sat tall, shoulders back, her posture impeccable—the way she’d been taught in the five years of ballet classes her mother had wrenched out of her after Dana had married Craig Pierce and had the money to reinvent herself. To recreate both of their lives—a do-over of monumental proportions and one Sienna had never wanted.
Eventually Cole blew out a long breath, then started driving again. Sienna didn’t so much as twitch until he pulled into a rental car parking lot that was part of a strip mall a mile past the Crimson city limits sign. The rental car place shared the space with a grocery store, a hair salon and a sandwich shop.
As soon as the Jeep stopped, she unfastened her seat belt and opened the door.
“Thank you for the ride,” she mumbled over her shoulder, because along with perfect posture, good manners had been drilled into her. Oddly, she felt almost as angry with Cole as she was with Kevin, which was stupid because the sheriff didn’t owe her anything. He’d done her a favor this morning, but they weren’t friends. He was nothing to her, so why had her chest ached when he’d told her exactly that?
“Sienna.” He reached for her arm but she shrugged away from his touch.
“We’re done, Sheriff.” He winced slightly, as if he didn’t appreciate having his words thrown back at him. “I can handle things from here.”
She slammed the door shut and walked toward the building, telling herself she was glad to be leaving behind Sheriff Cole Bennett and this whole humiliating morning.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Cole pushed through the door of the mayor’s office on the second floor of the county courthouse. “Where’s Jase? He’s not answering his phone.”
“Good morning to you, too.” Emily Crenshaw inclined her head, then turned her attention to the computer screen. “Help yourself to fresh coffee. Not sure what’s got your boxers in a bunch today.” Her gaze flicked back to him. “Or is it boxer briefs? You look like a boxer brief type of guy, Sheriff. Definitely not tighty-whities, something for which we can all be grateful.”
“Emily.”
“Either way, grab a cup of coffee, then come back and I’ll give you a do-over on this conversation.” She lifted a brow. “I learned that trick from my job at the front desk of the elementary school. Some kids need help learning how to appropriately greet people. I guess you didn’t get that lesson or you’ve forgotten.” She flashed a wide smile. “I’m here to help.”
Cole felt his mouth drop open and quickly closed it again. What was it about this day and sassy blondes? But Emily Crenshaw was a force to be reckoned with and currently sat in the computer chair normally occupied by Jase’s sweet-tempered secretary, Molly.
Cole was developing a new appreciation for sweet-tempered.
He grabbed a mug from the cart positioned along the far wall and poured himself a steaming cup of coffee. “Good morning, Emily,” he said as he took a drink. “You’re filling in for Molly today?”
“Just for the morning.” Emily pushed away from the computer and smiled. “She had to take her mom to a doctor’s appointment, and Davey is in a Lego camp this week. It’s always a challenge to keep a first-grade boy occupied during the summer.”
“I can imagine,” he said even as he thought of how he and his brother, Shep, had run wild through the various army bases around the world where his dad had been stationed back in the day.
“Thank you for the pleasantries,” Emily told him. “Jase had a meeting with the city finance director, so I doubt his phone is on. They’re on the first floor, so he should be back soon.”
“I’ll wait.”
“What’s going on, Cole?” Emily’s big eyes narrowed. She looked a little bit like Sienna, now that he thought about it. Blond hair, blue eyes, beautiful with that certain shine that time spent in a big city gave to women. Sienna was a couple inches taller, her face more heart-shaped with delicate features.
Emily was a Crimson native who’d moved away, then back with her young son early last year. She was different from Sienna in one major way—Emily radiated happiness. It had been hard earned, he knew, and was glad that she and Jase had worked out their issues.
She stood, and he was reminded of another significant difference between the two women. Emily was seven months pregnant, which made her seem somehow more intimidating than usual. Give Cole a bar fight to break up or even an underground drug bust rather than be stared down by a heavily pregnant woman.
He shrugged and gave her his don’t-mess-with-me law enforcement face. “I need to talk to him. Sheriff’s office business.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on her round belly. “Do I look stupid?”
So much for intimidation. “Um...no.”
“It seems like somebody’s in trouble with my better half.”
Cole turned, profoundly grateful to see Jase Crenshaw standing in the door to the outer office, one side of his mouth curved as he looked between Cole and Emily.
“The sheriff wants to talk to you,” Emily told her husband.
“Okay,” Jase answered and walked forward, leaning over the receptionist desk to kiss her, while gently placing a hand on her baby bump.
Cole quickly turned and refilled his coffee mug, uncomfortable with the easy show of affection.
“But he’s acting suspicious.” Emily frowned at Cole. “Something’s up and I want to know what it is.”
“It’s nothing,” Cole insisted and flicked a help-me glance to Jase.
“You might as well say it.” Jase shrugged. “If she doesn’t find out now, I’ll have to tell her later.”
“What if it’s confidential?”
Emily sniffed. “I’m his wife. He tells me everything.”
Jase nodded. “It’s true. I’m not an expert on marriage, but I do understand that honesty is a pretty important foundation.”
Anger spiked in Cole’s chest, familiar to him as his face in the mirror. Not at Jase or Emily but at memories of his own father’s lies and deceptions—the ones that had torn apart his family.
He blew out a breath, forcing his emotions under control. “I clocked a woman driving twenty miles over the speed limit coming into Crimson this morning.”
“An out-of-towner, I assume?” Jase asked.
Emily scrunched up her nose. “What does that have to do—?”
“Her name was Sienna Pierce,” Cole interrupted.
Emily immediately placed a hand on Jase’s arm, almost the same way Sienna had done with Cole in the car earlier. He’d overreacted to the gesture but couldn’t seem to stop himself from freaking out any time he was forced to talk about his family.
It was one of the reasons he’d first applied as a sheriff’s deputy in Crimson five years ago.
