Erin's Way (17 page)

Erin glanced away, desperately, but no one else was headed her way who might rescue her, and for the life of her, she couldn’t think of an excuse to get away on her own. And get away she definitely needed to do before she lost her temper.

“Sheriff Barnes has to be so careful, him being an elected official. It would be a shame for any scandal to damage
his
reputation.”

Erin froze. She and Sam hadn’t been anywhere together. This was one of the facets of small town life she’d hated. Everybody was always in everybody else’s business, and how news got around was anyone’s guess.

“What kind of scandal would that be Mrs. Gatewood?” she asked, for once trying to keep a tight rein on her temper.

“Well you are living with him, aren’t you?”

It was tempting to lie or just tell her to mind her own business, but Erin remembered all too well how stories got around. While it might not hurt Erin in the long run, it could have an impact on Sam’s job where respect was such an integral part of it. If Betty Gatewood was even bringing this up, then she had to already know something.

“I’m staying at his house, working on his farm,” Erin finally admitted, then kicked herself. No doubt the old biddy had just been fishing, and now Erin had confirmed it. Shit. She would have to tell Sam. He would be so angry.

The older woman shook her head. “You should think about it. You might flit away again, but Sam has to live and work here. Folks might think twice about re-electing a sheriff who has a young woman living with him. He doesn’t have a powerful family ready to gloss over
his
mistakes.”

Erin was livid, but she knew giving rein to her anger like she wanted would only hurt Sam that much more. Swallowing back the furious response that sprang to her lips, she simply smiled. “Thank you for sharing your concerns, Mrs. Gatewood. I’ll keep those in mind.”

Betty Gatewood patted her arm, and it was all Erin could do not to cringe. While the older woman sailed off to her car, Erin stood rooted to the spot, her hands fisted inside her pockets. She wanted to ignore everything that woman said… But she couldn’t. No matter the motivation, there was some truth in words she knew weren’t truly motivated out of concern for Sam.

But Erin was concerned. She didn’t want to hurt Sam’s career.

“Erin?”

Lost in thought, she jerked slightly, and looked up to see Holly carrying Noelle. Erin stepped forward. “Can I help you? I mean, should you be carrying her as far along as you are?”

“She normally likes to practice her walking, but she’s a little pooped, and I’m in a bit of a hurry. I’m meeting Jake for lunch.”

“I could carry her for you. Are you going to Mercer’s?”

“Yes.” Holly handed her the girl. Noelle grinned and patted Erin’s cheek. “Thanks. She likes you.”

Erin rubbed her cheek against Noelle’s. “I like kids. They just accept you for who you are, you know?”

Holly touched her arm. “Are you okay?” Erin pasted a smile on her face, but before she could say anything, Holly continued. “I saw Betty Gatewood out here talking to you. I tried to get here sooner, but I wasn’t quite in time, was I?”

After adjusting Noelle on her hip, Erin grimaced. “I don’t guess she said anything that I didn’t already know.”

Holly stopped her. “Jake threatened to punch her in the nose when she came to talk to him right after Noelle was born. I think you showed remarkable self-control.”

Some of her tension eased. Erin even managed a smile. Noelle suddenly squirmed. “Da-dee!”

Erin looked over her shoulder to see Jake striding along the sidewalk toward them. While Noelle waved her hand and bounced up and down on her hip, Erin studied the man coming toward them. His dark hair lifted in the light breeze, and a smile lit his face. Like Evan, Jake was a man obviously happy with his life. She only noticed the dark uniform and the cap in his hand as he drew near.

From spending most of her life trying to avoid anyone in uniform, Erin now found herself surrounded. It hadn’t struck her before. That she, of all people, should find herself in love with an officer of the law, was the ultimate in irony. She had been doing everything she could since she became a teenager to flout any type of authority, and had found herself skating on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion.

Jake kissed Holly on the cheek, then reached for Noelle, who leaned toward him with a giggle. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”

He grinned. “Hi, pumpkin.” He hugged her close and gave her a smacking kiss on the lips. “Hey, Erin. Sam called a little while ago. You joining us for lunch?”

She shook her head. “No. As I’m sure Sam mentioned, I’m on my way to Tarpley’s to buy ingredients for dinner. Sam and I’ve been working pretty hard this week with the calving, and I thought I would cook him a nice meal.”

