Sawyer Read online

  “She wants me to pick up Derrick.”

  Sawyer lowered himself to the desk behind him, watching his cousin intently. “I’m confused. I thought Derrick wasn’t your son?”

  “According to her, he’s not.”

  “But?”

  “She’s gettin’ a divorce,” Jared said matter-of-factly.

  “What the fuck? She just married that asshole,” Sawyer retorted. “And I thought he was Derrick’s father?”

  “So did I,” Jared said, his voice cold. “Apparently, she’d lied to him, too. When the guy left her, he insisted on a paternity test.”

  “Holy fuck.”

  “My sentiments exactly. Turns out, Sable doesn’t know who the father is.”

  “Are you shittin’ me?”

  “Nope. And she’s gettin’ hitched again. This new guy doesn’t want kids.”

  “So, what? She just called you up and asked you to take him off her hands because she doesn’t want him anymore?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Man, no offense, but this chick’s a fucking basket case.” Sawyer had heard all sorts of crazy shit in his life, but seriously, this had to take the cake.

  “I told her I’d come get him but only if she allowed me to adopt him. She has to relinquish all her parental rights.”

  “She agree?”

  “So fast it was kinda scary,” Jared admitted, glancing down at his desk and the picture of Derrick that still sat there. Sawyer looked at the picture of the brown-eyed little boy with the happy grin. This last year had been hell on Jared, Sawyer knew. And even though the situation was fucked up, he had to believe that Derrick would certainly be better off with Jared. After all, he’d been the kid’s father for the first eighteen months of his life and Jared had actually gone back to visit several times through the year, despite Sable’s repeated attempts to refuse him.

  “So, you’re goin’ to El Paso?” Sawyer prompted.

  “My flight leaves this evening.”

  “And you need me because?”

  “Can you keep an eye on things around here while I’m gone? I should be back by Wednesday, at the latest. But we won’t meet with the lawyer until late Monday afternoon.”

  “Yeah, sure. What about Jaxson? Do you think he can give me a hand?”

  “He’s actually on vacation next week. A huntin’ trip. That’s why I called you. Last resort and all. Although I’m sure Braydon will help out if you ask.”

  Sawyer considered that. He would have to juggle a few things at the resort, but he actually looked forward to hanging out at the shop for a few days. As much as he enjoyed the resort and all the crazy nonsense that went along with it, he really did miss the old job.

  Between that and Kennedy, he’d have his hands full for a few days.

  Not necessarily a bad thing.

  “THERE YOU GO, Peanut,” Kennedy said, handing the small, slightly overweight dachshund back to her owner. “Good as new. She did well, no issues. We just pulled the one tooth, but the others look great.”

  Mrs. Starrett looked at her beloved Peanut with such love in her eyes, Kennedy had to smile.

  “She’ll be out of it for a little while and we’ve got some pain meds and antibiotics for you at the front. Give me a call if you have any questions.”

  “Thanks, Doc,” Mrs. Starrett said, still looking lovingly at the little brown dog who’d just undergone having her teeth cleaned. It hadn’t been nearly as bad as Kennedy had anticipated, considering Peanut was nine years old, but her beloved owner had been beside herself when she’d dropped her off that morning.

  Kennedy walked Mrs. Starrett to the front desk and handed Olivia the dog’s chart, patting Peanut on the head one last time. “I’m gonna try to sneak a cup of coffee in the back before my next appointment,” Kennedy told Olivia before turning to go to the small kitchen. Just as she was about to step down the hall, hoping for a minute to herself, she heard the bells above the front door chime.

  Turning back because Olivia was busy, Kennedy stopped short when she saw the tall, handsome cowboy standing in the doorway, Buster in his arms.

  “What are you doing here?” Kennedy asked, trying to hide the smile that wanted to form on her lips. She did not need to encourage this man by making him think she was happy to see him.

  She was happy to see him, but he damn sure didn’t need to know that.

  Sawyer held up a brown paper bag but he didn’t bother to tell her what was in it. The rumble in her tummy signaled her immediate understanding of the offering.

