Page 20 of The Cowboy Comes Home

To Tucker’s satisfaction it was Nic who was blushing now. And he couldn’t help grinning at her as he got up and did as Jeremy had done. He waited while the boy gave the big golden dog a loving hug, then shepherded him out to the truck he’d been driving, with theThorpe’s Therapy Horseslogo on the door. It made him feel better about being here, if he could see to Jeremy sometimes, giving them more alone time.

“Tell me if I make a wrong turn,” he told Jeremy as they pulled out onto the road.

“’Kay.”

“That was embarrassing, getting lost in this little town.”

“But if you get lost here, people will help,” Jeremy said, shoving what looked like a tablet into his backpack. “Not like back there.”

Those last words weren’t quite disdainful, but probably as close as a seven-year-old could manage. Obviously, the boy didn’t miss the big city at all. And frankly, Tucker couldn’t blame him. Even he felt different here. Less tense. Almost relaxed, even.

That is, he felt that way until he made the turn—which he knew this time but let Jeremy direct him anyway—onto Hickory from the Spur and saw the marked police unit parked just down from the main entrance of the elementary school.

She’s here.

“They’re here!” Jeremy yelped excitedly.

The moment he pulled the SUV to a halt near the front of the school the boy was scrambling out of the car. As soon as he hit the sidewalk he headed that way at a run. Tucker found himself smiling as the back hatch of the unit began to rise; she’d obviously done it from inside. Then she opened the driver’s door, and he watched as one of those long legs slid out. She wore boots, he’d noticed that before, although they were lace-ups rather than cowboy boots. Although if he had to guess he’d say she probably had a pair or two of those stashed in the closet somewhere.

Jeremy was kneeling beside Lobo, petting him, by the time he got out and covered the ten or so yards between them. Jeremy was chattering to both dog and woman simultaneously. Tucker slowed down, for some reason wanting to hear the exchange.

“Good boy. Uncle T brought me again. I think ’cuz Dad and Nic were busy kissing again. Good dog. But they’re always kissing.”

“Are they?” Emily asked with an amused smile.

“All the time,” Jeremy said with a blithe wave of his hand.

“Do you mind?” she asked.

“Heck no. Dad’s happy now. An’ Nic kisses me, too, but not so sloppy.”

Tucker thought he heard the woman stifle a laugh. “If you’re happy, and they’re happy, then so am I.”

Jeremy got back up, looking up at the woman in uniform. Tucker wondered how such utilitarian garb still managed to look good on her. But then again, he couldn’t think of much that wouldn’t.

“You’re friends with Nic, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “We went to school together.” She nodded toward the building behind them. “This very school, for one.”

Tucker tried to picture her as a seven-year-old. He imagined a little blonde sprite in pigtails, an impish grin on her face. Before he let that image run away with him, he spoke for the first time. “Which you should be heading for right now, so you’re not late.”

“Oh, yeah. Later, Uncle T! Bye, Lobo and Officer Emily.” The boy headed for the main door at a run.

“He doesn’t seem to be worried about going in,” she said, sounding as if she were musing aloud.

“You took care of that.” Then, afraid he’d betrayed…something, he added, “You and Lobo here.”

She smiled at him, then looked down at the big dog. “He’s one you want on your side,” she agreed.

He could have just nodded, thanked her for being here again for Jeremy, and left. He could have, but he didn’t. Didn’t want to.

“Does it feel strange, to be here guarding the school you used to go to as a kid?”

She looked at him, as if considering what to say. He wondered if she always had to do that, think about her answers so much. He supposed so, at least when she was in uniform. Out of uniform—

He cut that thought off with the sharpest mental blade he had. Because the words “out of uniform” had him thinking things he had no business thinking.

“It feels good,” she finally said, not helping his effort. “I just do what Last Stand PD did when I was that kid here. Under the chief’s dad.”

---