The Best Bride (3 page)

He'd spent enough time with kids her age to recognize the quiver in her voice. Tears would come next and after that, he would feel like a heel and— He stood up and jammed his hands in his pockets.

“You think I should take her home with me?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“It would be best for her. Elizabeth isn't going to need a sick kid on her hands, just as she's getting out of the hospital herself.” Rebecca rose and walked around the desk. She wore a floral print jumper over a white T-shirt. With her long curly hair and conservative style of dressing, she looked like a Sunday school teacher. Travis suspected
it was a facade and that deep inside, she had the wild streak of the best kind of a sinner.

When she'd moved to Glenwood six months ago to take over as director of the county facility, he'd asked her out. His big seduction scene had ended up failing badly. They were, he'd realized within the first ten minutes, destined to be good friends. Rebecca had promised to leave his reputation as a heartbreaker intact and not tell the world his kisses had left her cold. Travis stared at her big brown eyes and sighed. He felt mild affection for Rebecca and nothing else. He must be getting old and slowing down.

“You're the only friend Mandy has,” Rebecca said. “If I could take her home with me, I would. But my staff is exhausted, and I'm staying here tonight. Anyway, you have Louise.”

He thought of his housekeeper. Today was her day off but he knew if he called she would come over to help and show off her latest craft project. At least she wasn't knitting anymore. He already had two drawers filled with ugly, ill-fitting sweaters and socks she'd made for him.

“I suppose that might work. But I don't know anything about children,” Travis muttered, trying to ignore Mandy tugging on him again.

“Your nephews stay with you.”

“Travis,” Mandy said.

“That's different.”

“How?” Rebecca asked.

“Travis?”

“They're family. And boys.” He looked down. Those blue eyes were killing him. “What?”

“I want to stay with you.”

“You're the only person she knows in town. Come on, be a hero. It's what you're best at.”

He glared at Rebecca. “Thanks.”

Undaunted, she smiled. “Let me get you some supplies.” She disappeared down the hall.

“Why me?” he asked no one in particular.

“Travis? Are you mad at me?”

“Mandy, no.” He swept Mandy up in his arms and gave her a hug. She wrapped her spindly legs around his waist. “I'm not mad. We'll have fun. I'll read you a story tonight, okay?”

She nodded. “And Mr. Bear,” she said, holding out the tattered animal.

“And Mr. Bear.”

Rebecca returned with a small cloth bag. “I've packed a nightgown, some underwear and a shorts set for tomorrow.” She handed Travis the bag, then smiled at Mandy. “Do you want a pink toothbrush or a purple one?” She had both in her hand.

The little girl stared for a second, then pointed shyly. “Pink.”

“You got it.” Rebecca dropped that one in the bag and walked over to the door. “I'll be here, so call me if there's any trouble. It's only one night.”

“Like you care,” he grumbled.

“Stop it. You'll have a great time. Think of it as father training. For when you have your own kids.”

“Not my style. Haynes men don't make good parents.” It was a familiar argument between the two of them. The problem was Rebecca hadn't figured out he wasn't kidding. She shook her head. “Let me know what happens. And tell Elizabeth not to worry about coming into work until she's completely healed. I won't be giving her job to anyone else.”

“Yeah, I will.” He shifted Mandy so that she was supported by one arm, then handed her the bag and dug in his pocket for his keys. “Say goodbye, Mandy.”

“By.” Now that she was getting her way, she smiled broadly. “Can we have the siren on?” she asked as they stepped out of the building and walked toward the sheriff's car in the parking lot.

“No.”

She pouted and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Don't give me that look,” he said. “I can't use the siren when it's not an emergency.”

She thought for a minute. “I gotta go.”

His heart sank. “Now?”

She nodded. “It's a 'mergency.”

* * *

Elizabeth raised the hospital bed and stared out the window. From where she was lying, she could see the corner of the small parking lot and a plot of grass with a Chinese maple in the center. It was early Saturday morning and she'd seen only a handful of cars enter the hospital grounds.

