How to Land Her Lawman (14 page)

When they were barely out of their teens, the decision had been easy. More than anything she'd wanted to be with Will. Now there was a whole lot more to consider. She had roots—a business, house and friends.

“But you're going to visit him in Chicago?” Lucy asked.

“I'm not planning to.” She would never again risk finding him with a woman who was naked under his shirt. “Will and I have a past. A lot happened before you came to Blackwater Lake.”

“I've heard.”

Of course she had. “We tried the long-distance thing before and it didn't work out.”

“Too bad.” Lucy tsked. “You two are so cute together.”

“We get that a lot.”

They were a whole lot more than just cute together and she knew it by the way her heart squeezed painfully at the thought of him not being across the street at the sheriff's office. He spoke to her soul, April thought, and he had since she was sixteen years old. Soon they would have a public breakup and that would be that. This time she wasn't supposed to get hurt, but more and more that looked unlikely.

Lucy glanced at her watch, then picked up her purchase. “I have to get back to the café and supervise. The dinner rush starts about six and I've got an hour to get ready for it.”

“Okay. Good to see you. Enjoy the picture.”

“I plan to leave it wrapped. When I finally move, it will be like a surprise.” Lucy waved on her way out the door.

April walked over to her big window that looked out on Main Street and the sheriff's office across the way. In a few more days Will would be gone and she would lose him for the second time. Technically she'd only had him once since this was simply a summer fling. Except tell that to her heart; this felt like more than a superficial flirtation.

She was restless, and business always dropped off around now because people were thinking about dinner. It couldn't hurt to close the shop a little early, so she put up the sign and locked the door. After looking both ways to make sure no cars were coming, she walked across the street and into the sheriff's office. Might not be the smartest thing she'd ever done, but soon she wouldn't be able to walk over and see him.

“Hey, April.” Clarice's desk was a few feet inside the door. “Hope you're not here on business.”

“No. Just wanted to stop in and say hi.”

“Will's on the phone.” Clarice obviously assumed, correctly, that he was the one she wanted to say hi to.

The door to his office was open and April could hear him talking and see him behind his desk. “How are you?” she said to the dispatcher.

“Great. Looking forward to end of summer and a little quiet time before tourists come in for ski season.”

“Yeah.”

“Been nice having Will here. When Hank got sick, I didn't know what we were going to do but Will sure stepped up.”

“Yeah. It has been nice.” She was going to miss him coming to her back door with pizza and wine. And nights without him in her bed were going to be lonely. Heck, just looking from her shop to the sheriff's office and knowing he wasn't here would be sad.

Then Will came out of his office and smiled when he saw her. He walked over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “This is a nice surprise.”

“Glad you think so.” She knew his behavior was part of the plan and when she was the one to give him the heave-ho, no one would pity her. Still, she felt the familiar flutter in her stomach that being around him always produced. “How's your day?”

“Let's just say the kids are ready for school to be back in.”

“Bored?”

“Big time,” he answered. “But I have to admit I'm a little on edge. Dad has his checkup with the doctor today for medical clearance to come back to work.”

“Oh, Sheriff,” Clarice said. “That reminds me. Buck Healy and Fred Turner are squabbling. Buck is coming in to fill out a formal complaint. But Eddie is out on patrol. Do you want me to dispatch him out there and save some paperwork?”

Will shook his head. “This needs a delicate touch. Those two have been bickering for years. If there was a God in heaven, they wouldn't share a property line, but they do. Somebody's cow, horse or goat probably ate someone's garden, grass or tractor. I'll go out and talk to them myself. It's easier if you know the history.”

He sure did, April thought. The two feuding neighbors would listen to him because he was one of them, not an outsider. And, unlike Eddie, he was intimidating.

“Come on back to the office,” he said to her.

“Don't you have to go and see Buck and Fred?”

“They'll keep for a few minutes.”

“Okay.” Her tummy did a happy little shimmy that he put off something for her.

She followed him into his office and he closed the door, then backed her against it. He pressed his body to hers. “I'm really, really glad you came in.”

“Me, too.” Her voice was a wanton whisper.

He lowered his head and touched his mouth to hers again, but this move was full of passion and promise, not meant for anyone else to see. His hands were braced on either side of her head and with his tongue he traced her mouth, urging it open. Her lips parted and he entered, sweeping inside with a groan. Their harsh breathing filled the office until another sound bled through it.

