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After putting the groceries away, I opened a beer and set it in front of him before getting one for myself. He took a sip while I went down the hall to my bedroom to find the first aid kit. When I got back, Tessa was sitting on a seat next to him with a tall glass of ice water in front of her, and Shawn was fussing around her like a granny.
“You cold? Want me to fetch that quilt? When my sister Madison is pregnant, she can never get warm enough,” Shawn babbled. I noticed his cheeks were a little pinker than normal.
I cleared my throat, and he jumped. “Sorry, Sheriff. I was only trying to make Mrs. Stone comfortable.”
Tess made a choking sound, and I snorted out a laugh. “This is not Mrs. Stone. And what happened to you calling me Declan at least outside of work? Tessa, this is Deputy Shawn Graham. Shawn, this is my friend Tessa.”
She reached out her hand to shake Shawn’s. “Nice to meet you. Sorry for the less than ideal welcome.”
Shawn blushed some more. “It’s understandable. He shouldn’t have… said what he did.” He blinked at me and realized he’d called me out in my own home. “Sorry, Sher… Declan.”
I nodded.
Tessa said, “I’m just here visiting for a little while. I used to be with Dec’s former partner on the force back in LA before… some stuff happened. Now I’m single, and I wanted to get out of LA for a while.” She rubbed her belly absently.
“You’re staying,” I said gruffly before taking a gulp of the beer. “I think you should stay.”
Shawn nodded. “Aster Valley’s a nice place, ma’am. Much better place to raise that little one than LA if you don’t mind a nosy opinion.”
She gave him a small smile. “It’s beautiful here. Are you from Colorado?”
The two of them made small talk while I thought back through the events of the evening. I couldn’t get over the look of fear on Finn’s face. I would have expected to feel smug, to think I told you so because police work was dangerous and unpredictable like I’d tried to tell him, but then I remembered his eager questions earlier in the day when he’d tried his hardest to get to know me, to make a personal connection. And I’d shut him down.
After a while I realized Shawn and Tessa had been talking for a while. I looked over and saw Tessa taping a clean bandage on Shawn’s eyebrow. Debris from her little first aid session littered the place mat in front of them.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “My mind was wandering. She get you sorted out?”
“Yes, and I’m grateful. But it’s late, and Tessa here probably needs to get some sleep. I didn’t mean to keep you up like this.”
She grinned at him. “It’s no bother. Now I at least know someone else besides Declan here in Aster Valley, so it was worth staying up.”
Shawn fingered the uniform hat in his hands. “If you want… I mean…” His eyes flicked at me and back at Tessa. “I could show you around. I have the afternoon free tomorrow. Not that I know my way around all that well either since I just moved here myself. But there’s a beautiful park in town. And we could kinda find our way around together?” He blushed furiously.
Tess stood up a little taller, her slender hand going automatically to her belly. “I’d like that. I mean… if you don’t mind?”
He looked to me again as if for permission. Even though it was none of my business, I gave him the barest of nods. He smiled and nodded at Tess. “Pick you up at two?”
Once he was gone, Tess did a little barefoot twirl on the hardwood floor. “Eight months pregnant and I still got it!”
I grabbed her up in another hug and kissed her cheek. “Darlin’, you could be eighty years old and you’d still have it.”
She laughed. “Not like I need a date or anything, but he seemed nice.”
“He’s very nice. Seems like a good man. Family man, from what I can tell.” Her face registered surprised disappointment, so I quickly amended my statement. “He’s single. At least, as far as I know. I only mean he’s close to his parents and siblings, who live over in Meeker. It’s about an hour, hour and a half northwest of here.”
She blew out a relieved chuckle that lifted her dark brown bangs. The rest of her hair was up in a messy ponytail that made her look younger than she was. “Not that it matters. I’m hardly looking for a relationship,” she repeated, like maybe she was trying to convince herself.
Her words were familiar. Casual denial.
A little bit like the same brush-off I gave myself fifteen minutes later when I stroked myself to thoughts of Finn Heller’s fit climber’s body under mine as I sank deep inside of him.
