The Cowboy's Second-Chance Family

Noah turned the water off and reached for a paper towel. When he started to wrap her hand, she took the towel from him and did it herself. Too much touching was dangerous...at least to her mental state. She was to work with him, and hopefully get him to open up and recover from his loss, so anything beyond that wasn’t an option.

Besides, she’d vowed never to fall for a man who risked his life on a daily basis ever again. Living through hell once was more than enough for her.

“I can get that,” she said as she turned her attention to McCoy.

“You made the coffee, that’s enough.” He picked up the large jagged mug pieces and tossed them in the trash before soaking up the liquid. “Get to work and make sure you don’t pull any pranks on Spencer here.”

She glanced to Noah, who was still standing far closer and smelling far better than should be legal.

“I’ll have you know that last stunt with the sugar and salt with the coffee was not me. It was Carla.”

When he grunted, Lucy merely glanced to Noah and shrugged. She headed from the break room, well aware the new officer was directly behind her. If only Carla were here tonight to help take some of this pressure from Lucy. She’d never had this instant attraction before so she seriously needed to get ahold of herself.

Why did the first interest since her husband’s death have to be a man dealing with such grief? He was in no place to even look her way, let alone flirt.

Flirt? Mercy sakes, what was she saying? They had a job to do and she’d do well to remember they were technically coworkers.

“Are you sure your hand is okay?” he asked as they came to the dispatch desks with all of the monitors and phones.

“It’s fine.” How many times could she say fine? “Did you get cleaned up?”

He glanced to his shiny, patent leather shoes. “They just got splashed. I think your hand and the floor took everything.”

When he looked back up, his eyes went straight to her chest. Well, maybe this attraction wasn’t one-sided.

“You have coffee on your sweater.”

And perhaps it was, because he wasn’t looking at her boobs at all, but the coffee she’d spilled. She knew her sweater was damp, but she didn’t exactly have another shirt to put on. And of course it was a white sweater. Classy. So classy.

“It will dry,” she stated, waving a hand through the air as if she wasn’t bothered, though she was cringing each time his eyes dropped to the stain.

She took a seat at her desk and gestured to the empty chair beside her. “How long have you been in Stonerock?”

“Almost a week.”

Lucy pointed to one of the monitors with the layout of the town. “I assume you’ve been out driving around and familiarizing yourself with the area.”

He nodded. “The streets are a grid. Pretty easy to get around.”

“This won’t be much different from where you were before,” she explained. “Stonerock is small, low crime. I’m sure you know all of that, but you will get to know the people in no time.”

As she explained how things would work from her end, he nodded and listened without interruption. When the line lit up, Lucy held up her hand and took the call.

The frantic voice of a child came over the headset and Lucy went into that calm mode she had to settle into when trying to offer comfort to the stranger on the other end. And when that stranger happened to be a child, Lucy tried to compartmentalize her feelings and remain in control.

“My mommy is having a baby,” the little boy screamed. “Right now!” The child’s voice was drowned out by a woman’s cries.

Lucy went to the flip cards on the desk and found the one she needed to issue the proper orders. This wasn’t her first baby call and it wouldn’t be her last. She managed to get a neighbor’s name and called her while keeping the child on the line. While paramedics were on their way, Lucy wanted another adult there for the child.

All in all, the call took about four minutes before the medical squad arrived on the scene and the neighbor came to take the little boy. Lucy disconnected the call once everyone was safe and taken care of.

As she eased back in her seat, she caught a side glance of Noah. The adrenaline during the call had her completely forgetting about him—and that was saying something.

“You did good,” he commented.

Lucy laughed. “Well, that’s my job, so...”

“It takes a special person to be able to do that, though.” He eased forward and met her eyes. “Not everyone could remain calm in a time of distress. You’re literally the lifeline to those people in need.”

Lucy shrugged. She’d never thought of it that way, but he was correct. Still, she didn’t take to praise very well. She was doing her job, helping others who couldn’t help themselves, and she only hoped in some small way that she made a difference.

As more calls came through, she took them and talked to Noah in between. After about an hour, Officer McCoy came through to take Noah out on a call.

Part of Lucy hated to see him go, but the other part was relieved. She was having a difficult time sitting here ignoring his domineering presence.

As Noah stood up, he started to say something but a call came in and she tuned out everything else. This was going to be one of those nights where the phones were nonstop. Some days were like that and she was grateful she had something to occupy her time other than the mysterious new officer.

She wanted to know more about him, and living in this tiny town, she’d definitely find out. It wouldn’t take long for the busybodies to be all abuzz with the backstory of their newest resident.

* * *

After they’d finished the call, which amounted to a couple of guys getting too rowdy outside of Gallagher’s, the local bar, Noah climbed back into the patrol car. He wasn’t used to riding on the passenger side, but he also wasn’t used to this town, nor life without his ranch, not to mention life without his wife.

Each day was better than the last, but there was still that void he figured he’d always carry around.

Just as Officer McCoy started the car, Lucy’s calm voice came over the radio.

“We’ve got a missing child at 186 Walnut Street. The mother reported he was in his room and was supposed to be changing for bed, but now he’s missing.”

Just because he was a police officer didn’t mean he didn’t feel. Each case he encountered was different, and each one deserved his full attention and compassion. Noah’s heart clenched at the fear that mother must be facing. He knew that fear of loss and the unknown.

“There’s a creek that runs behind their house so the mother and some neighbors are there now,” Lucy added.

McCoy turned on the siren and raced through the streets. Lucy’s voice continued to keep them updated as she stayed on the line with a family friend. Lucy’s sweet voice was exactly what he’d told her earlier—a lifeline. She was the link between the caller and the officers and she truly didn’t see what an important job she had.

He should feel guilty thinking of her in any way except as a coworker, but there was something so innocent, yet so... He couldn’t find the right word. Recognizable? Yes, definitely. He recognized the pain in her eyes, too. She did well to mask it, but it was there all the same. Perhaps she used that support group more for herself than she realized. And that was all fine and good, but talking among a group of strangers wasn’t for him. He could get over his grief just fine on his own time.

Within minutes they were pulling up in front of a small white cottage. Already people had congregated on the lawn. Adrenaline pumping, Noah raced toward the back of the house where he was told the mother was. McCoy went to talk to neighbors to get a description of the boy.

With the rains lately, the creek was up and Noah prayed this would only be a search and not a recovery.

Flashlights shifted all over the backyard, Noah’s included. He tried to focus on the water, because if the boy was in there, he was in the most danger. Hopefully he was just in a neighbor’s tree house or something that innocent and safe.

“He’s there!” someone shouted. “He’s caught under that shrub on the other side of the creek.”

Noah followed the light stream from someone’s flashlight. Immediately he took off running in the direction, his light bouncing as he ran faster.

He heard a woman scream and take off down the edge of the creek just in front of him. “Hold on, baby!”