The Sheriff's Christmas Surprise Part 6

Miss Joan stopped and awarded her with a long, sweeping look. Olivia felt as if she was being x-rayed. "I forgot, you're one of those lawyer types." The older woman definitely didn't seem impressed.

Startled, Olivia looked at the sheriff. He had obviously told her. When had he had the opportunity to talk to the diner owner about what she did for a living? And what else had he said to the old crone?

As if reading her mind, Rick raised his hands, fingers spread, shoulder level, a man surrendering before the shooting started.

"Don't look at me. Miss Joan has this knack of just knowing things." He smiled at the older woman fondly. "There's some talk that she might be a bit clairvoyant." He said it to humor Miss Joan, not because he believed it for a minute.

She would have opted for the woman being a witch, Olivia thought darkly. Or, more likely, someone who eavesdropped a lot. Whatever the explanation, she didn't like the woman presuming things and just taking over. She liked the idea of leaving her nephew with a stranger even less, especially since she'd come so close to losing him. She was having a real problem with the idea of letting him out of her sight.

Miss Joan had already removed all the straps and freed Bobby from his seat. Taking him into her arms, she was cooing something unintelligible to the little boy and Olivia could have sworn he was giggling. That was gas, correct? she thought.

"She's right," Rick was saying. "We can make better time without bringing your nephew along." The way he saw it, the boy would be better off in one place. "And he couldn't be in better hands than Miss Joan's."

How did she really know that? Olivia wondered. She just had the sheriff's word for it. He was a stranger to her. For all she knew, he could be a serial killer. The diner owner could be one as well. Experts were only now discovering that there were a lot more women serial killers than they had initially believed.

Stop it, she silently shouted at herself. You're making yourself crazy. For once in your life, take something at face value and be done with it. Graciously accept the woman's offer. You'll be back soon enough to pick up the boy. What are they going to do, sell him into a white slavery ring before you get back?

Olivia set her mouth grimly. She had no choice, really. If she took Bobby along, she knew the sheriff was right. Bobby would slow them down and she had this uneasy feeling-most likely paranoia, but it was there nonetheless-that she really didn't have time to waste. She needed to get to Tina's bedside as soon as possible. And, with any luck, get to the bottom of why her sister had left Bobby on the sheriff's doorstep. There had to be a reason, she silently argued. Tina wasn't that much of a flake. She absolutely refused to believe that she was.

So, summoning her best courtroom smile, the one she flashed to telegraph confidence to the people sitting in the jury box, Olivia looked at the diner owner and said to the older woman, "Thank you, Miss Joan. I appreciate the help."

Miss Joan chuckled knowingly as she cuddled the baby against her. "You don't right now, but you will. In time."

Olivia had no idea what the woman meant by that, but she had a feeling that she might regret asking for an explanation, especially given the condition of her nerves. So she merely nodded and let the comment pa.s.s, chalking it up to something that only another native of Forever would understand.

Chapter Six.

As she opened the pa.s.senger-side door and started to get into the sheriff's car, Olivia stopped and looked over her shoulder at her own car. The sports car appeared completely out of place beside the other vehicles, like a debutante who had unwittingly wandered into a soup kitchen.

She glared uncertainly at the sheriff. "Um, is it all right to just leave my car in front of the diner like that?"

The sheriff smiled and Olivia instantly felt her back going up. Was he laughing at her, or at the question? Either way, she felt foolish.

"If you're asking me if anyone's going to strip your car for all those pretty little parts it has, no, they're not. We tend to respect property around here. Besides, Miss Joan's got a dog, Bruiser. Big dog," he added. "Just the thought of Miss Joan letting him loose keeps those with a little larceny in their hearts on the straight and narrow. I wouldn't worry if I were you," he a.s.sured her.

Rick got in, put his seat belt on and suppressed a sigh. Olivia was still standing outside the pa.s.senger side. Had she changed her mind about going?

He leaned over to the right so that his voice would project better. "Something wrong?"

Olivia unconsciously bit her lower lip. Something new to worry about, she thought. She peered into the car and asked, "Is it safe to leave Bobby here with that dog around?"

Hindsight told him that maybe he shouldn't have mentioned Bruiser. The lumbering, part Labrador, part German shepherd and all puppy despite his advancing age, was exceeding gentle around children, as if he instinctively knew that he could accidentally hurt them if he wasn't careful.

"Bruiser's a lovable lamb when it comes to kids," Rick a.s.sured her. "Miss Joan has to yell, 'Go get 'em' for Bruiser to go after someone. And even when he 'gets' them, he doesn't hurt them-much," he couldn't resist adding with a grin. "Then he has gone after someone?" Olivia asked uneasily, looking back at the diner.

"So legend has it," he replied patiently. "It was a trucker, pa.s.sing through. Didn't think he had to pay for his supper. Bruiser made him change his mind. And it was just the one incident. But that was enough to put the fear of G.o.d into any would-be thief." That was the point of the whole story. "Your car's safe. And so's your nephew."

