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“Would you please step out on the porch? I need to speak to you.”
With trembling hands, she unbolted the door, but left the chain on, then opened it a crack to see the dark-haired man in uniform. Well, if you could call dark jeans, boots and a light blue shirt a uniform. Around his waist he wore a gun, and several other weapons.
“May I see your identification, Sheriff?”
He looked irritated, but pulled out an official ID. She read the name Cullen Brannigan. He was six feet one inch tall, his weight one hundred ninety, eyes, hazel, and hair, brown.
“Thank you.” She handed it back to him. “I’m not trespassing, Sheriff. I was hired to come here and cook for spring roundup. The job came with room and board.”
He frowned. “Who hired you?”
“The Donaldson family.”
He nodded. “May I see your identification?”
“Of course.” Shelby went to the table next to the door and got her wallet. She didn’t want to bring attention to herself. If Gil got news of her being here with a computer search... “All you have to do is contact Mr. Donaldson. He’ll tell you that we’re supposed to be here. But he talked with my sister, Georgia Hughes.” That had been what her new ID stated. She was supposed to have a chance to start over. She handed over her Kentucky driver’s license. “If there is a mistake, we’ll leave.”
“Where is your sister?”
Miss Townsend glanced away. “She died unexpectedly... We just recently buried her before we came here.”
Before she could say any more, a truck pulled up into the yard. Shelby stiffened and pulled her robe closer to her body as another man climbed out and rushed up to the porch.
“Hey, bro.” He turned that smile toward Shelby. “Hello, I’m Trent Landry.”
“I’m Shelby Townsend. I was just explaining to the sheriff, my sister and I were hired to cook for the roundup for Mr. Donaldson.”
Trent nodded. “I’m sorry, but the Donaldsons no longer live here. Since my mother’s passing, this property has changed hands. I’m surprised you haven’t been contacted by Hank.”
Shelby tried to stay calm given this new situation. Oh, God. Now, what was she going to do? “We were probably on the road by then.” Had Georgia known the change of plans and never got the chance to tell her? “I apologize for the mistake.” She opened the door and allowed both men inside. “As you can see, nothing was disturbed. We only arrived a few hours ago.”
Cullen watched as the attractive brunette fidgeted with the belt on her robe. Something told him she wasn’t telling him the entire story. He glanced around at the large room filled with sheet-covered furniture. The place was huge.
The woman started to speak when a child’s voice rang out from upstairs. “It’s okay, Ryan,” she said. “You can come downstairs.”
A little boy about five hurried down the steps and ran to her side. He looked scared, and Cullen hated that he’d caused the boy any more stress.
Trent spoke first. “Hello, there. I’m Trent. What’s your name?”
The boy looked up at his aunt. “It’s Ryan,” she said for him. “He’s five.”
“Good to meet you, Ryan,” Trent said. “Sorry if we scared you.”
“Don’t hurt Aunt Shellie,” he said slowly.
The woman stepped in. “No one is going to hurt anyone, Ryan. This is Sheriff Cullen.”
The boy’s eyes widened before he buried his head against his aunt’s waist.
“He’s very shy and a little frightened. I apologize for the mistake. If you give us about thirty minutes we can be packed up and out of here.”
Hell, he didn’t want to kick her out onto the street. Cullen spoke up. “Whoa, we aren’t kicking you out in the middle of the night.”
* * *
OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, Trent asked, “So you think it’s okay to let them stay?”
Cullen still wasn’t sure what came over him. He was usually the bad cop, the by-the-book guy. But the kid got to him with that look of fear on his face. “It’s nearly midnight. Do you really want her to drag the boy out at this hour? Besides, didn’t you do the same thing when Brooke came to town not too long ago? You offered her a place to stay, and look what happened.”
“Are you saying you’re attracted to Shelby Townsend?”
Cullen blinked. Where did that come from? “What? I met her two minutes before you did.”
A cocky grin appeared on Trent’s face. “That’s all it took for me when I first saw Brooke.”
