The Yorkie saw her and yapped excitedly, wiggling to be put down.
“Yes, there’s Mama,” Katie said, handing over the leash. “He did his business. He had a drink, and we’re home. See you tomorrow?”
“Yes, and thank you,” Delilah said. She was kissing and cuddling her fur baby under her chin as she went inside.
It was almost noon by the time Katie headed home, and now that she didn’t have the little dog on board, she was about to kick into a jog when she heard a car coming up behind her.
She realized it was a police car when it passed her, and then a few yards ahead of her, the brake lights came on and it stopped. As she came abreast of it, Sam Youngblood got out.
“Hey, neighbor. I’m on my way home. Want a ride?”
She hesitated, but only for a moment. She was hot. She was tired. And there was no earthly reason to refuse.
“I won’t say no, but I’m a hot, sweaty mess.”
Sam grinned and opened the passenger door.
“Well, hop on in, sweaty mess.”
Katie laughed as she slid into the passenger seat and closed the door.
He paused a moment, his hand on the trunk of his car, thinking Now I know her laugh. Then he circled the car and got in.
“Thank you again,” Katie said.
He nodded. “You’re welcome.”
She glanced at him, at his silhouette, then the badge, and the gun on his hip.
“Do you go home every day for lunch?”
“When I can, or when Roxie needs something for the girls.”
The mention of his daughters and their nanny felt like a safe subject of conversation.
“Roxie is really nice. She and the girls helped me carry groceries into the house right after my move.”
“They told me,” Sam said. “Evie was quite taken with your red bed.”
Katie blinked. “I don’t have a red… Oh! The sleeping bag!”
“Yes. The red bed. Red is Evie’s favorite color,” he added.
“Ah. That explains her fascination with it. They’re delightful, but you know that, don’t you?”
Sam beamed. “I know they make my chaotic life all worth it.”
“Be proud of what you are achieving,” Katie said. “After all my years of teaching, I can attest to what a big difference it makes, being able to keep your children at home rather than have to leave them at daycare while you work. It’s not always so for parents, and you are really lucky to have someone like Roxie willing to come to your house for them.”
“She was just one of the women of Borden’s Gap who were here waiting for me when I brought the girls home from the hospital. I don’t know what I would have done without them, but Roxie is the one who stayed.”
Katie’s heart stopped. “Uh…”
Sam suddenly realized she didn’t know why there was no mother in the picture.
“I’m sorry. I just assumed Roxie might have mentioned it. Shelly…my wife…died the day the girls were born. Brain aneurysm.”
Katie’s eyes welled. “Oh my God. I cannot imagine… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up—”
Without thinking, Sam laid a hand on her arm.
“No, it’s not like that at all!” Sam said. “The first two years nearly killed me, but the girls were my saving grace. Still are my saving grace. There are many levels of loss. Once you get past the mind-numbing grief, you find new ways to cope. And new ways to be happy in the world.”
“Are you happy now?” Katie asked.
He grinned. “Mostly.” And then his eyes narrowed. “Are you happy, Katie McGrath?”
She looked out the window at the passing houses and then back at him. He arched an eyebrow. Waiting.
She managed a crooked grin, echoing his response.
“Mostly.”
Sam nodded. “Understood.”
Katie glanced at him again. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“I heard what sounded like a lot of gunfire yesterday. Was it gunfire or an explosion?”
“It was an explosion,” Sam said. “We had a roadblock set up outside of town to aid the highway patrol in their pursuit of an escapee.”
Katie thought about him in the line of fire. His job involved risk and danger, even in a small town.
“Was that what I heard?”
Sam sighed. “Yes.”
“Did you stop him?”
“We had to. He wouldn’t stop on his own. He hit the stop strips, and the car rolled and burst into flames. He’d already beaten up an elderly couple and stolen their car and a gun. He was a very dangerous man. I guess he decided he’d rather die than go back to jail.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
He looked a little surprised. “For what?”
“For putting yourself in danger to keep us safe.”
“Oh. Well, it’s part of the job,” Sam said.
“I know. Police saved me once. I just don’t take that lightly.”
Sam waited for her to tell him about the shooting, but when she didn’t, he guessed it was nothing she wanted known here, and he was good with that.
“Well, I’m real glad they did,” Sam said, and then pulled up into her driveway. “Delivered safe and sound, ma’am. You have a nice day.”
“Not ma’am. Katie. And I’m glad they did, too,” Katie said. “Thank you for the ride.”
Then she got out carrying her backpack, and as she started up the steps realized she was smelling freshly cut grass and noticed the yard had been mowed. Louise Parsons was as good as her word.
Sam waited until her front door closed before he backed up and pulled into his drive. He sat a moment, gathering himself and switching from Sam the man to Sam the daddy before he got out. Then he grabbed a sack from the back seat and headed into the house.
Chapter Eleven
Walt Lanier hadn’t been sober since the night he found out Megan was dead. Every time the alcohol began to wear off, he would remember. And then the burden of abandoning his daughter would lay so heavy on his heart that he wanted to die. If only he could go back—back before he met Craig Buttoni and lost so much money to him in a poker game that he was going to have to sell his home to pay it back.
If only he’d known this was how Buttoni operated. How he pulled so-called respectable people into his web, using them for drop-offs and deliveries. Using them until they were so involved that it wouldn’t have mattered if they’d finally paid off their gambling debts to him, because he had them up to their eyeballs in trafficking drugs.