Jake grinned. “Whatever you cook, make it a lot. That man puts away more food than…”

“Jake!” Holly said. “That’s not nice.”

Erin laughed. “It’s true. Hmm, and I thought it was because he was working so hard with the calving going on. Y’all have a nice lunch.”

“I’ll just keep an eye on you until you get there,” Jake said.

As she walked back toward Tarpley’s, Erin realized her dark mood was gone. Between Holly’s comments and the happiness that just seemed to ooze from her whole family, Erin was once again back on an even keel.

Seeing the expression on Sam’s face that evening when she set the pan seared chops, apple chutney, roasted new potatoes, and green beans in front of him lifted her spirits even more. He dug into the meal with hardly a word, but when it was over and she started to clear the table, he pulled her onto his lap.

“Thanks, baby. You’re good for me.”

Erin caressed his cheek. She hoped he was right. Betty Gatewood’s words echoed in the back of her mind, but Erin tried to shove them firmly away.

“I’d like you to go with me to church tomorrow,” Sam murmured as they snuggled together on the couch Saturday night. “Joe’s a great preacher.”

“Wouldn’t that blow my keeping a low profile?” Erin asked, swallowing around the sudden flutter in her throat. She remembered how the matrons of Mountain Meadow looked at her. She had felt it every time she visited the town. Then there was her brush with Betty Gatewood. Erin was always too something for them: too busty, too haughty, too wild, too stupid. Some of them had been her teachers; some of them had been the classmates who taunted her. They’d all left her feeling raw, and the whole idea brought up that conversation with Mrs. Gatewood. Maybe she should avoid being seen with Sam. She didn’t want to damage his career.

“That cat’s already out of the bag, baby. Check Facebook if you don’t believe me. So will you go?”

“I—I don’t know….”

Sam tilted her chin. “What is it?”

Erin rubbed her face against his bare chest. “Oh, Sam, my life here was almost as miserable as it was in Washington. The only time I was happy was out here, wandering the Homestead or your farm. Then I ran into Betty Gatewood yesterday when I drove into town.”

“Nosy old bi…”

She put her fingers over his mouth. “Don’t say it. She’s a voter. She had valid points. I could hurt your career.”

Sam’s frown was fierce. “Bull.”

He kissed the top of her head, then ran his hands down to knead her bottom and press her against his rapidly hardening cock. “So you want to hide? That doesn’t sound much like my feisty, in-your-face Erin. Baby, you couldn’t ask for much more support. Your brother-in-law will be preaching, your sister, your brother, and your parents will all be there. Hell, you’ll even have the city police chief there, all in your court. Don’t let a few cats scare you. Between the Richardsons and the Allreds, I think this town has learned a few lessons over the last year and a half. Jake and I will both be carrying, if that’s your concern. We won’t be sitting ducks.”

“Okay. I’ll go.” Erin crawled up his body until she could straddle his hips. She didn’t want to talk about this, so she smiled flirtatiously at him and leaned down. “Since you’re my knight in shining armor, can I play with your sword?”

Sam laughed. “Baby, you can do anything to my sword your little heart desires.”

Erin raised her brows, then bent over to take him into her mouth.

“Especially that,” he groaned and tangled his fingers in her spiky hair.

* * * *

Sam jingled the keys in his pocket impatiently as he bent his head to look at the watch on his other wrist.

“Erin,” he called once again. “Come on or we’ll be late. Joe makes the latecomers sit up front, after he stops the service to say hi to you by…name….” His voice trailed off as she walked into the kitchen. She was dressed in a form-fitting navy wool dress that ended just a couple of inches above her knees. With it she wore a short, matching jacket and heels. A single set of pearl studs that matched the strand around her neck adorned her ears. She’d tamed her inky hair and toned down her makeup so that he could hardly tell she wore any. She took his breath away.

Erin stared at his raised brows for just an instant and looked at herself in disgust. “I look like shit, don’t I?”

Sam shook his head. “You look beautiful. It’s just so…so…” He stopped at a loss for words.

Erin wrinkled her nose. “So just like the rest of my family.”

Sam chuckled. “Well yes. For you, it’s almost like camouflage. My little stealth bomber. I can’t wait to watch everyone’s faces.”

Erin laughed as she glided gracefully over to him and stretched on tiptoe to kiss him. Thank God. He’d said the right thing.

