A Match Made in Texas (13 page)

“Fine detective work, Sheriff,” she said. “You hit the nail on the head. Although he wasn’t really a boyfriend as much as a friend. At least, that’s what I thought we were. Jared seemed to think otherwise and isn’t willing to let things go.”

“So he’s stalking you?” When she nodded, Dusty was surprised at how annoyed he felt. “So why don’t you just get a restraining order? I’m sure your family has lawyers that can take care of that.”

Her eyes flickered. “True… but Jared really isn’t a bad guy, and I hate to punish him for liking me a little too much. Besides, I’m sure he just needs some time to forget me—out of sight, out of mind kind of thing.”

“Well, then you’ll have to hide in the barn.” Dusty reached for the door handle. “I’ve got business in Bramble that I need to take care of, and I can’t be hauling you all over the countryside.” The door was only partially open when she placed a hand on his leg. A pale, manicured hand that was way too close to his man parts for comfort. When she spoke, her voice was soft and pleading.

“I know you don’t want me to stay with you, Dusty.” There was something about the way she said his name that caused his stomach to do a crazy little flip. “But please don’t let him find out that I’m here. Couldn’t you just take me to a hotel or something? Any place but here?”

Dusty didn’t completely believe her story. Not the part about a man falling head-over-heels in love with her and stalking her—that he had no problem believing. But there was something she wasn’t telling him. Brianne Cates didn’t seem like the type of woman who feared much. In fact, in the short time he’d known her, he got the feeling that she thrived on danger. So why was she obviously so desperate to leave?

A noise caused him to look up. Baby stepped out the front door and clicked her way across the front porch in her red high heels. She stopped at the top of the steps and stared in confusion at the BMW before her gaze tracked over to the sheriff’s car.

Dusty got out and slammed the door. “Hi, Miz Baby.” Holding his hat in his hand, he nodded at the car. “New guests?”

“Well, hello, Sheriff,” Baby said in her breathy voice before looking back at the car. “Actually, I don’t know who this belongs to. All the guests park over there.” She pointed to the dirt lot that held only a couple of cars. “And most of them have gone sightseeing today.” She shrugged. “Oh, well, maybe Sunshine or Olive checked someone in that I don’t know about. So how is Brianne doing?” She waggled a red-nailed finger at him. “I must tell you, Sheriff, that I was very upset when you took her away in cuffs. That is no way to treat a lady.”

“You’re right, ma’am.” He rolled the brim of the hat in his hands. “But I think we’ve got things all figured out now.”

“Well, I hope so.” She smiled. “I always knew you were a good man. So where is Brianne?” She glanced back at his cruiser. “I thought you were bringing her home.”

“I plan on it, Miz Baby,” he said as he placed his hat back on. “But for now, I just wanted to make sure everything was okay here and Minnie hadn’t pulled any more shooting stunts.” He paused. “She was the one who scared off the reverend, wasn’t she?”

Baby nodded. “I called because I was worried that we were going to have another episode like when Brant showed up and she—” She giggled nervously and backed toward the house. “You be sure and take care of our Bri, Sheriff. For now, I better get on in and help Starlet and Sunshine clean the rooms.” With a click of heels, she disappeared back inside.

Once she was gone, he got in the car and drove around the BMW, mentally committing the license plate number to memory before he headed back down the road.

“Thank you.”

The soft whisper had him glancing down at Brianne. He didn’t know why he hadn’t given her away. Maybe because he understood what it felt like to have a relationship end badly. Or maybe he just had a soft spot for women in trouble. Still, he wasn’t about to give in completely to those pretty blue eyes.

“You owe me.”

A smile tipped the corners of her mouth. “It would seem that way. Are we back to me cleaning house?”

He returned his gaze to the long stretch of dirt road. “No, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

Chapter Thirteen

B
RI DIDN’T REALLY WANT TO GO TO
B
RAMBLE.
If word got back to her brothers that she wasn’t at the Henhouse, there would be hell to pay. Still, it wasn’t like she had much choice. Not with Jared snooping around. She just hoped that Minnie would send him packing like she had the reverend.

