Authors: Tina Leonard
“Hey, Joey, I bet you’d like to make snow angels,” Jill suggested.
“I’ll get his coat.” Snatching up the winter things that Joey had apparently just taken off since they were still lying by the door, Dustin handed them out to Jill. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to see what the sheriff wants.”
“Take your time.”
Jill’s voice was as cool as the snow outside. Dustin watched while she competently buttoned and zipped his child into the jacket, then put the mittens and knitted snow cap on him.
“You…you want to make snow angels with us, Daddy?”
Dustin thought about rolling around in the snow and waving his arms to make wings with his housekeeper. “No, son.”
“You’d make the biggest one of all,” Joey said, his voice awed.
Dustin made himself smile, all the while thinking that Jill’s snow angel would have the best curves. Nodding to her, he turned and went inside.
The sheriff was in the kitchen. “Marsh,” he said. “I assume you would have met me at the door if something was wrong with Mother.”
“She’s fine. Last I saw her, she was upstairs walking the baby around, showing her your old toys.”
Dustin relaxed a little. Marsh was sitting at the kitchen table, helping himself to a cup of hot coffee from the pot.
“What are you doing here, then? This a social call?”
“I’m not sure,” Marsh replied carefully.
Dustin wasn’t really paying attention. He was watching Jill out of the kitchen window as first she helped his son lie down on the ground, then lay on her back beside him.
“I hope you’ll take this in the spirit that it’s meant, Dustin. But I’ve been thinking about your new housekeeper.”
“What about her?” Marsh had his attention now.
“Well, we don’t know anything about Jill.”
“Little late to say that, isn’t it?”
“I know, I know. It didn’t occur to me until I was back at the office. But look, what if she’s hunting for someone to take her ex-fiancé’s place?”
“Meaning what?” Dustin’s tone was curious.
“She said she’d come out to Lassiter to check out the job. Check you out, too, maybe?”
“I don’t know,” Dustin said doubtfully. “What’s to check? I just met her family, and they’re the typical family everyone wants to grow up in. Jill’s the baby in a family of four kids. You name it, they’re regular Ozzie and Harriet people.”
“Every family has its skeletons, Dustin.”
“I’m flattered, Marsh. I really am. But I think her family’s still reeling over Jill canceling the wedding plans.” He sighed heavily. “I wasn’t planning on company this month, but I heard myself inviting her family out to supper Sunday simply because I could tell they were worried about her living out here with me.”
“They saw immediately what a wolf in sheep’s clothing you are.” Marsh laughed at his friend.
Dustin grinned, too. “That’s exactly what they were thinking. If they’re so worked up about me, they haven’t had a lot of men out to the house trying to sneak kisses from their daughter. I don’t think she’s looking for a replacement husband.” Actually, Jill was pretty standoffish where he was concerned.
Marsh nodded. “All right. It’s my job to get the facts, not spread gloom and doom. I just wanted you to be careful, buddy.”
“When did you get to be such a suspicious person, anyway?”
The sheriff leaned back on the bench, crossing his arms. “It’s my nature to be suspicious. That’s why I’m a lawman. It’s your nature to be stoic. That’s why you’re a rancher.”
“Oh, I see.” Dustin nodded. “So, has your suspicious nature led you to check on Joey’s grandparents and what they’re up to recently?”
Marsh shook his head. “I haven’t been by the Copelands’ house. But I did hear through the grapevine that poor old David’s taken a bad turn.”
Dustin was instantly alert. “David Copeland is ill?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure what they ran him up to the hospital for the other night, except everyone knows he’s been having spells where he doesn’t seem quite with us. This may have been a more pronounced episode of his forgetful state. My opinion, it’s stress.”
“Brought on by Maxine, no doubt,” Dustin ground out between his teeth. “I’ve never gotten the feeling that David was as keen to get Joey away from me as Maxine was.”
“Nope. Me neither. But then, I always suspected it was Maxine who engineered a lot of stuff in that family.”