Trying to put a lid on her uneasiness, Olivia slowly sank down onto the pa.s.senger seat. She didn't bother with the seat belt. Rick waited, leaving the key in the ignition, untouched. After a beat, she realized he was waiting for her to buckle up, which she did. With a nod of approval, he turned on the ignition.

She felt testy and argumentative and annoyed with herself for being that way, but she couldn't help it. "Tell me, if this place is so law-abiding, why does it need a sheriff?"

Rick laughed quietly under his breath. In private, there'd been times he'd asked himself the same question. The short answer was that it made the people in town feel safe to know someone official was looking out for them.

Out loud, he said, "To make sure Miss Irene isn't sleepwalking through the middle of town at midnight, or thereabout, in her nightgown. Or worse, driving while she's asleep. And there's the occasional drunk who needs to be locked up for the night for his own good."

"Is Miss Irene Miss Joan's sister?" she asked. Just how polite were these people? If she lived here, would she automatically become Miss Olivia?

And why the h.e.l.l was she thinking about that? She'd rather be marooned on a desert island than live in a place like this.

"The term's a sign of respect for ladies who've seen close to seventy years or so," Rick answered, turning the vehicle toward the right.

Olivia's lips pulled into a thoughtful frown. For all intents and purposes, it sounded as if she'd fallen, head-first, into an old Andy Griffith Show rerun. Places like this didn't really exist, did they? Was Forever really this simple, this uncomplicated, full of kind souls, or was it just a veneer under which was a cauldron of bubbling darkness, of secrets that were eventually going to erupt?

Since she wasn't saying anything, Rick glanced in her direction and saw the frown. In his opinion, he hadn't said anything that was frown-worthy.

"What?" he asked.

"I was just wondering about what you said. About guiding old women in their nightclothes back to their homes and locking up the occasional drunk for his own good." She looked at him, trying to get a handle on the man beside her. He didn't appear to be particularly sleepy eyed. What was he doing in a place like this? "Is that enough for you?"

She knew that it certainly wouldn't have been enough for her. The description he'd given her sounded downright boring and, if nothing else, he appeared to be a very vital man in the prime of his life. Didn't he want to achieve something? Make something of himself?

Her question rang in his head. No, it wasn't enough for him. Which was why, he thought, he'd sent in the application to the Dallas police department. Because he kept thinking there had to be something more.

But the topic was personal as far as he was concerned and she was a stranger, albeit a h.e.l.l of a s.e.xy one. He didn't share personal feelings with strangers-not without a good reason, at any rate.

"It was," Rick said evasively.

Olivia was quick to pick up on the keyword. "Was," she repeated. She studied his profile. "But it's not anymore?"

He turned down another street. "I thought you said you were a lawyer."

"I am."

Olivia noticed that when he took information in, he nodded. Like now. "Do the lawyers from where you come from dabble in psychology as well?"

She responded to the question with a laugh and a careless shrug. "Sheriff, we all dabble in psychology, whether we realize it or not. You do," she pointed out, turning the tables on him.

"Me?" he asked a tad too innocently.

The sheriff's tone told her all she needed to know. That not only was he aware of using psychology, but that he thought he already had her pegged.

Not by a long shot, Sheriff.

Most men she ran into these days thought they had her pegged. In her company only for a few minutes and they began to a.s.sume she was ambitious to the point of being driven. They didn't realize that ambition had nothing to do with it. She was carving out a place for herself at the firm for one reason and one reason only.

Security.

She'd had to take care of herself and Tina for all these years. And now there was another little mouth to feed-and to send off to college someday. That took more and more money-money that, it had sadly been proved over and over again, didn't grow on trees. Money that was only generated-if she was lucky-by the sweat of a hardworking brow.

Her brow.

If everything went well and there were no upsets, perhaps Tina would add a little something to the bank account in time, but right now, the real responsibility for taking care of everyone fell on her shoulders and would continue to in the foreseeable future.

So she worked her proverbial tail off and sacrificed. Predominantly what she sacrificed was her social life. Other than attending office functions, she had no social life to speak of.

In the beginning, when she'd begun to work at the firm of Norvil and Tyler, the friends she'd once had made attempts to include her in their gatherings. But she always had to beg off for one reason or another, because she was working twice as hard as anyone else at the law firm. She was trying to become indispensable.

After a while, her friends stopped asking her to go out with them. By now they'd gone on to live their lives without her.

All she had in her life was her work and Tina. It was enough, she told herself.

"You," she a.s.sured him, answering his question. "I'm sure you size up everyone who happens to pa.s.s through your town."

"Only if they require my services," the sheriff told her.

There was just a touch of humor about his mouth, enough for her to momentarily wonder just what those services he was referring to were.

Oh, d.a.m.n, Liv, you are overwrought, aren't you? Stop having R-rated thoughts about Rick Santiago and focus on what's important. Getting to Tina. Bringing her and Bobby home. Who cares what kind of "services" the cowboy with a badge renders?

She was roused abruptly out of her wandering thoughts when she realized that they weren't leaving town. They were going back to his office.

