Single Dad Sheriff (Harlequin American Romance) (13 page)

Ignoring the pain clenching her heart, she nodded. “Of course. Matthew has to come first. Like Tommy comes first for me. I wanted you to find Keith for him. Not me.”

“I didn't have the right to ask,” he repeated. “But I'm glad you told me.” He stepped closer, so that his chest brushed against hers. His heart pounded just as hard, if not harder, than hers.

He wanted her. She saw the desire in his gaze as he stared down at her. But they were in his office, with Eleanor sitting at the desk outside the open door. Jessie didn't care that people talked about them except that she was scared Tommy had heard some of it, and that was why he'd started wanting Chance as his father instead of Keith.

“So you talked to people about Keith.” She steered the conversation back to Tommy's dad. “What did they say about him?”

“Only positive things,” he said.

“That's good, then.”

He nodded. “I talked to him, too.”

“You did?”

“I had to know…for myself…that it would be safe to tell him where you and Tommy are.”

“You didn't tell him about Tommy.”

“I didn't have to,” Chance said. “He already knew.”

“You told him.” She should have been mad that he'd interfered, but she was actually relieved that he'd done the hardest thing for her.

A bell dinged above the door to the street, announcing someone's arrival. A deep voice rumbled in conversation with Eleanor. She ignored it all as she waited for Chance's explanation. All he offered was, “He says he kind of always knew.”

“But he didn't look for us,” she said.

“He tried.” Chance defended the man. “You weren't easy to find.”

“I wasn't hiding.”

“I couldn't find you.” Keith Howard walked into the office. He had the same wiry build he'd had as a teenager. His hair was a chocolate brown and only slightly shorter than he used to wear it. And his pale blue eyes twinkled with the humor and intelligence she remembered him having and that she'd noticed her son—their son—possessed.

“Let me give you two some privacy,” Chance offered. He passed Keith in the doorway and pulled the door closed on his way out.

Jessie stared after him, just barely restraining the urge to call him back. She needed him at her side. She just needed him.

Keith looked exactly like the boy she'd once loved. But she didn't love the boy anymore. She loved the man that was Sheriff Chance Drayton.

 

“S
O YOU FOUND
my dad?” Tommy asked the sheriff, who'd picked him up from school. The principal had called him out of class early, as if it were a doctor or
dentist appointment. Or worse, as if something had happened to his mom. But Chance had assured him it wasn't anything bad.

Tommy wasn't convinced. He wished Chance had just picked him up because he'd missed him. The way he'd touched his hair, and the way he'd smiled, he'd acted almost like he had with Matthew, all proud and loving.

“Yeah, I found your dad,” Chance replied as he opened the passenger door for Tommy. “He's in my office with your mom. That's where I'm taking you so you can meet him.”

“I wish you hadn't found him,” Tommy admitted. “I wish I'd never asked you to find him.”

“He's a really nice guy,” Chance promised. “You'll like him.”

Tommy doubted it. No matter how nice he was, he wasn't Chance. “Is he alone?”

The sheriff nodded.

“He doesn't have a wife or a bunch of little kids?” He had to know.

“Nope.”

So he had no younger brothers or sisters. No family.

“You'll like him,” Chance said, taking his hand off the wheel to gently squeeze Tommy's shoulder. “You two have the same eyes. And he laughs and smiles a lot. He's really excited to meet you.”

“Oh.”

“Tommy, this is what you wanted,” Chance reminded him. “You wanted to find your real dad.”

“I don't want that anymore,” Tommy admitted.

“What do you want?”

“You.” He decided to share his new dreams. “I want you to be my dad and Matt to be my brother and for all of us to be a family.”

Chance's breath made a loud noise. “I'm sorry.”

“Why? It can still happen. It doesn't matter that you found my dad.”

“No, it doesn't,” Chance said. “It doesn't make any difference because I probably can't stay in Forest Glen. I'll have to move back to Chicago to be part of Matt's life.”

“What about mine?” he asked, hating that his voice got almost as squeaky as Christopher Johnson's. “What about Mom's? Don't you want to be part of our lives?”

