Faith's Sheriff (Montgomery Family and Friends) (2 page)

Faith recognized the name.  Mason Blake, Abigail’s husband was the superintendent of the school system, which meant indirectly he was her boss.  And she owed the opportunity to move here to this woman’s husband.  She shook the hand Abigail offered.  “I’ve heard so much about you from Caroline, all of it good.”  She gave a nervous little smile.  “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you and the rest of your family.” 

“I’m Annabel Montgomery Chambers,” another of the blonds spoke up.  “My husband Jonathan and I live in town also.”  She pointed to a good-looking dark haired man who was standing beside an adorable little girl with blond ringlets around her face.  “That’s my husband Jonathan and our oldest child Charlotte.  There’s a good chance she’ll be in your class when school starts back in August.”

“It’s great to meet you too,” Faith replied.  “And I look forward to meeting Charlotte and all of the other students,” she confided with a wide smile.  “I’m excited about my new job and I can’t wait to get settled in the school.”

Annabel chuckled.  “She’s a cutie pie and a charmer too.   She’s got her dad’s personality that’s for sure.”  Annabel glanced across the room at her husband with eyes full of love.

Faith felt a little lurch in the region of her heart.  She had looked at Patrick like that once, before he’d destroyed everything good about their relationship. 

  “I don’t think you’ll have any problems settling in at the school,” Annabel told her.  “Everyone there is extremely friendly.”

Faith felt a huge weight being lifted off of her shoulders.  Everyone here was welcoming her with open arms.  She was sure she’d transition in no time at all.  She had a great job and several people she was looking forward to becoming friends with.  Her life was definitely going to be enriched by living here.  She could feel it all the way to her bones. 

“I’m Aubrey Montgomery Hampton,” the last blond in the group offered an introduction.  “I’m the only one that lives out of town.  My husband Matthew and I live in Savannah, but I visit here all the time.  It’s great to meet you.  Caroline’s really excited that you’ve moved here and her enthusiasm has rubbed off on us too!”

Faith shook hands for the third time.  “Thank you!  It’s so nice to finally meet all of you.  And I’m glad y’all were here for Caroline when I couldn’t be and I look forward to all of us being friends.”  Yes it was definitely great to be surrounded by friends once more Faith decided.  She hooked arms with Caroline.  “Let’s get the rest of the introductions out of the way.  Then the four of us can relax somewhere with a cool glass of white wine,” Faith suggested.

Caroline’s face broke into a huge smile and she smoothed a hand over her still flat belly.  “Well I was going to wait until later, but everyone’s here so I might as well share now.  No alcohol for me!  Kyle and I are expecting!”

Several squeals broke out and Faith and all three of the Montgomery sisters surrounded Caroline with one great big group hug.  Congratulations echoed all around the small group of women.  Faith was the first to break away from the group.  The husky clearing of a masculine throat brought her out of the celebratory haze caused by Caroline’s good news.  

The sound had been fairly close to her ear.  Close enough that it startled her into spinning around.  She found herself looking into a massive chest covered by tightly stretched woven material.  Her eyes slowly rose until they met the intense stare of the dark brown eyes looking back at her.  Those eyes were rich and deep in color and reminded her of the sinfully decadent dark chocolate she loved to indulge in on occasion.  Heat blossomed in her belly and her toes curled into the strappy white sandals she was wearing.  The moment was so intense she took an involuntary step back pushing into Caroline.

Cole was pleasantly surprised to learn that Caroline’s friend was just as gorgeous up close as she had been from across the room.  He broke the spell weaving itself around them and dragged his eyes away from hers.  He held out a hand in greeting, “Hello, I’m Cole Duncan, welcome to town.”

Faith held out a hand and felt her heart jump into her throat when his lean strong fingers closed around her much smaller and delicate hand.  “Umm hello,” she barely managed to get out past her suddenly constricted throat muscles.  “I’m Faith Riley.”  She wanted to say more, but she was having trouble forming words.  Her body was reacting to the close proximity of the sexy stranger and her mind was busy waging war with her traitorous body.  

