About two years ago some boys who were being bullied placed bombs in the school and locked everyone inside the gym. Elias and Jericho had gone in to get everyone out, not knowing when the bombs would go off. Elias had gotten all the credit for that, but Jericho had also risked his life to save other people’s children. After that, the town’s attitude toward Jericho had changed a little. Some people spoke to him when they met him on the street, but not one of them would invite him into their home or invite him to dinner. Her mother was one of those people and some days that was hard for Anamarie to stomach.
It was about that same time Miss Kate had a problem with her heart and Jericho started coming in to get kolaches for breakfast so Miss Kate wouldn’t have to cook. It turned into a weekly thing and she couldn’t bear to think about not seeing him on Tuesday morning. They talked about many things, but they shied away from the personal. There were times she wanted to tell him about her past just to see how he would react. She never had that much courage, though. One rejection in her life was enough.
Earlier when she’d touched his hand, she just wanted to wrap her hand around his. And then she’d realized what she’d done and she was embarrassed. A woman her age was embarrassed at touching a man. How pathetic was that? Enough to give her cold feet. Since her fiancé had jilted her over twenty years ago she hadn’t dated anyone. She was nervous as a teenager. And that was really pathetic.
Rico walked over to her and she quickly gathered her thoughts.
“The sheriff’s going to Wendy Miller’s house to check things out.”
“If he’s out this time in the morning, that means there’s something really wrong with Wendy. She would never let him outside this early.”
He glanced toward the boy. “Yeah. I’m taking him over to the sheriff’s office until we find out. If something has happened to his grandmother, there has to be a relative who will take him.”
“He’s so adorable. I’m sure someone will want him.” Rico reached down to gather the boy into his arms and she quickly added, “Take the quilt. He’s still asleep. Call me when you find out anything.”
He frowned. “I don’t have your number.”
What! All the time she’d known Jericho amd she’d never given him her phone number. How stupid was that? Then it hit her. Maybe she was like the rest of the people in this town. She was willing to talk to him, but she would never invite him into her home. She would prove to him that she wasn’t like everyone else.
She pulled his phone from his pocket and added her number and then reached for hers on the counter and added his to hers.
“Done. We should have done that a long time ago.”
He settled Dustin on his shoulder and headed for the door.
“Rico...”
He glanced at her. “Hmm?”
She wanted to say something, but words failed her. Then she thought of the boxed kolaches on the counter. “What about the kolaches for Rebel Ranch?”
“I’ll get Elias to pick them up.”
“Okay. Call me about Dustin.” As he went out the door, a deflated feeling came over her. After all these years, why hadn’t she given him her phone number? Was she afraid her mother would find out? Was she a hypocrite like everyone else in this town?
THE BAKERY WAS on the east corner across the street from the courthouse, facing the main entrance. The sheriff’s office and the jail were on the west side and connected to the courthouse by a covered walkway. Jericho walked instead of taking his truck. He called Elias on the way, telling him about the kolaches, the boy and that he would explain later.
It was after six in the morning and a steady line of people were going into the diner for breakfast. Another morning. Another day. Jericho looked down at the boy in his arms. But this one would be different.
He went through the sheriff’s office door, but no one was at the front desk so he continued on into the office. Bubba was at a desk writing something in a file.
“Hey, Rico, what have you got there?” Bubba was a big guy, tall as Jericho, but he weighed close to three hundred pounds. That never held Bubba back. There wasn’t a friendlier person in Horseshoe, Texas.
“Dustin Miller. He walked into the bakery about five thirty this morning hungry and dirty. The sheriff is checking on his grandmother.”
“What were you doing at the bakery that early?” There was an accusatory tone in his voice and Rico didn’t like it. It was so unlike Bubba. But when it came to family, the Wiznowskis always pulled together. For a moment it crossed his mind that Bubba might think Rico wasn’t good enough for his sister.
“I was picking up kolaches for the guys at Rebel Ranch. We go to work early, you know, and Anamarie always has them ready early.” Rico laid Dustin on one of the cots in a cell and straightened to face Bubba, trying to ignore that feeling in his gut at the steel bars. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Bubba held up his hands. “No, man, no. You’re taking this the wrong way.”
“Which way should I take it?”
“Well, you know, my mom is...”
“She doesn’t like me,” Rico finished the sentence for him.
Bubba nodded. “Yeah. She’s kind of out there—” he made waves with his hand “—when it comes to Anamarie.”
“Why is that? Or is it just with me?”
Bubba looked down at the floor and usually Rico wouldn’t say another word. He’d already fought all his battles and he wasn’t looking for another one. But this was about Anamarie and that was too important for him to walk away.
“You’re judging me, Bubba, and your family is judging me without knowing the facts. You have no idea why I was in prison. You just know that I was and automatically that puts me on the outside of your righteous family.”
“Come on, Rico, that’s not true. The Rebel family accepted you and they mean a lot to me. They have been my friends all my life and that makes you my friend.”
Rico shook his head. “Until you can accept me for me without the Rebels’ approval, you’re not my friend.”
“Come on, Rico.”
The sheriff came through the door and Rico walked out of the cell to talk to him. Some things were more important than the hypocrisy of the Wiznowski family.
“What did you find out?” he asked the sheriff, Wyatt Carson.
When Rico had first come to Horseshoe, he steered clear of the sheriff and his deputies. He just felt safer that way. But over the years Wyatt had begun to trust him and treated him as a person and not a convict. He appreciated that and today their relationship was based on trust, especially after rescuing the kids from the school before the bombing.
Wyatt removed his