  Kennedy nodded toward the back, watching as Sawyer lowered Buster to the floor before making his way toward her. Olivia’s eyes trailed him as he passed, her head popping out from behind the counter as she gave his ass a good once-over, and Kennedy tried not to roll her eyes. Sawyer was one of those guys who just demanded attention. Even if he didn’t say a word, his presence was still felt by everyone in the room.

  “I figured you might be hungry. Consider it an early dinner. It was Buster’s idea, actually.”

  “Buster’s idea, huh?” Kennedy asked as they walked side by side to the small kitchen area that she and her staff used for a break room.

  “Yep. All his idea. I suggested we go somewhere, and this was where he wanted to go.”

  “Thanks for thinkin’ of me, Buster,” Kennedy said, leaning down and scratching Buster’s baby-soft hair.

  Sawyer pulled two foam containers out of the bag, along with two foam cups and plastic eating utensils. The guy had thought of everything.

  “How’s Kylie? And Kate?” Kennedy asked as she lowered herself into the chair that Sawyer pulled out for her.

  “Good. I talked to Travis on the way over here. Mom and baby are doing well. They’re gonna go home tomorrow.”

  “How’s Travis and Gage?”

  “Better than I thought they’d be. So far, Travis hasn’t freaked out like we all expected. And he’s stopped hovering, which we all know is a good thing.”

  “Will that change when they get home?” Kennedy asked, removing the plastic wrapper from the fork and knife that Sawyer passed her way.

  “Probably. If he’s anything like Kaleb, he’s gonna get a stern talkin’ to. We tend to be a very protective lot.”

  “I’ve heard that about y’all,” Kennedy told him, smiling. “What about your mom?”

  “Oh, she’s already goin’ on and on about the baby girl stuff. It wasn’t enough that she’s been collectin’ daughters-in-law for the last year, but now she’s above the moon that there’s a little more estrogen in the family tree.”

  “Can’t blame her there.”

  The two of them ate in silence for a little while, with Buster sniffing around the small kitchen, glancing back to make sure someone was watching him. Kennedy found it amusing that Sawyer had taken to Buster, the sweet little cocker spaniel with the biggest brown eyes. She’d actually been at the shelter when Sawyer took Buster home. It was one of the rare times she saw something other than his wicked sense of humor, although he’d still managed to make Adrianne laugh as he jotted his name in all the appropriate places.

  Then again, Adrianne had been in on Kennedy’s plan to put Sawyer to work last year and they’d both enjoyed watching him do it. Granted, Kennedy hadn’t bothered to tell Adrianne, who happened to be a good friend, just how much she’d enjoyed it. That wouldn’t have been good for anyone involved.

  Kennedy heard the bell over the front door chime, and she hoped that was Mrs. Starrett leaving, but she knew that her last appointment of the day would be coming in soon, which meant her little dinner date with Sawyer was going to come to an abrupt end here soon.

  Not a date, she reminded herself.

  Definitely not a date.

  “So, what’re you doin’ tonight?” Sawyer asked as he closed the lid on his container, finishing his food faster than she’d thought possible.

  “I’ve got plans,” she told him. It wasn’t a lie. She was having a real dinner with her father tonight. Her fath
er and Mack, to be exact.

  “Really?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and studying her.

  “Actually, yes,” she said with a chuckle. “Believe it or not, I don’t sit at home every night alone.”

  “I didn’t figure you did,” he said quickly. “So when are you free?”

  Kennedy studied him for a moment, putting her fork down and closing the lid on her partially eaten food. She’d learned to eat small meals throughout the day—most of the time it was the only way she could eat at all—so it wasn’t that she was trying to put an end to their meal, but she really did have to get back to work. And she also had to leave room for dinner in just a couple of hours.

  “I don’t know,” she told him honestly.

  “Well, I guess Buster and I will see you tomorrow, then.”

  “Sawyer . . .”

  “Nope. I told you how it’s gonna work. Either you agree to a date, or we’ll come visit you every day until you give in.”