“Well, I’m not you, soldier boy.” He called him by his old nickname. Trent had spent a dozen years in the military before coming back here. “Let’s get back to the problem at hand. Do you want to toss a woman and a child out at midnight? Besides, by the looks of her vehicle, she doesn’t have much extra money for a motel. Why don’t you see if you can get ahold of your last tenant, the Donaldsons, and see if they can check out her story?”
Trent shook his head. “I’ll call in the morning. Now I’m going home and climbing back into bed with my beautiful wife.” He grinned, and Cullen wanted to slug him. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Cullen pointed to the house. “What about the guests?”
“I’ll let you handle the pretty brunette. If they rob us blind, I’ll send the sheriff after them.” With a laugh his brother walked off to his truck.
Cullen just shook his head. When his father had first married Leslie, he and his twin brother, Austin, had been barely ten. And they hated Leslie’s thirteen-year-old son, Trent, on sight. It took a few years, but they all got over it, and with his stepmother’s love they’d all become somewhat of a family.
He looked up at the house. Did he trust the woman? He used to rely on his cop instincts, but these days he wasn’t so sure. He walked up the steps, knocked on the door and waited until she answered.
The door finally opened and Miss Townsend motioned him inside. “Please, come in, Sheriff.”
He stepped across the threshold and caught a whiff of her fragrance, soft and clean like soap. Damn, if she didn’t remind him the past year had been a long and lonely one.
“You and the boy can stay for the night and I’ll come by in the morning to see about making other arrangements.”
“That’s not necessary, Sheriff. Ryan and I are planning to head west.”
“Do you have somewhere to go?”
She hesitated, then shook her head. “But I have a laptop and I can look for a job.”
“The B&B Café is looking for a part-time cook,” he blurted out.
She looked surprised at his volunteering the information.
He shrugged. “I only know that because I was in earlier for supper and Bill told me he and Betty needed to cut down their workload. They also run a catering business on the side. I know cooking for cowboys is different than cooking for a restaurant...”
“I am a chef, Sheriff.” She combed back her hair with long fingers. “I graduated from culinary school.”
“Then it shouldn’t be difficult to find employment.” He played with the hat in his hands. “If you do plan to stay and get a job maybe we can help you find a place to stay. There is the cottage out back. It’s a lot smaller, but there are two bedrooms.”
He saw the interest in her blue eyes.
“I’ll just need to talk to Trent.” His brother Austin was one of the owners, too, but wouldn’t care if he rented the place. “Not sure how the Donaldsons left it, but I’m sure it’s livable.”
“That’s very nice of you,” she told him. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“I understand. I should get back on patrol.” He didn’t move. Why did he hate leaving her alone? He could sense her fear and couldn’t help but wonder what was causing it.
“You and your brother are being very generous for letting us stay the night. I’ll make sure we clean up before we leave.”
“So you’re not staying in town?”
“Only if I get employment.”
He nodded. “Okay, if you want to try for that job, the B&B Café is just off Main Street on Aspen.”
She hugged her robe together. “Thank you again, Sheriff. I’ll think about my options. Of course, Ryan has to be my first consideration. I’ll let you know tomorrow.” She headed to the door, letting him know that he should leave.
He shouldn’t care, but he found he wanted to help. Why? Maybe it was because when he had trouble, there’d been few people who wanted to stand by him. Sometimes, it took a stranger to step up and give a person a hand.
He stopped at the door. “I’m new here, too, just a few weeks as the interim sheriff. Hidden Springs is a nice town.” What was he, the chamber of commerce? Then he realized what he said was true. Maybe he should take his own advice and give this place a chance.
Chapter Two (#ubd453e21-e416-5cd6-956f-9f14bc757639)
The next morning, Shelby packed their suitcases. No matter what happened today, they weren’t going to be staying in the farmhouse.
By ten o’clock, Ryan had been fed his usual bowl of Cheerios and they headed into town. Shelby parked her compact car off Main Street and eyed the storefront building, the B&B Café.
Should she go in and see about the job? She glanced in the backseat and saw Ryan busy with his picture album. He kept looking at his mother’s photo. She had no way to explain to the boy about the evil of some people. How they could take another life.
