Capturing the Cowboy's Heart (10 page)

“Cade,
it’s
Sheriff Jenkins.”

He shot upright.  “Sheriff?”

“I’m real sorry to wake you, it being the middle of the night and all
, b
ut I’ve got a woman here, and mind you I’m using the term loosely, who insists she works for you as,” he chortled, “a ranch hand.”

“Lacy,” Cade muttered.

“You know her?”

“Ah, hell!”
he
groaned a
s he
dragged a splayed hand down over his face.

“Anyway,” the sheriff continued, “I picked her up for speeding and she had no I.D. on her.  She insists she left her purse at your house.”

“I’ll check the bedroom
,
”
he said with a yawn
.

“Mmm hmm, just as I suspected.”

Still fighting his way out of sleep, Cade said, “Excuse me?”

“I must say I’m a bit surprised to learn you associate with women like her, but I suppose you do get lonely, being a widower and all.  Hell, Cade, there’s plenty of nice girls—”

“Sheriff,” Cade cut in, his voice tight, “is Miss Dalton all right?”

“She’s about as happy as a tom cat that’s just had its tail yanked.  You wanna come down and bail her out before she drives me crazy?”

He was almost afraid to ask.  “What’s she doing?”

“Singing something about being held prisoner in what sounds like three different languages.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse.”

Cade was caught up between the urge to laugh and the urge to strangle Lacy Dalton’s pretty little neck.  He climbed from his bed and made his way out to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. 

“Cade?  You still there?”

“Yep.”  His sleep-dazed mind finally catching up with the conversation. 
He
shoved the cup of cold coffee into the microwave.  Damned if he wasn’t tempted to let Lacy spend the night in jail, but had no desire to get on the bad side of the law by doing so.  “Where’s her car?”

“Cutter’s road. 
She says there’s a spare key in her purse
.”

“Thanks.”

“So are you coming to get her
now
or
should
I
simply
gag her until morning? 
My nerves ca
n’t take much more of this.”

Sure enough, he could hear Lacy singing in the background, or at least trying to.  He could see why she’d chosen to become a journalist instead of a professional singer.

“I’ll be there as soon as I get dressed.”

The sheriff let out a long sigh.  “I ain’t never said this to another man before, but I could kiss you for this.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t
or
I might find myself in jail right alongside Miss Dalton.”

The sheriff laughed.  “I’ll let her know you’re on your way.  Maybe that’ll shut her up.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell
her
that I’m coming to get her.  Let her think she’s there for the duration.  Maybe she’ll think twice next time before flying down a country road in that damned sports car of hers.”

The thought of what might have happened had his smile fading.  Didn’t she realize she could have gotten herself killed driving like that?  One wrong turn...

The sheriff hesitated.  “
A
ll right, but you’d best hurry.
  I’m tempted to shoot her.  What were you thinking bringing her kind into this town?
” 

“
She’s
not what you think she is. 
Lacy is
a reporter who’s here to do a story on my wonderfully exciting life.” 

“
A reporter?  But she
dresses like—”

“
A hooker,” Cade finished for him.  “But she’s not.  She only put that on to get back at me for insulting her fashion sense.”

“
The old look but don’t touch
type of revenge?
  Because there sure was plenty to look at.”

He couldn’t argue there. 
Dalton
’s shorts definitely left little to the imagination.  It was no wonder the sheriff thought...  

“
That’s pretty much it.”

“You’ve got your hands full with that one.”

That was the problem.  He wanted his hands filled with her.  Irritation at the way she affected him settled in once again, deepening his frown.

“I’ll be there in a few.”
 
He
hung up and turned to find Burk l
ounging
against the doorframe.

Running a hand through his sleep rumpled hair,
his friend
nodded toward the phone in Cade’s hand.  “
Problem
?”

“You could say that. 
Dalton
’s gone and landed herself in jail.”

Burk’s eyes widened. 
“Jail?”

“Yeah. 
Seems she was speeding in that car of hers and then the sheriff mistook her for a hooker.”

“Bet that went over real well.”

“She’s in jail if that tells you anything. 
I told you she needed to put some more clothes on. 
Now I have to go bail her out.
”

Burk’s
chuckle
echoed
through the room
.

“Glad you find
this situation humorous
. 
I can promise you neither Dalton nor I do.  Now g
o put some clothes on,” Cade said as he retrieved his coffee from the microwave.

“What for?”

“I need you to drive her car home.”

“I’d rather be there to watch the fireworks fly when you
bail her out
.”

“
Too bad.
”

“I miss all the fun,” Burk
grumbled
.  “
Guess I’l
l go get dressed.” 

Cade headed for the guestroom to find Lacy’s purse.  It was amazing how much havoc one woman could wreak in a man’s life in such a short time.

*
             
*
             
*

Less than
thirty
-five minutes after receiving Sheriff Jenkins call, Cade walked into the Deep Creek jailhouse. 

The sheriff shot up from behind his desk.  “Thank goodness you’re here.”

