Reunited with the Sheriff Read online

  She hadn’t changed much over the years, unless you counted the wary expression in her eyes that had replaced her youthful exuberance and zest for life. He supposed he couldn’t blame her for being wary. Coming back to West Falls after all this time was bound to be an explosive experience, not only for Cassidy, but for everyone in town who’d been affected by her actions. Considering everything that had gone down before she’d left, she’d be dodging land mines the entire time she was here.

  He quickly extinguished the burst of sympathy that flared within him at the thought of Cassidy being treated poorly. After the cruel way she had ended their engagement then fled town, he would have to be crazy to feel anything for her other than disgust. He’d once vowed never to fall for her again, and it was a vow he meant to uphold.

  Holly! His sister flashed into his mind, her image serving as a brutal reminder of everything that had been broken and damaged by Cassidy’s recklessness. Although he’d suffered, no one had lost more than his sister. He needed to talk to her and let her know that her former best friend was back in town. It would be cruel to let her find out about Cassidy’s return from one of the town gossips or a well-meaning acquaintance. He knew all too certainly how shattering an experience it could be to be blindsided by the past.

  “Don’t you think you were a little hard on her?” Doc asked as he slammed down a cup of coffee in front of him, causing the inky-black contents to spill over the rim onto the counter.

  Tate looked up to find Doc staring at him as if he’d stolen the cookie money from a group of Girl Scouts. His lip was curled upward and he was shaking his head from side to side.

  “No harder than I should’ve been,” Tate said gruffly before taking a long swig from his coffee mug. “Some might say she deserves a lot worse.”

  Doc made a loud humphing sound and plunked down a plate of cider donuts. “Well, you must feel awful proud of yourself, Sheriff Lynch. Two words from you and she went running out of here as if her tail was on fire.”

  “I didn’t notice,” Tate responded in a cool voice. Liar, his inner voice whispered. He’d known the moment Cassidy had left the diner. He’d seen her dart out of the place out of the corner of his eye. He’d felt an immediate shift in the diner’s energy—as if all the life had been sucked out of it.

  “Some might say harboring grudges isn’t a healthy way to live one’s life,” Doc grumbled as he wiped up the spilled coffee from the counter.

  Tate let out the breath he’d been holding ever since he’d laid eyes on the only woman he’d ever loved. It did nothing to ease the tightness in his chest. “Can’t help it, Doc. Not a thing has changed since she left. My sister’s still in a wheelchair. She’s still paralyzed from the waist down. I’m not about to pretend as if all is forgiven.”

  Doc’s face softened, and all the harshness went out of his voice. “What happened to Holly was devastating, Tate. Not just for your family, but for the whole town. The Blakes included. Why is it so hard for you to see that Cassidy has suffered also?”

  Tate clenched his jaw in response to Doc’s words. It didn’t sit well with him that Doc was portraying Cassidy as the victim. He forced himself to count to ten before he blasted his old friend. He had to remind himself that Doc wasn’t the enemy. It wasn’t Doc who’d kept him up nights tossing and turning. It wasn’t Doc who’d broken his heart and shattered his faith in love everlasting. No, that honor went to his high school sweetheart, Cassidy.

  “It’s not my problem,” he said with a hard edge to his voice. “She made her choice years ago when she took off. She left my sister without a word of goodbye, without even a word of apology. What kind of person does that?”

  Doc shook his head and sighed. “Just ask yourself what you’re really angry about, son. Is it because of the accident or is it because she left you two months before you were supposed to get married?”

  Tate pulled out his wallet and plunked down a few bills on the counter before getting up from his stool and grabbing a few cider donuts to bring back to the sheriff’s office. Although he was annoyed at Doc for defending Cassidy, he wasn’t about to let his favorite snack go to waste. He knew if he stayed here any longer he would be in jeopardy of losing his temper and violating the very code that made him such a well-respected lawman.

  “Thanks for the coffee.” Tate walked out of the diner with long powerful strides that carried him quickly to the parking lot where his squad car was parked. As he revved the engine, Doc’s words rang in his ears like a haunting melody. Just ask yourself what you’re really angry about.

  He wasn’t used to anyone questioning his resentment toward Cassidy. For so long these feelings had festered inside of him, stoked by the bitter sentiments of his family members and the negative opinions of the townsfolk. Was Doc right in questioning his motives? Was his inability to forgive Cassidy more about his wounded pride than anything else?

  Although his feelings were too jumbled to process at the moment, there was one cold hard truth he found impossible to deny. When he’d first laid eyes on Cassidy in the diner, he’d fought against a powerful yearning to pull her into his arms and welcome her back home. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop remembering how good it felt to love and be loved by Cassidy Blake.

  Chapter Two

  You lost that right a long time ago.

  Try as she might, Cassidy couldn’t get Tate’s words out of her head. Her confidence had been shaken by their run-in. As she maneuvered her light blue Honda through the center of town she adjusted her speed to meet the thirty-mile-an-hour speed limit. As a teenager she’d routinely ignored the sign, putting the pedal to the metal as she rocked out to the latest chart-topping hits. Back then her car had always been filled with a group of girls, the best friends she'd thought she’d have in her life forever.