“Tommy…”

He was such a stupid little kid. He might as well write Santa Claus a letter or put a tooth under his pillow. He'd stopped believing in those fairy tales a long time ago—at least a couple of years. But they were more real than his chances of ever having the family he wanted. He saw that now.

That time he'd spent with Chance building the tree house and playing catch, and the time he'd played with Matt and slept in the tree house, and when all of them ate dinner together. That had been like watching a movie—really fun while it lasted, but then it was over.

He turned away from Chance and stared out the window and sucked up his tears. He wouldn't cry. Tommy Phillips wasn't a baby anymore.

“I feel like such a creep,” Chance said.

“Yeah, suing for full custody was a mistake,” Trenton agreed. “So it was really big of Robyn to offer to compromise with you.”

Chance glanced at his friend, who sat in a chair next to him, his designer shoes propped up on the porch railing. “I wasn't talking about the custody battle.”

“No?” Trenton lifted the bottle of beer to his lips and swallowed hard. “Then why'd you call me to come up here again?”

“I didn't call you as my lawyer,” Chance admitted. “I called you as my friend.” They'd known each other a long time and had been competitors as well as friends, so the admission was an unusual, and uncomfortable, one for Chance to make.

Shocked, Trenton dropped his feet onto the floor and turned toward him. “What's going on?”

“I told you. I feel like a creep. I started something with Jessie Phillips and I let her son believe that something was possible that isn't possible.” He sighed with self-disgust. “Hell, I let myself believe it—that I could make a life here, that I could make this house a home and live in it with my family.”

“You're not talking about just Matthew. You're talking about the Phillipses, too.” Trenton sighed now.

“I never had a chance, did I?”

“With Jessie Phillips?” Trenton shrugged. “I don't know. I just saw you two in the car that one time. It looked pretty intense.”

“You don't know the half of it.” He'd never felt passion or pleasure as powerfully as he had the night he made love with Jessie. “But I mean the custody case. I never had a chance, did I?” This was the conversation he'd had to have in person, so he could see as well as hear the answer.

“Are you asking your lawyer or your friend?” Trenton wanted to know.

“Both.”

Resignation and sympathy softened the lawyer's usually hard gaze. “Robyn's a good mom. No judge would take her son away from her and award you full custody, no matter how good a dad—or a man—you are.”

“And I'm a creep.” He'd been calling himself that pretty much since he'd kept his promise to Tommy Phillips when he'd found Keith Howard three weeks ago. He'd kept his promise but broken the kid's heart. And he would never forgive himself for causing Tommy pain.

“Chance—”

“Don't defend me.”

“That's what you're paying me for,” Trenton said. “That's why I tried to do my best for you in the custody case.”

“Even though you knew you couldn't win it. You were willing to break your record for me?” Guilt at taking out his frustration on Trenton made Chance feel ashamed.

“I was willing to hope I was wrong,” Trenton said.

“To be fair, you warned me,” Chance said. “About the custody case.”

Swigging the beer again, his friend just offered another nod.

“And Jessie Phillips,” Chance added. “You knew I shouldn't get involved with anyone.”

“Because I know you want a relationship with Matthew,” Trenton explained. “He's the most important person to you, more important than yourself.”

“And the only way I'll probably get that relationship with my son is to agree to the joint custody offer and move back to Chicago.”

“You can get your old job back on the force,” Trenton assured him. “Hell, I know they miss you. You were a damn good detective, so good that you must be bored out of your mind here.”

Chance smiled. “I'm not bored.”

“That's right. You got hurt more here than you ever did in Chicago or Afghanistan.”

And he was afraid that he'd inflicted more hurt than he'd received. “I have to give my notice here, give them time to find another sheriff, before I can move back to Chicago. That might take a month or so.”

“Yeah, who'd be willing to move here?” Trenton shuddered at the thought. Yet he kept coming back.

Chance laughed, unconvinced that the small town hadn't already grown on his big city lawyer. “You might find this place is a whole lot more exciting than you think.”

“You only find it exciting because of that gorgeous redhead,” Trenton said. “If she wasn't here, you probably would have been bored out of your mind.”