Dustin forced himself to take a deep breath and relax. “Let’s change the subject before I say something completely out of the Christmas spirit about that old bat.”
They were quiet for a few moments. Marsh got up to stand beside him. After a swift peek at what had Dustin’s attention, Marsh said, “You believe in her, don’t you, Dustin? In Jill, I mean. You really don’t think she’s manhunting.”
Dustin looked out of the window again, seeing the wheat of Jill’s hair shining in the sun. It was a few shades darker than Joey’s, he thought irrationally. Walking away to put the kettle on to boil so she and Joey could have some cocoa when they came in, he said, “Yeah, I believe she’s on the up and up. Mother’s crazy about her, and Jill’s great with the baby, besides. I have a funny feeling Joey is going to like her, too.”
He sighed, sitting down at the kitchen table and running a hand through his hair. “I was more suspicious of Mother’s motives in hiring Jill, to tell you the truth. We’d agreed on a woman more her own age, someone who could be a companion to her as well as a nanny to Joey. The thought did occur to me that maybe she was up to a little Christmas matchmaking. But I sure as heck ain’t going to fall for a woman this soon, and Mother knows that. After I got past my doubts about her intentions, I realized she might be right about Jill. Some young blood around here might be good for Mother, and as you might have noticed, the last housekeepers didn’t spend any time rolling around in the snow with my kid.”
“Nope.” Marsh shook his head, then glanced back out the window.
“And even if I’m wrong about Jill, what’s it costing me to try this out awhile?”
Marsh considered that a moment. “Maybe it’ll cost you nothing. But maybe it’ll cost you your heart. And as I recall, friend, last time you spent your heart, you ended up pretty broke.”
Jill purposefully stayed outside long enough to allow Dustin to conclude his business with the sheriff. As much as the Reeds had tried to welcome her into their family, their private matters weren’t her concern. But Joey was starting to get cold, so Jill headed inside.
“Hey, Jill,” the sheriff called as she and Joey came into the hallway to shake off their cold coats and mittens.
“Come join us for a cup of hot chocolate,” Dustin said. “I’ve got the water warmed up.”
Jill came into the kitchen, helping Joey onto the plank bench beside the sheriff. “Sit very still here, so you don’t fall off, Joey.” She gave Marsh a warm smile. “Hello, Sheriff.”
Marsh nodded. Jill turned away to fix the cups, only to find that Dustin had already done it for her. “Thank you,” she said, meeting his gaze. Suddenly, she felt much warmer than she had a moment ago. Dustin’s eyes crinkled at the corners in a silent response, as if he would have said “You’re welcome” if he were more given to conversation. Jill sat down, scooting to the section closest to Joey.
“Now, be careful when you drink this because it may be a little warm,” she cautioned.
Ignoring the chocolate, he quickly looked back to the sheriff. “Can I see your star?” he asked.
Marsh undid the pin carefully, handing it to Joey for his inspection.
“It’s shiny,” Joey said, sounding exactly like a little boy now. “You…you like to be a sheriff?”
Marsh took the pin back as Joey held it out. A wry expression passed over the sheriff’s face as he glanced first at Jill, then at Dustin. “Sometimes, son. Sometimes I’m very happy to be the sheriff.”
He stood, nodding to Jill and ruffling Joey’s hair, free now of the cap. “I’ll be seeing you, Dustin. Say goodbye to Eunice for me.”
“I will. Let me know if you talk to Holly’s mother. I’m afraid there’s not going to be any peaceful nights around the Reed household until she’s safely returned.”
“Kept you up last night, did she?” Marsh asked as Dustin walked him to the door.
“Not me. Jill. I heard her go down to fix a bottle for the baby at about three o’clock in the morning.”
“Ah. Those three o’clock feedings. They’re the greatest, aren’t they?”
“Hell, no,” Dustin responded.
Marsh laughed. “Hard to bond when you can’t get the sleep out of your eyes.”
The sheriff was walking down the steps when Dustin said, “Hey, Marsh, you ever eaten strawberry bread?”