“Come on, Sammy, let’s knock ‘em dead!”

On impulse, he grabbed her and kissed her again. Obviously the doubts from yesterday had disappeared. “That’s my girl.”

And as he watched, heads did indeed turn. From the moment he helped her out of the truck and in the front door, until they sat in the pew with Stoner and Catherine. The older woman smiled serenely at Erin as if she would expect nothing less; then Stoner leaned forward and arched one brow in such a wicked way that Erin nearly laughed out loud. Sam smiled at her.

During the opening hymn, he whispered, “Why aren’t you singing?”

Erin raised her nose into the air and hissed, “Because I don’t want to ruin my image with a voice that sounds like a scalded cat.”

Sam did laugh then, and several heads turned to stare at him with either disapproval or disbelief. He smiled at all of them and slung his arm around Erin’s waist. She had awakened a whole new side to him, and it was all he could do to resist caressing her shapely little bottom. Lord. They were in church and he could barely keep his hands off her.

As they sat, Evan leaned forward from behind them and whispered in Sam’s ear. “Down boy! I saw that hand start to wander south.”

He was painfully aware of her. After so many years on his own, trying to date other women but comparing them all to Erin, the woman of his dreams finally stood at his side, and he wanted everyone to know she was his. He glanced at her during Joe’s sermon. As if aware she was being watched, Erin tilted her face to his. Her beautiful eyes searched his as Joe made a point about forgiveness. When she smiled, just a gentle curving of her generous mouth, Sam’s heart turned over. He reached for her hand and tucked it in the curve of his arm.

At times like this, it was easy to forget the difference in their ages. He could believe there might be a future for them. He wanted there to be.

* * * *

When the service ended, Erin found herself the center of a group of people. In addition to family, Mr. Tarpley from the general store stepped forward to shake her hand and kiss her cheek. Sam kept her tucked into his side, and made it more than obvious to everyone who stopped to greet them that he had staked a claim. Erin glanced at him a couple times and realized she didn’t at all mind his possessiveness.

Evan grinned at her. “Okay, I can believe Sam twisted your arm and got you to come to church with him, but I can’t believe you dispensed with the leather mini skirt and the commando boots.”

Erin tilted her chin. “Sam says I’m in camouflage. A sneak attack on nosy church matrons.”

Evan threw back his head and laughed, drawing stares from more than one person as they filed toward the door.

“Come on over to our place. We’re going to do brunch.”

Erin glanced at Sam who nodded imperceptibly. When her eyes caught her father’s, just over Sam’s shoulder, she found him watching with a thoughtful expression on his face. For an instant, she flashed back to that awful summer when she’d tried to sneak into Sam’s bed. She could only pray her father wasn’t trapped in all that history between her and Sam. She was an adult now. What she felt was no longer a girlish crush.

In no time at all once they reached Evan and Jenny’s home, Erin took over in the kitchen. When Jenny and Catherine protested, Erin looked at all of them with her hands on her hips. “Look, until a few weeks ago, this was my job. It’s what I do for a living…cooking, and usually for a bigger crowd than this. Now, Jenny, what did you have in mind?”

Jenny ticked off on her fingers what she had planned while Erin nodded. Finally when she reached the last dish—grits with a creamy shrimp sauce—Erin shook her head.

“I’m not familiar with that dish.”

“Oh that’s okay. I have a…recipe.” Jenny glanced from Erin to Catherine. Erin shook her head imperceptibly. “Mother, why don’t you start the coffee? Erin you get started with the other things, and Tabby and I will gather the ingredients for the shrimp dish.”

“That sounds great!” Erin smiled gratefully at her sisters and pulled on the apron Jenny offered. Setting to work, Erin soon had a potato casserole sharing space with biscuits in the lower oven. In the upper oven, she kept a large platter of bacon and sausage warm. She stirred the grits while Tabby chopped onions, celery, and peppers.

“Mother, would you help me take the coffee into Evan’s study? I think they’re all in there discussing some investments they’ve been talking about for months.”

Erin’s ears perked up. For just an instant she wanted to leave the kitchen and join them. No, better to leave it alone. It was probably better all around if they didn’t know about her avocation, even if she had made herself and Captain Rick a bunch of money. If she had to explain, then everyone was bound to find out about her reading disability.