“What in the world is that?” she asked as Dusty drove past what appeared to be a bright pink train caboose without the train.

“That would be Josephine’s Diner.” He glanced over at her, pinning her with his mirrored lenses. “You mean you’ve never been to the diner?”

“I haven’t visited a lot. Beau and Jenna Jay just finished building a house here. And Billy, Shirlene, and the kids usually come to Dogwood.”

“What about their weddings?” His head tipped, and she could feel his eyes narrowing behind the sunglasses. “Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing you at Beau and Jenna Jay’s.”

She swallowed. “I caught the flu.”

“And Brant’s?”

“College exams.”

“Billy’s?”

“I was in New York with one of my friends, and my plane got delayed in bad weather.”

He pulled into a parking space in front of the pharmacy, cut the engine, and turned to her. It was very disconcerting how looking at your own reflection could get you to tell the truth—probably because it was hard to lie to yourself. All Dusty had to do was stare at her, and the truth came spilling out of her mouth like an errant kid caught by her daddy.

“Fine! I lied, okay?” she said. “I lied about it all. I didn’t go to Billy’s because I didn’t want him marrying a gold digger whose great-granddaddy had supposedly killed mine. I didn’t find out until later that Shirlene is anything but a gold digger, and it was my own great-grandmother who shot her husband. Of course, by then it was too late. I’d already discovered how wonderful it was to miss my brothers’ weddings.”

Guilt had her looking away from Dusty and over to the old cowboy who sat snoozing on a bench in front of the pharmacy. “With my family’s attention on the bride and groom, it wasn’t on me. So for an entire weekend, I was free to go and do whatever I wanted without my brothers and parents interrogating me. Or making me feel guilty.” She released her breath and slumped down in the seat. “Which makes me the most selfish person ever.”

There was a long stretch of silence, and when Bri finally glanced over she found Dusty staring out the windshield. Since he didn’t think highly of her in the first place, she expected him to call her out on her selfishness. Instead, he surprised her.

“I can understand that,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed peace and solitude.”

While Bri was telling the truth, she probably should’ve mentioned that she hadn’t really been enjoying peace and solitude as much as thrills and danger. But she figured that it was best to keep that information to herself. Especially when she and the sheriff had finally started communicating.

“So you have a big family, too?” she asked.

“No, just a sister. She lives in Corpus Christi with her husband and two kids. My parents moved there last year after my daddy retired.” He took off his hat and smoothed a hand through his hair. “Talk about selfish. I haven’t gone to see them once since they moved.”

“College exams or the flu?” she teased.

He didn’t crack a smile. “Personal problems.” He hopped out and within seconds was opening Bri’s door.

“I think I’ll just wait for you in the car,” she said.

Dusty rested an arm on the door. “Your brothers don’t know about your stalker boyfriend, do they?”

Damn, the man was too smart for his own good.

“No,” she said. “And believe me, you don’t want them to know. Your jail isn’t big enough for four angry Cates brothers.”

Dusty shook his head in a way that said she was the most pain-in-the-butt woman he’d ever met, before he reached for the baseball cap on the dashboard. “Fine. I’ll meet you back here in a couple hours and take you to Miss Hattie’s.” He tugged the hat down on her head, then pulled the cell phone she’d returned earlier out of his pocket and handed it back to her. “I’m sure you can hide your identity for that long.”

She smiled up at him. “I think I might’ve misjudged you, Sheriff Hicks. You might have a heart after all.”

“Doubtful, Miz Cates.” He waited for her to get out before he walked around to his side of the car. Before he opened the door, he issued a warning. “Try to stay out of trouble.”

“Trouble?” She sent him an innocent look as she stepped up to the sidewalk. “Now what would make you think that I would get in trouble?”