Chance shook his head. “No. I love this town. I still think it would be the perfect place to raise my son.”

“You'll never convince Robyn of that.”

“I know.”

“But her lawyer and I might be able to talk her into allowing Matthew another visit before you move back to Chicago. The kid loved it here. And school will be out for the summer next month.”

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Chance admitted. Having his son here would only torture Chance even more with what might have been.

“Don't you need that closure—the two of you?” Trenton asked, reminding Chance that the man had dated a shrink for a while. “Maybe his next visit will suck so much that you'll both be glad to move back to Chicago.”

Since Keith Howard spent so much time with Jessie and Tommy now, Matthew's visit wouldn't be the same as it had been last time. It wouldn't feel as if they'd formed their own family. He still had the tree house, bunk beds and the dog. But Chance had a feeling that, like him, his son would miss the Phillipses the most when they moved back to Chicago.

 

“H
E'S GOING
to move here,” Jessie told Belinda, her hand shaking so much as she poured the wine that the red liquid sloshed over the rim of her cousin's glass.

“He's already living here,” Belinda said as she sopped up the mess with a napkin. “And he's a shoo-in for the election this fall.”

“I'm not talking about Chance.” It was bad enough that all she did—day and night—was think about him. “I'm talking about Tommy's dad.”

Belinda lifted a dark blond brow. “Keith is uprooting his whole life in Battle Creek?”

“He's selling his condo and quitting his job to become a tax accountant here,” she replied.

Her cousin nodded. “So yeah, he's uprooting his whole life. The question is, is he doing it for his son—” she arched her brow again “—or for you?”

Jessie sighed with regret. “I think for me.”

Instead of being angry with her, as she'd expected and probably deserved, Keith had been apologetic and considerate and determined to make up for all the years he'd missed with his son. And with her.

With a laugh, Belinda teased, “Quit monopolizing all the single men in Forest Glen. First you stake your claim on the sheriff and now on Keith.”

“I haven't staked my claim on anyone,” Jessie insisted although she wished she could have.

“Keeping your options open.” Belinda winked and nodded her approval. “Smart.”

“If only I had options…” But Chance had backed off, ostensibly to give Tommy time to get to know his real dad. But why hadn't he called
her?
Why hadn't he come over to see
her?

“So you've made your decision?” Belinda asked, leaning forward with interest.

Jessie shook her head. “I have no decisions to make.”

“Not yet. But with Keith moving here, I bet you're going to have a decision to make soon—when he proposes.”

Jessie laughed.

“You think that's funny?”

“It's ironic that when I wanted him to propose, he was
nowhere around, and now…” When she wanted another man to propose, Keith might.

“You did love him once,” Belinda said, probably remembering all those tears she'd mopped up when Jessie had first come to live with her and her mom. “Are any of those old feelings still there?”

“I don't know,” she answered honestly. Keith had grown from a smart, funny boy into a man determined to take responsibility. While it would make sense for Tommy—and the family he wanted—for her to rekindle her old feelings for Keith, she was too preoccupied with new feelings for Chance.

“Where's Tommy tonight?” Belinda asked with a glance around the quiet, tidy house. “Spending the night with his dad?”

Jessie shook her head. “Keith asked him.” He'd even tried to bribe him with a trip to the Binder Park Zoo, but their son had apparently forgotten his love of animals and informed his parents he'd already seen it and didn't care to return. “But Tommy's not ready to spend time alone with the father he just met.”

“It didn't take him long with the sheriff,” Belinda said. “In fact, Tommy took to that man like Chance Drayton was his daddy.”

Jessie sighed. “I know.”

“You took to that man, too.”

“It doesn't matter. Our lives are too complicated right now.”

“So?” Belinda challenged her. “When isn't life complicated? Stuff always comes up. A cute teller at the bank your husband manages, and suddenly you're single again.” She grinned despite the pain she'd suffered over
her ex-husband's betrayal. “There are no guarantees, Jess. You need to take your happiness when and where you can.”

She'd done that—that incredible time she and Chance had made love. “It's impossible.”

