The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set (15 page)

“It was sweet of you to take her in. Not everyone would have.”

“She’s no trouble, and it gave my mother peace of mind to know she’d be cared for. Would you like some more?” Tabby looked down and realized she’d eaten her entire meal. The beef stew had definitely been homemade and delicious.

“No, thank you. I’m full. It was very good. I’ll have to get your recipe.” Leaning back in the chair, she patted her stomach. Sam stood up and filled his bowl again before returning back to the table. The scene was homey and domestic. Anyone looking in the windows would think they were an old married couple instead of virtual strangers.

Wow, these pills are strong.

They enjoyed the quiet as Sam finished his dinner. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and the patter of Tink’s paws on the hardwood floor. The pain in Tabby’s head and ankle dulled to a slight ache and her eyelids started to feel heavy.

“Can I ask you a question?” Sam pushed his empty bowl away and gave her an inquiring look.

“It’s only fair. You’ve answered my questions,” Tabby answered shyly, wondering what he wanted to know. She wasn’t a secretive person but she didn’t go around displaying her thoughts and emotions on her sleeve either.

“Why were you driving in the middle of a snowstorm?” Sam’s head was tilted in question.

“That’s a fair question,” she conceded. “I wasn’t paying any attention to the weather. I should have been and that almost turned into a fatal mistake. I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty.” Sam started to clear the table. She stood to follow him but he shook his head. “Sit and rest your ankle. I can get this. As I said, I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty. You were one of many I pulled off the road tonight. I just wondered if there was someone waiting for you. Someone you might need to call?”

Was this his way of asking if she was married or involved? It was too bad she’d be leaving soon. If he had lived in her hometown of Baltimore she would have wanted to get to know him better.

“Actually I was headed here to Springwood,” Tabby replied carefully, unsure of how he would perceive her after she told him. “My family runs a production company that produces a few shows regarding the paranormal. I’m here to talk to Addison Wheeler about the unusual happenings in the cemetery next to her home. We might feature it on a future episode.”

Sam’s brow arched. “Addie? You’re here to talk to her about ghosts? You want to put her on television?”

“Do you know her?” Tabby asked. Luckily his reaction had been neutral, which was all she could ask for. Some people were openly scathing when it came to unexplained events. Others could be extremely annoying with their enthusiasm. More than once she’d been cornered by an amateur ghost hunter who wanted to be on television. “I’m hoping to talk to her. She sent us an email about the Springwood Cemetery and how it’s haunted by a cowboy who lost his true love.”

“Everyone in Springwood has heard that old story. It’s been circulating for years. It’s something of a rite of passage as a kid to walk through the cemetery at night around Halloween.” Sam chuckled as he rinsed out the last dish. “Every year I have to run a few teenagers out and send them on their way.”

“Have you ever seen or heard anything? Do you know anyone who has?” she asked, holding her breath. In all the years she’d been working for the family business, she’d seen very few things she would call paranormal. Her sister, on the other hand, seemed to find the unexplained around every corner. It made Tabby feel slightly inferior as if the ghosts and UFOs were staying away from her on purpose.

“Never. It’s just an old story.” Sam settled back in the chair across from hers. “Addie loves to tell that story but it doesn’t make it true. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

He said the last part gently as if he was telling her there was no Santa Claus.

“You sound like you have no doubts at all,” she challenged.

“I don’t have any doubts.” Sam shrugged, steepling his fingers. “Do you believe?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted, hating that she couldn’t answer with an affirmative. Her family certainly didn’t have any doubts. “I’ve never actually met a ghost but I have heard and seen some things that I didn’t have a logical explanation for.” She paused, not sure how to say it. Her mind was growing fuzzy from the pain medication. “I want to believe in ghosts. I want to believe there’s more to the world than what we can explain with science and logic. I want the magic.”

“Because it’s your job?” He didn’t appear to be making fun of her at all.

“Because it would be exciting to think that we have found something that is possible after death. Most humans are curious about the hereafter, if not downright afraid.”

“If you can’t control it, there’s no reason to worry about it,” Sam countered.

“That’s logic. The paranormal defies logic. Besides, I’m looking for answers, and information makes you feel things. You can’t just turn off your emotions. Life and death are emotional subjects. That’s why vampires are popular. They’re immortal.”

“I wouldn’t want to live forever.” Sam shook his head, his expression pensive. “There would be no sense of urgency. No drive. If you had an eternity to do something, where’s you’re motivation?”

“So you’re not afraid to die?” she asked boldly. They’d wandered into a pretty serious conversation for only having known each other a few hours.

“Afraid is the wrong word. I served in combat in Iraq so I’ve faced death more than once. I don’t want to die. But I’ve also seen things that are far worse.”

She wanted to ask what those things were but his features were more closed than before. She didn’t know him well enough to pry and wasn’t sure she was ready to hear the answer anyway.

“You were in the service? I have a great respect for our military.” It was a simple, non-emotional question that veered them away from more personal topics. She didn’t want him asking if she was afraid to die.

“Fifteen years for Uncle Sam. I’ve been a civilian for seven now.”