He pulled back, his eyes full of annoyance at the interruption. “Please tell me that's not my cell.”

“Can't.” She swallowed hard, not able to say much of anything at all.

“Damn.” Reluctantly he moved away and walked over to his desk where his cell phone sat on a stack of files. He looked at the caller ID and there was an apologetic expression on his face. “I have to take this.”

“No problem.”

He hit a button and put the device to his ear. “Hey, Crash, how the heck are you?” After listening he said, “Sorry to hear things are falling apart without me.”

Obviously the person on the other end was his detective partner from Chicago. It had been easy to pretend that life didn't exist for him until now, but this reminder tightened a knot in her stomach.

April drew in a deep breath and with a gesture asked if he wanted her to step out while he talked. Will shook his head and leaned a hip on the corner of his desk. She sat in one of the chairs in front of it.

“Things here?” Will asked. “This is a sleepy little town where littering the sidewalk is major crime.”

That was just the way April liked it, but he sounded bored. Work in Chicago no doubt was more exciting than spiteful, decidedly
un
neighborly neighbors. But excitement wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Some things were more important. Except she knew him pretty well and he'd always craved excitement. Same old, same old day after day didn't thrill him.

“Hang in there, my friend.” Will grinned at whatever his partner said. “Don't worry. It's not that much longer until I'll be back to bail you out. Just a couple more days.” He listened and nodded. “Yeah, after Labor Day.”

And from the tone in his voice it sounded as if that couldn't be a moment too soon for him. Obviously he couldn't wait to return to his job. It was also obvious by the pain in April's heart that she'd hoped he wanted to be with her enough to stay.

She'd fallen in love with him again. Or, more precisely, she'd never fallen out of love. He'd asked her the night before if she was happy here in Blackwater Lake. She'd said she had everything right here.

But that wasn't exactly true.

She didn't have everything she wanted because she couldn't have Will.

Chapter Fourteen

A
pril paced her kitchen, waiting for news on Hank. He'd seen the doctor that day to determine whether or not he could return to work. And here was another classic conflict. She sincerely hoped the man got a clean bill of health and could go back to doing whatever he wanted to do—being sheriff or running a marathon. Although that would be a miracle since, to her knowledge, he'd never run one before. She loved him like a father and wished him all the best.

On the other hand it would also give Will the green light to leave town. Not that he could stick around indefinitely, but a little longer would be nice. He wouldn't stay for her, but he might for his dad.

She'd been home from work for a while now and if someone didn't tell her something soon...

Just then there was a knock on the sliding glass door and she saw Will standing there. Thank God.

After hurrying over she unlocked and opened it. “What's the verdict? How is he?”

“The doc said he's doing great. He's in arguably the best shape of his life. Returning to work is not a problem.” There was an odd look on Will's face.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.” He forced a smile. “It's great news.”

“It certainly is.” She forced cheerfulness into her voice and felt as slimy as polluted water for not feeling 100 percent happy. “He gave us quite a scare and it's wonderful how he completely turned everything around.”

“Yet another way my father leads by example.”

“Your father is a truly amazing man who is admired by all. I'm so lucky to live across the alley from him.”

Or unlucky, one could argue.

If she'd never met Will, her heart might not have been broken even once, let alone twice by the same man. Someday she might embrace the sentiment that it was better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. But today was not that day.

“He's a good neighbor,” Will agreed.

“He's a good man,” she said again, mostly because she didn't want to say anything about their next step.

“Yeah.” He dragged his fingers through his hair. “If we keep this up, he should qualify for sainthood pretty soon.”

“I guess.” What they were doing was called procrastination, putting off what they really needed to talk about. And that was just fine with her. “He must be looking forward to getting back to work.”

“I suppose.”

“He hasn't said?” That surprised her and actually wasn't really an answer. She got the feeling there was something he wasn't telling her. “Well, I'm sure folks will be glad to have him back. Not that you aren't doing a great job, Will. I didn't mean to imply you weren't. It's just that everyone wants normal, whatever that is. And normal is him wearing the badge. And for you to...not.” She shrugged. “I'm babbling.”

“Really?” His smile didn't quite make it to his eyes. “I didn't notice.”

“Some detective you are,” she said wryly.

She could banter with him all night and maybe that would squash the pain that was scratching to get out. From experience she knew how bad it would be when that happened.