“Why? Tommy's not here. Is he spending the night at the Johnsons?”

Jessie nodded.

“So call Chance.” Without waiting for her agreement, Belinda picked up the cordless phone and lightly tossed it to Jessie. “Call him!”

“I will,” she promised. “After you leave.”

Belinda shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “I don't trust you. I want to hear the call.”

Knowing her cousin's stubbornness, Jessie picked up the phone and punched in the numbers with a trembling hand. He picked up on the first ring, his deep voice a sexy rumble as he identified himself, “Sheriff Drayton.”

“H-hi,” she stammered.

His breath audibly caught. “Jessie?”

“Yes.”

“Is everything all right?”

She smiled at his instant concern. “You're always the sheriff. Yes, everything's all right.

Belinda mouthed, “No, it's not.”

Her cousin was right. “But I wondered if we could talk.”

He hesitated a long moment before uttering his answer in a sexy rasp. “Yes.”

“I'll come over there, then,” she offered and clicked off the connection before she lost her nerve.

“You did the right thing,” Belinda encouraged her. “You deserve some time for you.”

Too bad she already knew that it wouldn't last.

 

T
HE KNOCK AT THE DOOR
bumped Chance's pulse into overdrive. It had been racing since her call. They were going to talk—just talk. Chance had to tell her that he'd given his notice to the mayor and that he was leaving for Chicago as soon as his replacement was found.

But before he said anything, he just needed to see her. To touch her…

His body tense with anticipation, he pulled open the door—to Tommy's dad. “Oh…”

“I take it I'm not who you were expecting,” Keith said with that ready grin and sparkle of good humor that made it impossible for anyone to hate the guy, no matter how much Chance wished he could.

“No, I wasn't expecting you.” Was Jessie? Had she arranged for both of them to meet with Chance?

“Don't worry,” Keith assured him. “I'll get out of your way…if I can have just a couple minutes of your time.”

Chance stepped back so Keith could join him in the foyer. Then he closed the door. “Sure. Do you need my service or my protection?”

The younger man sighed. “I appreciate your finding me and checking me out for Jessie…”

“But?”

“I don't need anything else from you in a professional way.”

Chance's head pounded with confusion. “I don't understand…”

“I need you to step aside.”

Somehow Chance suspected he wasn't talking about giving him more room in the foyer, but he asked for clarification anyways. “What do you mean?”

“You told me, when we met in Battle Creek, that you're just Jessie's friend,” Keith reminded him.

“Yes, I did.”

“But it seems like there's more going on between you. At least Tommy thinks there is. And because of that, he's not really giving me a chance.” No humor glinted in the man's eyes now, only frustration and sadness that Chance knew all too well.

“I'm sorry,” he said. “Do you want me to talk to him about it?”

Keith shook his head. “No. In fact, I'd like you to do just the opposite. I'd like you to back off and give me some time to bond with my son.”

Chance's temper kicked in along with his jealousy. “Back off? What the hell do you think I've been doing? I haven't seen Jessie or Tommy since the first day you came to town.” And it had been killing him to stay away the past month.

“I didn't realize that.” Keith grimaced. “It's just that Tommy talks about you so much. Chance this. Chance that. I jumped to conclusions. I'm really sorry. I hope you can overlook my being an ass.”

“You're not being an ass,” Chance assured him. “You're a father who just wants a relationship with his son.”

“You understand?”

“I'm a father who wants a relationship with my son,” he commiserated. “And that's not easy to manage when you don't live together.”

“I want to change that,” Keith said.

“You want to move in with Jessie?”

“I want to marry her.”

“You've proposed?” Was that what she wanted to talk to Chance about? Did she want his blessing?

“Not yet,” Keith said. “But I intend to. She's the same sweet girl I loved back in high school.”

“I wouldn't count on that,” Chance advised. “She's raised a child alone. She's changed. She's stronger. More independent than that seventeen-year-old you knew so long ago.”

“You sound like you know her well, but you haven't lived in Forest Glen very long.”

“Like I said, she's my friend.” And hopefully she would remain his friend when he told her he was leaving.