Page 62 of The Cowboy Comes Home

“That black uniform must be hot.”Well it is, on her. Just not that kind of hot.

She was still smiling, so maybe it wasn’t quite as stupid as he’d feared. “The boss is thinking of switching us to white shirts for summer, at least.” Her mouth quirked even higher on one side. “Shorts are apparently out of the question.”

“Too bad,” he said, imagining those long legs of hers out to admire. He winced inwardly, wondering if she’d be offended, but now she was laughing.

“You say that now, but our jailer weighs almost as much as Jeremy’s Pie, and you don’t want to see that.”

He burst out laughing himself then, and relaxed. A little, anyway.

“Jeremy mention any more problems with other kids?” she asked after a minute or two.

“No. He says it’s going okay, except he wishes there wouldn’t be so much homework.”

“I seem to remember wishing that a time or two myself,” she said.

“I didn’t mind that much,” he said, looking over as the school’s front doors swung open and kids started to emerge. “Gave me an excuse to hide out in the library.”

He hadn’t really thought about what he was saying, but when the words were out he wished he hadn’t. The last thing he wanted to do was share more of his miserable past with her. She—and anybody in Last Stand who readThe Defenderalready knew more than he’d ever shared before, and he was trying not to regret pouring his guts out to Lily Highwater.

“I’m glad I didn’t need an excuse,” Emily said. “I was there half the time anyway. And not usually studying.”

She said it so casually, acknowledging but not dwelling on what he’d said, and he was grateful for that. “What were you reading?”

She was still scanning the exiting students, as he was, but answered cheerfully. “Anything not reality-based.The Neverending Story, the Narnia books, Percy Jackson, and I lived in the Harry Potter–verse for a long time.”

He shifted his gaze, staring at her now. “But now you’re in the most reality-based job in the world?”

“I always figured the stories set in those wild worlds made me want to help fix mine.”

For a moment all he could do was stare, the school forgotten for the moment. Then words broke from him, against his will. “My dad used to say if we weren’t willing to do our bit to fix the world, then we had no right to complain about it.”

She met his gaze then, and held it. “I think your dad and I would have agreed, then.”

“Uncle T! Officer Emily!”

They both spun around to see Jeremy coming toward them. But at a fast walk, not his usual run. Apparently it was too hot for that.

“Would you hold this for Dad?” he asked when he got there, holding out a rather damply crunched piece of paper.

“Whoa, buddy! Is that a perfect score I see on that math test?”

Jeremy grinned up at him. “Yeah. That’s why I want Dad to see it.”

“Good for you,” Emily said, sounding delighted.

“Here, let me take that backpack, too,” Tucker said, reaching out.

The boy shrugged it off eagerly. “Thanks. It’s hot.”

“I know, buddy,” Tucker said. “So I was thinking maybe we’d stop for an ice cream before we headed home.”

Jeremy perked up at that. “Yeah!”

“Nic said there’s a new place in town, so all we have to do is find it.”

“It’s just up Hickory a couple of blocks,” Emily said. “Behind the pie shop.”

“I knew you’d know,” Jeremy crowed.

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