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She grimaced. “Yes, and the man’s a known liar who’ll do anything for money, like that sneaky nephew of Mr. Owens’s,” she added. “He tried to borrow money from Mr. Whatley. Mr. Whatley was nice and even offered him a job. I’ve never heard language like that in my life, not even from my husband! I guess working for what he got never appealed to the young man!”
“I guess not,” he agreed.
“And Mr. Owens is so nice,” she emphasized. “It seems that the sweetest people end up with relatives who only live to try to take away everything they’ve got.”
He stared at her. “Relatives?” His mind had wandered.
“That boy. Mr. Owens’s nephew, Jack,” she said. “He’s a constant embarrassment to his family. Always in trouble of some sort. You’d know about that,” she added, “because you have to lock him up from time to time.”
He nodded. “I feel sorry for Mr. Owens. He’s never put a foot wrong, that I can see.”
She agreed. “That new paralegal who works for him, Abby, she’s nice,” she said, not noticing that Cody had colored just on his cheekbones when she said Abby’s name. “Never meets a stranger.”
“She’s an asset to him, I’m sure,” Cody said stiffly.
“Yes. And she and her little niece went out with that nice Mr. Lassiter yesterday, just driving,” she added, wondering why the sheriff was suddenly so still. “I’m glad you let him out on bail. I don’t understand why a man like that would have problems with the law. He’s also gorgeous,” she laughed.
Abby was going out with Lassiter? He was overcome with fury. Abby, his Abby, with that philanderer!
Just as he was thinking about putting Lassiter back into a cell and throwing away the key, the office door opened.
And there she was, the pretty little blonde trooper, in uniform. She hesitated. “Did I come at a bad time?” she asked hesitantly.
“Oh, no, I was just leaving. I meant what I said about the food, Sheriff,” Julia said with a sweet smile.
“It won’t be necessary to check anything you bring. I promise,” he assured her.
“Thanks. Well, I’ll go home and take care of my chores.” She frowned. “You’re sure that Horace—Mr. Whatley, I mean—is going to be safe?”
“I’m sure,” he lied, because he couldn’t promise that.
She smiled. “Okay. Thanks.” She gave him a shy smile, tossed one toward the blonde, who ignored her, and went out the door.
“What a plain little woman,” the blonde said, laughing.
Cody glared at her. “Beauty is more than surface looks,” he said flatly.
“I’m sorry,” she backtracked quickly. “I’ve had a hard morning. Got in a fight with a man I arrested for transporting drugs.” She showed him a bruise on her forearm. She winced as she flexed it. “Is law enforcement always so violent?” she asked, looking at him as if he were old and wise and had all the answers. He wondered how old she was. She seemed older than Abby, but she was still very pretty.
“Yes, it can be violent,” he said. “But you can always get backup from the local law if you need it.”
She gave him a flirty glance. “I thought you might say that. I’m having a hard time getting used to the job. I was hoping you might be free to give me a few pointers over a cup of coffee. That new place on the corner has cappuccino. It’s my very favorite.”
He felt his heart lift. If Abby could go around with Lassiter, there was no way he was going to feel guilty about buying this pretty little blonde a cup of coffee.
He got up from his desk and picked up his hat. “I’m free enough,” he assured her with a smile. “Let’s go.” He stopped to tell his deputy where he’d be, but he had to take a phone call when they were out on the sidewalk.
“Oops, left my clipboard in the office, be right back!” the blonde whispered while he was explaining a point of law to a man who was complaining about a traffic stop. Cody just nodded, lost in his conversation. It only took him a minute or two, and by the time he hung up, his blonde companion in her neat uniform, was back beside him with the clipboard. He waited while she walked off to stick it in her car and then rejoined him.
Abby, who was on her way to the courthouse, saw them together going into the local coffeehouse. She felt a wounding in her heart that almost provoked tears. She and Cody had gotten along so well. He’d loved being with her and Lucy and Hannah, or so she’d thought, he’d been part of their family. But now here he was with that little blonde trooper and she felt her heart drop into her loafers.
She had no claim on Cody, after all. They were friends. But she’d built a future on a few kisses and some affection, and she’d obviously been wrong. In a fit of temper, angry over Cody’s disappearance from her life and gossip that he was still seeing the blonde trooper, she’d accepted an invitation to go riding around the county with Lassiter. She’d hoped news of it would get back to Cody, if for no other reason, to show him that she wasn’t sitting home alone hoping he’d come or call. It had backfired. He and the little blonde trooper went into the coffeehouse, both laughing, the sheriff’s big hand on her arm.
Well, at least she knew now where she stood, Abby told herself. She’d never really been involved with a man, and she’d hoped there might be a future with Cody. It was a silly dream. Perhaps she’d been too forward with him or taken his presence in her life too much for granted. Or it might be that he got cold feet at the thought of involving himself with a woman who already had a family. He’d seemed to love Lucy, but he could do that without wanting to be responsible for her, if he and Abby married. Married, she thought whimsically. Now there was a pipe dream if there ever was one. Cody had loved his late wife. She might have had a lover, she might have been a totally unpleasant person. But if you loved someone, you loved them regardless of what they did.
She knew he missed Debby, despite what he’d learned about her. She was sorry for him. It must be terrible to love a woman who treated him like dirt, had a lover, ignored him for weeks at a time. Married, and yet not married. And what he’d found out about her had certainly shattered his pride. Perhaps he was just afraid to risk his heart again.
As Abby pondered it, that last issue was the one she settled on for his absence. He must think she was angling for marriage, she, with her ready-made dependent, her niece Lucy. She flushed. She would never have chased after him, but he didn’t know her well and he might have thought about it like that.