Unfortunately when she said the word
detective
, that burst the protective bubble they were both working to keep inflated. Regret settled in his eyes and there was tension in his jaw. The Band-Aid was getting ripped off, ready or not.

“April...”

She turned away. “All joking aside, Will, this really is good news. It's also your cue to go back to Chicago.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Your partner will be glad to have you back.” She took a deep breath and faced him again. “I couldn't help overhearing your end of the conversation earlier in your office.”

“So you
were
eavesdropping.”

“You told me to stay.” She shrugged.

“I know. And, yeah, Pete seemed ready to have me back.”

“You must be beyond ready to go back,” she said, sort of hoping he would say she was wrong about that.

“Like you said. Normal. Chicago is that for me.” He was wearing his law-enforcement face, the one that didn't let on what was going through his mind. The one he'd probably perfected during criminal interrogations.

“Normal is good. I'm a strong advocate of normal.”

“It's time to implement the final part of the plan,” he gently reminded her.

If everything had gone according to the plan Kim had suggested, April wouldn't feel like this. Her job was to get him to fall in love with her, then publicly dump him. It wasn't part of her agenda to be the only one falling in love. So, when had things gone so horribly wrong?

Okay, she told herself, grow a spine. The endgame was to put herself back in the driver's seat and not be pitied because Will Fletcher got away again. Growing a spine started here and now.

She met his gaze and put as much spunk into hers as possible. “So, before we take the end of this fling public, I have to ask. You didn't fall for me at all?”

He looked away for a moment, then said, “That isn't the way you pitched me the plan.”

Something told her that was all the answer she was going to get. “Any idea how to pull off the final scene of our charade?”

“Actually, I do.” He folded his arms over his chest.

Maybe it was hope on her part, but she thought that pose might be to keep from touching her because he didn't trust himself to do that and no more. Maybe she was a little irresistible to him. Without a doubt she knew if he put his hands on her she'd be lost.

“So, you have thoughts. Care to share?”

“There's a spur-of-the-moment celebration of Dad's good news and it will be at the Grizzly Bear Diner.”

“I wonder if his heart doctor would approve of him having a hamburger,” she mused.

“I believe he's a salad convert even though my sister isn't around to be the food police. She's still on her honeymoon,” he added.

“Right. So when is this get-together taking place?” she asked.

“Now. The mayor will be there. The town council. All the Blackwater Lake movers and shakers. Word is spreading and I'm sure there will be a lot of people.”

“In other words it will be gossip central.”

“Right.” His eyes went blank, grew darker. His cop face. “It should get the job done. I'm thinking it will work better if we walk in together and break the news.”

“Okay.”

“You say whatever you want to. Although I'd appreciate it if you didn't make me out to be too big a jerk.”

She smiled and did her best to keep sadness out of it. “We've already established that I'm not a good liar, so staying close to the truth is best. And the truth is you're not a jerk.”

“Thanks for that.” He nodded resolutely. “I'll just follow your lead.”

“Okay, then.”

He moved close and curved his fingers around her upper arms then hesitated before kissing her forehead. “Let's do this.”

Let's not
, she thought, although it was obvious he'd just said goodbye.

Thirty minutes later they walked into the Grizzly Bear Diner, which was filled to overflowing. The crowd was probably beyond capacity, but no one seemed inclined to enforce any ordinances on an occasion like this.

People parted for them as they made their way to a booth in the center of the establishment where Tim sat with a friend while his grandfather stood and shook hands. Hank was generally soaking up congratulations and good wishes.

April really hated to rain on his parade, but this venue was better than the Labor Day parade to get the word out. Everyone was under one roof and this news would spread like the flu virus. She just needed an opening, then would make it as quick and painless as possible.

Hank grinned when he saw them and opened his arms to hug her. “Glad you two finally showed up.”

“Sorry.” She stepped away from him and rubbed the side of her nose. “Will and I had some things to discuss.”

The older man frowned. “What's wrong?”

And there was her opening. “First I want to say how happy I am that you have medical clearance to return to work.”

A cheer erupted around her proving that not only did her words carry, but people were listening. She wondered if there would be any sound to hear when her heart cracked.

When everyone quieted down, Hank said, “What else do you have on your mind? Something's bothering you, April.”

All of a sudden she got cold feet. This was his party, a celebration of his hard work to get back up and running. This grand gesture was all about her, so she should be the one to decide whether or not to do it. “It's okay. I'll tell you later.”

