Imperfect Justice (6 page)

Misty Foster was a beautiful woman when she was animated like this. Her eyes sparkled and her cheeks were pink from excitement. It made him want to reach out and trace her smile with his finger, and then maybe run his fingers through that mass of long blonde hair.

Whoa. That train of thought needed to derail immediately. She was too young, and even if she was older she obviously thought he was slime. He needed to remember that to keep his mind moving in other more productive directions. Like Boyd Hicks and what the fuck Jared was going to do about him for starters.

“That sounds real nice. We’ll miss you around here though.”

Jared pulled into the driveway in front of Misty’s apartment just in time to hear her snort in derision.

“Miss me? Sheriff, Fielding is going to throw a party when I leave. No one,” she said icily, “is going to miss me. I’ve been
persona non grata
my entire life. Let’s face it, my mother and I offended the delicate sensibilities of the good citizens of this fine town.”

There was nothing but scorn in Misty’s tone and Jared didn’t blame her a bit. He’d grown up in this town and he knew the good…and the bad. How they’d treated the Fosters wasn’t a shining moment in Fielding history.

No wonder Misty couldn’t wait to leave.

Misty shouldn’t have said what she did but she hadn’t been able to help herself. People always acted like they didn’t notice how the town treated her but she knew the looks and whispers all too well. She couldn’t wait to put Fielding in the rearview mirror and be someplace where no one knew her history. It would be the fresh start she so badly needed.

Despite her protests Jared insisted on helping her with the grocery bags. The wind and snow had really picked up during the drive and she was glad to be in the warmth of her own home. Once he’d placed her sacks on the kitchen counter she was ready for him to leave. Anyone driving by could see his truck parked out front although they might think he was visiting a neighbor.

“Well, thank you. I appreciate the ride home and the helping hand with the bags.”

“It was the least I could do after you saved my life the other night.” Jared looked around the room appreciatively. “This is very nice. I like the colors. I never know how to decorate things so I stick to beige and blue.”

“Your home looks nice.” Misty pulled back one of the curtains and peeked out. “The weather is getting worse—you should probably get on the road.”

Jared’s smile widened. “I get the hint, Misty. Sort of a ‘here’s your hat and what’s your hurry’ kind of thing. Can I ask you a question before I leave? Was it just the other night when I kissed you that made you not like me or have you disliked me all along?”

She liked him too much, but how did she explain she couldn’t afford that luxury?

“I don’t dislike you,” she explained carefully. “It’s just not a good idea for anyone to know you’re here.”

“Why not?” He looked genuinely puzzled which only fueled her frustration. Was he being deliberately obtuse or had the cold damaged his brain cells?

“We both know why not.”

“Apparently we both don’t because I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about,” he retorted. “Will you let me in on the secret?”

“If the good people of Fielding find out that you spent even five minutes inside the home of the town whore’s daughter they’ll never let it go. You’ll hear about it until your dying day. I, on the other hand, will be in Seattle so really Jared, I’m thinking of you here.”

She’d shocked him. His eyebrows shot up in surprise but then a funny thing happened. He smiled.

“I don’t think this is very funny, Sheriff.”

“On the contrary, it is. Just so we’re clear here…I don’t give a shit what the people of Fielding think about me. I really have no idea what their opinion is and I don’t spend any time wondering about it. Now will you relax?”

Misty pressed her lips together, her face warm. “What about your family? What will your brothers and sister think? Or your father?”

His smile fell away and a grim expression took its place. “I can handle them. Honestly I think this is more about you than me. I think you don’t want me here.”

The set of his shoulders told her he was serious. And he had a point. This had a great deal to do with her insecurities about how she was perceived by the people of Fielding. Since she was soon leaving perhaps it was time to shake off their preconceived notions and simply live her life. After all, it was only polite to offer him a hot chocolate or something. It would give the old biddies at the hair salon something to talk about for months.

“Fine,” she said smartly. “You’re the one that’s going to have to deal with it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Would you like to sit down while I make us a hot chocolate?”

Jared smiled and spread his arms wide. “Misty, I’d love some.”

It was a dangerous thing to have a man this handsome up close and personal. But Rayne’s words echoed in her ears.

It was time to live life on her own terms. It was time to live. Period.

Chapter Five

“T
ake off your coat and throw it over the chair there.”

Jared shrugged out of his coat and gloves, shoving them into the pockets before draping the jacket over the kitchen chair. There was a chill in the air and she was fiddling with a space heater that was supposed to look like a fireplace.

The heat was welcome as he settled onto a comfortable chair, careful to navigate away from the daybed against the long wall. From the looks of things she slept there and it would give him way too many ideas that would not be welcomed.

“Marshmallows?” she asked, bustling around her tiny kitchen. The apartment was really one large room so she was never far away no matter where she was. It was quite a contrast to the rambling house he’d grown up in, but then they’d needed the space for four rambunctious kids.

“I’d love some, thank you. But you know you really don’t have to make me anything. I was just giving you a hard time a few minutes ago. I don’t want to upset you.”

