Page 69 of Surly Sheriff
A gentle hand touched his shoulder. He knew without looking that it was Rae. But he couldn’t stop the tears from breaking free.
“Oh, my love,” she whispered and settled beside him on the floor, tugging him into her arms. He tucked his head in against her neck and succumbed to her soothing caresses and soft whispers.
And her love.
Trailing her fingers over his forehead, like she had earlier with the babies, she murmured, “Tell me.”
He couldn’t even muster a smile when she used his own words back at him. Pulling out of her arms, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. “It was during my time as a sniper in Africa. We were providing overwatch for the team infiltrating a rebel compound. I’d taken down several men when a woman armed with an AK-47 appeared in my scope. I didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. It was later, while doing a walkthrough looking for intel, that I found them. The woman and” — he exhaled a ragged sigh — “the baby she carried on her back. My shot went through her body and killed the little boy.”
Rae gasped. “Oh, Beau,” she whispered, grasping his hand.
“They teach you about collateral damage. And train you with simulations where your targets are women. Sometimes even children. But that baby …” He turned his head to look at her, taking a measure of solace from her compassionate look. “His death haunts me,” he ended gruffly.
She didn’t offer any platitude. Just leaned her head against his while holding his hand in silence.
It was a knock on the door that got them to their feet.
He rinsed his mouth as best he could, and they returned to Bella and Nate.
And the babies.
“Sorry about bailing earlier,” he said, placing a kiss on his sister’s forehead, adding, “just got a bit choked up,” when she gave him a searching look.
Before she could dig deeper, he turned his attention to the newborns.
His niece and nephew.
He swallowed, and for a moment the image of the lifeless baby shoved its way to the fore, but then Rae’s hand settled on his back and his vision cleared.
He focused on the babies and their perfect little faces. “They’re perfect, Little-B,” he whispered. “Have you decided on names?”
“Noah and Emma,” Nate answered.
In perfect response the hearing her name, little Emma opened her mouth and let out a ferocious cry, drawing startled gasps from the adults. A nanosecond later, her brother joined, fighting against the blanket swaddling his body. Winning the battle, Noah’s little arms broke free, flailing in the air, his cries as angry as his sister’s.
“Nate,” Bella called out and grabbed her husband’s arm, her own lips trembling. “What do we do?”
Beau burst out laughing and stepped away from the bed. “It’s called payback. Come, Rae. Let’s give the new parents some time to bond with their little hellions.” He took hold of Rae’s hand and tugged her from the room.
She slapped his arm, muttering, “That was just plain mean, Beau.”
“You want to wade back into that?” he asked, tilting his in the direction of the still audible crying.
Her eyes shifted down the hallway, and she gave a shudder. “No.”
He grinned. “Thought not. How about some decent coffee with a nice greasy breakfast before heading home to get ready for work?”
She matched his smile and hooked her arm through his. “Lead on, Chief Deputy.”
*
Two months later …
Beau’s heart skipped a beat when his eyes landed on Rae. Wrapped in a warm jacket and a knitted multihued scarf, she stood behind the table set up in front of Bella’s Books chatting with two young boys.
He recognized the one. Davey. The kid belonged to Ruth, Bella’s school friend. Beau didn’t have the full story about the woman’s separation from her husband, Harlan, and he tried not to be judgmental, what with his own history with Moira. But Ruth had started working in the store full-time, filling the permanent position. This freed Rae from the burden of running the store, and she now shared shifts with the original group of senior ladies who had helped since the store opened. Bella, having discovered she wasn’t superwoman, only popped in once or twice a week to escape “the hamster wheel of motherhood”. Despite her grumblings, the babies were thriving, growing bigger and cuter by the day, but it would be many months before she was able to put in any worthwhile time at the store.
Beau’s gaze shifted, noticing the two men standing at the end of the table and the unfamiliar boy’s identity clicked.