Everything was going to be fine. She'd recited the phrase over and over, hoping by saying it enough she would start to believe it was true. But panic threatened, just below the surface of her carefully constructed facade.

She was scared. There was no getting around the lump in her throat and the cold hard knot in her stomach, just next to the tender incision the doctors had made yesterday. She wasn't frightened for herself. The surgery had gone well, and she was healing nicely, according to the doctor who had visited early that morning. She had medical insurance, so the unexpected stay in the hospital wasn't going to deplete her savings.

The lump in her throat got bigger and her eyes burned from unshed tears. She blinked them away and prayed that her daughter hadn't been too scared last night, alone in a strange place. Had they let her sleep with her bear? Had she had any bad dreams? There were, on average, twenty
children at the county facility. Had Mandy gotten lost among all the other kids? Who would have been there to hold her if she cried?

Logically, Elizabeth knew she hadn't had another choice as far as her daughter was concerned. Having her spend the night in the county home had made sense. She would be fed and warm and have a bed to sleep in. But knowing her only child had been put there, like a stray puppy rounded up by the pound, made her feel like the worst kind of parent. Mothers were supposed to do better for their children. Of course, mothers were also supposed to know what they were doing when they picked out fathers—and look at how that had turned out.

She reached over to the black phone on the small metal nightstand and dialed the number she'd gotten from directory assistance. For the second time in fifteen minutes, she heard a busy signal. From what she remembered from her tour during her interview a month ago, the county facility only had one line. She hung up the receiver. She would keep trying until she got through. She wanted to check on Mandy and reassure her daughter that everything was going to be fine—even though she didn't know how.

Elizabeth forced herself to hold on to her control. She couldn't afford to give into the fear. Not now. If she started questioning herself, she might never stop. Six months ago her world had come crashing in on her. She'd managed to collect the pieces and assemble them into a life, but the structure was fragile, and this emergency was enough to send the whole thing crumbling again. The logistics of her condition whirled around in her head. How was she going to take care of Mandy when she was supposed to stay off her feet for a week and not drive for three weeks? What about feeding her, and registering her for school, buying her new shoes, and a hundred other things she'd planned
to do over the long holiday weekend? What about taking her out to watch the ducks and playing tag and—

The sound of footsteps in the hallway caught her attention. She glanced over at her partially closed door and watched as it was pushed open. Sheriff Travis Haynes entered the room and smiled at her. She stared at him, surprise and a tiny spurt of pleasure temporarily hiding her worries. He'd told her he would come by today and visit, but she hadn't expected him to. He'd done too much already. Still, except for Rebecca and Mandy, he was the only other person she knew in Glenwood, and she couldn't help being pleased to see him.

Gratitude, she told herself firmly, trying to find the reason for the sudden surge of good spirits. Gratitude and nothing else.

“Hi,” she said, managing a shaky smile. She pulled the sheet up to her shoulders and self-consciously touched the straggly ends of her hair. They hadn't let her have a shower yet, and she felt grungy. She'd planned to insist on getting cleaned up later that morning. She hadn't expected visitors so early.

“Hi, yourself.” Travis crossed the room in three long strides and pulled a plastic chair close to the bed. “May I?”

“Please.”

His khaki, short-sleeved uniform looked freshly pressed. A badge and a name tag had been pinned above the left breast pocket. He stood about six feet tall, with dark curly hair and a trimmed mustache that outlined his upper lip. He was the kind of man who, as her aunt Amanda used to say, made a woman get a crick in her neck just watching him stroll by.

As he settled himself in the chair, he tossed his beige
Stetson across the bed. It sailed through the air and landed dead center on the table in front of the window.

“Neat trick,” she said, trying to ignore the way his brown eyes twinkled when he looked at her. “You have to practice much?”

“Every day. I sit in my office, tossing my hat across the room. It impresses the ladies.” He had a smooth, low voice, like liquid chocolate.

“Really?”

“Aren't you impressed, darlin'?”

