Sitting at the big oak table, surrounded by everyone who knew and loved her, she could feel their frustration as if it was a tangible thing. It had been that way for weeks, too. The tension was getting so intense she knew it was just a matter of time before one of her brothers or cousins snapped. And the thing of it was that she wasn’t even going to be able to blame them. Obviously she’d done a bad job with the investigation. Though she didn’t know what she would have done differently, she was sure there had to have been a better way to get the answers.
“You okay?”
She started, realizing Austin had been staring at her while she’d been gazing off into nothing. “Sorry, I got caught up remembering something. But that moment of silence was probably a nice break from all of my whining.”
His blue eyes sparkled. “You don’t whine, Dinah. All you’re doing is venting, and I promise, you don’t have the cornerstone on that. Everyone needs to let things out every now and then.”
“Maybe you’re right. But between the horse missing and saddles getting stolen and high school kids acting up…and Duke only working part-time, I’m feeling like I don’t have enough hours in the day to do it all.”
Of course, the moment she spouted off her laundry list of complaints, she wished she could take it all back. What was she thinking? Austin could be working with the thieves!
After swallowing another bite, Austin kicked his legs out. Looking her over, he asked, “Do you mind if we don’t talk about work for a bit?”
She jumped at his change in topic. “What do you want to talk about? Is something wrong? Do you need my help?”
His lips curved. “See, Dinah, that’s your problem. You hardly know what else to do besides work.”
Maybe he was right. Or maybe…she just wasn’t sure what else to talk to him about. Sitting next to Austin made her pulse race a little faster and the rest of her feel suddenly feminine, as if she was still a woman even though she was the sheriff.
And here she’d been talking nonstop about herself. How self-absorbed could one woman be? “So, how is your shop doing?”
“I’m not going to talk to you about my store. That’s work, too. You’re just going to have to think of something far more interesting.”
The jibe was given kindly, not mean-spirited at all. But it did serve to remind her that she had little else in her life besides her job.
Shoot, she couldn’t even seem to give up a Sunday.
In defense, she said, “Austin, I’m not like all the other women you date.”
The smiled vanished. “What the heck is that supposed to mean?”
She could have cursed her tongue. Now he was probably going to ask why she’d even brought up the other women. And then she was going to have to admit that she hadn’t been able to get the picture of Austin hugging Vanessa out of her mind.
But since she’d started, she continued on. “I’m just saying there’s more to me than just being a good-time girl with a lot of great hair.”
“Hey, now. Hair?”
“I’m just saying that Vanessa sure has a lot of hair for being a nurse in a medical practice.”
He sat up straighter. “Wait a minute. You’re talking about Vanessa Anderson?”
“Yes, though I bet you know plenty of Vanessas.” Now that it was all out in the open, she felt worse than catty. But how could she backtrack without seeming like more of a fool? “You know what I’m talking about, Austin,” she said with a whole lot of bravado. “Vanessa must have more hair spray in that head of hair of hers than Miss Texas.”
He scowled. “There’s nothing wrong with her hairdo. She’s got pretty hair.” She knew that. That was the problem. “And, she’s got a good brain and a good heart, too. She’s a nurse, Dinah. And she’s married!”
“She’s a real pretty nurse. So, did she check you out?”
Stuffing the remainder of his sandwich in his plastic grocery sack, he glared hard at her. “Jeez, Dinah. I never thought you were the type of person who went around stereotyping others. Especially not other women, and especially not on a whim, just to be mean.”
Did Austin Wright just say whim? “I don’t stereotype.”
He got to his feet. “I think you must. You’re talking about Van like she’s got nothing for nothing just because she’s a beautiful woman who’s embraced her share of the Walmart beauty aisle.”
“I saw you hugging her.” Even as the words spewed out of her mouth, she felt ten times as foolish. And suspiciously like a stalker.
“I was thanking her.”
“For giving you a shot?” The moment her question left her mouth, she ached to take it back.
“I was thanking her for a lot of things, not that it’s any of your business.”
Dinah folded her arms over her chest. “I bet everything between you two was all business, all right.”
“You don’t know a thing.” A muscle in his jaw twitched as he chose his words. “I think you’re a real fine policewoman, Dinah, but at the moment, I’m thinking you’ve got a real prejudice toward me. And for the record, I just want to say that I’m plumb tired of it.”
His words, and the unspoken hurt that lay behind them, made her cheeks flush. “I don’t—”
“I think you’ve gone out of your way to give me more than a wide berth because of who my father is. And because of our past.”
She felt more than a little sucker punched. “That’s not true. I went over to your place for dinner on Saturday night.”
“You know that was a fluke. Usually you avoid me like the plague.”
“I—I don’t…” she sputtered. It was a whole lot easier to call him a liar than to admit he was right.
“I think it might be truer than you want to admit.”
Because she had eagerly hoisted an empty brain on Vanessa so she wouldn’t have to look at her own insecurities, Dinah fended off his words by holding up her sandwich. “I don’t think there’s a reason in the world for us to continue this conversation. To make it easy for you, I’m going to stay right here and eat this while you move on.”
Looking down at her, his too-handsome features were marred as he scowled. “Don’t worry, Sheriff Hart. I won’t make a point of sharing a bench with you anytime soon.”
Wisely, she kept her mouth shut as he sauntered off. But boy, howdy! What was it with him and her reaction to him? All he had to do was be within breathing distance and she turned into some kind of high-strung, nagging witch who made petty comments about other girls in town.
That definitely wasn’t her.
Gazing at her sandwich, she did what she
