Page 30 of Call it Reckless

Her face turned nearly murderous. “Oh, just wait until I get my hands on Earl.”

“We’ll be going now. I’m sure animal control will have some advice for you.”

“Thank you, Deputies.”

We nodded and walked back to our cars. I made it all the way before I burst into laughter. Life was never dull around here.

CHAPTERTEN

Bristol

Ordinarily, grocery shopping wasn’t much of a challenge since I wasn’t a creative cook. Back in North Carolina, Dad and I were on the road a lot with only a small galley for a kitchen inside our trailer. More often than not, we ate out.

Now, there was no excuse not to cook other things, especially after I found a box of index cards with all my grandmother’s recipes. Browsing through them, I remembered all the homemade meals my grandmother prepared. We often grumbled about having to be home by a certain time for a sit-down dinner and complained when it was our turn to set the table or wash dishes, but she never relented.

I would never come anywhere close to having her or Emalee’s talent in the kitchen, but tonight, I hoped I could recreate Gram’s savory pot roast with mashed potatoes and green beans. My mouth watered just thinking about it, but first, I had to make it through the shopping list.

Who knew there were so many kinds of potatoes?Red, yellow, Idaho, Yukon…I grabbed a bag and hoped for the best. The same thing happened with the meat. Fortunately, the butcher was behind the counter and guided me toward what looked like what I’d seen my grandmother work with. How different could they be, anyway?

Just in case, I grabbed a frozen pizza and was scanning for the snack aisle to find something salty. As I headed past the cereal aisle, I heard a young girl’s voice, followed by a familiar male voice.

“Please, Daddy.”

“No.”

“Pretty please!”

I snickered as I glanced down the aisle and saw Reid looking very domestic as he pushed a grocery cart with a young girl, whom I assumed was his daughter, standing on the end of the cart.

“No. It’s not safe,” he said, choosing a cereal and throwing it into the cart.

I hoped it was high in fiber because Reid really needed some help to pull the safety stick out of his ass.

“But Daddy, Iain gets to do it.” I didn’t have to see her face to figure that her lips were as pouty as her tone. “I promise I won’t complain about Tuesdays anymore.”

At Reid’s groan, I had to slap a hand across my mouth to hide my laugh as she wielded her last weapon of bribery. Whatever it was about Tuesdays appeared to weaken the stubborn man. “We’ll talk about it.”

Her smile was victorious as she hopped off the cart and clapped her hands as she spun in a circle. She was a little beauty, and I had a feeling this wasn’t the first time she’d wheedled her way to get something, nor would it be the last. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

“I didn’t say yes.” His voice held a warning, but her grin remained wide as if she knew otherwise.

“Good to know what it takes to bend your will, Deputy,” I said in a teasing voice as I wheeled my cart closer. “If I promise not to complain about Tuesdays, will you drop my speeding ticket? Pretty please? I’ll even throw in the rest of the days of the week.”

Reid whirled to face me, his face looking a little sheepish.

“Bristol. What are you doing here?”

“Same as anyone else in a grocery store, Deputy.”

He rolled his eyes. “Reid. You can call me Reid. And no, I’m not dropping your ticket, which you have two weeks left to come down and pay.”

“Aw, look at you, Deputy. Were you counting down the days until you saw me again?”

Reid rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like a prayer to save him from strong-willed women while his daughter looked on with curiosity.

“Are you a friend of my daddy’s?” Lexi’s sweet voice asked, her beautiful blue eyes, nearly identical to her father’s, bounced back and forth between the two of us.

“We’re getting to know each other. We’ve only met a couple of times before.” I held my hand out. “I’m Bristol. I just moved to town.”

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