“Nope. Not since my mother died. She was the only person I knew who fixed it. Why? Somebody give you some?”
“No. Mrs. McCall, Jill’s mother, is bringing some out Sunday. And some ham rolls.”
Marsh rubbed his hands together before getting into the cruiser. “I’ll be sure to stop by and check out the situation. Any woman who can make decent strawberry bread probably knew what she was doing when she raised her child.”
Dustin snorted. “Just like your mother did.”
“Exactly. Set me a place at the table, buddy.” He grinned and drove away.
Jill was still sitting at the table when Dustin walked back inside. She’d heard most of the exchange between the two men as the kitchen windows were close to the porch. Although innocent enough, the sheriff’s comments made her wonder if their conversation had been about her rather than baby Holly.
“Did you have fun playing in the snow?” Dustin asked.
“We sure did!” Joey said enthusiastically.
“I think we did,” Jill said, running her fingers through the wet snarls in her hair. “Did the sheriff give you any interesting information?”
Was it her imagination or did Dustin’s eyes skitter away from her briefly? “Not as much as I’d hoped for.”
“I see.” She couldn’t pursue her instinct that the sheriff’s visit had concerned her in front of Joey. “Well, where do you want me to start?”
“Start?” Dustin seemed confused. “Start what?”
“With my housekeeping duties. Joey and I will be fairly settled today, and I’m sure you want to get on with some of your business. Is there a list of things you’d like me to be in charge of, or shall I talk to Eunice about what’s needed?”
Dustin got up from the table, seemingly relieved by the change of subject. “You might ask Mother because she’s the one who really knows what needs attention around here. My only requirement is that dinner be served at six o’clock sharp.”
“I’ll have it ready, sharp,” Jill replied.
Dustin nodded, walking from the kitchen. Jill had almost begun breathing easier until he popped his head back into the room.
“By the way, I enjoyed meeting your parents. They seem nice.”
Jill smiled at Dustin’s attempt at social niceties. “Thank you. They are.”
He nodded again, disappearing for good this time. A moment later, she heard the roar of the truck as it started up. Dustin had seemed anxious to avoid talking about the sheriff, she thought. But if there had been a problem, surely he would have mentioned it to her. Likely, she was borrowing trouble by worrying. Turning to the boy beside her, who was carefully sipping at his chocolate, she said, “Well, Joey, we’re on our own now.”
He shrugged. Jill might have been disheartened by his lack of response, except that she recognized the shrugs as one of Dustin’s substitutes for conversation. Like father, like son. Neither one was going to be an easy convert.
Jill let her attention wander for a moment while Joey drank his cocoa. She still had to decide what to do about the apartment where she and Carl had planned on living. She was hanging on to it for another month, until she made certain this job worked out. They hadn’t split up any of their belongings yet either because Carl hadn’t taken much with him when she’d told him she was breaking it off. Surely, he’d want to go back to retrieve his things. Either way, it was a loose end that needed tying up.
Holly’s wail wafted down the stairs. Jill smiled at the tiny cry. “That’s my time clock punching in. Shall we go upstairs?”
“Okay,” Joey said, getting up from the table.
He sounded so old that Jill frowned. “Don’t you like having a baby in the house?” she asked.
Joey turned his gaze up to Jill. In his eyes, she saw neither excitement nor resentment.
“Who cares?” he said. “She…she won’t be here long, either.”
On the other side of Lassiter, Maxine Copeland fixed the private investigator she’d hired with unblinking eyes. “What do you mean, you can’t seem to find anything dirty to dig up on the Reeds?” she demanded coldly.
“Just that,” the little man returned. “The two of them seem to be living their lives very quietly.”
“Their household wasn’t so quiet the night my daughter died in a car accident,” she stated tersely. “If Dustin Reed hadn’t upset Nina so badly, my daughter wouldn’t have driven out into that bad storm. Don’t give me that innocent line. I assure you, if you dig hard enough, you’ll discover that Eunice Reed was the reason for my husband’s inattention for the last five years.” She gave a delicate sniff.