Page 74 of Deputy Brand Gets Her Man
“I’m glad to see you’ve decided against it,” he said.
“I haven’t?—”
“Yeah, you did, niece, soon as you drank that Jose Cuervo. So you’d best get out of that uniform. I believe Lily keeps a few things upstairs.”
Willow sighed. At least she wasn’t in trouble with Uncle Garrett, at least she wouldn’t be so long as she did as he said. “I’m needed here, you know,” she said. “I don’t see any other deputies around.”
“You see me, don’t you?” he replied. “Besides, Ethan’s hired a bouncer to help out.” He nodded at Jeremiah.
“Oh. I see.”
A couple of discordant twangs from the adjoining room told her the band was getting ready to start.
“I’ll uh…keep your date comp’ny,” Uncle Garrett said, “while you go change.” And when she got out of her chair, her Uncle Garrett slid into her place.
She sent Jeremiah a nervous look, but he seemed unruffled. Then she headed for Lily and a change of clothes.
Jeremiah waited for the set-down he knew was coming from the elder statesman of the clan. He probably deserved it, and was mentally rehearsing his response, his honest and heartfelt vow that he would leave Willow Brand alone.
Cat Shaw, full-time realtor and part-time bartender, brought a tall, foam-free, amber mug to Garrett and put it down.
The big guy took a gulp, wiped off his lip with the back of his hand, and said, “The way you look at her is like a neon sign. But she’s a lot of woman. It’ll take a lot of man to be worthy.”
“I don’t intend to?—”
“Ah, hell, son, you don’t think what you intend has anything to do with it, do you?” He took another sip from his glass.
Jeremiah was pretty sure it was iced tea. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said. “Sir.”
“Suddenly I’m sir? Shoot, you got it bad.” Garrett kept losing control of the grin he was trying to hide. “I feel compelled to look out for you, Jeremiah,” he said. “You’re my son’s brother.”
He’d had no idea the patriarch felt that way. “I don’t mean any offense, sir. Garrett. But I’ve never needed anyone looking out for me.”
“I sound like a knight. Sir Garrett.” He laughed a little, easy, and completely unoffended as far as Jeremiah could tell. “You carried me outta the flames,” he said. “That alone creates a bond.”
He didn’t agree or disagree. He hadn’t thought about it, but there had been an odd ease, and a kind of familiarity settling in between him and Garrett Brand since that day.
“I uh…I died, you know.”
The words startled him almost out of his chair. He tipped the tequila bottle to his bowl-like copita glass again. “I heard that. They said Lily did CPR, brought you back right before Ethan and I busted in.”
Garrett nodded, and for a long moment his gaze turned inward. Jeremiah watched his face, curious what he was thinking, or remembering. What had Garrett Brand experienced?
Eventually, he went on. “I came back knowin’ something. Just knowin’ it. Nobody told me while I was…I just came back knowin’.”
Jeremiah got the feeling there was a lot more to tell. “Knowing what?” he asked softly. He leaned forward without intending to.
“The only thing in this life that matters is love. Nothin’ else even comes close. The rest is…it’s made up, you know? Our governments, our businesses, our divisions—we make it all up. It’s not real, none of it. Love’s what’s real.”
His voice seemed to tighten.
“Don’t you let it go, you hear? It’s an insult to life itself to let it go. It’s precious…more precious than gold.”
Funny he should put it that particular way.
“That’s…that’s deep. Thank you, Garrett, for sharing that with me.”
Suddenly the older man clasped his forearm firmly. “It’s not an opinion, son. It’s the truth, the only truth there is when it comes down to it. You take heed, you hear?”
