you have any plans Friday night?” he asked.
Her smile came and went on her face, as if the idea first tantalized her and then made her shy away. “You’re asking me out on a date?”
“Is that so hard to believe?”
“No … well, yes … I mean, you’re the sheriff.”
“Amazing, isn’t it? Me, sheriff of Honey Creek County.”
“I don’t mean that. It’s just … you’re … And I’m …”
“I’m a man and you’re a woman. Are you trying to tell me you’re …” He lifted his eyebrows and let his expression finish his meaning, even though he was teasing.
“No!”
“Then go out with me. Dinner. Friday night. I’ll pick you up or we can meet somewhere. Whatever you’re most comfortable with.”
She stared at him. And then turned and looked through the windshield.
“Come on. It’ll be fun. I can already tell,” he coaxed.
“I don’t know …”
“I promise I’ll behave.”
Finally she looked at him.
“Friday night. Seven o’clock,” he said.
Again, she seemed to waver between accepting and not. “I don’t think now is a good time. With all the talk around town.”
“All the more reason to go out with me. It’s like you said, I’m the sheriff. It’ll be good for people to see you with me.”
“Or bad for you to be seen with me,” she countered.
“I don’t care what people say. It’s the truth that matters.”
Her eyes grew soft with warming affection. Just what he wanted to see. He grinned. But she was going to turn him down. He could tell.
“Think about it,” he said.
She smiled a little and nodded. “I will.”
“Think hard.” He smiled.
She laughed, as soft as the look in her eyes. Damn, he liked her.
He opened the truck door and stepped out, turning to face her. “At least I know where to find you.” The library.
“Don’t you dare.” But her lovely smile proved she was kidding.
“See you soon, Lily Masterson.”
The last thing he heard before closing the door was another warm laugh. Feeling good, he headed for the office with a little extra verve in his step.
When he reached the door, he looked back. She hadn’t pulled into the street yet. She was still watching him with a soft smile. And that told him all he needed to know.
Chapter 2
“One of the boys at school asked me if I was as good as my mother.”
Damn. Would it ever stop?
Lily looked across the truck at her fourteen-year-old daughter. Her blue eyes and black hair mirrored her own. May was only five-four for now, but she’d probably grow another four inches to match her height, too.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing. I walked away.”
“Good girl. What comes out of people’s mouths isn’t important unless it’s true.” Realizing that’s what Wes had told her, she shook off thoughts of him. “It’s your actions that mean more. You show them who you are. You don’t crumble.”
“You’re always saying that,” May retorted.
“Arguing and getting into fights isn’t the way to handle this.”
“But it’s true, what they’re saying about you.”
“Some of it used to be true. It isn’t anymore. They’ll see that eventually, as long as we don’t let them beat us down.”
“I don’t know why you wanted to come back to this stupid town. It sucks here.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Everyone thinks you’re a slut.”
“Well, I’m not. And I told you to watch your mouth.”
“They call me a slut, too.”
Lily gave up. “You aren’t a slut.”
“I don’t have any friends because of you!”
That broke her heart in two. “You have Peri.” She was a cute little redhead that May said was an outcast like her.
“Peri is a dolt.”
Pulling to a stop in front of the school, Lily watched May’s face go grim with dread.
“Hold your head high and do well in your classes. You’ll meet some friends who won’t judge you the way the others do.” When May didn’t move to get out of the truck, Lily said, “Go on. You’re better than this, May.”
May turned her head and looked at her. “I don’t like it here.”
“We aren’t moving. We just got here.”
With a heavy sigh, May opened the door and hopped out.
“I love you,” Lily said.
May looked at her and didn’t say anything before slamming the truck door. Lily watched her until she disappeared inside the school building, and then drove away.
That was the hardest part about all the talk in town. She hated what it was doing to May. But they’d get through it. The talk wouldn’t go on forever.
She headed for Main Street. Bonnie Gene Kelley had called this morning and Lily had agreed to meet her. Parking, she got out and started walking down the street. Bonnie Gene had an uncanny ability to pry out whatever was bugging her. It had been a week since the hearing and still Lily was having trouble dealing with seeing Brandon in person.
Walking down Main Street, Lily was vaguely aware of people turning their heads to look at her. She passed the Corner Bar and jaywalked across the street toward the West Ridge Hotel. Next door was the Honey-B Café, where she’d agreed to meet Bonnie Gene. For once they weren’t meeting at Kelley’s Cookhouse, the restaurant Bonnie Gene and her husband ran.
Bonnie Gene was one of two people in town Lily trusted enough to call friends. She had stuck by her through everything over all these years, starting out as more of a mother figure, but as Lily grew older, their friendship had grown. She was the only person who knew about Brandon.
Lily wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. As soon as Bonnie Gene discovered she’d testified at Brandon’s hearing, she’d picked up on how badly it was affecting her. And Bonnie Gene didn’t take no for an answer once she made her mind up about something. So, whether Lily liked it or not, which this morning she didn’t, she had to meet her friend for breakfast before heading to the library for work.
The thought of eating breakfast soured her stomach. She’d just die if the parole board decided to release Brandon after the agony of her testimony. He hadn’t done a very convincing job pleading his case. As far as she was concerned, he’d been cold and deliberate, stating that he’d received treatment while incarcerated and he was reformed and ready for society. He’d even had a plan. Move back to his hometown in North Carolina and work for his dad’s remodeling company.
Ready for society. More like ready to hunt down more women in society. He’d just come out of a fifteen-year drought. Surely he was eager to assuage his evil cravings. She hoped the parole board hadn’t been fooled.
Pushing