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“I think it was a good decision on your part.” Diane straightened up, obviously shoving her way through the emotions she’d been feeling. “Any relationship you could have with Brynn would be short and probably painful. Even if I thought you could handle a short-term physical relationship—which I do not—Brynn couldn’t be with a man like you.”
“A man like me?”
“I’m afraid you’re my daughter’s catnip, and not in a sexual way. Like I said, I have no issues with Brynn having a mutually satisfying affair, but she can’t have one with you. You’re the upstanding Captain America type with no real hint of bad boy inside, despite your choice of underwear.”
He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that. “I’m not Dudley Do-Right.”
She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Oh, yes, you are. Let’s see. You went into the military right after high school. You served honorably, even earning a medal for gallantry in battle. When you got out, you went to college and did what only a small percentage of police officers do. Most get an associate’s certificate, but you got a bachelor’s degree. Tell me. Why not go into a more lucrative profession?”
“I thought about going to law school, but honestly, I wasn’t particularly passionate about it, and then my father was sick and I moved here. The best job I could get was with the sheriff’s department, and I enjoy it.”
“So you gave everything up to help your father.”
“That just makes me a good son, not a saint.”
“No, visiting your father would make you good. Changing your whole life for him makes you a saint. And that is why I think it’s best you stick to your plan and stay away from her. Save her the heartache. Brynn is a very emotional person. She’s also worked hard for her career. Do you understand how precarious her position is?”
“Gavin mentioned how she’s got to take as much work as she can right now.”
“Exactly. The man is obnoxious, but he knows what he’s talking about. The last thing Brynn needs is distractions. Like I said, if I thought this was all about sex, I wouldn’t mind. The girl needs some stress relief, but she’s already emotional about you, and from what I saw a few moments ago, you’re the same with her.”
“I was worried.”
“Yes, you became an Olympic sprinter because you heard a woman you barely dated might be injured in some way,” Diane returned. She shifted so she could look him in the eyes. “Deputy, you made the right decision the first time. You made a mature and a kind decision to not involve yourself in what could be a very painful relationship for my daughter.”
“You don’t think she could handle a long-distance relationship?”
“I don’t think you understand how that relationship would have to work. I think she might decide to throw away what could be a stellar career for a small-town deputy. Do you see yourself in her world? Because if you couldn’t handle that small kerfuffle, then I have no idea how you would function given what Brynn has to go through every day.”
Brynn had told him it wasn’t usually so bad. But then maybe Brynn hadn’t wanted to scare him off. “I don’t want to hurt her career, but I have to wonder if anyone worries about Brynn.”
“I worry about Brynn all the time.”
“I think you worry about Bria.”
She flushed, her shoulders going straight. “I assure you I think of my daughter every second of the day, and I don’t need someone who has no idea what we’ve gone through to tell me how to handle myself.”
“I’m sorry. I was only trying to look out for Brynn.”
“Well, that’s my job, Deputy, and yours is to look out for your father. I thank you for coming in to see how she’s doing. I’ll take it from here. I’ve been taking care of her for a long time. I’ll be doing it long after we’ve left this town. You don’t have to wait around. It will only be painful for her, because nothing has changed.”
He wanted to argue with her, but now that he knew Brynn wasn’t having some kind of heart attack and hadn’t been assaulted, he was starting to calm down, and all the things that came between them were right back at the front of his mind.
Then they were in front of his eyes as the doors to the clinic came open and a man walked through carrying a camera.
He recognized the photographer. It was easy. The man had spent all weekend at the station house since the judge had been out of contact and no bail could be set. Mickey Gunn strode into the clinic wearing the same clothes he’d left the station house in.
“Deputy, I’m surprised to find you here. Were you with Bria Knight when her sister called 911?” Mickey had his camera up.