Hank shook his head. “Maybe I can help. You'll feel better if you get it off your chest.”

Usually when she unburdened herself to this man she did feel better, but that wasn't going to happen with this news. “It can wait.”

“No. The doctor says I need to keep stress to a minimum. And now you've got me worried. So spill it.”

Oh, brother, she'd really stepped in it and had no choice.
Quick and simple
, she told herself. “The thing is, I called it quits with Will tonight.”

Hank studied her as a whisper started through the crowd. “I see. Why is that?”

“He's not the right man for me.” Keep it simple like he'd said, she thought. Make it all about her and don't embellish. “We had fun this summer, but that's all it would ever be with us. I want more. And he doesn't define ‘more' the same way I do.”

The father looked at his son and there was no mistaking the disappointment in his eyes. “That true, Will?”

“Yes. She's a remarkable woman and deserves a man who can make her happy. Someone who won't hurt her.”

“I'm the one walking away.” She raised her voice, making it determined, definite. No one should doubt that she was in control even though it didn't feel that way. “It's what I want and that makes it best for both of us.”

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, which was unusual for the diner, then everyone around them started whispering.

Hank was silent for a moment before reluctantly nodding. He cupped her cheek in a big hand. “I guess you know best, honey.”

“Thanks for understanding,” she said. Wow, she'd never anticipated the effort it would take not to cry. But tears would dilute the effect of what she was trying to accomplish.

At least fate was on her side a little bit because at that moment one of the servers brought a pitcher of beer and some glasses. “Chicken wings and nachos are coming. And a salad for you, Sheriff,” he said.

April gave Will one last look and nodded him a thank-you as she backed away. Right now she was numb to the murmurs of sympathy directed at her as she slowly moved toward the diner's exit. She tried to be proud of herself, but this didn't feel at all like the win Kim had promised when hatching this plan.

Lucy Bishop was standing in the waiting area by the front door. “April, I just heard.”

“What?” Could news of the breakup really have spread that fast?

“You dumped Will Fletcher.” Sympathy welled up in her eyes. “I'm sorry things didn't work out for you two.”

News
had
traveled that fast. “I didn't want to give him false hope.”

“You're really strong. And wise.”

April waited to feel some satisfaction but there wasn't any to be had what with her heart breaking. The only win was that in Blackwater Lake she would no longer be that poor girl Will Fletcher left behind.

* * *

April took the fresh batch of her healthy whole-wheat macaroni and low-fat cheese out of the oven and set it on a warming tray. Cooking was her desperate attempt to fill the void Will had left in her life when he went back to Chicago a week ago. So far cooking wasn't helping all that much. And she wasn't eating much of it. Mostly the food was going across the alley to Hank Fletcher. Hence the health-conscious alterations.

He was lonely, too.

Will had only been back in her life for the summer, but she missed him terribly and felt more alone than she ever had in her life. But her neighbor had seen his daughter married, then stood by while she and her son moved out of his house and in with her husband, where they would start their new life as a family. Hank had supported April through so many changes, good and bad, so she planned to return the favor. This time they could help each other.

She got out her casserole carrier and food warmer, then slid the dish inside before letting herself out the kitchen's sliding glass door. It was hard not to picture Will here, not to remember the first time he'd stood there looking completely adorable holding a pizza box and bottle of wine. Hard to forget every moment with him after that night. There were memories everywhere she turned and each one was like a blow to her soul.

Tears filled her eyes as she walked across the alley to Hank's house. Lights were on inside that indicated he was home from work so she knocked.

The door opened and Hank stood there in suit pants, a white dress shirt and snappy red tie. “Hi, kiddo.”

Looking past him she saw a matching suit jacket slung over one of the kitchen chairs. “Are you going out?”

“I'm taking Josie to Fireside for dinner,” he explained. “I wanted to thank her for being there for Kim when I went to the hospital.”

“Is it more than a thank-you?”

“Maybe.” He opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

She hesitated. “I don't want to make you late.”

“Don't worry about it.” He indicated the dish in her hands. “I guess that's for me.”

“Yeah. But obviously you don't need it.”

“If it's good warmed up, I need it,” he said.

“All right, then.” She handed it over and walked inside.

“Thanks, honey.” He took the dish, then frowned at her when their gazes met. “What's wrong?”