  “I’m not gonna give in,” she told him, knowing that she was lying through her teeth. As much as she wanted to keep her distance from this man, she knew if he tried hard enough, there was no way she’d be able to resist his charm.

  “You will,” he assured her before getting to his feet and taking her container, along with his, to the trash.

  Fully expecting Sawyer to say something else, Kennedy was flabbergasted when he cast her a sexy smile over his shoulder as he and Buster made their way back to the front. And she could do nothing but stare after him.

  Yeah, it was safe to say, she was not immune to Sawyer’s charm.

  No matter how much she wished it so.

  WHEN SEVEN O’CLOCK rolled around, Kennedy was famished. She closed up her office after Olivia left for the evening, got in her car, and headed right to her father’s. He’d already called her once to see what time she would be there so he could have dinner ready. She noted that he had sounded a little excited, which was saying a lot for a man like her father.

  Jeff Endsley, as far as Kennedy was concerned, would’ve received the father of the year award every single year of her childhood. It had always been just the two of them and Kennedy couldn’t imagine life could’ve possibly been any better than it was.

  Unlike some kids with single dads, she had never wondered what it would be like to have a mother. Why that was, she didn’t really know, but she had to believe it had something to do with the fact that her father had made sure she had all the love a little girl needed. He attended every recital, every school play, every school party . . . he made sure he was there when she needed him. Which was why she could overlook the lack of emotion reflected on his face. It was there, she knew it was, even if he didn’t show it.

  He had one expression: stern. And she loved him for it.

  It took her ten minutes to get to her father’s house. She parked in the driveway behind her father’s patrol car and a familiar truck that she was used to seeing only in the parking lot of Moonshiners.

  Mack.

  She smiled. The idea of her father dating someone left her feeling giddy. Almost as though she were the one on the date, although that hadn’t happened in months. Not for lack of trying on her part. Well, that was only partially true. Up until six months ago, Kennedy had willingly gone out on dates with men who would ask her out. Some of them were residents of Coyote Ridge, one of them even a deputy, Tim Colson, who worked for her father. Unfortunately, except for Tim, who she’d dated for a lengthy period of time, her first dates rarely ended up leading to a second date, which was why she’d opted to devote all of her time to work recently.

  Truthfully, she hated dating. The getting ready, making sure she was wearing the appropriate outfit, having to ensure she said the right thing, did the right thing, smiled when it was appropriate. And then, by the end of the night she had to worry about the possibility of a good-night kiss.

  Yeah, it was more trouble than it was worth as far as she was concerned.

  Which was why she found herself single since she had broken up with Tim, the man she’d dated for nearly five years. They’d been broken up for almost two years and though things had ended relatively amicably, Kennedy just hadn’t had much interested in going through it all again.

  “Hey, kiddo.” The sound of her father’s voice when she stepped through the front door pulled Kennedy from her errant thoughts.

  “Hey, Dad,” she greeted him in turn, giving him a hug as soon as she was inside, the door closed behind her. “How was your day?”

  “Boring,” he replied with the same answer he usually gave, turning her toward the dining room.

  “I guess that’s a good thing, considering you’re a cop.”

  “True.”

  When they stepped into the dining room—a room that she wasn’t sure her father had ever used since the day he moved in—Kennedy came to a stop, looking at the man whose face she was so used to seeing only behind a bar, slinging beers and pouring shots. “Mack.”

  “Hey,” Mack said shyly.

  Kennedy glanced over at her father.

  She noticed one thing right away.

  Mack did not look like this was the first time he’d been to her father’s house. He actually looked rather comfortable moving around, bringing the food from the kitchen and setting it on the table. There were three place settings, along with three beers.

  “Have a seat, kiddo,” her father directed, his hand still on her back as he urged her toward one of the chairs.

  Kennedy took her seat, continuing to watch the two men as they moved around, getting everything situated before they finally joined her at the table.