Even with his sunglasses on, she knew he rolled his eyes. She laughed as she watched him climb back into the squad car. With a simple tip of his hat, he backed out and took off down the street. Once he was gone, she didn’t hesitate to call the Henhouse. Fortunately, Baby answered and, after only a few questions about when Bri would be back, gave the phone to Olive.

“Hi, Olive,” Bri said, trying to keep her voice from betraying her anxiety. “So I was just wondering if anyone showed up today looking for me.”

“If you’re talkin’ about the snooty dude in the fancy sports car, then the answer would be yes,” Olive said. “He’s talkin’ to Miss Minnie as we speak.”

Bri gave up her ruse. “Damn. She didn’t tell him that I’m staying there, did she?”

“Minnie don’t relay info to strangers. So who is this guy, Little Missy? And what does he want with you?”

“He’s my ex-boyfriend,” Bri said. “I broke up with him, and he hasn’t gotten the message.”

“You mean he won’t take no for an answer?” Olive emitted a noise that sounded like Jigger’s growl. “Whelp, we can’t have that, now, can we? You don’t worry about a thing, Little Missy. Ol’ Olive will take care of this no-account.” The phone clicked.

“Olive?” Bri glanced down at the cell phone, but the call had ended. She was about to call Olive back and warn her not to do anything illegal, when she glanced up and saw her nephew strutting down the street toward her. Billy was right. Jesse didn’t look upset at all about missing the Disney cruise. His walk was jaunty and his smile bright as he waved to a group of teenagers who stood in front of the Dairy Treat. Obviously, sailing with Mickey wasn’t that big of a deal to a high school kid. What was a big deal was Jesse telling his parents that he’d run into his aunt Bri in Bramble.

Bri tugged down her cap and started in the opposite direction. As she glanced back to see Jesse crossing the street to the Dairy Treat, she ran smack dab into someone coming out of the pharmacy.

“Pardon me,” she said to the woman. A woman in lacquered-on jeans, a rhinestone western belt, and a hot pink t-shirt with the words
Gone Country
stretched over her large breasts.

Bri figured it was more like
Gone Crazy
when a sheriff’s car drove past with a man Bri didn’t recognize behind the wheel and the woman started sobbing like a sinner on Judgment Day.

“I ain’t never gonna get married,” she wailed as she crumpled into a heap in front of the pharmacy window.

Bri looked around for help, but no one seemed to be at all concerned by the weeping woman. People walked by without a backward glance, while the old cowboy on the bench continued to sleep. Since there was nothing else to do, Bri knelt down next to her.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “Can I call someone for you? Maybe a friend or a family member?”

“Nooo,” the woman sobbed. “There’s no one who can help—no one at all.” She wailed for a few more minutes before she took a pink bandanna out of her back pocket and blew her nose with a loud honk. Once her nose was clear, she staggered to her feet. “Not unless they can make Kenny Gene my right half.” Another sob broke loose. And not wanting to go back to the wailing, Bri tried to calm her.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said as she patted the woman’s back. “It sounds like your boyfriend broke up with you, but there are other men out there who I’m sure will be your right half.”

The woman stopped crying and stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Kenny broke up with me? Why would he do somethin’ like that? The man ain’t dumb. He knows a good catch when he sees one.” She swiped at her swollen eyes before stuffing the hankie back in her pocket. “No, I broke up with him because he wasn’t the right half to my whole. Something that was just recently pointed out to me. If he had been the right half, we would already be married.” Her eyes narrowed. “And he would’ve been a lot more upset when I broke it off with him. Instead, he shrugged and said it was probably for the best seein’ as how he had deputy duties to take care of.”

“Well, if that’s how he feels,” Bri said, “you’re probably better off without him.”

“You’re right,” she sniffed before sending Bri a weak smile. “I’m Twyla, by the way.”

Not wanting people to make the connection between her and her brothers, Bri offered up Beckett’s nickname. “Willie.”

“I bet you’re married, Willie, ain’t you?”

Bri shook her head. “No.”