Chapter 3
Annie paced the floor, nervous and scared. For a second, she thought about ducking back into the coat closet, but decided it might be worse for her if she did. She had no idea if someone had actually managed to get in, and she had no intention of going back into the kitchen to find out.
Where is he? What’s going on out there?
She squished herself down into a small gap between the old sofa and the corner of the wall. With the heavy couch next to her, and the wall surrounding her, she felt somewhat safe. Her breath came in ragged little panicked bursts as she sat alone in the dark room. She was positive any intruder would be able to find her just by the sound of her thumping heart.
After a long silence, the back door rattled again, and she gripped her legs closer to her, wishing she could melt into the wall. Where is the cop? She wished he would say something, or give a shout, because she was suddenly afraid he might be hurt. What would she do then? Where’s my phone? Crap! It’s still in the closet!
Just as she was trying to get up the courage to crawl over to the closet and get her phone, loud footsteps sounded on the porch outside. She held her breath, absolutely terrified, until three loud knocks struck on the door. “Ma’am, are you in there? Can you please open up?”
She rushed to the door, unbolting it with nervous fingers. The cop stood calmly in her doorway, his gun drawn.
She nearly yelped at the sight of the gun, but he smiled at her.
“Ma’am, your back pasture fence has been knocked down, and there are definitely marks on your door. Looks like an animal was here. Probably coyotes. ” He scanned the room behind her. “But your bolt held, and I don’t think they got inside.” He turned to smile at her. “Are you here all alone? Do you want me to check the house, just in case?”
Annie nodded, her eyes wide as she backed up to let him inside. He barely glanced at her as he moved through the house, scanning each room with his gun still drawn. After what seemed like forever, he finished checking all the rooms in the big house. Annie finally started to calm down. “Ma’am, I checked all the rooms in the house, and there is no one else here.”
She remembered Marti’s laughter over the coyotes. What if it really was some sort of animal? Annie felt a blush streaking over her cheeks.
For the first time, she noticed the policeman. He was a lot younger than she had expected, probably closer to her age, and absolutely beautiful. She figured he was about 6’2”. A lot taller than her 5’7” frame. Broad shoulders and a perfectly tanned body made her think all sorts of things. She could see his strong arms through his uniform. He must work out. With his strong jaw and big brown eyes, he could have been a model. She giggled. Do they have ‘policeman of the month’ calendars?
Annie was confused. She was sure Marti would have mentioned a stud-muffin like this moving to town, but she hadn’t. Annie grew up here, she knew everyone in town, but this policeman certainly didn’t look familiar. She watched him, wondering who he could possibly be. He was probably married, and that’s why Marti hadn’t mentioned him.
He double-checked the house, and then found themselves back in the entryway. He smiled softly at her, slipping his gun back into the holster. As he moved, his back and shoulders shifted gracefully, and Annie had to shake herself, focusing. Marti should have mentioned this guy even if he were a monk. Who is he?
“Well, everything looks secure, but it’s a big old house, with lots of empty space. You might want to stay in town until I can get back here in the daylight, just to be safe.”
Annie pictured Marti waving away the coyotes with a laugh. “No, I’m all right. Like you said, no one is here and no one got in.” She smiled, looking around the big house. “I’m just not used to this country living like I used to be.”
He grinned lopsidedly, and suddenly Annie felt a wave of recognition run through her. He looked so familiar. If only she could figure out how she knew him. “Well, ma’am, It certainly isn’t like L.A.”
She started a little, but caught herself. Of course he would know who she was. It was a small town. She was headline news. She had to expect him to know her. Was he at Grandpa’s funeral? Did I meet him there?
She wished she knew who he was so she could ask about his family. “Can you stay and sit a spell?” She felt a bit more nervous about it than she should have. If only he wasn’t so hot. “Just until my friend Marti gets here.”
A shadow seemed to pass over his face, but he nodded. “Marti? Marti Odell? Sure. She’s just up the road. She won’t be long.”
Annie nodded, confusion still sweeping through her as she tried to figure out who he was, but too embarrassed to ask him. “The kitchen is probably the brightest,” she said.
He nodded. “After you, ma’am.”