Misty had floored him with her statement about the town gossiping, although she wasn’t far wrong. Fielding had some terrible gossips and Jared knew that they’d been pretty hard on Misty’s mother Annette. From what he’d heard – and it was gossip, after all – she’d loved to party. Men and booze had been her passions, which left her young daughter to pretty much fend for herself.

She barely looked old enough to take care of herself although she was probably somewhere in her early twenties. A tiny thing, barely reaching his shoulder, she had elfin features that were too cute to be called beautiful or gorgeous but pleasing enough that a man could look at her all day long and never get tired of it. Her long pale blonde hair was pulled back in an untidy braid and her eyes were so blue they were almost violet.

“I’m not upset. Not really. I was just thinking how Fielding must look like to you.”

“Probably better than it does to you. But people don’t still give you trouble, do they? I mean, we’re all grown up now.”

Misty poured the hot chocolate into two mugs and dropped a handful of marshmallows in each before handing him one. Settling herself on a large cushion on the floor near the heater, she wrapped her hands around the cup, her forehead furrowed in thought.

“You think only little kids can be mean? All through school from kindergarten to my senior year the other kids made fun of me. I had old clothes that were bought from thrift shops or given to us by the local church. I remember one girl pointing out that I was wearing one of her shirts that she’d thrown away. It was humiliating. No one wanted to be my friend. I didn’t have any friends, really. Even the other outcasts didn’t want to be tainted by me.”

Jared shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He hadn’t been in school with Misty but he’d done his share of acting like an ass when he was kid. He sure as hell wasn’t very proud of it and right now he was deeply ashamed.

“It didn’t get better when you got older?”

“You mean high school? I got asked out once. His name was John Reeves. Turns out he only took me on a date because he thought I would be
easy
like my mom. He said that to me before ripping my shirt. I had to kick him in the balls to get him off of me. I ended up walking home that night. So no, it didn’t get better as I got older. I couldn’t wait to leave for college. Since I didn’t have any friends I had a lot of time to study. Got a full-ride scholarship to art school in Denver. I wanted to stay there after graduation but then Mom got sick. Since I’ve been back I’ve made one friend. Rayne.”

He knew John Reeves and the grown man wasn’t any less a punk than the teenager had been. Jared made a mental note not to cut that guy any slack next time he got in a bar fight or did something else equally as dumb. In fact, he might just punch the guy on principle for being a total asshole. All those incidents in her past had to have inflicted wound after wound on someone as sweet as Misty. She needed someone to protect her from the world.

“If it’s any consolation John Reeves turned out to be a big loser.”

Misty sipped her hot chocolate and shrugged as if she didn’t care but he could tell she did. Very much.

“The whole town thinks I’m a loser. Or a tramp. I hear their whispers behind my back. They think I have boyfriends or someone out of town and that when I travel I’m shacked up in some cheap motel with one of them.”

Jared had heard the gossip but hadn’t paid it any mind. He was of the live and let live variety and had always been bothered about the double-standards in society. It didn’t make sense for only men to enjoy sex.

“Misty, you must have the self-control of Ghandi. Why haven’t you told those old biddies off?” Jared wondered. “Really let them have it.”

“I tried fighting back once when I was eight. Punched some kid in the stomach. Made him puke up his peanut butter sandwich. Nothing changed. His mother called me and Mom a few names next time we were in town. Mom said that I needed to turn the other cheek, that words couldn’t hurt me. Stuff like that didn’t bother her. She was all about living life to its fullest. At least that’s what she would say.”

Misty had a sad smile on her face as she remembered her mother. Anger at what she’d had to endure all these years balled in his gut making it hard to drink his cocoa. He would have punched all those other cheeks but then nothing like that would have happened to him. His father was a respected member of Fielding and so by extension were his sons.

Even the fuckups.

“Your mother sounds like a nice lady.”

Clearly he couldn’t trust anything he’d heard about her from the town gossips.

Misty straightened and took a long drink of her hot chocolate. “She was but she had flaws like everyone else. I know she loved me as much as she was capable of. Can we change the subject? I don’t like talking about myself this much. In fact, I have no idea why I told you what I did. I never tell anyone anything.”

Jared gave her a smile wanting to lighten the mood. “It’s my charm. People love to tell me all sorts of things.”

“That must come in handy being a cop,” she observed. “But I don’t think that’s the reason I told you that. I’ve only told Rayne.”

Misty wouldn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. She was a strong, stoic woman. He had deputies that could take some lessons from her.

“Maybe you just wanted to tell someone.”

She looked down into her cup for a long time and then finally looked up at him. “Maybe. Maybe I’m just looking back as I get ready to leave here.”

Jared looked around the apartment. It was clean and tidy but there wasn’t one moving box in sight.

“It doesn’t look like you’re moving.”

“It won’t take long to pack up my things. The furniture is staying here so it’s just my personal belongings. I don’t like having clutter around me so I’ll put off packing until the last minute.”

“I don’t like it either. I like things to be organized.”

“My friend Rayne complains that men are slobs.”

That hadn’t been an option in the Monroe household, although Jared had relaxed a little since his college roommate was happy to marinate in his own filth. Heaven help the woman he’d ended up with.