“You’re welcome, but I had help from one of my brothers. We loved our tree house.”
“We had dinner up there last night.”
“No way! I bet that was cool!”
The little boy nodded. Then, wide-eyed, he took in Dan’s uniform. “I like your uniform, Deputy Dan.”
“I like my badge the best,” he said.
“I want to be a sheriff one day. Aunt Leah says I need to do well in school for that, like you did.”
“She’s not wrong. Is your aunt about?”
“She’s in the kitchen. We’re dancing while cleaning up after our breakfast. But Aunt Leah’s head is sore, so it’s mostly me dancing.”
“You enjoy dancing?”
“Not really, but she told me I need to learn because one day it will come in handy.”
Leah wasn’t wrong.His sister had taught him at least to move on a dance floor without looking like a block of wood.
“She’d probably know best, right?” He crouched down before the little boy. “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Benny. He’s just come to live with us. He sleeps on my bed.”
“Hi, Benny.” Dan patted the soft head. “How’s school been going?”
“It’s okay, I guess,” he said, melding the first two words together in a husky voice so it came out as “s’okay.”
Where is his father?Dan wondered. It had to be tough losing your mom that young. He knew how that felt, as he’d been young when he lost his father.
“I went to that school, and my siblings did too.”
Hudson nodded. “I have many friends there, but Toby Stanley and I spend most of our time together.”
“Nice to have a good friend,” Dan said, thinking of Jay.
He saw her then. Leah was walking toward them, then stopped when she reached her nephew, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was a protective gesture that pissed Dan off because he’d never hurt the kid, or her, no matter if she believed differently.
Her hair was all over the place in a cloud of curls, and she wore cutoffs that showed off her legs, a black tank, and nothing on her feet. She looked too good, Dan thought, and seeing as he was in uniform, he shouldn’t notice that. But visions of that day they’d made love were still vivid inside his head.
“Deputy,” she said in a cool voice. “What can we do for you?”
Chapter 21
Dan rose to face her. “What’s going on, Leah?”
“I thanked him for the tree house, Aunt Leah.”
“Good work, bud,” she said, squeezing her nephew’s shoulder.
“Are you okay? Your eyes look squinty,” Dan said, studying her.
“Aunt Leah has a headache,” Hudson repeated.
“I’m better now, Hudson. Go get that bucket of food scraps, and we’ll feed the chickens.”
Her nephew ran off with Benny to do as she said, and Dan was left alone with her. He kept his eyes on her face rather than running them over her body.