Some, but she wasn't about to admit it. Once she'd let a man charm her and impress her and seduce her. Never again, she reminded herself. She'd learned a hard lesson from Sam Proctor. “I didn't expect you to visit,” she said. “I'm sure you have other things you should be doing.”

“You're the most important item on my agenda,” he said, leaning back in the chair and resting one ankle on the opposite knee. The movement emphasized the muscles in his thighs.

She looked away. “Oh?”

“How are you feeling?”

“A little sore, but better than I was. The doctor says I'm healing nicely.” She shifted in the hospital bed. “They gave me something to make me sleep, and that helped. I never got to thank you yesterday.”

“Just doing my job.”

She waved at the IV still attached to her hand. “They said that if I'd waited another couple of hours, the appendix might have burst. If I'd gone to the walk-in medical clinic like I'd planned, I might have gotten to the hospital too late.”

“So it all worked out. You'll be released tomorrow.”

“That's what they told me.” She glanced at him sitting in the white plastic chair. He looked tanned and handsome
and disgustingly healthy, while her insides felt as if a herd of buffalo had trampled through them.

“Where are you going to go when they release you?” he asked.

“Back to the motel.” It wasn't a great solution, but it was the best one she'd been able to think of. Where else
could
she go?

“And then?”

“And then I'll get better and go to work. That is, if I still have a job. I need to call Rebecca and tell her what happened.” She forced herself to meet his gaze, and prayed her expression looked as calm and confident as she'd made herself sound. She didn't want to foist her troubles on anyone, especially not this handsome stranger. One rescue per weekend was quite enough.

He folded his arms over his chest. His shirt stretched tightly across his broad shoulders. He had a solid look about him. He was the kind of man who could physically work for hours without tiring. He looked dependable. She shook her head. Looks could be deceiving.

Then he smiled. She told herself not to notice, that he was obviously an accomplished ladies' man, but that didn't stop her rather battered insides from responding favorably to the flash of white teeth.

“I have good news, bad news and good news,” he said. “Which do you want first?”

She panicked. “Is Mandy—”

He cut her off. “She's fine. That's the first good news. The bad news is there's an outbreak of chicken pox at the children's home. I didn't know if Mandy'd had chicken pox, so I couldn't leave her there last night. Rebecca figured the last thing you'd need in your condition is a sick kid.”

Elizabeth frowned. “If she's not at the home, where is she?”

“Downstairs, watching a clown make balloon animals.” He shrugged. “They were having a party and she wanted to see what was going on. I thought you and I should talk first anyway.”

“So where did Mandy spend the night?”

“With me. I called my housekeeper, and she took care of the basics of bathing and dressing. But I fed her breakfast.” He looked sheepish and proud all at once.

“You?” Why on earth would he volunteer to take home her daughter? “Chicken pox? I can't believe this is all happening. Mandy hasn't had them yet. Thank God she wasn't exposed to them. I don't know what to say except thank you.” She had a sudden thought. “I hope it wasn't too inconvenient for your wife.”

“I'm not married.”

She told herself she wasn't pleased by that fact. It was just a piece of information. It didn't
mean
anything. The last thing she needed in her life was a man. “I don't know how to repay you for all you've done.”

“I'm responsible for the welfare of the people of this town,” he said, and grinned again. “You
are
our newest citizen.”

“You're very kind.” She relaxed. Mandy was safe. Nothing else mattered.

The slow, sexy grin faded. “You're going to need help when they release you. Tell me who to call, Elizabeth.”

She turned her head and stared out the window. “There's no one to call. I told you, my parents are on a cruise in the Orient. They're probably halfway between Australia and Hong Kong right now.”

She didn't bother mentioning that she deliberately hadn't paid attention to her parents' travel plans. She didn't even
know the name of the ship or the cruise line. In the past six months, she'd cut herself off from her family. She couldn't bear to tell them the ugly, disgusting truth about her life. She couldn't bear to see the shock and the shame in their eyes and to relive it all over again. She just wanted to forget everything. And she'd been on her way to doing just that. If only she hadn't had to have surgery.