Barbara Daille - The Sheriff's Son

TANNER CHECKED OUT the roads around Dillon for a while, then turned back to town just near suppertime. It had been a depressing trip, for more than one reason, and he needed food. Company. And answers.

The reminder of Thursday and barbecue night headed him in the direction of Main Street. Even before he’d left, there hadn’t been much to the town of Dillon, just a couple blocks of businesses. And now there were a lot of vacant properties between Delia’s Diner at one end and The Book Cellar down near the other.

Thinking about the bookstore set him off again. He still fumed from Sarah’s quick run-through of the duty rosters, followed by her cold dismissal. He couldn’t understand her reaction. A single mother, with a young boy running wild. Things couldn’t be easy. He’d only tried to help.

Why had she bothered to co-chair the committee with him?

Maybe she’d caught on at last, made the connection between her kid and his mischief and the other problems going on about town. Of course, Kevin couldn’t account for all the complaints, but Tanner suspected that he was one of several kids involved in this “crime wave.”

Someone would have to keep track of that boy.

And, plain as day, Sarah Lindstrom hadn’t a chance of controlling her misbehaving child. No wonder, with what she said to him two days earlier.

She didn’t have a husband.

He frowned, recalling the tight edge of hurt in her voice when she’d told him. What had happened to the man? She’d had a husband once, someone she used to love.

Yeah, and she used to love him, years ago.

He shoved the thought away.

She hadn’t ever loved him, no matter what she’d said. How could she, when she’d so obviously hooked herself up with another man so soon after he’d left town?

Could be she cared for that other man still, and that’s why her voice carried such hurt?

That thought had him slamming the pickup’s door extra hard behind him.

He strode into Delia’s and sniffed at the tangy smell in the air. Nice to know some things never changed. Not like women.

Scowling, he directed his gaze to the back booth Doc Thompson always claimed as his own. And there the man sat, digging in to one of Delia’s Texas-sized barbecue sandwiches.

Almost everything in the diner came Texas-sized, including the owner herself, who charged around the end of the front counter, a grin splitting her face.

He met her halfway and returned her rib-cracking hug.

She stepped back, put her huge hands on her hips, and shook her head slowly. “Well, whoever would believe it, Tanner Jones, a deputy sheriff. Decided to stay on the right side of the law, huh?”

“Why not?”

Her laugh echoed around the room and bounced off the high ceiling. “Don’t playact innocence with me, boy, after all those times you helped me load stock in here. When all those jelly doughnuts grew legs and walked off with you.”

He shrugged. He’d forgotten about that. “Hell, Delia, those were my tips.”

She laughed till her eyes streamed. “All right, boy, what do you want to do me out of now?”

“Coffee and double special.”

“Coming right up.” She turned away, still chuckling.

When he reached Doc’s booth, the other man nodded at him, his mouth full, but his eyes twinkling.

Tanner slid into the vacant bench seat. It put him with his back to the door, not something he liked.

Doc swallowed. “Delia looks happy to see you.”

“Whatever happened to the Welcome Wagon?”

He laughed and took a swig of coffee. “So. How’s the law and order around town tonight?”

“Orderly.”

Doc eyed him. “Maybe I should’ve said, how’s the lawman.”

Tanner grunted. “Suddenly aware of all the changes around Dillon, and not for the better.”

“Yeah,” Doc said, “we were hit hard when the furniture factory closed its doors. A few of the longtime stores had to follow suit, and some people moved out, looking for work.” He shook his head. “At least the ranchers are still holding on.”

Delia set a platter and coffee mug in front of Tanner, and he dug in. By the time he polished off the first sandwich, he felt more like himself. And now that he’d satisfied a part of his hunger, he planned to do the same for his curiosity. “Tell me something, Doc. What’s with Sarah?”

“Ah.” Doc’s white eyebrows rose. “So that’s what’s got you going. Here, I blamed it on a trip down memory lane.”

“C’mon, Doc.” Some memories were best forgotten. And others…He shook his head. “What about Sarah? She’s raising that kid of hers alone, running that store by herself. Told me she hasn’t got a husband. What happened to him?”

Doc shook his head. “Don’t know. Never laid eyes on the man, myself.”

“What?” Tanner sat back. “How can that be?” Doc met everyone who set foot in Dillon.

The other man shrugged. “You weren’t the only one to take off years ago. You remember when you phoned a short while later, I told you about Sarah’s daddy getting sick, passing on.”

Tanner nodded. He did remember.

He’d called Sarah before he left town for boot camp, and she’d hung up on him.

A few weeks later, he’d tried her again and found the phone disconnected. With his parents already gone to live closer to his grandparents in Oklahoma, he’d done the next best thing and dialed Doc’s number. But Sarah had closed up the bookstore and left without telling anyone in town where she’d headed.

Tanner winced at the reminder of Sarah’s loss. He’d known her father well, had always liked him, had spent a lot of time with him growing up. And he hadn’t given a thought to offering Sarah his condolences.

He pushed his plate away, not sure even Delia’s barbecue could fill the sudden hollowness he felt deep inside.

“Happened quick,” Doc continued. “After, she went off to live with some relatives out in California, so we heard it later. She doesn’t talk about that time much.”

Tanner frowned. “When did she come back?”

“Just a few weeks before the baby’s birth.”

“With no husband tagging along?”

“Nope. Just her and the baby I delivered shortly after that. They’ve been here ever since.”

“What happened to the father?”

Doc shrugged again. “No use asking me, boy. Couldn’t tell you. You want to find out about Sarah’s coming and goings, you need to ask her yourself.”

He’d tried that, for all the good it had done him.

That didn’t mean he’d given up. He did want to know about Sarah, to learn what had happened to her in the years after he’d gone. Why, he couldn’t say.

Since asking had got him nowhere, he’d try something else. He had other ways to get information.

And detecting skills he could put to good use.

The minute Tanner left the diner, Lily Gannett gave Delia the signal and proceeded to Doc’s booth in the back of the room. Delia followed, carrying a coffee carafe.

“How did it go?” Lily asked even before she’d finished settling across from Doc. She leaned forward, resting her forearms against the cool Formica tabletop.

“Yeah, spill it.” Delia dragged a chair to the end of the booth and plopped onto the seat. “What’d you tell him?”

He shrugged. “Just what we planned.”

Lily felt a momentary unease. “You don’t think we’re overdoing it? Delia, you should have seen Jeb Carter at the town meeting. I never knew he had such acting ability.”

“Wasn’t acting,” Doc protested. “Nobody made up any of those pranks going on around town. Exaggerated their concern, maybe, that’s all.”

“In the hope of catching Tanner’s attention. Which we did.”