than any woman within a hundred miles. No, make that a thousand miles—or maybe farther. There was still something about her that made him want to cuddle her close and bury his nose in her thick blond hair—a thought he shouldn’t be thinking if there was a Mr. Parker still around. He’d noticed right away that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but these days lots of women didn’t. He tried to think of subtle ways to ask about her husband and couldn’t think of any. He’d never been much of one to pussyfoot around.
“You still married?”
She shook her head. “Divorced. Almost two years ago.”
He tried not to smile. Oh, hell, what was he thinking? A man would have to be crazy to get involved with Mary Beth again and get his heart broken twice. No, he wasn’t going down that road again.
But, damn, she sure stirred up something potent inside him.
“So how did you break your foot?” he asked.
“It would sound a lot more exciting if I said I hurt myself skiing in Vail, but the truth is, I fell down the steps of my apartment. A silly accident. I was carrying groceries. A bag started slipping, and I tried to save it. I lost the bag anyhow and broke two bones in my foot. That was the end of my career, too.”
“And what career was that?”
“I taught aerobics at the local health club. It wasn’t much of a career, but I was good at it, and I could leave Katy at the nursery there while I taught my classes. Child care is expensive these days. Everything is expensive these days. News of my inheritance couldn’t have come at a better time. Things were getting pretty tight for us.” Mary Beth paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.
So things had been hard lately for Mary Beth…
Her voice broke into his thoughts. “What about you? Do you have a family?”
“Just my folks, my brothers and my sister. I never got married. Guess I’m not the marrying kind.”
“Never even came close?”
“Only once.” He grinned. “Then I sobered up.”
She laughed and wiped her lips with a napkin. “There has to be a story in that.”
“Not really. I had too much champagne at Frank’s wedding and proposed to a bridesmaid from Texarkana. Luckily, she didn’t take me seriously.” Actually, there was more to the story than that, but he didn’t want to go into it.
“Oh, is Frank married?”
“He was. His wife was killed in a car wreck last year. He has twins, a boy and a girl, about Katy’s age.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. Is Frank okay?”
J.J. shrugged. “Well as can be expected.” He glanced at his watch. “Let me go over to the courthouse and see how much longer Dwight will be. Stay here and visit with Mama till I get back.”
J.J. rose and hurried from the shop. Damn! He could hardly wait to get hold of Dwight Murdock. He might skewer that knuckleheaded lawyer for dragging him into this mess. He didn’t want to see the look on Mary Beth’s face when she found out about her inheritance.
MARY BETH PICKED UP their ice cream dishes and carried them to the counter. Katy, a paper napkin tucked under her chin, knelt on a stool watching Miss Nonie spooning sprinkles on an ice cream cone.
Katy beamed as Miss Nonie handed her the cone. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome, precious.”
Mary Beth raised her eyebrow. “A second one?”
“Well, you see, I had sort of an ac-ci-dent with the first one. Miss Nonie said I shouldn’t worry. It happens to Janey and Jimmy all the time. We cleaned it up slick as a whistle. Isn’t that right, Miss Nonie?”
“It is indeed. Slick as a whistle.” The gray-haired woman gave Mary Beth a wink.
“Are Janey and Jimmy your grandchildren?” Mary Beth asked.
“Frank’s twins. A pair of imps.”
Mary Beth could tell by the twinkle in her eyes that she adored those imps. “Do you have any other grandchildren?”
“Not a one,” Nonie said. “There’s not a single in-law among the whole bunch of Outlaws. Frank married, but his wife was killed in a car wreck, and he doesn’t seem much interested in looking for another.”
“J.J. told me. A real tragedy. What about Cole?”
“Divorced. No children. He’s a homicide detective in Houston.”
“A homicide detective? And J.J.’s the sheriff. I love it. Did all the Outlaws end up in law enforcement?”
“Every single one of them,” Nonie told her.
Cole Younger Outlaw was the oldest son. Each of the Outlaw clan was named after an infamous character of the old West. J.J. was Jesse James, his older bother was Frank James; then came Sam Bass Outlaw and Belle Starr Outlaw.
J.J.’s grandfather, old Judge John Outlaw, had said that having a memorable name was an asset in business and politics. He named his sons John Wesley “Wes” Hardin Outlaw, Jr. and Butch Cassidy Outlaw and aimed them toward lives of public service. His idea must have worked. Wes had served as sheriff of Naconiche for as long as Mary Beth could remember and his brother Butch was a state senator.
Now, Nonie had told her, Frank was a judge, Sam was a Texas Ranger and Belle was an FBI agent. Holy!
Mary Beth glanced over her shoulder and was happy to see J.J. returning from the courthouse with a tall, slightly stooped man with a fringe of white hair and a red bow tie. She had enjoyed visiting with Miss Nonie, and Katy had been enthralled with everything in the ice-cream parlor and gift shop, but she was physically and emotionally exhausted. She wanted to get settled and have that bath she’d been fantasizing about.
Mr. Murdock, a courtly gentleman of the old school, apologized profusely for not being able to meet the bus. “The case simply couldn’t be rescheduled.”
“I understand, sir. J.J. took good care of us.”
J.J. grinned. “We aim to please. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get going. Just got a call that Cletus Medford’s cows broke the fence and several head are blocking the highway. Duty calls.” He winked at Mary Beth. “I’ll check on you later.” He touched the brim of his hat, turned and trotted for his car.
Mary Beth dragged her gaze from his retreating form, telling herself that she should be grateful for the duty that took him away. Try as she might, she couldn’t think kindly of those cows.
“I have some papers for you to sign in my office,” Mr. Murdock said, “and I expect you’ll be wanting to inspect the property. Shall we do that tomorrow morning?”
“Well, I suppose that the papers can wait until then, but I’d like to go on to the motel now. I’m without transportation. Could you drive us?”
“Certainly. I would
