The Lawman's Convenient Bride

“Prideville.” The former county seat was a forty-mile drive from Justice Creek. “With the justice center here now, I wanted to be nearby anyway. And my dad retired to Florida a few years back. We’ve got a great couple, Mae and Roman Califano, out at the Bar-Y. They’re good people. And they can run the place with their hands tied behind their backs. But I think it’s important to have someone in the family living there.”

“Yes. Yes, I can see that.”

“You know how to get to the Bar-Y, right? You’ve been there, haven’t you?”

“Yes. I have, a few times, actually—last fall, after Nick and I became friends. And I’ve met the Califanos, too. I liked them.”

He tried not to stare at her belly. He had a yen to touch it, to see if the baby might give a little kick, provide him with tangible proof that Nicky’s child lived.

But he knew he’d blown his chances for any belly-feeling today. “Just in case, I can jot down the address for you...”

“No. Really, I know how to get to the Bar-Y—I mean, if I need to get there.” Her gaze shifted toward the door and then right back to him, as though she could hustle him out with the flick of a glance. He took another card from his pocket and held it out to her.

He watched a dimple tucking itself in at the corner of her mouth. “Seth.” She held up the first card. “I already have one.”

“Jody, I would really appreciate having your numbers, too.” He said it hopefully, pouring on the sincerity, though as sheriff, he would have no trouble getting his hands on just about anything he needed to know about her. But it was better if she volunteered her contact information. That way when he called, it would be because she’d given him tacit permission to do so.

“Oh. Well, sure.” She accepted the card, scribbled on the back of it and returned it to him.

“Great.” He stuck the card back in his pocket. And then, reluctantly, he stood.

She flew to the door, turned the lock and pulled it open. “Thanks, Seth. I’m...glad you came by.”

No, she wasn’t. But it was nice of her to say so. “Call me. I mean it. Anytime.”

“Yes. All right. I will.”

He didn’t believe her. But that was okay. If she didn’t get in touch with him, he would be contacting her.

He was helping out whether she wanted him to or not.

* * *

“So will you call him?” Elise asked the next morning at the bakery. Three or four days a week, they shared breakfast at a small table tucked away in a corner. Bravo Catering and Bakery was already open. Jody would open Bloom in half an hour.

Jody leaned toward her sister across the table. “I have zero reason to call that man.” She kept her voice low in order not to share her private business with every customer in the place.

Elise fiddled with her ginormous engagement diamond. She did that a lot, usually while smiling dreamily. She and Jed Walsh, the famous thriller writer, were getting married at the end of June. And actually, she was looking more thoughtful than dreamy right at the moment. “He’s the baby’s uncle, right? And he really wants to help. You said so yourself.”

“There’s nothing to help with. I’m so completely on top of this whole situation. You guys threw me three showers. There’s nothing left to buy. The baby could come tomorrow. I’m ready to go. I mean, I have three birth coaches, present company included.”

Elise gave a little snort. “You are so efficient I can’t stand it. I get it. You’ve got this. It’s all under control.”

“As a matter of fact, it is. And I do.”

“Kids do need family, though.”

“Handled. We’re Bravos. There are too many of us to count.”

“Seth Yancy is your baby’s family, too—and I can’t believe I even have to remind you of that.”

Jody stared into her steaming cup of rooibos tea. “Okay, Leesie. I get it. And I know you’re right.” She took a thoughtful sip. “I’ll...reach out to him.”

“You do realize you shudder when you say that?”

“I find him intimidating, okay? And the way he looks at me.” She couldn’t suppress another shiver. “Like I need a good talking-to, you know? Like I wasn’t brought up properly and my moral compass is all out of whack.”

Loyal to the core, Elise jumped right to Jody’s defense. “Well, that’s just rude. Maybe I should have a word with him.”

Jody snorted a laugh. “Don’t you dare—and really, he’s not that bad. He was upset that I hadn’t told him about the baby. And he was curt with me at Nick’s funeral, but that’s understandable. Nobody’s at their best after losing a brother out of nowhere in a tractor accident.”

“So. You’ll give him a chance, then?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” But not until later. She had it all together this time around. She didn’t need Seth Yancy’s help.

True, he had a right to know his niece. And he would. After Marybeth was born, she would give him a call.

Elise said, “A week from Saturday Jed has to fly to New York for some publicity thing. He wants me to go.”

“Can you afford to be away? Don’t we have two parties that weekend?” Jody used the word we loosely. Her part would be minimal. Bloom would provide floral centerpieces for both events.

“They’re just small dinner parties. Danielle can run them.” Danielle was Elise’s second in command at Bravo Catering.

“So go.”

“I don’t know. I want to be here for you, in case you need me.”

Jody groaned. “Oh, please. I’m in perfect health. The baby is doing great, and I’m not due till the end of May. And if anything happened—which it won’t—Nellie and Clara are a phone call away.” Nell Bravo and Clara Ames were their other two sisters.

Elise fiddled with her ring some more. “I would be gone for four days, Saturday through Tuesday.”

“Not a problem.”

“It seems like a long time.”

“Elise. Stop worrying.”

“I’m trying.”

“I’ve had no cramping, no spotting, not a single sign that the baby might be early.”

“And besides, first babies usually come late, right?”

“Right.” Jody tried not to look guilty.

Okay, so she had a few secrets. And somehow, she’d never gotten around to sharing them with her sisters, or anyone else in the family, for that matter—well, except for her mother. Somehow, Willow Bravo, of all people, had figured it out and shown up on her doorstep when Jody was six months along. As far as Jody knew, though, her mother had never told another soul.

And, no, Jody wasn’t ashamed that she’d given her first baby up for adoption. All things considered, her choice had been the right one. And no one was going to judge her, anyway. She really ought to stop lying by omission and tell Elise and the rest of them the real reason she’d suddenly decided to spend several months in Sacramento at the age of eighteen.