“Why?  What happened?”
he asked worriedly.

“
Your little reporter
got tired of singing that other song.  Now it’s
something about
Bad boys...bad boys.”  He pulled out the paperwork for
her
release and shoved it Cade’s direction.  “Sign it quick and get her the heck out of here.  Oh, and that’ll be two hundred dollars.”

“Two hundred dollars?”  Cade nearly choked on his own spit.  “For speeding?”

“No, it was only fifty for the speeding ticket.  Another hundred and fifty for trying to bribe an officer of the law.”

This was unbelievable.  “Lacy tried to bribe you?”

“Yep.”  

“Dammit, Dalton,”
he
grumbled.  “I can’t believe
she did that
.”

“Believe it, Cade.  She offered to give me Colorado Rockies tickets if I let her off with a warning.  Couldn’t very well do that with no I.D. on her person.  Hell, for all I knew, she could have been a serial killer or something.”

Cade arched a brow.  “What, she murder people with her singing?”  He dropped Lacy’s purse onto the desk.  “Look, I don’t have the money to bail her out.”

The sheriff’s face fell.  “Y...you don’t?”

“No.” 
He
shook his head.  “But I’m sure Miss Dalton can afford to pay her own fine.”

A sigh of relief escaped the sheriff’s tightly pressed lips.  “Thank God.  How long’s that woman here for?”

“Too long,” Cade said,
looking up as
Lacy’s singing drifted into the office through the air vents above.  “That is bad.
”

“I was tempted to shoot her,” the sheriff admitted.

“I wouldn’t have blamed you,” he replied with a grin.  “
I’ll do my best to keep her out of trouble for the rest of
her stay
here.”

Lacy was close to foaming at the mouth by the time Sheriff Jenkins led her from
the
cell and
into his office.
 

“Cade!” she exclaimed the second she saw him
standing there
.

“Dalton,” he replied, his tone
gruff
. 
She was not getting off easy.  Not after causing him to lose a good night’s sleep. 
“I don’t appreciate being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night to bail your butt out of jail.”

She lowered her eyes.  “I’m really sorry about that.”

The sheriff
settled into the chair
behind his desk.  “Cade tells me you’re gonna be
in t
own for a spell.
”

She nodded.

“He also
assures me you’ll be staying out of trouble
for the rest of the time you’re here
.”

“I will,” she promised, eager to leave.

He handed her the black leather purse Cade had brought in with him.  “Now, if you’ll just pay your fine, we’ll pretend this night never happened.”

“I’ll pay my fine, but not until you apologize for
insinuating I was a
prostitute,” she said stubbornly.

“Lacy,” Cade warned. 

“Well, he did.”  She turned to the sheriff.  “Just where do you-”

Cade clamped a hand over her mouth.  “We’ll just pay you and be going, Sheriff.”  He dug in her purse and withdrew her wallet, pulling out enough cash to cover her bail.  Hand still clamped over her mouth, he
hauled
Lacy outside.

It wasn’t until they were halfway across the parking lot that he l
owered her feet to the ground and l
et his hand fall away.  “He thought I was a hooker!
”

Keeping one
hand
at
her elbow
, he forced
her to keep walking.  “I’m not one for I
-
told-you-so’s, but...”

“Don’t even say it,” she warned.

When they reached his truck, he handed her back her purse.  “I believe this belongs to you.”

“Thanks.”  She
glanced
around the lamp
lit parking lot.  “Where’s my car?”

“At home,” he grumbled.  Damned if he hadn’t lost a good night’s sleep because of her. 
Opening the passenger door, he said,
“Get in.” 

She did.

After shutting her door, h
e walked around
the truck
and slid behind the wheel.  “
Dalton
, the last time I got arrested I was eighteen.  Disturbance of the peace, public intoxication and assault.  No one bailed my ass out of jail because all my buddies were broke, my girlfriend didn’t have any cash and my momma thought I deserved to be there.  I served my time and I’m a better man for it.  I should have let you serve yours.”

“Cade...”

“I’ve said my piece, Dalton.  Now it’s your turn.”

“I’m too tired to talk.”

“Yeah, well I’m tired too.  Why did you fly out of the house like that earlier?  And what in the hell were you thinking driving so fast on these roads?  You could have gotten yourself killed.” 
Like Karen.

She turned to look out the window
, answering with another yawn,
“I told you before.  I like to go fast.”

“I’m not buying it.  You were upset when you left, and you sure as hell don’t wear contacts.  So what’s up?”

She laid her head back against the seat with a tired sigh.  “I got some bad news from home.”

“Bad news?”
he
repeated as he pulled out onto the street.   “Wanna talk-”
h
is words trailed off as a
n unexpected
weight
settled onto
his shoulder.  Looking down, he found himself staring at the top
of
her head
. 

“Dalton?” 

No reply.

It appeared there
would be no answers for him that night
Cade thought with a sigh
.
  He
regretted having been so hard on her the
moment
Lacy
admitted to having received
bad news from home.  He knew all about
getting
bad news.