Sarah And The Sheriff. Allison Leigh

Evan’s place?” She was concerned for the little girl, but she was also concerned for her cousin, who’d blamed herself for the loss of Emi.

      Leandra’s gaze, when it met Sarah’s, told her she understood exactly what Sarah meant. “We’re all adjusting just fine.” Her lips curved. “And Evan’s learning what it’s like to be outnumbered by females under his own roof.”

      “Don’t think he’s suffering too badly,” Jolie observed, looking amused. “You can take off the dress, honey, but watch the pins.”

      Leandra gingerly stepped off the chair, holding the long folds up and baring the thick red-and-black argyle socks she was wearing.

      “Nice fashion touch there.”

      Leandra rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. This is the first winter I’ve spent in Wyoming in a long time. It’s cold!”

      The rest of them just laughed.

      “Come help me get out of this thing,” Leandra bid as she passed Sarah. Jolie had pushed herself off the floor and was helping herself to the pitcher of margaritas that Emily and Jaimie were already sampling. Sarah rose and followed her cousin out of the great room and up the stairs to Leandra’s childhood bedroom. Little had changed there since they’d been teenagers. Except the posters of Leandra’s favorite rock star were gone.

      “So—” Leandra said, the moment they closed the door “—how’s it going with Eli? More to the point, how is it going with Max?”

      “There’s nothing going with Max.” Sarah began unfastening the long, long line of pearl-like buttons stretching from Leandra’s nape to below her waist. “I thought these things were just for looks,” she said. “You know, to hide a sensible zipper or something that won’t take a week to unfasten.”

      “But you’ve seen him since Eli’s first day at school, right?”

      Her cousin knew that she’d run into Max at her folks’ place, because Sarah had told her. And her cousin also knew why it mattered, because Leandra was the only one Sarah had ever told about her ill-fated affair with the man. She was the only one who’d known about Sarah’s pregnancy.

      About the miscarriage that followed.

      “He came by the school today,” she admitted. “To discuss Eli.”

      “And?”

      “And nothing.” She slipped a few more buttons free. “I think you can step out of the dress now.”

      Her cousin did a little shimmy and pushed the fabric down over her slender hips. Sarah took the dress and held it up while Leandra pulled on a dark brown velvety sweat suit. “This dress is so beautiful,” she murmured.

      Leandra took the dress and carefully laid it aside on the foot of the bed. Then she took Sarah’s hands in hers. “Talk to me.”

      “There’s nothing to talk about. Truly.” She squeezed her cousin’s fingers, then headed for the door. “Come on. Margaritas and glue guns are waiting.”

      “You know, you were the one who kept telling me I needed to talk about Emi.”

      “You did need to talk about her. But there’s a world of difference between that and what happened between Max and me.”

      “You were in love with the man.”

      Sarah wrapped her fingers around the doorknob. “I thought I was,” she corrected. “A big difference.”

      Leandra just looked concerned. She picked up her wedding gown. “Is it?”

      “Look, don’t worry about me. I’m a big girl. Eli is the only challenge I have where the Scalise family is concerned.”

      Leandra followed her into the hallway and toward the stairs. Her gown rustled softly as they walked. “Then you won’t be bothered at all by knowing that your mom has invited Genna Scalise and Max and Eli over for Thanksgiving dinner next Thursday.”

      Sarah stopped dead at the head of the stairs. “What? How do you know that?”

      “Before you got here, your mom and mine and Jolie were all talking about Thanksgiving dinner. The only place with a large enough dining room to seat everyone and still be inside, is at the big house.”

      “Which has what to do with Max?”

      Leandra looked knowing. “Sounding a little perturbed considering his presence isn’t bugging the life out of you.”

      “Leandra—”

      Her cousin looked slightly repentant. “Sawyer really likes Max, Sarah.”

      “I assumed he must or he wouldn’t have hired him.” She didn’t like the increasingly dry feeling in her mouth.

      “Did you know that Sawyer is thinking about retiring? He and Dad were talking about it the other day.”

      For as long as Sarah could remember, her uncle had been sheriff of Weaver. He was as popular as he was effective. “No, but it doesn’t seem unreasonable, given how long he’s served. But what does that have—Oh, no. No.” She shook her head. “If Sawyer thinks Max might be a good replacement, he’s way off base.”

      They heard a low, melodious chime and Leandra looked down the staircase. The foyer below was empty, but they could hear peals of female laughter coming from the great room, and footsteps heading toward the front door. “You want to go to Sawyer and tell him just why you feel that way?” She lifted her brows, waiting for a moment. “I didn’t think so.”

      “And since Sawyer thinks he can groom Max to be his replacement, he invited them all for Thanksgiving dinner. Just one big happy—” Sarah’s throat tightened “—family.”