The last thing she needed was to jump straight into the arms of another man she knew nothing about.  She chided herself for such wayward thoughts.  Surely she’d learned something from her past mistakes.  She had to look twice if not three times before leaping when it came to the opposite sex.  She tried to smile and act as if this man’s nearness wasn’t affecting her.  She didn’t want to give him any ideas.  Her traitorous body had enough of those on its own.

Cole was very perceptive.  It was one of the qualities that aided him in his job as sheriff.  It had also helped him in his military career as a sharpshooter.  The woman in front of him was flustered by his nearness and he liked the fact that he could affect her.  Right now though she looked like she wanted to bolt and he wanted to calm and soothe her.  “I’m friends with Caroline and Abigail,” he threw in for good measure just to remind her she was among friends. 

Faith took in a deep breath and tried to relax.  Obviously he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t a friend.  She offered him a shy smile.  “Actually your name sounds familiar.  I think Caroline must have mentioned you to me before.”  She crinkled her forehead trying to remember where she’d heard that name before.

Cole could tell she was trying to place him, so he decided to help her out.  “I’m the sheriff, and I helped save Caroline’s life the second year she was in town.”  He saw the dawning light in her eyes and knew she’d made the connection.  Good!  Having the reputation of a lifesaver never hurt a guy’s chances.

“Wow that was you!”  Without even thinking she flung her arms around his neck and gave him a hug.  “Thank you for saving Caroline.  I know it was your job, but thank you so much!”  She stepped away and ended the embrace almost as quickly as it had begun.  She’d always been impulsive.   That was one of the character traits that had allowed her to fall into Patrick’s clutches.  She vowed to be more careful.

Cole read her body language and could tell she was about one second away from fleeing and that was the last thing he wanted.  He wanted her to stay, so he tried to engage her in deeper conversation.  “There seemed to be a lot of excitement going on over here right before I arrived.”  He arched a dark brow, “anything I need to know about?”  He crossed his arms and gave her a look that smacked of confidence.  “As sheriff I like to stay on top of things.”

The other four women had ended the group hug and Caroline stepped forward.  She wrapped an arm around Faith and drew her closer in a protective gesture.  “Hey Cole, I see you finally met Faith.”  She narrowed her eyes and looked between her two friends.  It was as if she could pick up on the tension between them.  Finally she gave both Faith and Cole a slow smile.  “I hope you’ve been making her feel welcome,” she patted Cole’s shoulder in a sisterly manner.  “And make sure you treat her right,” that was a warning that Cole acknowledged with a slight nod of his head. 

“Now I’m not making an announcement to the room in general since this party is for Faith, but you’re already here and I owe you,” she gave him a big wink.  “You’re the first guy other than Kyle of course to know that we are expecting a baby!” 

Faith watched while Cole offered his congratulations.  He didn’t seem upset by the news and Faith found herself a little excited by the fact that the sexy sheriff no longer seemed to be carrying a torch for Caroline.  She listened to them talk for a couple of minutes before Cole offered a polite nod in way of farewell and disappeared from the party.  Faith silently searched for his large frame throughout the room for the rest of the party, but failed to spot him.  Oh well it was a small town and she’d probably be running into him soon enough she decided.

******

Faith slowly looked around the table at all the smiling men and women.  This was her third dinner party in as many weeks.  People had definitely gone out of their way to include her in social events and make her feel at home.  This party was being hosted by Mason and Abigail Blake.  Faith’s gaze finally landed on the empty chair in front of her.  Its occupant had yet to arrive even though the guests had already been seated and were halfway through the first course. 

She didn’t need to ask who that chair was waiting to seat.  It seemed that she and Cole Duncan were the only two single people inside this particular social circle.  They were both third wheels so to speak and as a result they were constantly paired together at these dinners.  They were polite to each other and Faith was finally starting to warm to Cole’s mild flirtations.  After all what woman wouldn’t be tempted by smoldering eyes that reminded her of chocolate.

Faith frowned when a sudden unpleasant thought occurred to her.  Cole was usually on time.  She crinkled her brows.  She hoped nothing bad had happened to delay him.  She knew that being sheriff could be dangerous even in a sleepy community like the one they lived in.

Faith heard the front door open and close.  She held her breath and slowly released it when Cole walked into the room apparently unharmed. 

