I Shocked The Sheriff

Roxy pulled a lock of hair up to her cheek. I hope he didn’t get the impression that my offer for him to come into my motel room was payback for his assistance. I feel humiliated enough as it is. She rubbed the curl against her face. It doesn’t matter. We won’t see each other again. With a sigh, she pushed her hair back off of her face.

Shoving the twenties back into her pocket, she picked up the key to the room. The large ring had a plastic tag in the shape of a cactus with the number fourteen in bright orange. It reminded her of the creative hall passes at the high school.

One of her students had given her a Porsche hall pass he’d made in shop. He’d even painted the eight-inch wooden car the brightest yellow he could find. All the kids admired her car, but at a respectful distance. The tough kids she mentored took care of their own, and that included her. She smiled at the thought of her students. She missed them. They gave her life meaning.

From Luke’s car tour of the main street, she remembered, roughly, the location of The Golden Pan. Looking in the windows of the shops along the way she thought the Western Round-Up would do for jeans, shorts and shirts. The drugstore across the street would probably carry toiletries.

It was already getting hot so she entered the air-conditioned lobby with a sigh of relief. Various animal trophies littered the walls. A sign propped up beside the register advertised an opening for a waitress. Roxy noted it absently as she sought out a table. Several cups of coffee and a stack of pancakes quickly followed.

Sometime during her meal she decided being alone would allow her too much time to think, although going home right now wasn’t the best option. She felt cowardly, her flight from Dallas proof she wasn’t strong enough to face her old drinking crowd. Maybe I’m fooling myself. Maybe I can’t fight this fight. If bad times come around I’ll just fold.

But a bad time had come around and she’d reached for her keys rather than a drink.

It was progress.

Pitiful. But progress.

Idly she watched the pregnant waitress trying to serve all the tables around her. Roxy needed something to pass the time until she was ready to go home, something with long, exhausting hours. Right there, having made yet another impulsive decision she would probably regret, Roxy got the waitress’s attention.

ROXY BALANCED the heavy tray full of home-style dinners. As she prepared to put the meat loaf special in front of a customer, the rancher gestured toward the catsup bottle.

“I’d like some catsup, please. The bottle on the table’s almost empty.”

“Sure. Be with you in just a moment.” Roxy finished handing out plates, asked if the customers needed anything else and then moved to check on her next table.

Roxy had been hired on the spot and had an apron strapped on her faster than you could say “soup of the day.” Lisa, the pregnant waitress, had practically kissed her when she’d asked about the opening for a job, even though she made it clear she wouldn’t be staying long. Lisa had been even more excited when she’d found out Roxy had experience. It was no big deal. In the years she’d been openly drinking, she’d avoided her dad and thrown his money back in his face. She’d survived by becoming proficient at all kinds of jobs.

A customer with two children was trying to get her attention. “Yes, may I help you?” Roxy asked as she approached the table.

While one child drew on a napkin, the other was yelling. “I need two Dr. Peppers, and a Diet Coke,” said the harried mother, “and another pen if you can spare it.”

Roxy handed the woman her extra pen. I’m glad I teach high school.

She went on to the next table to jot down more drink orders. Suddenly Roxy found herself nodding absently at a customer, having no idea what he’d just ordered. Sheriff Luke Hermann had just walked into the diner with a perfect, petite blonde. He and the blonde settled in a booth beside the lady with the kids.

Roxy gritted her teeth and plastered on a smile. She pretended to finish the order and then she sauntered up to the table where Luke was seated.

Luke dwarfed the little gal. She was slight enough to look childlike beside him. Her hair was true blond without a hint of red or curl.

There was no way that little Barbie doll had a temper. I’ll bet she doesn’t know how to stand up to the man. She probably just said “Yes, Luke” and “No, Luke” and “Whatever you want, Luke.” Roxy ground her teeth.

“Yes, Luke” and “No, Luke” were the last things she wanted to say to him. Although he’d been honest with Roxy, she was stunned at how much it hurt to see them together.

His very surprised reaction to her presence was almost a balm to her ego, so she forged ahead. Best to get this over with—she was sure to run into him as long as she stayed in town. The long arm of the law and all that. “Hello, Luke. You ready to order a drink?” Luckily the drinks in this restaurant were all nonalcoholic.

“Hello, Miss Adams,” he stuttered. “How are you feelin’?”

“I’m fine.” Roxy’s smile went even wider. He looked like a little boy with a handful of forbidden cookies.

“What are you doing here?” He rushed on. “Didn’t you get the wire?”

“I got the wire, but I had some time on my hands and Lisa needed help. I dropped the twenties at the police station. Thanks for the loan.”

The blonde’s head went back and forth between them like a tennis ball. “Luke, care to introduce us?” she asked impatiently.

Maybe she wasn’t as blond as she appeared.

Luke gestured toward Roxy. “Carla Rae Sweeny, this is Roxanne Adams. She had a medical problem yesterday morning and I drove her over to the clinic.”

Carla gave Roxy a smile which didn’t meet her shrewd eyes. “He’s always rescuing strays, aren’t you, darling?” She put a possessive hand on Luke’s arm.

Roxy noticed Carla’s long beautiful nails were painted a nice pale pink. Insipid. Still, if this was what he wanted… “I guess you’re the fiancée?”

There was a sudden silence all around them. Carla sat as if stunned. Roxy wondered why. The girl had staked her claim, so why did she look as if her world had just tilted.