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“Maybe something came up,” Abby said.
“Wouldn’t he have called us?” Lucy asked sadly. “Could you call him instead?”
Abby flushed a little. “Well, I might interrupt him if he’s working,” she said. “He probably is, and he’s forgotten everything else. Something bad might have happened,” she added, and now she was really concerned. Had he been in a wreck? Had he been hurt?
She bit her lower lip, wondering what to do.
CODY,JUSTLEAVINGthe hospital, suddenly remembered that he’d promised to have supper with the girls. He looked at his watch and groaned. It was eight o’clock. They’d probably long since had supper and gotten ready for bed. He didn’t feel comfortable going over there this late.
He thought about it, though, and just as he’d decided to swing by and apologize, he spotted flashing lights on the highway. He pulled in behind a state police car and noted a struggle going on.
He jumped out of his SUV and rushed to render aid. The perp had his hand on the trooper’s gun and was trying with all his strength to gain control of it. Cody caught his arm, twisted it around, came under him and threw him up against the patrol car, his hand going quickly to his handcuffs. The trooper, a very small blonde woman, thanked him profusely.
“Your first cuff, huh?” he teased her gently, and he smiled. She was very pretty.
She laughed. “I’m afraid so. It was so much easier when my training officer was riding with me,” she confessed. “Thanks for the assist.”
“No problem.” He eased the suspect into the back seat, careful not to let him bump his head on the way in. The man was obviously inebriated and unruly, despite the handcuffs.
“Don’t lose those cuffs,” he told her. “It’s the first pair I ever owned. Call it sentiment.”
“I’ll do better than that, Sheriff,” she said, her eyes flirting with his. “I’ll drop them by your office in a few minutes, as soon as I get this guy to lockup.”
“Thanks,” he said, smiling.
“No sweat. Thanks again.” She got in under the steering wheel, ignoring the furious obscene language coming from the back seat. She waved and drove off.
ANDSHEHADreturned them, pausing to talk to Cody. She had to wait for a few minutes, but apparently she didn’t keep her eye on the clock, or worry about not getting right back to work. It had been an interesting visit. She was very pretty. Not that Cody noticed other women, but it was kind of nice to know that a woman that pretty found him attractive.
Cody checked his watch. Definitely too late for supper now, but he had to explain why he was so late. So he swung by the ranch despite the lateness of the hour.
Snow was drifting down now, in big, soft flakes. The ranch road ran like a ribbon toward the ranch house. All around were lodgepole pines covered in snow. It was like a winter wonderland to Abby, who was sitting on the back stoop, looking out over the garden spot, wrapped cozily in a down coat with a hood. She sighed. She wondered why Cody hadn’t come to supper. Maybe he’d just lost interest in her, she decided. Or maybe he felt that he shouldn’t get too close to the family. She was full of questions that had no obvious answers.
“You’ll freeze out here,” Cody said gently.
She jumped. She hadn’t heard the SUV drive up. Her face was radiant before she worked belatedly to look less excited. She smiled. “We thought you weren’t coming,” she said.
“I almost didn’t,” he agreed, dropping down beside her on the step. “I had to help work two wrecks, and afterward there was a state trooper being overpowered by a prisoner, so I stopped to help. It’s been a long night,” he concluded with a sigh.
“Have you eaten anything?” she asked.
“Well, there really wasn’t time...”
She stood up and caught his big, lean hand in hers. “We had plenty of leftovers,” she said. “Come in and have something to eat.”
“If it’s no trouble,” he began.
She just smiled. She led him into the kitchen and indicated the small table there. She took things out of the fridge, filled a plate, and stuck it in the microwave while she put the rest of the food up. “I hope you like beef stew and biscuits,” she murmured absently.
“I love stew and biscuits,” he said with a sigh. He took off his shepherd’s coat and hung it on the back of his chair. He put his hat, with its plastic cover, on a nearby chair. “This is kind of you, especially after I showed up almost at bedtime.”
“You look tired to death,” she remarked as she put utensils and a cup of hot black coffee at his elbow.
“I am,” he confessed. He smiled sheepishly. “I guess I’d have gone to bed hungry if I’d gone home. I’m too tired to do anything.”
“I know that feeling very well,” she said with a gentle smile.
“How are you liking your job?” he asked after she’d put the heated plate in front of him, along with a paper towel.
