The Sheriff Wins A Wife. Jill Limber

walk as she made her way to her car. He’d always loved to watch her move.

      She walked like a person who had places to go. And she had. She’d gone to Dallas and she’d never come home.

      As he watched her pull away from the curb he thought about what she’d just told him. Even though he’d believed the annulment had been finalized years ago, her casual offer to end their marriage had been damn hard to hear.

      He turned away and headed toward the bathroom and a shower. As much as he would love to go back out to the yard and work the anger out of his system, duty called. But as he lathered up, his thoughts drifted into dangerous territory.

      What if Jenn hadn’t lost the baby?

      Their child would be the same age as Zack.

      Would they have had a successful marriage? More children?

      Or was she right? Had they been too young to have it last?

      When they had first started dating, Jenn had had big plans for college and a career. He’d been a part of those dreams.

      The unplanned pregnancy had upset her, made her feel out of control. He’d never seen her so distressed. And when she lost the baby, she’d gone back to her plans, minus him.

      He stuck his head under the spray and called himself a fool for wanting things that could never be.

      He had other things he needed to think about, things he could actually do something about. Like the frustrating investigation into the land swindle that had cost several residents of the county thousands of dollars. And the Committee for Moral Behavior was driving him crazy with their demands to make changes “for the good” of Blossom. He knew they meant well, but they didn’t seem to understand there was only so much he could do without treading on other people’s civil rights.

      He dressed, grabbed his weapon and wallet and was stopped twice on his way to his meeting with the mayor.

      The town’s gardener had found two garden trolls sitting on the bench in front of the courthouse. He wanted Trace to know they were in his shed.

      Then Trace ran into the clerk of the court, who needed to show him pictures of her latest grandchild.