplant.”

He spread his arms. “That’s me.”

“Well, this is me.” She kicked the tire of her aunt’s truck.

He took her hand as if to shake it, but he just held it. “Good to talk to you tonight about...other things.”

“It’s always good to talk about other things.” She squeezed his hand and disentangled her fingers from his.

She climbed into the truck and cranked the key twice to get the engine to turn over. Waving, she pulled into the street. As the truck tilted up the slight incline, an object in the truck bed shifted and hit the tailgate.

She drew her brows over her nose. She didn’t have anything in the back.

She reversed into her previous parking spot and threw the truck into Park. As she hopped from the seat, Coop turned at the porch.

Using the light on her cell phone, she stood on her tiptoes to peer into the truck bed. She traced the beam along the inside where it picked up a bundle wrapped in a tarp. Then the light picked up one small, pale hand poking from the tarp.

Kendall screamed like she’d never stop.

Chapter Four Contents Cover Introduction Kendall’s scream pierced the still night and turned the blood in Coop’s veins to ice. Coop had already been making his way back down the drive when he’d heard Kendall’s truck coming back to the house. Now his boots grappled for purchase against the soggy leaves on the walkway as he ran toward Kendall. “What is it? What’s wrong?” By the time he reached her, he was panting as if he’d just run a marathon. She’d stumbled back from the truck and stood staring at the tailgate with wide, glassy eyes. Raising her arm, she pointed to the truck with her cell phone. She worked her jaw but couldn’t form any words—no coherent words, anyway. He pried the phone from her stiff fingers, aimed the light at the truck bed and jumped onto the bumper. The phone illuminated a light-colored tarp with something rolled up in it. “I-it’s a body.” Title Page Single Father Sheriff Carol Ericson www.millsandboon.co.uk About the Author CAROL ERICSON is a bestselling, award-winning author of more than forty books. She has an eerie fascination for true-crime stories, a love of film noir and a weakness for reality TV, all of which fuel her imagination to create her own tales of murder, mayhem and mystery. To find out more about Carol and her current projects, please visit her website at www.carolericson.com , “where romance flirts with danger.” Dedication To my sister Janice, my cheerleader Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Epilogue Extract Copyright