He pulled his vehicle up in front of the squat building.

"Why are we stopping?" Olivia asked. Had he changed his mind about driving her to Pine Ridge after offering to do it? Was this payback for her asking him questions? He didn't seem like the vengeful type, but then, how much did she actually know about this man with the s.e.xy smile? Next to nothing, really.

Rick got out and closed his door. "Just want to tell Alma where I'm going and let her know that she's in charge."

"You're putting a woman in charge?" Maybe the man was more progressive than she thought.

The look the sheriff gave her was patiently tolerant. Olivia could feel herself bristling-and becoming embarra.s.sed at the same time.

"Why not? Alma's good at her job," Rick told her. "Besides, I know I can count on her to give me the biggest bribe." He saw Olivia's eyes darken with disappointment. "That was a joke," he told her drily. "I guess I better not quit my day job any time soon." He paused for a moment and looked into the vehicle. "You might want to make use of the facilities," he suggested, motioning toward the building with his head. "It's going to take us a few hours to get to Pine Ridge."

Olivia pursed her lips, struggling not to take offense. Did he think she was ten? Or the flip side of the coin, did he think she was a doddering old woman who needed to be reminded that she had to go to the bathroom periodically?

"I'm fine, thank you," she said tersely.

Rick shrugged at what he saw as her stubborn refusal. Made no difference to him one way or the other.

"Suit yourself. You don't strike me as the type to relieve yourself on the roadside, that's all. And the land's pretty flat from here to there. We'll be lucky to see any brush at all, much less find it just when you might have a need-"

"I said I was fine," she repeated, quickly cutting him off before he could get too explicit.

Rick stood where he was for a moment, his eyes sliding over her slowly, as if a.s.sessing what she'd just declared.

"Yes, I'd say you are," he agreed. Straightening, he began walking toward his office. "I won't be long."

"I'll wait here," she a.s.sured him in case he was going to ask.

"I expect you will," he replied without bothering to turn in her direction.

SHE WISHED THAT THE SHERIFF hadn't made such a big deal about going to the bathroom before they left Forever. She silently blamed him for the fact that she was unusually preoccupied with the thought that she had to go, and that she would really have to go before they reached civilization again.

Suppressing a sigh, Olivia stared out the window at the desolation that stretched before them. Granted, as a native Texan, she was more than aware that this was, for the most part, what her home state looked like. But living in Dallas was like living in any large city. A person tended to forget that the world beyond the sophisticated urban boundaries was mostly rural. And when she was jockeying for position on one of the main highways threading through Dallas, desolation like this slipped her mind.

But here it was, miles of nothing with more miles of nothing just beyond that.

Without her trusty GPS or even a map, she had no idea where they were or how far they'd come. Unable to hold back the question any longer, she turned toward the sheriff and raised her voice to be heard above the country and western music playing on the radio. "How much farther?" Olivia asked.

Rick hid his smile and congratulated himself on pulling it off. "To Pine Ridge?" he asked innocently.

Olivia lost her slender hold on her temper. "No, to Disneyland. Of course to Pine Ridge."

The look on his face told her that he thought he saw right through her. "Anyone ever tell you that you've got the personality of a rattlesnake when you're uptight? I told you to use the facilities," he reminded her matter-of-factly.

She made up her mind right there and then that she would rather die before she would own up to needing to use the great outdoors as a not-so-great bathroom. "I'm fine," she insisted. "And for your information, I don't have the personality of a rattlesnake. I'm just anxious about Tina."

"Being anxious isn't going to change anything," he told her. Someone on the radio was hawking a contest for tickets to the latest country and western touring concert. Rick turned the radio down. "Might as well just think positive thoughts."

She wondered if the man practiced what he preached. "That's very Zen of you."

One shoulder lifted and fell in a careless shrug. "Don't know about Zen, but I find it helps me cope." He glanced at her for more than a fleeting second. With nothing up ahead to hit, he could spare the time. "You have bad feelings about something and it doesn't come true, you've wasted a lot of time and energy worrying about something that didn't happen."

"What if it does come true?" she countered. "If you're having all these positive thoughts and they couldn't be further from the truth?"

Her question didn't change his position. "Way I see it, you've got all the time in the world to be upset and mourn over something bad. No need to rush it. And maybe, taking on a happy frame of mind might just help you cope."

Maybe the man never had to deal with anything more tragic than getting jelly doughnut stains off his uniform. He was in no position to give her "helpful" advice. "All this wisdom, maybe you missed your calling. Maybe you should be stuffing fortune cookies."

Rather than take offense, he seemed amused. "Something to think about for my retirement days," he quipped. Rick nodded toward the sign that was coming into view. "You can get yourself more comfortable," he proposed delicately, "over there."

Her eyes widened. "Behind the sign?"

Rick had to bite down on his lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. "No, in the town the sign says we're coming to."

Relieved that they were at journey's end, she looked more closely at what she'd a.s.sumed was a billboard ad. Reading it now, Olivia frowned again. What was going on here?

"That sign says we're approaching the town of Beaumont."