The Lawman's Yuletide Baby

Gabe Cutler’s arrival just rocked a boat she’d kept calm for a long, long time.

* * *

Gabe Cutler had spent years purposely keeping himself on life’s outer edges. He worked, he coached, he fished and he took good care of Tucker, his dog.

It was enough because he made it enough.

And now he’d managed to sign papers tucking him next door to Corinne Gallagher and her delightful kids, Callan and Tee.

How had this happened?

Corinne and the kids didn’t live on the water. They lived in a simple split-level just off Route 20A. He’d dropped Callan off there a couple of times the year before.

And yet...

Here they were.

The kids looked delighted to see him, because they’d been buds for several years. He’d coached Callan, and laughed over Tee’s antics.

Corinne looked surprised and maybe chagrined about the whole thing.

She helped with team stuff when she could. She organized fundraisers and structured team gatherings when they had out-of-town tournaments. She stayed friendly while keeping her distance, a neat trick she maneuvered well, which meant she was well practiced. Like him.

He smiled for a selfie with Callan, his star shortstop, then winced inside when Callan blasted the pic to the rest of the team with a wide, easy grin.

So much for keeping his private life private. A part of him wanted to sigh, because this was his fault for not checking the town’s records before signing the purchase offer.

He wouldn’t have chosen the house if he’d known Corinne and the kids lived next door. Gabe didn’t just like his privacy. He craved it. He needed that downtime, where he could split wood or fish or do whatever he needed to do to get through the calendar year. And now—

Two bright-eyed kids, kids that he liked, grinned up at him as if this was a wonderful turn of events.

It wasn’t anything of the kind.

“Is Tucker coming with you?”

The team loved his trusty mutt, a great dog. He’d rescued the tricolor collie mix from a shelter four years before, but it might have been the other way around. The goofy, loyal dog might have been the rescuer all along. “He is.”

“Yes!” Tee fist-pumped the air. “Can I take him swimming? And for walks along the road? Because there is like no one living down here in the winter, Coach.” She dramatized the words with perfect adolescent accentuation. “Well, a few people,” she conceded. “But most of them go to Florida for the winter, so the road is crazy quiet now!”

And with all of those quiet, empty cottages dotting the shore, the only affordable house that had gone up for sale along the waterfront was right next to a busy, vibrant family. Was God laughing right now?

Although if this was some sort of master plan, Gabe failed to see the purpose. Or the humor, for that matter. “Tee Gallagher and a quiet road?” He hiked a brow that actually made Corinne smile. “Why does that seem hard to compute?”

“Even I can’t make enough noise to liven up a whole road on my own,” the girl told him. “But I do my best.”

“That’s for sure.” Callan sent his text. He started to pocket his phone, but replies began flooding in, fast and furious. “My phone’s blowing up, Coach.” He laughed as he moved over to their honey-stained picnic table. “Gotta answer these.”

“If I had a phone, I could share this news, too.” Tee shifted her attention to Corinne.

“A conversation we’ve had way too often,” Corinne told her. “You don’t need a phone. When you’re in high school, yes. I’ll get you a phone and you can help pay for it. There’s no need to do that now.”

“Everyone in junior high has one. And I mean everyone.”

A stat that didn’t bode well in the school, Gabe knew. Some of those kids’ phones were being used for things far beyond what a seventh grader should be considering, much less doing. He respected Corinne for taking a stand that clearly made her unpopular with her strong-willed daughter.

“Junior high kids have survived without phones for centuries. You’ll be fine, Tee.”

“Laura Ingalls didn’t have a phone, so Tee Gallagher doesn’t get one?” Tee hiked both brows, then rolled her eyes. “That’s totally apples and oranges, Mom. Let’s stay in the current century for comparison’s sake.” She shot Corinne a dimpled look, and Gabe couldn’t hold back his smile.

The kid had sass.

She never gave up, she smiled a lot and she faced life fearlessly.

If Gracie had lived, he figured she’d be a lot like Tee Gallagher. But she didn’t live. Neither did her mother. He had a host of regrets a mile long about that.

He’d messed up once.

He’d broken a good woman’s heart and possibly her spirit, and the truth of that weighed heavily even nine years later.

He’d cost two lives that day. Three, if you counted his own by aftermath.

No, he couldn’t afford to let this sweet family get under his skin. They treated him like he was a stand-up guy.

That’s because they didn’t know the truth. If they did, they’d think differently.

“Coach, I am just so crazy excited to have you here!” Tee hugged his arm again, and the shot of pain that jabbed his chest was quite real.

He realized that Gracie would have been Tee’s age now. She would have had a mop of brown curls, and an unerring talent for winsome smiles, enough to grab his heart and hold it tight, all these years.

His chest constricted.

The real estate agent must have sensed the change in mood because she reached out a hand to Corinne. “You inherited this place from your parents, didn’t you, Mrs. Gallagher?”

Corinne accepted the light handshake. “My grandmother, actually. Gram wanted to keep it in the family, and my late husband loved the water. He said you could learn more about a woman by watching the lake change than any self-help book on the market.”

The Realtor laughed. “My husband would agree. Well, if you ever think about selling, give me a call.” She handed Corinne a business card. “I know you haven’t been back on the water for long, but we never have enough lakefront property to fill the demand. No pressure, of course.”

Corinne stared at the card, and Gabe felt like a complete jerk. Was she really that bothered because he moved in next door? Or because he’d disagreed with her stance on the Christmas festival committee the week before? Would she really stay upset about that?

He didn’t know her well enough to know, but he hoped not.

“Coach, when are you moving in?” Callan’s excitement lightened the moment. “I can help if it’s on the weekend.”

“I closed the deal this morning, and I’m working this weekend, so next weekend is move-in time.”

“Mom.” Callan swung around. “I bet me and some of the guys—”

“And me!” Tee cut in.