  Reaching for her beer, Kennedy took a drink, her eyes sliding back and forth between her father and Mack. They were both nervous, she could tell. Really nervous, if their shifty eyes were anything to go by. They would look at one another then over to her, neither of them saying anything.

  Kennedy figured now was as good a time as any to break the ice.

  Leaning forward, she reached for the fork that was resting on the plate with some of the juiciest steaks she’d probably ever seen. As she stabbed one, she looked up at Mack. “I’ve got a question for you,” she said as seriously as she could manage.

  Mack’s dark brown eyebrows shot upward, but he didn’t say anything. Unlike her father, there wasn’t a single strand of gray in Mack’s dark hair, although she figured them to be fairly close to the same age. Jeff had turned fifty-three on his last birthday in September.

  “What are your intentions with my father?”

  Her father choked on his beer while Mack’s ocean-blue eyes widened bigger than she’d ever seen them. Finally, after placing the steak on her plate, Kennedy smiled—just a little—as her eyes met Mack’s.

  When she didn’t say anything else, he must’ve realized she was joking because a grin formed on his mouth. It was then that Kennedy realized just how handsome Mack really was. She was used to seeing him in T-shirts, sometimes with a hat on, but most of the time without. Tonight he was wearing a navy-blue button-down that brought out the deep blue of his eyes, and his dark hair was cut short, thinning at the front.

  “Kidding,” she finally said, placing the fork back on the plate and retrieving a baked potato.

  “That wasn’t funny,” Jeff said, chuckling.

  Huh. So he did have more than just one expression. Obviously it just took the right guy to bring it out.

  chapter SEVEN

  “What’s up, man?” Sawyer asked Brendon when he stepped into his parents’ house, finding his brother sitting at the kitchen table, a bottle of water perched in front of him.

  When Buster darted in through the door behind Sawyer, the little dog made a beeline for Scrap, Brendon’s wire-haired terrier mutt that he’d adopted from the animal shelter a couple of months back. The two dogs had hit it off from the beginning, and were proving just how much they missed one another as they ran circles around the kitchen table.

  “Not much,” Brendon offered, his e
yes glued to the dogs.

  “You have dinner?”

  “Not yet. Dad ran out to pick up food. Mom’s a little under the weather.”

  “She all right?” Sawyer asked, suddenly worried. It wasn’t often that their mother got sick, but when she did, she was usually down and out for a few days.

  “Yeah. She insists she’s just tired from bein’ up all night and her allergies are botherin’ her. Not the flu, which was what Dad’s been freakin’ out about.”

  Buster and Scrap started yapping and Brendon shushed them firmly, both dogs perking up as they looked up at Brendon.

  “Have you checked on her?” Sawyer asked as he stopped at the table, glancing into the living room.

  “No. Dad just called and asked me to come over. Told me he’d feed me if I stayed here. Said she was sleepin’,” Brendon replied, looking up at Sawyer for the first time.

  “I was sleepin’,” Lorrie’s soft voice came from the living room.

  Sawyer looked up to see his mother coming toward them, wrapped in her favorite pink terry-cloth bathrobe and sporting matching slippers on her feet.

  “Sorry. Did we wake you?” Sawyer glanced down at Buster and then back up to his mother.

  Lorrie merely smiled.

  “You all right?” Sawyer asked, meeting her halfway, hugging her, and planting a kiss on her cheek.

  “I’m great. It’s your father who’s so panicky,” Lorrie said with a smile. Her voice sounded rough, like she’d had a coughing spell or two.

  “That’s Dad for ya,” Sawyer said. “Want me to make you some tea?”

  “No, honey,” Lorrie said as though the notion was preposterous. “I can make my own tea.”

  “Sit,” Sawyer ordered, pulling out a chair at the table. “I’ll make your tea.”

  Lorrie lowered herself into her seat, glaring up at Sawyer as she did, but he noticed she didn’t make too much of a fuss. She wasn’t feeling well, that much he was sure of. That didn’t stop her from leaning over and giving her grandpuppies—as she referred to the dogs—some love.

  “Where’s your father?” Lorrie asked Brendon.