His color had improved and she cuddled him close and rubbed a finger over the downy softness of wispy wheat-colored hair. “Are you feeling better?”
He blinked at her, which she took as a yes.
“Bad news, buddy, your mom, the lowlife witch—” Michelle’s sweet tone never changed as she dealt the insult “—dropped you on Cousin Nate’s doorstep in the middle of the biggest storm of the season.”
He stared at her with sober eyes, taking in every word she spoke.
“Hopefully, your daddy was smarter than your mommy.” She nodded at the alertness in his gaze. “The good news is your cousin Nate says he’s going to raise you.” Chewing the inside of her cheek, she sighed. “Actually, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s a good news-bad news thing. He’ll be a rock for you, but he’ll have impossible expectations. At least that’s how it was with my dad.”
His little face crumpled and he began to whimper.
“Oh, shoot.” Michelle gently bounced Jack, trying to calm him. “No, baby, don’t cry. Shh. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Nate is different.”
“Different from what?” a deep voice demanded.
Flinching internally, she carefully controlled her expression when she met Nate’s challenging gaze.
“I was warning him how difficult it can be to live with a sheriff.”
He lifted one dark brow, silent reproach in the gesture. “Thanks for undermining me before I’ve even met the kid.”
“The truth is the truth.”
“Being sheriff is what I do.” He handed her the full bottle. “It’s not who I am.”
“I was raised by a lawman.” The warm bottle felt good in her hand. She checked the temperature of the formula on her wrist. Perfect, of course. She fed it to Jack, who latched onto the nipple and sucked, his little hands coming up to rest on the bottle. “I know what wearing that uniform means. Long hours, community service, duty first. Family a far and distant second.”
“You don’t know anything about me. I won’t be judged by the actions of another.”
“Fine. Prove me wrong.”
“I would.” Nate settled into the corner of the couch. “But you won’t be around to see. You just want to sell this house and head back to the city.”
He was right. And she wouldn’t apologize for wanting to move forward with her life. “I’m not going back to San Francisco. I’m moving to Los Angeles.”
“Really?” He lifted one dark brow. “Following some guy south?”
She snorted. As if she’d move across town for some guy. “My agent thinks it’ll be better for my songwriting career. And now who’s judging?”
“I’m just calling it as I see it.”
“There’s nothing in this town for me anymore.”
“You’ve never believed there was anything here for you,” he said.
Michelle glanced up from the sweet baby to study the stoic sheriff. How did he know her so well when they’d only met briefly at the funeral before today? She didn’t think Dad had been the type to talk about his absent daughter. Maybe she’d been wrong about that.
“You were wrong then and you’re wrong now.”
“Wrong?” Could he read minds now?
“About what the town has to offer.”
“I don’t have anything in common with the people here. I want more.”
“More what?”
The same question her dad had always had for her. She didn’t know! She just knew this town lacked what she needed.
“More everything. More music, more options, more money, more entertainment, more men, more people who want more.”
And Dad had never understood, never accepted how important music was to her, that songwriting wasn’t just a dream but what drove her.
“Shallow. I guess you’re right after all. River Run has character, people with heart and integrity who care about their neighbors, where life is more important than entertainment and meeting strangers in the street.”
No surprise, Sheriff Nate Connor didn’t understand, either. Why that hurt she couldn’t say.
She ran the back of her finger over baby Jack’s powder-soft cheek, wishing him a better life in River Run than she’d had. “He’s asleep again.”
“Good. Hypothermia is hard on the system.”
“Is the storm going to get better or worse tomorrow?”
“Why? You have somewhere you gotta be?” he mocked her.
“Just answer the question.”
“Worse. This was only supposed to be a light snow flurry, but a massive cold front pushed down from Alaska causing blizzard conditions. It’s supposed to get worse before it gets better. We’ve battened down the town and advised people to stay inside except for emergencies.”
Nodding, she tucked the fleece-wrapped baby in the crook of the couch and set his bottle on the oak coffee table.
“Then I should get at least one of my other suitcases tonight.” She reached for her shoes.
Nate didn’t move. “You’re not going out in the storm. Didn’t you hear me say I advised the townspeople to stay inside?”
“This is an emergency.”
“You’re safe and sound inside a warm house. There’s food and water, and a flushing toilet. How is this an emergency?”
His long-suffering expression made her grit her teeth.
“I need clothes. I have a change of underwear in my overnight case, but not clothes.” She tugged at her ripped T-shirt. “And the ones I have on came into contact with a Neanderthal.”
“You can borrow something of mine.” He shrugged off her sarcasm. “Nobody is going back out into the storm.”
Shooting daggers at him, because she’d hoped he’d offer to get the cases for her, she made her way around the table to the middle of the room. Her ankle throbbed but held her weight.
“Ten minutes ago you were ready to send me on my way.”
“That was before I’d been back outside. The storm has worsened.”
“All the more reason to go now. I’m going to get my suitcase and you can’t stop me.”
He laughed. And pushed to his feet with a lithe grace that spoke of muscle and discipline and the easy strength to make her do anything he wanted her to.
Aggravating