As they headed off toward the light of the kitchen, Annie rushed to pick up her phone and begged Marti to come over. Marti laughed, and Annie knew she had a long “told you so” conversation coming. She didn’t care. She certainly wasn’t going to try to stay the night alone again.
She turned into the kitchen to face the deputy. He grinned that same crooked smile, and she felt a blush creep up her cheeks. “Can I get you some tea?”
“Sure. I would appreciate that, ma’am. And I’m sorry about your grandfather. Ol’ Graham was a great guy. I’m really sorry.”
Annie turned to look at him. “You knew my grandfather?”
“Sure did, ma’am. He did a lot for this little town and the church. Everyone knew him. Never asked for any help, though. Proud old man. If I had known Gibbon’s Ranch was in this much trouble, I would have given him a hand. No one even knew he was sick.”
Annie nodded and busied herself at the refrigerator, pouring two tall glasses of tea from a large pitcher. “Thank you so much for coming out.” She glanced behind her to find his eyes dancing with laughter as he watched her. “I was freakin’ terrified.”
He nodded, still smiling. “That’s what we’re here for. I’ll come back tomorrow mornin’ when it’s light outside, and see if I can figure out what frightened you so much.”
She smiled at him, finally passing him a glass of tea, the ice cubes bobbing cheerfully. “Thank you, I would sure appreciate that.”
His fingers lingered just a moment over hers on the glass, and a shiver ran up her arm. She forced herself to look away and pulled up a chair across from him, her body still shaking a little. She needed to distract herself. She waved vaguely out toward the town, her voice light. “I guess I didn’t expect it to be so hard to come back. But I do remember a lot of things about this town.”
He took a long sip of tea. “Well, eight years is a long time, and a lot of things have happened. People move away, new people move in, folks grow up, have families. Lots of things change.”
She smiled at him, glad he understood. She waved at his uniform. “Like you.” She smiled, hoping her guess was right. “You’re a policeman now.”
He laughed, shaking his head a little. “More than just a policeman, ma’am.” He pulled at the uniform at his chest, showing off a shiny badge over his heart. “I’m actually the sheriff here in Mountain View.”
“Oops!” She giggled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”
He shrugged, looking away as though embarrassed. “No big deal, ma’am. In a small town like this, well, it’s not like there are a lot of criminals running around.”
Annie blushed, shaking her head. “That’s still pretty cool. I mean the town sheriff and all.”
He smiled, and she had to look away to take a sip of her tea as well. She felt embarrassed, not knowing who he was. If only she knew. She sat up, and finally decided to just ask. But, before the words could leave her mouth, there was a loud knock on the front door.
They both jumped, and then laughed as Annie hurried to the door to let Marti in. Marti scowled at her, shaking her finger. “I asked you how many freakin’ times, ’Are you sure? Are you okay?’ and all you did was say ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ then you call me at this ungodly hour and need me to come rescue you from the dang coyotes.” She pulled Annie in close for a hug, “It’s all right, honey bun. I’m here for ya. Just glad you’re okay.”
Annie pulled away, feeling sheepish, shrugging. There was a soft cough behind her, and she suddenly remembered her manners. Turning, she smiled at the cop, but Marti noticed him first.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Tommy Donovan! You’re the cop on duty tonight? Well, thanks for taking care of my girl here. You can go now.” She waved her hand. “The cavalry has arrived.” She squeezed Annie tight, but Annie was too busy gazing at the cop to squeeze back.
Tommy? Tommy Donovan? The geeky kid from school? Surely this incredibly delicious man couldn’t be him. But Marti was sure, chatting him up, shooing him off, letting it be known, loudly, that he could leave. Tommy answered with a laugh, his eyes catching Annie’s. He had known she couldn’t figure out who he was and he loved it.
He bowed out, saying he had to get back to patrol. Annie watched him go, her mouth wide open. She turned to Marti, hands on her hips. “Why didn’t you tell me Tommy Donovan had gotten so hot?”
Marti laughed, heading into the kitchen to pour a glass of iced tea. “It’s no big deal, Annie. It’s still Tommy. He’s an asshole. Finest asshole I ever saw in these parts, but nonetheless, an asshole. You don’t want him.”
Annie scowled and followed her into the kitchen. The night had been a hell of a lot more than she bargained for.