The Texas Lawman's Woman. Cathy Gillen Thacker
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house.
A porch swing stood sentry to the right of the front door.
It was—and had been—the perfect place to see everything that happened up and down the shady, tree-lined street. It had also been the perfect place for snuggling. Colt and Shelley had logged a lot of hours on that swing when they were dating. Just looking at it brought back a flood of memories.
Of course, she’d logged a lot of hours on it after they had broken up, too, as she’d sat there, swinging and fuming. And even more after he’d had the gall to tell her in no uncertain terms what he thought of the man she was marrying. Not that he’d been any better at picking a mate. He had yet to find the right woman.
Exhaling in frustration, Colt got out and went around to the passenger side. He opened the door, grabbed the leash on the floor and snapped it onto Buddy’s collar.
Buddy was still staring at Shelley as if trying to figure her out, too. Colt petted his dog on the head. “I know she’s pretty,” he said softly. “But she doesn’t like dogs.”
The pooch looked at Colt seriously.
“Yeah, well.” Colt shook his head. “I know. Hard to believe. But it’s true. So you be on your best behavior, fella,” he told his dog sternly. “We don’t want her adding to her already gigantic grudge against us.”
Buddy’s days of enthusiastically jumping down from the cab were long over. Colt lifted his eighty-five-pound companion on the grass next to the curb, then waited while Buddy lifted a leg.
Meanwhile, Shelley hurried toward the front door. “You can wait on the porch,” she said over her shoulder.
A minute and a half later, a high school girl came out, pocketing cash. Shelley followed, a good-looking toddler in her arms.
Colt couldn’t help but stare. He had always been attracted to Shelley, even when they were at war with each other. It would have been impossible not to be, given her cloud of soft shoulder-length auburn hair and her fathomless pine-green eyes. But seeing Shelley hold the child so tenderly put her in a whole new light. This was a maternal side of her that he hadn’t anticipated. And found just as appealing as her inherent femininity and lithe dancer’s body. She was, and always had been, the woman he most wanted to bed. That hadn’t changed, either.
Oblivious to the direction of his thoughts, Shelley smiled for the first time since they’d set eyes on each other again. “Colt, meet my son, Austin. He’s two.”
Colt noted her little boy had the same auburn hair, appealing face and dark green eyes as his mother. Able to see why Shelley was so proud—the little tyke was as cute as could be, and intelligent, too—Colt extended his hand to the little boy.
Austin clasped the hand-carved red wooden truck in his hand that Colt knew was three generations old. He recalled seeing it when he had been dating Shelley years ago. The antique toy had been saved for her first child. At the time, because he and Shelley had been in the grip of a fierce teenage romance, everyone thought that Colt might be the daddy to that baby.
It hadn’t turned out that way, however.
Shelley’s son turned his head and buried it in Shelley’s shoulder. The action shifted the scooped neckline of her T-shirt, baring a hint of lace and silky smooth skin. Noticing, Colt felt himself stir.
Not good. Not good at all. The last thing they needed was their former chemistry sparking to life. The two of them were just too different. He hadn’t ever completely thawed her in the past.
He sure wasn’t going to do it now.
Her son was much more welcoming. The little boy proudly showed Colt his truck and said, “Mine. My truck.”
“It sure is your truck,” he agreed.
Satisfied that Colt understood the import of what he was holding, Austin turned back to Shelley. “Down, Momma. Want down.”
Shelley looked at Buddy, who was sitting next to where Colt was standing in a perfect sit-stay.
Although it wasn’t necessary, Colt took his dog over to a cushioned wicker chair that had also been there for years. He pointed to the section of the porch beside it, and Buddy obediently lay down. Paws stretched out in front of them, he waited.
Colt sat down next to Buddy, and then Shelley set her son on the other end of the wide front porch.
Oblivious to the tension between the adults, Austin walked over to a wicker basket full of toys. He pulled a wooden cube from the pile, opened the lid and dumped the shaped blocks out onto the painted floor. Grinning, he plopped down beside it, shut the lid and began fitting a piece into the similarly shaped slots, while Shelley looked on happily.
“I hear you are going to be teaching dance classes at the community center full-time now,” Colt said.
Shelley smiled. “Classes start tomorrow afternoon.”
Colt recalled her on the dance line for the marching band, in that short skirt, skimpier top and boots. She’d been the captain of the group, and man, she had been able to move—to the point that no one could take their eyes off her. Especially him. Not that he needed to be remembering that.
“I hear you’re in law enforcement.”
Colt nodded. “I’m a deputy with the sheriff’s department.”
Shelley shook her head, clearly perplexed. “I never thought you’d go through with that.”
“Why not?” Colt returned, holding her gaze.
She lifted her slender shoulder in an elegant shrug. “You were never the hall monitor type.”
The truth was, he did have the softest heart in the department. But not about to admit that, Colt pointed out instead, “You said you always wanted to be rich and live in the big city...yet here you are, back in Laramie, moving into the house you grew up in.”
A mixture of regret and disappointment flickered across her face. “I guess that’s what the saying ‘Life happens while you are making other plans’ means.”
Abruptly, she looked so sad and disillusioned Colt’s heart went out to her. “What happened to you?” he asked gently.
She didn’t take her eyes off his. “I got divorced.”
There it was. Another link between them. Something else they unexpectedly had in common. “Me, too,” he said quietly.
She looked at him with understanding. “When?”
He cleared his throat. “Five years ago.”
Suddenly, Colt wanted to know the facts he hadn’t let anyone else tell him. Not that Shelley had ever been particularly forthcoming about the failures in her life. Appreciating the way her auburn hair fell softly over her shoulders, he pinned her with a glance and asked, “You?”
“My marriage officially ended two years ago, although we were separated for nine months before that.”
Colt’s glance slid to her son.
Shelley answered the question before he could ask.
“Yes, Austin is Tully Laffer’s son. We separated right after I learned I was pregnant.” She emitted a rueful sigh that let him know she was as disappointed in the turns her romantic life had taken as he was in his. “Anyway, our divorce became final shortly after Austin was born. I stayed in Dallas for a while, then finally decided to come back home. I figured it would be easier to raise my son here.”
There seemed to be a lot she was leaving out—and he wanted to know what. Which was odd. He usually wasn’t this nosy. “Your ex doesn’t mind?”
Shelley turned a fond glance to her son and sat back in her chair. She crossed her legs at the knee. Her khaki skirt rose higher on her thigh, giving him a glimpse of taut, tan skin. “Turns out Tully’s not interested in the whole parenting thing.”
That