Lissa Manley - Her Small-Town Sheriff

Phoebe shook her head at the mention of Molly’s love mojo, i.e., her self-proclaimed ability to sense who belonged with whom romantically.

“Trust me when I say he’s not perfect for me,” Phoebe said pointedly.

“Care to tell me why? Aside from your need to avoid romance?”

Phoebe straightened the napkin and cone holder on the fountain counter. How was she going to get Molly to back off…?

Okay. She’d have to bend what she felt was a confidence between the sheriff and herself and tell Molly a bit about the Winterses’ family drama, without going into specifics or gossiping. Fortunately she could trust Molly to keep whatever Phoebe told her to herself.

“He and his daughter have been through a lot, and are having major problems.” She grabbed a clean sponge and cleaned an invisible spot off the counter. “The last thing I want is to get caught up in some kind of messy father/daughter crisis.”

Molly jabbed a finger in the air. “Aha. No wonder you want to bond with Heidi.”

Phoebe blinked.

“Because you’ve been through a lot, too?” Molly said, as if the reasons for her statement were obvious.

“Maybe you’re right,” Phoebe said, conceding the point because it was valid. “But bonding with Heidi and getting hung up on her father are two very different things.”

“Yes, but—”

Phoebe kept going, needing to make her point. “And, the fact remains I’ll never fall in love again, so why try?” She stared at Molly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Right?”

Molly sat silently for a moment, chewing her lip, the wheels in her head obviously turning.

“Plus, he’s a cop. No way am I going to get involved with someone who works in law enforcement.”

Finally she lifted a piercing green gaze to Phoebe. “I find all of this very interesting,” she said in a speculative tone. “Fascinating, actually.”

Phoebe scrunched her eyebrows together. “Why?” she asked, hoping Molly would spout some vague theory and then drop the subject so they could talk about flowers again.

“Because for a woman who claims to be so indifferent to Carson Winters, you’ve sure spent a heap of time coming up with lots of reasons why you don’t want to go out with him.”

“So?” Phoebe said, looking at Molly sideways.

Molly stood, cocking her head. “So, to quote someone who—I don’t know—probably knew what they were talking about, ‘methinks thou doth protest too much.’”

“Your point?” Phoebe asked, anticipating the worst.

“You’re attracted to him, Phoebs. And that scares you to death.”

* * *

“So, anything you want to talk about?”

Carson looked over his cup of black coffee at his cousin, Lily, taking careful note of the well-intentioned-on-her-part, yet dreaded-on-his-part interest in her eyes.

She was on a fishing expedition. No wonder she’d pushed him to meet for coffee at The Coffee Cabana in the middle of the afternoon.

His fingers squeezed the handle of his coffee mug. Had Heidi filled Lily in on the latest drama in the Winterses’ household when she and Lily had gone shopping last night? Or was Lily just being her usual nosy, talk-to-me-I-can-help self?

Either way, Carson didn’t want to get into it. “Well, Ollie Sanders got busted for drunk and disorderly yesterday, and Mrs. Jaquith backed her car into another fire hydrant. Oh, and it seems someone left a bag of dog doo in the middle of Pelican Lane sometime last night and Jimmy Voss called to complain that it hadn’t been picked up yet—”

“I’m not talking about job stuff,” Lily said, smoothing her long, blond hair behind one ear.

He stared at her, but didn’t say anything. The last thing he wanted to do was rehash how Heidi had gone rogue and taken a walk on the wild side, straight to the candy bins of I Scream for Ice Cream.

What was done was done, he’d meted out punishment and that was that. Time to move on, keep the peace between him and Heidi as best he could. And hope they both made it through her teen years without driving each other crazy.

Lily took a leisurely sip of her caramel macchiato, then set her cup down and said, “I had a long talk with Heidi last night in the teen lingerie department, and she told me that things aren’t going so well.”

“You’re really out to get me today, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Teen lingerie?”

Lily chuckled. “Oh, Carson. She’s not going to be a little girl forever—”

He hissed and raised a hand, cutting her off. “What did she say?”

“She told me about the ice cream parlor.”

“Okay.” Not surprising Heidi had shared that with Lily.

“So, she’s clearly struggling.”

“I know.” He took a sip of his coffee, hating that he had to agree with her. “But I’ve dealt with what she did with a consequence, and she’s apologized to Phoebe Sellers. Everything’s been handled.”

“You really think it’s that easy?”

He looked at the swirling blackness of the coffee in his cup and remained silent. He didn’t want this turmoil.

After a bit of a silence, Lily said, “Carson, Heidi has been dealt two terrible blows, and she’s acting out because she’s having a hard time dealing with all the changes in her life.”

“I get it.” That much was obvious. But what to do about the obvious? Not quite so much a slam dunk.

Maybe he needed help here. He hated asking, but for Heidi’s sake, he would. “Any suggestions?” he asked, slanting a glance at Lily.

She leaned forward. “Have you thought about getting her counseling?”

Guilt zapped him. “I haven’t had time to find someone.” Yeah, he’d dropped the ball on that one. But keeping all of the balls in the air on his own since they’d moved had been a real challenge.

“Why don’t you let me work on finding a good teen therapist around here, okay?”

He nodded stiffly.

“And how about more counseling for yourself?” Lily asked, regarding him directly. “I can’t imagine the few sessions the department required were enough.”

“I’m fine,” he said curtly. But was he really?

She leaned in and touched his hand. “No one would be fine after everything that’s happened to you.”

“I can handle it.” And he would. Somehow. That’s what he did—plodded on without complaint and dealt.

“Yeah, I know you think you can.” She quirked her mouth. “But you’re a guy, and most guys just want to put their heads down and plow forward.”

“Yep, that pretty much sums it up right there.” And if he could avoid emotional chaos, even better.

“So. How’s that working for you?”

He shifted in his chair and ground his molars together. “Not that well,” he said truthfully. Heidi deserved that he be honest with himself. Even if he didn’t like dissecting every little emotion. Or admitting he needed help.

Lily picked up her purse. She dug around inside, then pulled out a piece of folded green paper and held it out for him. “Take a look at this. I picked it up at church last Sunday.”

Wary, he took the paper and unfolded it, scanning the contents quickly. His stomach pitched.

The flyer announced a series of classes set to take place at Moonlight Cove Community Church every Thursday night for the next month. Starting tonight.

Grief-counseling classes.

Sighing heavily, he dropped the paper on the table and looked at Lily. “You really think this will help?”

“Yes, I do. You’re grieving the death of your son and the death of your marriage. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with, Carson. Someone would have to be a superhero to handle what’s happened on their own.”

“I thought I was a superhero,” he said, his voice rough. “I’ve always been able to handle life’s ups and downs on my own.” Although he’d never been thrown something as traumatic as his son dying and his wife abandoning him.