If he went in at eighteen that made him about forty. He looked younger, especially when he smiled. Tabby’s hand fluttered to cover her mouth as she yawned widely. A wave of sleepiness ran through her and her limbs felt like lead. The pills were taking effect.

“Please excuse me. It’s not the company.” Strangely, she didn’t want to sleep. She wanted to stay awake and learn more about her good looking host. She had more questions about his life. Instead she yawned again, her eyelids growing heavier.

“It’s a full stomach and the pain medication. Let me help you to your room.”

It felt too personal to have him touch her when she was this attracted to him. Her defenses were down and she needed to think straight. It would be easy to lay her head on his shoulder and fall asleep in the warmth of his strong arms.

Stop.

She was not only tired, she was delusional. She wasn’t all that attracted to him and she didn’t want to curl up in his arms. Not too much, anyway. She only wanted the comfort because she didn’t feel well and her car was currently stuck in a ditch.

“No need.” Tabby waved away his help as she struggled to her feet. The room spun and she had to grab onto the table for support. Moving quickly, he swept her up with one arm under her knees and the other around her waist. She tried to protest but he didn’t listen to a word she was saying, which seemed to be par for the course with him. He simply strode down the hall and set her on her feet next to the bed. Tink had followed them and was watching curiously from the doorway with her tail wagging. It appeared she approved of her master’s high-handed actions.

Tabby opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind but yawned instead. She didn’t even have the energy to brush her teeth. Her lids felt like they had weights attached to them.

“Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.”

Before she could reply, Sam scooped up the dog and closed the door behind him. Tabby crawled under the covers and sighed as her head hit the pillow and her body relaxed under the warm covers.

Sam was an interesting man. Relaxed one minute and take charge the next. He seemed like a good person and a hard worker. She bet her mom and dad would adore him. They’d talk his ear off about his time in the service and what it was like to be a cop in a small town.

Tomorrow would be a better, brighter day. The tow truck would get her car and Tabby could call Addie Wheeler and set up an appointment. The important thing was to get the job done and then move on to the next location. There was always someone who wanted to talk about their house being haunted or the strange lights they’d seen in the sky while out near a cornfield or pasture.

Tonight would just be one of those interesting stories she would talk about at a later date. She’d tell her family and friends about the cowboy cop who looked like a movie star, made homemade beef stew, and had a dog named Tink.

Chapter Three

“T
anner? It’s Sam.”

The morning sun was streaming in the windows and Sam was in the kitchen making breakfast. He’d heard Tabby moving around in her room a few minutes ago. Hopefully she would wake up with an appetite.

“Morning,” Tanner greeted him cheerily. “Isn’t it your day off?”

“It is.” Sam chuckled. “But I thought I should let you know something interesting about Tabitha Bartlett.”

“The woman you rescued last night?” Tanner queried. “I know a few things about her you found interesting.”

And the ball busting had now begun.

“She’s an attractive woman,” Sam replied mildly. “Anyone would have noticed.”

“You almost burned a hole clean through her the way you were looking at her. She was pretty. Maybe you can convince her to hang around for awhile.”

“That’s the reason I’m calling. Tabby’s here in Springwood on business.”

Sam looked over his shoulder to make sure she was still getting ready. He could hear water running in the bathroom.

“What kind of business?” Tanner was murmuring something to Madison in the background.

“She’s from one of those television shows that do stories on ghosts and shit like that. She said Addie sent them an email about the Heartbroken Cowboy.”

“Well, fuck. That’s not good. I don’t want a bunch of cameras and TV types overrunning my town. Not to mention how this would affect Addie. We can’t let anything happen to her.”

“That was my thinking too, boss.”

Tabby appeared from around the corner looking well-rested and even more beautiful than she had the night before.

“Tell you what,” Tanner said. “Let’s just take a wait and see about this. If we’re lucky it will run its natural course and fade away.”

“I’ll do that,” Sam agreed. “See you tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Tanner interrupted. “Maddie says if Ms. Bartlett isn’t feeling better today to just bring her by the office.”

“Will do. Hopefully that won’t be necessary.”

Sam hung up and turned to find Tabby sitting on the area rug with Tink in her lap. The dog was especially playful as she had already been walked and fed. She was ready for some fun and attention.

“You’re spoiling her.” Sam liked the way Tabby interacted with Tink, letting the dog lick her nose and sniffle in her ear. His houseguest didn’t seem to be a formal woman. Today she was dressed in a pair of worn blue jeans and a red sweater. Her long blonde hair was wavy and free around her face which didn’t have a smidgen of makeup on it. She didn’t need it anyway. Her complexion was clear and smooth, and Sam was struck by how young she looked.

Too young. For him at least.

“She’s just so cute.” Tabby scratched the dog behind the ears. “Did I interrupt your call? I tried to be quiet.”

“I was just checking in with Tanner and starting some breakfast. Are scrambled eggs okay?”

“Fine. Can I help at all?” Tabby stood up and washed her hands at the sink.

“I’m just finishing the bacon. If you really want to help you can start the toast.” He pointed to the loaf of bread on top of the refrigerator. “Otherwise you can just relax. The coffee’s already made.”

Sam handed her a mug and then pulled the bacon out of the oven. Tabby’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “You put bacon in the oven?”