“Look, Ryan, we’re going to go inside so I can see about getting a job.”
“Mama worked. She worked at my school.”
“That’s right, sweetie. She was a teacher.”
“She was going to teach me, too.” He blinked really fast. “Now, she’s in heaven with Daddy.”
“Yes, she is, and he’s going to take care of her forever and ever.” Shelby had trouble holding back the tears. “So don’t worry about her.”
Shelby got out of the car, went to the backseat and helped Ryan out, too. They walked into the café, and she opened the glass door. Here goes. She released a breath, hoping to relax a little.
Inside, Shelby looked around and decided she liked the down-home atmosphere. Several gingham-checked-cloth-covered tables were situated on a black-and-white-tiled floor, and black leather padded booths ran along the wall under the windows. There were pictures of the area’s skiing and hiking trails, and many just of the beautiful Colorado scenery.
A slight woman about fifty-five came out of the back. She had short gray hair, warm brown eyes and a big smile. “I’m thinking you might be Shelby Townsend.” She smiled down at the boy. “You must be Ryan.”
Her nephew hid behind her. “Yes, I’m Shelby.” So the sheriff had been here.
“Welcome to town, I’m Bess Cummings. My husband, Bill, and I own this restaurant and the catering business next door.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Cummings.”
“Please, call me Bess.”
Shelby nodded. “I’m told that you might possibly be looking for some help in the restaurant.”
“Could be. We’re overworked, especially when the wedding season begins in a month or so. It’s hard to run both sides of our business. Oh, pardon my manners.” She motioned to the end booth. “Please, go have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
Bess looked at Ryan. “How about some pancakes with fruit? Some strawberries?”
The child’s eyes rounded and he looked at Shelby, and she nodded. “That would be nice.”
Bess went into the kitchen and returned with two mugs of coffee and a small glass of milk. “I hope this is okay.”
“Yes, thank you, milk is fine.”
She got Ryan situated with his photo book. “You picked a good time to come in with the breakfast crowd already gone.” The door opened and two customers walked in. “That always happens.”
A large gentleman came out of the back as two men sat down at the counter. He filled their coffee mugs, then took their orders. “That’s Bill. I’ll introduce you later.” She looked at her. “I hear you’re a chef.”
The sheriff again? “Yes, I graduated from culinary school in Louisville, Kentucky.” She pulled out her folded résumé from her purse. “Here are some of the places I worked.”
Bess read over the paper. “I’m impressed. A sous-chef, huh?”
“I just recently moved in to the position when I left town.”
“May I ask why you left the restaurant?”
How much should she say? “My sister and nephew were moving here, and they’re my only family so I decided to come with them.” She glanced at Ryan and lowered her voice. “My sister passed away unexpectedly. So now I’m Ryan’s only family.”
Bess’s hand touched her heart. “I am so sorry for your loss.” She looked at Ryan, showing her sorrow. “If there is anything I can do... Of course there is.” She looked over the résumé again. “How would you like to work for Bill and me? We’re not fancy, and we can’t offer you full time yet, but I am curious to see your ideas for our catering business. Our May and June is nearly booked with weddings, so maybe you can add some new items for our menu.”
“Really? You want me to help with catering?”
She nodded. “That’s when Bill and I really get overwhelmed, and we’re too old to run around like that. So if you don’t mind working at the restaurant and cooking hamburgers in between a few specialties...”
Wow, she was being offered a job. Did she dare take it? “Of course not. I mean, I can cook a hamburger.”
Bess smiled. “Good, because your help would be wonderful, especially with your skill level. I doubt we can pay you what you’re worth, but there are good tips working here, and especially in the catering. So if you can deal with that, you’re hired.”
“Sounds fine to me. Thank you, I’ll take the job.”
Bess grinned, then turned to her husband. “Bill, get over here and meet our new waitress.”
* * *
NEARLY TWO HOURS LATER, Shelby drove back to the ranch, excited she had accepted the job. A good one and she had to take it. Step one was taken care of with her getting the job. Now her biggest concern was Ryan. He’d had enough changes in his life already, so she couldn’t just drop him off for a stranger to watch him.
