“Yeah.”
“It must have been devastating for you. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like. But you and Lacey?” She smiled. “Friendship, love, then marriage.”
“We hardly had time to know what being married meant.”
“If anybody knows what that feels like, it’s me,” she said. “I often wished that Zach and I had had a child together. At least you have your girls.”
“Yeah.”
And that was his secret, he thought.
“Have you considered marrying again?” she asked.
“You applying for the position?”
Why had he said that? Deflect the question? Put a stop to personal questions? Or was there a deeper, more wishful reason?
Her green eyes widened and she tugged at the hem of her cotton skirt. “Objection,” she said, as if she were addressing the court.
“Overruled. Are you interested in the job?”
“Job? So marriage to you would be a chore? A duty? An assignment?”
“Heck, no. I’m a swell guy.”
“Then why haven’t you remarried?” She zeroed that green-eyed gaze on him. “And don’t tell me no one’s been interested.”
One corner of his mouth rose. “Is that a compliment?”
“Are you fishing for one?”
“Always.”
“Okay. Let me shoot your ego full of steroids. You’re a nice-looking man.”
“Nice-looking? That’s the best you can do?”
The glaring spotlights overhead clearly showed the blush that crept into her cheeks. For the life of him, he couldn’t seem to let her off the hook. He was deliberately baiting her.
“Words are my life, Sheriff. And no, that’s not the best I can do. However, it’s all I’m willing to say. But my point is, and I do have one, that women must notice you. Is there a problem?”
“Yeah. Two. Their names are Kasey and Stacey.”
“What do the twins have to do with it?”
“Everything. Either I meet someone they like who would be a good mother to them but doesn’t do a thing for me, or I find a woman I like and they make gagging noises when I mention her name.”
“Gagging noises? Those sweet angels I saw just a little while ago?”
“Angels?” He put the palm of his hand to her forehead, as if to check for fever. A teasing gesture. Not meant to be more. But the arc of electricity the touch produced put a lie to that and he quickly pulled back. “Those two could make a career out of duping innocent folks. Their favorite trick is switching identities. Most people can’t tell them apart.”
“Yes, angels. They gave me the cheat sheet.”
“The what?”
“The cheat sheet for who’s who.”
“They must like you.”
“Of course they do. I plied them with red vines, red hots and red punch. What’s not to like? Besides, all that red dye works better than truth serum.”
He shook his head. “I still say they must like you. I can’t get them to cooperate after that much junk. Mostly they’re devils disguised as angels.”
“Those girls are beautiful little cherubs.” She grinned, showing straight, even teeth and a beautiful smile that made her green eyes sparkle like precious gems.
“Okay. Eighty percent of the time they’re as good as gold. But they have their dark side.”
“No,” she said, exaggerating the word.
“Everyone does, Jen.”
He wasn’t thinking of the twins now, but her husband. He wasn’t the man she’d thought. But there was no reason to speak ill of the dead, and worse, destroy her illusions. And she did have them, or she wouldn’t have stayed single all this time mourning the creep.
“I know that, Grady. I’m not naive,” she scoffed. “In my line of work, I see the best and worst.”
“I suppose that’s true. So do I.”
“Tell me again why you haven’t remarried?”
“You’re like a dog with a favorite bone on that subject.”
Her eyes widened. “Geez, I’m sorry. I guess questions are what I do. But I don’t usually badger my friends. Really I don’t. Maybe I’m a little tense. Because of the next couple of events. Maybe I should go…”
He put his hand on her arm. “No. I don’t mind distracting you. I guess I haven’t remarried because I can’t find someone I like.”
“We’ve already established that hordes of women are on your trail. Aren’t you just a tad picky?”
“We haven’t established anything. And if the counselor would let me finish my thought…”
“By all means,” she said, with an expansive hand gesture that told him he had the floor.
“If I was looking, it would be for a woman I was attracted to who would also be a good mother to the girls.”
She tapped her lip with her index finger. “If? You’re not looking?”
“That would be a waste of time and energy.”
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t exist.”
“It? You mean love? Relationships?”
“Either or both—yes.”
“Hmm.”
He looked at her. “What does that mean?”
“Just that you’re very cynical. I’ve heard that men who love once are likely to find it again. So why would you think it doesn’t exist? You loved Lacey.”
And there was another secret he would keep. “Has anyone ever mentioned that you ask a lot of questions?”
“Yes.”
“I guess that goes with the territory. Being a lawyer and all.”
“I guess.”
“So what’s your story? Why isn’t a pretty lady like you married by now with a couple of kids?”
When her sunny expression faded, Grady could have kicked himself from here to kingdom come. He’d only wanted to sidestep her questions, not take the smile from her face.
“I already had my chance at love.”
“So women get just one chance? It’s only men who are likely to find it again?”
She shrugged. “I had one perfect year with the love of my life. I won’t ever find that again and, like you just said, looking is a waste of time and energy that could be put to better use.”
Grady wished he could tell her the truth, because the man she’d loved hadn’t been worth the time and energy she’d wasted on him. Along with Mitch, Dev Hart and Jack Riley, he’d spent a lot of years keeping the hurtful information from her. If she learned the facts, what would be the point? It wasn’t only Zach’s memory that was keeping her single. Jensen had been busy with college, law school and pursuing her career. She was made for love, and when the time was right it would find her—whether or not she knew the ugly truth about the jerk she’d married.
Right now Grady had better things to do. Like putting the stars back in her eyes. “Okay. So let me see if I’ve got this straight.