Cole stopped at the head of the table to shake hands with Mason Blake.  He nodded to everyone around the table.  “Sorry I’m late folks.  There was a car accident involving three cars on the outskirts of town, so my on duty deputies were busy.  Then I got a domestic dispute call on the other side of the county.”  He flashed his devastating grin to everyone seated at the table then his eyes rested on Faith.  “I couldn’t leave such a beautiful woman waiting, so I hurried here as fast as I could.”  He winked at Faith.  “I promise I didn’t speed to get here, though I really wanted to.”

Faith could feel the heat rising to her cheeks.  That man was incorrigible.  “Well thank goodness for that.  It wouldn’t look too good if our esteemed sheriff got a speeding ticket now would it?”

Cole arched a dark brown brow.  This was the first time since they’d met five weeks ago that Faith had bothered to flirt back.  He liked this feisty side of her.  He liked it a lot.  He sat down in the chair across from Faith and gifted her with his sexiest lopsided grin. 

Faith felt her heart flutter in her chest.  Why did that man have to be so darn sexy?  She tore her gaze away from him and fixed it firmly on the salad in front of her.  Oh boy she was going to have another long night of trying to resist the temptations of one sexy devil.

TWO

Three weeks later

Faith had been looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend all week.  She’d settled into the town and school nicely, but keeping up with the energy level of first graders was exhausting!  Thank goodness she hadn’t been invited to one of the frequently occurring dinner parties this weekend.  Even though it was a Friday night all Faith wanted to do was sit on her couch with her feet up, sipping a nice cool glass of sweet wine.  The Montgomery sisters had introduced her to the fruity sweetness of Muscadine wine. She was now savoring a glass while she relaxed from a hectic and emotionally exhausting week at work.           

A timid knock on the front door of the house she was renting startled her.  It was well after nine and she wasn’t expecting any visitors.  Faith didn’t think any of her friends would show up this late at night, at least not without calling first. 

An image of Cole Duncan popped into her head.  He lived in the neighborhood.  Maybe he’d seen her light on and stopped by to keep her company.  Just the thought sent a tingle down her spine.  She’d been trying to keep her distance from the sexy sheriff, but that was difficult when they shared so many friends and lived so near each other.  They’d sat across from each other at four dinner parties in the two months she’d been in town.

She glanced down at the worn but comfortable pair of cotton shorts and cutoff t-shirt she was wearing.  It wasn’t really fit attire for greeting guests, but then again she hadn’t been expecting anyone, so…  She put down her wine glass and walked to the front door.  If it was Cole she didn’t know what she’d do.  She was wary of men at this point thanks to her ex-husband Patrick, but Cole sure was tempting.  She looked out of the decorative glass panel in the middle of the door, but didn’t see anyone.  The knock sounded again.  She looked down way down and found one of her students standing by the front door.  Jasmine was wearing her pajamas.  That sent alarm bells to clanging inside Faith’s head. 

Faith flung open the door concern dripping from every pore.  “Jasmine, what on earth are you doing here so late at night?”  Faith remembered just in time that the little girl and her family lived two houses down.  Still why was the little girl out so late at night and by herself too?  The alarm bells jangled louder in Faith’s head.

The shy student nervously wrung her hands together and fidgeted from foot to foot.  “Sorry Ms. Riley, but I didn’t know what else to do.  I woke up from a nightmare and couldn’t find my daddy anywhere.”  Her little voice trembled and big fat tears dripped down her chin.  She stepped closer to Faith and wrapped her skinny arms around Faith’s waist.

Faith gave the young girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder.  “What about your mom?”  As far as Faith knew Jasmine’s parents were still married.  She’d seen both parents at the house several times.

“My mom is staying with my aunt.  She just had a baby and my uncle couldn’t be here to help.”  She frowned.  “He’s in the National Guard and had to leave the country.”

“Are you sure your dad wasn’t home?”  Faith didn’t like the sound of this.  Who would leave a little girl home alone this late at night?  Her purse was where she’d left it on the table in the foyer.  She grabbed her keys and then took the little girl’s hand.  “Maybe your dad was outside for some reason and he didn’t hear you when you were looking for him.  Let’s go back over there and see if we can find him okay.”