  They’d been in each other’s pockets all through junior high and high school. Holly. Jenna. Regina. And Cassidy. Until the tragic night that had changed everything in their lives, destroying their friendship and turning them into bitter enemies. Although they’d made a pact never to reveal the circumstances of the crash, their friendship had come apart under the strain. And she’d taken all the blame for the accident, she thought with a tinge of bitterness, even though all four had participated in a reckless game of chicken.

  She gave in to a smile as familiar places rose up to greet her—the town library, Lucky’s Bowlarama, Daisy’s Hair Salon. There were new establishments, too—a candy store called Sweet Tooths and a doggy spa called Bow Wows.

  As she drove down Main Street a sense of happiness went straight through her, despite the knot resting in the pit of her stomach. The feeling of joy surprised her, stunned her even. For eight years she’d avoided West Falls like the plague, her heart filled with the knowledge that she would be as welcome in her hometown as a raging Category 5 hurricane.

  But circumstances had given her no choice in the matter. The one person she couldn’t say no to had asked her to come back home. And so, for the next few months, she was back in West Falls to tend to her mother and to face up to her past. It was the least she could do for the one person who’d always had her back and still regularly told her she loved her.

  As she came to the intersection of Oak and Main, her foot slammed down hard on the brake. She looked out of the passenger-side window and let out a deep sigh as she laid eyes on her father’s church. She pulled the car over so that she was parked directly in front of Main Street Church. She’d spent half of her life in this place of worship, attending Bible classes, singing in the church choir and sitting in the first pew to listen to her father’s Sunday sermons. It was still an imposing structure, still beautiful with its vibrant stained glass windows, soaring steeple and elaborate stonework that must have been a recent addition.

  Main Street Church. Her home away from home. How she missed being a member of this congregation. There was a huge void in her lif
e that the church had filled up when she was a member. That sense of family and community had been as elusive as a will-o’-the-wisp in Phoenix. Tears misted in her eyes as she remembered all the church socials and outings she’d attended during her years in West Falls. The congregation at Main Street Church had been like extended members of her family, most of whom she’d known since she was a baby.

  But, like everything else good in her life, she’d lost it all due to one moment of recklessness.

  She could almost hear her father’s voice quoting Proverbs—The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. She winced at the memory of her father’s fury after the accident. If she lived to be a hundred she’d never forget the scathing words he’d hurled at her like an explosive grenade. Disgrace. Shame. Disappointment.

  Those words were now embedded in her heart like a permanent tattoo.

  After her run-in with Tate, Cassidy knew she should make her way to her parents’ house before word of her arrival in town began to circulate in the gossip mill. She knew from past experience how quickly news traveled in a small town like West Falls. But when she tried to start the car, the Honda made a sputtering sound, then came to a shuddering stop.

  “What in the world?” Cassidy asked as she tried to start the car up again. The engine made a whirring sound as she revved it, but it didn’t start.

  She looked at the fuel gauge. There was still gas in the tank. Frustration poured through her as she realized she was dealing with a mechanical issue. She’d made it all the way from Phoenix, only to break down in the center of town, mere blocks from home.

  Was God trying to tell her something? Of all the places for her car to break down, why did it have to be in front of Main Street Church? Why did it have to happen on her first day back in town? She stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind her as her mind raced with ideas about how to get out of this predicament. She didn’t have the slightest clue as to who to call to service her car. Although she vaguely remembered an auto body shop in town, she couldn’t recall the name of it.

  She looked up and down Main Street, her eyes honing in on an approaching police car. Cassidy watched as the squad car slowed down and made a left onto Oak in front of the church.

  “Oh, Lord. Please don’t let it be him,” she prayed. “Anyone but him.”

  The run-in with Tate was still fresh in her mind. She’d been stung earlier by his surly attitude and comments about Holly. While a part of her didn’t blame him for hating her, another part of her ached to see him look at her with an emotion other than disgust.

  As the squad car came to a stop behind her car, she watched as a familiar pair of broad shoulders stepped from the car. Tate was staring straight at her, his blue eyes like laser beams as he assessed the situation. The sight of him striding toward her caused her pulse to quicken and beads of moisture to pool on her palms.

  “Oh, come on,” she muttered. “Can this actually be happening to me?”

  His long powerful legs brought him to her side in a few quick strides.

  “Car trouble?” he asked, his voice brisk and businesslike.

  She let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know what happened. I took my car to the shop two weeks ago for a checkup.” She threw her hands in the air. “I’ve traveled all this way, only to conk out in the final stretch.”

  Tears pricked her eyes, and she blinked them away. She didn’t want to be weak in front of Tate, she didn’t like feeling helpless. It reminded her way too much of the past and the way she used to feel. She’d worked extremely hard in her life to move past those feelings of helplessness. But with her mother’s illness, her long-overdue return to town and the sudden breakdown of her car, her vulnerabilities were rising to the surface.

