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His eyebrows went up.
She felt silly so she averted her eyes. It was like bragging. “It’s handy to have a notary in our office,” she added quickly.
“I wasn’t criticizing,” Cody said, and the softness of his deep voice made her pulse race.
“There was one other thing,” Julia told him. “Horace said that blonde woman had been in the office a couple of times when you weren’t there.” She bit her lower lip and looked at Cody imploringly. “Sheriff, there’s a lot of gossip about you and her, but she looks pretty shady to me. She was talking to that jailer like he was a dog.”
“Could you hear what she was saying?” Cody asked.
She shook her head. “But she was mad. You could tell.”
“Thanks, Julia, for the coffee and the information. If you’ll jot all that down, I’ll take it back to the office with me.”
“I’ll be very happy to,” Julia replied.
“No need, I can take dictation, and I’m quick,” Abby said. She pulled out her cell phone. “I have a recording app. If you’ll just repeat what you told me, I can type it up at the office. I know it will be all right with Mr. Owens, if the sheriff doesn’t mind?”
“I don’t mind, Abby,” he said softly, and he smiled. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” She cleared her throat, hating the soft blush that turned her delicate features red, and pulled up her recording app.
THEYWEREONtheir way back to town fifteen minutes later.
“That was good coffee,” Abby said after a minute.
“Very good.” He glanced at her. “How are Lucy and Hannah?”
“Just the same. Lucy misses seeing you,” she blurted out.
He drew in a breath as they drove closer to town. “I was trying to tell you, on the way here, that I haven’t dealt with Debby’s infidelity yet. I was in shock when I came home from Denver with the truth of the matter. It’s taken a while for it to hit me. We were married for two years. I was deeply in love for the only time in my life, and I thought I had the perfect marriage. I never dreamed that she had another life in Denver, that she was really in love with another man.”
Abby spoke hesitantly, because she could see the pain in his taut face. “How did you know Anyu was meant for the doctor?”
Cody drew in a breath. “I went to see him and he told me all about it. There was a message that Debby left, just before she died. It was that the most important man in her life was to have the puppy. I noticed that when I went to get Anyu, the nurse who had her—Debby’s friend—was surprised and almost didn’t let the dog go with me. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. But now, it makes sense. See, I didn’t know that the most important man in Debby’s life was her mentor, the neurologist.”
“I’m so sorry, Cody,” Abby said, and meant it.
“I felt like an utter fool,” he said. “I still feel that way. I was sold out in the worst possible way. I’d have given her a divorce if she’d asked for it. But she needed to be married so nobody would suspect she and the doctor were running around on their respective mates.” He hesitated. “The doctor said that his wife had threatened to make up lies about him and his daughter if he cheated on her. So he had to keep it quiet. There was no possibility of divorce on his part.” He stopped at a traffic light and glanced at Abby. “I felt sorry for the damned man. He was as miserable as I was. He loved her as much as I did. That was confusing and only made things worse. I wanted to hate him. And I couldn’t.”
“I’ve never had anybody sell me out,” she confided. “Except maybe my dad, because he drank to excess and he was cruel when he drank. It was hard for me to come back here, with that history in Catelow. Small towns,” she added with a smile, “where everybody knows everything about you. But nobody even mentions my past. It makes it easier. Lucy was miserable in Denver. So was I. We’re both happy here.”
“I’m glad of that. And I’m sorry I’ve been so distant with all of you.” His lips compressed as the light changed and he drove on. “I’ve had the thing with Debby, and Mr. Whatley, and Lassiter for what seems half a lifetime.”
“Lassiter?” she asked abruptly.
“He’s after my girl,” he said shortly.
She swallowed and looked out the window. “Oh, yes. The little blonde trooper.”
“Not the trooper. You!”
She actually gasped as he pulled into a vacant business’s parking lot, stopped the car, put it in Park, and reached for her.
“Cody...” was all she managed to get out before he was kissing her. Not the soft, sweet, gentle kisses of before, but passionate and insistent and consuming. She went under without even a protest, so much in love that it never occurred to her to ask him to stop.
He nibbled her upper lip as he fought for control. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I had a weak moment.”
“Did...you?” she faltered, watching his mouth move against hers.
