Page 6 of Ruined
“Brushed your teeth?”
In answer, she opened her mouth and blew in my direction.
“Awesome,” I pulled my keys from where they were hanging on a hook behind the door. “Let’s go.” Molly ran ahead to the truck while I locked the door behind me. As soon as I joined her, a groan blew over my lips as the sound ofDisneymusic filled the cab.
My frown soon turned into a too-wide grin as I listened to Molly sing at the top of her lungs during the entire drive. Man, this kid never ceased to bring happiness into every day.
“Have a great day, Mols.” I leaned over to steal a kiss when we stopped in front of WC Elementary a few minutes later. Reaching behind her seat, I pulled her backpack out and handed it to her. “Grams will pick you up this afternoon.”
With a little nod, she climbed out of the truck and secured her bag on her back. Her lips lifted into a smile that had my heart singing. “Love you, Daddy.” Those three little words got me every single time. I kept my eyes on her as she rushed inside, all the while willing her not to grow up so damn fast.
“Good Morning, Sheriff,” one of our station dispatchers greeted. Ester — still firmly stuck in the eighties — was quite the character, but she had a heart of gold. She jumped from her seat to hand me a file. Leaning over her desk, she whisper-shouted, “The new guy still hasn’t arrived.”
The corners of my mouth slightly curved upward while I tried my utmost to concentrate on her face instead of the gigantic neon-pink bow on her head. “Well, we did tell him to be here at ten.”
Ester eyed the clock — it was barely after eight — then rolled her eyes. “Still. If he is going to be the new deputy, he should make a good impression.”
The urge to grin even wider was strong, I didn’t want to offend Ester, though. Patting her shoulder, I said, “I’ll be sure to have a word with him as soon as he arrives.”
She nodded furiously. “You do that, Sheriff. He needs to know how things work here in Willow Creek.”
After reassuring her that I would read our new deputy the riot act, I headed to my office. Being the town sheriff wasn’t as glamorous as you might think. My days revolved around a ton of paperwork and very little action.
In fact, the last time I’d drawn my weapon had been when Logan’s fiancée’s past came through town, hell-bent on making trouble. Shame burned my cheeks as I recalled my part in the entire situation. By now it was water under the bridge, my indiscretions forgiven by Harper and Logan. If only I could forgive myself for putting her child’s life in danger.
I sank into my leather chair, a framed photo of Molly catching my eye. Reaching out, I picked up the picture and ran my index finger over her little smiling face. The day I’d taken the snap on my parents’ ranch, she’d been roughly the same age as Harper’s little boy was now.
My brows pulled together tightly. These scrambled thoughts pulled at me more and more with each passing day. There were so many mistakes I wish I could right. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how life worked. Carefully, I placed the photo back in its spot. Mama always said, there ain’t no trouble in the world pecan pie can’t fix.
Good thing I knew exactly the place to go.
