beaten. And yet there was a surprising strength and feistiness about her. She might be down, but she definitely wasn’t out. He found such resilience admirable.
On the way back into town he’d reached a decision. Until he knew more, he wanted Patsy Gresham right where he could keep an eye on her. He could just imagine the kind of razzing he’d take for that. No one in his family would believe for an instant that his motives were altruistic. He could explain from now until every head of Adams cattle was counted that he was being cautious, trying to prevent a more serious crime from taking place, but they wouldn’t buy it. Not once they got a look at Patsy, anyway. They’d blame it on his hormones and his good nature and nothing he could say would change their minds.
She was a beautiful woman, all right. Fragile and road weary as she was, there was a delicacy about her that brought a man’s protective instincts surging to life. And her mouth, those luscious, sensual lips, well, it was the sort of mouth just made for kissing. Justin’s gaze had been drawn to it again and again, wondering what those lips would taste like.
Right. Like he needed to get mixed up with a woman who might be an everyday, common thief. No, what he needed to do was to send Patsy Gresham packing, send her into some other jurisdiction where she’d be another lawman’s problem.
The words had been on the tip of his tongue, too. He’d been ready to tell her that the second her car was brought back into town and filled with gas, courtesy of the deputy sheriff, he wanted her gone.
Instead, he’d encouraged her to stay. There were names a whole lot stronger than fool for the kind of man that made him. Jerk and idiot came to mind. It was also pretty clear which part of his anatomy had been doing his thinking.
“Do you have any money at all?” he asked, trying to stay focused.
“No,” she admitted after a long hesitation. “At least I won’t have any once I buy gas. But I’m willing to work for room and board. I just need a break, that’s all. I don’t want charity.”
To his dismay, he realized what he was going to do the second he crossed into the town limits. A few minutes later he pulled to a stop in front of the house that belonged to his sister, Dani. She still operated her veterinary practice from one side of it, but the living quarters had been empty ever since her marriage. If he asked, Dani would agree in a heartbeat to let Patsy and the baby use the house.
But before taking Patsy Gresham and her baby inside, there were a few more questions he needed answered.
“That car of yours is pretty expensive,” he said carefully, watching her intently. “Also, I’m no fashion expert, but I have enough female cousins with expensive taste to know quality when I see it.”
Her chin tilted up a notch. “So?”
“The two things combined make me wonder why you appear to be in such dire straits.”
“Haven’t you heard? Appearances can be deceiving.”
“Meaning that those things aren’t expensive or meaning that you’re not in dire straits? Maybe you didn’t need to steal that Tylenol. Maybe you were just doing it for kicks. I’ve heard there are rich ladies who get their thrills that way.”
Indignant color flared in her cheeks. “Of course not. You’ve seen for yourself. Billy is sick.”
“And you don’t have the money for the medicine.”
“Right.”
Her lower lip quivered and she looked as if she were about to cry. Justin really didn’t want to deal with a flood of tears, but he had no choice.
“Hand me your purse,” he said quietly.
She stared at him. “Why?”
“So I can see for myself what shape you’re in financially.”
She hugged the white leather bag almost as tightly as she clutched her son. “I don’t think so.”
“I’m ordering you to.”
“And I’m telling you, you’ll have to get a search warrant if you want to go poking through my things.”
To his regret, she had a point. He had been hoping it wouldn’t come to that, that she’d cooperate voluntarily.
“Look, if you’ll just get my car back here and loan me the money for some food, I’ll buy my own gas with the money I have left and be on my way. I can see that staying here isn’t such a good idea. For all the pretty words, Officer, it’s clear you don’t really trust me.”
“If you’d let me take a look in your purse, it would go a long way toward changing that,” he cajoled.
“Not a chance,” she said, her gaze clashing with his.
Justin debated the meaning of her resistence. She could just be a woman who knew her rights and intended to protect them. Or else she was hiding something. Maybe both. He was going to have to decide quickly whether it would be smarter to encourage her to leave town or to stay right here where he could keep an eye on her until he knew more. He gambled on the latter. It was probably better that he not examine his motives too closely.
“Okay, come with me.”
Her gaze narrowed suspiciously. “Where?”
“We’re going to talk to my sister Dani about using the other half of this house. It’s fully furnished and, other than crashing here occasionally after a late night with an injured animal, she doesn’t use it.”
There was no mistaking the quick survey she did of the white house with its neat lawn, nor the flaring of hope in her eyes. The house was small and tidy. Something told him it was nothing at all like what she was used to. He waited to see how she’d react.
“Do you really think she’d let me use it for a few days, just until I get on my feet?” she asked eagerly.
Her reaction went a long way toward reassuring him. “If I know Dani, she’ll insist on it.”
“Maybe you should go ask her first. It’ll be easier for her to say no if I’m not standing there with Billy staring her in the face.”
Justin grinned. “Which is precisely why I want you to come along. One look at you and the baby and she’ll be running out to stock the refrigerator for you. Dani is a very soft touch when it comes to taking in strays. You’ll see what I mean when you keep tripping over all the kittens underfoot.”
“Kitty?” the boy echoed happily, coming awake again. “Where kitty?”
Justin reached down and took him from his mother’s lap. The boy came to him eagerly. Justin grazed his cheek with his knuckles and noted that whatever fever he’d had seemed to have come down. “Inside, son. Want to see?”
His dark eyes regarded Justin somberly, but he nodded at once. “See kitties.”
Justin started up the walk, leaving Patsy no choice but to follow.
“Hey, sis, you around here someplace?” Justin called out, striding straight through the crowded waiting room and into the back, where there was a cacophony of sound from the animals being boarded here while families went on summer vacations. A cat promptly wound between his legs, almost tripping him.
“Dani, dammit. Get these cats away from me.”
His sister poked her head out of one of the tiny examining rooms. “Justin, why are you raising such a ruckus?” she demanded, then spotted Billy. “Oh, my, isn’t he darling? Where’d you find him?”
Justin nodded over his shoulder. “He came with her.”
His sister’s gaze shifted at once to Patsy. “Ah, yes, I see,” she murmured.
Justin regarded her suspiciously. “What does that mean?”
“It means Sharon Lynn mentioned you were hot on the trail of a woman and a baby.”
“Sharon