depths. Whenever he looked at her it was like he understood she’d been to hell and back, that she had her secrets just like he had his. Perhaps that was why she kept getting the urge to tell him private things about herself.
Glancing furtively at him, she asked, “You think people around here gossip about you?”
Before she could answer, Loretta arrived with their food. She placed a Reuben sandwich in front of Rosalinda and served Tyler a chicken-fried streak smothered in gravy. After the waitress had refilled their drinks and left the table, Tyler answered Rosalinda’s question.
“I know for a fact they gossip about me. Once my foreman was asked if I was an extremist and kept my house stockpiled with rifles and weapons.”
Frowning, Rosalinda picked up her sandwich. “Do you have a stockpile of weapons?”
His chuckle conveyed how ridiculous he considered the idea. “The only weapon I possess is a hunting rifle and I keep it locked away because I quit hunting years ago. I think—well, when people don’t know about something or someone, it sparks their imagination and they start making up things.” He sprinkled pepper over his food and reached for his fork. “And I suppose I make matters worse because I don’t mix and mingle with the folks around here.”
“Why don’t you mix and mingle?”
He shrugged. “I don’t dislike people, Ms. Lightfoot, but integrating into the community is for other folks. Not me. If someone wants to be my friend, that’s good. But I don’t go out searching for them.”
What about searching for women? she wanted to ask, but stopped the words before they could pop from her mouth. The last thing she wanted was to give Tyler Pickens the idea that she was interested in him in a personal way.
What kind of idea do you think you’re giving him by inviting him to meet you here tonight? You are interested in him, Rosa. You just don’t want to admit it.
Kicking back the incriminating voice in her head, she turned another question on him. “What about the folks back in Texas? Do you still keep in touch with them?”
His gaze quickly dropped to his food and several awkward moments passed before he eventually answered, “No. That part of my life is over.”
There was a tone of finality to his voice that spoke of loss and pain. The sound sent questions about him and his family spinning through her mind. “Oh. So you’ve lost your parents?”
Looking up, he cast her an empty smile. “No. They’re quite alive and well.”
That stunned her and she suddenly realized he was like a mystery box wrapped in layers and layers of richly textured paper. She wanted to peel them away, to peek inside at this rancher, who was unlike any man she’d ever met. But that wasn’t a part of her job. Not when her motives for the questions were completely personal.
After forcing down several bites of sandwich, she said, “There are times I really miss my family. I have three brothers and one sister, but I don’t see them or my parents very often. I rarely get enough free time to make the trip up to Gallop.”
“Then why don’t you live up there? Near them?”
Because the pleasure of being in her old hometown had been ruined by a man and the obsessed woman who’d refused to relinquish her hold on him.
“I like it better down here,” she told him flatly. “My job—the people—it’s all home to me now.”
His eyes narrowed as his gaze swept a perceptive path over her face, and Rosalinda felt her cheeks warming, her breaths coming just a bit faster. Could he actually see the haunting memories on her face? Even more, could he see exactly how much he was affecting her?
“When you say home, I take it you don’t share it with anyone. A husband or boyfriend?”
His question filled her with a sense of fear. Which was ridiculous. Since her ordeal with Dale, she’d not written men totally out of her life. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to be loved. And yet the idea of being intimate with a man again was like venturing a walk through a bear-infested forest. Even though Dale had been a gentle, loving man, he’d been carrying problems that she’d not known about. Problems that had eventually exploded onto her. And the more she’d tried to stand by her man, the more dangerous everything had gotten.
“I’m single and unattached,” she finally answered. “But I’m only twenty-six. I’ll have plenty of time later on to think about marriage.”
Across the booth from her, Tyler tried to focus on his food, but it was hard to do when the pull of the sexy deputy kept urging his gaze back to her side of the table. She wasn’t married or living with a boyfriend. The fact had him smiling inside.
Damn it! He must have breathed in too much smoke last night. Something had clearly messed up his thinking. Otherwise, he would have never suggested meeting this woman for dinner. True, he was grateful that she’d not caused real trouble for Santo, but he could’ve shown his appreciation in some other way. Like a simple thank you.
But she’d sparked something in him that had shaken him out of a long, cold sleep. He’d not been able to resist the urge to spend more time with her and let her warmness thaw him back to life.
“You’re very young,” he commented. “How long have you worked in law enforcement?”
“I worked for the Ruidoso Police Department for a year and a half before I applied for the job of county deputy. I’ve worked for Sheriff Hamilton for about seven or eight months now.”
“Hmm. How did you decide you wanted to be a law officer? Was that something you’d always planned to be?”
“No. When I first got out of high school I always had intentions of becoming a schoolteacher. I love children and Mom always said I had a way with my younger brothers.” She placed what was left of her sandwich back onto her plate and toyed with the pile of potato chips lying next to it. “But all of those plans got forgotten for a while. And then I became friends with Johnny Chino. Do you know him?”
Tyler rolled the name through his memory bank. “Not personally. I’ve heard the name. He’s some sort of famous tracker, isn’t he?”
“Used to be. He’s a deputy now. Anyway, he and his wife—she’s a medical doctor here in Ruidoso—both urged me to go to police academy. They thought I’d be good at it. And once I started considering their idea, it began to appeal to me. Now I like to think that I’m helping people be safe.”
She smiled at him and Tyler felt something inside him go soft and helpless. Her white teeth against her creamy tan skin, the impish curl at the corners of her plush lips was an intoxicating sight. Especially since he rarely received a genuine smile from anyone.
“What’s been the most rewarding thing about your job so far?”
“Finding a lost little boy. The mother feared he’d been kidnapped from their front yard. But I have brothers so I understand how adventurous boys can be. So I followed my hunch and found him at the nearest baseball park. He’d climbed down in the dugout and fallen asleep.”
“Wow. That must have made you feel like a true heroine,” he said.
Her smile turned modest. “I don’t know about that. But the look on the mother’s face when I handed her son back to her is something I’ll never forget. And since then I’ve had a few more proud moments. Especially when Sheriff Hamilton praised me for busting a local theft ring. But that’s enough about me. What about you? What made you decide to be a rancher?” she asked.
“I grew up with horses and cattle.”
The smile lingered on her lips. “Well, no one in my family ever worked in law enforcement. But I didn’t let that stop me. My family and friends say I’m stubborn, but I like to think of myself as determined.”
Since he’d only just met her, he didn’t know those things about her. But he did know she was