  Tate reached out and rested his hand on her shoulder, his touch shooting warmth through her entire body. “It’s okay, Cassidy. Just take a deep breath.”

  Just take a deep breath. He’d said those familiar words to her a hundred times or more during their relationship. Whenever she’d been stressed or high strung, he’d uttered those five words as a means of calming her down. And it had always worked, Cassidy realized. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, reminding herself that this difficult moment would soon pass.

  When she opened her eyes he was still standing there, his gorgeous face filled with concern.

  “I have Lou’s shop on my auto dial. We’ll have them come pick up your car, and I’ll drop you off at your parents’ house.” The lines of his face had softened, and for a moment she could almost pretend as if nothing had changed between them. He looked so much like the Tate who’d loved her. She had to resist the impulse to reach out and touch his face. It was something she ached to do, but knew she had no right to.

  She clenched her hands at her sides. “You don’t have to do that,” she protested. “I can call a cab or something.”

  The last thing she wanted to be was a burden to him. He’d made it perfectly clear at the diner that he wanted nothing to do with her. Even though he was town Sheriff, under the circumstances it would still be above and beyond the call of duty to come riding to her rescue.

  He frowned at her. “I know I don’t have to, Cassidy. I’m law enforcement in this town. I’m not about to leave you stranded out here.” His lips curved upward in the slightest of smiles. “And in case you don’t remember, West Falls only has one cab, so you might be waiting out here for quite a spell.”

  Cassidy laughed. “I guess I forgot about that.” She looked up at him, warmth filling her insides at his sudden playfulness. How she missed this.

  He folded his arms across his chest and stared her down. “So, what’ll it be? A ride in the squad car or waiting in the hot sun for an elusive cab ride?”

  Not much of a choice, she realized. Although riding with Tate would be awkward, it was the most convenient option at hand. She couldn’t run away every time she ran into him. It was bound to happen throughout the course of the summer, particularly in a town the size of West Falls. She needed to compose herself and act like a grown woman, not like the teenaged girl who’d been head over heels in love with Tate. That might work, she thought, if she could only tell her heart to stop slamming inside her chest every time he was nearby.

  “I accept the offer. It’s mighty kind of you.” Kindness. It was Tate’s signature, as much a part of him as the cleft in his chin. And even though his actions were well-meaning, she couldn’t imagine a worse torture than being physically close to him, but separated by a world of differences.

  Tate nodded curtly and pulled out his cell phone to contact Lou. When she pulled her suitcase from the trunk of the car, she felt strong hands taking the luggage from her grip. Without a word Tate swept up all her bags and carried them over to his car, depositing them in the backseat. She followed behind him, sliding in on the passenger side.

  When Tate seated himself behind the wheel, he glanced over at her. “Someone will be here within five minutes to tow the car to the shop. You’ll need to call them later with all your information. They’ll probably have an estimate for you by then.”

  Cassidy murmured her thanks, appreciation flowing through her at how easily Tate had fixed things. A few minutes ago her problems had seemed overwhelming. Although she considered herself an independent woman, it was a nice feeling to have someone to lean on. That’s what she’d been missing since she’d left West Falls. Someone to lean on. There had been several boyfriends in her life in the past few years, but not a single one had ever touched her heart the way Tate had. Not one had ever made her feel as if he’d been the other half of her soul.

  Tate reached over and placed his cowboy hat on the dashboard, his arm brushing against hers in the process. She sucked in a short breath, her nerve endings tingling at the sudden contact. The spicy, woodsy scent of his aftershave rose to her nostrils, bringing back memories of being held tightly in his arms and inha
ling that intoxicating scent.

  For a few moments the only sound inside the car was the low hum of the squad car radio as it crackled and buzzed. A slight tension thrummed in the air. She was all too aware of her close proximity to Tate and his each and every move as he maneuvered the car. His right hand gripped the steering wheel while his left arm rested on the windowsill. Every now and then he would tap his fingers against the wheel, moving to a beat only he could hear.

  Tate cleared his throat. “I hear you have a gallery in Phoenix.” He cast a quick glance in her direction. “I was a bit surprised at that. You always said you wanted to teach art to children. That didn’t work out?”

  Had Tate kept up with the goings-on in her life? She’d only had her gallery for two years, so clearly someone had filled him in on her news. Did he actually care about her life or was he simply filling the time with small talk?

  She shrugged. “I was an assistant to a gallery owner when I first moved to Phoenix, so I spent years learning the ins and outs of how to successfully run a gallery. It was the next logical step for me to run my own.”

  She stole a quick look at him, curious to gauge his reaction.

  “Logical? Since when has art been logical? You used to say it was primal.”

  Silence hovered in the air between them. She wasn’t sure how to respond to Tate’s question. Or had it been a dig? Was he making some negative statement about her career? Or was she being paranoid? At the moment she couldn’t even think straight. Being in such close confines with him was doing strange things to her insides. Her heart was beating a fast rhythm within her chest while butterflies were fluttering in her belly.